“Man, you really thought you were clever, huh?”

I stabbed Titanslayer into the back of the zombie’s knee, keeping my foot on its ankle to hold it down while I pulled the spear from side to side like a lever. The creature snarled and spat, twisted to escape my hold, but it was no use. I kept going until the limb was completely ripped off, then kicked it away before getting started on the other leg.

“Thought you were a right smart bastard, didn’t ya? How's that working out for you now?”

The second leg came off, and I moved up to step on the creature’s torso as I jammed Titanslayer into its bicep, repeating the same process as with the legs. I wasn’t doing this to be a vindictive bastard. Okay, I wasn't doing it just to be a vindictive bastard—I'd learned my lesson from the previous schemer that I needed to neutralize this zombie without killing it, or I'd have an entire horde of undead coming for my ass, and I certainly wasn't in the right condition to deal with that at the moment. Maybe I'd have a shot at escaping the area before they arrived, but I was exhausted, beat up, and Mend was still on cooldown with several minutes remaining. No, I wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.

Which brought up the predicament of what to actually do with the schemer. Letting it go was obviously out of the question, so with the option of killing it also crossed off, the only possiblity left was to keep it as a prisoner. Of course, lugging an incapacitated zombie around wherever I went wasn't a practical solution, but lopping of a few limbs and tossing it into the bathroom to live out the rest of its unlife? I saw nothing wrong with that. Maybe one day another zombie would come along close enough to be commanded into opening the door, but I’d be long gone by then.

It wasn’t until I’d finished butchering the still-living corpse and was going to the attic to fetch some ropes that I realized there was one other problem with my plan. The remains of the zombies I’d killed—they wouldn’t disappear to leave behind any loot as long as this motherfucker was still alive and nearby. I’d have to tie the damn thing up and lug it somewhere far away until the bodies vanished, then bring it back, all the while hoping I didn’t run into any zombies other it could command along the way.

As luck would have it, that whole process turned out to be unnecessary. When I got back from the attic, the zombie had flipped onto its stomach and was trying to squiggle along the floor to bite my feet. I kicked it in the mouth, knocking out some of its teeth, then decided it would probably be prudent to take the rest of them out, too. I smashed the butt end of my spear into its mouth a few times, then crushed its jaw for good measure, making sure not to accidentally hit the zombie too hard and kill it.

It was shortly after I’d finished with that process that the other zombies began to disappear on their own. As for why, I couldn’t know for sure, but I had to make an adjustment my initial theory that corpses wouldn’t start disappearing until there were no more living monsters in the area. Maybe it had more to do with the level of threat the creature presented or something. Anywho, I was just grateful I didn’t have to drag a mutilated corpse up and down the block. I wrapped what remained of the schemer in a blanket, tied it off with some ropes, and tossed the still-struggling fucker into a bathtub, shutting the bathroom door behind me as I left.

Curbing my initial greedy desires, I didn’t go for the drops immediately, instead heading for the bedroom to crash down on the mattress. I stayed conscious, but refused to even move until Mend had finished cooling down and I was relieved of much of my aches and pains, though the exhaustion still remained. After that, I finally pulled out my phone and looked at the XP I’d accumulated.

Zombie (Screamer) slain: +11 XP

Zombie (Juggernaut) slain: +14 XP

Zombie (Spitter) slain: +8 XP

Zombie (Juggernaut) slain: +14 XP

Zombie (Brawler) slain: +4 XP

Zombie (Brawler) slain: +4 XP

Zombie (Brawler) slain: +4 XP

A shame I wouldn’t receive the XP for the schemer, but that still added up to a solid 59, almost as much as I’d gotten from the devourer itself. As for how to spend it, I decided to wait until I collected the loot together, as I would hate to waste XP on something that would be made redundant by one of the drops.

As usual, most of the zombies didn’t give anything special, just a few bills and some other odds and ends I didn’t know what to do with, but decided to keep anyway in case they turned out to be useful later. I retrieved the small inventory backpack from the attic and loaded all the junk inside. With that out of the way, it was time to get to the good stuff.

First off was an item that looked something like a dungeon shackle, complete with a short, three-link chain. The shackle itself was about an inch and a half tall and maybe half an inch thick. It looked to be made out of solid iron, though it was slightly rusted over. Hell, it probably would’ve made a decent zombie-bludgeoning weapon of its own right.

