Chương 124: Spear and Shield

And come to think of it, it seemed like Bruno hadn't gained any max HP from killing zombies at all. Could it be that the people around Vince were only scaling up because they were piggybacking on this green Health bar system? In a bit, Vince would have to swing by Ben's place and have a proper chat with Bruno to figure out exactly how his evolution worked. But that was a separate issue.

No matter how those wild Awakened leveled up, at least the core team around Vince progressed the exact same way he did: by butchering zombies. Furthermore, the wider the gap between the zombie's health pool and their own, the more their maximum HP cap expanded. This mechanic had now been proven true for both Zoe and Claire. This was fantastic news. With the vast majority of the scattered zombies in the compound wiped out, there were barely any left.

Splitting the remaining standard mobs wouldn't even net the three of them a dozen HP points each. Smashing doors open one by one just to execute one or two stragglers inside was even less worth it. Breaking down the security doors burned more stamina than killing the actual zombies. But the fact that the entire party gained max HP from a shared mutant zombie kill—an EXP share mechanic—was a massive win. A 1000-HP mutant yielded 3 points for each of them, which totaled the equivalent of 9 regular zombie kills.

Based on what he just saw, if you added Seth into the mix as a fourth, the squad could easily farm a 1000-HP mutant on their own without breaking a sweat. If he could upgrade their weapons, their clear speed would be even smoother. Having closely observed their combat styles under pressure, Vince already had a rough blueprint in mind, but he still wanted their input.

"Claire, Zoe, how are you guys feeling about the spears? If we're going to upgrade your loadouts, any thoughts on what you want?"

"Change weapons?" Zoe looked at the short spear in her hand, her face blank.

"Zoe's ability is too convenient. She can just telekinetically block a zombie's attack... but I have to physically dodge. The spear is handy, and it's not heavy—I can wield it one-handed now. But if possible... I'd like a sturdy buckler." Claire gripped her spear in one hand, thrusting it into the air a few times as she hesitated. She was nearing a [200] HP pool now.

Back when Vince was at 200 HP, he already felt like the standard steel pipes were too light and flimsy, which was why he had swapped to the heavy radiator pipes.

"A small shield... yeah, that works." Originally, Vince had planned to simply increase the weight of Claire's weapon. But hearing her logic, he realized a shield wasn't a bad idea at all. Through his recent observations, he noticed her combat instincts were fundamentally different from his own. As his physical stats skyrocketed, Vince had gradually abandoned precision thrusts in favor of wider, devastating sweeping strikes that capitalized on his raw power.

But for some reason, even as Claire's strength scaled up, she still heavily favored precise, surgical stabs. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Even when facing towering mutant zombies, where Zoe would panic and just telekinetically smash her spear like a baseball bat, Claire remained ice-cold, waiting for the absolute perfect opening to drive her spear straight through a zombie's eye socket.

If that was her combat style, then she definitely needed a shield to cover her defenses while she lined up her strikes.

"What about you?" Vince turned to Zoe, tilting his chin at her.

"Hmm... wielding this spear physically is fine, but controlling it mid-air is a hassle because it's too long." She tossed the spear up. It spun rapidly before clanging against a nearby lamppost.

"There's zero room to maneuver it inside a zombie horde. It'd be best if I had a few shorter, thinner spikes specifically designed for my telekinesis. Something I can weave through a crowd..."

"Like flying swords?" Vince raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much..." Zoe nodded. Vince turned on his heel and walked straight into the clinic. A minute later, he walked back out clutching a handful of iron barbecue skewers left over from god knows when.

"Here. Your new weapons..."" Dage, I feel like you're half-assing this..." Zoe pouted. Instantly, the dozens of iron skewers in Vince's hand levitated into the air, hovering just above her palm. Guiding the floating metal, she walked over to a wrecked car on the curb. With a sweeping wave of her hand, she launched them all into the car door. Vince walked over, pulled one out, and examined the penetration depth thoughtfully.

"Was that full power?"

"Basically. The velocity at max output is definitely faster than when I first Awakened, but this speed is pretty much the hard cap..." Zoe pulled one out herself. Seeing it had only penetrated a few centimeters, she sounded a bit depressed. She consumed her fair share of novels and anime, and her reflexes were sharp enough. She had her own theories on how to develop her powers and had absolutely daydreamed about scattering a handful of steel ball bearings to slaughter an entire horde like a human shotgun.

Unfortunately, the ability wasn't as broken as she imagined. There was a strict speed limit on the objects she controlled, and no matter how much Energy she pumped into the telekinesis, she couldn't break it. This meant that objects with too little mass dealt practically zero damage. Biology might have taken a hike in this apocalypse, but the pillars of classical physics were still holding strong. Destroying those biologically impossible undead bodies still relied on raw Newtonian physics.

Kinetic energy equaled mass times velocity squared. Deep in thought, Vince flicked his wrist, throwing the skewer in his hand at the car door. Thwack! The iron skewer sank completely through the sheet metal, leaving nothing but a tiny dark hole on the surface. But Zoe's ability was fundamentally different from Vince's physical stats. Her telekinetic speed had a ceiling, entirely independent of the object's mass. However, the heavier the object, the more Energy it drained per second to control...

So the upgrade path was obvious: maximize the mass of her projectiles as much as possible, while carefully balancing weapon agility and her Energy sustain. Just as Vince was trying to reconcile his previous ideas with this new data, the sound of footsteps and squeaking wheels approached from down the street.

"Vince, Claire mentioned over the radio that you needed Hank for something, so I came over to lend a hand..." Vince looked up to see Ben and Hank walking toward them, each dragging a small handcart. Seth and Cody were trailing right behind them.

"Ben, what are you doing here? Where's Bruno?" Seeing Ben, Vince immediately thought of the heavily injured wild Awakened. His presence here was a bit surprising.

"Oh, I got Bruno set up in a room above the supermarket. We spent the whole afternoon rescuing survivors from the compound and relocating them into these street-facing blocks. Finally wrapped it all up, but when I went back to check on him, he was already out cold... I didn't want to wake the guy, so I figured I'd tag along with Hank to give you a sitrep on the compound. Plus, the two young guys here were heading back anyway," Ben explained casually, looking completely relaxed.

"Hey, Vince..." Hank, who was pulling the cart next to Ben, offered a slightly nervous greeting.