Clash at the Market
"Well, now I'm kind of scared to go there," Lucas said quietly to himself as he walked down the road toward the market.
Just thinking about running into those zombies made his body twitch without him wanting it to. It made sense – surviving a close call with one left him with this ongoing fear that stuck with him.
Who wouldn't feel worried about entering what might be a bunch of zombies after barely escaping from one? He slowed down as he got closer to the market, his footsteps not as sure, and his confidence fading.
Knowing what to do logically and having the guts to actually do it were two different things, and he knew that.
Even though he didn't really want to, he understood that avoiding the zombies today wouldn't stop them from being a problem later. They might even get stronger over time.
"Thud... Thud..." His footsteps echoed, reminding him of how nervous he was. He wished for it to be quiet, but the anxiety was making every step unsteady.
"Ahh..." His heart raced when he reached the same spot where the uncle zombie scared him the day before.
Moving quietly, he noticed a stall. It was one of the vegetable stalls at the market's entrance that he'd seen lots of times before. But now, it looked different. It was hard to find the right words for it, but "bloody" seemed to fit.
The stall had blood splatters and torn flesh, which was unusual. The vegetable section wasn't supposed to have any meat unless zombies had messed things up.
From another nearby stall, a noise grabbed his attention. "Ah-" Lucas whispered in shock, his grip on the spear tightening as he turned toward the source of the sound. What he saw was quite grim – a figure resembling a zombie.
It lay beneath an overturned wooden table, covered in blood with bones exposed, leaving Lucas to assume it was either undead or deceased.
The struggle for a meal must have resulted in this chaotic scene, otherwise, the zombie would have pursued Lucas as the uncle zombie did.
"Mrrraaaa!" The zombie looked at him, its arm dangling, attempting to grab him, but alas, nothing worked. With a sigh, all Lucas could do was end its life. "Sorry," he murmured as, with a powerful thrust of his spear, he aimed directly at the zombie's head, driving the weapon through with force.
---
[Level 1 Zombie Killed, Awarding 50 Exp!]
---
'I guess I'm getting better at this,' Lucas thought out loud, reflecting on his progress. His first encounter with a zombie had left him drained, but this second fight felt different. He pondered, finding an odd sort of satisfaction in the act.
'Fun?' he wondered, a wry thought passing through his mind. "If these were humans, I'd probably be serving a lifetime jail sentence," he added humorously.
There was an undeniable rush each time he dispatched a zombie, an almost intoxicating sensation that blended strength and leveling up.
Surprising even himself, he stood there, amazed by his own excitement, as he observed the lifeless form of the zombie he had vanquished.
Overcoming his fear had an exhilarating quality, his previous anxiety transforming into something resembling triumph.
The creature that once embodied terror now lay as a vulnerable prey, easily vanquished beneath his might.
His gaze lingered on the fallen zombie before he kicked its head and resumed his exploration of the market. Venturing deeper, he spotted a cluster of zombies in the meat section's far corner.
"Gosh! How am I supposed to deal with five?" he muttered under his breath; his unease was palpable. Swiftly, he retrieved his baseball bat and cautiously positioned himself behind a corner of the meat stall.
Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps reached his ears. His heart raced – had he been discovered? Panic set in as he questioned how these zombies had sensed him.
His answer arrived with the sudden leap of one of the zombies toward him. Acting on instinct, he swung his baseball bat with all his might, the impact resounding with a loud "BANG!"
As the creature recoiled, Lucas poised for another strike. Yet, the taste of victory was fleeting, as time refused to linger on his small triumph. The remaining zombies, undeterred by their companion's setback, pressed forward with an eerie determination.
Lucas clenched his jaw, ready to face the upcoming zombie chaos with a determined spirit.
Taking on his fear, he swung his baseball bat at the zombie in front, hitting it right on the mark. Swiftly adjusting, he poked his spear at the next zombie, making its way towards him.
This fight wasn't a quick one. It played out like an ongoing dance of survival.
