After cursing my own bad luck for several seconds, I ran over to the window while swiping at the cloud of dust that filled the room. Gazing outside, I followed the sounds of the roars and looked down the street from which I had come. Even with the moonlight helping, I could just make out several shadowy figures shuffling out from between the houses about a hundred meters away. "Thank god, looks like it's only a couple." The sight of what I was guessing were zombies didn't send me fleeing in terror but gave me pause. Looking at the slow-moving, shuffling figures, I figured this might be an opportunity to test out the native's zombies and how they compared to the ones I had recently faced.
I, however, didn't do something as stupid as rush outside swinging right away. Instead, I strained to remain still and silent, while my eyes roamed down both sides of the street. The zombies that had appeared after my noisy entry into my current abode looked to have only been attracted by the noise, even though they were shambling their way straight towards me, there didn't appear to be any of the hunger fueled ferociousness in their movements. I assumed they were just following their instincts, saying noise meant prey. Also, to my relief, when the two zombies had already traversed half the distance, I had still seen no other zombies making their way over. "I guess this area is basically abandoned."
With the two zombies now much closer, I was able to tell at least at a cursory glance that they had once been human or this world's version of it. I couldn't quite tell though, as, just like the zombies I had faced in the tutorial zone, they were in a severe state of decomposition. With large chunks of flesh missing from different parts of the bodies, showing yellowed bone beneath that appeared to be inhabited by numerous bugs. Their greenish, grey flesh looked horrible bathed in the moonlight, that's not even including the part where they are completely naked. Any trace of clothes had obviously worn out with time. Only what looked like a mold-covered boot spoke to the fact that these people had owned clothes in the past.
When the two zombies, both clearly male, going by the gross sausages swinging between their legs, were close to twenty feet away, my analyze talent finally clicked in. I had been trying to activate it at the zombies every couple of seconds, and much to my delight it actually activated a decent distance away.
[Human Zombie – Level 3 – Hostile]
Both zombies showed the same information, even though their level was higher than mine. I believed my stats were far higher. How strong could half-decomposed, mindless husks really be anyway? It was the mutated ones, like the Snatcher or Brute, that were the ones to worry about. But seeing that these two zombies shared so many similar traits as the common zombies I had already faced, with even their stumbling walk looking the same, I was confident that dealing with them was going to be a cinch.
Not wanting them to crash through the already half-broken door and make more noise, I had pushed it gently open earlier. Taking my position right next to the door frame, I held the piece of table leg I had picked up off the ground in one hand, while holding my trench knife in a reverse grip with the other. With bated breath, I waited for several long seconds. The moment I could hear the zombies' soft groans only a foot away from the door, I underhandedly threw the piece of wood to the other side of the room. With the soft, half-rotten nature of the furniture, the piece of table leg hit the floorboards with a very soft sound. Barely loud enough to even reach outside the house. It was enough, though.
Keeping my back tight up against the wall, I did my best to think like a wall, act like a wall, become the wall. My actions proved fruitful as the zombies bypassed me without a glance. Even though the zombies were essentially mindless, their instinct towards human flesh or any flesh for that matter was still on point. The moment the duo walked past the threshold and entered the still dusty kitchen area right in front of me, they began to sniff around the area, clearly smelling or sensing the presence of lunch. Not wanting to allow for any variables, like both turning around, I arrived right in front of the closest zombie and with all my force I drove my knife through the top of its skull. Once again, like a warm knife through butter, the knife slipped effortlessly through flesh and bone.
Before the second zombie could turn around after hearing the noise of my knife slamming through its companion's skull, I slammed a full forced flat kick to its hip, flinging it straight to the floor. Once the zombie, who was acting as a knife sheath for me, went motionless, with all its dead weight pressing on my hand keeping the knife lodged in its head, I tugged my knife back. The blade came out easily as the boneless zombie fell to the floor. A flick of my knife sent a line of blood spraying up the opposite wall to me, which brought a smile to my face as I thought, 'At least this time I managed to kill one of these bastards without covering myself in their goo.'
As I took a second to marvel at the abrupt paint job I had just given this dusty house, a flash of black flashed in the corner of my eye. Instinctively, I leaned back as far as I could. Swiping only inches from my chubby nose was a set of four black claws as thin as my knife and looking just as sharp. My abrupt leaning posture caused me to stumble back on unsteady legs when I tried to straighten myself, causing me to land on my ass several steps away. Even though my life tier enhancement and double stat increases had done wonders for my all-round strength, it hadn't caused me to have any preternatural talent for combat or balance. When startled or unprepared, I still tripped over my feet like anyone else would. Luckily, my recovery speed had increased a lot.