Item: Rusty Neckcuff Item Type: Equippable (Tier I) Equipment Slot: Neck Effect: Increases Strength by 2. Durability: 15/15 Weight: 4.5 lb

While I wasn’t awfully interested in the idea of wrapping almost five pounds of iron around my neck, I figured two points in strength would more than make up for the discomfort. I equipped the rusty neckcuff, wincing as the metal wrapped around my neck. Thankfully, it wasn’t particularly uncomfortable, nor did it hinder my movements any, even when I angled my head to look straight down. If not for the weight around my neck, I could’ve forgotten I even had the thing on.

Next up was probably my most valuable find. It was an item I’d already seen in the XP Shop, but had been far too expensive for me to even consider purchasing.

Item: Tier I Weapon Upgrade Kit Item Type: Miscellaneous, Consumable (Tier I) Effect: Gives a chance to upgrade a weapon from its normal version to its Elite version, or from Elite to Masterwork. Weight: 1 lb

The item itself was a rectangular wooden box, mahogany in color and laced with intricate floral carvings. I couldn’t see any way to actually open the thing, but I figured it didn’t really matter since it'd probably need to be activated through the phone, anyway. To be honest, I didn’t actually want to use it. Upgrading Titanslayer would be nice and all, but nowhere near worth the 120 XP value the item carried in the XP Shop. If there was any way to sell it—even for just half of the purchasing value—I certainly would have done so, but after several minutes of searching turned up nothing, I decided to just bite the bullet and use the damn thing.

Use Tier I Weapon Upgrade Kit to upgrade Titanslayer to Titanslayer+?

Item: Titanslayer+ Item Type: Equippable, Melee Weapon, Polearm (Tier I) Equipment Slot: Main-Hand Effect: Deals 35% additional damage to all beings with at least double the Effective Weight of the wielder. This effect is increased by an additional 15% for each subsequent doubling of the opponent’s Effective Weight, up to a maximum of 125%. Durability: 17/18 Weight: 9.5 lb

Chance of success: 80% Chance of Critical Failure: 2%

I wasn’t too worried about the chance of success, but the “critical failure” chance gave me some pause. Did that mean it was going to explode or something?

Condition: Critical Failure In the event of a this Condition, all items involved in a process are destroyed.

Well, it didn’t say anything about collateral damage, at least. Just in case, I decided to unequip the weapon before beginning the process. Losing Titanslayer in a critical failure would suck, but there were other weapons available in the XP Shop if it came to that. The upgrade was worth the risk, I decided, and tapped the affirmative.

As soon as I tapped the button, both the box and Titanslayer began to glow in a pale, blue light. I took a step back as the box pulsed, then shattered into splinters of light that circled around Titanslayer’s length, slowly converging into it with each rotation. I increased my distance as the weapon began rising in the air, growing brighter and brighter until even its form was no longer clearly visible. It stopped about halfway to the ceiling, hovered there for a moment, then, like a supernova reaching its shock breakout, suddenly exploded in fragments of light that scattered in all directions. I had to squint for this final part, but managed to get back in time to catch Titanslayer before it hit the ground.

Well, that was overly dramatic. And for all that, the spear didn’t even look much different. It fet slightly heavier, and the blade was a bit shinier, I guess. Maybe sharper, too. The shaft was a bit longer, and had a small pattern near the bottom matching the one that had been on the upgrade kit. Overall, I wasn’t too impressed, but if it meant the weapon would perform at a higher level, I was happy to take what I could get.

As for the final item... this was the one I was least enthusiastic about. Not because it was bad—in fact, it was probably the most useful item I’d gotten—but because, well...

Item: Silver Flared Trousers Item Type: Equippable (Tier I) Equipment Slot: Legs Effect: Increases Agility by 2. Increases Stamina regeneration by .15 per minute Durability: 6/6 Weight: .5 lb

It looked absolutely ridiculous—I may as well have been wrapping my legs in aluminum foil. I could even hold them up and use them like a mirror, though I preferred not to as my face was currently so covered in dried blood it looked like a cheeseless pizza. In any case, I figured this wasn’t really the time to be having such fashion reservations, so I figuratively held my nose and strapped the damn things on. At least they came with some pockets.

That done, I left the house, checked around for any more zombies, and went over to where the corpse of the voracious devourer had previously been. It took me a while to find, as the item left behind by the creature was small and, honestly, a bit of a letdown.

