It turned out, he did indeed get stronger. It wasn't just the boost in his attributes, nor merely a couple of new cards, but mostly the experience.
Fighting deadly beasts for the last couple of days polished his reflexes and hammered the first hints of actual skill into his combat repertoire.
While the undead lacked most of the weak points in comparison to their living counterparts, they also lacked wits, fears, and intuition, leaning on their mindless and tireless endurance.
Unfortunately for them, John possessed not one, but two powerful counters against their undying constitutions.
Zombies remained the fodder they always were, but by now the packs of those ugly bastards were also falling under his might.
Hell, even the Rotfiend proved only an inconvenience, and it was an elite D-grade, John thought, kicking the motionless mass of flesh before him. After all, coating the stiletto in his grey blood felt almost like cheating.
Pulling up his challenge card, John nodded in satisfaction.
[Venturing outside
Zombie: 217/500
Rothound: 34/40
Rothound Alpha: 2/2
Rotfiend: 1/1
Killing blows: 100/100
Time remaining: 3:02:45]
Pushing through the throng of zombies up north was a valid strategy and less than two hours later, John had the majority of the task completed and was left with a quick cleanup.
After taking care of the six Rothounds, he lost himself in the mindless slaughter of the neverending crowds on the way back.
----------------------------------------
Leaning back and keeping his weight on the balls of his feet, he evaded the clumsy swipe of blackened fingers and delivered a simple kick that sent it sprawling. Regaining some space, he followed up with a blow to the head of a zombie that crumpled after a bolt of lightning.
[Venturing outside - completed!
Zombie killing blows 500
Rothound killing blows: 40
Rothound Alpha killing blows: 2
Rotfiend killing blows: 1
Difficulty modifier: +350%
Total rewards: 2250 white ash, 198 blue ash, 9 yellow ash]
Letting the club vanish into his bag, John pulled out his javelin and threw it into the last enemy before him, staking it through his naked torso into the dirt.
Woah, this was intense.
Taking a deep breath, he let his pounding heart calm down. Looking around, he felt satisfied with only a grassy plane over a hundred meters behind him.
Will I be ever strong enough to wipe all of them out?
Perhaps one day, but that day was not today. Despite pushing his System-enhanced body to its limits, it took him and his minions a little under an hour to finish the challenge. That meant there were two more hours left to experiment with the one thing he had been looking forward to ever since returning from the Honoring of the first hunt.
Closing his eyes, John focused on the miniature spark of light resting on his right forearm. The lack of response was unfortunate, but he would not be deterred, pulling on the connection between them and sending an inquisitive greeting.
Witherfang?
In answer came a mix of emotions, mostly eager curiosity, happiness, and a hint of apprehension.
His bond yanked on the connection from the other side and after opening his eyes, John saw a small brown Shimmerfang stretching its body in the grass before him.
"Huh," he exclaimed, making the beast tilt its head in a humanoid sign of confusion. "You are tiny."
Chuckling, he observed the small creature before him. It was about the size of a house cat, and its attempts to appear imposing were nothing short of adorable. Puffing itself up, the beast tried to match the height of his knees with its slender body.
"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" John said, his voice filled with amusement. Crouching down, he met the shimmerfang at eye level. Its crystalline eyes blinked back at him, oozing a mix of pride, confidence, and determination.
With a grin, John gently reached out and scratched its scaly head. Surprisingly, the scales felt warm to the touch and shimmered under the moonlight, creating complicated mosaics of iridescent colors.
The small creature chirped and nuzzled his hand.
Keeping the scratches going, John opened up his deck, pulled up his main body card, and focused on the new line about his Elevated bond.
[Witherfang {F}
Affinity: none
Next evolution: 0/50]
Zero out of fifty of what? John wondered, staring at the simple pop-up. Could it be as simple as random common monsters?
Standing up, he recalled his javelin, pulled out his club, and headed to engage the closest group of mindless zombies.
With the small beast stalking through the short grass, John reached a pair of undead a little further than the main group, killing the right one with a precise blow under the left ear.
The other one got hit by a lightning bolt and fell to the ground in a heap of limbs.
"Well, show me what you got," John smiled, pointing out the paralyzed body with his club.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The beast pressed itself into the ground and soundlessly prowled the remaining dozen paces to its prey.
Its scales shifted from brown to dark green and it almost vanished from sight. The first couple of paces passed with the silent grace of a patient predator, but as it neared the motionless neck, it burst forward like an arrow and sunk its prominent fangs deep into the unhealthy flesh.
Damn, it's shredding through it like crazy, John thought, watching it repeatedly bite and tear out chuck after chunk of rotted muscle or severed ligament.
Despite its smaller size, its ferocious and unrelenting assault severed the entire head before the paralyzing effect ended, rewarding John with a single white ball of ash. That, however, wasn't all, because as the zombie began crumbling into dust, the Shimmerfang sucked a small part into its mouth with almost an audible gulp.
Huh.
Checking up its status, John confirmed his expectation—the counter showed one out of fifty.
Meanwhile, the beast was proudly sticking its long neck high up and basking in its heroic victory.
"Are you up for more?"
Taking the yip as an agreement, they continued hunting, repeating the previous strategy. From one to two, three, and all the way up to sixteen. By then, John noticed labored breathing and slightly shaking legs of the tiny Apex predator.
"Let me help out before you tire yourself." John offered.
The beast hissed, turning its head away as if its very honor was insulted, but John was not deterred.
