Chapter 59: Survival

As a cold, shivery breeze rolled across the plains and over Zach’s shredded attire, the numerous areas of exposed skin on his body began to tingle, yet he only distantly felt the chill as though it were a far-away sensation just beyond his notice. The harsh, frigid air, which would normally make him fold his arms and cause his teeth to chatter, instead went mostly ignored as he kept every last bit of his awareness and focus on surviving the next few treacherous moments.

On the grass all around him, dark red Elvish blood and nauseating green pus mixed together as two opposing forces faced off. Grunts of exertion filled the air, as well as the occasional scream of pain and in worse cases death that came from both sides of him as well as above. Sadly, he could not pay these desperate voices any mind, as the sheer ferocity and intensity of this mob horde required him to put all of his effort into ensuring his own survival. With such an oppressive, unrelenting swarm of hostile mobs drawing nearer by the second, he lacked the ability to both defend himself and also help others. In fact, Zach no longer concerned himself with the reason he was here at all. The only thing that mattered now was protecting his life; it was all he could do just to continue fending off the seemingly endless parade of rag-wearing, vile, rotten-fleshed monsters—it required everything he had to give and more.

He knew if he allowed his attention to divert for even a moment, it would likely spell death. There was therefore no time for him to dwell angrily upon the way he’d been bamboozled into fighting in some kind of vampire war on behalf of the Elvish people, and there was no opportunity for him to reflect on the fact that if he’d arrived at the dungeon just five seconds earlier, he likely would’ve slipped through the metal door before ever having caught wind of this nightmarish situation. Hell, he couldn’t even spare the energy necessary to swear at Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles for ripping apart his equipment to the point he was almost naked before throwing him off a cliff-like hill and onto a literal battlefield. No, all Zach could do was concentrate with the fervor required of someone surrounded by a still-increasing horde of decaying zombies, flying skeleton horses with wings, axe-wielding mummies, and most absurdly of all, a gigantic, level-27 electric toothbrush nearly five-stories tall that continued to launch bolts of electricity at them.

HP

27425/40000

Name

Face Scrubber

Level

27

“Just hold out as long as you can!” a tall, brown-haired Elvish warrior wearing a green, hooded cloak shouted loudly enough to be heard by all.

Above him, unicorn-riding, longsword-wielding Elves continued to swing, block, and parry against an even larger number of level-22 mummies riding winged, level-25 skeleton horses that flew in a U-shaped formation in front of the “Face Scrubber.” It was almost as though the mummies were deliberately barring the Elves’ passage. Those who did slip through, however, were flying back and forth alongside the gigantic, faceless toothbrush and taking shots at it as they passed. Though they were successfully—and gradually—chipping away at its HP, they did not do so without facing a great deal of peril of their own.

Flying low to the ground and at incredible speeds, these Elvish riders were forced to constantly swerve midair to evade a relentless barrage of bright yellow lightning fired out of the creature’s bristles. While most were able to deftly avoid the return-fire, one, however, was not so lucky. In the corner of his one eye, Zach spotted a stocky figure clad in a white cloak pulling on the reins of his mount while shouting out in alarm as he seemingly flew directly into the path of an oncoming bolt of lightning.

With an audible flap of its wings, the white-furred unicorn attempted to turn itself around, but it was far too slow to react. The lightning impacted it head-on, striking the singular, spiraling horn protruding from its forehead. Then, in an instant, the yellow-colored electricity spread all throughout the unicorn’s body before subsequently making its way up and into the rider’s as well. Even from down here, Zach could smell the Elvish warrior’s burning flesh as he screamed out in agony. A moment later, the unicorn—along with the rider—were fully burned to a crisp, and now Zach recoiled in horror and disgust as, trailing smoke, he witnessed the bodies of both fall back down to the grassy surface where they landed with a soft thud, their corpses blackened as though cooked. Disturbingly, the unicorn’s hooves twitched as though life still remained in them.

Don’t look! he warned himself. Pay attention to what you’re doing!

Faced with his own problems, Zach pried his attention off the grisly sight. As things were, he was struggling for all he was worth not to succumb to the overwhelming pressure of the gigantic horde that was enveloping him inside of a tinier and tinier space as he found himself continually pushed ever farther back.