Item: Demon's Blood (Lesser) Item Type: Miscellaneous (Tier II) Description: A small vial filled with the blood essance of a lesser demon. Can be used as a primary ingrediant in Tier II potions, and a secondary ingredient in Tier III potions. Weight: .2 lb

Speaking of potions, there were a number of those available in the XP Shop, but I’d abstained from buying any since I didn’t like the idea of using XP on temporary boosts. Maybe the demon’s blood could be useful for making even stronger potions, or stuff with more long-term effects, but I had no clue where to begin on that front. I knew I couldn’t expect every drop I received to be suitable to my needs, but it was still disappointing that both of the tier II items I'd received thus far were so utterly useless.

Still, it was probably worth holding on to. I placed it in the backpack and went on to the next order of business: retrieving the Zombie Hunter Axe. I found it lying next to the fallen tree, brought it inside, and, after a moment’s deliberation, decided I wouldn’t be taking it with me. It was a good weapon that had served me well—given me far more XP in bonuses than I’d spent in buying it—but at this point, I could safely say I’d outgrown the thing. Titanslayer—especially post-upgrade, and combined with my Polearms skill—was simply the far better weapon, and while the ring of holding would effectively allow me to switch between the two, I found the ability to empty my hands in an instant to be more valuable.

So long, old friend. I let the axe drop and turned my attention back to my phone. Now it was time to spend all this XP I’d accumulated.

For starters, I went with another point in Path of the Body. The attribute and stamina boosts were always going to be useful, and the 24 XP cost was far lower than the 45 XP price for the next level in Path of the Striker. Next, I decided to upgrade Mend.

Ability: Mend II Ability Type: Restorative (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body II Effect: Recover from injuries equivalent to a 20% loss in health over a span of 10 seconds. Cost: 4 Stamina Cooldown: 20 minutes Price: 8 XP

The primary reason for this selection wasn’t to make the ability more powerful—though the increase from 15% to 20% healing was certainly welcome—but rather to decrease the cooldown time. The last thing I wanted was to be caught in a situation where I was critically injured and left vulnerable for an extended period of time because I’d used Mend too recently. The increase in stamina cost from 3 to 4 was a sacrifice I was happy to make. I even considered purchasing another level of Mend—which would have decreased the cooldown by a further five minutes—but figured that my XP was better used elsewhere.

That elsewhere being my stamina. While my attributes were certainly important, my experience in combat so far had shown that it was my abilities that got me out of trouble more often than not, and I wanted to be able to use them more freely, without having to constantly worry about how many more uses I had remaining. The increase in my stamina pool thanks to my recent Path of the Body upgrade was a solid step in that direction, but what I really needed was a way to increase my regeneration to the point where I could reliably recover stamina in combat, and not just between engagements. The easiest way to do this was using potions, but again, what I wanted was long-term enhancements, not temporary boosts. To that end, I found two skills and two abilities in the XP Shop.

Skill: Enhanced Recovery I Skill Type: Regenerative (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body I Effect: Increases Stamina regeneration by 25%. Price: 8 XP

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Skill: Vitality Link I Skill Type: Regenerative (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body I Effect: Increases Stamina regeneration by 1% of Constitution per minute. Price: 5 XP

Ability: Endless Endurance I Ability Type: Regenerative, Internal Aura (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body I Effect: Increases Stamina Regeneration by 4% of Maximum Stamina per minute. Activation Cost: 25% of Unrestricted Maximum Stamina Maintenance Cost: 25% decrease to Maximimum Stamina Cooldown: None Price: 10 XP

Ability: Overdrive I Ability Type: Regenerative, Internal Aura (Tier I) Requirement(s): Path of the Body I Effect: Increases Stamina regeneration by 150%. Activation Cost: None Maintenance Cost: 2% Health per minute Cooldown: None Price: 10 XP

Of the four options, Enhanced Recovery was the simplest choice, providing a flat increase to my stamina recovery. But while the 25% increase seemed like a strong boost on the surface, my actual stamina regeneration was simply far too low for it to make a significant difference.

Vitality Link was more interesting, tying stamina recovery to the constitution attribute. While the skill would only give an increase of .09 stamina per minute right now, it was a very inexpensive option, allowing me to cheaply access higher levels of the skill, which would in turn provide stronger boosts. The only downside was that my chosen path, the Path of the Striker, didn’t provide any increases to Constitution, so I wasn’t likely to enjoy the full benefits of this skill. If I’d taken the Path of the Guardian instead, for example, this would have been an excellent choice.

