16 Ritchie's Ability
"Boom!"
Flames erupted, sending countless monster limbs and fragments of stone whizzing past Jeremy.
Everyone inside the teaching building felt the structure shudder violently at that moment.
Dust cascaded from the ceiling, and their faces were etched with panic, mistaking the commotion for an earthquake.
The explosion caught the attention of John and the others, who were busy fighting monsters around the campus.
They turned their heads and saw the teaching building, now billowing with thick smoke.
John paused, a sense of familiarity with the flames sparking in his mind.
Then it clicked, and he exclaimed in astonishment, "How does Jeremy still have explosives? Where on earth did he get this kind of stuff from!"
"Who knows." George said, his eyes shining with envy. If he had those explosives, he wouldn't have to grind through monster battles so miserably.
Hedy's eyes sparkled excitedly, "Well, worthy of my idol, daring to actually blow up the school. That's something I wouldn't even dare to dream of."
Beside them, Gary, his face wrapped in bandages, clenched his fists, the jealousy and anger inside him almost consuming him.
"Let's see how much longer you can keep up this glory." he thought bitterly, his gaze icy.
Gary had called his father the day before, knowing that the police station had settled down and it wouldn't be long before they sent someone to deal with the monsters in the school.
That would be Jeremy's downfall!
At the sports field, Emma, Eric, and their team, who were leveling up, also witnessed the explosion at the teaching building.
Emma immediately spotted Jeremy standing on the corridor, expressing her concern, "Why did Jeremy go into the teaching building? That's where the most monsters in the whole school are!"
Bonnie gritted her teeth, "Such an arrogant guy. So what if he has bombs? There are thousands of monsters in Moonlight Middle School. He can't possibly kill them all with those!"
Her words were clearly tinged with personal emotions, but Eric thought Bonnie had a point.
Even though he knew Jeremy made those bombs himself, the idea of Jeremy mass-producing them seemed far-fetched to Eric.
Not to mention the difficulty of making liquid bombs, just sourcing the materials was a significant challenge.
Just as Eric had thought, making those few liquid bombs had already exhausted all the materials in the laboratory. It was virtually impossible for Jeremy to recreate or mass-produce them. The one he had was the last of its liquid explosives.
In the teaching building, as the aftermath of the explosion slowly dissipated, Jeremy emerged from behind a sheltering wall.
The once-clean corridor was now marred by a huge crater.
Cracks filled the walls, and the charred remains of monsters along with shattered stones were scattered everywhere.
Kill notifications appeared before Jeremy.
[You have killed a Level 6 Minotaur, gaining 154 experience points!]
[You have killed a Level 5 Goblin, gaining 107 experience points!]
[You have killed a Level 6 Zombie, gaining 166 experience points!]
...
A surge of experience flowed into Jeremy, and not long after leveling up, his body once again emitted a golden glow.
[Congratulations, player level has increased to 9, you have received 10 free attribute points.]
Jeremy was in luck this time; among the monsters he killed, a light orb dropped.
He approached and picked it up, revealing an item resembling a charred stick in his hand.
[Equipment]: Ancient Wood Staff [Level]: Black Iron
[Quality]: Blue [Attributes]: Spirit +10 [Skills]: None
...
"It's ugly, but the attributes aren't bad." Jeremy glanced at it before storing the equipment in his inventory space.
The staff wasn't suitable for his use but seemed perfect for Emma, he decided to give it to her when he returned.
Jeremy picked up some energy crystals scattered on the ground and didn't linger. Taking advantage of the monsters still being in shock, he quickly headed towards the rooftop.
To his surprise, as he approached the rooftop, he received a prompt from The Eye of Omniscience...
[Alert: There is a golden treasure chest within 100 meters of you.]
The moment he saw the alert, Jeremy's breath hitched, as if a voice echoed in his mind.
This is a windfall!
Jeremy was well aware of what obtaining a golden treasure chest in the early stages meant.
A bronze chest could significantly enhance his strength. If he could get this golden chest and acquire what was inside...