With a grunt, he ripped his blade out of the partially opened mouth of a level-18 zombie on roller skates, having killed it in a single thrust. There was no time to pause and appreciate the +2000xp that appeared in the air above its dissolving head. Immediately, he raised his weapon to guard against a strike from another, identical zombie standing directly beside it. Yet even as he just managed to meet the rival weapon in the air above his forehead, a rush of alarm traveled down his spine as he realized how close he’d come to being cut open.

“Ruuuuhhhh!” moaned dozens—or maybe even hundreds—of zombies as they advanced without mercy.

Again and again, he was attacked without pause. The pressure did not let up for even a moment. Hastily, Zach jumped backwards and away from a third zombie that he hadn’t even seen until after the one he’d just killed melted into a pool of green pus, revealing the eager, decaying sack of flesh already advancing towards him behind it. No sooner had its fellow zombie melted away into foul-smelling green ooze than this newly revealed creature skated aggressively forward and began slashing wildly at Zach.

With a loud, ringing clang, Zach guarded against it—then pivoted to continue blocking two more zombies to his left and right side respectively. With so many enemies and so little time, he no longer bothered to return with any attacks of his own. Instead, he decided to wait for one of them to try biting him, at which point he could fell them simply by jamming his sword into their throat—which was exactly what he did when one named “Fundead Roller-Ghast 2F” lunged forward at him.

“Ruuuuhhhh!”

The decaying, rotten creature nearly knocked over the two zombies beside it as it skated frantically towards Zach with its mouth wide open, clearly ready to bite. Stepping forward, Zach thrust his blade into its teeth-baring, gaping jaw. With another disgusting tear of flesh, his sword reappeared out of the back of the zombie’s skull, and then like the others before it, the creature’s pale skin quickly turned bright green as it liquified and became nothing more than a puddle of ooze on this alien grass.

+2000xp

Part of what made all of this so frustrating was that his efforts did practically nothing to thin the herd. Just like before, as the zombie melted away, another skating behind it was quick to take its place. And now, Zach found himself quickly whirling around his sole, sword-bearing arm to frantically block an overwhelming number of constant, nonstop strikes from the six shortswords wielded by the three zombies before him. And since he was backing away and they were on roller skates, he was totally unable to gain any meaningful distance. He also couldn’t Phase Blink behind any of them as he’d done earlier, because there were so many of the things now that only a few inches worth of space separated one zombie from the next. If he were to put himself behind any one of these creatures, the one behind that one would likely stab him through the spine. And so, all Zach could really do at this point was deflect and guard. Somehow, he was just managing to keep himself from harm. The same, however, could not be said for everyone else.

A fast-moving shadow to his immediate left revealed itself to be the form of a falling Elf, who landed on his back and then shrieked in pain and desperation as a zombie jumped on top of him, bit into his throat, and ripped out a chunk of his flesh before taking a second, then third bite out of him. Zach, to his shame, could do nothing to help as the poor Elvish warrior was torn to pieces, all while begging for someone to save him.

Don’t look. Just don’t look!

Turning his head slightly in the other direction while still keeping the zombies ahead of him in view, Zach was able to put the gruesome scene out of his field of vision. Unfortunately, this presented him with the sight of another tragic death off to his right and farther down the line of Elves. Even while he focused on blocking the shortswords slashing down at him from three different directions, he could still glimpse the sight of a flailing Elf, who cried out in pain as seven zombies struck him again and again, hacking off various limbs and parts of his body while a green-haired Elvish woman screamed in misery and leapt at them. Then she too died, and the resulting ache in his chest at the sight of it was too much for Zach to handle. So he blocked it out of his head and focused once more on the uncomplicated but very difficult task of surviving.

Completely unable to turn the tide, Zach, like all the green-cloaked and white-cloaked Elvish fighters beside him, had no choice but to continue shuffling backwards and away from the zombies as they continued to drive him and the others towards the base of the giant hill. Yet they were all running out of space. Once they had been pressed into the slope leading down here, there would be nowhere left to run. Then what? Did Zach even have an escape plan? Or had he once again allowed himself to be put into a situation where it was “all-in” or nothing? It sure seemed that way, as he definitely lacked the time remaining on Unleashed Phase to flee and risk going at it alone.

Unleashed Phase Duration

1:38 Remaining

“Fall back, mine brothers and sisters!” a white-cloaked Elvish woman called. She dropped her bow and unsheathed a shiny longsword from a scabbard by her side. “Draw thy steel!”

