"Just a little more!" Liam didn't want to stop even though his stamina was already drained from continuously releasing Phoenix Fire.
He was becoming increasingly aware of how important stamina was. Every kind of power required stamina to keep using it.
Lisa was quite far from him, so he couldn't ask for her help. That woman probably wouldn't dare stray too far from the warehouse.
However, Liam saw something interesting. Zombie Paul had suddenly grown taller—he had actually advanced to Level 4.
At the same time, he saw the remains of the Husky Dog's bones transform into a ball of light.
However, when that ball of light disappeared, it only revealed a sword identical to his own.
It wasn't an item he wanted, but he still stored it away.
He then summoned the Husky Dog, feeling it would be safer to have additional protection.
After the Husky came out of the red portal, it barked softly at him.
Liam commanded it and Paul to knock down the Level 2 zombies so he could finish them off himself.
"Mm!" Right as he gave the order, he suddenly saw a light descend in the school's front yard. It looked like a ring of light, truly falling from the sky.
Inside that light, he saw a fortress shaped like a star. The fortress even had three chairs descending with it.
It came down quickly, and after that, Liam heard a commotion from the others.
"That's my chair! Move!" That voice was full of anger, and Liam recognized it as Alex.
"Hahaha, I got it!" Then came Anthony's voice.
"This one's mine..." followed by Joel's.
Liam knew he was late since he had been far away, but he still wasn't sure what exactly was happening.
BANG!
Suddenly, the fortress he had seen materialized in its full form in the school courtyard.
What was interesting was that the top of the fortress was constantly firing arrows downward, each arrow wrapped in a layer of wind that looked like Liam's Wind Blade.
It even had many bows pointed upward, ready to shoot.
Liam was speechless as he watched it all.
Still, that moment had passed. He needed to focus on himself.
Paul and the Husky Dog had already knocked down over ten Level 2 zombies for him.
He quickly approached them and slashed their necks one by one—four times in total.
DING!
(You have killed four Level 2 Zombies. You earned 80 Battle Points!)
(Battle Point: 300/300)
(You have leveled up to Level 3. You earned 3 Attribute Points!)
Upon seeing the notification, Liam distributed the Attribute Points immediately.
[Name: Liam Moonvale]
(Level: 3)
(Battle Point: 0/400)
(System Point: 100)
(Strength: 2.2) +0.5
(Defense: 1.2) +0.5
(Agility: 0.8)
(Stamina: 1.7) +1
(Vitality: 1.1) +0.5
(Mana: 1.8) +0.5
After allocating the points, Liam headed back toward the school, curious about what had really happened. He left Zombie Paul and the Husky Dog behind. As long as they didn't attack, neither zombies nor monsters would attack them. And Liam could always summon them again through the portal by using a bit of Mana.
He jumped over the back wall of the school so he could get a better view of the fortress.
It was enormous, covering the entire front courtyard.
Zombie corpses were scattered around it, killed by the arrows launched from above.
And Liam saw Alex, Joel, and Anthony climbing up onto the fortress. Each of them carried one of the chairs he had seen earlier.
They placed their chairs on top of the fortress and sat down.
As they sat, the chairs emitted a glowing light that enveloped them.
Rumble!
The fortress then rose into the air, causing the school to tremble.
After that, it descended over the school warehouse.
Of course, it didn't crush the warehouse, as the center of the fortress had a hollow area.
When it landed, it enclosed the warehouse within it.
"Liam, come up!"
Alex, who was on top of the fortress, called out to Liam.
Apparently, the fortress had stone stairs that could be lowered from the top to the ground so people could climb up.
Liam, of course, ascended the fortress, which was nearly three times taller than the warehouse.
He went up together with Lisa and asked her, "What kind of fortress is this?"
"When it appeared earlier, I got a notification that it's a Tier 3 Defense Fortress," Lisa answered. "The System also said the fortress is jointly controlled by the three people who obtained the chairs. Each chair owner has the right to expel anyone they want."
Lisa's explanation made Liam frown slightly.
Each chair owner having the right to expel others was obviously a serious matter.
In other words, each of the fortress' chair owners could act like tyrants within it.
"Principal, I think it's fine to open the warehouse door now," Joel said as Liam arrived.
Though old, the principal had also been fighting alongside the students.
He looked out over the fortress from above.
He appeared amazed and impressed, then asked, "Is there no way to close the top?"
"Unfortunately, it doesn't have that feature," Joel replied. "However, I think the fortress' security is reliable for now. If we don't open the door, we'll overheat inside the warehouse."
"Alright then." The principal finally nodded.
He then descended into the center of the fortress.
On the other side, Liam approached Alex, feeling a bit uneasy because Anthony was giving him a look like he was superior, while Joel seemed like he wanted to confront him.
"Liam, why did you go to the back? You could've gotten a chair," Alex said as Liam reached his side.
"How was I supposed to know this thing would show up?" Liam replied.
"Liam, why did you attack me earlier?" Before Liam could speak further, Joel suddenly spoke to him, surprising the other students—including Anthony.
"You should already know why I did that," Liam replied.
He didn't deny it, nor did he feel the need to.
Then Alex spoke up as well.
"Joel, that was clearly your own fault. What, do you have a problem with that?" he said sharply, stepping toward Joel with glaring eyes.
Even without enlarging himself, Joel only reached Alex's chest.
Joel was slightly afraid of Alex, who was known as the most feared student at school.
Though things were a bit different now since everyone had powers, Joel was still hesitant to go against him because Alex was one of the strongest around.
Of course, he feared Liam's strength even more, but this fortress was his domain. If Liam dared cross him, he could be expelled.
But then again, Alex was also a chair owner. Joel couldn't expel him either.
"I just wanted to kill the zombie. What's wrong with that?" Joel replied in a softer voice.
"There were plenty of other zombies. You obviously just wanted to steal Liam's Battle Points," Alex said, making it clear what Joel had done that prompted Liam to attack him.
Now everyone understood the concept of kill stealing, since some had already experienced it themselves—and it had really annoyed them.
Joel's chubby face twitched, and he didn't seem able to say anything else.
"Hmph!" Alex scoffed at him before ignoring him. Joel could only pretend to be busy, monitoring the zombies below.