Chapter 42: Mana Zombies?

The clock struck midnight, and all over the world, the apocalypse was in full bloom.

As the Smiths experienced their changes, strange phenomena were happening all around the world.

Along with the bloody skies and rapidly expanding earth, four black towers descended from the heavens, landing on the four poles of the world.

Animals began to mutate, becoming more ferocious and bloodthirsty, with some even awakening strange abilities.

Across the world, pets began attacking their owners, and zoos ran wild as countless animals escaped.

In a matter of seconds, humans who were once the leaders of the Blue Star had fallen to the bottom.

Flooded with this strange energy called mana, the whole world had begun to change.

In just a few minutes into the apocalypse, approximately one hundred million people worldwide had already died, and the number was rapidly climbing.

"Brother! What’s going on? I feel hot!"

Right beside Ethan, unlike Victoria who was emitting a cold chill, Elena was like a blazing fire.

The air around her even seemed to distort under her awakening.

"This is-!"

Shocked, Ethan couldn’t believe it. Although he had expected a few people in his family to awaken, he didn’t expect his sister to be one of them.

"Also apart from Elena, quite a few people here are awakening abilities."

Concentrating mana in his eyes, Ethan could see quite a few people around him.

Two children from the orphanage group he brought back, the mercenary lady who had knelt to him, a few of the Smith family guards...

With his eyes alone, Ethan counted twenty new awakeners.

’Twenty awakeners... awakeners I never heard of in my former life.’

’That could only mean either their abilities were mediocre, or they died early before they could develop them.’

Muttering to himself, Ethan took out the Map of Safety.

Right now everyone was safe within the walls; he had to make sure no monsters broke in or interrupted this transformation time, as everyone right now could barely talk, much less defend themselves.

"Wait a minute, what’s this? Why are there so many red dots?"

"One! Two! Three!"

Looking at the map, Ethan was shocked. The red dots were not only increasing in number, but they were all within the Smith family walls.

Without thinking too much, he quickly understood what was going on.

These were people who failed to awaken and instead of staying as regular humans, turned into half-awakened monsters powered solely by mana.

"In my past life, these people were called Aberrants."

"However, now that I’m creating my own magic system, why don’t I give them a name of my own?"

Putting his hand on his chin, Ethan felt his wonderful naming ability come into play.

"Since they’re powered by mana, and they move like zombies..."

"Why don’t I call them mana zombies!"

"Yes, that sounds right! Haha!"

Laughing to himself, he gathered mana in his fist and threw a punch right behind Elena, who was struggling in pain.

Boom!

Smashing the skull of a mana zombie that had crept up on his sister, he narrowed his eyes.

"Now then, before everyone gets themselves back together, should I clean up the trash?"

Looking at the locations of the red dots, he decided to eliminate them all as soon as possible to reduce casualties.

.....

Using the map in hand, Ethan began his journey of elimination.

"Should I say I’m lucky? These newly born mana zombies, because they haven’t had enough time to absorb enough mana..."

"They’re only a little bit stronger than regular people and their speed is much slower."

Boom!

Smashing another mana zombie’s skull, Ethan sighed at how easy it was.

You know, he didn’t even use his body-strengthening spell; just based on his current attributes, he was able to deal with them with ease.

’In my past life, after these mana zombies evolved, much like animals, they developed mana cores, were able to use all kinds of abilities, and in rare cases possessed wisdom.’

’Back then there were some lunatics who believed mana zombies were the future of humanity and sought to transform everyone into one.’

’Fortunately, that organization was crushed by Victoria after they intruded on her territory.’

Eliminating them, he once again found it hard to believe.

Different from his past life where he could only hide and beg, now he was strong enough not to lose to any current-day awakened.

Bang!

Smashing open the head of the last mana zombie, he piled them into a small heap and began to gather mana in his eyes once more.

Although he had already awakened abilities with his rebirth, and he could already use mana, this early stage of awakening was crucial for him.

Be it the people awakening, the mana zombies, or the people who failed to awaken, he was rapidly taking in all information:

The way they absorbed mana,

The way it flowed around their bodies,

The way it affected the environment.

The more he looked, the more inspiration flooded his head.

The barrier to the second circle and his mana technique were slowly revealing themselves.

’That’s it! You guys can’t be the only ones getting stronger!’

’Once I break through to the second circle, then all my plans for the apocalypse can truly begin.’

’Those hidden abilities...’

’Those hidden talents...’

’And last but not least, Leroy and the others, even if you’re in a different city...’

’Even if you’re in a different country...’

’In this life, everything will be mine!’

Feeling the second circle slowly forming in his heart, an unprecedented sense of ambition began to sprout within him.

’Although I told everyone that a new era was going to start...’

’I never meant the era of the apocalypse.’

’No, this will be the era of the Smiths!’

’This will be the era of magic!’

’Hahaha!’

Imagining the scene where he led hundreds of thousands of mages and awakeners to dominate the world, Ethan felt extremely confident in the future!

This time he would no longer be the weakling he was.

Rather he would show everyone, just who Ethan Smith is!