Abruptly, the very soft thuds from dozens of bows being dropped onto the ground was soon followed by the shing of unsheathed longswords. All around Zach, Elves, some in green and others in white, began to slice and cut down the approaching horde as they continued to back away. Unlike Zach, they seemed capable of both killing and retreating at the same time, and they dispatched many of these creatures with a ruthless efficiency despite it ultimately still proving to be insufficient in significantly reducing the enemy’s numbers.

The fact that there were so many of these zombies closing in on them was made even more remarkable when considering the tremendous number that the Elves had—and continued—to kill each and every moment. Scores of these roller-skating monsters had already been cut down by a regular flurry of arrows from these bow-wielding Elvish warriors. Thus far, they had slaughtered so many zombies that Zach wondered if there was now enough green ooze on the grassy terrain to fill a small swimming pool. Truly, the number they’d slain had to be in the hundreds. Yet even still, it seemed to not have made a dent in what looked like a sea of level-18 zombies with a few level 20s thrown into the mix. There were also a very small number of level 24s approaching from the very back, and these ones managed to send a shiver straight down his spine.

Zach was thankful he had not personally encountered these yet, as they were several-feet taller than the “Fundead Roller-Ghasts” and the “Fundead Shockers” and appeared a great deal more powerful, too. They had triangularly shaped eyes, a much larger mouth, and a set of teeth that were more like the fangs of a predator than anything human. They were also completely bald, did not wear rags or any other type of clothing, and they did not wield shortswords due to the fact that they lacked hands or fingers. Instead, their arms ended in curved, bloody, flesh-colored blades.

HP

25000/25000

Name

Blood-Hunting Maneaters

Level

24

Continuing to back away, the unsettling sight of these eight-feet tall monstrosities distracted Zach, and for this reason, he reacted with a yelp of surprise as the terrain changed so quickly his feet could not compensate. Cursing himself for his own stupidity, he fell backwards into a half-lying position on the slope of the hill he’d rolled down only a few minutes earlier. It seemed they’d finally been driven back to the base of the hill, and now, there was no option left but to fight what was almost like a moving, sliding wall of zombies that seemed undeterrable and would continue to advance until Zach and every Elf here with him was dead.

“Shit!” he cried aloud.

He didn’t even have the time to push himself back up into a standing position. He rolled over to his left as a zombie thrust its shortsword down into the grass- and dirt-covered hill where his head had just been. Immediately afterwards, he was forced to again roll over to his right as the zombie beside it also stabbed down. Now, Zach was once more half-lying, half-standing with his back to the slope as the first zombie lifted the shortsword in its left hand as though intent on trying a second time to plunge his blade into Zach's forehead.

This time, however Zach struck first. He jumped up, leaned even farther backwards, tucked both of his knees into his chest, and then shot both of his feet forward, kicking the zombie in the stomach and delivering a paltry 18 damage. More importantly, however, it caused the creature to stumble backwards and into the roller-skating zombie behind it, and both actually tumbled and fell to the ground. This gave Zach just enough time to get back up, adjust his stance, steady his grip, and raise his sword to block two strikes back-to-back that came from a Fundead Roller-Ghast to his left and another to his right. This, as many more converged upon him. Yet he was so tightly boxed in that only four or five would be able to attack him at any one time. Not that that alone wasn’t more than enough. Hell, it was only because their attacks were not synchronized that it was even possible to block or avoid them all. If all five struck out at him in unison, he would take severe, possibly fatal damage.

Though Zach was not someone who suffered from claustrophobia, he thought that might be about to change as he was completely, totally surrounded by zombies; it was to the extent that he could only barely make out the form of the green-cloaked Elvish woman to his left and the white-cloaked man to his right through the gaps in the bodies of the rag-wearing, foul-smelling, decaying zombies. It honestly felt like he was pressed into the back wall of an incredibly overcrowded dance floor. Only around two feet’s distance separated his body from the bodies of the zombies to his left, his right, and the three immediately before him.

They had now completely boxed him in. Not only was there no place left for Zach to run, there was no place left for him to walk, either. Hell, there was barely even enough space for him to move. With so many of them so close, his nose could now fully appreciate the utter stomach-churning wickedness of the stench that came off the rotten bodies of these decaying monsters. Not only did they have him surrounded, but behind each was most certainly an eager reinforcement waiting to replace the one before it. Seriously, even if Zach somehow could slay all five of these zombies, five more would near instantly move in to take their place, and then five more would replace those ones after that. By Zach’s estimation, there must have been more than five hundred of them now—and that was on the low end of things.

