Chapter 30: Clearing the Mall
Samuel and Susan went up to the second floor. When they reached there Samuel saw most of the fighters ready and geared up for battle. Levi was at the head of the group.
Levi saw Samuel and Susan and a confused look appeared on his face. "Samuel, why do you still have those bags on you?" Levi asked. "I don't know where I can drop them off" Samuel replied. Levi called one of the fighters that wasn't going out. The guy walked towards Samuel "Give him your bag he will put it in our storage room." Levi said.
Samuel hesitated not willing to give his food and medical supplies to a stranger. "Don't worry, my men are trustworthy. No one has a reason to steal from you. At the end of the day. We are all in this together from now on." Levi said. Samuel hesitated for a few more seconds before giving his bag to the guy. 'I'll give them some trust for now. If they do betray me then that will just be a lesson learned.' Samuel thought to himself.
"Good now that we are all here. We do things as usual. Samuel since you're new I'll explain things to you. We have exactly 37 members that have combat capabilities. With you that makes it 38. Ten people are left behind to protect those that can't fight. While the rest go out to increase our strength. We switch the ten people that stay behind twice a day. Because we go hunting twice a day.
Now for us who are going hunting. The first step is to use the darkness of the floor outside our base to get passed the Aurora mutants on the floor above us. Once we get to the above floor we will scatter to different parts of the mall. All in groups of 7. No matter what don't separate from your group. Now everyone get into your groups." Levi ordered.
The fighters started getting into their groups immediately. Samuel on the other hand was aimlessly moving around. Not knowing where to go. Before he knew it everyone was in a group except him. Everyone looked at him some even chuckled at his awkward expression. Samuel's gaze landed on the team Susan was in. It only had 6 people so he thought he should join.
Susan and Samuel locked gazes. Samuel gave her the best begging expression he could make. She rolled her eyes at his attempts to act cute. But she still waved her hand at him to join. Samuel soon joined their team and everyone was ready. "Good now let's go," Cole said and everyone followed his and Levi's group. They all reached the first floor of the store. Then they went to the back of the store. Where the door that Samuel walked first walked in through was located. They reached the hallway leading to the metal door that still had 2 people guarding it.
The guy at the door dimmed the lights in the hallway to the point it was almost completely dark. This was done so that the lights from the hallway wouldn't attract the aurora mutants. Cause if they opened the door with the normal lights it would show the mutants exactly where they are. The door rose and everyone stepped into the darkness of the last floor of the mall.
"Your name is Samuel, right? Follow me. You don't know your way around the darkness of this floor. So just hang on to me" Susan said as she grabbed Samuel's hand and led him through the floor. Although she tried to act cold and distant Samuel had seen enough of her to know that she was a good person. Although he didn't need her help to walk through the floor. He didn't say anything and just followed her. After all, no one here could tell he was blind. He kept his glasses on at all times.
Samuel decided to inspect every fighter. To his surprise, none of them were below the 4th stage of the mortal legend. Levi was at the 9th stage and Cole was at the 8th stage. Alex was at stage 5 and George was at stage 6. Everyone here was stronger than him. Samuel gritted his teeth and took out both his knives from his Myth Zone. He proceeded to use inspection on himself. His progress to the next stage was at 82%.
'Only a few more and I'll reach the next stage ' Samuel thought to himself. The fighters made their way to the escalators that led to the floor above them. Multiple Aurora mutants could be seen from their position. Some of the mutants were staring into the floor they were on. But the darkness didn't allow them to see anything. "Like usual everyone. We move fast, in and out. Don't stay in one place for too long. And we all come back to base after 2 hours." Levi said softly.
Even though he whispered, because of how quiet the floor was everyone heard him. After a few seconds of silence, Cole said "Now!". Before Samuel could react Cole, Levi, George and anyone above the 5th stage blurred from his senses. 'No, they didn't vanish. They just moved so fast that I couldn't sense them properly.' Samuel thought to himself.
