CHAPTER 5 - CRYSTAL CLEAR

I reached down and tapped the fallen zombie on the forehead. A new crystal instantly appeared, but it wasn't black like the others had been. Instead, this one was clear. I picked it up, wondering what it would do. Was it a different kind of crystal? Maybe a different sort of spell?

As expected, the thing sank into my hand, feeding me a new burst of memories. It wasn't a spell this time, or not like Control Undead had been. This was something different. Somehow, the crystal was making me faster, able to move better. It was like I could feel new energy thrumming through my muscles. The same image I’d seen before appeared, now with a second crystal.

Magical Stones

Point 1: Black stone (Tier 2) - Control Undead

Point 2: Clear stone (Tier 1) - Agility

Point 3: X

Point 4: X

Point 5: X

It hadn't magically transformed me into an Olympic gymnast, but I was wayfaster than I had been a moment before. As another zombie came at me I dodged nimbly out of the way. A move like that would’ve dropped me on my ass not long ago, so I’d take it.

I swung the stool leg like a baseball bat, slamming the zombie in the chest and knocking it back a step. It responded by raising both hands like it was going to lunge at me, so I took a step back, planted my feet, and set the pointy end of my weapon toward it like a small spear.

It rushed forward, impaling itself on my weapon. That was enough to take it down, thank god, but it crashed into me in the process, sending me staggering back a foot. Between the shove and its weight, I lost my weapon, still embedded in the monster as it slumped to the floor.

I needed that back, badly! Even with my added speed, without a weapon I was a sitting duck. It took everything I had to roll the zombie over—it was dead weight, and the guy had clearly loved pizza too much.

As I rolled the thing over, another crystal appeared. I snatched it up. This one was pure black again. But, though I held it in my hand, it wasn't sinking into my skin like the other crystals had. In the back of my mind, some of those memories the crystals gave me came briefly to the surface. Each intelligent being could only hold a certain number of mana crystals. That number was set by the highest rank of crystal they had embedded. Since I had merged two crystals to form a second tier one, that meant I could have two of the things, but not a third. I wouldn't be able to have a third crystal until I managed to get one of the spells to tier three.

All of this flashed past my mind's eye in under a second. It was weird; like something I had always known, even though I knew full well that was impossible. Whether these things were really magic, or just some sort of technology that was so insane it might as well be magic, I didn't know. Either way, the effect was the same.

I shoved the spare crystal in my pocket. There would be time to experiment later, and I needed to figure out whether I could unseat one of the things so that I could slot in a new one. Something told me that was possible, but I didn't know exactly how.

The other two monsters on my side of the hall were still both engaged by my zombies. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were doing a good job of keeping their targets pinned down. How about Alfred and Carver?

There was a shriek to my left. I whirled, moving so fast I almost turned too far. That was going to take some getting used to.

Alfred was in deep trouble. The zombie he'd been fending off with his bat had finally gotten his claws and teeth around the chunk of wood. It was all Alfred could do to keep it from wrenching the weapon out of his hand. Meanwhile, the other one was no longer satisfied to chew on his leather jacket. It had a hold of his shirt with both hands now, and was slowly inching its teeth closer to his throat while he struggled to push it away with just one arm.

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He wasn’t going to last more than another minute if I didn't do something. I dashed forward, my club cranked up against my shoulder, and then I let it go.

The swing was perfect. With my speed boost, the weapon was moving twice as fast as I could have managed before. It hit the zombie in the head with a meaty THWACK, shattering the skull and sending the monster into a crumpled mess on the hallway floor. With his weapon free again, Alfred quickly beat the other zombie about the head and shoulders, making it stagger backward. He had some breathing room again.

Alfred glanced my way. “Thanks!”

“No problem,” I gasped out. I was already winded. Clearly, I should have been doing more cardio to prepare for the apocalypse!