His survival instincts kicking into full gear, Zach glanced over his shoulder and seriously considered trying to climb his way back up this slope. Yet as he took a closer look at the steepness of the incline, he realized it would not be possible. Even if he still had two usable hands, he wouldn’t be able to scramble up and out of this horrible situation. It was simply too steep. There was no way he was going to be able to escape that way. He was well and truly trapped, surrounded, and about to experience a situation every bit as perilous—and quite possibly as painful—as his run-in with Ziragoth.

Gripped with a sense of impending doom, Zach trembled. Despite his attempts to stave it off, fear came crashing through faster and harder than expected. But even still, Zach refused to buckle. He adamantly, outright refused to collapse in terror. In fact, that had been his whole reason for coming out here in the first place, hadn’t it? It wasn’t just about replacing his destroyed blade. It was about proving to himself that he would not give in to his terror: that he would not let the way Ziragoth hurt him break his sprit.

I have to fight!

Even as it fully dawned on him just how hopeless and impossible his current situation appeared to be, he somehow found the strength to keep himself under control: he somehow found the courage to stand defiantly and hold his ground. Or at least, for a brief instant, he did. But then things changed when the five zombies surrounding him began their all-out assault.

To say that Zach felt “overwhelmed” as these rotten, foul-smelling creatures began to violently lash out at him would be to put it so mildly it bordered on comical. The sheer, unmitigated panic that erupted inside of him as he found himself having to defend against five monstrous zombies wielding ten deadly shortswords all at once was so all-consuming and crushing that it was only by some divine miracle that he was able to defend himself. Every muscle in his body tightened in alarm. He held his breath. Fear caused a rush of adrenaline to pour through him, and time seemed to slow down.

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Zach, so overcome with fight-or-flight, could not even bring himself to exhale let alone shout as shortswords sliced through the air towards him from every direction other than directly behind him, where the unclimbable, vertical slope trapped him here with these horrendous mobs. Not only was he forced to react and defend against so much at once, but with only one working eye limiting the range and scope of his peripheral vision, he couldn’t even see everything around him. Thus, the next five seconds alone felt like five years as he fought to continue living.

Zach ducked beneath a swing coming off to his right while simultaneously raising his sword-bearing hand to block and deflect a shortsword from his left. Almost in the exact same instant, he twisted his body half around to narrowly avoid having his stomach ripped open by a vicious slice to the right of him, then fully spun in the complete opposite direction as a thrusting strike almost ran him through from his opposite side. Even as he turned his hips to move his body, he quickly, urgently, and aggressively flashed his arm around three times in blazing fast succession and somehow actually managed to move fast enough to guard against three more powerful strikes that came in from three totally separate directions. Then he ducked under another strike, side-stepped away from one after that, and now at last he began to breathe—heavily, too—as he whipped his arm around to block four more that came in even faster than the previous three had.

And all this in five seconds.

There was no break, however. There was no “time out.” There was no moment to reset. Zach could only struggle with everything in his heart to defend himself against this brutal onslaught that would likely never let up. Each second that he continued to live was a second he had to fight for with everything he had inside himself: each second had to be paid for with all that he could give. Yet he knew he was merely biding his time. The fact he had not died yet was likely the greatest accomplishment of his life. A tiny inkling of pride in himself actually managed to make its presence known even amid all the fear that occupied the majority of his emotional capacity.

He knew he couldn’t keep up this pace for long. He ducked, wriggled, side-stepped, blocked, and just now, bent backwards as a zombie skated forward and horizontally swung his shortsword, the blade passing above him so close to his face that it nearly cleaved his nose off. Straightening his back, Zach raised his weapon to guard and twice more blocked, twice more ducked, and incredibly found the tenth of a second needed to thrust his sword through the open mouth of a zombie to his left that he noticed lunging towards him. With virtually no time to spare, he jabbed his sword forward and then yanked his arm backwards in one lightning-quick motion that was so fast that he was already raising his blade to parry a downwards slash from the mob across from him before the zombie even began to turn green and liquify.

