Blinding white light surrounded my vision as I stepped through the doorway. Once inside my apartment I quickly finish my microwavable meal and start packing. Because of my sister's love of hiking she’s dragged me on so many of her adventures through the North Woods of central park that I have put together a rudimentary hiking bag. In this bag I have a small first aid kit to treat any bites or scratches we develop over the hike, two water bottles, a life straw that filters water, some granola bars, and a sleeping bag. Sometimes we do sleep in the woods because we want to so the sleeping bag was pretty helpful. I load up all of the items into the bag and also put in some changes of clothes to wear when I need to wash my starter set and some dry goods and all of the plastic water bottles I have. Once I feel that I’m finished, I start trying out some of my abilities. Activating my Eyes of Magus the whole world is given a slight blue tint but besides that nothing out of the ordinary. I’m too nervous to cast a fireball in my apartment so I’ll wait until I’m outside and try it on some monsters. Am I really already just accepting this as my life now? I start to question myself, how is it I’m so comfortable with the world ending? Shouldn’t I be freaking out? Before I could delve on this topic more a scream from down the hall caught me off guard. I quickly shrug off my backpack and start unsheathing my sword as I head out of my apartment.
Once outside, I notice two people fighting down my hall, I recognize the victim as my next door neighbor Mark. Mark was a quiet and well groomed man who always enjoyed watching football and drinking beer. He was well into hit late fifties but it didn’t stop him from being fit. My next door neighbor is now being pinned down by some lanky pale guy who's really long hair covers his face while he’s clawing at Mark. I think about slashing the guy with my sword but I was afraid to since I might end up cutting Mark too so I end up just shouting at the man. “Hey! Get off of him! Don’t you know what’s going on right now? We all need to work together!” The pale guy stops clawing at Mark as if he heard me. His head then shoots up and I realize my mistake, This was no man but some monster. His pupils are blood red and his lower jaw is missing, blood seeping out of it collecting onto Mark's chest where I notice a large hole.
The Monster slowly rises and I realize I have inspect so I inspect the creature.
[Zombie- Level 1]
[Health:200]
How could a level one Zombie have two hundred health! That’s completely unfair! The zombie now noticing its new prey emits a low growling noise and start charging toward me with a speed that seems impossible to someone of his stature. It sweeps its right hand towards my throat and by instinct alone I lean back enough to avoid the razor sharp claw from slicing open my jugular. By reflex my right arm that is currently holding my sword instantly slashes at the hand that almost insta-killed me and cuts through the wrist with only a small amount of resistance due to the frail bone that still exists inside the wrist. The Zombie notices the hand missing but didn’t even flinch in pain when it was cut off. His health dropped by fifteen leaving him at one hundred and seventy five health left. While collecting my thoughts I remember I still have magic at my disposal and I activate my [Ethereal Shift]. I start running down the hall away from the zombie that almost ended my life by about twenty meters. Once there I notice it took about eight second to reach that point which isn’t bad but almost drained me of my mana.
After shifting back to the reality plane the Zombie notices me again only this time twenty meters down the hall. While he is rushing towards me I decide it is time to try out the [Basic Fireball]. I instinctively guide a packet of mana to my hand a will it to ignite. The mana packet ignites but it doesn’t harm my hand. I point my palm at the creature that is still currently running straight at me and I push the mana forward striking the Zombie and causing a loud boom inside the small hallway. The Zombie is knocked off of its feet and catches on fire. His health is at one fifteen when he gets back up but is slowly ticking down. Unfortunately my aim was a little bit off due to it being my first time using the spell but thankfully the fireball hit his legs instead of his chest forcing the Zombie to crawl forward with its remaining hand and stubbed arm. This reduced its mobility greatly and I was simply waiting until the burn effect decreased its health below one hundred. Once it hit ninetynine I simply walked over towards it and activated [Arthurs Holy Radiance] causing to instantly lose its remaining health and me be rewarded with my experience bar filling up an eighth of the way.
After mentally high fiving myself for second I then remember Mark and rush over to him. Once I get there I notice Mark is still alive but barely. His entire chest cavity is clawed through to the point where you can see the concrete floors of my apartment, his lungs have been pierced multiple times and you can see his heart oozing out blood, desperately clinging to life. I am surprised he is still alive but I guess it’s the systems doing seeing as when I [Inspect] him he still has some health remaining but it’s dwindling fast. On the verge of dying Mark looks to me with tears in his eyes and says in a raspy voice,
“T-T-Thank you for…*Gasp*...killing that monster...it’s too bad it was already too late when you came out though. Once the system came in I...picked all support skills...didn’t realize I wouldn’t even make it…*cough*...out of my apartment to use them with someone.”