They soon reappeared on the floor above them. 2 groups of people all at the 6th stage and above. The Aurora mutants didn't even get a chance to attack them before they jumped to another floor. They jumped from floor to floor with ease. "Let's move," said a woman in the other group next to Samuel. Her name was Rebecca she was tall with brown skin and eyes. She held a makeshift weapon in her hand. A long chain connected to what appeared to be the head of a large hammer. "Swoosh!" Samuel sensed her and many others activate the Aurora within their bodies. Rebecca's chain got enveloped in a black-purple-colored energy.
With a swing of her hand. The chain was sent flying "Crack!" the hammerhead on the chain directly slammed into the head of one of the Aurora mutants. Only for it to then be retracted back to her. She was now in mid-air after having jumped. With another motion she sent her chained hammer flying towards the mutants. A crazed smile was plastered onto her face. Her braided hair flowed along with her movements.
Accompanying her were many others who jumped into battle. With bladed and blunt weapons. Everyone charged at the Aurora mutants. "What is this? Why does it feel like you guys are the monsters instead of them?" Samuel asked Susan.
"To survive in this dying world all we can do is fight like monsters," Susan said as she joined her comrades. Samuel followed right behind her. Susan ran up the escalators. Her arms and feet were coated in Aurora. "Bang! Bang!.." each of her punches crashed into the mutants with a loud sound. She moved in between the mutants with such speed and aggression that it left Samuel speechless. "And here I thought I would be coming to this mall to save the people trapped here. They aren't trapped here, they don't need saving. These guys are…awesome " Samuel said his eyes glowing with excitement.
He tightened his grip around his knives and rushed at the closest Aurora mutant to him. The mutant saw him approaching and swung its claws at him. Samuel spun around the mutant attacks. Although it was faster than him. Its attacks were too predictable. He reached its left side and slashed his knives. The mutant tried to block it with its claws. But it was useless against his knives. His first blade cut through the mutant's claws with ease. That left its neck wide open and Samuel dealt the finishing blow.
[You have slain Aurora mutants (Mortal, Stage 3) x1. Your legend raises slightly]
Once he got the kill notification he moved on to the next monster. He didn't just attack randomly. He only targeted those in the 3rd stage. The next monster was running towards Samuel. It saw him as easy prey since he was the weakest. The Aurora mutant pounced on him. Unfortunately for it, being in mid-air left it wide open as Samuel's knives came slicing through its unguarded neck.
[You have slain Aurora mutants (Mortal, Stage 3) x1. Your legend raises slightly]
"Next," Samuel said. His heart was pumping fast. The adrenaline and fear made him enter a state appropriate for battle.
"Swoosh!" another Aurora mutant rushed at Samuel from his back. It crouched low with its claws coated in Aurora. But Samuel saw it coming. With his 360-degree perception, he had no such thing as a blind spot. But the monster was fast and Samuel shifted his position to block the incoming attack.
"Clang!" claw and knife met. Samuel felt the difference in their strength. It was stronger than him. So he didn't fight its force with his own. Instead, he redirected his blade to slice in between the mutant's fingers.
Cutting its hand deeply "Roar!" it roared in pain and Samuel didn't let the chance get. His second blade came slicing through the air and with little resistance. It cut through the mutant's head from ear to ear.
[You have slain Aurora mutants (Mortal, Stage 3) x1. Your legend raises slightly]
"Next," Samuel said as he charged at the mutant closest to him. The creature got ready to welcome Samuel's charge. But Samuel did the unexpected and threw one of his knives at the mutant. It quickly intercepted the knife with one of its clawed hands "Clang!". But it had fallen for Samuel's trap.
Its arm was raised in such a way that it blocked the mutant's sight. Samuel crouched low and slid underneath the monster's arms. Then with a thrust of his remaining knife. It pierced the mutant from below its jaw and straight into its brain. Samuel then grabbed the handle of his thrown knife as it was about to hit the floor.
[You have slain Aurora mutants (Mortal, Stage 3) x1. Your legend raises slightly]