I reached down and tapped the ankle of the zombie I had just killed. Another crystal popped into my hand; clear again, this time. It was technically my kill, so I didn't think this counted as loot stealing.

Carver had taken down a second zombie, which meant all he had left were the two that his animated zombies had locked down. I was in the same boat, so I turned back toward my guys to back them up.

With Rosie holding the first zombie at bay, taking it down was a breeze. The agility crystal gave me enough extra freedom of movement and oomph behind my blows that I killed it without too much trouble.

“Rosie, help Guildenstern out,” I said. The zombie turned to help his ‘brother,’ lashing out with claws and teeth at the zombie Guildenstern had locked down.

Meanwhile, I tapped the fallen one and snagged another crystal. It was starting to seem like every monster we killed dropped one, which was fortunate, because I had the sense we were going to want a lot of these things. Like, those crystals were giving me serious ‘gotta catch them all’ vibes. It was clear that gathering a good collection of the things was vital to survival.

This crystal was also clear. By the time I stood back up, my zombies had torn their opponent up enough that it wasn’t moving anymore.

“Enough,” I called out. Alfred and Carver had taken out the other zombies, so I ordered them to “Guard me.”

They moved into a watchful pose beside me while I reached down and tapped the zombie they’d killed. I wasn’t sure if it would drop something, since I hadn’t technically administered the killing blow. Would it still work?

Another black crystal popped into my hand. I added it to the others in my pocket. Damn, but those were going to be valuable. More important than cash or gold, that’s for sure. I’d managed to collect seven of the things, which felt like a small fortune. Keeping them safe was going to get tricky.

As I stood I saw Carver looting his last zombies. I looked over at Alfred who leaned against the wall, looking pale and panting.

“You okay?” I asked him. He nodded. “You loot your zombie kill yet?”

He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Wasn’t thinking. Looting? I feel like I’m in Baldur’s Gate.”

“No shit,” I replied. He wasn’t wrong. This was some wild and crazy stuff.

I watched with curiosity as he leaned in and gently tapped the zombie he’d killed on the forehead. A crystal popped out—clear. He picked it up and it soaked into his hand just like all the others. His eyes glazed over for a moment as the crystal gave him whatever gift it was designed to deliver.

“What did you get?” I asked.

“Strength,” he replied. He flexed an arm. “It doesn’t look any different.”

“Those clear ones seem to impact something about our bodies. I got one, made me faster and more agile,” I told him.

“Interesting. I found only black crystals on mine,” Carver said. “Unfortunately, I can only slot two of the things.”

“Me too,” I told him. I figured I didn’t need to explain the reason behind it. He’d absorbed crystals, so they’d probably told him the same things they had me. “We all okay to move on? I think we need to keep going. This is one of the cadavers, but there’s still two missing.”

“We should, but with caution,” Carver replied. “When I looked out the window, zombies were clearly not the only threat. The longer whatever this is goes on, the more dangerous things are going to be, especially if there are other varieties of monster running about.”

“Agreed. Lead on, Doctor?” I asked.

He flashed me a winning smile. “I think we ought to have our minions do that for us, don’t you?”

With a gesture, he ordered his zombies to set off down the hallway ahead of us. Then he turned back to me. “Order yours to watch our rear, will you Miss Serrano?”

“You got it,” I replied. I opened my mouth to give the order, but remembered that Carver was commanding his without speaking. That might be a useful, even a vital skill at some point, so I tried mentally projecting the order. Sure enough, they took up positions behind us. If something came at us from that direction, the zombies would at least give us a little warning.

We pushed on to the stairwell. There was screaming from above and below. I looked at Carver, wondering which way we should go.

“Down, I think,” he replied to my unasked question. “This building is too large to defend. We need to vacate it and move to someplace where we can more reasonably keep the monsters at bay.”

Without another word, he set out down the stairs, his zombies still leading the way. He’d made it about ten feet before something green about the size of a small child came around the corner of the stairwell, saw us, and let out a tremendous shrieking sound.