After resting for some time, I lazily got out from behind the counter and cracked my neck vertebrae. My dirty hands and face had to be washed with water - a couple of small bottles were more than enough. I don't know why, but I still threw the empty plastic bottles in the trash can. This action made me smile a little: wasn't it too late now to follow the behavioral norms of our society? On the floor, the route of my mayhem through the store was easily traceable: empty packages, half-eaten fruits and vegetables, and, is this a piece of raw meat I've bitten? I can't even remember the course of recent events.
«Hmm, I will need a couple of grocery carts at my new home. I'm full for now, so I should think about getting some new clothes to swap my current «outfit» for something better.»
Things from an unknown granny have become almost completely unusable. The clothing store was in a house on the other side of the square.
I currently felt like some boundless energy wanted to burst out from inside of me, in a primordial desire to be unleashed upon someone or something. I crossed the square straight - cause there's obviously not enough problems in my life already.
It is so unusual to wander around a dead, deserted city. There are only reminders left of our past: empty shops, frozen in place kid's carousels and a tranquil alley. No joyous cries, no laughter. Of course, there are positives in that - no one steals flowers from a flower bed and dives into fountains with uncultured, savage shouts and screams, does not argue with a janitor, and does not swear after cyclists rushing by. Such silence, for sure, would have pleased the residents of neighboring houses, but there's no one left to rejoice.
Despondent, I went into the sporting goods store and met a new batch of problems: a couple of skinny level 0 altered members of the black faction, who quite briskly rushed to the sound of a slammed door.
The first to rush at me was a thin weakling in a tracksuit with a strangely shifted center of gravity, as if he had just been doing a bridge and had not yet straightened up. My horizontal lunge with a saber cut his cheeks and nose in half. The creature, having received such a strong strike, fell to the floor and thrashed in convulsions.
The other long-haired creature with a nametag on its chest received only a couple of minor wounds. Such insignificant damage to the nimble beast's body did not even slow it down. I was afraid to stab it - the devil knows if they have any vital organs besides the head, and looking for them during combat is clearly a waste of time. One can still, of course, cut their throat or femoral artery, but hitting such a strike in action on these slick bastards...
«You're so annoying!» I, with all my strength, struck from the bottom up and nimbly backed away. In a couple of seconds that I won for myself, I managed to wrap a lightweight windbreaker around my left fist and put it in front of me. The altered one swallowed the bait without mistake: her wide jaws greedily squeezed the nylon fabric, but did not manage to bite through such a sturdy material. Having lost her mobility, she became easy prey for me. The sharp steel sliced apart her uncovered throat, releasing red streams.
I did the same thing to the now-recovered monster! I felt that I had now figured out an easier way to deal with weaklings. My enemies were defeated, and, finally, I could delve into the strange system notification:
You eliminated level 0 Altered, gained 1 experience (penalty).
You eliminated level 0 Altered, gained 1 experience (penalty).
I freed my hand and scratched my head thoughtfully. Ah, right! I completely forgot about the penalty I got when I saved that bastard Victor and his group. Quite a lot of monsters died from my grenades.
“What did it say?” I frowned and sat down on a small leather ottoman. Something like: a penalty for killing with off-system technologies? I wonder what else the system will penalize us humans for? Pretty sure firearms count as one, right? It would be nice to have a complete list so as not to get penalized next time - or I could be left out of experience for a very long time... Surely now many survivors are facing the same problem. It will not be easy for survivors to stop using the advancements of our civilization, because these creatures will surely become faster, more resilient and stronger with time. That black giant obviously got stronger by eating a piece of my spear. Did the creators of the system even balance their creation? Somehow these creatures are developing too quickly.
“Okay, stop sitting around doing nothing,” I glanced at a couple of fresh bone donors. «I need to get a new spear because it took an awful lot of time and effort to deal with these 0-leveled weaklings.»
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The job that was waiting for me was very foul: to butcher a couple of creatures with a saber. To say that I was exhausted afterwards is to say nothing. An hour later, covered from head to toe in sweat and blood, I sat in front of a small pile of incompletely processed bones. The end result of my work did not satisfy me at all, but I hope that the system in this case will not be so stingy.
“Well then, let's get started,” I said, shaking my hands and splashing viscous red liquid everywhere. After spending three mana, I stared at the pile of crappy material without much emotion.
