His mind was in a whirl after that explosion took place. His body just kept being weightless all the while. As his eyes slowly focused, he realized the reason why.
He wasn’t even standing on the platform anymore. His legs dangled across the air, the feeling of wind hitting his back most of the time.
His arms were slung to some rather icky substances, so when he turned to find them, it turned out to be the same imps that were attacking them just now.
His mind instantly recognized the situation. He was actually being grabbed and taken away? By who? And why?
“Shit, shit, shit, shit!”
Zeke cursed loudly as he tried to swing his legs and yank his arms away. Whatever was going to happen, he definitely wasn’t going to like it.
The imps just shrieked when he tried to yank his arms out, but no dice. He groaned and swung, but no change happened. He knew that his Strength stat was low, but he didn’t think it would end up failing him at this level.
All the while, he kept getting higher and higher, his stomach lurching from the height as he somehow went through room after room, getting out through the openings between them.
Just as Zeke was starting to make a plan and wondering just how long this will persist, he suddenly felt his stomach drop on him.
They let go of his arms and dropped him right then and there. They flew away as he fell through the air, about to land straight to the pure darkness at the very bottom of the entire tower.
Zeke screamed as he swung his limbs trying to catch himself, but there was nothing but air surrounding him. If he didn’t do something, he was going to go splat in the worst way imaginable.
But the imps didn’t realize that by this point, going airborne is Zeke’s specialty. And this time, he learned his lesson.
He furrowed his brows as his instincts kicked in, and rather than trying to summon a barrier right below him, he formed his rectangular barrier, the top and bottom edges facing him and below. It was just slanted very slightly, enough to just barely graze it.
Of course, with nothing to hold on, Zeke just slid on it and still fell off, but he didn’t give up. He kept summoning barrier after barrier, forcing himself to work overtime to try and cast as many barriers as possible before his body could catch up.
And after each cast, he kept angling the barrier over and over to one side, forcing his body to shift to one side and steering away from the bottomless abyss below.
In other words, he made a literal mid-air slide and got himself to land right on the platform he saw on the way as he fell. Thankfully, gravity’s pull on him lessened when he kept sliding across the barriers, but he still landed pretty hard on the platform. His skin was cut all over, but when he finally landed and stood still, he took that pain with pure joy.
At least it wasn’t a broken arm and leg this time. As he picked himself up, he used his own Recovery to heal his wounds. It was a lot easier to heal himself than others, as he knows how his own channels work the best. With a little bit of mana, he managed to heal the cuts across his skin with ease, almost as if they were never there in the first place.
He straightened himself up, giving himself a breath of fresh air… or tried to if the stench still hadn’t hit his nose and caused him to cough loudly. His heart still beat loudly from the massive free fall, and the straight exhilaration of surviving that fall.
“Hah… Now… Now what?” Zeke muttered to himself, noticing that he was all alone now. “I…I need to go back.”
He glanced at his surroundings, still unsure which room it was. For all he knew, he could’ve been several rooms ahead of his party.
That’s taking out the fact that he had no way of getting back there through normal means. The platform he was on didn’t connect to any doorway, and the one he could see was literally a few meters below him, on another platform, far away from where he was.
Sure, he could just create barriers and just walked there making his own bridge, but that would take a lot of mana. Even now through his desperate gambit to survive, he spent a lot of mana to ensure his survival. If he wasn’t careful, he could end up without any mana, and if he gets attacked…
Putting aside the gruesome death of getting bitten and turned while suffering the worst case of chills imaginable, he thought deeper. He was a runist–he has the capabilities to make any spell he wanted.
Before they left, he wanted to make a communication crystal like the one he made and gave to Cloud before. However, doing that was just too damn complicated, so he had little choice but to drop the idea. If he knew this was gonna happen, he would’ve made one regardless.
But right now, there were too many things he could consider, and some of them could even risk his life. If he wasn’t careful, he could die. But if he doesn’t hurry, then his comrades would surely die. Even if they were strong, with the leaders being a higher stage than them, they already lost two people on the way here.
It wasn’t about the competence of the leaders. It was just that dangerous. Anyone around the Expert stage would be at risk no matter how much protection they get from the leaders just a tier above them. The only way they could survive this is through his barriers. So he needed to get back in there.
But just how…?
I could just… No, that’s stupid. And dangerous and really costy… damn it, I suck at this!
He grabbed his hair and pulled in frustration. His choice paralysis is gonna cost him lives and he’s still worrying about his mana consumption.
His ears picked up feet patting the stone floor. The rattling chains were gone, so the pitter-patter of feet clamoring caught his attention. Slowly, he turned around to find multiple zombies trudging forward to him. Their arms raised and their mouths gaping open, they rushed at him with no hesitation.
