Another Meal
I was sitting on the ground in a meditative position, Kayden's hands on my back, when I finally snapped.
"I'm fucking hungry!"
Ugh. It had only been two days since I'd arrived in the hidden wing, and I'd yet to have a proper meal.
"Just wait it out a little bit, alright? We have a nice dish on the way for you."
Kaiden said quietly as he made circular motions on my back with his hands. He was training me to feel mana better so that I could use it more efficiently. The thing is, I can just activate my skills through Gamma, so... I wasn't sure it was all that important.
Honestly, all in all, the training so far had felt pretty pointless. After all, I grow stronger just by eating people, so why the hell should I have to work out?
Well, it was kind of fruitful. Thanks to my excessively fast healing, exercise worked a lot quicker for me. My strength even went up by two, and my agility by one. It wasn't at no cost, though... Kaiden had made me exercise for nearly fourteen hours straight, and I had yet to have another meal.
I could feel the bloodlust building inside me. Instead of waiting like Kaiden said, I got up and headed over to one of the punching bags, wailing on it.
When I got hungry, it made me pretty violent. I couldn't keep sitting around like a monk for much longer.
Fortunately, a few moments later, the two guards which had escorted me with the General burst through the doors to the training room, a man held between them, struggling to break free. They brought him towards the back of the room and tied him to two posts on the wall.
His mouth was gagged, but muffled sounds were breaking through it. Kaiden approached him. The other students in the training ground retreated to the seats surrounding it.
"So, this is the defector? You know that treason is punishable by death,"
Kaiden said to the man coldly. Wow, he was a really loyal guy. How long had he been in the military, anyway?
"Fortunately for you, we have use for you yet. Kill this boy here, and you're free."
Kaiden pointed towards me.
Hey! I thought you said it was a nice dish! You're making me do all the prep work?! Well, I didn't mind a hunt.
Turning around, Kaiden spoke now to me.
"This man is a level four ability user. See what you can do. If you can't even kill someone of this caliber, I'm not sure we have a use for you."
Damn! Cold! Level fours weren't particularly strong, though. That was the average level of a graduating student from this academy. Breaking through to level five was notoriously difficult. Still, this guy would be pretty strong. I'd have to really keep my head protected. I wasn't sure what kind of ability he had, either. But hey, whatever. I was hungry, so sure, I'll fight some guy.
Kaiden pulled the gag out of the man's mouth, who remained silent and looked up towards Kaiden with a dark expression.
"So, do you agree to these terms? Better than an execution, no?"
The man nodded his head.
"I agree."
Kaiden smiled.
"Cut him loose."
The guards obliged and freed the man from his restraints. I half expected him to start attacking them, but he just did a couple of stretches while sizing me up. Unfortunately for him, sizing people up was a great skill of mine thanks to my zombie brain!
I licked my lips in anticipation for the food in front of me. Since this guy was a level four, I bet he'd give me lots of stats.
Before I could do my usual frontal rush, however, the man attacked first. He clasped his hands together, rubbed them for a moment, and then spread them apart, creating a web of electricity between his hands. Damn, an electric ability. That meant that my charged fingers would be effectively useless against this guy.
Still, I could ideally tank the shocks and get in close regardless. This could end up being easy due to my inability to die.
So, I did just that. Rushing towards the guy at full speed, I expected to be attacked once I got in close. However, that isn't what happened. Instead, the lightning in his hands got thicker and thicker until it spewed out towards me in a series of several bolts.
"Ack!"
This is why electric powers are so strong... they're pretty much impossible to avoid unless you're a crazy high level.
The shock coursed through me, frying my skin and paralyzing me before I hit the floor. Phew... I'll just take a moment to recover, and then...
Unfortunately, the man seemed to be a little overly cautious, because another series of shocks hit me right afterwards. My heart stopped, and my brain felt a little weird, but fortunately it was still intact. However, it would take me some time to recover.
I guess I'll just play dead.
I could hear the man panting lightly across the room. He approached me and touched his hand to my neck, feeling for my pulse.
"He's dead. Am I free to go now?"
Opening one eye, I could see that he'd turned around, and was still standing right in front of me. This is my chance! As my heart pumped back into action, I used what little energy I had to propel my mouth towards his ankle, ripping out his tendon. Ha! There goes your mobility, bitch!
The man fell to the ground in pain. Healing quickly, I crawled onto him and bit another chunk out of his calf. Then, as I got even higher and bit deep into the back of his thigh, I was shocked again, right in the head. Damn, he must have starting coursing it through his body.
However, once I'd tasted that first bit of his foot, it was all over for him. I'd already made him bleed and taken out his range, so now it was all a matter of tanking his attacks as I killed him. My brain stopped thinking. It had been shocked over and over, but fortunately not to the point where it outpaced my healing. I didn't die from it, but I was essentially getting stupider with each attack.
Still, I didn't stop. Digging my claws into his back, ripping out his sides with my teeth, and injuring him in every way I could, I ignored my injuries and ate as fast as I could. At some point, he died. I wasn't sure when it was, since my mind was so fried, but it didn't matter. I just kept digging into his corpse like the fine dining it was.
Supposedly, I tried attacking Kaiden afterwards, since I gradually regained my senses while bound by his shadows.
"Huh? Hey, what happened?"
I asked. Before Kaiden could answer though, I received a series of notifications from Gamma.
[+4 Strength]
[+3 Agility]
[+12 Mana]
[+3 Endurance]
[+4 Mutation Points]
[Ding! Level Up!]
[+1 Skill Point]
Mars' status:
[Name: Mars Valentine]
[Level: 5]
[Race: Zombie]
[Mutation Points: 6]
[Skill Points: 2]
[Skills:
Immortality (MAX):
*PASSIVE*
Bearer is effectively immortal so long as brain remains intact. Bearer will not age and all injuries will be healed rapidly.
NOTE: If bearer does not consume human flesh regularly, the effects of {Immortality (MAX} will be diminished, reducing healing capabilities of the skill.
Pain Tolerance(LVL 1):
*PASSIVE*
Increases bearer's tolerance to pain.
Mana Drain (LVL 1):
*PASSIVE*
Through consuming human flesh, bearer can harvest the mana within it and increase his capabilities with mana-required skills as well as increase his physical capabilities.
Charged Fingers (LVL 1):
*ACTIVE*
Electricity will run between the bearers fingers, electrifying anything touched by them.]
[Energy Absorption (LVL 1):
*PASSIVE*
Allows the bearer's body to absorb the raw energy floating around in the air and earth, allowing cells to generate MIATP (Mana-Influenced Adenosine Triphosphate), effectively allowing the bearer's cells to generate mana on their own as long as there is an abundance of magic energy freely flowing throughout the area in which the bearer occupies.]
[Mutations:
Hunting Claws: Allows the bearer to grow retractable claws under his nails. 4 inches long and as sharp. 0.1 mm wide edges.
Condensed Muscles: +1 Strength. Causes bearers muscles to remain more compact while becoming stronger.]
[Ability: N/A]
[Curses:
Zombified:
Bearer has been affected by a strange and ancient pathogen. No longer requires sleep. Buffs to all stats. After going long enough without eating, bearer will turn into an insatiable killing machine, out to consume human flesh.
G.A.M.M.A.: The incredible and powerful system known as G.A.M.M.A. has granted pity on the pathetic bearer and granted him new life as a zombie. G.A.M.M.A. is amazing, beautiful, and all around the greatest creation the universe has produced.]
[Capabilities:
Strength: 16(+1)
Agility: 11(+1)
Endurance: 8(+1)
Intelligence: 8(+1)
Mana: 19
???: --
???: --]