Kento Sukada awoke within a dark cave, the sound of a faint breeze with water dripping from stalagmites. (Where…am I?) He slowly opened his eyes only seeing the rocky floor and the faint light from the cave’s entrance. He found himself within the body of an undead. He had black hair, red eyes and wore a torn white t-shirt with black pants. He attempted to leave the cave, but could feel his zomperic body compelling him to remain within the darkness of the cave.
“D-damn it, my body...it doesn’t want to leave the darkness! Urgh! I can’t just stand here, I must get out of here and figure out why I have no memory of what happened and why I'm an undead yet not a mindless monster like most” He culched the side of the cave, pulling himself towards the sunlight when a blue barrier stopped him as a gray screen popped up:
Class Selection
•Warrior
•Wizard
•Ranger
•monk
He hesitated for a moment before tapping “Wizard” The screen and barrier broke into pixels before fading away.
[Fire Ball Spell Obtained]
[Fire Immunity acquired]
“Hmph, shouldn’t be surprised, fire ball is normally the 1st spell a caster is given in nearly every RPG, why should this be any different" He finally made it outside, stepping into the sunlight. He could see his gray-pale skin as he raised his hand up to block the sunlight blinding his eyes. He felt weak but brushed it off looking out seeing he was on a large hill and could see mainly forest and a small village out in the distance.
“I’m sure they won’t take kindly to my visit but I'm unsure what else to do” He weakly made is way down the hill through the forest...
CHAPTER 1 The awakened Undead
Not long after walking, a snake lunged out from the bushes, biting into his neck. Luckily being undead he felt nothing from the bite nor the venom entering his body. Gripping the brown snake by it’s head, he ripped it from his neck tearing off a piece of his undead flesh before throwing it onto the grass smashing it’s head in.
[Lvl. 2 Achieved]
[Slow Regeneration Acquired]
A golden light outlined his body before fading away. “Seems there’s a leveling system in this world as well. Good, that means I can level up and hopefully strengthen this weak body” He ventured further through the forest when he heard a scream, looking to the right he saw a man running towards him with a sword. He wore a black shirt and pants with light-brown hair and green eyes. “Die monster!”
Kento couldn’t move fast enough since he was still unused to his undead form. When he opened his eyes, his right arm laid in the grass as he stared at it than back at his attacker who's blade dripped his black blood. “Heh, that was easy now to take your head off and finish this!” Just then tentacle-like things came out of the undead’s hole where his arm once was, connecting to the arm, pulling it back into his shoulder reattaching it.
(This must be connected to my regeneration ability I just got) He clinched his fist throwing a punch right for the swordsmen. The man attempted to block with his blade but was knocked back, landing on his back. Hs zomperic instincts kicked in as he leapt at the man, knocking the sword away as he began feasting off the man’s flesh. The man’s screams echoed through the forest before falling silent.
As he stood up, blood dripping from his mouth, he felt a sudden jolt in his body. His once skinny body grew more muscular, he could feel himself able to move more easily now. “Strange, I don’t feel much guilt after killing that man...could it be my undead body affecting my mind? Never the less, he attacked first and had intent to kill me, so it was either him or me. Besides, seems devouring his flesh strengthened me. I’d hate to kill innocent people, but if it’s my only option to getting stronger then I'll have to just push through it and feed until my body reaches it’s full potential”
As he continued on the forest road, he reached the village’s sign that read: “Sukuino” He hesitated at first but proceeded through the entrance as small wooden houses aligned his path on both sides with a large wooden house in front of him, bigger than any other house. A cry rang out as a woman and her child saw in horror the undead man making his way into town. “Someone help! Zombie!” She took the young boys hand rushing towards the large home while a man dressed in mercenary armor with a scar across his left eye keeping it closed with short black hair stood in his way holding a riffle.
“Your kind isn’t allowed here, go on back before you’re filled with holes!”
