Ordinary

The next morning, I was walking with Melody Gou to visit her sister. While walking, we're talking about what happened yesterday.

"Really? That strong?" I asked.

"Yes. That Level 2 Mutant Zombie was far scarier and stronger compared to that level 1 in the cage yesterday. We were all scared when we saw it in person. Even gun bullets couldn't graze its skin. Some soldiers suffered serious injuries and a few lost their lives. I thought it was the end of the world. Luckily, with the cooperation of Senior Student Kyzer Jones and Senior Student Lena Wyte, they were able to defeat it."

"Wow. Even a level 2 Mutant Zombie, they can defeat."

"They are so strong." She looked at me with a strong gaze.

Hearing her praise, I felt so proud of Lena despite there not being any connection between us.

"How is Lena? Is she hurt?" I asked. I couldn't help but feel worried.

There was a frown on Melody's face.

"S-she's fine. I mean... She has minor injuries but is far from danger."

"I see. That's good."

I sighed in relief.

"Do you and Senior Student Lena Wyte know each other?"

"Eh? No no no. More like, she's my crush," I answered honestly.

"Ah— I see…" Melody said in a weak voice.

"It's a one-sided feeling, though," I added.

"Sorry for asking," she said.

"There's no need. What matters to me is that she's safe and sound."

I was not able to go with them to help defend the south wall yesterday because they, especially Kyzer, didn't allow me to take part in it. According to them, I don't have Ancestral Power. So, instead of helping, I might just be a burden to them. I understood their reason and agreed with them. I didn't have the courage to face those zombies anyway.

Shojin seemed to be all right as well. He participated yesterday in defending the south wall, but since I saw him last night doing some exercises in the training room, it looked like he was fine. Because he looked so serious and motivated in his training, I decided not to approach him. Honestly, it was new to me to see him that serious.

"By the way, Senior Student Dante—" Melody called my name and I quickly stopped her.

"Wait!"

"Eh?" She looked at me with a puzzled expression written all over her face. I smiled slightly and told her to call me without the 'senior student' attached to it as our age didn't even have a huge gap. And also, we're no longer in school.

"I-is that fine?" She looked hesitant.

I gave her a nod.

She settled on calling me 'Dan'. I guessed that's fine too. She asked me to call her by her first name. I nodded and said, "Alright, Melody."

She smiled.

After that, she continued talking about the Level 2 Mutant Zombie that attacked the south wall yesterday.

According to her, its appearance was more peculiar compared to the Level 1 Mutant Zombie in the cage yesterday. Some bones were protruding on some part of its body, resembling spikes.

Honestly, I'm more amazed by her bravery. If I were in her shoes, I don't know if I could remain standing in front of such a creature. My feet would surely take me away from that place as fast as they could.

She said she was scared, but because she wanted to avenge her mother, she chose to overcome her fear. What a brave girl. Maybe having Ancestral Power gave her a lot of confidence as well. But I would rather if she avoided dangerous stuff like fighting the zombies for Mai Mai's sake.

Melody told me that her stats grew after the fight with the zombies yesterday. I gawked when I heard it. It's like a game where when you kill a monster, you'll gain experience. She showed me her stats and I'm amazed by the numbers listed there. Many of her stats were of rank A. Even her ability. So that's why her overall rank was Rank A! I'm so envious! Her Astral Force is at almost 500!

I remembered Shojin's Astral Force is only at 85. The disparity between their Astral Force is like heaven and earth. I bet Shojin would cry if he knew about it.

I asked Melody how her stats grew after killing the zombies. She tilted her head to the side, indicating her ignorance regarding it. She told me she had no idea. Figured.

According to her, the others who participated in the defence yesterday, who had managed to kill a zombie or two, had their stats increased as well.

Maybe I need to fight zombies as well to raise my stats? I thought. But the question is… will my stats grow? I don't know. That's what I wanted to figure out.

