My eyes followed the baseball-sized rock as it sailed over my head, crashing into the window of the house behind me. Down below, the zombie juggernaut that had just thrown the object received another one from its comrade, only to hurl it about twenty feet off its target.

Said target being me, of course. The moment I’d spotted the zombies, I’d braced myself for combat. Then my left leg had painfully reminded me I was in no shape for such activities, and I’d instead opted to climb right back up the same tree I’d killed the devourer from. The zombies’ counter to this was to start throwing projectiles. That had had me worried at first, but as it turns out, the undead don’t have the most sophisticated of fine motor skills. They were lucky enough to get their attacks in my general vicinity, and had yet to actually force me to have to dodge anything.

I counted fourteen of the creatures down below in total, led by a schemer. Zombie faces weren’t easy to tell apart, but from its clothes, I suspected it was the same one I’d encountered earlier at the junction, before the devourer had shown up. It must have decided to go gather up some allies before coming back to challenge me.

With some rather impressive timing, I might add. Was it just a coincidence, or had it been tracking my battle with the devourer, waiting until it concluded to launch its attack? With my focus on the demon, I certainly wasn’t keeping an eye out for any spying zombies in the distance.

The crew the schemer had assembled consisted of a screamer, two juggernauts, three brawlers, and about eight additional regular-looking zombies. I wanted to say they were creepers, but it was possible they had some hidden abilities. I hadn’t yet gotten through the process of Scanning them all.

The screamer once again opened its mouth and emitted its ear-grating attack. I winced; even with the earmuffs in place, the sound was enough to disrupt my senses and make me nauseous. I clenched my teeth and tightened my grip on a nearby branch to keep from falling off. As the attack winded down, I sighed in relief and opened my eyes to see the schemer below becoming increasingly frustrated by its failed attempts to get at me. I gave it the ol’ one-finger salute before turning my attention back to my phone.

I had 63 XP to spend, but as I scrolled through the remaining options, I realized that really didn’t amount to much. Half of it went to the 31 XP required for the next Path of the Striker upgrade, which I figured was a good investment. The remaining XP could have been used to upgrade Path of the Body, but I instead decided it would be better utilized on developing my skills and abilities.

First, I purchased another level of Melee Weapons, just to make wielding Titanslayer a bit easier.

Skill: Melee Weapons II Skill Type: Weapon Handling (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body II Effect: Increases Dexterity with Equipped Melee Weapons by 25%. Decreases the Wield Weight of Equipped Melee Weapons by 10%. Price: 13 XP

Second, I wanted an offensive ability. While zombies didn’t require much force to kill—more a matter of precise targeting—my brief battle with the devourer had shown me that I needed to diversify my skillset and add some firepower. The XP Shop had no shortage of interesting offensive abilities, but given that it would cost me 10 XP just to open up a new ability slot, my remaining 19 XP left my options rather limited. After some deliberation, I settled on one that I thought met my needs.

Ability Slot Purchased. Next Ability Slot cost: 14 XP

Ability: Power Strike I Ability Type: Single-Target Melee Attack (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body I, Equipped Melee Weapon Effect: A freeform Melee Attack for which Strength is increased by 40% Activation Cost: 2 Stamina Cooldown: 10 seconds Price: 7 XP

Aside from being cheap, the main appeal of Power Strike was its simple, freeform nature. Many of the offensive abilities in the XP Shop centered around specific movements, much like Quick-Roll, and while that ability had certainly served me well to this point, I preferred the versatility of having more control of my attacks. The purchase left with a meager 2 XP remaining, which wasn’t enough to buy anything of significance, but I was satisfied with the progress I’d made. I went back to the character screen to check out my updated profile.