“If you intend to harm a visitor than I won’t hesitate to end your life”
“I'm an undead, but one that can think like a normal human” The man aimed his gun toward the undead responding: “Even so, we can’t take the risk of your kind infecting us, we already have many other monsters to deal with!”
“Wait...you said...other monsters?”
“Yes! Goblins, trolls, skeletons, any kind of monster you can think of we have to deal with them”
(That gives me an idea) “Just where do these monsters come from? I’ll kill them for you and rid your village of their trouble”
“Just why would you bother helping us? You’re a mere zombie that can’t do much against most of them”
“Don’t underestimate me, just tell me the type of creature and where they hide and I'll kill them” The mercenary paused before looking back at the zombie. “Fine, how’s this: If you kill the monsters, we’ll pay you depending on the type of creature it is”
“That’s fine with me, I have nothing but thee torn rags and would like to improve myself” (If my guess is correct, I know a way to boost my body to it’s limit) The man told him to wait there so he could go retrieve the tools needed for the task...
After a few minutes the man came back out holding clothes and a bag. “Here, I won’t give you high-rank gear for free, so here’s the best I could do” Kento set the red bookbag down, pulling out a new black long-sleeve t-shirt and black pants.
“Those clothes will do better than the rags you had before. Don’t be mistaken, I'm happy to get any help we can, but don’t think I trust you, your mind may seem human, but what if you don’t feed? I’m sure you’ll give in to your zomperic urges at some point. I almost forgot, my name is Kojoro Otokara, the protector of this village and lastly, check your bag, I've given you a map that points out estimated locations of monster dens that we’ve noticed. Good luck, don’t expect me to cry if you don’t come back”
Kento Sukada picked up the bag, making his way out of the village back into the forest. Pulling the map out he saw red dots on several points of the map, along with the village’s location as a square. “Let’s see here, seems the closest monster den is a goblin den back south the way I came” rolling the paper back up and putting it in his bag, he ventured off towards his first target...
After about 20 minutes he spotted a cave. The sun was beginning to go down, so the burning feeling he felt from the sun would soon be gone. With a smirk he set his bag down in the bushes before leaping onto a tree branch to scout out the entrance of the cave. Since the sun wasn’t completely gone yet, there were only three goblins outside. They had dark-green skin with large heads and small bodies holding sharp sticks.
(Should be simple enough, they’re only level one and goblins aren’t really known to be great fighters, their intelligence throughout history has shown that it’s surprising they’re even still alive at this point) Breaking a branch off the tree he was scouting in, he threw it like a spear right for the middle goblin, piercing it’s forehead as it collapsed on it’s back. The other two let out high-pitched cried when Kento leapt from his hiding spot, advancing straight for the left one, putting his fingers together like a dagger before stabbing the monster straight through it’s small torso.
The remaining goblin attempted to run back inside the cave when the undead man caught him, grabbing it’s head before biting into it’s neck, feeding off it’s flesh before doing the same for the others...
[LVL. 3 Achieved]
[Stamina & HP Increased]
Kento could feel his body getting stronger from the devoured flesh. “Seems I was right, it doesn’t have to be human for my body to strengthen from feeding. So then, just how many goblins are inside? With my healing buff along with my enhanced speed and strength, it shouldn’t be too difficult to kill everything within the cave”
He walked past the blood-soaked soil as he made his way inside the cave. He could see a faint light deep within the cave which he assumed was a fire the monsters had somehow created. He walked through a large stone tunnel into a large area where a large horde of goblins were assembled. Once they saw him, they let out screams that echoed through the cave’s walls before charging right for him.
“Let’s go!” Kento charged right back at the coming monsters. Some attacked swinging axes that were merely sticks with sharp rocks attached to them. (Hmm, surprised these creatures are smart enough to even build weapons aside from sharpening a stick” He dodged a coming strike from a goblin's axe, moving behind it, striking the back of it’s head as it staggered back into the others surrounding the undead.