Without wasting a second, I scrambled back to my feet and, in haste, raised one of my arm guards to block a downward swipe from the zombie I had previously kicked over before sneak attacking its companion. I was originally banking on the fact that the last time I had done the same thing in the tutorial, the zombie I kicked over took quite a while before it got to its feet. It appeared that I was in for a slap in the face for my presumption. Not only had the zombie moved with a hell of a lot more finesse than its stumbling counterparts, but it had also at some point grown six inch long fingernails that looked as if they were coated in a greenish oily glow.
Four deep furrows, which spoke to the sharpness of the thing's claws, were carved into my leather vambrace by the heavy slash from the level 3 zombie. Even though my vambrace held up to the attack, my actual forearm appeared not to be up to the task, as accompanying the sound like a tree branch snapping a fiery hot pain radiated up my arm right where the attack had landed. "Argh! Bastard!" Letting out a pained roar, I leapt up and drove my right shoulder into the zombie before it could swipe down again with its other clawed hand, sending it smashing into the opposite wall. The collision of zombie and brittle house caused more of the already damaged wood to fall down in clumps, filling my vision with dust.
Letting my fiery forearm dangle on my left side, I gritted my teeth as I ran over to where the zombie was swiftly getting back to its feet and with an anger-fueled yell I slashed down at its head. Much like I had done, and to my dismay, the zombie lifted its forearm to block my blow and had my knife slice straight through it, sending half its arm to the floor in a spray of blackened blood. My dismay was not because of once again being awash with the stink of zombie blood but the fact that the zombie had actively tried to defend itself. Even though it still looked careless and appeared mindless, the fact it even raised its arm to protect itself spoke of some form of intelligence. Which wasn't a good sign for me. Fighting mindless hordes of undead was already a nail-biting thought; now, if it turned out they weren't even mindless, I was in for a world of hurt. All of this didn't matter at this point, though.
After severing one of its arms, the zombie didn't cry in pain like I did but almost immediately swiped out with its remaining claw, cutting a deep gash into my new leather cuirass, almost causing me to see red in anger. "Keep your filthy claws off me, you bitch." I screamed into its ugly mug as I drove my knife straight through its eye and out the back with so much force that my knife pinned its now boneless head to the wall.
Taking several steps back, I breathed in and out in ragged gasps as I looked down at the zombie while cradling my broken forearm to my stomach. Spitting at the corpse with a twisted face, I walked over to the window and looked up and down the street as sweat streamed down my forehead. "Thank God." Seeing that my pained roars and heavy handling of the second zombie had not brought anymore zombies to come a-knocking for the time being brought a small amount of relief to my tense shoulders.
Holding my arm, brought it close to my face and saw that it looked like under my vambrace, the spot where I deflected the downward slash had already begun to turn a slight purple. The pain was excruciating, but adrenaline from the desperate fight rendered it manageable. I was shocked to see the level 3 zombie's damage numbers when I called up my battle log.
[-20]
[-5]
The numbers were remarkably low considering the first attack had broken my arm. Even with my armor value obviously taking away from the total damage, the remaining appeared pitifully weak with how damaged I already was. Untrustworthy bloody system, doesn't even know how to count. Thinking it over, while I gathered my breath, I had a guess that the damage points were probably just a rough gauge, as how could anything accurately predict with numeracy how much damage was inflicted? Furthermore, damaging the vitals, such as the neck and head, would always inflict greater damage, as most attacks there threatened life. At least, that was what I guessed. The unknown and inconsistencies of this world were slowly driving me mad with anger. Using the notifications to distract me, I brought up the next two notifications.
[You have slain Level 3 Human Zombie – 30 x experience points awarded]
[You have slain Level 3 Human Zombie – 30 x experience points awarded]
"Nice, halfway to level two." After checking the notifications, I walked over to both zombie's corpses and kick-looted them. The zombie I pinned to the wall I more stomp looted it then kicked it but ultimately just like in the tutorial zone they both turned into piles of ash after only a second. After retrieving my knife and putting it in its sheath, I first bent over to look through the piles of the bastard zombie who broke my arm, however, the moment I did, my arm, which was pulsing in a fiery pain suddenly turned up a notch. Falling to my knees, I slammed my teeth together so hard the click they made caused me to flinch, as I did my best to hold back the scream that was threatening to erupt out of my mouth.