Then there were the final two options, Endless Endurance and Overdrive, both aura abilities. There were only a couple of these in the XP Shop, and while they were categorized as abilities, they really functioned more like skills in that they offered passive effects that could be maintained indefinitely. Not only that, but the boosts they offered were typically much stronger than those of similar skills, but this came with some downsides. First, in addition to their activation cost, they also came with a maintenance cost. This could be a per-minute stamina drain, an attribute reduction, or a number of other things. Second, only one aura ability could be active at a time, and as far as I could tell, there was no way to buy more aura slots the way I could skill or ability slots.

Seeing as I didn’t have any aura abilities as of yet, it made sense to pick one of them. Of the two, Endless Enduarnce seemed like a no-brainer at first, but after doing some quick math, I found that it would take over eight minutes for the 4% per minute regeneration to make up for the 25% loss. Most confrontations weren’t going to last anywhere near that long, which would turn the ability into a net negative. Besides, like with Vitality Link, this option seemed to be more geared towards the Path of the Guardian with its increased stamina pool rather than the Path of the Striker, which gave no such increases and instead focused on directly increasing regeneration rate.

That brought me to Overdrive. This was the most potent of the four options, but it also came with the riskiest downside, directly sapping away my health. I still wasn’t very clear on how exactly health worked, but I did know that even as I sat here at 95%, my body was still sore and experiencing some mild discomforts. Nothing that would compromise me in a fight, but enough to realize that even a 2% drop in health was nothing to scoff at. That said, it was still the only option that would provide a significant boost in the middle of a fight. I would have to use it carefully, only keeping it active for a few minutes at a time, then make up for the health loss with Mend. Even if I could only use it between fights, it would still help me recover and allow me to ready myself for another battle that much quicker. Having made up my mind, I taped the purchase button.

Ability: Overdrive I Purchased.

I waited until my Mend cooldown had replenished before activating the new ability. The change was subtle. My skin felt more sensitive, and my body started to heat up. I caught a faint hint of green in the corner of my eye and looked down to see tiny flecks of verdant light rising from my body. They were dim, with a holographic quality that made them difficult to even notice even when looking directly, but suffused me with a sense of awe. I tried to capture one of the particles in my hand, but it slipped right through, so I settled for watching the brilliant specks rise off me and vanish a foot above my head.

Then my nose started gushing like a faucet and I decided it was probably time to shut the aura off. I took a quick look at my character page before I did.

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 +9 -- -- -- -- -- 9 Strength +10 +3 -- -- -- -- 13 Agility +12 +2 -- -- -- -- 14 Dexterity +7 -- -- -- -- -- 7 Willpower +1 -- -- -- -- -- 1 Intelligence +1 -- -- -- -- -- 1 Foundational Paths (1/1) Ancillary Paths (1) Path of the Body IV Path of the Striker II Skills (3/3) Abilities (5/5) Melee Weapons II Quick-Roll II Polearms I Double-Jump I Grace I Mend II Power Strike I Overdrive I Perks (0/2) Talents (0) Boons (1) Afflictions (0) Overdrive I Powers Innate Equipment Titles Perks Boons Afflictions Total Health 91/100/100(%) -- -- -- -- -- 91/100/100(%) Regeneration +.015%/hr -- -- -- -- -- +.015%/hr Stamina 16/16/16 -- -- -- -- -- 16/16/16 Regeneration +.40/min +.15/min -- -- +.83/min -- +1.38/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 Rusty Neckcuff Hands Brawler Wraps Finger Ring of Holding Legs Silver Flared Trousers Feet Spring-Soled Shoes

A quick Mend straightened my health back out. I wasn’t going to risk going anywhere until that cooldown hit zero again. In the meantime, I searched around the house for anything useful. I found a leather jacket in one of the closets, identical to the one I’d worn earlier. I tried putting it on, surprised—for some reason—that I could even put it on over the lumberjack shirt. After moving around a bit, however, I found the thing to be too constraining and decided to go without it. The shirt, I’d keep, even if it provided no bonuses in the absence of the Zombie Hunter Axe. No reason to throw it away after spending that XP, and the fabric at least provided some protection without restricting my movement any. I also found a ski mask I tried putting over the Tactical Earmuffs, but it just didn’t fit right. In non-clothing related finds, there was a small flashlight in the garage, as well as a full five-gallon can of gasoline. I kept the flashlight, but abandoned the gas—I knew it could have some uses even without a car, but it took too much space in the inventory backpack and I didn’t feel like lugging it around, even with the weight reduction. By the time all that was done, my Mend cooldown had finished, and I was ready to head out and resume my search for the survivor.