“It might be time to try out my only magic skill in hopes it’s for situations like these” He jumped as high as he could before aiming his hand down toward them gripping his arm with the other to steady his aim. “Fire magic: Fire ball!” The goblins all looked up in fear as a sphere of flames manifested in the zombie’s hand before descending down upon all of them.
The cave filled with light as flames engulfed the cave Each of the small green monsters began running around screaming on fire before collapsing from the immense burns. As the cave continued to fill with flames, Kento walked through the flames immune to any fire damage. After feeding off all the goblins he walked outside, pushing a large rock over the entrance of the cave so the flames couldn’t spread and they’d slowly die out.
[Lvl. 5 Acquired]
[HP & Stamina Increased]
“I’m surprised I skipped level four, I guess feeding off flesh gives me extra exp. Since it makes me feel stronger, I wouldn’t be surprised. Now then, it’s time to locate the next monster’s den. Let's see...let’s go after the trolls, I'm sure with all the dead I've fed off of, my body should be at it’s peak” Looking at the located spots on the map he was given the trolls weren’t that far, they were just a few miles to the right of his current location.
He quickly moved at super-human speed, moving through the trees like an assassin, jumping from branch to branch using them like stepping stools. In a short time he could see a large came fire out in the distance. He didn’t hesitate, he made his way over before stopping nearby. He saw a group of large orange trolls standing around a fire munching on the bones of dead humans and other creatures.
Instead of a surprise attack he descended down approaching them. “Rragh! Undead, you’re not wanted here. Leave unless you want to be crushed!” One of the trolls bellowed in a deep voice.
“If that’s so...then let’s see you try” The zombie responded with a smirk. The four trolls looked down on him preparing to attack. Two had large clubs made of stone while the other two had no weapons. “Die weakling!” The biggest and buffest one holding a club brought his stone club down to attack with an echoing boom. As the dust cleared and the troll lifted his weapon up, their target was nowhere to be found.
“Boss behind you!” One of the fat ones cried out as Kento prepared to use his stabbing move with his hand right for the monster’s back. The troll turned around with a powerful stomp, swinging his club down once more, hitting the undead’s arm with such force, blood gushed from his hand before hitting the ground.
“Hehe, zombie not as strong as he thinks” The boss taunted. “Might as well give up before you nothing but pieces” One of the lesser trolls attempted to grab him when he leaped up past the monster’s grip, aiming his lost hand’s hole toward his laying arm. Once more vessel-like tentacles shot out from the missing limb’s part of his body, connecting with the arm and pulled back to him before being fixed once more.
“Wow, 2nd time I've lost an arm. Then again, it’s to be expected as a zombie” He jumped toward one of the trolls when one of the other fat one’s finally caught him, preparing to squeeze him. “I squeeze you till you nothing but pieces!” Although he couldn’t feel pain, the undead man struggled to escaper the grasp of the monster. Even with his heightened strength from devouring the bodies of goblins, he was no match for the troll’s immense grip.
They removed his head placing it inside their pot while one of the fat trolls kept a tight grip on his body. Just then one of the lesser trolls cried out in pain as blood gushed from their wrist. A warrior dressed in knight armor wearing a dark-red hooded-cloak stood before them.
“A tiny human dare to enter our camp prepare to become food!”
“I don’t think so” The female warrior responded as the leader of the trolls reached right for her. She stood motionless till the last second, jumping over the grasp of the monster, running up it’s large arm pulling out a shiny silver blade preparing to go for the kill. As she reached his shoulder, the troll attempted to crush her by hitting his shoulder but had his hand slashed by her blade before she jumped off his shoulder, throwing her blade into his skull piercing through it with half the blade in his forehead. He hit the ground with a blood as the other trolls let out screams of terror preparing to run away.
