Avery stared at the pulsing red orb in her palm. It radiated warmth, the surface smooth and almost liquid-like despite its solid form.
The moment her fingers wrapped fully around the orb, knowledge flooded her mind.
Without hesitation, Avery squeezed the orb between her palms. It yielded like soft clay, then grew hot—not painfully so, but with insistent energy. The glow intensified, bleeding through the gaps between her fingers until her hands appeared skeletal, illuminated from within.
A blinding flash erupted, forcing her to close her eyes. When she opened them again, the orb was gone.
In its place, she held a sword of impossible beauty and menace. The blade was pitch black, drinking in the surrounding light rather than reflecting
[Eclipse Sword: Its power is enough to pierce through the defenses of almost any creature below level 40 and its edge capable of piercing through the defenses of an armored car. When equipped, Strength +20].
"Holy shit," Avery whispered, giving the blade an experimental swing.
Though she'd never held a sword before, the Eclipse moved like an extension of her arm. It cut through the air with a soft whisper, leaving faint trails of darkness in its wake. The weight was perfect—substantial enough to feel powerful, light enough for quick movements.
She stepped over the fallen behemoth and moved to the center of the lobby. With more confidence, she executed a series of swings and thrusts. Each movement felt more natural than the last, as if the sword itself guided her.
The bat lay forgotten on the floor as Avery admired her new weapon. She felt the added strength coursing through her arms, making her movements sharper, more decisive.
Avery admired the sword's wicked edge, tracing a finger just above it. The blade seemed to hunger for more than the zombies she'd already dispatched. A thought occurred to her—with all this fighting, surely she'd grown stronger?
"Status," she whispered.
The translucent blue window materialized before her eyes, and what she saw made her breath catch.
[Name: Avery
Stat Points: 16
Level: 8
Race: demon
Job: None
Title: None
Strength: 20 (+20)
Agility: 13
Health: 15
Stamina: 16
Mana: 109]
"Level 8?" Avery's eyes widened. "And my strength..." She glanced at the sword, understanding the parenthetical addition. If 10 was the average Stat For an average person she was around four times stronger than a normal person.
She flexed her free hand, feeling power coursing through her transformed body. The rush of confidence was intoxicating—almost dangerously so.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," she murmured, tempering her excitement. "This is just the beginning."
Her gaze drifted to the corpses littering the lobby floor. If her dormitory—just one building on campus—contained this many monsters, what waited beyond those doors? How many people had already fallen? How many had transformed like her?
Avery tightened her grip on the sword's hilt. She had sixteen stat points to distribute, but that could wait. First, she needed to understand what she was facing.
With measured steps, she approached the glass doors leading outside. Through the blood-smeared glass, she glimpsed a world transformed by nightmare.
Bodies lay scattered across the quad—students, faculty, campus security. Some had been torn apart, others showed signs of transformation interrupted. The carefully manicured lawns were stained dark with blood. In the distance, pillars of smoke rose from burning buildings, and the red sky cast everything in a hellish glow.
Somewhere, a scream cut through the air, abruptly silenced. Closer, she heard the distinctive shuffling and moaning of more zombies.
Avery took a deep breath, steadying herself against the rising tide of panic. She'd survived this far. She'd grown stronger. Whatever waited outside, she would face it.
With the Eclipse Sword held ready, she pushed open the door and stepped into the apocalypse.
Avery's boots crunched on broken glass as she ventured across the quad. The campus had transformed into a killing field—familiar landmarks now serving as tombstones for a world that no longer existed.
A high-pitched scream pierced the air. Avery pivoted toward the sound, spotting a girl sprinting across the far side of the quad. Behind her loped a monstrous dog, its body grotesquely enlarged, fur falling out in patches to reveal raw, pulsing muscle. Its jaws had split, creating a four-way maw lined with jagged teeth.
The girl stumbled, going down hard on the pavement. The mutant dog closed the distance in three bounds.
Avery's body moved before her mind could catch up. With a flick of her wrist, she activated her gravity magic, launching herself forward. She landed between the girl and the beast just as it leaped.
Eclipse Sword sang through the air. The blade connected with the dog's neck, cleaving through muscle and bone with terrifying ease. The creature's momentum carried its severed head past Avery while its body collapsed at her feet, twitching in death spasms.
[Mutated Dog (Lv. 9) defeated. Agility +4, Stamina +4]
Avery flicked blood from her blade, frowning. The notification bothered her. This mutant had been level 9, yet gave her the close to the same stat boost as the level 15 zombie she'd killed earlier. The only difference was which stats increased.
Understanding dawned. It wasn't just about the enemy's level—it was about how many she'd killed. This was her first dog, but she'd already slain several zombies. Diminishing returns.
The girl scrambled backward, eyes wide with terror. Not at the dog—at Avery.
"Y-you're one of them," the girl whispered, staring at Avery's horns and tail.
Avery sighed, suddenly too tired for coddling. "I'm saving your ass, is what I'm doing. Look, follow me if you want to live, or find somewhere safe to hide. This world isn't waiting for anyone to catch up."
The girl hesitated, then nodded shakily and stood.
Distant shouts drew Avery's attention. Across the parking lot, three men fought a small horde of zombies while five others cowered behind a van.
One of the fighters moved with inhuman grace, his ears elongated to points, skin shimmering with an otherworldly light—an elf.
"Stay close," Avery ordered, moving toward the conflict.
She arrived quickly, Eclipse Sword carving through rotted flesh. Between her and the elf, they made short work of the remaining zombies.
"Thanks for the assist," the elf said, wiping gore from his face. "I'm Daniel. These are my classmates."
Avery nodded curtly, scanning the survivors. "Anyone bitten?"
"No, but—" A middle-aged man in a wrinkled button-up shifted uncomfortably. "Ted got scratched. It's nothing serious."
Avery's gaze locked on the indicated man—a teacher or staff member by the looks of him. Blood seeped through his torn sleeve.
"He can't come with us," Avery stated flatly.
"What? That's absurd!" The scratched man puffed up indignantly. "I'm fine! It's just a scratch!"
"It's a death sentence," Avery countered. "And I won't risk everyone else."
"Now see here, young lady—"
Avery moved faster than him. Her fist connected with the man's jaw, enhanced strength dropping him instantly unconscious.
"He'll turn," she said to the shocked faces surrounding her. "We have seen it happen. Anyone who wants to live, follow me. Anyone who doesn't agree with my methods, stay here."
She hated the coldness in her voice, hated the brutal necessity of her actions. But this was survival now. Nothing less.
After a moment of tense silence, the others gathered their things and fell in line behind her.