Zeke immediately casted his barrier, a small dome surrounding him as he didn’t have enough awareness to only cover one part. The zombies hit the barrier, their disgusting rotting faces smushed up against his magic wall and tried to bite it.
Even at this point, Zeke didn’t care about how they looked. Not only was he on his own, he’s stuck in his own barrier. At this rate, the barrier will come down and they’ll try to eat him alive.
Damn it, what can I do with this stupid thing!? Can’t I just use it to hit them? …Wait, can I?
Zeke thought deeper for a second. His Barrier Craft skill is capable of creating any form of barrier, crafting it in many shapes as he wanted. He could even create shapes that barriers don’t normally make, like a staircase and an impromptu holding wall for making tents.
So can’t he make something that could help him out of this situation? He knew deep inside that his skill wasn’t meant for offense. No matter how hard he tried, he can’t summon a barrier and hit a zombie with it. However, that didn’t mean that the monsters couldn’t hurt themselves while crashing into the barrier, like that Dire bird that hit the wall and fell to the ground in a daze.
That meant that while the barrier wasn’t capable of inflicting damage, it would still hurt hitting it. He just had to be… creative with how he crafted his barrier.
It might use up a bit of Mana, but if he played his mana just right, it could actually be efficient.
Nodding to himself, he closed his eyes and entered his Meditation, despite the zombies trying to get at him from both sides now as the others appeared behind him during his deep thinking. He sensed his own mana swirling around the dome, affixed to the ground in a half-circle facing downwards.
So instead, he re-created the barrier. Using the extra room inside, Zeke lifted himself as he formed another half-circle below him, forming the sphere around him. Then, he condensed the barrier tightly. Laying one mana layer after another, he tightly wove his mana around his barrier, stopping the zombies from creating any noise from outside from the density of his magic wall.
There, he finished it. His craft completed, he opened his eyes to find dozens more zombies going after him. However, not a single one could get at him.
He was surrounded by a perfect sphere of turquoise light, and as soon as Zeke took his first step, the sphere rolled.
Right on top of the zombies in front of him.
It wasn’t technically an attack. It just happens to be dense enough to crush a zombie underneath from just rolling. But the only way he could actually do anything with a barrier is by making it perfectly still, rather than moving it wherever he wishes.
Perhaps he could someday, but for now this was better. And he couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw the zombies getting squashed underneath his barrier, actually getting killed.
He then felt a sense of energy from their deaths. He was actually killing the zombies as he moved around. He turned, facing the zombies on the other side and doing the same to them. They couldn't do anything, being nothing but melee attackers and not able to break through his barrier. And with them being so close, it was only natural to get crushed underneath the heavily dense barrier.
Some zombies even fell off the platform, landing hard and dying immediately. Zeke had no mercy as he went around killing every zombies with his roll.
But then something occurred that Zeke should’ve thought of earlier. Momentum is a bitch as his barrier seemed to roll faster and faster, fast enough to even stump Zeke as he kept running without thinking. No matter how he tried to go back and control the sphere, the barrier was too heavy to be used appropriately with his meager Strength stat.
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And so, he couldn’t stop himself from rolling right off the edge of the platform.
“Aaah… shiiiiiiii-!”
He cursed as he fell through the bottomless abyss, his sphere of light being the only light around the vast darkness around him.
…..
He didn’t know whether it was due to sheer luck, instinct, or maybe even stupidity, but Zeke did something in his panic when the encroaching darkness became too much.
His heart wrenching from pure fear of dying, he remade his barrier from the ground up. He didn’t care how much mana he poured into it, but he made it so that the inside of his barrier will not get affected by the outside forces. So in other words, he won’t suddenly slam into his own barrier and turn into human paste. He made it so that his center of gravity is affixed at the center, so as the ball rolled, he remained stationed, so to speak. He can still adjust himself, but just barely.
Another thing he did was reinforce the outside barrier with the help of his Gloves. Doing so, he made it so that rather than being hard as a wall, he changed the substance of it. Now instead of being hard, it was elastic.
He managed to change the substance due to the fact that while being a hard wall is certainly difficult to break through, some attacks could easily break it. Now if it was elastic, almost rubbery, some attacks are basically pointless. Though he knew if bladed attacks were to hit him, the barrier would ‘pop’ rather than ‘break’. Still, he had enough confidence to believe his elastic barrier could withstand some sharp objects.
He had this idea in the split second he thought he was going to fall to his death, and since flying wasn’t a thing, he did the next best thing–jumping
And boy, did he jump.
