Nameless King

Wain and Agnes were on their way to the university. Wain was very tired; he needed to rest and sleep. After all, he had been fighting and exploring new areas for almost twenty-four hours. 

Of course, Wain could do without sleep for several days if he wanted to, but that would be a big mistake.

If Wain doesn't sleep for that long, he won't feel well and won't concentrate on combat. Regardless of his skill level, his well-being also needs to be good for him to fight at his best.

"How much further do we have to go?" Agnes asked. At first, when she saw the tall structures and expensive buildings, she was amazed, but she got used to it pretty quickly. 

Most important to her were the monsters, of which there were hundreds under the houses. 

"About thirty more minutes. I hope we don't encounter anyone strong. At this point, it could be hazardous." Said Wain jumping over to the next building.

Agnes nodded. She wasn't afraid of monsters; on the contrary, she wanted to fight them. Moreover, she had to activate her Soul Altar and get the effects of her soul.

"Oh, it looks like we'll have to do without battles..." Wain muttered, looking at the zombie climbing on the house.

Wain wanted to kill it, but suddenly Agnes stopped him.

"Wait, let me do it. I can easily kill this creature in one blow."

"Right, you have to kill the monster first, okay." Calmly Wain said and stepped aside.

When the zombie climbed onto the roof, he immediately pounced on Agnes. She was closer and gave off a less powerful aura than Wain. She was the zombie's preferred prey.

Agnes did not attack first. She got into a fighting stance and waited for the zombie to get close enough to her. Then she quickly struck forward with her fist, and the zombie's head exploded. 

Agnes was not afraid of getting dirty in blood or other secretions. In her mind, it was natural during combat.

Then the zombie's white soul flew into her body, and a powerful aura began to emanate from Agnes. At that moment, her Soul Altar activated, and she grew stronger.

"What an unusual feeling..." Mumbled Agnes looking at her hands.

"Yes, souls are something amazing." Said Wain and moved on.

Agnes followed him. She could feel the power flowing through her body. It was very different from when she was a watcher of one of the small zones of Purgatory. 

Back then, she was getting her powers from the zone and only a tiny part. Now, however, it was her own power.

A couple of houses later, they were attacked again by zombies. These monsters sensed large fluctuations of energy coming from above, and some of them tried to climb up and attack Wain and Agnes.

Wain didn't even stop. He had no desire to fight anyone. All he wanted at that moment was to get a good night's sleep. But Agnes had a different opinion about that. She gladly killed that zombie and got another soul.

After a long time, she felt the lust for power again. She wanted to kill and become more powerful. It was something she couldn't do when she was the caretaker of the Purgatory zone.

They practically made it to the university half an hour later, as Wain said. Agnes had killed more than ten zombies in that time, and her clothes were drenched in blood. Her attacks were too powerful, and the zombie bodies couldn't take it and explode.

'Eh, no professionalism. She could have just snapped their necks, and that was it. Does she really like the feeling of blood sticking to her?' Thought Wain jumping on the last building, but then he stopped.

"Huh, looks like Gisle wasn't wasting any time. It's only been a few hours since I left, but I can already see the changes." Wain muttered, looking at the hundreds of corpses against the walls.

The first thing Gisle decided to do was to clear the area near the university of monsters. Moreover, Wain saw several men with flashlights patrolling the area.

Gisle did not conduct any operations at night, but he ensured that all the people could sleep in peace. 

Clearing the area of monsters made the people stronger as they gained souls and was just as beneficial to their emotional state. 

If people were in anxiety, their effectiveness would be significantly diminished.

"Let's go." Said Wain and jumped down. 

After a couple of seconds, they climbed the walls and entered the campus. At one point, they were spotted by one of the patrolling men.

"Freeze. Who are you?" Said the man looking at Wain and the blood-covered Agnes.

"Where's Gisle?" Asked Wain.

The man took a closer look at Wain and hesitantly asked, "Are you, Wain Norheim?"