+2000xp

Unsurprisingly, a fresh, new zombie had replaced the one Zach killed so quickly that, had he blinked, he might not have seen the switch happen. Yet for better or worse, he did—and it caused him to struggle with a feeling of demoralization as he observed what looked like an endless line of zombies all waiting for their turn to kill Zach. And there were many of these lines in every single direction. It really drove home just how shitty of a situation this was and how unlikely Zach’s chance at survival happened to be. But what could he do other than fight? Should he just accept his odds, lie down, and die? No, Gods-dammit! He wanted to live. He refused to die as a pawn in some stupid vampire war on another planet!

Yet as several more seconds came and went, he began to doubt himself even further as he felt himself beginning to slip. There were too many attacks coming in from too many directions—and all of them too fast. Despite miraculously managing to survive this long against such unspeakable odds, his coordination was gradually becoming worse, the attacks came ever closer to connecting, and it was only by virtue of losing his balance and stumbling slightly to one side that he evaded a forward thrust he didn’t even see until a shortsword was already piercing the dirt behind him where he’d just been standing.

Through the small spaces between zombies, he could just make out several of the Elvish warriors holding their own with much greater ease, with some of them killing a great many of the rotten creatures all by themselves. Though, a few did look to have died, Zach noted regrettably. Still, the sight of them fighting for and succeeding in their struggle to survive emboldened him. This, even as he realized he was becoming less capable of keeping up with this grueling pace. And it was in this moment that his resolve at last ran headfirst into the wall of reality.

Upon deflecting a downward slash from the particularly aggressive, pale, and deteriorating zombie across from him, Zach hissed as a sharp pain entered his wrist, which was aching fiercely from the constant shocks sent into it. Yet he ignored the throbbing and twirled his sword around before raising it to block another two strikes from the very same mob. It was after the second of these two strikes that bodily anatomy scored a victory over Zach’s determination, for a moment later, his hand, all on its own, simply released its grip on his sword. With a gasp, Zach watched as it fell straight down and landed silently on the grass, leaving him defenseless.

“What the fuck?” he asked his own self, confused. “Why?”

Once more, time seemed to come to a standstill as Zach saw multiple swords streaking towards him, seemingly all in unison. And there he was, totally undefended. Oddly enough, he lowered his head and stared down at his wrist, which shook uncontrollably, though not out of fear, but of strain. It had happened so suddenly that it took him a moment to even mentally process the fact that he had dropped his weapon. It was so unexpected. So outside of his control. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t commanded his fingers to release their grip and drop the weapon—they just…they just sort of did it all on their own.

Now, completely unarmed, Zach was nearly immobilized with shock. He came quite close to remaining motionless as these shortsword-wielding zombies hacked him to pieces. Somehow, though, he managed to snap himself out of it just in time to drop straight down to his knees, ducking beneath what would’ve been the killing blow against him. But the zombies were quick to adapt, and now, following several loud moans, they skated forward, encircling him even more tightly, and then they slashed downwards at him. Unable to stand, Zach’s only move now was to fall backwards onto the steep slope behind him, avoiding another series of strikes.

Tragically, however, those were the last two moves he could realistically make, as now that he was on his back and partially reclined, there would be no further means of avoiding being cut, stabbed, or sliced. These Gods-cursed things were too close to him now, and there were too many of them, and even if he reached down to grab his sword, he would not be able to wrap his fingers around the hilt, let alone pick it up before he was either sliced to pieces or bitten. They had him. He’d lost. His damn hand had betrayed the rest of his body, and now he was in for it. Oh, Gods-be-damned, he sure was! And yet, strangely, with death looming, he was surprised to find that his level of dread was not quite what it had been during his encounter with Ziragoth.

Zach began to wonder: was this because death at the hands of Ziragoth was that much more horrifying than death at the hands of these horrific-smelling, decaying vermin? Or was it because he had come here and faced his fears, and he had become a braver person—even if just a little—as a result of it? Truly, he did not know. To be fair, as five or six separate shortswords wielded by several of the zombies came bearing down towards him, he did, in fact, become once more paralyzed with fear. But even then, he did not feel the sting of shame as a result of it, as he knew he was still holding himself together much better than he had during his run-in with Ziragoth, and after all, it was only natural for death to be scary.