His barrier hit solid ground, whatever it was, and bounced back up with such force that it would put a rocket launch to shame.
Despite his body being affixed into the center of the barrier, that didn’t stop the feeling of motion from forcing his mind to whirl. His stomach poured out of his mouth, and his brain went into his lower torso as he felt gravity push down and pull up all at the same time.
His barrier flew straight up, returning himself straight above the platforms and actually over several rooms. His barrier being small enough, he jumped in a slow arc that made him go outside the room and into the next.
And that continued to do so for a long while. His mind turned blank, his migraine returning in waves as images spun through his vision from jumping and rolling. He probably killed many monsters on the way there, but he hadn’t seen them as far as he knew. He heard them, their groans and screams suddenly disappearing as he jumped from one place to another.
Like a super ball, Zeke bounced around the tower, not knowing where he was going. Eventually, the power of motion stopped as his barrier slowed until it eventually stopped into a roll.
Zeke held himself steady all this time, but in the end he threw up his bile all over his barrier. He couldn’t care less about the mess he made in his own barrier as he immediately cast it aside.
He had to get out. The inside of the barrier was sealed tight thanks to the elasticity surrounding it. That made oxygen difficult to acquire. He could still breathe, but barely. He didn’t care as much since, after all, he managed to survive the onslaught and even end up in a new location.
To which he had no clue whether he was closer to his comrades or not.
Fuck me, Zeke complained. He rubbed his aching head from the migraine of being a super ball all across the damn tower, and not once has he come back to find his comrades.
He did, however, gained some new skill notifications.
> Mana Perception Level Up! It is now Level 9.
>
> You have gained +1 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +1 SPI from your skill.
…..
> Barrier Craft Level Up! It is now Level 9.
>
> You have gained +1 INT from your skill.
> You have gained +2 SPI from your skill.
He also found himself in an entirely new location, however. Instead of the platforms he and his party found himself in, he was in a stone-like hallway, the walls being strangely clean except for the obvious red tinge covering certain parts.
At this point, he didn’t care whether that was blood or some strange wall color. All he cared about was finding his comrades. But he couldn’t help but get curious about this hallway that seemed normal compared to the rest of the tower. He walked forward, his hand lifted to cast a barrier if a monster were to approach.
The feeling of walking through the hallway felt… odd. It didn’t feel like it was designed by the tower at all. Rather, it felt like someone actually built the hallway to fit their needs. There were doorways across the hallway and as he walked through, he figured he didn’t want to see any zombies that could be in there, so he ignored them.
He was trying to keep his footsteps from being heard, but the silence was deafening. His chest tightened as he felt like he was about to get found out at some point.
Then he heard it. Something that was nowhere near the monsters that he found so far. He heard… laughter.
A maniacal laughter, seemingly so human it was hard to discern at first. Rather than frightened or disturbed, he was curious. At this point, to hear human laughter in this tower felt… really off.
He followed the sound, now hearing a voice. It was hard to discern, and the voice kept talking in a strange tone. As he turned a corner around the hallway, he spotted a large open doorway that had a strong light within.
It was perfect as Zeke could see some nice hiding spots while peering inside. Sure, there could be some danger of being spotted, but with his extreme way of running away, turning into a bouncy ball of all things, he might have a shot.
And he couldn’t help it. If there were people here, then they could be responsible for what’s going on. For all he knew, this could be the very same being that was causing the ruckus outside, the zombies going crazy, and the deaths that kept occurring.
He moved towards the open doorway, using the shadowed spot to get a clear view in. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Now he wished he didn’t see it.
There were nothing but shelves filled with body parts. Some that looked like they were fresh, and others clearly rotting from no use at all. Blood trickled everywhere, as though it was just the natural way for it to occur in that ghastly room, and there were also lots of candles burning within. The candles, however, were of a fluorescent blue light, almost like a ghost’s flames.
Then he finally spotted the owner of the voice. It was an actual human being, but that wasn’t all.
It was a human being wearing modern clothing. He had a jersey from the looks of it, and some cargo pants with some sneakers. A clear sign of someone from his own old world.
But what truly stood out was what it had written on the jersey itself. A red-colored jersey with a big red 10 on it, with the marking of one of the famous baseball teams.
From his old world.
This guy… is he actually from our world? Zeke thought, though the idea alone was crazy already.
He should’ve figured that he, Mikella, and Clara weren’t the only people from the old world to get kidnapped. But what he couldn't believe is that just like them, this guy happened to come from a similar tower as them. Does that mean that everyone from his old world that gets kidnapped would suddenly find themselves in a tower acting like a dungeon?