“Don’t worry Mark, you will be fine, I will get you patched up real soon.” I then run back to my room in hopes of using my limited medical supplies as well as my very limited medical knowledge to try and treat his grievous wounds. Looking back at it now I realize that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do but when someone you've known for years is suddenly dying right next to you, your mind kind of shuts off and you start acting on instinct. Rushing out I start dressing the gaping hole in his chest. Before I start on his leg that’s been ripped off I feel a strong hand grab my arm. The hand, shaking with its last strength leads me back to the owner of the man who is still dying on the floor. Resolve filling his eyes he fiercely looks at me and says with a new voice of crystal clarity.
“Go, do not worry about me. I am already dead, save yourself. Before I die though promise me that you will help rebuild with whoever is left in this world. Promise me you won’t die by the hands of those filthy monsters like I am. Please...Promise...” With those last two words his heart finally stopped beating.
As if there was a lake being held back by an invisible dam, tears start flowing out of my eyes. Tears for someone who was unfairly and cruelly taken out of this world. Tears for the countless deaths I know I will be seeing from now. While I try my best to stop this river rushing out of me I start feeling something in the pit of my stomach. It is a fire, starting slowly at first but ever so slightly growing bigger. It keeps growing, fueled by my fear and anxiety of this world until the fire is engulfing my whole body. My tears stop as if the fire has dried out all of pain I have been feeling. Resolve is now shining through my eyes as I look at someone who was less fortunate that I. My right hand gripped the pommel of my sword tightly while my left hand started becoming engulfed in a bright white light. With this fire of resolve shining in my eyes I look at the now corpse of one of my former neighbors and say,
“I promise.” Those two words is all my mind is focused on at the moment. Soon that moment passes and I find myself burning the corpse in case it turns. My head lowered in respect when unexpectedly my time of reverence was interrupted by a ding and a new notification box.
[Due to user making a promise filled with a large amount of emotion, New Title has been given.]
[Title Earned- Promise Maker]
[Description- People who make promises with you now naturally feel inclined to keep said promise.]
[Due to Promise Maker being your only title it will be displayed.]
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Interesting, looks like there are title for everything. As I stand over the now pile of ashes I realize innocent people like mark are dying still, maybe even in this apartment complex. I should start helping the other survivors. Going back to my apartment to retrieve my bag I open my curtain in my room to see the outside. This is mayhem. The New York city streets are filled with the mindless hordes while some of my neighboring buildings are on fire. As I am watching I notice a group of people, desperately trying to fight the horde off, throwing magic and bullets at it from afar. Even with everyone of that seven man group flinging spells and firing off guns they have barely made a dent in the horde while the horde is now almost upon them. The Group notices the sheer amount of undead in front of them and decides to make a run for it into a nearest building. Shit I think as I realize that they just ran into my building. The horde sensing their meal is now rushing towards the lobby of my apartment complex. I’m on the seventh floor which allows me some time to either go down and help the group or stay hidden and wait until the horde consumes the group and leaves. Already knowing my answer I decide to leave my apartment for the time being.
Heading towards the stairs since the power went out a couple of minutes ago I start hearing the shouting of the men who are furiously sprinting up the stairs. “Up here!” I yell at them. One of them who is currently in the lead is sprinting past the fourth floor when he hears me. He looks at me and his pace started picking up. Soon all seven of the group is in my hallway panting from the constant running. After waiting a little bit for them to catch their breath the leader who got upstairs first comes up to me.
“Thank you for guiding us up here but you should know that there are a ton of those Zombies downstairs. My name is Daniel by the way.” The man in front of me looks a little younger than me. Built like a long distance runner who goes to the gym a lot his muscles are well defined but not big, just enough to let him perform at maximum efficiency. He is a little shorter than me too, around five nine. His Blonde hair and blue eyes would definitely make my sister quake in her shoes despite being much older than the man. He exudes an aura of confidence and clearly is designed to be a leader.
“Don’t worry about it, I didn’t want you guys to die so I decided i would let you guys hide here too. Nice to meet you my names Clyde, I am a mage.” I decide not to tell him about my super rare class, wanting it to be a secret.
“That’s great we also have two mages, one decided to be a death mage while the other a healer. Those are the two twin brothers in the back. I have a special class called Blade Runner, Basically a glorified assassin. We also have one Guardian, a Warrior, and a Paladin.” The twins are both standing at six feet tall and while one is holding a wand with a white stoned tip the other is carrying a wooden scepter with a black orb ebbed in the center. The guardian looks like your average high school football player and the warrior is some short guy who looks like an honest to god dwarf. His beard either actually red or dyed red from blood, he has a thick sturdy frame and a comically large double bladed axe strapped to his back. The paladin is an average looking guy but on his neck is a cross and his piercing brown eyes are scrutinizing my every move.
“So is there a reason you guys were trying to kill all of those zombies?” I ask them.
“Well obviously for experience but we were trying to keep the group small so we don’t have to exhaust ourselves very much. We accidentally drew in too many though and then this whole horde started forming so we decided to book it and run. Are you the only person on this floor?” Daniel asks noticing he didn’t see anyone else when he entered the building.