For sure, it won't be as beautiful as my first creation. But anyway...
Shaping! Mentally, I babbled: “Spear, spear, spear,” imagining my former weapon. It took two energy of nihility to create it, and about a quarter of the prepared beforehand bones were transformed into the item.
Absolutely disappointed, I picked it up: the shaft was rough due to the porosity of the bones; the blade was double-edged and that was it. No special features.
From the depths of my soul, a burning rage arose against that black gorilla who had taken away my beautiful creation. Someday... Mentally, I cursed the giant a dozen more times and vowed, of course, to kill him the next time I met him.
After a couple of minutes, I calmed down and began to think about what to do with the remaining bones. Maybe a couple more weapons just in case? But what was the point... they would all be as trash as the last one. Nope, I needed to craft something «useful». Taking a look at the skills, I found three upgrades that I spent the skill points gained from levels yesterday: a bone shield, armor elements, and a trap. Which one should I choose?
The first option was crossed out immediately: the shield was useless to me for now. I wouldn't be able to use a spear and a shield at the same time - my current skills wouldn't allow it. The shield would only interfere or hang there, giving me an extra weight to carry. And why did I learn it at all? I should've saved that skill point for later.
But the bone armor elements sounded encouraging! Some extra protection is never excessive. The problem is that, unlike weapons, I know almost nothing about armor, especially bone armor. I wonder if the system can create items without my specific directions? I should check it out.
The shaping only took a unit of energy and a minimum of time. In return, I received a bone helmet in the form of a wolf's head, similar to one I saw in an old film, or was it a game I had long forgotten about? This «work of art» sat on my head damnably unreliably - the system didn't even bother to make straps or fasteners. Maybe it at least looks menacing? Full of hope, I went to a two-meter mirror against the wall.
“What a humiliating piece of equipment!”
Perhaps, in a set of bone armor, with pauldrons and other things, it would look better? I need to try crafting out other parts.
“Let's try again, I guess. Bone armor elements shaping!”
A couple of minutes later, I was sitting in an extremely foul mood. In front of me on the tiled floor, as if mocking me, lay three things identical in purpose, but different in appearance. From left to right: wolf, bear and the last helmet was in the form of a skull of some kind of reptile. What the hell? Do I look like the serpent Gorynych1?
“Sure! The hell with you!” There weren't many bones left, and the idea came up to turn all these hats into at least something valuable... “The last skill remains- a bone trap, huh?”
After a new shaping attempt, a system alert popped up:
Unable to reshape item- skill level too low.
“Damn you!” I kicked the bear helmet out of anger, and after it collided with the wall, it shattered into small pieces.
I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm down. Still, my tests had their benefits: now I know for sure that the skill is low-level and I need to upgrade it. Secondly, I won't use this ability anymore. What a waste of points. I hope someday it will be possible to redistribute them, and I will gladly forsake this garbage.
Be that as it may, I still had seven energy of nihility left, and since I began to experiment, I need to move on to try creating a bone trap.
The shaping costed three nihility and required half of the remaining pile of bones. That's too much... In return, I received a round disk of ten centimeters in thickness and half a meter in diameter.
And that's it? It looked more like a robot vacuum than a trap. I picked up the strange item from the floor and turned it around. Maybe it needs to be activated somehow?
However, the surface on both sides was absolutely clean: no hidden mechanisms, and no buttons. Maybe it will be activated if something puts pressure on it? I grabbed another windbreaker from a nearby stand - it will serve as the first test subject. However, the trap did not react to it. Maybe weight isn't enough or is there something else?
“Yeah, there you are!” The zombie manager's head was perfect for the test. Grabbing up the «ball» with fangs by the long hair, I threw it on the bone trap. The test object hit a smooth surface, which fired three half-meter spikes after a click, coming from different angles. The central spike pierced through the head.
Wow! Well, at least I got something useful from these skills. I wonder if this thing can be reused?
The answer came as soon as I touched the trap - there was not an ounce of energy in the deadly device. Apparently, bone traps are disposable consumables. And following simple calculations, it turns out that I can craft a maximum of four things in fifteen hours.
“Well, that’s for sure not much! I have to quickly level-up a few times, but for now... dressing up a little will do. Actually, that's what I originally wanted to do...”