Gisle knew that Wain could come at any moment, so he warned those on patrol in advance.

"Yes." Wain answered briefly, looked at Agnes, and said, "She's with me."

The man nodded, "If Gisle is awake, he should be in the main hall now. As far as I know, he's getting ready for tomorrow's sortie."

"I see." Calmly Wain said and headed for the east building of the university.

The man didn't ask who Agnes was, but the mere sight of her bloodied face instilled fear in him.

"Who is Gisle?" Agnes asked.

"He's the leader here. If you want you can stay here. I am sure that under his leadership, this place will prosper and grow quickly and surely." Answered Wain.

"Isn't it foolish to spend your time developing an area and supporting weak people? In my opinion, it would be much more effective if he were growing stronger on his own." Agnes said, puzzled.

"Agnes, in this case, it is you who are stupid. People, territories, and hence a great deal of money in the future are just as much a force emanating from power. I wouldn't say paving the way alone is much better than what Gisle is doing. Everyone has their own vision of the future." Said Wain heading for the main hall.

"From what I understand, you're traveling alone. Doesn't that mean you think that's the best option?"

"No, I just like it better that way. What's more, I combine the two options." Wain replied and walked into the room.

He saw Gisle sitting at the table, Grut asleep in the corner, and Rita drinking tea. Teresa was also sitting in the corner of the room. She was also exhausted from the previous day and had fallen asleep.

'Zero and the others aren't here. I wonder where Gisle sent them?' Thought Wain and took a step forward.

Then Gisle noticed him and smiled broadly, "Welcome back. Who's that one with you?"

Gisle was glad to see Wain, but the bloodied girl beside him aroused some suspicion.

"This is Agnes. We met on the road, perhaps she will stay here. That's for her to decide." Said Wain and sat down on a wooden chair.

"Hello, Wain" Rita chirped. She had big bags under her eyes and insomnia.

Wain nodded.

"I see..." Gisle muttered and looked at Agnes and said, "Welcome, we'd love to have you in our ranks."

"Wain, you've brought more than ten women here in the last few hours. Are you after them?" Gisle said with a smirk.

"It's not my fault. It's just a coincidence. By the way, I see Teresa here, but where are the girls who came with her? I hope there wasn't any problem with them?" Asked Wain.

Gisle nodded, "They're here. They're fine. I gave them one big room so they could be together. When I saw them, I thought they were some kind of humanoid monster. If it hadn't been for Teresa, I would have attacked them."

"Yeah, even I didn't expect to see something like that. It could be considered luck, though. These girls are uniquie, especially Zero. They combine the strength of a mutant with their souls."

"There was no problem with them, but some people were horrified and asked me to get rid of them. Of course, I didn't listen to them. They're just scared. That's normal." Said Gisle.

"Yes, but that fear can lead to problems. If useless people are going to be aggressive with Zero and the others, they need to be dealt with." Coldly said, Wain.

"Of course, efficiency and strength are the priority at the moment. I'll think about morale later, but I hope no one wants to attack girls with superpowers. Most people here don't even have the guts to kill one zombie." Said Gisle.

"Okay, we've dealt with that. I want to sleep and rest. Is there a spare room?" Asked Wain.

Gisle nodded, "On the top floor, the leftmost room, I left it for you, but you can sleep anywhere. We don't have too many places for us to worry about where and who sleeps."

"Fine, but before that, I want to know something. What do you intend to do next? What are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Do you want to join in?" Gisle said with a smile.

Wain shrugged, "Maybe too many unbelievable things have happened lately. So right now, I don't know exactly what I'm going to do next."

"I see." Gisle replied briefly, "Then I think you'll like what I've come up with. Tomorrow we'll go to the woods. We're lucky it's so close to the university."

"Will you be taking over new territory and killing monsters?" Asked Wain.

"Yes, but not really. Our first priority will be getting wood.. After all, there happens to be one man at the university with a useful craft soul."