The pain in my forearm wasn't pulsing as it was before but felt sharp and abrupt, similar to the sharp pain it radiated when initially broken. After feeling like I was about to pass out and my vision became slightly watery, my arm from hell began to calm down at a supernatural speed. Within only a minute, it went from a sharp, unbearable pain to a pulsing one, then turned into a dull one before suddenly it felt as if it was only slightly bruised and tender. Holding my arm before my misty eyes, I saw the slight discoloring that was only just appearing disappear entirely. Summoning my healthbar, the answer revealed itself. Initially, a greyed-out part occupied the tip of my health bar, but now it was full again. "Bloody Troll healing is awesome. If only it could dull the pain too."
After gingerly moving my arm around and feeling no pain, I stood up and sighed at my luck. The fact that my talent could not only heal skin and muscle level wounds but also broken bones was simply amazing. After muttering about my luck starting good and then turning to shit, I went over and began to sift through the ashes. Ultimately, I received three things, two of them being zombified leather of common quality. The third one, however, was something I hadn't seen yet but made my inner child shout with joy.
[Mana tincture – Common]
Uses 1/1
Restore +25 Mp
Despite my lack of experience with magic, the mana bar and potion indicated an active magical world. With renewed vigor, I placed the three objects in my floating inventory before I walked out of the house and onto the cobblestone street. Making sure the way was clear to the best of my ability, I looked at the roof I scouted the city from and gauged roughly the direction of the mansion I saw earlier was and began to make my way there.
Taking the same approach I had before, I passed several streets as quietly but as quickly as possible. After passing several streets worth of homes, that loomed ominously in the silent city like monuments to the dead, I had finally reached the end of the residential area. A small river divided the part I just came from and the next area. Stopping in the shadow of the last house, I gazed around at the open area in front of me. Directly across from me was a wide but short bridge that crossed the gurgling waterway. Large, withered trees ran down its sides, its branches thin and weak. Past the bridge was a single street that looked as if it ran all the way to the looming fortress in the middle of the city.
On either side of the street closest to me were several houses that were much larger than the ones I had just passed. Not only were the buildings larger, but the space they occupied was too. Each one looks to have dried-up lawns ringed by broken-down short walls of varying designs. The walls seemed designed more for privacy than defense, with the intact parts appearing tall but thin. 'That's the one.' About half down the first street, a mansion stood, far larger and grander than the others, just waiting to be claimed. After seeing my target, I didn't immediately make my move. Instead, I waited for several minutes as I gazed up and down the area, trying my best to spot any movement.
Finally, after five minutes of waiting and seeing nothing go boo in the night, I made my way out of my spot under the eaves of the broken house. Crossing the open space, I reached the bridge. "Caw!!" The sudden cawing of a flock of pitch-black birds, who had at some point perched upon the dead trees standing to the sides of the bridge, almost caused my small heart to explode out of my chest. Jumping back in fright, I gripped my knife's handle tightly as I glared up at the flock of birds. They looked similar to ravens or crows but far larger, with midnight feathers tinged at the end with vibrant red.
"Goddamn bin chickens. You're lucky I don't want to make a scene, or else I'd be eating roast chicken for dinner." I spat at the ravens, who just stared at me with their beady, dead eyes for several seconds. Glaring into their eyes, I felt goosebumps rise all over my body, as originally it was just one of the birds staring at me. But after I made eye contact with that one, the rest, as if connected, turned their heads as one and stared right at me. "Jesus Christ. Nope, just nope. I ain't having a staring contest with you doll-eyed bastards. I'm out of here." Matching words to actions, I suppressed the shudder that felt as if it ran through my whole body and took off. Crossing the bridge and onto the more opulent-looking part of the city.
The moment my foot landed on the other side of the bridge, a cacophony of cawing birds rang out behind me, accompanied by the flapping of wings. The barrage of squawks broke the quiet stillness of the night. Spinning around, I watched as the flock of pitch-black birds the size of vultures rose up into the sky. Like a tornado, they flew in circles around the tree, getting higher and higher. All the while issuing out piercing caws. The moment the entire flock had flown up at least a hundred feet into the air, they came to a pause and gathered. Their next action caused the current wide-opened me's stomach to drop. As one, the flock turned into a black wave of feathers and dived straight towards me.