Ryan Slater Species Subspecies Classification Primary Path Primary Title Secondary Title Human None Tier 0 Chosen Striker None None Attributes Innate Equipment Titles Perks Boons Afflictions Total Constitution +8 -- -- -- -- -10% 7 Strength +9 +1 -- -- -- -20% 8 Agility +11 -- -- -- -- -40% 7 Dexterity +7 -- -- -- -- -20% 6 Willpower +1 -- -- -- -- -- 1 Intelligence +1 -- -- -- -- -- 1 Foundational Paths (1/1) Ancillary Paths (1) Path of the Body III Path of the Striker II Skills (3/3) Abilities (4/4) Melee Weapons II Quick-Roll II Polearms I Double-Jump I Grace I Mend I Power Strike I Perks (0/2) Talents (0) Boons (0) Afflictions (1) Moderate Tibia Fracture (Trauma) Powers Innate Equipment Titles Perks Boons Afflictions Total Health 89/100/100(%) -- -- -- -- -- 89/100/100(%) Regeneration +.015%/hr -- -- -- -- -- +.015%/hr Stamina 11/12/12 -- -- -- -- -- 11/12/12 Regeneration +.35/min -- -- -- -- -- +.35/min Resistances Innate Equipment Titles Perks Boons Afflictions Total Sound -- +80% -- -- -- -- 80% Equipment Slot Equipped item Main-Hand -- Off-Hand -- Head Tactical Earmuffs Torso Lumberjack Shirt Neck -- Hands Brawler Wraps Finger Ring of Holding Legs -- Feet Spring-Soled Shoes

Not too shabby, if I did say so myself. There were still a number of empty slots, and I of course wanted to continue upgrading the skills and abilities I’d already picked up, but compared to how I’d started the day I was practically a completely different person.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

And the changes weren’t just physical. Looking down at the swarm of zombies gathered below, I found myself strangely nonchalant at the whole situation. That in itself was somewhat unsettling—why should I be more afraid of an entire horde of zombies trying to hunt me down and eat me alive?—but maybe my battle with the devourer had changed something in my mind. This was an enemy I understood. There was reason to be cautious, yes, vigilant, of course, but afraid? I just didn’t feel the need for it.

I was saved from any further rumination on the subject by a soft, repeated thudding sound from below. I put my phone away and focused on what the schemer was up to now. Apparently, the zombies had found the Zombie Hunter Axe I’d left down there before my battle with the devourer, and now one of the brawlers was using it to chop at the tree. I had a chuckle at the irony of a zombie using a “Zombie Hunter Axe” to hunt a zombie hunter (being me). I could afford the laugh, since the brawler apparently had no more skill in using the tool as it did in throwing rocks, simply smashing it against the tree without even getting the angle of the blade right. I just hoped it didn’t destroy the axe entirely, as it was a good weapon I still intended to keep using in the future.

Frustrated with its incompetent subordinate, the schemer was now instructing one of the juggernauts to take over the project. Unfortunately, this yielded no more success, and the schemer was then forced to take on the task for itself. The intelligent zombie proved capable of using the axe correctly, but after a few minutes of amateur lumberjacking, it seemed to realize the trunk was far too thick, and with its relatively feeble strength, it would take hours of chopping for the tree to finally fall.

I had another laugh as it threw the axe at one of its followers in frustration. As far as I was concerned, this was the height of comedy, and I was more than happy to sit up here and let the entertainment below distract me from my injuries until Mend’s cooldown finished.

But the ever-resourceful schemer wasn’t out of ideas just yet. Its next plan had me rather puzzled, as it involved getting one of the regular-looking zombies to hug the trunk of the tree. At first, I thought it was trying to climb up to me, which wasn’t much of a worry. The juggernauts were actually capable climbers; the first one to arrive had begun to scale the tree and reached almost halfway up before the schemer had ordered it back down, likely upon realizing it would be an easy kill for me while I had the high ground.

This zombie, however, didn’t actually seem to be interested in doing any climbing. In fact, it was almost perfectly still, and it wasn’t until I noticed the other zombies backing away as the tree-hugger began to tremble that I realized what the true intention here was.

“Ah, fuck.”

Bark, chips of wood, and dead flesh scattered in every direction as the zombie exploded. Some of the debris reached nearly as high as I was, but the tree remained steady, a slight sway the only sign that it had just come under attack.

