He had one more technique. It was a meditation technique. He had already mastered the Power of Breath technique and put it aside.
He had acquired this technique for 27 million sc. It was the most expensive technique he had.
[Astral Echo: Soul Resonance: Astral Echo is a dangerous meditation technique from a lost branch of the ancient "Silent Priests" sect. It aims to bring the soul into direct resonance with the ley lines. The user learns to breathe at the same frequency as the vibrations of the universe. This is not just an experience, but a merging.
The user hears soul echoes that overlap with the astral plane. Each echo engraves the experience and knowledge of existence into the deepest depths of the soul. EXP comes not only with knowledge, but also with awareness.
However, this awareness can be too deep for the human mind to comprehend].
[Requirements: Level 10]
[Benefits: +50 EXP gain/min
Emotional Stability +25% (Only during meditation)
Chance to gain Spiritual Harmony (1 in 100,000,000)
Spiritual Harmony: The technique is so compatible with you that you will see the same effects as the person who developed it. (Exp+20% + Emotional Stability +10%)]
[Cons: Possibility of mental imbalance and loss of connection. (Seen in 1 in 10,000 people.)]
William did not experience any problems when he started practicing this technique. On the contrary, he found it very useful and would often sit and meditate to relax when he felt stressed.
The only problem was that the amount of exp he gained while practicing this technique was not multiplied by 100. This meant that he was only using this technique for emotional stability.
It was unfortunate, but if he could learn the basics of ley, he could turn this technique into a way to gain high-level exp, such as killing creatures.
If that were the case, it would mean 5,000 exp per minute without moving a finger, which was an incredible number. Moreover, this was not the best technique on the market. There were better ones, and the price varied accordingly.
William turned his head and saw someone familiar standing next to one of the assembled weapons.
"Are you joining too? Isn't it dangerous for the baby?"
William looked at Elura, who was sitting on the seat of the huge rifle, in surprise.
"Don't worry, it'll only take ten minutes. That'll be enough to fill the exp I need for Level 11." Elura smiled and began adjusting the gun.
"Have you used one before?"
Elura shook her head. "Yes, but only to try it out. There wasn't a 'live' target."
William laughed. "Your chance has finally come."
"Yes." Elura pointed to Austin, who was looking at the engines of a few trucks ahead. "Today is leveling day for people like us who mostly work in civilian jobs. We're afraid that the field boss won't respawn after the zombies around it are gone. So everyone is going to try to level up as much as possible. Me and a few other civilians like Austin are planning to reach Level 11."
William shook his head. "I see. Won't the evolution harm the child?"
"We don't know. That's why I'm waiting for Max's advice. But to be honest, I have no patience."
"I think you should wait, Elura. I believe the child will be the first child in this shelter, right? I think you should avoid any risks that could harm him." William shook his head.
Elura nodded in agreement. "I don't know, I'll see."
William then returned to Joseph.
After a while, the preparations were complete and everyone was ready to fight. Most of these people were long-range weapon users. Killing the zombies without getting close to them was the best approach for now.
"What are we doing?" William asked Joseph.
"Simple," Joseph said. "The Field Boss can't leave the one-kilometer radius around it. But with that comes a lot of rules. The first person to enter the area will attract the boss's attention, and the boss will attack them first. Of course, this is only in the first stage. If there is someone who can deal more damage, the boss's attention will shift to them. Just like in games."
William nodded.
"Marcus will take on this task first. We'll let him attack a little. Then we'll approach and start attacking. Don't worry, its attack power isn't that great considering its size, but its defense... its defense is a different story. Saleem said that because it's a boss, it's a creature that's difficult to kill. According to him, this creature has a lot of HP."
Joseph continued speaking after making sure William was listening.
"In short, the stronger we are, the faster it'll die. We don't have any proof, it's just a guess, but we think it's true."
"The last thing I can say about the boss is that it gets angry after a certain amount of time. When it gets angry, its attack power and health increase significantly. So the faster we are, the better."
William nodded. "What about the high-level zombies around it? According to what you said, they're a bigger threat than the boss."
