"I'm not asking…"
These were the words that Elena wanted to hear least from Zane, and yet they were indeed the words that escaped from his pursed lips. Zane was unpredictable, and Elena still did not know what his ability was that he had gained after consuming a blood crystal.
For all she knew, he had some godlike power. And it was this fear of the unknown, as well as the sheer rage Zane had displayed the previous day when he killed Gregory, that compelled Elena to do that which she feared the most.
After taking a deep breath to steel her resolve, Elena popped the blood crystal into her mouth. Grimacing in disgust as she felt the sanguine liquid pour down her throat. As much as she wanted to throw up, she could not.
This was an expression which intrigued Zane, as it clarified that Elena found the blood crystals to be disgusting, which was the exact opposite of what he felt when he ate them. And almost immediately after consuming the blood crystal, Elena's body reacted in a way that Zane's never had.
Her veins turned dark, and her mouth began to froth as she fell to the floor, spasming as if she was having a seizure. Upon further inspection with the Examine feature of the system, Zane found a familiar message that he had seen when he last examined this condition. But there was a minor difference.
--
[A Living Being has consumed a blood crystal, a Debuff has been applied!]
[Debuff: Corruption]
[Duration: 30 Minutes]
[Effects:]
20% Decrease in Experience Gain
Paralysis
--
There were two distinctive features that no longer existed from this debuff. The first of the two was the 20% chance to awaken, while the second was the 80% chance of becoming infected. This meant that the one in five risk of turning into a Walker after consuming a blood crystal only applied to those who had yet to awaken the system.
This was good to know. And it was while Zane was examining Elena's twitching body that Olivia walked over to him. She appeared in a much better mood than the previous day. Perhaps during her sleep she had time to process the complicated emotions of killing another human being, and being responsible for the death of another.
But for whatever reason, upon witnessing Elena's current state, Olivia did not flee in fear, instead there was a determined look in her ice-blue eyes as she reached out her hand and demanded the same brutal treatment.
"Please tell me you are not favoring Elena?"
Zane's brow raised as a slightly curious expression appeared on his face. Was this woman seriously not afraid of the painfully debilitating effects that consuming a blood crystal would have on her body? Knowing this, Zane could help but nod his head in approval as he handed the woman one of the two remaining blood crystals he had on his person.
The mature silver haired beauty immediately got on her knees and popped the blood crystal in her mouth. Knowing that she was just going to fall to the floor anyway, she wanted to mitigate the risk of hurting herself, and thus she laid down herself. Where shortly thereafter she entered an identical state as Elena.
Knowing that it would be a while before the two women recovered from their debuff, and that they were perfectly safe on the third floor of their temporary sanctuary. Zane shut the door to the classroom behind him as he scouted out a third potential individual to awaken the system.
After searching through the various classrooms where the other students and faculty slept, Zane came across a young man whose physical attributes seemed to be decent. If this man awakened, then surely he would have a slight increase in strength when compared to a dreadfully average human being like himself, right?
These were the thoughts that Zane had as he kicked the teenage boy in the shin. Who awakened with a start, as he looked around to see what had happened to him. When he saw Zane's gruesome appearance, the half awake boy nearly shouted in fright, but Zane simply grabbed hold of his face, and silenced him on the spot.
"Shut the fuck up and eat this."
When Zane placed his hand over the youth's mouth, he had the blood crystal in it, force feeding the boy a consumable which had a 4/5 chance of turning him into an undead. Was this an ethical action? Certainly not, Zane had essentially forced this man into a life or death situation, one that the odds did not favor survival.
But did Zane have the luxury of having moral principles or a code of ethics to follow? He was quite literally living at the end of human civilization. Anyone who acted in accordance with conventional morality was naïve at best, or an absolute moron at the worst.
If Zane wanted a chance of surviving in this cruel new world, then he needed a party of awakened individuals. Not only that, but awakened individuals with powerful skills. And he was more than willing to crack a few eggs to bake a cake.
Thus, Zane watched in silence, observing the teenage boy as he suffered from a state similar to Elena and Olivia. But as expected, his status was slightly different from the two of them who had already awakened.
---
[Examine]
Zane's own thoughts activated the feature, allowing him to determine exactly what was happening to his two would be companions.
[A Living Being has consumed a blood crystal, a Debuff has been applied!]
[Debuff: Corruption]
[Duration: 30 Minutes]
[Effects:]
20% Chance of Success of Awakening
20% Decrease in Experience Gain
80% Chance of Infection
Paralysis
---
For Zane, it was now a waiting game, to see whether this boy would turn, or if he would awaken. Because of this gamble, Zane sat right in front of him, and watched as the boy reeled in agony. All while keeping his war club nearby in case he needed to swiftly put an end to this potential threat.