Lucas, not getting distracted by any leveling-up excitement, kept his focus on the immediate task. With careful moves, he landed strong hits on one zombie after another.
Using his backpack as a clever distraction, he smoothly pulled out his spear, seamlessly adding it to his combat moves. Swinging and poking happened in quick succession, each action proving his strong will to stay alive.
In the middle of the chaos, he took down another zombie, completely smashing its skull. Turning to the one with the weird right eye, Lucas was surprised at how tough it was.
Without wasting time, he grabbed his spear from the previous victim and jabbed it into the zombie's head with precise determination.
Meanwhile, a zombie with a big chest wound, affected by a well-aimed long knife, tripped over a stall thanks to the diversion created by Lucas's backpack.
Seeing the chance, Lucas impaled the creature's eye socket with his spear, a gruesome encounter that made him cringe in disgust. Despite the zombie's last struggles, he held onto the spear, determined until the very end.
---
[Leveling Exp Reach: 200/200!]
[Leveling Up: Level 4!]
[Receiving 2 Stat Points and 1 Skill Point!]
---
"Ugh..." Lucas grunted, looking at his messy clothes. Even though he won, he noticed the zombies didn't go down easily.
In the chaos, he had focused only on smashing their heads, a big mistake that now left him covered in signs of the brutal fight.
From all the movies he'd seen, Lucas knew that the key to killing a zombie for good was crushing its head. But his obsession with this move allowed a few zombies to scratch at his three layers of shirts.
Yeah, he was careful to wear lots of layers. It was a smart choice, especially now with zombies all over the place.
He felt relieved that the apocalypse had happened at night. If it was daytime, this market might have been swarming with zombies already. Seeing how strong they were when together, he sighed, realizing he needed to act fast.
Suddenly, he figured something out, making Lucas say, "Opening system!".
---
Name: Lucas Tharla
Age: 16 years old
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: None
Subclass: None
Subclass: None
Subclass: None
Level: 4 (0/200)
Stats:
Agi: 10 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Str: 20 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Int: 25 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Vit: 25 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Unallocated Stat Points: 8
Skills:
Unallocated Skill Points: 4
---
He was getting pretty fed up with the system's lack of clear instructions. "They should just give a manual or something. How am I supposed to figure this system out?" he griped while checking his profile.
Thinking about his choices, he decided to put points into his abilities. "Give 4 points to strength," he ordered, expecting a quick confirmation from the system. But the response wasn't as fast as he wanted.
---
[Allocating 4 Stat Points to Strength!]
---
Getting annoyed by the delay, he grumbled, "You don't have to be that slow, you know." Hoping for a smoother interaction, he gave another command. "System, 4 points to Agility."
---
[Allocating 4 Stat Points to Agility!]
---
Feeling frustrated with the whole process, he sighed. 'Well, that was annoying.' He thought about facing five zombies at once, putting his life on the line to get stronger. Now, he had the added annoyance of dealing with the 'System' without any help. It was a far cry from the excitement of beating the zombie at the vegetable stall.
Beating that would-be attacker filled him with excitement, unlike the clunky process of managing the mysterious 'System' interface. But those five zombies didn't give him much except a close call. Well, at least he seemed to be getting stronger now.
"Opening system!"
---
Name: Lucas Tharla
Age: 16 years old
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: None
Subclass: None
Subclass: None
Subclass: None
Level: 4 (0/300)
Stats:
Agi: 14 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Str: 24 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Int: 25 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Vit: 25 (Average Adult Human: 20)
Unallocated Stat Points: 0
Skills:
Unallocated Skill Points: 4
---
"Skills with an 's'?" Lucas scratched his head, getting more frustrated. "Can I have many skills? This is so confusing. How do I even get these 'skills'?" He grumbled, trying to figure out how the system worked.
He wondered if these skills were useful at all. Did they help him in any way? The lack of clear information from the system was disappointing. It made him question whether these skills were worth anything.