Chapter 51: Cain’s kindness and Ron’s Suspicion (2)
"It’s fine. I can give the opportunity to someone else." Cain shrugged, then turned toward Nathan.
"Nathan, maybe you..."
"No!" Ron grabbed Cain’s shoulder.
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
Ron ignored him completely.
"I’ll do it."
Cain looked back.
"Do what?"
"Whatever you need help with."
"Really?"
"Yes." Ron answered without hesitation.
The opportunity was simply too valuable to reject.
A Yellow Scroll could provide something strong enough to completely change his combat ability.
Even if Cain asked him to do something troublesome, Ron only needed to help him once.
In exchange, Cain would give him the scroll and help him become stronger to the best of his ability even before doing that.
Ron had known Cain for almost his entire life.
That bastard was shameless and annoying.
However, Cain would not ask him to do something dangerous that would risk his life since they were genuinely best friends who would help each other in any situation.
He stared at Cain.
"You’re not going to ask me to do something dangerous alone, right?"
"Of course not." Cain replied with a smile.
’At least not alone...’
Ron narrowed his eyes.
"Why did you answer that so quickly? You’re too suspicious."
"You literally tried to get me eaten by zombies on the first day."
"I did not."
"You shouted loud enough to attract all of the zombies outside our dormitory!"
"That helped you Level up."
"I almost died!"
"But you didn’t."
Ron opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Cain patted his shoulder.
"Look at the positive side."
"What positive side?"
"You’re Level 25 now."
"That doesn’t make what you did acceptable!"
Cain chuckled and walked away.
"Anyway, deal?"
Ron stared at his back.
He thought about the Yellow Scroll again.
Then he looked at the notification showing his Advancement Mission progress.
[Kill Progress: 15/25]
Ten more high-Level zombies.
Afterward, he still needed to become the target of a 1st Echelon being and escape its pursuit without assistance.
He would become much stronger once he advanced.
He didn’t know what he would get from the Yellow Scroll, but he was confident he would become stronger with it.
Meaning that there was no reason for him to reject such an opportunity, since they wouldn’t come twice, especially from someone like Cain.
"Fine! It’s a deal" Ron hurried after him.
Cain nodded at him with a smile.
"Good."
Ron immediately pointed at him.
"But you better not go back on your word."
"Have I ever lied to you?"
"Yes."
Cain paused, "That was rhetorical."
"You still asked."
Cain ignored him.
Behind them, Elara finally laughed.
Ron looked toward her. "Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing."
"You’re definitely laughing at me."
"I’m not."
"You are."
Cain glanced over his shoulder.
"See? You think everyone is mocking you."
"Because all of you are!"
Cain stopped entertaining him and turned toward the corpse of the Level 28 1st Echelon zombie.
"Let’s clean up before we leave."
Jack followed him.
The big corpse remained where it had fallen earlier.
Its chest was badly damaged.
Ice still covered part of the wound Elara had created, while the section struck by Jack had completely collapsed inward.
Cain crouched and moved the damaged flesh aside and looked deeper into the chest.
His expression quickly changed.
The Core was there... Or rather, what remained of it.
Several broken fragments lay between the ruined tissue.
The force from Jack’s skill had traveled directly into the weakened Core and shattered it during the final attack.
Cain picked up one fragment and found that almost no energy remained inside.
The stored Mana had already dispersed after the structure broke apart.
Jack approached from behind.
"Can we use it?"
Cain dropped the fragment.
"No."
Jack looked at the destroyed chest.
"My punch broke it?"
"Obviously. How else do you think you killed it?" Cain rolled his eyes.
Jack knitted his eyebrows.
He had been proud of the power of his skill a moment ago.
Now he realized there was another problem.
If he destroyed every Core inside the creatures they fought, they would lose one of the most valuable resources obtained from 1st Echelon enemies.
Cain stood and brushed the blood from his hand.
"It doesn’t matter this time. Completing your Advancement Mission was more important."
Jack nodded.
He would simply have to remember it in future fights.
Cain was about to leave the corpse when he noticed a faint green glow near its waist.
He moved the body slightly.
A green sphere had rolled beneath it.
Cain picked it up.
"Only this?"
He searched around the corpse once more, but nothing else appeared.
The surrounding high-Level zombies had not dropped anything valuable either.
Cain stored the Green Orb inside his Inventory.
"Unlucky."
Ron approached while stretching his legs.
"We just got a World Ranking member. Isn’t that lucky enough?"
Cain looked at Jack.
"Fair enough."
"Are we heading back now?" Jack smiled.
Cain nodded.
There was little reason to remain near the Eastern Gate any longer.
They had already accomplished far more than he originally expected from the trip.
Nathan had strengthened his Mana Core.
Elara had entered the 1st Echelon with her core reaching the stabilized stage.
Jack had also advanced and entered the World Ranking too.
Ron had completed 15 of his required twenty-five kills.
Cain himself had gathered valuable resources along the way.
More importantly, the designated 2nd Echelon zombie inside the western public park was still waiting for him.
Cain had not forgotten about it for even a moment.
His Advancement Mission would remain blocked until that creature died by his hands alone.
"Let’s head back."
The group left the parking area.
Their return journey was much quieter.
Nobody bothered with the few weak zombies wandering across the distant roads.
Their destination was the auditorium.
Cain wanted to reorganize the group, check what had changed during their absence, and prepare for what came next.
The university shelter soon appeared in the distance.
Cain looked toward the familiar building.
Then he glanced at Ron, a faint smile appeared on his face.
Ron noticed immediately and instantly became wary.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Cain looked away.
"No reason."
"There is definitely a reason for that creepy smile."
"Stop being paranoid."
"You’re planning something."
Cain ignored him as he continued walking.
Ron followed beside him.
"Cain."
No response.
"Cain."
Still nothing.
"You bastard, what the fuck did I just agree to?"
Cain’s smile widened slightly as the group continued toward the auditorium.
As Ron’s best friend, Cain naturally had no intention of doing anything terrible to him.
He merely intended to make Ron as strong as possible before the battle with the 2nd Echelon Zombie’s group.
Not only that, he only planned to ask for his help in case he couldn’t kill the 2nd Echelon Zombie.
By then, both of them would at most being chased by the 2nd Echelon Zombie together.
So he technically wasn’t lying when he wouldn’t ask Ron to do something dangerous alone, since he would be with him at that time.
That was also why Cain intended to strengthen Ron as much as possible beforehand.
If the designated 2nd Echelon zombie proved too powerful for Cain to kill, then Ron needed to become fast enough so that both of them wouldn’t be caught.
So, the plan on preparing for that worst case scenario started now.