“Maybe the green drops are not as good, now that blue and red are available,” Kyrie said trying to contain her smile.

“Sure, you got the equipment upgrade, I got a pair of knee pads,” Michael said with disgust.

“And shin guards,” Kyrie added smiling, her effort on keeping her smile contained finally breaking. On floor 23, it had been Michael’s turn to get a green drop, but it had only been ordinary black shin guards that covered up to and past the knee. They would offer some protection, but was definitely less than he had been hoping for. Might be good if he needed to lay some tile though.

“If this was one of those prize wheels. I guess I got the equivalent of try again, here's a consolation prize,” Michael remarked dryly.

“Well it is not even lunch time. Let’s keep going,” Kyrie suggested.

“I don’t know how much further we will be able to go if things keep going this way,” Michael noted. They were easily facing fifty tier 1 zombies on each floor, and they were not all newly evolved either.

“Quit your whining. Two more points and I can bring my endurance up to 20,” Kyrie said standing, ready to move on.

It was floor 28 where it happened. There was not an entire swarm of zombies waiting for them, just five, but they closed in quickly. Michael was surprised but after a battling hundreds of zombies this morning he was in the groove now. He blasted one full on in the chest with an orange energy dart. He increased the intensity of the dart at the last moment, bringing down his pulse reserves to 9 of 40 in one go.

The other four zombies sprinted past their fallen brethren to get to Michael and Kyrie. Michael cut at the first to reach him, but the zombie raised its forearm to block. The machete cut right through the arm and impacted the head, but the attempted block had been enough to prevent the machete from striking a fatal blow. Michael took the zombie’s other fist straight to the gut.

Michael was sent careening over a desk to crash against a swivel chair that rolled backward from the force before a wheel caught sending it toppling over. Michael quickly rolled back to his feet. One of the zombies had continued after him, but the other three were ganging up on Kyrie.

Michael rushed forward. It took three more strikes before he was able to cut the one armed zombie down, but when he looked to help Kyrie, she had already handled things. A green orb disappeared into her.

“I think I just froze one of those zombies for a moment,” Kyrie said excitedly. “It was like I touched its mind.”

Kyrie’s expression somehow became even more excited. “I just got an upgrade method,” Kyrie said smiling.

“What show me… I mean if you’re okay with it,” Michael added.

“Sure,” Kyrie responded, sharing an interface window.

[Self Recouper (tier 2 method): This method increases 20 attribute points in vitality and 5 attribute points in toughness. After the self recouper takes damage, they will recoup a portion of it instantly. Portion recouped will vary based on damage type and severity. Ongoing statuses such as bleeding or poisoned can be brought down one stage.]

“Well just attribute point wise it is better than the basic method. Not to mention its other benefits. I guess if something gives you a severe bleeding status, it might drop it down to moderate bleeding,” Michael said helpfully.

“I know, I know. I would definitely take it over the basic method, but it is not quite something that I was looking for. It would be perfect for someone who is acting as a tank or something,” Kyrie said, sighing..

“Well it is still early. We’re not even halfway to hitting the attribute threshold. Like I said, it still gives more attribute points than the basic method. Something that you can fall back on, or sell,” Michael comforted.

“Its fine,” Kyrie said standing. “My SP is already back to full. Let's move to the next floor. I want to work on freezing a zombie again. It only took a couple points of spirit energy.

After floor 38 the two had to take a break. The zombies probably had attributes above that of Michael and Kyrie. Michael was 25 attribute points toward the 75 point tier 2 threshold, and Kyrie was another 10 points ahead of him. They were facing mid tier 1 zombies, but the two had their methods to manage through the fights with their superhuman energy powers and weapons.

Kyrie had figured out how to use her spirit powers to freeze zombies. She could do one zombie or multiple at a time. However the stronger the zombie, the more spirit energy and concentration it took for Kyrie to hold them. The longer she froze them the more energy it took as well. Through all her effort she had even leveled her control ability to level 2, which frustrated Michael since he was still at level 2 with his shaping.

It was a bit odd the few times Michael actually got to watch Kyrie fight. She twirled gracefully, moving and reacting to the zombies trying to rip her apart. Then all of a sudden a zombie would freeze midswing allowing her to get to it when it fell in tune with her rhythm.

In just the two days he had known her, she had come a long way, but so had he. Grinding through the levels of this building where each successive floor was a touch harder had allowed both to improve tangibly with their stats, but also intangibly, improving their sense for battle.

Name: Michael Nacht

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Tier: 1

Contender: 352,603

SP: 180/180

HP: 100/100

K:--

P:40/40

S:--

Primary Attributes

Strength: 28

Endurance: 18

Dexterity: 25

Agility: 20

Vitality: 10

Toughness: 15

Secondary Attributes

Ki: –

Pulse: 4

Spirit: –

Special Ability

Shaping (ability): LVL 2

Quickened step (skill): LVL 2 duration 1 Step; Potency: +30% agility, +14% Dexterity; Cost: 5 SP

He had successfully leveled up his quickened step skill to level 2. He had tried to push up its duration and potency. Only the latter had taken, but he had at least gotten both agility and dexterity pushed up. Dexterity’s increase was negligible for now, but every bit counted.