"Okay, buddy. We can continue as we are, but we have to go back soon. Soo…" he stretched the word out, giving the intelligent creature time to understand the meaning, "...if you want to get all fifty kills and grow stronger right now, you are going to need my help."
It held its affronted facade for a few more seconds but then glanced back, snorted, and crouched down.
What are you trying now?
Watching it stalk away, John was about to call out, but as it reached halfway to another zombie, it stopped. Turning its head toward him and bobbing it from side to side, its body language almost screamed: Are you coming or what!?
Chuckling, John caught up and together, they engaged the next zombie together.
Using his stiletto on the paralyzed zombies proved a perfect strategy because Witherfang did not need to land a finishing blow. Participation was all that was needed, and working together they tore through the necks in record times.
It is pushing itself hard, John observed after yet another successful kill. Hmm, calling it 'it' doesn't feel right. But is the Witherfang he or she?
Thinking about the tiny beast's sexuality as they downed yet another zombie, John came to the conclusion that he had no idea.
I don't remember seeing any dangling bits, but do they even have something like that? He pondered. Well, until I get proven otherwise, a 'she' it is.
Shrugging, he pulled up her screen to check on their progress.
[Witherfang {F}
Affinity: none
Next evolution: 46/50]
"Only four more," he cheered. "You are doing great!"
The sassy pride left her a dozen kills ago, leaving only stubborn determination as she pushed her tired body toward another kill. Having John's full assistance, she only tore a single chunk of flesh from the side of its neck and then waited for the zombie to perish.
The next two kills were the same, but after the third, she began shaking like a wet dog and then burst into a cloud of brown smoke that shifted in the air, flew in John's direction, and wound around his right arm.
[Witherfang {F}
Affinity: none
Undergoing evolution]
"Hmm, I guess I am done here," John rolled up the sleeve of his damaged jacket and gently patted the black tattoo on his forearm.
Damn, I should also grab another set of clothes.
Prodding the horizontal cut across the front of his jacket yielded unexpected results. Where normal humanoid blood coagulated and formed rougher patches across the fabric, his grey blood turned into pale specs of dust that only clung to the material, but did not form any stains.
How odd.
Shaking his head, he guided his stiletto to its place on his waist, commanded his Sand Wraith to fly close behind him, and began making his way to the Melis'ar's shelter.
As the streets passed by, he began thinking about his next attribute purchase, but an unexpected movement at the next intersection made him slow down and focus. At least half a dozen humans were making their way in the direction of the western bridge. Slowing down, he weighed his options, but seeing one of the men point his hand in his direction kind of forced his hand.
Making his way through the near-empty street, he noticed two other survivors step out from the crossing street, increasing their total number to nine.
Hmm, some of their faces seem familiar, John noted. They are from the Valiants stand.
"Hey there," he waved his hand in a friendly greeting.
A woman with dark shoulder-length hair turned to face him and squinted, trying to catch his features in the barely illuminated street.
"Ohh, I remember you," John spoke out again, stopping two dozen paces from them. "You are Lin, aren't you?"
Seeing her shudder made him flinch. Yeah, our first meeting wasn't exactly ideal.
"How is the Valiant's stand holding up?" He asked, trying to bring up the first topic that came to his mind to break the uncomfortable atmosphere.
"Is he the guy who wiped Mark's group?" A bald man on her right covertly whispered, but John's enhanced perception caught each of his words.
Acting as if he hadn't heard anything, John waited for a few more seconds, giving them time to calm down and collect their wits.
"Not too great, to be honest," Lin sighed. "We grew stronger, but a couple of important people died during the events, and now the announcement with the aliens… I had no idea, taking Mark's position would be this exhausting."
"Yeah, that's why I left. What Mark tried was the last straw of a long string of posturing, playing games, and making a fool out of me."
"I should warn you not to… go back to our shelter," Lin said with an apprehensive hitch in her voice. "There were many who didn't see things your way and are calling you a murderer. We were forced to vote against you to calm our people down."
Seems like nothing ever changes, John shook his head. Too bad, because I don't have to care.
"Oh well, good luck… I guess." he shrugged, giving each of the fidgeting survivors a short eye contact. "Before I go, one little suggestion. I expect something important is about to happen soon and I strongly advise you not to do anything stupid."
Leaving them staring at his back, he passed through their group and headed left, following the street until he reached the empty bridge.
Why do I even care, he mulled. I'll make sure Melis'ar leaves the diplomatic shelters alone, and those that prove too dumb accept their situation, that's on them. Besides, I'll be leaving this city either way, so their disposition to me is irrelevant.
As he was passing the Silk Road, one of the main streets cutting through the Gilded District, the red beacon of light piercing high into the sky flickered.
What?
John stared ahead as a new column of light, shining with bright blue color, shot from the earth, coiling around the red and combining into a new, vibrant purple.
I guess they just used the… His trail of thought was interrupted by a new announcement.
[Attention!
An Aerilian shelter called Silverstar Enclave has begun its promotion to Bastion.
All other shelters inside its area of influence have six hours to pledge fealty or declare war against Melis'ar, and all shelters under his control.
As an owner of a bastion with its seat of power outside of the Silverstar Enclave's influence, you are expected to follow its laws or risk getting blacklisted, losing access to its System-provided buildings, and being marked when inside any of its shelters.
Time remaining until full promotion: 5:59:53]
"Perfect time," John chuckled, "to visit the Desperate Fool's Inn and get some sleep."