Trash in the Apocalypse

Ttwang! Ttwang!

Bows and crossbows fired preemptively before the Evolved Carriers noticed the whole group. The arrows flew in a low arc and struck two Hunters' protruding backs. 

Anna and Emman didn't waste any time and reloaded another arrow on their weapons, then aimed for their next target, its partner, the Destroyer. 

After getting hit on their weak spots, the Hunters dropped and flailed in the ground trying to reach their back to remove the embedded arrows. Their Destroyer partners were surprised and immediately searched for the attackers.

When the two Destroyers found their group, they shouted in unison and charged at them. The Destroyer's roar was heard by its other friends and caused them to respond. 

Interlapping roars were heard in the area. Five Rank 1 Hunters and Destroyers came running as reinforcement.

The group divided themselves according to Jun's arrangement.

Anna's group had already disabled the Hunters and only needed to deal with the Destroyers charging at their group of three.

As per usual, Erin ran far in front to hold the ground. After regularly fighting Destroyers up close, Erin had a few enlightenments she achieved.

Never take the first hit on.

Unless you're way stronger than Destroyers, which should be extremely hard to achieve, never receive the first attack. The best possible action was to dodge, and if you can't dodge, deflect the attack.

No matter how strong you are, the damage received would bound to be of high amount. The knockback could even send you flying into an unfavorable position.

Erin waited for the right moment to dodge and observed the two Destroyers charging at her. Thanks to her being calm and knowing what to do, she learned that one of the Destroyer was going for a full swing while other was an overhead slam.

She waited for a bit more time until they got closer and was about to swing their arms before forcibly jumping back to dodge. 

As the Destroyers arms struck the ground, the soil and grass flew everywhere.

Nevertheless, this didn't stop the two archers behind her from firing their arrows.

Together with the whistling wind, two thudding sounds echoed. One of the arrows pierced the eye and entered the brain while the other bounced off the Destroyer's forehead.

Since one of the Destroyer slammed both fists on the ground, its head was slightly lowered which led to the arrow missing its mark. The other Destroyer died after getting its brain lodged with an arrow and fell to the left side where its full swing momentum was going.

"Emman, deal with the Hunters. Erin and I will take care of this one." Anna said while nocking another arrow to her recurve bow.

"Okay!" Emman responded immediately. Both of them knew that it wasn't his fault and there was no need to blame anyone. Instead, a quick reaction to dangerous situations needed to be nurtured to one's self.

Adrenaline was pumping to everyone's blood as they fight their designated targets.

"Energy Barrier!" A loud ringing echoed the area as Edward blocked the two Destroyers advance.

Two Hunters jumped over his energy barrier and was about to claw at him when two sharp energy blades sprouted from the barrier and pierced the Hunters' chest.

"Stop being so fast! I can't shout my skill names! Energy Blades, pierce through them!"

The energy blades moved upward and cleanly went out through the back. With the help of gravity and due to the energy blades sharpness, the Hunters' chests got sliced. A long cut then appeared which exited through the left ribcage, causing the two impaled Hunters to fall in mid-air.

Edward had the unique title, Pioneer. It was the title given to the first person to discover how to use energy. There might be other people who practice energy before him but he was the first one to use it when the world changed.

The Pioneer title gives him an additional twenty points in max energy every time he levels up. Together with the increase in max energy, he also received a 50% increase in efficiency which helps him halved the required energy during casting and usage. This title was also the reason why Jun doesn't bother giving Edward any energy stone.

Edward's traits were Resilience and Thick-skinned, while his skills were Energy Manipulation and Energy Barrier. Everything about his character traits describes the way he lived his life. 

Energy Barrier creates a malleable energy barrier. It drains ten energy on activation with an additional cost depending on barrier thickness and width. Instead of receiving health damage, energy would be used as a damage substitute. 

Energy reduced is equal to damage received less endurance stat.

There are other factors involved in damage calculation like velocity and force applied, however, Edward wasn't privilege about those topics, so he never bothered to think about them.

With his current stat, he receives around twenty to thirty energy reduction every time a Destroyer strikes him. It was peanuts compared to his over five points of energy.

Energy Manipulation allows him to control his energy with his own will. It consumes five energy upon activation and additional one energy per minute of remaining active. It was a cheat-like ability and only one person has it in the whole world

To Edward, he just happened to be lucky. He ended up getting chased into a dumpster and with nothing else to do, was forced to imagine a source of light inside the dark dumpster.

And light appeared, in a much magical way he imagined.

—

Jun Warhammered his way through the charging Evolved Carriers. With his over the top power, endurance and speed, he weaved in and out of the Evolved Carriers swinging arms. Hunters and Destroyers alike failed to stop him.

Hunters who were a bit slower than him managed to claw at him but only caused long red nail scratches. The Destroyers were of an even pitiable situation since Jun just weaved through them and smacked the back of their knees with Buruth's Warhammer. He would sometimes activate the attached skill, Destruction Bash, to break through the Destroyer's muscles and disable their movements. 

Adrian's group became Jun's cleaner. They have to kill the already wounded Evolved Carriers that Jun passed by.

Adrian, Sheila and Edward were already used to Jun's reckless fighting style. However, even they couldn't escape the shock when they saw him dance on the crowd of Evolved Carriers.

Anna, Erin and Emman were also surprised to watch someone jump around numerous Evolved Carriers as if the person was playing with them.

Errol and King who never saw how Jun fought from before were utterly shocked. King even realized that his challenge from earlier was like a little kid talking big to an adult. He must have embarrassed himself big time to the Guild Leader.

Although Matt couldn't see, he knew what was happening in the surrounding. He knew those fast walkers and those big muscled bullies. He usually plays hide and seek with them and never once dreamed of fighting them.

Every one of them thought of the same thing.

We can also become strong just like that.

Every one thought Jun was dancing in the midst of the enemies, but deep inside his mind, he was cursing them for watching him get assaulted from all sides. 

He couldn't even relax and shout at them since he needs to focus on his surroundings.

Aura(Death) was activated. It helps him see the immediate area around him. With this, he could dodge any attack from behind.

Left with no choice but to deal with the matter in front of him, he slowly whittled five Hunters and Destroyers coming at him.

In the corner of his eyes. he could see Errol and Matt killing the regular carriers that came to support their daddies. 

At least those two were helping!

With Errol and Matt's hard work, Adrian's group was reminded of what they had to do. They started the cleaning process of the already cleaved and injured Hunters and Destroyers.

As expected of the Crazed Healer, Sheila joined the dance to cast healing supports to Jun. Though he didn't really need the buffs since he barely reached half health, he still appreciated the effort involved.

Adrian poked every weakness of the Destroyers causing them to fall down. Their kneepits and armpits bled continuously until the Evolved Carriers assigned sufficient energy to repair their bodies.

Hunters were easy to target since the protruding bone at their backs only needed a simple cut to make them lose movement functions.

King took care of most of the Hunters while Adrian and Sheila dealt with whatever's in front of them.

It didn't take much time for the five Rank 1 Hunters and Destroyers to get thrashed, becoming resources.

Jun learned the Butcher skill from Mike but doesn't want to use a slot for it. He manually generated energy to envelop the hulking Destroyers, then separated the bones from the flesh. He carefully cut the torso and the head, to get the essence shard from the heart and the energy stone from the brain.