As the end approached, Zach tensed up to the point it hurt, and instinctively, he raised his one elbow protectively over his face despite knowing how useless it would be. Engulfed by fear, he gritted his teeth and tried not to close his eye like a coward as the shortswords sliced through the air and headed directly for him. Closer and closer they came. He wondered how much it was going to hurt. Would it be quick? Or would he suffer as they hacked him apart?

Before he had the chance to find out, the world erupted with the sound of an angry, vicious roar followed by an equally vicious and equally angry-sounding woof. Two shadows appeared and quickly grew in size as two figures approached at a speed so fast it made Zach flinch. Then, abruptly, there was a loud, startling bang as two forms collided down onto the grass with enough force to make the ground shake. Then came a smell: a terrible, rotten, and intense smell. Suddenly, Zach felt sick to his stomach. Unable to control himself, he vomited, gasped for air, and then vomited a second time. Only now did it occur to him that he was absolutely drenched in green ooze as though someone had splashed ten buckets of the stuff all over him. Confused, he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Vomiting a third time, he lifted his head and studied the sight that greeted his eyes.

In front of him, two zombies were now smashed—as in completely, totally flattened. It was as though an industrial-strength “zombie compactor” had flattened them like pancakes with such force that their innards had simply exploded out of them. Their faces were now nothing more than loose skin, and their bodies were releasing steady puddles of ooze. Standing on top of them, with tails flapping around in the icy breeze, were Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles.

Zach widened his eye as he realized what had just happened. Fluffles and the dog…they had seemingly swooped down from the sky above and crushed the two mobs beneath their very paws. This, Zach had just enough time to deduce before whatever remained of them turned green and reformed into the same ooze that had so thoroughly drenched him.

Before Zach could ask a single question or form a single word, Fluffles leapt forward in his direction. With another loud, angry roar, the cat, now several-times larger than even a lion, swiped the head clean off a zombie that Zach didn’t realize until that moment was trying to bite him. An instant later, a bolt of lightning streaked down out of what was a mostly sunny sky and exploded another of the creatures, causing another ocean of green pus to blanket Zach. Keeling over, he vomited yet again as the overwhelming stench got the better of him. Yet even as he puked up his guts, Chumpkenwiffles barked angrily and bit the head off a zombie that Zach had once again not even seen skating towards him with its shortsword raised and ready to strike.

“Fl-Fluffles,” he rasped, wiping his lips.

“I here now!” the cat shouted as it began lobbing off heads so fast that several seemed to become airborne at once. With a ferocity that defied belief, the cat lifted itself up onto its hind legs, and one after the next, swiped at zombie after zombie with claws that now seemed made of steel.

“I am here too,” the black Labrador retriever said. She growled, opened her mouth, and then dashed forward, tackled a zombie to the ground, and then with a disturbing, deep, “Awoof! Awoof! Awoof!” she began to bite and tear, killing the mob before tackling another.

It was only just then that Zach realized Kalana’s mother was riding on her back. She jumped off, ran over to his side, and knelt down before him. “Are you okay?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yeah. Just barely.”

“I am so sorry about what has happened, young man.”

“It’s okay.” Zach bent down to pick up his sword. “I can still fight…for another thirty seconds.”

“And then what?” she asked, looking around nervously. Just then, her eyes seemed to moisten. Zach didn’t have to look to know that what saddened her was the sight of her kin who had fallen. “What happens in thirty seconds?”

“My…my ability ends, and I become exhausted.”

“And you cannot use it again?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Well…well technically I can, but then I’d go into double E-debt and probably die. I don’t think I can do that and live just yet.”

She placed one of her hands on his shoulder. His tunic having not yet repaired itself, he felt her palm on his bare skin, and her touch really did remind him of Kal in a way that he found both eerie and comforting all at the same time. “Don’t worry about E-debt,” she said. “I can heal you afterwards. If you think you can help save my kin, then please. You must!”

Zach blinked. “Wait, really?”

He felt her squeeze his left shoulder blade even more tightly. “Yes.”

“With one of the rejuvenation stones? You have one?”

“No,” she said. “With my abilities. I do not have need of those stones.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yes. I swear this to you. If you have a way of continuing to fight, I implore you: please help me save my people. Please, Zach.”

The sound of Elves fighting echoed loudly enough that Zach could hear it even amid the growling and hissing from Chumpkenwiffles and Fluffles. He could also hear the periodic cry of pain from someone who hopefully hadn’t just died. Above him, the Elves continued to duel with their mounted-mummy counterparts while a few others battled the giant toothbrush.

