My Level Zero System

A few days later, Kain began to arrange teams to scout the surroundings, of course with himself leading the teams to ensure safety.

Partly he wanted to see if there were any survivors, partly he wanted to check a few things.

"Indeed..."

Kain exclaimed at the chaotic scene before his eyes.

There were no more corpses left here, because the Dungeon's rules had consumed them all. But this structure still hadn't been rebuilt, because after all, this lonely fortress wasn't even part of the Dungeon.

Thinking of this, Kain thought of another problem.

Even before the Crawlers began their attack, Kain had already taken a look at the structures here.

Except for a little wear and tear, everything else is almost intact.

This means that there was almost no serious fighting here. It was just the humans leaving and leaving behind an abandoned fortress.

Logically speaking, this still makes sense. Maintaining the lonely fortress requires the consumption of huge human and material resources, and the results are not promising, so the project was stopped and the people withdrew.

But here, a problem arises.

Without humans, this place naturally became no longer a target for attack. To monsters, the lonely fortress without humans was no different from the trees or rocks out there.

And one more thing to mention, Noid doesn't think humans will open the gate to turn this place into a public facility. That means this place is still closed, to the Crawlers outside this thing is no different than a large stone placed horizontally.

Now what is worth mentioning, what will an animal do when its path is blocked by a rock?

Go around it, of course, if the roads aren't already blocked.

Not climbing the rock.

This is a logical relationship. However, reality presents a completely different truth.

Not only did the Crawlers enter the lonely fortress, but they did so in extremely large numbers. Not only did they not wander around here, but they also fell into a form of hibernation that would only be awakened when they were brought here.

"Existence is reasonable."

This saying is always true in every situation.

The Crawler's reaction left a terrifying possibility in his mind.

The Crawlers, they are using the lonely fortress as a nest.

A nest, it may not sound like a big deal, but when considering the circumstances and characteristics of the Crawlers, the meaning becomes extremely special.

Crawlers are not pack monsters, or rather "monsters" that operate solely on the primal killing instinct towards living creatures, rather than like a group of normal predators like wolves or foxes.

Even though they seem to have developed in intelligence, their nature has not changed, otherwise Kain would have found out already. Except for being more cunning and deceitful, they are no different from other types of monsters.

But the nest, or should say home, exists for a very different purpose, not for killing.

Protect, look after and nurture.

The Crawlers, who live and hibernate here, are there to protect and nurture something. Or something has affected the Crawlers, causing these usually solitary monsters to act like worker ants protecting the queen.

This made Kain shudder, as he thought of his previous experience.

It's about the Salamander leader, and the Pythonel monster guardian.

They all have one thing in common, which is to control other monsters to protect themselves.

But the signs here, although not clear enough, still made Kain feel a chill down his spine.

He hoped he was wrong.

"Someone is hiding here!"

A shout interrupted Kain's train of thought. He quickly walked over and saw the other students he was leading gathered around a cabinet.

Inside the closet was a girl sitting with her knees drawn up, seemingly passed out.

"She's a survivor from the first night of the attack. Who's in charge of bringing her water? Give her some." Find exclusive stories on empire

Seeing that the wound on this person's body was not too serious, Kain distributed the tasks to the other students.

The person just now was the third person they saved.

Bringing the total number of confirmed survivors to 78.

Kain walked downstairs, and as soon as he stepped outside, he saw the Crawlers lurking nearby.

Because this place has been cleaned so many times, there are also a lot fewer crawlers here.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kain swung his arm and destroyed them.

[Level]: 500

[Ability]:

-[Thunder Magic ★★]:

+[Thunder Spear level 1] 0/150 (+)

+[Thunder Arrow level 1] 0/150 (+)

+[Thunder Descend level 0] 0/150 (+)

+[Thunder Flash level 0] 0/150 (+)

+[Thunder Control level 1] 17/250 (+)

-[Enhancement Magic ★] 0/1500 (+):

+[Enhancement Body level Max]

+[Enhancement Tool level Max]

-[Fire Magic ★] 0/1000 (+)

+[Fire Bullet level Max]

+[Fire Wave level Max]

+[Fire Navigation level Max]

-[Spirit Magic ★]:

+[Seek level Max]

+[Imitative level 9] 0/43 (+)

+[Mind Sense level 6] 11/40 (+)

-[Life Magic ★] 0/1500 (+):

+[Heal level Max]

Looking at the number of skill points accumulated to 500, Kain felt a little relieved.

Ever since leading the nineteen students to break out of the siege, Kain had not upgraded any magic skills. It wasn't because he didn't want to upgrade, but because the addition of any magic skill could turn the tide if he were in a difficult situation.

The recent long battle has made that point clear.

Although he was strong enough, his strength was still limited.

Kain didn't dare bet that he would accumulate enough skill points to use in a short while.

He cannot risk it, nor is he allowed to risk it.

Especially when the recent inferences come into play.

After finishing a reconnaissance mission, Kain returned to the base area.

Kain walked around the base again to check, but found no holes, so he checked the progress of the escape tunnel construction.

Having finished everything, Kain returned to his team's private base area.

As soon as he entered, Kain smelled a fragrant aroma. This immediately whetted his appetite.

It turned out to be Mera in an apron, holding out an apple pie, looking at Kain and smiling.

"Welcome back."