Chapter 62 A Test Of Strength

"There… is something… down there!!" Alex spoke in a shaky voice with sweat beads trickling down his face as he looked in the direction of the basement.

I looked at him and then at the basement before hurriedly moving towards him. If he could feel the Lesser C-Zombie, then maybe I can gauge the Zombie's strength.

Caroline and White, worried about Alex, tried to help him out as they held him in their arms and made him sit on the floor while he still was fear stricken.

[Name: Alexander Robert Fredrick

Race: Zombified Human (E-Grade)

Class: Arithmetician Puppeteer

Zombification: 2%[Reach 100% to get to the next Grade]

Cessation Energy: 1200/1200

Status: Healthy (Overwhelmed)

Skills*

(1) Enhanced Sense: The user can sense nearby beings of similar energy even at a distance of 100 meters away(Passive)

Strength: 23

Constitution:18

Dexterity: 29

Intelligence: 34

Wisdom: 11

Charm: 15]

I looked at his status using the [Inspect Skill] and I saw his skill and the [Overwhelmed] status beside the [Healthy]

It was a nice skill that allowed him to sense Zombies from far, however, looking at his fear stricken face I realized that it's gonna backfire probably every time a stronger enemy appears.

'Though I wonder if there is a way to overcome it?' I pondered before reaching closer to him and asking,

"How strong do you think that thing is in the basement?"

He looked at me gulping as he spoke,"Strong. Very Strong… we will die the moment we take a step down there."

I observed Alex for a few moments before speaking again,"Is that so? Compare him to me."

Alex looked at me for a few moments as he still had that horrified look on his face and spoke,

"I don't… I don't know."

Caroline and White were confused as they looked at Alex, but I guess I understand why he feels like that. He continued,

"When it comes to Sister Caroline or Gramps White, I could sense the difference in their power. It's like a bar of energy that tells me how strong that person or thing is. However…"

Alex looked at me, confused yet fear stricken,

"I don't sense an ounce of energy from you. It's as if you don't have any powers at all. If I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes, I would have never believed that you are strong… so for the comparison… I don't know."

It confused Caroline and White even more, and I smiled as I asked,

"How many Caroline and White's will it take to defeat that thing down there?"

Hearing my question, he immediately answered,"about 9 Carolines and 5 White… or someone with their combined strength."

'Eh? That came out fast,' I thought before I took a look at his class.

[Class: Arithmetician Puppeteer]

'Must be that Arithmetician thingy, but… what is a class again? And why don't I have one yet?' I questioned as I believed if it had to do with one's innate ability or anything, then I should have at least a Medical related class because of my knowledge in that field.

I then stood up before speaking,"all three of you come with me up. The rest of you as well."

'It's about time I see the difference… between me and them…'

One floor at a time we moved up the Gym, since it was an open space. There were a few people cleaning the gym to make it a suitable area to stay at.

"Oi! Young ones! Help the others out to clean the floor," I commanded the 14 little soldiers of mine to go clean the Zombies. Though, not minding my way of commanding them, they hurriedly went to clean the Gym.

I turned to White, who was holding Alex in his arms. Looking at Alex, it seemed like he had mostly recovered from the fear.

'The decision to bring him away from that place was nice, I guess,' I thought before confirming,"you better now?"

He nodded before stepping out of White's arms and speaking,"what are we going to do next?"

His fear and worry were genuine because, with that thing down there, it was just a matter of time before it came up. Though I just spoke,

"Let's wait till the Gym is cleaned. I want to see something."

I then talked to Caroline and White about their training methods and stuff, and they said that since it's just the beginning, there is a little they had learnt. Though White sees promise in Caroline.

"Sir Michael, the area has been cleaned," spoke one of the young ones and I turned at him before nodding and then pondering a little and speaking, "Okay. Step back… or more like go to the edge of the Gym near the stairs. All of you."

All of them moved, leaving me, Alex, Caroline and White within the open wide gym.

"I wanted to do it after you guys had learnt to control your powers but…" I spoke as I moved away from them after saving a [Return] point at the place where I was standing before.

"Come at me with your best. I want to see how strong all of you combined are," I spoke with a bit of dominance…

[Eyes of the Time Keeper!]

'How long before I get hit if I just stand here?'

[8 Seconds]

I saw them looking at each other before nodding. Caroline was a bit hesitant, but looking at White and me, she decided to follow through.

[5 Seconds]

I saw them spreading around me in three directions. Caroline was cautious while Alex seemed to be calculating something. As for white, he seemed to have a plan already.

[3 Seconds]

[Eyes of the Time Keeper!]

I checked the future and saw Caroline at my right while Alex right in front of me coming at a rapid speed while White was standing beside me, blocking my path from running away from the other two.

Then I deactivated foresight

[2 seconds]

They started running at me as I saw they would

[1 second]

They covered me around and began their attack

[Temporal Deceleration!]

Time slowed, and so did they.

They could have been much faster, but perhaps they were conserving their energy? Though Alex was still fast, even in this slowed time as he almost reached me.

I dodged Alex first and, using his momentum; I pushed him to Caroline, blocking her attack as well, before stepping to the front as I peeked at White coming at me now.

Stepping a bit behind, I saw Caroline hitting Alex and both of them stumbling before falling down while White still kept coming at me. His speed was increasing faster with every second passing.

After thinking a little, I decided to dodge his attacks and see how much practical skills can make a difference against my [Temporal Deceleration] skill.

He attacked me from my left and I dodged, moving backward and to the right, but he was already ready for that.

As I dodged his right uppercut, I saw another hit coming from the left, which I barely dodged this time…

Though he hurriedly did a round kick immediately. Even though I saw that attack coming, my body could barely dodge it and I blocked that attack using my forearms.

-Boom! He managed to lock a kick on my arms, cracking one of my forearm bones.

There was a satisfied smile on his face and so was on mine.

I deactivated my [Temporal Declaration] for a few moments before speaking,

"I will go one step up now."

"What a coincidence… so will I," he spoke with a cheeky smile as he looked at me as his eyes turned slightly red.