“A lot of people were going to go watch that baseball game today. Almost everyone is a fan of baseball in my apartment complex. I was too busy gaming so I stayed behind. Do you guys have a plan though? The horde will not let us leave and it is only a matter of time until we are found.” Daniel turns around and smiles at me with an evil glint in his eye.
“Well, I was thinking we could just whittle them down over time but that clearly isn’t the answer since there are too many of them.” He simply states.
“Then how do you propose we get past them?” I ponder, not noticing Daniels malicious grin as i asked the question.
“Well that’s simple, we just have to bait them OUT!” As soon as he said the last word Daniel has lunged forward and grasped the front of my starter shirt. With one solid motion he brings his dagger out and places the blade upon my neck. “Now you are going to make a lot of noise and attract the zombies upstairs while that is happening the rest of us are going to be going down your fire escape. Once you see us leaving you need to start running up the stairs to lure most of the horde out from the lobby. It will be a good plan trust me, the only problem is that you will be dying in it. Don’t worry though no one is going to miss you.” He finishes his words with a crazed smile, as if he always knew I was going to die anyway. I look at his group. The paladin looks like he wants to speak up for me but he is being held back with the death mage placing a firm hand on his shoulder. I decide to try and use this as leverage.
“Do all of you feel the same way about this?” I look around the room. The healer and death mage give me a sad look, as if they care but they seem afraid of the man currently holding me. If looks could kill then the Paladin and the dwarf would have murdered daniel by now. The guardian looks at me as if I am gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe and then turns around, not giving me a second glance. I am infuriated by this. “Most of you guys are clearly not wanting this, why don’t we just make the stuck up jerk holding me up right now and the Guardian sacrifice themselves?” I snap at them. This only seems to infuriate Daniel.
“Who said you have a say in this? Do you not remember my class! I have thirty points of dexterity, you wouldn’t even be able to touch me. NONE of you would be able to touch me.” He then glares at the twins, “Don’t think for a second you are helping this guy, just remember what I did to your older brother when he stepped out of line.” The twins were now staring at him in disbelief before anger started burning in their eyes. The death mage started walking towards him shouting at him.
“YOU SAID HE DIED BY A STRAY ZOMBIE! YOU ASSHOLE, I’LL KILL YOU!” The mage then started concentrating and two skeletons popped into existence. They started rushing towards Daniel when all of a sudden they were cleaved into two. The Guardian standing between the death mage and Daniel. His eyes shone like fury and he started charging at the death mage with his broadsword. The death mage was stunned until the Guardian reached his and went to cut off his head. *CLANG* The sound of metal hitting metal filled the room and the Paladin was seen blocking the greatsword with his gauntlets that he wore.
The Paladin then swung a left fist into the Guardian’s side. The Guardian retaliated by kicking the Paladin in the chest. The Paladin stumbled and the Guardian noting his advantage, swung his sword down towards the Paladins chest. Before he could reach the chest with his sword however, his arm was chopped off by the dwarf. The dwarf was so fierce in his attacks that the Guardian stood no chance. His head was soon chopped off by the dwarf and the healer rushed towards the paladin, already chanting her spell, light flooded outwards from the healers palm towards the Paladin. This happened in a matter of seconds which left Daniel a little bit to figure out how to win this.
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Daniels POV
I can’t believe it. Travis, my friend that kept those weaklings in line for me just died from those weaklings. He was my linchpin in keeping those fools quiet and following my orders. Without him they had no need to worry about me since they could all just easily gang up on me. My class was only effective when there was someone else to take the attention off me for a couple of seconds.
Angry beyond measure I decide to try something drastic.
“Nobody move or I slit his throat.” I grin, surely they wouldn’t make a move if I threatened someone's life. “That’s it, now we are going to walk out of this room nice and slowly and when we leave, no one will follow us understood?” I look around at everyone. The mages, the dwarf, and the Paladin all nod. I turn to look at the man I am currently holding hostage and he is beaming at me. What I hear next baffles me.
“So what you are telling me is that the only reason they are not killing you right now is because you are going to kill me if they try?” His grin still there I am angered even more seeing him smirk like that. It’s like he doesn’t even care if his life is on the line.
“Listen here you piece of shit, if you even try to move out of the way I will slice you right here.” I smirk. There is no way he is actually going to try and move after I tell him that. The man merely just looks at me and laughs before vanishing before my very eyes. Everyone in the room blinks as if not believing what just happened, then like a wave of understanding, they rush at me. Shit this is not good at all. The last thing I remember before everything went black is the Paladin aiming his sword for my neck.
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Clydes POV
I’m smiling after he told me the only reason these people are not killing him is because I am in the way. Luckily for them I have an answer for that. While Daniel is looking at his once teammates now turned enemies I silently mumble [Ethereal Shift]. Suddenly my whole body is shifted into the Ethereal plane and I simply take a few steps back while watching the chaos ensue. This is definitely the best skill ever. I grin, knowing all of the things this ability will allow me to do. Once Daniel died by having his head decapitated by the Paladin, I shut off Ethereal Shift and decide to finally talk to the people who won’t try to kill me.