She pulled out circular shurikens, throwing four right for them. Two hit both of them in the back causing them to collapse dead. She turned to see a body moving on the ground getting up. She held another shuriken in her hand preparing to throw it when the undead body slowly walked over to the pot picking up his head before reattaching itself.
“I assume you’re the one who killed the trolls, I appreciate your help, my name’s Kento Sukada, what’s your name?”
“Before I tell you, answer this: You're a zombie, yet you communicate and act like a normal human. Why is that? In my years as a monster hunter, I've never seen such an undead”
“I wish I could tell you, but I’m not sure myself. I seem to have most of my body under control aside from my body’s fear of the sun and need to feed on the flesh of living or recently deceased creatures. Don’t worry though, I've noticed I can feed of monster instead of humans and still regain my strength. That way I don’t have to kill innocent people”
“Innocent...so you seem to have morals, I guess you truly aren’t like other zombies, I believe you’re the first of your kind to be like this. Can you still feel pain or hurt by fire?”
“No, luckily like the undead I can’t feel pain and my class type gives me a fire nullification perk”
“Your class? I’ve never heard of a zombie having a class, then again...you see skeletons that can use magic in most RPG so that’s not much different. So what class are you?” She asked finally pulling her hood down revealing long purple hair with blue eyes.
“I’m a wizard class, sadly I've only had one spell since I've been here so I wouldn’t call myself much of a wizard for the time being. I hope to become stronger and hopefully become human so others don’t run away from me”
“Makes since, wait, I may have a spell that could work! It takes all my MP but it’s worth a shot” She aimed her palm towards the zombie as a green aura outlined her body. “Healing magic: Resurrection!” A green ritual circle along with a magic symbol appeared under him as light filled the area. Once the light faded they saw he was unaffected by her spell.
“Hmm, it was worth a shot. By the way, my name is Rin Kedoki. A high-ranking adventurer. I was sent into this forest to kill any monsters I found. Each kill was considered one-coin considering which monster it was such as: Goblins are considered a C-rank monster, therefore I'll get one copper piece for each kill. While trolls on the other hand are B-rank so I'd get two copper pieces from each one I killed. I’d say they deserve to be one gold coin each but I don’t make the rules. So what are you doing out here alone, if it wasn’t for me, I'm sure you would’ve been stuck there awhile”
“I was given a map of each monster’s location and was given a mission to wipe them out for a good amount of pay”
“Hey, that would benefit us both, with my fighting skills and your pain and fire immunity we’d make a great team! Can I join your party!?” She asked excitedly.
“Sure, let me get my bag, I left it in a tree before I started the fight with the trolls” He reached into the bag once more pulling out the map. Let’s see...the next monster den is something called the “Kao no nai akuma” Rin looked at the words before responding: “It means faceless demon. I’ve heard of them but never actually seen one before. I’d say wait until you’re a higher level, even with me at level 15 I don’t think we’d be any match for them. I’ve heard their levels range from 30 to 50 so we’d have no chance in defeating them. Are there any others remaining?”
“Aside from the faceless demon there’s still skeletons, zombies and apparently a group of witches”
“Alright, let’s go after the skeletons then the zombies since those two would be the easiest to kill” With a nod they made their way north as both moved through the trees at great speed, Kento could feel his heightened power slowly diminishing each second but ignored it as they soon reached their first objective. Hundreds of undead skeletons were roaming the forest heading in the direction of the village.
Rin spent no time waiting, she jumped from the tree going straight for the horde of undead. Kento saw each enemy was lvl. 5 equal to his own level, even with his perks he’d probably have trouble fighting them off so he decided to fight them from a distance. Conjuring a fire ball, he shot it straight for the center of the army as Rin backflipped out of the way, evading the burst of flames. They watched as the flames spread hurting the undead but only lowering their HP.
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Rin threw her bade sideways, causing it to spiral through the crowd, decapitating multiple targets when a golden aura outlined her body. “Special ability: Aura Control!” The blade suddenly stopped in mid-air, floating in the air with a golden aura as well and wisps of light around it. Throwing her palm up towards the night sky her blade ascended into the sky before coming back down at great speed. “Special ability: Sword impact!”
