"Ah."

Those were the vines of a Wood Element Mutated Zombie.

Elara Dolan was so focused on breaking free from the vines that she didn’t notice the Wood Element zombie was already lunging at her!

By the time she did, it was already too late.

Staring at the hideous zombie before her, Elara Dolan closed her eyes.

"When facing a zombie, you can never give up.

Don’t you want to live?"

A familiar voice rang in her ears. Elara Dolan opened her eyes, only to find that Nina Jacobs had appeared in front of her at some point.

The Wood Element Mutated Zombie now lay stiffly on the ground.

"I’m sorry..."

Elara Dolan lowered her head.

She’d always felt she wasn’t good enough. Even when she’d lasted three moves against Holden Shaw, she thought it was just a fluke.

’Has my incompetence finally been exposed?’

But then, a hand reached out to her. "Get up. I’ll teach you."

Nina Jacobs said.

"Captain?"

Elara Dolan’s eyes widened.

She had expected a harsh scolding.

’Captain Jacobs is willing to teach me?’

"Your Superpower’s strength is fine. The problem is your speed and reaction time.

From now on, don’t worry about killing zombies.

Just stick close to me."

After speaking, Nina Jacobs noticed Elara Dolan staring at her with a touched expression.

"...Did you get that?"

Nina Jacobs asked.

She was genuinely worried the girl might accidentally get herself killed again.

Elara Dolan nodded vigorously and followed closely behind Nina Jacobs.

Seeing that Wendy Marshall was at a disadvantage against an Alloyed Zombie,

Nina Jacobs charged directly at it.

"Thanks. You be careful, too."

Wendy Marshall didn’t try to act tough.

The Water Element truly had no advantage against the Gold Element.

Besides, this Alloyed Zombie was no simple foe. It continuously bolstered its defenses, and its head was already showing faint signs of turning to metal.

In her past life, Nina Jacobs had seen Mutated Zombies whose heads, and even entire bodies, had turned to metal.

These zombies were truly vicious. If left to evolve, they would become a huge threat once they reached the Intermediate level.

ROAR!

The Alloyed Zombie wielded a long metal rod with a sharp, gleaming tip, swinging it horizontally toward Nina Jacobs!

As Nina Jacobs swiftly dodged, she had already conjured her Superpower’s flame in her hand.

In truth, with her real strength, this Alloyed Zombie wouldn’t last two moves against her.

But considering that the main task today was training, Nina Jacobs only planned to use the strength of a mid-tier Basic Level Superpower user.

The Alloyed Zombie dodged a few bursts of flame.

Watching from behind, Elara Dolan couldn’t help but feel a little anxious.

However, she also noticed that Nina Jacobs wasn’t the least bit frustrated, and the Superpower in her hands never stopped.

A Fireball struck the metal rod but wasn’t deflected.

Instead, it quickly rolled along the rod toward the Alloyed Zombie at the other end.

BANG!

The Fireball finally hit the Alloyed Zombie.

The sudden force made it stagger and drop the metal rod.

"It worked!"

Elara Dolan exclaimed in pleasant surprise.

"If your opponent is good at dodging, you can use external forces or even its own Superpower to land a hit,

like this metal rod."

Nina Jacobs said, taking the opportunity to teach.

Elara Dolan nodded, then quickly shouted, "Captain, look out!"

The Alloyed Zombie once again conjured a Gold Spike. Nina Jacobs seemed to dodge in one direction, but she had already circled around to its side.

BOOM!

A Fire Serpent shot across the ground toward the Alloyed Zombie.

Though it didn’t cause any damage yet, it threw the Alloyed Zombie into disarray, forcing it to constantly dodge.

Just as it was dodging repeatedly, a Fireball struck it in the head.

Watching the Mutated Zombie fall, Elara Dolan couldn’t help but murmur, "So strong."

The Fire Element Superpower had always been seen as having weak defensive power and low accuracy as its greatest drawbacks.

