Inside theb, the Nerds, Lucil, Nari, and Queenie continued watching us''s intense battle with the Mecha Zombie, each with a different expression on their face.
"That Mecha Zombie is developing faster than we anticipated," Joon said, his eyes glued to the streams of data pouring in every second.
"You kids really outdid yourselves this time," Nari chimed in, leaning forward.
"This is going to change everything when Oracle goes public." Her eyes followed the Mecha Zombie as it adapted to us''s attack patterns after only one or two repetitions.
She knew us could end the fight whenever he wanted, but she couldn''t help being impressed by the machine''s rapid improvement.
Lucil had already filled her in on the goals of the project. If this progress continued for a few more days, the results would exceed even their loftiest expectations.
As an Overlord who had fought countless monsters and zombies, Nari understood the brutal dynamics of battle. The system us and the Nerds were creating aligned perfectly with her battlefield experiences, replicating the unpredictable nature of truebat.
Queenie shared that same thought, though what truly shocked both of them was us''s keen ability to break down even the smallest details.
Throughout his week-long training, he had highlighted subtle nuances they hadn''t even considered were something that could make a difference inbat.
Even them who had been fighting zombies for fifty years hadn''t noticed some of the intricacies us pointed out.
From us''s battling this single Mecha Zombie, they''d learned more than they thought possible. us wasn''t just fighting—he was analyzing, absorbing, and refining every element of the experience.
His mind was like a machine picking up on even the smallest details.
"At this rate, us is going to have to start getting serious if he wants to keep up with the Mecha Zombie learning regimen," Nari said, watching as the machine adapted once more.
"Well, he''s training too, so I think he''s taking it step by step for now," Queenie added, her eyes narrowing in thought as usnded another precise strike on the Zombie''s leg.
The Mecha Zombie countered immediately, a burst of mes erupting from its body as it tapped into its fire element, sending us skidding back across the battlefield.
He smiled, and then without holding back, he shed his sword dozens of times, sending sharp crescent ice arcs at the Zombie. The arcs were sharp and lethal, yet the Zombie simply stood on the floor, raising an ice wall.
In response, the disc flew at a terrifying angle, appearing at us from an unexpected direction. us smirked and sent the Void Piercing Needle to counter.
The two weapons met with a resounding ng. Meanwhile, the Zombie defended against his fire arcs and now charged at him with its sword glowing red. us also channeled fire essence into his sword, meeting the Zombie''s attack and sending sparks flying.
Six hourster, us began to see that the Zombie had improved greatly. For the next two hours, he cranked up the battle even more, putting about 80% of his strength into it.
For thest 2 hours, the battle intensified to the point where us had to crank up his strength to 90 percent. By the time they were done, they had managed to gather enough data that they would need the next three days to work on.
This meant there wouldn''t be any training for the next three days, and us was happy to hear that. At least after they were finished, he could have his first true battle, where he knew he would have to use all his focus and strength.
"Let''s go grab a bite," Nari said after us came out of the console. He had been using it for 8 hours a day for the past week, so he had grown used to it. Though there was some pain here and there, he didn''t need that much rest now, especially with Queenie around.
"Sounds good to me!" us replied, a grin spreading across his face. He was looking forward to some time away from training and the chance to unwind with friends—specifically, Queenie.
"So us, what is your story?" Nari suddenly asked immediately they were seated and began eating.
"Uhm, what do you mean?" us asked, puzzled.
"You know, one moment the world was calm and peaceful, and the next, a white-haired young man appeared, and the whole world went wild. I want to hear your story," Nari looked around and then added, "We all do."
Lucil was the first to nod. This was like a golden opportunity for her to gather close-up information on us for the Knights of House us. As a die-hard fan, moments like this were what she needed the most to learn more about the person she was fanning over.
"Well, there''s not much to tell. I''m an only child. My dad went missing—possibly dead—when I was ten, so my mom pretty much raised me. She is an amazing woman, by the way—the best mom. I dropped out of school and worked as a janitor at Ross Academy for a few years.
"Pretty much everything I know about the world of cultivation and swordsmanship was learned from sneaking around and spying on lectures whenever I got the chance. Don''t tell anyone, by the way," he added with a grin.
They allughed despite the heavy impact of us''s story.
"Long story short, I awakened, and thankfully, I didn''t get a tomato ss and talent. From then on, I started working hard to make sure my mom and I never had to go through any hardship ever again.
"Yeah, that about covers everything," us said, sensing that his story had dampened the mood, so he didn''t go into further details.
"Lucil,e on, no need to cry!" us said, noticing that Lucil had already started welling up before he could even finish his narrative.
"That is one hell of a story, but at least you''re making it right now; that''s all that matters," Nari said, but us could tell her previous enthusiastic nature had dampened a little.
"If you guys are like this, I won''t hang out with you anymore," us said with a small smile, noticing their expressions.
"Alright, alright, let''s talk about happy stuff," Nari said, bringing her carefree charm back again.
"So, us, what do you think about Big Sister Queenie here? Do you think you can handle her?" Nari suddenly asked.
Cough! Both us and Queenie, who were in the process of taking a sip of their drinks, coughed upon hearing that question.
"Nari," Queenie said, gritting her teeth. What kind of shameless question was that?
"What? Don''t act like I didn''t notice how you were sneaking nces at him," Nari said, a mischievous smile spreading across her face. Joon, Logan, Ryan, and Lucil looked on with smiles of their own.
"Oh really? nces?" us quickly recovered and joined in with Nari to tease Queenie.
us leaned back in his chair, a yful grin on his face. "I mean, can you me her? I''m a pretty impressive guy," he teased, shooting a wink in Queenie''s direction.
Queenie crossed her arms, trying to maintain herposure, but a faint blush crept onto her cheeks. Very subtle, but it appeared alright
"Please, us, don''t tter yourself too much. You''re not that charming," Queenie said, realizing she had no way to weave her way out of this.
Well, she could have disappeared into thin air, but that would be cowardly. So for now, she could only thicken her skin and endure. Later, she would drag Nari into the Void and beat the shit out of her.
"Charming or not, at least I managed to make the almighty Overlord of all Overlords blush, even if it''s just a slight one," us grinned, his smile infectious.
Queenie shot a look at Nari, who was grinning at her predicament with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Lucil, on the other hand, was busy capturing the moment, knowing that when made public, it would cause the whole inte to explode.
"We''re going back to theb now," Joon announced, standing up and leaving with Ryan and Logan.
Lucil followed suit shortly after, and soon Nari also left, leaving only us and Queenie alone. The air around them thickened with awkwardness as they stared at each other.
"Wanna model a monastery with me?" us asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes," Queenie answered without even thinking about it.
us''s eyes lit up. "Great! Let''s go"
Anddies and gentlemen, that is how us picked the strongest person on earth into his room. That is badass.