Now every time he used quickened step, quick step for short, it felt like the world was slowing down a fraction as his attack sped up. As long as he was in the right position, he could strike just over or under the opponents guard. But he still came to the same conclusion as he did at level 1. He needed the skill to last longer and to be more potent.

“Do you think we got what it takes to take on whatever the boss of this place is?” Michael asked.

“I’m sure we can manage. Real question is who is going to get the blue drop,”

“Well might as well give it to you, everything else seems to be going your way,” Michael said sarcastically. Kyrie had received two more green drops. The first was an average quality healing potion. The second had given her her own soldier shot of average quality.

“Thanks,” Kyrie said headed for the door.

“I was being sarcastic,” Michael said, starting after her.

“I know. We can flip a coin or something. Real question is whether we should each take a soldier shot in the stairwell prior to opening that door,” Kyrie asked as they climbed the stairs.

“Well if we do and don’t end up needing them, then we might have difficulty taking them. That being said, we are on day 8. Things are only going to get harder from here. On our way to the next outpost, I’m sure we will pass another blue drop or two. It would always be nice to still have it in our back pocket, ”Michael offered.

“Wow, that was a real non committal answer,” Kyrie said, shaking her head. “Lets just do it.” She grabbed the handle. She threw the door open and the two stepped cautiously inside.

They did not have to wait too long to see what the final floor offered. The door had opened into a long hallway that ended in what looked like a luxury executive suite, but the four tier 1 zombies hanging out midway up the hall were what actually caught their attention. The four started sprinting their way within seconds. Kyrie and Michael entered further into the room to give them room to fight.

Michael drained the majority of his pulse to instantly take one zombie out of the fight. Then he swung the machete down in a sharp arc toward the other on his side. The zombie took the blow to its forearm. The tough bone stopped the blade. Michael lost hold of the machete as the zombie continued forward in a tackle.

Michael slammed down hard on his back with the zombie landing on top of him. The zombie's mouth frothed with saliva as its teeth sought to rip into him, but Michael had caught the neck of the zombie midfall with his left. His right hand caught the zombies left hand, leaving just the right to dig for flesh. However, his green vest protected him for the meantime. Michael just had to keep the gnarled fingers from getting to his neck.

The struggle did not last for long. Michael just needed a second to adjust into the right position to fire a bolt up through the creature’s throat and into the brain. Zombie goo dripped down on Michael briefly before he pushed the awful creature off of him.

Kyrie was still fighting both of the zombies that had engaged with her. It seemed she had the same trouble of dealing a final blow. She was fast, but she was being pushed back. It would only be a matter of time before they pushed her into a corner since the hallway limited her ability to keep ahead of them.

That ended when Michael put his bracer real close to one of their heads and sent a bolt into its skull. The bolt stuck into the head, but the zombie turned on him. The creature’s also had a tough skull. One bolt had not done enough damage after breaking through. Michael backpedaled dealing with the zombie. Finally, he decided to fire his remaining two shots into the creature’s face. That did the trick. The zombie fell and 5 crowns appeared disappearing into his chest. Those 5 crowns would take him over 400.

Kyrie was still struggling to actually bring the creature down despite the fact that she clearly was outmaneuvering it. It could not reach or kill her, but its toughness was preventing a fatal blow. Michael glanced away for a moment to find his machete, but by the time he had recovered it Kyrie had finished the fight sticking the blade right through one of the creature’s eye sockets. It took a bit of a struggle for her to push the now limp body up and off her blade. It had wedged itself into the bone of the eye socket.

Michael cursed when he saw the amber drop appear. Kyrie made it disappear almost instantly.. “I guess I can bring my spirit up to 3. Better watch out or I will surpass you,” Kyrie said with a grin.

“It's like I’m playing one of those luck based games with my sister,” Michael remarked solemnly. Kyrie had gotten two more green drops then him, and she had picked up two amber drops. Something he had only gotten from a boss monster.

“What do you think… One boss zombie left? These guys were clearly better than anything we have seen so far,” Kyrie remarked.

“Yeah, I think you are right. Like floor 28 where the number dropped but the zombies got substantially stronger. My guess is that these guys were late stage tier 1’s. If there is one more he will likely be a touch stronger. If he is a tier 2 we should both immediately take our soldier shots. If there are more zombies in addition to the boss, I think we might need to run for it. My bracer is out of bolts,” Michael replied calmly.

Kyrie’s face scrunched up in a frown, at the thought of having to give up. It was actually pretty late in the day. Another half hour and it would be dark outside. “Well at least we can hold off here till our energy replenishes, or more attack,” she finally said calmly.

Michael nodded. They both waited patiently watching the end of the hall. The well lit hall became dark as the sunlight decreased. Only a green exit sign behind them and the open office at the end now illuminated the darkening hallway. All the upper windows in the hall were lit but not helping much. They were on the wrong side of the building from the setting sun. Michael had recovered most of his energy, but a quick check showed he did not have a new additional bolt. He would have to make do without it.

“You ready?” Michael asked. Kyrie nodded in confirmation and they started forward.