But Nina Jacobs’s demonstration just now made her forget all about that.

"Just practice more. You have a lot of potential," Nina Jacobs said encouragingly.

She didn’t know how much of an impact her words had on Elara Dolan, only that the girl stood frozen in place for a long time.

"Potential... me?"

Elara Dolan looked down, and when she looked up again, her eyes were brimming with tears.

It seemed to be a mix of feeling wronged and being happy.

’Why is she crying...’

Nina Jacobs started to wonder if there was something wrong with her approach.

However, during the team’s mid-session break, Nina Jacobs checked inside the vehicle and discovered something.

Elara Dolan’s favorability score toward her had skyrocketed from the single digits to 60.

"Looks like there’s no problem after all."

Only then did Nina Jacobs feel relieved.

Althea Coleman’s score, however, was still in the negatives.

There was also an Earth Element Superpower User named Kyle Keaton, whose favorability score was stubbornly stuck at 3.

Even Wayne Abbott noticed that the Elara Dolan who fought afterward was like a completely different person.

Her former timidness was gone, replaced by a sharp focus on the surrounding zombies.

"Our captain really knows her stuff.

I tried to talk to her so many times before, but it never worked."

Wayne Abbott said to Kyle Keaton, who was behind him.

"Mm, let’s wait and see."

Kyle Keaton was a man of few words, so Wayne Abbott didn’t pay it much mind and just said:

"I know what you’re worried about,

but I think your worries are unnecessary this time."

Kyle Keaton had many unpleasant experiences in the past; his family and friends had all betrayed him.

On top of that, the teammate he trusted most had previously run off with all the team’s supplies and disappeared.

This led Kyle Keaton to suspect that Nina Jacobs’s motive for taking them in was to use them as cannon fodder.

"It’s always good to be extra careful.

There are a lot of zombies here. If something happens..."

What Kyle Keaton didn’t understand was why Nina Jacobs would bring them here to kill zombies.

This place was far too dangerous.

’Either she doesn’t care about our lives at all and just wants to get results quickly...’

"So hot..."

Althea Coleman felt like she was about to get heatstroke.

Only two of the six hours had passed, and she was already at her limit.

In contrast, Nina Jacobs was standing alone in a shady spot, occasionally offering some guidance.

And yet, every single person she guided seemed to have a sudden enlightenment, charging toward the zombies as if they were on steroids.

Come to think of it, Nina Jacobs seemed to have given guidance or an evaluation to everyone so far.

Everyone except for her.

Even the mediocre Elara Dolan got some.

"Captain Jacobs, am I using the right method to kill this zombie?"

Althea Coleman, holding a long, flaming saber, swung viciously at a zombie’s head.

The saber came down on the zombie’s head with a dull thud.

Then, Althea Coleman kicked the zombie away.

Her expression was quite smug.

In the past, Wayne Abbott had praised her more than once and even told the other Fire Element Superpower Users on the team to learn from her.

’Nina Jacobs probably hasn’t coached me because she thinks there are no flaws to point out in my technique.’

"If I recall correctly,

in over two hours, you’ve only killed this one zombie?

For a regular zombie, your slashing technique is acceptable."

Nina Jacobs’s words made Althea Coleman’s face flush red instantly.

She hadn’t expected Nina Jacobs to call her out in front of everyone.

"I’m sorry, Captain. Actually, I’m not feeling well today."

Seeing everyone looking at her, Althea Coleman explained defensively.

"I see. Why don’t you go rest in the vehicle, then?"

Nina Jacobs said.

From the very beginning, Althea Coleman had been slacking off.

Her adaptability was indeed strong—so strong that the moment she spotted a Mutated Zombie, she would subtly move in the opposite direction.

She looked the busiest out of everyone, yet she hadn’t killed a single zombie.

’Perhaps with her off the field, the others will be able to perform better.’