As we gathered around, Aaron came to stand beside Felix and Caleb. Behind us, the other lords—Geoffrey, Victor, and Ethan—stood back and watched. I wondered if we'd get to see them taking down some zombies. But I didn't need to see them do that to know how powerful and kick-ass they were. After all, I had seen them causing a shitload of damage only a few weeks back when they had gone quite berserk.
I listened carefully as Aaron began explaining what to expect when we started.
"Ten thousand zombies will rise," he said, which automatically made my jaw drop.
"Ten thousand zombies?" Brenna said, her eyes wide. I thought she sounded a bit faint.
"It's a good thing I've picked a rifle," Leona said. She turned to Brenna. "That quarterstaff will be difficult, Brenna."
Brenna and I nodded in agreement. With a rifle and a crossbow, one could easily shoot and kill the horde of zombies from a long distance. As for a quarterstaff and sword, one would have to be in close range to do any sort of damage, which in my case and Brenna's would be difficult since we were small. Obviously, our slight builds weren't suitable for knocking and throwing zombies around; that was for sure.
Aria said, "You can use spells on the staff to shoot energy balls to kill the zombies, Brenna."
Her eyes widened in delight. "Oh yeah, that's right." She chuckled nervously. "I can do that with my qi."
I wondered if Brenna was so nervous that she had forgotten some of the techniques, whatever those were, she had been taught.
Aaron continued. "The zombies each have a typical weapon on them, so you'll have to use your own judgment on how to avoid their attack. They do have certain moves that are unique to them. We won't tell you what they are simply because when it comes to the real battle, you won't know what to expect from your enemy. Use your instinct to fight them. Killing these zombies is easy. Simply decapitate them or destroy their heart. Do remember that just because these zombies are created by dark qi, once dead, they will not disappear. Their bodies will lie where you've slain them. So be mindful of your steps, because in a battlefield, dead bodies will be everywhere, and some might be your comrades."
I swallowed hard at hearing that. Gosh, Aaron made it sound so raw and brutal and just dark. I knew that though something like this was completely new to me, it was not for them. They had lived for hundreds of years and had been through many wars, after all.
Now it was Felix's turn to take over the instruction. He said, "Communication is crucial during a battle. Use the WIFI system to communicate with your team and keep tabs on everyone."
Caleb said, "We'll be keeping an eye on everyone's safety, but it's your job to both slay the zombies as well as aid your team members when they're in trouble."
Aaron said, "For today's exercise, we'll focus on testing your individual skills during a battle. Spread out and try to kill as many zombies as you can. After this, you will identify what your weak points are and work on those so that you will not make the same mistakes again."
We all nodded in understanding.
He stepped aside. "Now then, let's begin."
Suddenly, I became nervous. I mean, this was my first time fighting for real, after all, not just practicing like I had been for the last two and a half weeks.
Aaron told us to start spreading out, and we did.
With my saber in hand, I sprinted toward the other end of the woods, my feet light and my pace fast. It was odd that I felt so natural like this, as if I were in my element. Maybe it was because of either the golden pill Lord Noah had fed me or the release of my pure qi, or it could be both that made me feel this way. I honestly didn't know, but despite my nervousness, I felt quite thrilled too, with adrenaline pumping through me like never before.
I chose a spot where the trees weren't so clustered that my movement would be constricted, since my weapon was a blade. I needed room to be able to swing it around, after all. Getting your blade stuck when accidentally hitting a tree trunk or a branch while feral zombies were attacking you would be one of the worst and embarrassing mistakes ever.
On the other side, I noticed that Leona, Aria, and Brenna, too, took up their chosen spots across the woods. Leona seemed comfortable and confident, leaning back against the trunk of a big tree, while both Aria and Brenna, who also chose a less-dense area, looked a bit nervous, just as I was.
Michael, Peter, Allan, and Travis sprinted to the front line, closer to where I assumed the feral zombies would rise. Because they were soldiers, I guess heading to the front line was instinct to them.
Suddenly, I saw dark qi rising, a glow of black, blowing smoke swirling across the distance on the other side in front of us. Then one by one in quick succession, zombies appeared.
I stared, wide-eyed and in awe, because they looked so real, their mighty bodies clad in armor and filled with black qi. In their hands were nasty weapons of all sorts. I didn't miss the fact that they looked twice as big as me and some, three times.
"Get ready!" I heard Felix's voice running through the WIFI network.
"Be careful, everyone," Lord Victor told us telepathically. "And Brenna, try not to be too tense. Your qi flow is too constricted for it to work properly if you want to use energy beams."
I smiled. I guess we would be guided by the lords during this battle practice after all, which was awesome.
Lord Victor said, "You too, Alfie. Your qi is charging and discharging. You're both too tense and too excited."
I heard all the lords chuckling as if they found me getting excited at the prospect of killing zombies amusing.
Aaron said, "Relax, Alfie. Remember our training."
I nodded as I said, "Aye-aye, sensei."
Suddenly, Caleb said, "You know the Yamato language, Alfie?"
That got me interested. I said, "No, I don't know of the Yamato language, but the word sensei means teacher in Japanese, one of the languages back on Earth."
"I see," he said.
Felix said, "Ready, everyone. The zombies will activate in three, two, one."
Suddenly, I heard loud, incoherent roars, just like men screaming before they ran head-on toward their enemy in a battlefield. From the distance, I saw the zombies start moving, sprinting toward us, weapons ready. Instantly, I saw Michael begin shooting, followed by Travis, Allan, and then Peter, respectively. Their red, glowing bullets hit smack on the zombies, some on their forehead and some in the chest, limbs, and other body parts. The moment they were hit, names of the individuals who made the kill appeared in the air, along with the number of zombies they'd killed beside it.
I saw Michael's name at the top, with ten kills in just a few seconds, followed by Peter with eight, Allan with seven, and Travis with six.
This was new, I thought.
Suddenly, Lord Geoffrey's voice came loud and clear to us via the WIFI communication. "We forgot to inform you all that we're keeping a tally. First place gets a taste of Noah's golden pill." He chuckled with amusement.
Golden pill for first place? No thank you.
Brenna said, "It would be nice to get that golden pill, my lord, but with the results we're seeing from Alfie, I doubt any of us girls would want the prize of the golden pill."
Leona agreed by saying, "Unless Lord Noah could modify the ingredients so the result doesn't involve any changes in the chest department."
This brought laughter, not only from us girls, but the lords as well.
A moment later, Leona suddenly said, "Oh, incoming."
I used my military lenses to zoom in on Leona in the distance. I noted that she started expertly shooting as well, hitting feral zombies in quick succession, killing five to ten in one round.
Her name appeared above us in the air in glowing letters. Beside her, the tally was twelve. She was at the bottom of the rank, with Michael and his friends still hovering at the top. Aria, Brenna, and my name were nowhere to be seen since we hadn't made even one kill yet, which was slightly embarrassing.
As I had guessed, a rifle was the best option when you wanted to kill your enemies from a long-distance range. The same with a crossbow, I came to realize when I saw Aria fire her arrow at a zombie and hit smack on its heart. Within an instant, the feral fell back and died. Her name appeared at the bottom of the list with one kill.
I said to her via the WIFI network, "That was awesome, Aria."
Leona said, "What about me? I killed fifteen."
I laughed. "You're super awesome, Leona. Kick-ass with your shooting style."
"Why, thank you," she replied. I could just imagine her blushing as she said those words.