“Miss Vayra, I might be able to help you even more than you realize.”

“Really?” she asked, her eyebrows raising. She grabbed one of the loose strips of his tunic and pulled him slightly towards her, further ripping the equipment in the process. Zach winced, hoping she wouldn’t break it. It couldn’t be all that far from being destroyed. He knew it would repair itself, but not if it continued to take more damage and vanished altogether.

“Truly, Zach: can you?” she asked, her tone pleading and desperate.

“Maybe. It depends.”

“Depends?”

“Yeah. Uh, is there a limit?”

“A…limit?”

“To how much you can heal.”

“Why? What do you mean by ‘how much’?”

As briefly as possible, Zach attempted to explain to her how his Phase Reset worked. He was forced to leave out many, many details, and the result was that Fylwen looked upon him with a confused, partially empty stare. Realizing he was getting nowhere, Zach released a sigh and said, “Join my party and I can show you.”

“Show…me?”

“Yes. Hurry! Just join a party with me and let me know when you do. Okay?” Pausing a moment, Zach asked, “Did you join? I’m not sure how this—”

“Yes,” she said urgently. The way she continually glanced over her shoulder, it was as though she was uncertain as to whether or not this conversation was even worth her time. Zach couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t certain either. And also, her people were currently dying, so of course she lacked the patience for calm discourse.

At any rate, with Fluffles and Chumpkenwiffles protecting the two of them, Zach believed he was in her party, at least temporarily, and assuming she had done the same, then the two of them were in a party, as that was how he’d been taught it worked. Content to assume that it had worked and that the two had successfully joined one another’s party, he brought up the information that was easier shown than explained. He only hoped that this would be sufficient for her to grasp what he was trying to get across to her.

(UNLEASHED Ability) Phase Reset (UNIQUE)

Resets the cooldown of Unleashed Phase and increases Phase Level by 1. The Phase Level determines the following properties when using Unleashed Phase. Usage Cost: 0:00

(Phase Level decreases by 1 every twenty-four hours.)

Phase Level 0 (default)

Exertion Level: High.

Phase Level 1

Exertion Level: High. Additional +5 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 5

Phase Level 2

Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 30 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 30

Phase Level 3

Exertion Level: Very High. Additional + 50 to all basic stats and additional Armor + 50

Phase Level 4

Exertion Level: Extreme. Additional + 100 to all basic stats an additional Armor + 100

Phase Level 5

Exertion Level: EXTREME+ Additional + 1000 to all basic stats and Armor + 1000

Phase Level 6

Exertion Level: Terminal. In exchange for the life of the user, additional + 10,000 to all basic stats, and armor +10,000. User has access to every ability and every spell. User can move faster than light. User can summon up to 5 dragons. Cannot summon Elder Dragons.

Recalling that Lienne and Rian had been able to see what he could see while in the same party, he decided to try it out with Fylwen. It seemed to work, because the moment he brought this forward, she began to focus on the spot in the air he had projected it. Giving her a few moments to read the information, he asked, “Well?”

“Well,” she whispered.

Zach narrowed his eye. “Well what?”

“Well…what,” she replied, her tone still a whisper.

Becoming frustrated, he snapped, “Hey, are you messing with me?”

She turned her head his way, and the look in her wondrous green eyes was one of pure amazement and disbelief. Zach was so taken aback that it made him uncomfortable and fidgety. Why was she gazing at him this way? From the way her mouth opened slightly in what may very well have been shock, it made Zach feel as though she thought him to be some kind of freak. Of all things, he even suspected there was a hint of fear in the way she regarded him.

“Uh, hello?” he asked angrily. “What gives?”

As if finally snapping out of some kind of trance, Fylwen shook her head and apologized. “I’m sorry,” she said. “This is just…it’s quite remarkable. I did not know something like this…you are a human, not an Elf. How does a human possess an ability of such….” Her words again trailed off.

Becoming irritated, Zach said, “Look, there’s a reason I showed you this. You said I shouldn’t worry about E-debt. The reason I’m asking you is—”

She held out her hand and extended her palm in his direction. “No, no, I understand.” Pointing at a spot in the air before the two of them, she added, “I see now why you asked, and I’m glad that you did. In this case, go to Phase Level 2. Don’t go any higher, or even I won’t be able to save you.”

