Rise of the Strongest War God

Seeing his updated status window, Luke nodded in satisfaction. Now he was no longer in the 'mediocre' category. 𝚋ｅｄ𝚗𝚘𝚟ｅ𝚕．𝚗ｅｔ

After he was done, he went back to Ben and Alice and asked her, "So, what kind of skill and treasure did you get?"

"I… I got a level 3 bracelet. It's a single time use item. When used, it can make the user fly up to 10 meters for 10 seconds." Alice said, showing him the green bracelet on her wrist.

"As for the skill, I got the Flame manipulation skill. It's a level 3 three and first order skill. From the information I received, this skill is pretty amazing." She said, her voice hiding her barely concealable happiness.

When Luke heard the skill's name, his eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't help but ask again, "Did you say 'Flame manipulation'?"

"Yes. What's the matter? Is there a problem with this skill?" Alice nodded before asking in concern.

Luke took a deep breath and shook his head. "No. There is nothing wrong with your skill. I was just surprised because I just couldn't believe your luck is so good that got you such an amazing skill."

"Oh? How is it amazing?" She asked, her interest piqued. Although she got the feeling that her skill was good, Luke's expression just then told her she was still undermining it.

"Although I can't say for sure, all the skills that has word 'manipulation' behind them are supposed to be top grade skills because as you upgrade them, they allow you to master and control the corresponding element." Luke explained. This is all the information he heard from his 'master' when he was talking to his friends.

Alice's eyes glowed in excitement when she heard this and asked, "So, what you mean is, after I upgrade this skill enough, I'll be able to control the fire element completely?"

"Yes. You should be." Luke nodded. Before she started daydreaming, he warned her, "Remember not to tell anyone about your skill. Even if you have to tell, just say it's fire control or something like that. Don't ever mention the word manipulation or you'll be hunted down by the other greedy people."

"Un. Got it. Thanks for the warning." Alice gratefully nodded.

"Oh, yeah. What level was that evolved zombie you killed?" He asked.

"Level 3. Why?"

Luke shook his head and said, "You guys, rest here and recuperate. We'll continue to clear the other houses and level up." Luke told them.

"Where are you going?" Ben asked.

"Upstairs." Luke said and then immediately added, "I advise you to stay here if you don't want to see a gruesome sight."

Alice, who was about to follow him, stopped dead in her tracks when she understood his meaning.

Ben didn't understand, but seeing her stop, he also curbed his curiosity. After Luke went out of the room, he asked, "What was he talking about?"

"You know how zombies evolve?" She counter questioned.

"Yeah. By eating other humans." Ben reflexively said. Then suddenly, he understood what Luke meant by the gruesome sight.

The two level 3 zombies must have killed and eaten quite a few people to evolve and since they were staying upstairs, it meant their food was there too.

"Since he knows what's upstairs, why is he going still?" Ben murmured.

"Perhaps he suspects there is some other reason behind their fast evolution?" Alice guessed.

If Luke had heard her guess, he would've been surprised yet again by her because she was completely right. He suspected that there should be some other reason behind the zombies' fast evolution.

How did he come to this conclusion?

Simply because this house wasn't a boarding house or anything similar, but a simple house where only an average family of 4-5 could live comfortably and after entering the house, they have encountered 5 people or one dead body and four zombies, to be exact.

So, if we assume that there weren't more people for the zombies to consume and evolve, that leaves us with only one possibility. There was something else that caused them to evolve.

If it was someone else, they would find this possibility hard to accept. Fortunately, it was Luke who knew things ordinary people didn't know.

For example, he knew there were indeed things that could help zombies and beasts evolve quickly or they can strengthen them so much that other creature of the same level could never match them. The most common of these miraculous things was the mutated plants or fruits.

As Luke mentioned before, the entire planet was going through the evolution, not just humans or beasts but the vegetation too.

When the vegetation and plants evolve, they often mutate. Some of them become so deadly that they can easily kill even the evolved creatures when consumed.

While some mutate to become heavenly treasures which, if eaten, would expedite one's evolution or give them various kinds of benefits.

When Luke reached the second floor, he didn't find any dead body which firmed his belief that there was something extraordinary here.

He searched all the rooms one by one but didn't find anything. When he reached the last room near the balcony, he smelt the natural fragrance of plants.

Looking inside, he noticed there was a small flowerpot near the balcony. It had a pink-colored plant which was exuding this fragrance. He could even see a few small berry-like fruits hanging from its branches.

Seeing this, a smile appeared on his face. If humans could also eat these fruits without any side effect, then these will help him a lot to become stronger.

However, just as he was about to walk toward it, he suddenly felt lightheaded and disoriented. Slowly, his consciousness was also becoming blurry.

'Crap! It's dangerous.' Luke cursed. He knew if he lost consciousness here, he might not wake up ever again.

Whoosh!

He immediately turned around and dashed out of the room, closing the door after him.

After a few minutes, he became normal again.

"What kind of plant is that? It's too dangerous." He mumbled. 'It seems I can't bring the whole plant with me.'

After carefully assessing the situation, he turned around entered the room once again. Since he couldn't bring the plant, he wanted to bring the fruits at least.

This time, he was holding his breath to avoid being affected by the fragrance. However, after he was halfway to the plant, he started feeling disorienting once again.

'What a terrifying little thing!' He exclaimed in shock and became even more determined to take its fruits. He gritted his teeth and sprinted all the way to the plant and plucked the fruits.

After taking all the fruits, he took out his sword and slashed the plant into pieces, destroying it.

Since humans couldn't even get close to it without being affected, it wasn't likely to benefit them.

So destroying it was the most appropriate thing to do, since he couldn't allow the already fearsome zombies and beasts benefit from it.