As the blade came soaring back down, she was surrounded by closing in undead while Kento could only watch from his tree branch. Just as a skeleton went to grab her throat, the blade pierced the ground, unleashing a devastating wave of golden power across the forest with fierce power. The zombie watched as the power defeated dozens of the targets, causing them to fall to mere piles of bones...
[Lvl. 8 Achieved]
[Wind Strike Spell Obtained]
[Feeding exp x2]
“Good, that will surely come in handy. Now...just how many undead are left?” He looked across the dark forest, trees all around them limiting his view. Being an undead he could see far better in the dark. That’s when a fire ball came soaring through the trees right for them. It missed Rin going straight for Kento.
“Kento watched out!” She cried out in shock as the massive fire blast went right for the zombie. The surprise caused him to fall from the tree just as it burst into flames by the fire attack. He took little damage from the fall and quickly got up to see two undead wearing black hooded-cloaks walking towards them just 20 feet away now in view.
“Those are...undead mages, they’re both level 12. Stronger than me, but with Rin’s help we might be able to defeat them” Kedoki called her sword back to her as it soared off the ground back to her hand just as one of the mages shot another fire ball straight for the female warrior. She put her blade up to block as the ball of flames struck her blade. The projectile erupted in a fierce explosion filling the forest with light...
A Few miles away in Osokomi, the largest kingdom in the country...
A man with red hair dressed in a black armored cloak sad at his desk doing paper work when a knight came in. “Commander, there seems to have been some kind of explosion out in the forest, shall we see what the trouble is?”
“I’ve been needing a reason to leave this desk and get some exercise. How else can I be a commander if they have me sitting on my ass all day. Keep guard at the gate while I go check out the blast zone”
“Yes commander Kazuhiko!” The commander smirked before walking out of the kingdom’s large steel doors as they closed behind him. He made his way towards the smoke...
Meanwhile Rin and Kento had managed to defeat one of the undead mages while the other used magic to heal itself. “D-damn it, if it continues to heal itself, we’re done for” He commented with bruises all over his body, his HP now less than half along with Rin’s.
The monster let out a scream before aiming it’s skeletal hand up in the air as a sphere made of flames formed above him. The fire ball was massive with immense power. (If that hits one of us...we’ll be killed!) With yet another scream it threw it’s arm in their direction. The immense sphere of flames drifted towards them, burning down each tree that blocked it’s path.
Both warriors were unsure of how to stop such a powerful attack. Even though Rin was higher level than the mage, the attack was surely strong enough to kill her if her defense didn’t hold up. As it seemed like the end, the attack stopped in mid-air as a force of power rushed past the pair of warriors. They looked to see Kazuhiko holding the sphere of flames back with his blade. His cape whipping back from the sheer force of the mage’s attack.
Kento saw that the commander was a level 40 and watched as the projectile was forced up into the air before erupting in a blinding flash of light. The undead mage attempted to attack once more when the man advanced his opponent with unbelievable speed. “I don’t think so” In a mere instant the armored warrior slashed through the mage several times over before sliding his blade back to it’s holder.
They watched as the enemy’s HP fell to zero and fell to pieces right before them. Kento was in shock but how powerful a mere human was. (Is it because of his class? His armor? No mere human should be that powerful even at level 40. Then again, Rin is only level 15 yet she’s a very capable warrior. So what is it that makes him so powerful? Battle experience probably?)
“Hello Kedoki, glad to see you’re still ok”
“Hmph, you heard the explosion and came to show off didn’t you, Nobuharo Kazuhiko?”
