Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Zane stared intensely at his level up menu. His stats had greatly improved over the past two months, even if his level had taken significantly longer to raise than before.

Every fifth level up that an awakened survivor would experience, they would gain an additional attribute point on top of the two they normally got, plus a skill point which was essentially used to evolve their skill into something greater.

Over the course of the last two months, Zane had undergone four level ups, including the one just now to reach level fifteen, while Elena and Olivia had undergone the same amount raising their level to 13. As for Angelica and Madison, they had only recently reached level ten.

Zane had previously used six attribute points to raise his intelligence and wisdom to 15, while raising his charisma to 12. With this in mind, he used his new attribute points to raise his charisma to 15. Making himself have a particularly balanced set of physical and mental capabilities.

He did not realize this yet, but this balanced mindset in how he allocated his attribute points would be a significant boon in the distant future. His mind was now equivalent to his body.

While his body could perform feats similar to that of Olympic athletes, his mind could process information, perceive his surroundings, and convince others to join his cause in a way that had he been born this way would have made him one of the greatest men in human history.

But he was still a man, and for the time being far from capable of superhuman level feats like the Horde Kings were. His stats were as follows after spending both his attribute points and his skill points.

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[User: Zane Graves]

[Race: Human]

[Subrace: Living Dead]

[Level: 15]

[XP: 0/30,000]

[HP: 150/150]

[Attributes:]

[Strength: 15]

[Dexterity: 15]

[Constitution: 15]

[Intelligence: 15]

[Wisdom: 15 ]

[Charisma: 15]

Skills:

[Dead Man Walking – Tier IV]

[Description: Your body has evolved in ways which you could never have imagined before. In addition to all the previous benefits you have received, your vision has now increased to the point where you have natural night vision and thermal capabilities which you can activate at will.]

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Zane was stunned when he saw this enormous upgrade to his physical capabilities. He now had night vision and thermal vision which he could call upon via instinct. This revelation caused Zane to immediately rethink some things.

Since this apocalypse had begun, he had quite often been stalked by Tier IV undead at every turn. They always seemed to know where he was. Is it possible that they too had these enhanced vision capabilities?

If that was the case, then was he slowly but surely turning into an undead with his skill [Dead Man Walking?] one that was still capable of retaining thought, and speech? What exactly would that make him? After all, the first Tier he received when he first awakened the system made him friendly to undead.

The second Tier made him no longer require to eat, drink, sleep, relieve himself, or even require oxygen as if his body was truly dead. The Third tier gave him the ability to manipulate his blood, an ability he had seen used by the Tier I Horde King Eliza.

While his fourth tier gave him predatorial vision, something he was now certain the Stalkers had. As they always seemed to know where he, and any other survivors, might be. If this was the case, then what awaited him at the fifth tier and above? How far exactly could this skill evolve? What powers would he gain, and would he even still be considered a living being at this point?

It was a mind shattering idea, one that luckily did not drag Zane too deep into the world of philosophy, as his companions quickly drew his attention back to them.

"Zane, are you alright? You look paler than normal?"

Paler than normal? Was this because he had suddenly evolved his skill and thus was becoming less alive? Or was this because he had entered a horrified state? Zane quickly forced himself away from such thoughts as he returned his attention to the woman who asked that question. It was none other than Madison, who, over the past two months, had grown much closer to Zane.

In response to this, Zane petted the woman's hair, wearing a quarter of a smile as he did so. Forcing himself to assure the girl that he was alright, and not currently haunted by philosophical thoughts over what exactly constituted a person. And whether or not he met those requirements.

"I'm fine… The latest evolution to my skill just shocked me a little, that's all…."

By now, all the girls knew exactly what Zane's skill was and became concerned as Angelica quickly asked him to let her diagnose him.

"Zane, come here… Let me see."

Zane naturally knew how advanced Angelica's healing capabilities had become after reaching Tier III and was reluctant to do as she said. But she forcefully grabbed his arm and checked his pulse. Causing her eyes to bulge in shock. The look alone caused the other girls to become worried as they demanded an answer from the blonde-haired beauty.

"Angelica, what's wrong? What happened to Zane?"

Angelica shook her head and sighed, almost to reassure herself that everything would be fine, as she spoke her biased thoughts about the matter.

"It's nothing…. Zane has always had a weak pulse… It just appears to have gotten a little weaker, that's all…"

Zane was astonished by this news. He had always had a weak pulse? That wasn't true at all… At least… Not until the apocalypse had begun. Angelica had only met him and checked on his health after he had already reached Tier III. Was it really true then… Was he really becoming one step closer to an undead monster?

For quite some time, Zane remained silent. After all, his pulse was growing weaker, and his body was undergoing changes, including the paling of his skin, and other worrying signs. Yet he did not speak about his fears, because in the end he did not want to alarm the girls over something that might be blatantly false.

Thus, Zane swore to keep this matter to himself until it could be confirmed whether or not he was slowly transforming into something other than human.