Eric did not use the same strength to smack Jasper earlier out of his sanity. After all, if he did, he would have to break his bones again.
Furthermore, with how frail Andrew was, the latter would faint. Hence, he only used the right amount of strength, only making his shoulder strain.
He stared at Andrew, who was in a daze, clutching his cheeks that were not only red due to his smack, but with the hand design of blood from the zombie earlier.
Eric knew he had to explain what happened on Jasper to Andrew, but he had to calm down the latter first.
"Calm down, Andrew. Have you not understood that we are already in the apocalypse and that headless body is a zombie?"
Ixcahua had already read through Eric's memories again and again, so he knew about the apocalypse and the zombie.
Andrew was taken aback. He stared at the headless body in a daze and then slid his eyes at Eric.
"I thought Jasper was only trying to prank us. Although his scream seemed so genuine as though it came from his soul, there was no way that zombie could be true. It only exists in fiction movies!"
Eric shrugged. "Now, there you have it. It has become true. Why can't your world enter the apocalypse? It needs evolution, too. Only that, this is excessive."
"Indeed. Excessive." Andrew nodded.
Then, as he was standing on the door, the gate was in his view, he saw it was opened and panicked.
"T-The gate…"
Eric sighed. "Calm down."
From what Ixcahua understood in Eric's memories, the boarding house, despite being in an urban area, was actually in a rather quiet place, especially now that it was a school day.
Most of the students were in the school, so those whose only left were having their break time, or were absent at all.
He sauntered towards the gate and Andrew grew more anxious. "Quick, quick!"
Eric rolled his eyes and closed the gate.
He turned around and saw Andrew was staring at Jasper. He asked, "What about him? What happened to him?"
"Jasper?" Eric continued to walk at Andrew, causing the latter to feel trepidation.
"If the world is undergoing evolution, then he needs to evolve, too. In this modern world, I am pretty sure you know about superhuman abilities, right?"
"Like Superman?"
Eric nodded.
Andrew's eyes sparkled. However, his excitement instantly dwindled as he asked Eric while tilting his head.
"Does he need to be unconscious to evolve?"
Eric rolled his eyes. "Just so you know, sleeping helps your body recover from fatigue. Just think it in a way that his body was shocked and is still assimilating the evolution occurred on his body. Let us wait for the result."
Andrew nodded.
"So, what is the criteria for evolving?"
"Criteria?" Eric nodded. "What is that? Are you initiating a contest here? If you want to evolve, you just have to eat the crystals inside the brain of the zombie."
"A WHAT?!" Andrew was taken aback.
Just imagining an object being taken out inside the brain of the zombie and eating it… He felt nauseous.
He was trying to vomit something.
"You're overreacting." Eric shook his head. "Evolution is not a free gift. Back in my days, I had to kill countless people to obtain a martial technique, putting my life at risk."
Eric was trying to reminiscent on those days he was Ixcahua.
Now that he was Eric, he had to integrate into his new body.
"What did you say?" Andrew asked, still trying to compose himself.
Thankfully, Andrew was preoccupied with the thought of eating crystals out of the zombie's brain, treating Eric's words as nonsense.
Eric shook his head and said, "If you want to evolve, I can get Evolution crystals outside right now."
He turned around and stepped towards the gate.
"Wait, Wait, Wait!"
Andrew panicked. That guy! Is he not aware how dangerous zombies are? He does not even have a weapon! Don't tell me he will fight zombies barehanded? What if he gets bitten?
"What?!" Eric glanced at him, annoyed.
Andrew was lost for words. That was then he noticed the two batons lying beside Jasper and hastily grabbed it.
He threw them one at a time to Eric, and the latter caught it easily.
Andrew gulped, staring at Eric skillfully moving the batons, as though he was an expert.
"Y-You…" Andrew saw Eric's slim body, lacking any muscles underneath, and wondered if he was just acting or not. "Do you know how to wield that?"
Eric snorted. "Although this is the first time I wield this strange weapon, there's no single weapon I can't master by myself."
Andrew rolled his eyes. This guy is such a show-off!
Eric turned around and opened the gate.
"Wait!"
"What is it now?" Eric stared at him, annoyed.
"Ummm… what should I do with this body?"
Andrew stared at the headless corpse and gulped.
Eric gave him a strange look. "Get rid of it?"
"I mean…" Andrew sighed. "Alright."
Eric turned around and was about to step outside of the gate, when Andrew's voice echoed once again.
"Wait!"
Eric sighed and turned around.
"This will be the last time you keep stopping me."
Andrew suddenly felt a thick aura of killing intent directed at him, causing him to break into sweats and gulped.
He nodded and asked what has been on his mind ever since he interacted with Eric.
"Why do you seem so calm?"
Eric was taken aback.
He chuckled.
"What does panicking bring?"
Andrew's eyes lit up. He was now seeing Eric in a new light. Is this really Eric, I know? In fact, he was not familiar with Eric at all.
After all, Eric had always been introverted, rarely coming out of his room. It was like Eric had suddenly changed.
Wait, this guy loves to play games and into fiction stories. Has he been waiting for the apocalypse to happen?
He shook his head and chuckled.
There's no way right?
"What are you thinking?"
Andrew was startled. "Nothing."
Eric stared at him for a while and asked, "Do you still have something to ask?"
Andrew pondered and said, "I think you have to get more two crystals. Axel and Nicholas are sleeping. I don't know about others, though."
Eric nodded. "I will get dozens just in case."
Andrew nodded and Eric soon left the gate.
However, as Andrew was staring at the headless corpse, a bit lost on how to get rid of it, Eric suddenly returned and said to him, "Anyway, can you forage for food and water? Assess on how many days it will last."
Andrew was taken aback and nodded solemnly.
"Roger that!"
Eric smiled. "Good."