Alex moved quickly; he initially believed that the girls would be on the third floor, from the sound of his hearing, but he never thought that because his body had improved so far, the sounds were much higher, closer to the top floor, rushing up the stairs his feel like a gazelle rushing through an open field.

The newly found power inside his body felt terrific, causing his steps to be long, almost bouncing like a rubber ball each time his shoes touched the ground, light taps echoing in the eerie and deserted hallways as he made sure to check each floor, just in case there was something the girls missed, only finding the half-destroyed corpses of regular zombies with spear and arrow wounds.

'These girls... Do they want a reward that badly?' He looked upward, lost in thought, with a wicked smile on his lips, heading towards the fourth-floor staircase, his snowy hair dancing in the air behind him.

On the distant sixth floor, two women were currently interlocked in a gruelling battle with a pack of starved zombie dogs, their bodies decaying and filled with flesh and spines, one prick enough to instantly make a human become a zombie in seconds, their breathing short as if a hand grasped their lungs tightly squeezing and forcing out the air.

"Haa..... oi..... Sammy, what do we do? Ugh!?" Mildred asked, her formerly neat outfit and dress now filled with holes now tattered as blood seeped from her thighs and arms, her eyes weary with a dark glaze, her beautiful verdant eyes flickering as a dog burst through the door beside her, splinters of wood slicing and piercing her upper body, slamming her body against the wall with a thud, her impact so powerful cracks formed in the solid wall.

"Mildred! Fuck....!"

Samantha's spear was slightly warped; the pair planned to stay on the fourth floor but could hear the whimpering of women higher up; looking at Mildred's face, Samantha couldn't bare to stay still, hoping that Alex would understand, yet the moment they reached the fifth floor, the stairs were blocked, meaning they needed to pass through the hallway to use the southern staircase. In contrast, the whimpering and sounds of people being hit grew even louder.historical

Once they arrived on the fifth floor, a massive group of zombies seemed to have been kept in the rooms, like some trap to kill intruders or keep the people upstairs locked inside, struggling the pair finally fought through the group, taking quite a bit of damage and feeling embarrassed, as her spear was useless against larger groups in the narrow hallway, forced to use a poor shortsword.

'Why are these humans so vile!' She grimaced; the moment they finally reached the sixth floor, there was a strange group of male and female humans who seemed like scouts or lookouts. Instantly after Mildred and Samantha showed their faces on the sixth floor, they fled while cutting a role that tied a thick door shut, like the first floor.

An instant later, more than 10 zombie dogs appeared.

"Fucking dogs!" Sam screamed, backing away despite the pain in her lower back, the momentum sending her rolling down the corridor, skidding across the stone tiles until she slammed into another wall, nearly falling over again before stopping herself by grabbing onto the corner.

'Why were they so quiet before, and how did they get here?' she thought, her spear lowering as she thrust it forward, the vorpal strike causing the air to ripple with force contained in the tip, ripping apart the chest of the dog that attacked Mildred, before snapping out a brutal kick to Samantha's right, with a crushing blow her foot like a scorpion's tail smashed into the face of another dog, crushing it's head as Samantha began adding all points to strength, forgoing her willpower for the past 4 levels as she wanted to be unique, wanted Alex to look at her, not as the girl that fucked him to be safe, she wanted to be more.

Samantha's spear began to swirl, her masterful technique something Claire taught in the martial arts class; Samantha's talent was low, her skill weak, but she practised in silence, hidden from the others, when all had gone home, and Alex left to meet his girlfriend, she would sneak into the dojo, spending hours to practise, wanting to be as brilliant and brightly shining as Sarah, Claire and Alex.

She wanted to shine brighter than them.

As her anger built up, she used the last energy to push forth, launching a savage attack with every point she gained. As the blade sliced through several heads and limbs, the remaining dogs backed off as they ran around, confused at the sight of this new threat.

The tip of her spear began to shimmer with a dark blue glow, her eyes narrow and focused, blood dripping from the corner of her lips, wounds and scars all over her face as she lunged forward, her spear like a homing lance, stabbing towards a retreating dog, her spear skewering and tearing out its organs, before Samantha's body dashed along the wall, intercepting another with a deadly thrust the loud splutter and crack of its skull as her spear split the dog's skull.

Her squall thrust now different like she was a beast not only on the ground but using the walls and broken stone as leverage before finally killing the last dog, her spear snapping as the blade shattered inside the dog's chest, perforating its heart, causing blood to pour from its soft nose, mouth and eyes.

"Haa.... Haa.....fuck...."

Samantha was exhausted, her eyes narrowed as she tried to recover her breathing; despite being a ghoul, her entire body was burning, the white light trying to restore her stamina and endurance, but it was like a raindrop landing in the desert, trembling hands and quivering legs, she fell to her knee's as the bloodied Mildred approached with soft footsteps, gently stroked the sweaty white hair of Samantha as they both smiled at each other, a bitter victory, suffering so much damage.

But they did it alone! Without Alex, causing both of them feel uplifted and delighted!

"Sammy, we should head upstairs. Those voices are getting worse...Ngh...!" Mildred's voice was worn, her body still oozing tiny amounts of blood as she leaned on Samantha, clearly exhausted but still the familiar sounds of those women, a deep pain inside her chest throbbing as she wanted, no need to save them!

"Yeah yeah...Mils... Give me a moment... I've got gaping holes in my thighs from those dog teeth!" Samantha complained.

The pair took around 20 minutes to recover moderately as they moved up the stairs slowly, ensuring there were no stupid traps in the small rooms, blocked-off staircases and other annoying things like before.

Both felt a strange annoyance as the voices from above began to worsen, the sound of flesh collided, and angry shouts from several males as it seemed the scout team were being punished because they fled.

"We're almost there. Are you ready, Mills? The top floor was a penthouse on the map, a massive spread out area with various rooms on the outer wall and a large central greeting and lounge; we should be ready for combat the moment we appeared; they might even have guns, so keep your bow nocked and ready to fire."

"Ah... don't worry! Let's go; I hope Alex isn't mad we did something stupid..." Mildred nodded; her hand was shaking, firing so many times,s even for a group; l was starting to take its toll on her nerves and hand; she clenched it tightly, trying to stop the slight tremors.

Samantha nodded, holding her spear tight as they pushed themselves further upwards, reaching the end of the staircase, only a small ladder leading to the roof and antennae; they pushed aside the heavy wooden doors, and entered the room that marked the end of the building, the main entrance to the penthouse suite itself.

Many windows lined the ceiling, allowing sunlight to stream in, illuminating the whole space, and revealing the way ahead to a set of double doors leading to the rest of the room and beyond.

At first glance, it didn't seem too bad: A few tables scattered about, with chairs and couches arranged neatly throughout the lounge area. Paintings were adorning the walls, depicting landscapes of forests and mountains alike.

And then, numerous bookshelves lined the floors and walls, filling most of the available spaces between the furniture.

They also held countless knickknacks, figurines, statues, vases and photographs. Some of which seemed quite valuable, judging by their price tags. However, none of it meant anything without someone willing to buy it. It was hard to tell whether they were worth anything if anyone ever decided to sell them.

Samantha nodded to Mildred as they approached the main doors; beyond here was the source of the sounds, like a piece of wood which was impacting flesh.

They rushed through the door, and the spectacle that greeted them was just as imagined, the bloody bodies of various men and women, bruises and lacerations all over their half-naked bodies as they knelt before a group of people in suits holding grooved paddles.

"Ah....!?"

Clatter!