Thank fuck I hadn’t chosen to climb one of the skinnier ones. But if the schemer had a few more of these exploding little shits, I might be in trouble regardless. I waited to see whether the lead zombie would instruct another one of its minions to cling to the trunk, but instead, it seemed to be staring at the spot thoughtfully. A moment later, it turned around and started wandering off, one of the juggernauts trailing behind it.

At first, I thought maybe it had lost interest me, but I quickly realized that was rather unlikely given that it had left the rest of its crew behind. I watched warily as it drifted toward one of the houses, paused for a second, then moved on to the next one. It went through two more of the buildings before it finally stopped, seemingly satisfied, and instructed the juggernaut to begin attacking the door.

I couldn’t keep my attention on what happened next, as my mind was jostled away by the goddamned screamer launching another attack. I swore to myself I was going to kill that zombie before any of the others when I got the chance. By the time the attack calmed down enough and I had my senses back in order, I saw that the schemer was already returning, a portly-looking zombie accompanying the juggernaut in tow behind it.

Ah, so that was the game. I realized my tree wasn’t going to be a safe spot much longer, but thankfully, the fat zombie moved slowly enough that Mend had just finished its cooldown by the time they arrived below. I activated the skill, the soothing heat pulsing through my leg as it recovered back to a healthy state. At the same time, the spitter launched its attack, its acid blast searing into the side of the trunk where the phloem had been exposed by the exploding zombie earlier.

The tree creaked and began leaning to the side. Not waiting for it to finish toppling over, I got my feet on the branch and leapt off, then activated Double-Jump and Quick-Roll in succession, aiming to land on the roof of the nearby house. As it turned out, I’d greatly underestimated my leaping abilities, and I not only found myself on the other side of the gabled roof as I came out of my roll, but was forced to desperately snag on to one of the shingles to keep myself from sliding off as my legs dangled below.

Nobody saw that, and nobody was ever going to know about it.

I carefully pulled myself up—nearly sliding off again in the process—and made it over to the other side of the roof. The zombie gang had, of course, seen me leaping from the tree, and were now making for the house. I glanced around for a way to escape, but unless I was planning on jumping off the roof, there didn’t seem to be any. Well, at least the zombies couldn’t reach me while I was up here...

The spitter’s stomach began to expand. I swore and jumped to the side as the acid launched, splattering onto area where my feet had just been. I didn’t even realize the damn things could shoot that far, and its aim was way better than the rock-throwers'. The roof tiles bubbled, sizzled, and eroded away under the corrosion of the acid, and seeing it suddenly gave me an idea.

Careful not to get any of the fluid on my shoes, I stood over the area where the acid had just struck. The spitter fired another stream of vicious liquid, and I ducked out of the way again as it hit the same target as before. With the added reinforcements, the acid began eating through the roof even faster, and by the time the third attack launched, a nice hole had already started to form.

Perhaps having figured out my intentions, the spitter, likely on instruction from the schemer, held back a fourth blast. But by then, the job was done. The acid continued eating through the roof, expanding the hole to the point where I could easily dive through without touching any of the edges. I threw the inventory bag down first, but right as I was about to follow, I heard a snarling from below, and a zombie appeared in the room, glowering up at me with its arms extended upward.

Fuck it, I jumped down anyway.

My heel collided with the zombie’s open-mouthed face as I dropped. I Quick-Rolled backward before I hit the ground, avoiding the acid pooling on the floor. Titanslayer was in my hand as soon as I came out of my roll, and the charging zombie met the tip of my spear with its left eye, piercing through its head with ease. My weapon was back inside the ring of holding before the corpse hit the floor.

I looked around the room. I was in an attic, mostly empty. There were a few pieces of worn clothing lying around, a couple rolled-up carpets along with some coils of rope. A few tables, some old chairs, a small bookcase in the corner. I glanced over it, surprised to find it mostly filled. More character than I’d found in either of the previous houses I’d been in.

I was about to head for the door when something on one of the tables caught my eye. It was a black box... no, more like a case. I approached it, curious. The case had a latch on either side, but it wasn’t locked. I popped open the latches and pulled the case open. My eyes went wide as I registered the object inside.

It was a gun.