Jeremy couldn't even imagine how far his strength would soar! His heart surged with excitement.
He must get his hands on that chest!
But for now, he needed to find Ritchie first.
Arriving at the rooftop door, Jeremy pushed it, only to find it locked.
He called out Ritchie's name a few times, but to no response.
A sense of dread filled him. Something's wrong?
Without hesitation, he used his wolfsbane dagger to pry open the locked door.
What greeted him was the empty rooftop, and Jeremy was stunned.
"Where's Ritchie?" The rooftop was completely deserted, with no sign of Ritchie anywhere.
Jeremy searched everywhere, only to find some snack wrappers and a few urine stains, with no other traces to be found.
He frowned and took out the phone to call Ritchie.
Voice prompt that the other party has turned off.
"This kid couldn't really have gotten into trouble, right?" Jeremy stood on the rooftop, a bad feeling brewing in his heart.
If Ritchie was really dead, he doubted he'd ever sleep peacefully again.
With this thought, Jeremy shouted, "Ritchie, if you're still alive, make some noise!"
His voice echoed across the rooftop.
Jeremy didn't expect a response, but to his surprise, Ritchie's voice came from behind him.
"Holy shit, Jeremy, you finally showed up!" Ritchie stood at the entrance to the stairwell, clutching a pile of snacks, angrily saying, "We agreed to fight together, and you damn left me on the rooftop to catch a cold? Do you have any idea what I went through yesterday? If I hadn't awakened my ability, you'd probably be looking at my corpse now!"
Seeing Ritchie was okay, Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief.
He apologized, "Sorry, bro. I ran into a female zombie yesterday and fought her all night long before I managed to take her down. I made you wait."
Ritchie looked at Jeremy's dirty black coat and believed him a bit.
He stepped forward, patted Jeremy on the shoulder, and said reflectively, "So that's what happened, seems like you had it tough too."
Jeremy's mouth twitched, but he ultimately chose not to comment on Ritchie's melodramatic tone.
Changing the subject, he asked, "What ability did you awaken, and how come you make no sound when you walk?"
Jeremy's perception was far beyond ordinary, but Ritchie had gotten so close without him noticing, which surprised him. When his ability was mentioned, Ritchie's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Well, you'll never guess." he said with a mysterious smile. "I've awakened an ability everyone dreams of!"
Jeremy thought for a moment, then hesitantly said, "Time stop?"
"Holy shit, you've seen those kinds of movies too?" Ritchie looked surprised.
Jeremy immediately denied it, "I haven't, don't talk nonsense. I was just making a random guess."
Ritchie looked at Jeremy skeptically, sure he was lying.
However, Ritchie didn't press further, boasting instead, "My ability is called Shadow Stealth. Although it's only a B-ranked ability, it's incredibly powerful!"
After Ritchie rambled on for a while, Jeremy finally understood the ability he had awakened.
Indeed, as Ritchie said, Shadow Stealth was an ability many people dreamed of having.
Once the ability was activated, Ritchie could merge into shadows, making him immune to any external attacks.
Moreover, he had a ten-square-meter shadow space for storage, similar to a storage space, which was extremely convenient.
In a post-apocalyptic world, Shadow Stealth could definitely be considered a life-saving skill.
The only downside was that aside from escaping and storage, the ability lacked offensive capabilities.
To show off to Jeremy, Ritchie even gave a demonstration of his ability.
Black mist suddenly erupted from his body, and then Ritchie sank into his own shadow.
The process was incredibly fast and without the slightest fluctuation of aura.
When Ritchie reappeared, he was already behind Jeremy, and the snacks he had been holding had vanished, replaced by a golden box.
"How about that? Pretty cool ability, huh?" Ritchie said with pride.
Jeremy didn't respond to his question but instead intently looked at the golden box in his hands.
[Item]: Golden Treasure Chest
[Grade]: Gold
[Description]: Opening the treasure chest requires 10 tier-3 crystals or 1 tier-4 crystal.
[Tip]: Crawling forward for 1 kilometer before opening the chest will yield triple rewards.