The sight of the torpedoing nightmare birds caused a little pee to come out. "Oh, shit one me." Cursing my horrible luck and wondering how I had managed to offend some random flock of birds, I took off running as if the devil was after me, or hundreds of little flying devils. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be so afraid of a flock of birds; however, after watching them dive bomb me, the first thing I did was analyze the closest ones.
[Murdercrow – Level 3 – Hostile]
After the same title and level came up several times, I knew that if those beaks of death caught up with me, I'd end up as worm food. Even though I was confident I could take on one or maybe two of them at the moment, I was definitely not confident taking on over twenty at the same time. Sprinting down the worn street, I was too busy gazing over my shoulder in a panic to notice that the hard cobblestone streets had at some point turned into a paved road, covered in scratched-out symbols of unknown origin.
Passing several houses in a flash, I soon approached my intended target. A hard brick wall, that was at least double my size, blocked my direct entry into the fancy-looking mansion's grounds. I ran up to the rusted but thick metal gates and, to my surprise, they rebuffed me when I slammed into them with all my might. Bouncing off the gate like I was the ball in a pinball machine, I fell backwards on my ass. Looking up at the gate, I was shocked to see that a shimmering wall of force deflected me, not the gate. It was like a wall of shimmering glass. With a face twisting into a nasty grimace, I said, "Come on, a goddamn force field. How am... oh shit!"
As if in reply to my complaints, a crowd of cawing birds rang in my ears as if they were right next to me. Swinging my head to the side, I was horrified to see that swarms of Murdercrows were actually only a few feet from me. Scrambling to my feet, I shot off down the street again. Even though I pushed my legs as hard as I could, I could tell the birds were catching up with every breath. Feeling my nerves tightening, my eyes scanned all along the wall that ringed the mansion. "Yes!" As if seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I couldn't help but cry out with a grin when I saw that just ahead of me was an opening in the wall. Bricks from the littered the street in front of the gap, as if something had blasted it from within.
Feeling as if the beaks were breathing down my neck, I spared no time and dived through the opening. Betting to all the gods above that the weird invisible wall didn't cover a damaged area, I landed onto the dried-out and dirt-covered lawn right in front of the mansion. Accompanied by the sound of cawing were several tearing noises, which caused me to grimace in pain. The leading birds had managed to claw large furrows out of my lower legs when they passed the gap only a second after I had jumped through. The flock of Murdercrows had pulled up abruptly after missing me and spiraled in the air, rising up and up again.
Having already watched the scene, I decided not to hang around to watch what I guessed was coming again, and with blood leaking down my legs, I took off across the lawn.
Hearing the piercing caws ring out far above my head again, I pushed myself and soon passed the lawn, coming to the front entrance of the mansion. The building was truly massive when standing before its sleeping self, looking to be at least three stories high, with white pillars ringing the outside holding up its overhanging roof. Even though I wanted to take my time to appreciate the building, the sound of feathers cutting through the air sent me rushing towards the large double doors.
"Please don't be locked. Please don't be locked. Please don't be locked." Chanting out loud, I grabbed both large door handles with sweaty palms and pressed on their catches. Hearing the satisfying clicks, I broke out into a laugh and looked back at the flock of pitch-black hellions dive-bombing towards me. "Just wait for me. I'll be eating chicken for a week when I catch you." Swinging one of the doors open, I jumped inside and slammed the closed door behind me. Leaning against the door, I listen to the disgruntled caws screech outside for several seconds before the noises begin to grow distant. Releasing a breath, I couldn't help but slide down the doors and mumble bitterly, "When will I stop being chased by monsters?"
With my head in my hands, I took a moment to compose myself. I, however, was rudely interrupted by the sound of something snapping right in front of me. I felt the sound was oddly familiar for a moment. The feeling of familiarity wasn't comforting though, as several more snaps were heard in quick succession, everyone made the hairs on the back of my neck rise higher and higher. It was as if someone were breaking a collection of thick branches. With a slowly shuddering body, I raised my head from my hands and looked directly in front of me. The sight that revealed itself to me made all the blood drain from my face, as I felt a deathly chill run up my spine.
