Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 71: Level 3

After observing the noticeable changes in his bodies which occurred after leveling up his skill [Dead Man Walking] to Tier II. Zane quickly allocated his attributes points that he had gained from reaching Level 5 into those fields, which he felt were necessary to improve.

Evidently, he received an additional attribute point once he reached level five. Whether this was a special occurrence because it was a level he also gained a skill point on, or a new feature, Zane did not know. In the end, he could only surmise that time would tell.

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[Attributes:]

[Strength: 14]

[Dexterity: 13]

[Constitution: 12]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

---

After multiple level ups. Elena and Olivia were struggling with the pain and agony that their bodies underwent every time they consumed blood crystals.

The more blood crystals one consumed, the longer this paralyzed state would occur. Making it incredibly dangerous to be in. After all, they were effectively disabled, and any potential hostiles, whether those be the living or the dead, could easily kill them in that state, or worse.

Luckily for the two women, Zane was keeping a close watch over them. He was on high alert, his rifle was locked and loaded, and he was regularly walking through the house, keeping an eye on the outside world, while also maintaining a patrol within the interior to ensure nothing got in without his permission.

By the time dawn broke the next day, Elena and Olivia had awoken from their agonizing trance, where the two women appeared exhausted. Though they had slowly started to grow accustomed to the torture a living being went through during their corruption phase. It still took a lot out of them.

Seeing that the women were awake, Zane decided to make breakfast for them while they allocated their points into the proper areas. Elena was a tad bit quicker than Olivia, who was more interested in overcoming the soreness that one would gain from lying in a huddled position for eight plus hours on end.

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[Level up!]

[You are now Level 3!]

[Attribute Points: 2]

[User: Elena Pryce]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 3]

[XP: 0/500]

[HP: 110/110]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 12 +/-]

[Dexterity: 11 +/-]

[Constitution: 11 +/-]

[Intelligence: 10 +/-]

[Wisdom: 10 +/-]

[Charisma: 10 +/-]

[Skills]

[Time Distortion – Tier 1]

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After looking at her skills for some time, Elena decided to invest another stat point into strength. While using the second one on the constitution. After all, ammo was scarce and her ability had a long cooldown. Because of this, she was now taking a front-line role as the swords woman of the group.

Thus, after a brief deliberation, her attributes appeared as follows:

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[Attributes]

[Strength: 13]

[Dexterity: 12]

[Constitution: 12]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills]

[Time Distortion – Tier 1]

---

Once Elena was finished setting her stats, she was quick to approach Zane and help him with breakfast, all the while Olivia had finally gotten down to doing her own level up. Because she was more of a support specialist, casting electric discharge from afar, while aiding Elena with potential hostiles if too many got next to her.

Olivia chose to focus on Strength and Dexterity for the time being, increasing them both to 12.

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[User: Olivia Bennett]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 3]

[XP: 0/500]

[HP: 100/100]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 12]

[Dexterity: 12]

[Constitution: 10]

[Intelligence: 12]

[Wisdom: 10]

[Charisma: 10]

[Skills]

[Electric Discharge – Tier 1]

---

The two women were only two levels away from being able to evolve their skills, but they did not know about that option, at least not yet. That is until they sat down at the breakfast table, with their guns lying within reach.

In all honesty, both Elena and Olivia were surprised that Zane had cooked breakfast for them. And the reality of the situation was that Zane wasn't necessarily cooking breakfast for them, but rather for himself. He just had leftovers for the two of them to share a meal with him.

Elena was curious about Zane's current level, as he appeared to be ahead of them, and was quick to ask about it.

"Hey Zane… You have a minute?"

Zane looked up while stuffing his face with scrambled eggs. After all, he had no idea when he would be able to enjoy a home-cooked breakfast again. Especially when one considered they would be leaving Elena's childhood home later that day, in search of more supplies and greener pastures.

Thus, Zane was having his fill of food, even if his body no longer required it. Once he finally managed to swallow his spoonful of the fluffy yellow delicacy, he nodded his head and responded to Elena's question.

"What's up?"

Zane believe something serious needed to be discussed. After all, the relationship between him and Elena was in a weird place right now. They had just begun to overcome the trauma of what had happened in this very house just two days prior. And Zane knew Elena would still need some time to fully get over what he did.

But he was surprised when the girl asked about something as simple as his current level and abilities.

"I was wondering, since you can easily process the blood crystals without suffering the effects of corruption. What level are you right now, and just what are your attributes?

Zane washed down the eggs with some freshly made coffee before responding to Elena's question with complete and utter honesty. Talking about his exact attributes, as well as his level.

The two women were, of course, not surprised to hear that Zane was two levels ahead of them, but were indeed shocked to hear about the skill evolution which Zane talked about as if it were something completely and utterly meaningless.

"Aside from that, I also evolved my skill. It's now on the second tier. Which means I am no longer required to eat, drink, breathe, sleep, or piss and shit…. I think my body is starting to become more and more like the dead as I level up…'

While Zane treated this massive change to his physicality, as if it were nothing impressive, or anything to be concerned about, Zane and Elena looked at the man in horror. But contrary to Zane's expectations, it was not Elena who made an outburst but Olivia.

"How are you not concerned about this? You say you're becoming more like the dead as you level up? What if you genuinely become an undead later on? Don't you have any fears of such a thing happening to you?"

Zane looked at the woman as if she were overreacting, before scoffing and shaking his head, dismissing such concerns entirely.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing? I mean… As long as I maintain control of my mind, are there not significant benefits the dead have that we don't? I don't know why the both of you are so flustered about this. It's not like it's your body…"

Elena and Olivia exchanged concerned glances. Zane seemed perfectly willing to throw away his humanity if it meant increasing his power, or more specifically, increasing his odds of survival. But the two of them were not willing to allow such a thing to happen.

Because of this, the three of them got into a heated debate, until Zane finally snapped, telling them that it was his body, and he would not be listening to their concerns any longer. After saying this, there was utter silence at the table until Zane finally finished his meal, where he then walked off to go prepare for the day's operation.