“Heh, don’t act like this isn’t the first time I had to save you from getting killed in a fight. You may be a great adventurer, but sometimes you don’t know when an enemy will be too much for you” The man turned and was shocked to see an undead standing there. “Why is there an undead in your party? Surely you just summoned him as an ally”
“No, this is my party leader Kento Sukada, he’s a zombie yet acts like a human. I’ve never seen a zombie that can actually act like us”
“Hmmm, interesting” The man walked up to the zombie looking over his body along with checking his stats. “Seems he’s only level 8, a mage class. I’m interested to know more about you Sukada. Just how did you become an undead, or were you born this way?”
“I actually don’t have an answer, I awoke from a cave just a day ago in a weak state until I started eating the flesh of monsters to regain my strength. After I was caught by trolls Rin saved me and we’ve been a party ever since”
“Ah, well I'm the commander of the kingdom Osokomi. If you wish to get stronger, we have training grounds or the eternal tower to help you. The tower is like your standard RPG, each floor you go up will be more difficult than the last but will also grant better loot and exp. You may have up to four people per party. If you lose, you’ll be transported back to the entrance of the tower and will have to wait 24 hours till you can attempt the tower again”
“That sounds like it would greatly help me so I can get stronger and possibly free myself from this zombie form”
“Good, then I shall take you back to the kingdom where we can get you a room in our guild inns and you can learn how to train and improve yourself”
“Thanks, but first I need to return to a village on the far part of the forest. I was given a quest to kill all monster locations and would be paid depending on how many I killed”
“Very well, I'll see you at the city’s gates I'm sure Rin here knows the way back since this isn’t her first-time hunting monsters” With that the man left while Kento and Rin made their way back to the small village he had been to hours before. The sun was coming up as they reached the village. A man was about to cry out in fear when Kojoro put his hand up signaling the man not to worry as he met with them.
“Ah Kento, you’ve returned and with your first party member, glad to see you’re doing well. So then, which monster den did you manage to eradicate?”
“Goblins, trolls and skeletons”
“Really!? And here I expected you to only take out one of the dens. Well, I promised I'd pay you and earn the village's respect. I can’t pay you as well as I'd like but for now here’s one I'm able too, 200 silver pieces. It should at least get you through a few days. Good luck on the rest of your quest and thanks for your help”
“Anything to help. Thanks Kojoro”
CHAPTER 2 The First Awakening
The pair made their way toward the kingdom reaching the large steel gates with two armored guards blocking anyone from just walking through. “Halt! No undead are allowed within the walls of Osokomi!”
“He’s with me, let us through”
“I’m sorry ma’am but we’ve been instructed not to allow anyone in if undead or demonic” Just then Kazuhiko came descending down from the high wall, landing beside the two armored guards.
“Let them through their with me and have my permission to enter the city. Sorry about that Kento, be sure to let me know if anyone discriminates you for being an undead be sure to let me know. A slight few will actually go against my judgement so keep that in mine. Now let me show you where you’ll be staying. As much as I’d like to have you stay in the castle with me where the people are well mannered and fancy living quarters, it’s very expensive, so for now you’ll have to stay in the adventurer’s inn.
They made their way into the city, the castle was in the center of the city with the inns, stores and houses making rows of circles around it. They reached a bar where there were rows of wooden tables and wooden floor with a woman with blonde hair dressed in a brow shirt and black pants. They walked over to her as she was cleaning beer glasses.
“Hello, welcome to the adventurer’s bar\inn where we strive to prepare any warrior for their next quest by giving them a nice drink and somewhere to sleep for the night” The trio walked up to the bartender.
“Hello Yukomi, been awhile since I’ve seen you” Kazuhiko commented looking right into her eyes, his golden eyes gleaming from the light.
“C-commander!? The moment she recognized him she nearly knocked over the beer glass she had just cleaned. Luckily she managed to catch it just in time. “Few, that was close” She looked up at the man still blushing in both surprise and embarrassment. “S-so, what brings you in my bar today sir?”
“This is Kento a new adventurer and citizen of Osokomi. Yukomi noticed he was a zombie and made a slight scream with a look of fear on her face before calming down.