"Yes, the most annoying ones are the Zombie Shepherds. As you can see, there are a lot of zombies around. Our priority will be to kill the zombie shepherds because they can focus the low-level zombies in one area, which makes our job harder."
William nodded and drew his swords. "Then the plan is simple. Kill the high-level zombies, clear the area, and kill the boss."
"Exactly." Joseph patted William on the shoulder, then drew his sword and stepped forward. He was still wearing his ironed military uniform. The other soldiers stood behind him.
"For the future!" As soon as he said that, everyone repeated it in unison.
"For the future!"
Marcus was the first to run. The timing was clear, so they let him run thirty seconds early. Then Eliza, Joseph, Mick, Min-Jun, Edmond, and the others ran.
Not everyone had come today, but even Pete, the manager of the Beginning Hotel, was here. He had formed a bond with Min-Jun, and they were moving together.
Kim and Saleem, the sharp shooters, stayed behind to take out the high-level zombies from a distance.
The close combat team was at the front, the mid-range machine gun users were in the middle for close fire support, and the sharp shooters and heavy weapon users were at the back for spread fire and sending the small zombies to zombie heaven.
William watched everyone run, activate their abilities, and fearlessly dive into the zombies.
Marcus was at the front, ripping through the lines.
Every zombie that was hit by his shield was either torn to pieces by a shock wave or flew dozens of meters away like a kite with a broken string.
The bullets from Kim's sniper rifle didn't stop until they had killed more than a dozen high-level zombies.
Min-Jun's large sword swept a ten-meter area in a single stroke, slicing zombies in half like dried grass in a field.
Mick was right behind Marcus.
His speed was pitiful compared to Marcus, but he was almost flawless in defense.
After evolving, his back pain had completely disappeared.
Jason... Jason still hadn't figured out what his blessing was, but he had found his way.
With every step he took, he appeared dozens of meters away.
Each of his strikes meant the death of a high-level zombie.
Eliza, on the other hand, had improved her spell repertoire.
She waved her hand as she walked, firing small, arrow-sized ley bullets.
Ley Missile was the newest spell she had learned.
She wasn't the only one using spells; behind her were more than ten people who were as familiar with ley as she was.
Even Hugo, who hadn't left the shelter all day, had come.
He couldn't miss this opportunity.
In front of Eliza and the other ley mages, Edmond, Malik, Liam, Ray, and Tom were trying to mow down the low-level zombies.
A minute later, Joseph also sprang into action.
Now no one was left behind. Only the snipers, Elura, Austin, and the others remained behind.
And William.
William waited.
The right position, the right jump, the right attack, and the right timing.
One minute, two minutes…
Marcus had already reached the Boss. Mick joined him in the fight.
Then Kim's shots came from that distance. Each shot was enough to deafen people's ears for a few seconds. The weapon she was using this time didn't seem to be from this world.
Each of the bullets covered in blue ley was the size of William's three fingers.
It took Kim a full minute to reload.
However, each bullet opened a bloody hole in the massive creature's body, even causing its body to tremble.
Then Eliza and the other ley mages arrived. Their targets were not the boss itself, but the high-level zombies behind it.
Joseph joined them at that moment. Thanks to his class, he had already gotten behind the boss without touching a single zombie.
Instantly, he appeared behind the level 13 zombie shepherd and ended its "life."
William thought it was time to join in.
He took off his jacket and set it aside.
He drew his katanas and placed their sheaths neatly on his jacket.
Then he looked at the boss.
"So, you're Bloatfather, huh?"
William looked behind him and smiled wildly.
"Kim! Watch out!"
Kim turned her head the moment she heard her name, but all she saw was dust and a shock wave coming toward her.
"Huh? What! Damn..." Kim immediately bowed her head and curled up where she stood.
Her face, her clothes, everything was covered in dust. All she could see was William's faint image mixed with the blue sky.
She looked up at the sky and shouted, "I won't forget this, you bastard!"
"Hahahaha!" William had been jumped more than a hundred meters into the sky, and with the advantage of being at the top, he began to fall toward the battlefield like a meteor.