However, can I kill a zombie? I don't think I can. My best feat so far was escaping from them. Realizing that, 'Ugh!', I groaned internally. A girl who was younger than me could do better than me. I feel very useless in this apocalypse world. Can't help it. My ancestors don't have special genes like them. If my ancestors had Ancestral Powers, I would have already awakened with an awesome ability by now. Seeing that I didn't, means my ancestors didn't have Ancestral Powers.

Our conversation came to an end when we finally arrived at the patient's room where her sister was recuperating.

"Big sister…?"

"Mai Mai!"

When we entered the room, we saw Mai Mai sitting on the bed. She looked thin but she looked better than before they rescued us.

I'm glad that she looked fine.

The two sisters hugged each other tightly.

"Mama is! Mama is!" Mai Mai cried.

"Yes, I know."

I just looked at them in silence.

After visiting Mai Mai, I was asked to help carry some boxes by Manager Sai.

Those who have Ancestral Powers were asked to train to increase their stats and further their growth. They were trained in combat as well as most of them were ordinary citizens only with no combat ability before the apocalypse happened. They were the future forces that would help humanity, so they needed to learn how to fight.

So far, the organization was still lacking enough manpower to send skirmishes outside the wall.

Many zombies were still gathering outside. Defending against them was already a tough task for the SGS and the military, especially because as time went by, more and more Mutant Zombies were born.

On the other hand, those who have no Ancestral Power like me could help with minor tasks. The association would not give us food if we didn't work.

I guess that's only natural. I'm amazed that even in a zombie apocalypse, they managed to hastily establish this kind of community.

I arrived at the training station with a box in my arms, I saw the awakeners in their training. I noticed most of them were young people from my school. In fact, most survivors here were students from our school. It was probably because the school itself was a secret facility underground of it. So when the zombie outbreak happened, the school had become the safest place in this town.

As I passed, I heard some of them talking about Kyzer and Lena. They were praising their strength. After yesterday's battle, the two had become more popular.

I couldn't see Lena and Kyzer among the crowd. They were probably with Manager Sai or if not, they were training in different facilities. After delivering the box to Sergeant Beatrix, I left the training station.

A month had passed since the appraisal day.

Meanwhile, I was inside Manager Sai's office, listening to her assistant as she gave her report.

"At this point, from a school size, it had fully transformed into a village-size shelter. Thanks to our little skirmishes, we managed to expand our base little by little. More and more people have been rescued these past days."

"Did the appraisal team check if there are awakeners among them?"

"Yes, they did their job per usual. Among the 15 rescued individuals, 3 of them were awakeners."

"I see. That's good."

"I'll send you their information right away after the appraisal team finishes their investigation."

"Alright."

After giving her a report, the assistant left the room.

Manager Sai looked at me and called my name. "Dante, bring these papers to Doctor Gwen."

"Okay."

I approached her and took it.

Even with the help of awakeners, it was still not enough to wipe out the zombies around the shelter. As time went by, the mutant zombies had become stronger and difficult to defeat. The zombies numbers also kept increasing.

Even now, they were waiting for victims outside the wall. Once a mutant zombie appeared, they would attack the wall fiercely.

The Awakeners were now held in high regard in the shelter, especially by the common folks who revered them as noble warriors.

That was to be expected. In this time of crisis, the powerless one would look for saviors. Therefore, those with Ancestral Powers easily became their hero figures.

I also felt the same. For me, I thought of them as superheroes. However, in reality, these superheroes were still just human internally.

As I was heading to the Medical Center, three people blocked my path.

"You jerk! I told you not to approach Melody ever again!"

A punch landed on my face squarely. My body spiraled away.

When I got up, I saw three familiar figures facing me. Their faces showed angry expressions.

"Bastard Jenkins!" I shouted.

It was Jenkins, Melody's former classmate. This guy had deep feelings toward Melody.

Melody and I had become closer. However, the other people misunderstood our closeness. They thought we were in a romantic relationship when in reality we're just friends.

"An Ordinary like you had no right to stay close to Melody!" Said one of his lackeys.

The appearance of Ancestral Power is not only all good, it also twisted the minds of other people such as these three.

If the Awakeners were revered as noble warriors, those who didn't awaken with Ancestral Power were labeled as Ordinary.