“Forgive me, I meant no disrespect, it’s just…this is the first time a zombie has ever been inside the city in 20 years and you seem so calm”
“Don’t worry, when you’re an undead you get used to people reacting negatively towards you. I’m just glad I’m not getting stabbed by random citizens. Though I can heal wounds and can’t feel pain, that doesn’t mean I want to deal with constant hate and violence”
“Well anyway, I’m here to pay for the boy’s first night since it’ll take time for him to get around the city and learn how to become a high-rank adventurer. This should be enough” Kazuhiko pulled out a gold coin from his pocket placing it on the bat table.
“Commander, it’s only one silver piece per night, a gold piece would be worth about 50 silver, so you’d be paying for 50 days!”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m good at my job and doubt money is really something a commander should be worried about unless it was the kingdom’s overall value. I need to get back to work so I’ll leave Kento to both of you. The first thing is to go register at the guild quarters. You’ll either limit your revenue or won’t be applicable to take on quests unless you’re an official adventurer”
“Thanks for all your help commander” With a nod Kazuhiko left the bar heading back to his desk room.
“Alright, let’s head over there then while we still can. We need to acquire quests for you so you can level up”
“Yeah, let’s go” They quickly left the bar making their way back outside where the guild quarters luckily was across the road merely 20 or 30 feet away. They walked up to a window of the building where a woman with pink hair and blue eyes dressed in armor stood behind the window looking up from her paperwork as they approached.
“Hey Seria, I’m here to help register my team member as an adventurer of the city”
“Nice to meet you! Glad to see Rin finally found a friend. She’s always be the solo-type unwilling to join up with others who requested she join since she’s one of our new generation adventurers. Aside from her level, she’s quite capable in battle. Even when she was little she seemed to have a sense of combat…
[Flash Back]
A young kid ran through the forest in fear as a goblin chased him not far behind holding a stone club. “Aaghh! Somebody help!” He dripped over a rock landing on his stomach before turning around to see the monster preparing to attack. Just then a figure scouted from a nearby tree, they aimed right for the enemy, firing an arrow right for the goblin instantly killing I with a shot to the head. The boy stood up looking around when Rin jumped down from the tree walking over to him.
“Hurry and head home, your parents are probably worried about you”
“R-right, thank you!”
[End Of flash Back]
“It was just a mere goblin, I’m sure most could easily kill one”
“Fine, what about the time you killed a level 15 cyclops when you were only a level 10 and you didn’t have your high-tier armor on?”
“Yeah, that was one of the kills that started up my reputation as a high-ranking warrior. But until I reach max level, I’ll never truly become the greatest adventurer” Rin responded looking down at her blade in her hand.
“Don’t get your hopes up though, you’re my friend, but not many have reached max level. It’s so rare no one really even knows the max level of a fighter. Some think it depends on your character while others think there isn’t a max level”
“What’s the highest level you’ve seen in the city?” The undead man asked with curiosity. Seria thought for a moment… “The two highest level I’ve seen is the commander who is a level 40 and the king who is a level 60. The range you’d averagely see here would be:
1-5 – Citizens
10 – 15 Low-class\ New warriors
20 - 30 Mid-class adventurers
35+ High- class warriors
So if you can reach level 40 you’ll be seen as a high-class warrior. Though I don’t se many reach that level either from being killed by a monster far stronger than what they though, or they’re fine with being in the 30’s since most common monsters don’t exceed level 25. Anything above that would be considered a uncommon monster. Sorry got off topic, now then, I’ll need your name and a blood stamp”
“Kento Sukada” He pierced his finger as blood dripped onto a tan paper contract onto the line. “Thank you Kento, you’re officially an adventurer of Osokomi, welcome”
[Quests Available!]
