Iron Feather

Grey was eying it like a predator, with a wide grin on his face.

Meanwhile, Amy escaping could hear the griffin and Grey fighting as she headed to the stairwell, indicating an intense battle.

Going down to the 5th floor, she was nervous and scared she might run into a zombie, but she saw no monsters.

The whole place was empty, and not one zombie or their corpse could be seen.

Like Grey had said, there were no zombies left.

Their deaths were most likely caused by Grey, whom she considered her savior.

She had lost all hope, thinking that to escape Greg she would have to give her life to the zombie.

But then Grey had shown up.

She was going to cry out for help but her fear for Greg made her hesitate. Luckily he had seen her distress and saved her. And she was grateful he did.

Watching him get angry for her sake and do what he did to Greg gave her a pleasant feeling despite how brutal it was.

Things then took a wild turn when Greg got possessed, and now her savior was fighting with a beast resembling an eagle and a lion mesh.

So many crazy things were happening and she knew she had to change to survive. She couldn't leave her fate in the hands of others so she felt she should be more bold and take action.

Grey seemed to have adapted well and Amy had made a decision to stand on his side based on that. There was no doubt he was the only way she could survive.

Amy decided to check her stat window and her ability.

[Heal: Restore the health of anyone you touch by 30%]

[Cost: 10 energy points]

It was a special ability indeed.

If she used all the energy points she had, she could restore a person to full health.

Certainly, it would be useful in helping Grey.

Amy saw that the limitation was her low energy points and knew she had to increase them to maximize the use of the skill.

She mulled over how to make it happen, and then it hit her.

What if this functioned like a video game where her progress depended on defeating monsters?

Then this meant she'd have to fight to live.

But how could she cope with her weak stats and an ability that restores health instead of taking?

With an ability like this, her survival hinged on relying on others.

And Grey, right now, was her only option.

She just had to wait until he was done dealing with the griffin.

Amy then heard a ding sound coming from the elevator a distance behind her.

Turning backward, she saw the doors opening, and inside was a man, holding his hand in a finger gun pointed at her.

Judging by the fiery glowing light that shone at the tip of his finger like a charging bullet, his intention was anything but friendly.

Amy held her breath, terrified.

And then there was the sound of a gunshot.

* * *

Grey eyed the griffin like it was prey, enjoying the challenge it posed.

With a grin, he charged at the griffin at frightening speed, catching it off guard.

The griffin hastily threw up its iron-scaled feathers to intercept the attack.

But there was no attack.

Grey leaped over the bird and landed behind it with a silent thud, then unleashed sword strikes on the griffin's open back using [Bane Sword].

A couple of strikes landed on the griffin's back, causing blood to spew.

The griffin shrieked in pain and then turned quickly, blocking the attacks. But Grey was too fast, overwhelming it with his blade, each strike stronger than the last.

This provoked the griffin, and it screeched, about to release its feather blade. But it didn't even get the chance, as Grey wrapped his fingers around the griffin and pinned it to the ground.

The griffin tried to get out of its dilemma, but Grey gave it no chance, activating his lightning skill:

[Overcharge].

Grey didn't stop at one.

[Overcharge]

[Overcharge]

He kept spamming the skill, not giving the griffin any chance or space to fight back.

[Overcharge]

[Overcharge]

[Overcharge]

...

After using [Overcharge] until the griffin was unmoving, Grey stopped.

The griffin's entire body was fried by Grey's ability, and its roasted body smelled so similar to chicken that Grey's mouth began to water.

But he shook his head at the absurd idea of feasting on such a terrifying-looking bird.

[You have killed Iron Feather Griffin]

[You have received shard stones:]

[Strength: 2] [Agility: 2] [Intelligence: 5]

[You have received an accessory: Iron Feather]

[+2 Strength +2 Agility and +5 Defense when wearing]

"Whoa!" Grey gasped.

He didn't think defeating the griffin would be this rewarding.

He immediately brought out the accessory he had gotten and equipped it.

This coat was a luminous blue, its surface adorned with small, reflective scales resembling the griffin's protective feathers. The collar was a ring of sleek, dark feathers that gave it a predatory elegance.

Grey slipped into it, the coat's cool, soft texture and the fresh scent of new fabric enveloping him.

Ding!

[You have gotten a new ability: 'Quick Step']

[Quickstep: Double your agility for 5 seconds]

[Cost: 50 energy points]

[Cooldown: 2 seconds]

Grey's jaw dropped.

Doubling his agility for five seconds was crazy.

The fight would have ended in seconds if he had gotten the ability before fighting the griffin. But then Grey calmed down when he saw the cost.

His energy was slightly over a hundred, so the cost of using [Quickstep] was too much.

Either way, battling the griffin was lucrative. And it also showed he was way stronger than before, which made him realize he hadn't checked his stats in a while.

"Stats," Grey called out.

Name: Grey White

Race: Human

Title: Necrotic Heir

Strength: 22 [+2]

Agility: 20 [+5]

Stamina: 21

Vitality: 20

Intelligence: 13

Energy: 130

Affinity: Lightning

Element: [Arc Flash- 7] [Voltedge - 1] [Lightning Enhancement-1] [Static Surge - 1] [Overcharge - 5]

Ability: [Essence Plunderer - 0] [Berserk - 0] [Quickstep - 0]

Equipment: [Bane Sword] [Iron Feather]

Grey was quite impressed with his growth.

Ironfeather had visibly raised his stats, making his agility his highest stat.

Intelligence was the lowest, and the zombies didn't drop intelligence shards, most likely because they weren't the most intelligent creatures.

The Griffin did drop one, though, and it was a 5-point shard stone, which made Grey relieved as he didn't want any of his attribute growth to get stunted, especially the one his strength relied on.

Grey then noticed something in his stat window.

The ability that came with the system and he hadn't used:

[Essence Plunderer: Absorb ability from defeated foes].

After reading this, Grey turned towards the corpse of the Griffin with a greedy look on his face.

"I guess it's time to test it."