Bob had been sound asleep, completely exhausted from his repeated mana expenditure, the wound, and the fight against the zombies. Suddenly, he was jolted awake by a loud commotion outside. He groggily stood up and shuffled over to the window to investigate. The noise that had woken him up was a large horde of zombies trying to break into the building he was currently recuperating in.
He looked around inside the building, and panic surged through his body as he realized his slimes were gone. Do they have a time limit? I've never actually found that out. Ugh, Bob be better, you need to start figuring these types of things out before they happen.
Bob heard a strange noise and returned to the window, his slimes had left him, and rushed to a hole in the wall closer to the horde. The slimes started launching acid projectiles into the zombies below to great results.
The zombie's numbers dropped swiftly as they started to crumple and dissolve. Bob was even more excited about the power that the Rolodex granted him, and how effective the summoned monsters truly were. The horde of zombies was too large to be handled as fast as Bob would have liked.
Bob was watching the battle intensely, that's why he was quite surprised when a couple of zombies managed to break through the back wall and started shambling toward him. He began to panic as the zombies inched closer to him, he didn't have a weapon anymore, it had broken during the last zombie fight where he got this nasty wound.
His panic lightened a little as he realized the zombies had to get through a bunch of fallen debris, and a staircase to get to him. It was at this point that a system message popped up and surprised him, it was a notification from the zombie fight that had been too exhausted to see after the fight.
*System Award*
*For the brave, yet foolish farmhand, who fought off an elite zombie with a stick. I, The System, grant you a boon.*
*Enjoy, and use it wisely!*
The system message ended with what Bob could have sworn was faint laughter. No, that would be crazy. Maybe I'm going crazy. Bob shook his head, clearing that line of thought. He then read the next notification he had ignored.
*New Ability Gained*
Slapstick MP Cost: 2
Duration: 2 Minutes
Cooldown: 1 Minute
This Ability expends 2 MP and conjures The Slapstick. The Slapstick is a 1-Hit ability that activates with a comedic effect. Upon completion of the 1-Hit, The Slapstick will disintegrate. It's a Slappin' Good Time!
Ok, I'm definitely not crazy. The system appears to be a lunatic. I should keep an eye out for that, I guess. How does one watch his system closely? Bob decided that he would think about that a little later, maybe when his life wasn't being threatened by walking corpses.
He couldn't help but admit to himself that although the system might be insane, that ability did sound kind of interesting. He was snapped out of his reverie, by one of the zombies managing to make it up the staircase with a weird crawling climb maneuver. The zombie slowly got back to its feet, and once more began to shuffle toward Bob, hunger in its eyes.
Bob activated his [Slapstick] ability and a long blue staff materialized in his hand. He twirled it around for a couple of seconds because he thought it looked cool, which made Bob chuckle for a second. Who was he trying to impress, the damn Zombies?
The zombie obviously ignored this impressive demonstration of stickmanship, as it continued forward in a bid to eat Bob. Bob became impatient with how slow the zombie was coming at him in an attempt to kill him, so Bob took the fight to it. He walked forward and choked up on the stick like it was a baseball bat, he waited for the opportune moment and then swung with all his might.
The Slapstick connected with a thwack sound that seemed to reverberate through the building, the zombie lifted into the air and flew into the building wall before shattering it and continuing its flight. This was all accompanied by the sounds of a phantom crowd cheering. What the hell? No, that's weird, right? Like, come on.
The Slapstick turned into particles of magic energy and drifted off into the nether. Bob stood there slackjawed, in awe of what had just occurred. He knew he was strong as an ox, but that wasn't a feat that any mere mortal could ever accomplish. Huh, magic is pretty neat!
Bob noticed the next zombie had made it up the stairs, he also noticed that his [Slapstick] cooldown timer had appeared in a little box in the corner of his vision. Bob began playing a little game of avoiding the angry corpse seeking to devour you, as he deftly maneuvered around the upstairs narrowly avoiding the zombie at certain points. Bob continued the game until his cooldown timer vanished and he activated the [Slapstick] ability again.
The blue staff materialized in his hands and Bob turned on the zombie pursuing him and swung. The zombie flew through the wall of the building again disappearing into the darkness of the night sky, also accompanied by the phantom cheering crowd. 2 down, 1 to go.
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Bob waited for the cooldown to end, before he went after the last zombie. He repeated this process again, with the same results. Bob was slightly weirded out by the strange skill, and the even stranger system that had given it to him. It was then that he noticed the little red 3 sitting above the notification icon in his system interface.
Bob checked it and saw the messages that he had received during combat.
*Enemies Slapped! 1/100*
*Enemies Slapped! 2/100*
*Enemies Slapped! 3/100*
*Make it to 100 for a neat surprise! Have a nice day!*
OK, seriously? What a strange little system. Although the promise of a surprise does have my interest piqued. Man do I have a bad feeling about this system. Hell, the system should be the least of my worries, I mean I have a cursed magical artifact that should be the most concerning.
