Chapter 137 - Prison: The Zoo (Part Two)

"This little girl here came up with a good suggestion. Something that is a question that makes people think. If the person thinks, we will know that they are our enemy. But if they answer immediately, we will know they are our friend."

"Now, I don't know at what kind of place we are going to be dropped in, but if we come to face against any humans, what do we do?", he asked. 

"WE DO NOT ENGAGE! WE DO NOT FIGHT HUMANS UNLESS PROVOKED!", chanted everyone. This was something Zen had drilled into everyone, and they had also come to believe it.

Zen believed that not every human was bad, and everyone deserved their chance. Many people here had hatred against the humans that had done this to them, which was indeed justifiable.

But when everyone was faced with the question of what they will do after they had killed the humans who did this to them, they had no clue. Some wanted to settle down and live a peaceful life, while others were blank.

This was the point where Zen began his preaching. The reason he was this respected was not because of his strength, but rather because of his ideals. And the first three to follow him were none other than Bruce, Alfred, and Ren.

After Alfred made his announcement, he moved back. Zen let out some smoke and took a deep breath. 

"Everyone here has been waiting for this moment. The moment that we will be able to roam this world. The day that we will bring death to the people who did this to us. The day of our revenge."

"But today, we will dominate the battlefield. We will show everyone why we are to be feared, and how desperate we are to win. Everyone will be desperate, and we will use that to our advantage."

"We will fight! And for the ones that had died before us, May their souls Rest in peace", he finished his peace. Alfred stepped forward again, and he announced his riddle.

"I reply when you call, but if you want me to talk, I say nothing at all. What am I?", he asked. He didn't answer, as he wanted them to solve it with their intellect.

"If they could, then I would need to come up with something more complex. If not, I can leave it at that", he thought. Everyone began to think hard, and no one could come up with the correct answer. 

Even the little girl who had given the suggestion didn't know the answer to it. She shrugged her shoulders and had a smile on her face.

Alfred looked at everyone and he was slightly disappointed. He was hoping someone would solve it, but it didn't matter to him now.

"The answer is 'a letter'. And this will be our codeword. Only after someone asks the question should you say the answer. If they say, 'what's the password?' or something along those lines. you are not to answer and execute them immediately. The question is to make sure that the person is indeed from our group, and the answer is an affirmation to say that you are of the same group", he explained clearly. 

Everyone was amazed at his thinking. They then began to memorize the question and the answer, and the timer was now at five minutes. 

Everyone had prepared the question and the answer and was ready to attack the people outside. 

"Everyone mast rack 1500+ kills, so that we may all be free. After you have hit the mark, just stop after you have killed ten more just to be on the safe side. You can also hunt in groups, as each Beast has its specialty", sain Zen.

Everyone nodded their heads and they were ready to head out when the floor began to rumble. Everyone felt it, and the tremors only increased as time passed by. 

Some of them were seated on the ground, while the rest were using their Beast abilities to stand still. Everyone felt the floor moving, and after a few minutes, they felt the movements stop. 

"Alright. The time has come. May we all grasp victory!", Zen gave his battle cry. 

"MAY WE ALL GRASP VICTORY!", cried everyone right after him. A door opened, revealing a path in front of them.

Everyone began to head out the place, into the world that was going to be their battlegrounds.

(Underground City, Main Entrance 2)

Lucas, Robert, Sally, and Kate were standing right there when the building had emerged from under the ground. It was like something out of a Science Fiction movie for them.

The building was white, and it had veins of blue running all across it. They were like pipes that were supplying the building with Mana. 

Lucas was still thinking about how to face this situation when he heard a transmission from Emilia. 

"What is going on? Why are there building emerging out of the ground? And this is, not the only one", she said.

"Robert, use your Wind and have an aerial view of the place", he said and he followed. He charged his legs with Wind and jumped into the air. 

After a few minutes of gliding in the air, he reached back down with an astonished look on his face. Lucas was anxious right after he saw the face.

"There are four as far as I can see. And each of them has an army of men coming for us", he reported to Lucas. He let out a long breath. 

"What I did not want to happen. This is going to be a long fight today", he said as he looked at the people with him. He had to give the commands, and this time the same will apply to Emilia's people who are holding down the fort there.

"Listen up. We have multiple people inbound towards us. This is war, and thus I assume that they are our foes. Attack them right after they get in your line of sight. And if you receive aid from anyone, do not refuse. We need all the help we can get at the moment", he commanded. 

Everyone understood what he was saying. He was taking precautions to fight against them, and he was also testing out if there are friends among these foes that he could exploit. 

"Two strikes in one move. As expected of my rival", beamed Robert's face with pride. Lucas was now deep in thoughts, and he was wondering how to use Leon's group to his advantage.

"I can use them as my first line of defense, but I will lose many precious soldiers as their strength lies in sneaking up from behind. What if I let them through, and then make them attack from behind?", he thought. 

He was sure that this plan was much better than the previous one, as that would make the losses way lesser than his first plan. He passed the commands to Leon and was waiting for the army that Robert had pointed out to come towards him.

"They are coming", came Leon's voice from the other side. Lucas held a fist up in the air, and everyone had their weapons ready. Sally was a dagger user, while Kate was a sword user. 

He was looking at his stats, to see if he had enough EXP to buy something that he could use in the shop.

[Status]

[Name: Lucas Heart]

[HP: 350/350] 

[MP: 350/350]

[Level: 24]       

[Job: None]

[Title: Defying The Odds, Master Of Stealth, The Schemer (inactive), Master Tactician (inactive)]

[EXP: 29,620/40,000]

[Accumulated EXP: 12,500]

[System Level: 3/10]

[Strength: 70]

[Stamina: 61]

[Agility: 70+28]

[Perception: 59]

[Magic: 43]

[Stat points to be used: 70]

He saw the points which he had stored for all this while. He remembered Valentine's words, which were not to use until he had reached the Third Stage. 

"Should I use them now?", he thought and he heard the answer from Valentine.

"Kid, your Core still hasn't stabilized. It is about seventy percent past the stabilization mark, and another hour and it will be stabilized. You can use the points after the hour is up", replied Valentine.

"I can't speed up the process any faster kid. Any faster, and your body will break down into atoms, making the Aura burst out and kill you", he thought as he answered Lucas. Lucas had a smile across his face, and he was figuring out how to distribute the points. 

"Let me make the stats even for now. That should make 9 points to Stamina, eleven points to Perception, and twenty-seven points to magic. I would end up with twenty-three points as a remainder. I can use that to increase the Magic stat slowly as I increase my strength every day", he concluded.

Right after he had finished the calculation, he heard a cry from somewhere around him.. There were eyes all around him, and everyone stepped out from the shadows of the trees.