A large atrium sat right in front of me. Several crystal chandeliers ringed the high ceiling, the candles lit within offering plenty of light. On the other side of the atrium was a steep staircase leading to the second floor, while a set of double doors sat on either side of the basketball court-sized room. The walls were covered with large, expertly crafted paintings depicting all sorts of battles. Many with men fighting creatures both familiar and not. Hanging at the top of the stairs and facing right at the entrance from which I entered was a painting that dominated the room. It was a lifesize portrait of an opulent-looking older man, standing in what looked like a curtained chamber.
The painting was a masterpiece, with the man's deep blue eyes, lined with crow's feet, appearing as if they were staring right at you. All these things, however, were not what caused my legs to feel as if they were suddenly made of jelly or my stomach to start to flip around like it was inside a washing machine. Between myself and the stairs was a large open space, and occupying this space was, for lack of a better word, a carpet of corpses. From one end of the room to the other, a sea of corpses lay haphazardly. The whole spectrum of human society looked to be arranged in front of my eyes, all in varying states. Some had missing limbs, others with no heads, and even some that, besides their body covered in blood, looked perfectly intact.
The snapping noises were coming from the only living things among the sea of dead before me. What looked to be close to ten monsters were currently spread throughout the room, all devouring different parts of the macabre feast. Their large, disjointed mouths, enlarged as they ripped into chunks of human flesh with their needle-like teeth. Bones and all. Not being able to help myself, I gazed at the closest one and used analyze.
[Ghoul – Level 10 – Hostile]
Wishing that I hadn't, I stared at the monstrosities as they devoured one human after another. Their muscular bodies were humanoid, with two legs and two arms. They sifted through the bodies in a crouched state as if they were prowling. Their batlike ears twitched as their pointed witch noses sniffed at each body before picking one and beginning a new wave of snapping and slurping that almost made me whimper. The hands looked like they were the size of my head, with all their fingers ending in thick razor sharp razor-sharp-looking claws that tore through flesh as if it were tissue paper.
One ghoul, that was at least double the size of the others, was sniffing through the bodies, carelessly tossing bodies left and right as if none of them were to its liking, before going to another pile and doing the same thing. It did this several times, each time, it appeared to take out it dissatisfaction on any ghoul that was near it, striking them or letting out roaring screeches that were so loud, I had no choice but to cover my ears even though I was doing my best to not move a muscle. That soon changed, however, as another ghoul that was in the middle of the pile let out what sounded like an excited, nasally roar. Its clawed hands reached in-between a pile of corpses and pulled out one that looked to be only a couple of feet in size.
For a moment, I hoped the small body was of a dwarf or creature similar looking to a goblin, as I saw a couple of their bodies littered among the human ones, however, as the ghoul lifted its prize further up I was able to see that the small figure was not a dwarf or goblin, it was a child. Looking to be no older than four or five. The sight of which made a hitch rise in my throat as my mind tried to make me look away, but my body didn't comply. The ghoul's mouth creaked and cracked as it elongated, while with its hand it raised the small body above its mouth, like it was feeding itself some grapes.
Frozen, I stared at the sight, my eyes prickling with tears, knowing this would stay with me longer than any zombie-filled building. The drooling ghoul, however, was going to be disappointed, as the moment it went to release the small body into its mouth an enormous fist slammed into its side, sending it flying. The ghoul lost its grip on its food, and the small body fell to the floor with a wet smack, while the ghoul that had been hit screeched out in pain and indignation as it flew through the air. The larger ghoul, who moved so fast it was standing where the flying ghoul was before it even landed, was now holding the small body, with drool water falling out of its massive mouth.
This time, however, I wasn't frozen watching the new ghoul dropping the small corpse in its waiting mouth, as the ghoul that was sent flying was heading right for me. "Shit." With a cry, I dived to the side, barely missing being slammed into by a beast that was at least double my size, let alone my weight. Rolling over, I sat up and looked over at the flying ghoul. To my absolute horror, the ghoul was also looking at me. Its black eyes took on a red hue as we stared at each other in silence for several seconds before a very human-like grin that almost split its face in half sprouted on its face. The ghoul didn't take its eyes off me as it let out a loud hissing screech, which made all the sounds throughout the atrium pause. With shaking vision, I saw through the sides of my eyes that all the other ghouls were now staring at me. Their red eyes flickered like flames surrounded by pitch-black darkness.
Feeling a tightening in my chest, as even the surrounding air felt thick, I couldn't help but mutter through chattering teeth, "This isn't my home."