While the undead has a median attack of plus-four, a lucky hit gets over the shield's Res and beats it into dark orange.
It still has about fifteen Structure Points left, yet it had fifty.
Will Tank give a replacement? He promised some training anyway.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
The system refers to the tutorial like that when it wants to keep things immersive.
Why can't this stupid brain remember to ask the Trainer about it?
Unless the task is active, the game won't answer questions, and there are many things to ask.
It's so dumb that even the smartest NPCs act oblivious about metagaming.
No, they aren't, they can't talk about it.
Thanks to an invasive setting, the avatar can't mention anything in front of them either.
Even if Selen has proven before that she's aware of some exploits within the system.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
"Die, undead scum!" Right. That all-caps Joe also spoke with his NPC nearby, touching on immersion-breaking stuff.
Did he turn the option off, or is it ignored when you don't talk straight to a mob?
Ow! That's another hit, even if it's a shallow injury. Fuck it, Arnim, focus, that's a future problem. The current situation isn't such a great Jazz.
You walk too slow and they catch up.
Even if they run into the blade and all I see are alert messages as the monsters come close, they can still kill me. Okay, unless they get killed first.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
It's fine, there are twelve more to go, like two spawn points at once. How far back is the road?
The avatar stumbles while turning to check and they land another hit.
The regeneration boost is almost out, and they accumulated some damage. Will it heal back fast enough?
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
The culprit turns into pixels and with this many left, it's better to end this soon.
No more retreat, each will take one well-aimed attack.
The minimap still shows nobody else around, and they shouldn't appear out of thin air anyway.
It's the perfect chance to focus only on what's ahead.
This controller can sell how the avatar is out of breath and sweating.
It's hard to concentrate, and the swings become sluggish.
Keeping that guard up is difficult, and they will exploit this weakness once it drops.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
They don't waste a second to surround the character.
No problem, they're still slow, and it'll be over once there's no need to watch my step.
Two more go down and a new status effect appears, replacing the increased regen.
The system is loud and clear as if struggling to breathe wasn't obvious enough.
[Status effect: Exhaustion.]
A glance at the message reveals a more detailed explanation. It says there's a minus-one penalty on every roll.
Does that mean less damage and a lower chance to hit, or does it only affect the ability checks? It doesn't matter, there are eight more to go.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
There is a wide, elderly tree behind, and it's convenient to lean against it.
As long as it protects my back they can swarm and flank all they want.
The shield protects the right side, and the sword cuts them down in front and left. Come on, a little more.
This is almost the same as fighting them on their regular spawn points.
After the first debacle with the axe, they never caused any real trouble.
Even then, they had skeleton archers, and those fuckers always give a nasty surprise. Not these though, undead are easy.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
The shield is down to five Structure Points, and they don't even attack it but try to hang onto it and pull it off the arm.
Switching to the dagger might be a good idea in this confined space. Of course, the quick-access menu lacks the slots.
The bow is on there in case of an ambush, and preparing for every occasion backfires.
Glancing at the minimap it's clear it was the wrong decision since nobody's coming.
Only the undead are here, immune to the arrow's bleeding effect.
They try to break the arm and the shield together and the small injuries are stacking up.
The exhaustion penalty must affect the strikes too as this is the first the sword misses.
Idiot, don't forget your legs and the shield, you can kick them to make some space.
This attempt is enough for one wider swing, but it's still something.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
How many? With the vision starting to blur, it's hard to keep track of their numbers.
And that stupid red effect is off in the settings. Is this thanks to the exhaustion?
Or did they stack up enough damage that it started to affect the avatar?
It's a good thing I practiced with the inventory and the healing potions earlier.
The first slot is the potion, the second is the antidote, and the third is for bandages.
The rest should have followed the same pattern, at least the dagger and the food, but it's too late to worry about them.
Let's grab a potion, even if it's not the low HP, that should clear the status effect too.
The syrupy taste sends an electric shock through the body, and vision becomes sharper.
Once the vial is empty, reequip the sword and swing without a pause.
The effect is gone, replaced by a two-second Healing timer, and a glance at the HP bar reveals it's fine too.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
With that, only four remain. Easy. Another kick, a wide swing, and a punch with the shield to get some breathing room, and one more goes down.
Three. The shield has two Structure Points left so the Trainer will be the first destination after this.
Getting rid of the rest shouldn't be an issue without the debuffs.
The undead no longer has the critical mass, and can't apply pressure, so they drop like flies.
Taking the vial earlier would have spared all this pain and next time let's buy some stamina potions too.
[You killed a Zombie +30 Exp.]
That was the last of them. Holy fuck, thirty-six at once is too much, even if there's room to maneuver.
A note to self, if they say stealth is optional, give it more thought in the future.
For now, let's pick up that flower and get some rest. It's almost midnight in CineMraft, this fight took ten minutes.
The forest is in complete darkness, so carrying a torch or two would be a good idea too.
The crystals that only dropped a few seconds ago still light up, while all the rest become lost in the dark. It's three coppers each, so no serious loss.
Still, imagine if something important went missing like this.
Let's grab as many as possible on the way back to the lily, and return to the village before someone breaks the shield.
More than half the drops are gone for good and there's a big hole near the flower instead. It's fine, the Pharmacist will pay five silvers for the lily.
I pluck it exactly at midnight, and then the mobs respawn...