*Well that's true Bobby-O, but man this system is a bit of a whacko, don't ya think?*
Oh, that's funny coming from a cursed object that has a sassy attitude and randomly turns me into a monster.
Bob heard a faint chuckle ring through his mind, and then the Rolodex went silent again. Bob went back to the window to check the progress of his slimes. All Bob saw when he looked down at the street was his slimes playing in a puddle of disgusting goo.
They had melted all the zombies and then decided to descend into the street to play in the puddle like children. Bob couldn't help but chuckle at the innocence those slime monsters were displaying. It was kind of strange to think of the slimes that had just killed a horde of zombies all by themselves as innocent, but he did nonetheless.
Bob had his slimes come back inside the building and guard him once again, as he sat down and began to expend his MP on casting Gentle Touch to heal his wounds even further. After repeating the previous cycle of healing, regenerating, and healing again, the wound was finally fully closed.
Bob smiled with the satisfaction that his health bar was now displayed as full. He got up and walked around a bit to survey the damage that had been done to his hideout, while he waited for his MP to regen again.
Bob had been holed up in his hideout for hours, while he had been in the healing process, taking a much-needed break from the chaos outside. The city was infested with zombies, and it seemed like there was no end in sight. Bob had managed to scavenge some supplies and had set up a barricade around his hideout, but he knew it wouldn't last forever.
Just as he was settling in for a moment of rest, he heard a loud roar from outside. He quickly got to his feet and peered out the window, only to see a giant zombie stomping into the area. Bob's heart raced as he realized he was about to face a formidable opponent. As the Giant Zombie stomped closer to the building Bob was currently residing in, giant red letters flashed across his vision.
BOSS BATTLE
BEGIN
What? Boss Battle? I don't want to fight a Boss!
*Well that's too bad! Better get ready. This thing looks pretty tough! Oh hey, if you win I'll give you a great prize!*
Oh, great go fight the giant 15-foot-tall zombie boss, I'll give you a present if you win. You're a lunatic. it seems I don't have a choice. Well, let's get this over with.
Bob noticed a few new things as he looked at the boss again. Above the Giant Zombie, a massive red bar appeared. Bob knew that this would be the Boss's Health bar, it was so large that he nervously gulped. With a thought Bob sent the slimes to do battle with the Giant Zombie, knowing that they more than likely wouldn't be enough, he used the Rolodex again. The familiar effect manifested again and randomly selected the Squirrel card. Really? Rolodex you're giving me Squirrels to fight a 15-foot-tall zombie? The multiplier roulette showed up and locked in with a 10x.
Ten squirrels materialized in the street below, they stopped in formation in front of the window that Bob was standing in, and saluted. The squirrels then began marching in unison toward the Giant Zombie. Bob watched with hope as his tiny monsters marched to do battle with a massive zombie.
He knew that if that thing got close to where he was, it would be a gruesome and swift death. Bob planned on hiding and sending wave after wave of monsters at the Zombie Boss and hope for the best.
The Slimes arrived first and they posted up behind a small pile of rubble, some distance away from the Boss, to at least attempt a sneak attack. They began launching wave after wave of acid projectiles at the Boss. Each hit hissed with acrid smoke, but they barely lowered the massive red bar above the Zombie Boss.
Bob grew concerned, this was going to be a long dragged-out encounter. The Zombie Boss didn't retaliate, it appeared that it wasn't a long-ranged combatant. Bob couldn't help but let a small smile show, this meant the odds were slightly better for him.
As the Slimes continued their barrage of acid, the Squirrels finally made it to the boss. They scurried up its leg in unison and perched on its shoulder, attacking it with swords and spears. Bob was saddened because this meant one or more of several things, either his summoned monsters weren't doing a lot of damage, the boss had an insanely large health pool or both.
None of these options were good for Bob's health. Bob, even more, determined to survive, watched the zombie's path of destruction, while simultaneously watching the cooldown timer so he could summon more monsters.
The Giant Zombie started swatting at his own body with his massive hands in an attempt to squash the annoying, stinging pests. The squirrels did their best to avoid this fate, and all the while the Boss continued to slowly walk in Bob's direction.
After a couple of minutes, while Bob was watching his cooldown, he noticed that the health bar had a noticeable sliver missing. Hell Yeah! I am doing damage after all. Might not be much, but I'm a patient man, I can win this war of attrition. Bring it you oversized bloated corpse!
Bob nearly squealed with joy as the cooldown timer finally hit 0, and he used it again. This time the Rolodex locked in the Diminutive Minotaur card and the multiplier landed on 6x. The six minotaurs materialized on the street and looked at the Giant Zombie, before turning incredulous stares at Bob. With a shake of their tiny heads and a snort, they charged in unison at the Boss.