The streets of New York were unrecognizable. Smoke curled from toppled skyscrapers. Cars were piled like toys, some crushed under the weight of falling debris. Ethan moved through the chaos, his wind ability slicing through zombies with precision, sending shards of concrete flying.
[Zombie Cores Nearby – Common ×3, Uncommon ×1]
He knelt to absorb them, feeling his power surge with each core. The air around him became sharper, faster, like it obeyed his every thought.
People ran past him in panic, some human survivors too terrified to fight, others holding crude weapons and picking off stragglers. One man waved a crowbar, shouting: "Take that core! Grab one or you're dead!"
Ethan grabbed the cores. His wind ability cut through the street as he tested the limits of his newfound strength. Every zombie that fell released its core, pulsing faintly—common cores giving him a small boost, uncommon cores giving his wind edge a razor-sharp precision he hadn't felt before.
Awakened Animals and Plants
A low growl echoed from a nearby alley. Ethan looked up and froze. A wolf stood there—muscles bulging unnaturally, eyes glowing faintly. This wasn't a normal wolf.
It charged.
The air around Ethan compressed as he twisted, sending a blade of wind slicing through the wolf. The beast yelped but didn't die; it ran back into the alley. Ethan noticed a faint shimmer around it—Fath Power, he realized. Animals could evolve naturally, and some had already awakened.
Nearby, vines broke through cracked asphalt, lashing at a group of zombies and tearing them apart before retreating into a collapsed building. Trees in the park swayed unnaturally, roots twisting and gripping debris as if alive. Plants too had begun awakening, drawing energy from the chaos around them.
Ethan stepped carefully, realizing this world wasn't just filled with zombies—it was alive. Every corner, every shadow might hide a Fath-powered predator or sentient plant.
Citywide Chaos
By the end of the second day, Manhattan had become a battlefield. Times Square was a ruined wasteland; the billboards shattered, fires burning among broken cars and bodies. The Brooklyn Bridge was partially destroyed from collisions and wind attacks, the air thick with ash and screaming.
Ethan moved through the ruins, taking cores wherever he could. Common cores made him stronger. Uncommon cores made his wind sharper, faster, precise enough to cut steel. Rare cores, which he spotted occasionally among the hordes, promised incredible power—but he didn't dare risk chasing one yet.
Above the chaos, a roar echoed from the skyline. A shadow moved across the ruins of the Empire State Building. A King Core zombie.
Ethan froze. The sheer presence of the creature made his wind chill. He hadn't fought one before, but he knew enough: this was a zombie born with a legendary core, untouchable by humans. If it attacked, the city wouldn't survive.
For now, it didn't. It vanished behind a plume of smoke, leaving only fear in its wake.
Leveling Up
By the fourth day, Ethan realized his wind ability had changed. Moves that had taken effort before now came naturally; his blades of air could slice through walls and cars, redirecting debris to knock out zombies. Absorbing cores had already made him stronger than the humans he encountered.
[Level 1 → 2 – Early Sublevel Completed]
[Wind Ability Strengthened – Uncommon Core Absorbed ×2]
He was learning quickly. Every fight refined his control. Every core gave him more strength. But every city street, every park, every alley now had threats that grew faster than he could anticipate: zombies, Fath-powered animals, awakened plants, and—rarely—King Core zombies lurking like nightmares.