He fell like a meteor onto the place where tens of thousands of zombies were.
"BOOOOM!"
The impact of his fall created a huge cloud of dust that scattered around. William burst out from behind the cloud of dust like a ghost.
"I'm starting to love Phantom Stride more and more every day!"
William's smile grew even wider, and he continued to run forward with his swords crossed in front of him.
"4th Stance: Sunset Guard." William muttered softly, and a blue shield made of ley formed in front of him.
William positioned the shield directly in front of him and began to run like a truck going downhill without brakes.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!" The zombies were hitting the shield recklessly, but even the momentum behind the shield was enough to tear them apart.
William broke through the zombie lines and hit Bloatfather like a cannonball, quickly gaining momentum.
"5th Stance: Sunrise Fang!" William shouted at the top of his lungs and held his two swords upside down, stabbing them into the creature's shoulder like the fangs of a giant snake.
The massive creature staggered back several meters in pain and from the momentum of William's heavy body, and even had to kneel down a few seconds later.
William pressed his two swords down as hard as he could, cutting a huge rift from the creature's shoulder to its belly.
The creature tried to hold the torn flesh together with one hand, but it was useless. Hundreds of thousands of maggots and infection-filled blood began to flow from its body like a waterfall.
"If this is a game, I think I took a quarter of your life with one blow, big guy." William grinned wildly, then jumped out of the way of the creature's right hand as it swung at him with a tree.
"It's hard to be big, you can't move fast enough, can you?"
William swung his swords down from above. This time, he didn't use any technique. The only thing behind the sword was pure power.
The sword cut through the creature's eyebrow and completely severed its right eye.
The creature pulled its head back in pain and tried to cover its eye with its left hand, but William didn't stop there.
Not only William, but Marcus, Mick, and others like them joined in.
If there was going to be a reward, they didn't want William to get it all.
Marcus jumped with all his strength and struck the top of the creature's head, which was covered by its hand, with his mace.
"BOOOM!" The creature's head bent down and it screamed in pain.
Eliza and the ley mages behind her created the biggest ley bolt they could and set the creature's body on fire.
Joseph, Jason, and Min-Jun, who wielded swords, were skilled at making short, long, and thin cuts on the creature's body. It seemed as though their goal was to turn the creature into a giant pile of minced meat.
Kim made the biggest shot she could from a distance and opened a hole as big as a soccer ball right in the creature's heart.
A disgusting mixture of blood, pus, and maggots flowed endlessly from the hole.
William was surprised, but he only paused for a few seconds.
His target was bigger.
He raised his sword and sent a powerful ley wave at the defenseless creature.
"3rd Stance: Horizontal Wrath!"
William's single sword swing opened a deep and long gash nearly two meters long on the creature's upper body.
William didn't stop there.
He jumped and landed on top of the creature's head.
The creature wasn't standing still; it was constantly swaying, but William found a way to maintain his balance.
He plunged the sword in his left hand into the thickest part of the creature's neck!
Then, keeping his balance, he made dozens of cuts with the sword in his right hand. Not only that, but he also tried to find and damage the huge veins of this cursed creature by plunging his sword into it from time to time.
The creature was filled with rage and pain. It tried to shake its head and body, but it couldn't shake William off.
As a last resort, it found a way to swing the huge tree at its own neck.
But William was not alone.
When William saw the tree coming towards him, he just frowned, but when he heard a voice from behind, he relaxed.
"Blitzline!"
Mick appeared so fast with the metal shield in his hand that William could only smile. Now he had a clear understanding of Mick's direction.
Mick was someone who wanted to master defense no matter what.
Although Marcus also used a shield, his occasional aggressive but calm strikes showed that he preferred balance in attack and defense.
"Quakeblow!" "BOOM!"
Marcus' mace struck the creature's head, which was in agony, and created a huge rift in its skull that even William couldn't believe.
He could see the worm-like creatures inside the creature's skull dancing with its brain.
At that moment, William saw his chance. The brain was the weakest organ of zombie-like creatures.
He drew his sword and jumped. His goal was to use the Fifth Stance to pierce the creature's brain.
...