More than that, why isn’t this guy trying to get out? Why is he just talking to himself, the zombies not trying to kill him like those arthurian knights from their tower? If what he theorized is true that this strange guy was from his old world, he should’ve been at the same time as they were. By that time, he should’ve gotten out rather than staying inside.
Then again, he seemed alone. It was possible that perhaps he wasn’t able to get out. Does that mean that during this time, this guy lost himself from the loneliness, unable to get out?
If so, then Zeke had the duty to help him. Maybe he found a place where he could secure himself.
But he definitely put a hold on that. After all, who, from his old world, would be okay being surrounded by zombies and body parts still oozing blood?
The man’s next words caught him to re-think it entirely.
“Damn, those fuckers are tough. Who’d thought people in this world would be so gung-ho about living? They should just die and be part of my army. Better for them and better for me, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ye-s, Mas-te-r,” A zombie man with the gruff voice echoed out. Zeke practically flinched at the noise. He thought he heard another voice, but he didn’t think it was from another zombie.
“Of course I’m right! I fucking made you!” The man–no, the young man, almost like a child, responded with a chuckle. “But where the hell is that barrier mage? Can’t believe I lost him. Where do you think he is?”
“I d-on’t kn-ow, Mas-ter,” The zombie answered.
“Damn it. I want to use his corpse. Who knows what awesome barriers my zombie would make if I use his brain for the source? Or maybe his heart? Would that work? Wait, does Mana come from the heart or brain?”
“I’m do-n’t kn-ow, Mas-ter,” The zombie responded dully.
“Of course you don’t! Goddamnit, maybe I should’ve put a brain in you instead. It gets tiring hearing the same damn thing over and over again…”
Zeke couldn’t help but breathe erratically, forcing himself to try and control it.
This guy… he couldn't be any older than 18 years old, yet he was talking as if killing and using others’ body parts was natural. Was that his skill? Capable of making zombies?
If what he said is true, then does that mean he’s responsible for the zombies that were currently trying to kill them all? The one that actually forced Zeke away from his party? Hearing himself getting used for his brain and heart for some zombie, he shivered.
This kid wasn’t normal. Whoever he was, whether he was from his old world or not, there was something wrong with his brain. Who on earth would be okay to do all this and just casually act like it’s not a big deal?
He needs to go back. He needs to tell the party about this. If his theory is true, then this kid would be as strong, or even stronger, than both him and Mikella. He wasn’t sure exactly how strong, but if he’s capable of summoning so many zombies and taking them under his control, there’s no doubt that Zeke would be at a disadvantage.
But just when he was about to turn around and walk away, he noticed something flapping at the distance. It was a bird, and it was clear it was just as undead as the one he saw before.
And it spotted him.
“INTRUDER! INTRUDER!”
The bird zombie squawked what sounded like an alarm, causing Zeke to go pale as he saw the people from the room head outside, noticing him for the first time.
“What the–You?!” The kid shouted, pointing at Zeke. “You were here the whole time?! Fuck! What, you got like a super Stealth skill or something? Doesn’t matter! Take him!”
“Fuck that!”
Zeke immediately summoned his specialized bouncy-ball barrier as soon as he saw a number of zombies just rise up from the ground. Like an old fashioned zombie movie, hands crept out of the flooring and zombies were suddenly born underneath to try and catch him.
They were the strong ones too, his Identify picking up that they were around top-tier Expert rank. There was no way in hell he could actually take them down.
So he ran, and with his bouncy ball shield, he rolled across and crushed a few zombies in his wake. Though it didn’t crush them, more like squashed them down for a while as he managed to get away.
“What the…? Holy shit, that’s pretty cool,” The kid commented, before snapping his fingers. “Get him! No way in hell I’m missing out on a cool power like that!”
The more the kid spoke, the more Zeke couldn’t help but be afraid. He was actually someone from his old world, and he honestly didn’t care whether he or his friends lived or died.
He ran–well, to be accurate, he rolled away from the crazy necromancer all while being chased by the zombies. He turned from one hallway to another, trying to recall exactly how to get out.
All the while, as he expected, the doors that were across the hallway opened up to reveal more zombies going after him.
Eventually he passed through another doorway, and the same large emptiness filled with elongated platforms returned to his vision once more. But there was no way for him to get to another platform without jumping off. The more he rolled, the more he realized that there was no way out as the path he was on only had a wall and nothing else.
He had no choice. He hated it, he hated it so damn much, but he cared more about his life and the life of his comrades to care about his preferences at the moment.
So he rolled to the side and fell off the edge of the path he was on, falling right into the darkness below.
He prepared himself mentally. This was gonna be another wild ride he won’t soon forget.