Zach pursed his lips a moment in uncertainty. “Are you sure? I can really go to Phase Level 2 and you’ll be able to heal me afterwards?”

“If we survive? Yes.”

“It’s just…it’s just if you’re wrong, I’ll die.”

“I’m not wrong.”

“And I know you’re Kal’s mom, but this is a lot to trust you with.”

“Why would I save you just to deceive you into killing yourself?”

Zach groaned. “It’s just that, once I Phase Reset to level 2, the exertion cost goes from high to very-high. So I’ll have two high debts and a very-high on top of that.”

Fylwen nodded. “I’ll take care of it. We still have 7:22 left on our debuff. Once it wears off, we will kill every mob here in seconds. I need you to save as many of my people as possible, and I swear to you, young man—you, Zach, who are the consort of my daughter—I will not allow you to perish. I am far more powerful than any human.”

Zach opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say a word, Fluffles, with a deep, booming voice, said, “Lady not tell the truth! Zach more powerful than Fylwen and all Elf. I appraise.” Then he proceeded to swipe the head off another zombie.

With a growl that Zach doubted was intended for the zombie whose throat she was biting into, Chumpkenwiffles spat out a wad of green ooze and said, “Fluffles, you are a lying cat. My queen is the most powerful.”

Fluffles roared. And in this giant panther form, Zach couldn’t help but tremble every time he spoke, as his pitch was so deep in tone that it came across as evil and filled with malice regardless of what the cat intended. “Fluffles not lie!” he shouted. “Zach is most powerful. Chumpkenwiffles appraise Zach. You see.”

“Fine. I will appraise him,” she said. Spinning around, she waggled her tail as she ran over to him. Out of instinct and reflex, Zach pat the top of her head, and she stuck out her tongue and panted with what could have equally been happiness or fatigue. Then she barked three times.

“Oh. Okay,” she said. “Fluffles was telling the truth.”

“See!” Fluffles shouted defiantly. “Chumpkenwiffles say I lie, but…but now she admit I’m a good cat. Now I get to have two dinners because Chumpkenwiffles lie about Fluffles.”

Fylwen frowned, and the expression she made seemed to radiate equal parts doubt and frustration. “Chumpkenwiffles, what nonsense are you saying?” she asked. “Why are you lying?”

“I am not lying, my queen,” the dog replied, barking.

“I’ve heard some humans are gifted, but surely you cannot mean to say the boy has more potential than myself or any of my Elves.”

“He does,” Chumpkenwiffles said. “His name is Zachys Calador. He has the potential to be the most powerful living being on all known worlds.” Chumpkenwiffles barked several times, each one deeper than the last. “This is because of a genetic mutation on the MSTN gene and ACTN3 gene not seen before. Unique.” Chumpkenwiffles again barked. “I’ve appraised.”

Zach rolled his one eye. It seemed this dog had the same kind of delusional idea that his cat did, which was to say she thought she could somehow divine a person’s inner strength just by looking at them. Just as Fluffles thought he was the “greatest cat in the world,” it didn’t surprise him that the animals thought they knew everything about which people were the best, too. It was actually kind of cute. He was somewhat surprised to see that Fylwen seemed to buy into this, though. Or did she?

“You must be mistaken,” she said.

“Of course she’s mistaken,” Zach said with a laugh. “She’s a dog. Ah, no offense,” he quickly added as she began to growl. Then, his mood darkening, he asked, “Are you sure you can save me if I enter Phase Level 2?”

“I would not let my daughter’s consort perish,” she said.

Zach closed his eye a moment. “I really, really hope you’re not bullshitting me. Because if you are, Kal will find out someday somehow. And even if you’re her mom, she’s not going to forgive you if you trick me into killing myself.”

“I give you my word. Please, my people are struggling. I only need you to buy them a few more minutes.”

Zach sighed. “Gods, I can’t believe I’m really going to do this.”

With a mere eleven seconds remaining on his Unleashed Phase, Zach left the party, activated Phase Reset, and increased his Phase Level to 1—or at least it would the next time he used Unleashed Phase. Bending down to pick up the sword Fluffles had crafted for him, he took a deep breath and held it for a moment. He was really going to do this, wasn’t he? Gods help him. If she ended up betraying him, he was going to look so, so stupid.