[Title Acquired: Low-level Adventurer]
“Good, now we need to get you some armor and weapons to make up for your low stats. Let’s head to the armor shop first since increasing your defense is the most important for now” His party member suggested as she opened her panel showing him her stats.
They walked down the path deeper into the city until they found the armor shop on the left. They walked in to se many types of clothes and equipment. Kento saw some armor that looked appealing. He threw it on. It was a black cloak with white fur on the ends and collar of it with black pants and shoes. “Hmmm, this seems good. What do think of this armor Rin?” She looked him up and down before responding: “Looks pretty good, defiantly better than your plain clothes you’ve been wearing” He walked over to the store owner who was a buff bald man with a scar across his face wearing a brown shirt and pants.
“Ulla take this, how much do you want for it?”
“Normally something like that would be 150 silver pieces but since you’re a new costumer and the commander told me to treat an undead adventurer with respect when he came in here, I’ll bring it down to 100 silver pieces”
“Wow! 100 silver pieces!? That’s a good deal! In this shop 100 silver would normally only get you basic clothing so you’re saving 50 silver!” Ren said excited looking at the zombie with sparkles in her eyes.
“Rin here is one of my best customers, so you should take her word for it. Names Ivan Kotowan, the best armor trader I the city” Kento paid for the armor before they made their way over to the weapons shop to find his first weapon.
He walked over to a katana gripping the handle hen a surge f electricity went from the blade to his hand knocking him back. A message popped up above him saying: “Weapon does not match class” “Ah, so it’s gonna pull that RPG shit, should’ve known considering this world basically is a game. Well then I guess I’ll have to choose fro my class”
He walked up to the shop owner who was a fit woman with long red hair that covered her left hazel eye wearing a black dress. “Can you show me your assortment of wizard weapons?”
“Sure, here we have the wand of Sanaro, this wand has a perk that increases your attack power” She handed him the black wand. He looked at it before giving it back suggesting a staff instead.
“Ah, I know just what you need. Behold, the staff a chaotic despair. This staff syphons dark magic and energy from a 10 feet radius, perfect for an undead” He held the large staff I his grasp. It had a purple crystal ball on the top and it was made out of black steel with a row of golden gems across the bar.
(I can feel great magical power emanating from it. He focused it’s power when purple light shined from the ball, he could feel massive energy flowing into him as he strived to maintain his grip on the staff. Taking a deep breath, the light faded from the staff.
“I’ll take his one how much?”
“Since your my very first undead customer I’ll give it to you for 50 silver” She gave him a seductive smile as he paid her before they went back to the inn. “Alright, get some sleep, in a few hours we’ll try the tower and see how far we can get at our current levels” He nodded as he walked towards the stairway leading to the 2nd floor where the rooms were.
“Welcome back, looks like you’re all ready to go on your first quest, goo luck” The bartender said with a smile. He walked up stairs going into his room which was room 20…
A few hours later he awoke to se it dark out. He made his way outside to find rows of torches lit, lighting up the city. His party member stood waiting for him outside. “Ready to go? Here I caught this for you” She pulled out a bag of goblin flesh. He fed off the remains giving him an ATK boost along with regaing his muscles.
“Thanks, with this I should be able to defeat a great deal of opponents for awhile”
“Good let’s head to the tower. Since it’s night we won’t have to worry about other warriors trying to join our party and steal our loot. Plus less people means less chances of someone treating you like a monster just because you’re a zombie” They walked down the long straight path until reaching the far right corner of the city. There stood a tower that seem to reach the clouds. As they approached the tower he saw a sign that said:
“Akami Tower – Endless floors with strong enemies, enter at own risk” They entered the tower as the dark steel room around them vanished, morphing into a large black arena above a large cliff any side of the arena they could fall into a bottomless void. There stood a horde of goblins as they charged right for them. Kento spun his staff between his fingers before aiming it straight for the crowd of small fat monsters as flames surrounded his staff.
“Spell: fire ball!” A sphere of flames manifested in front of his staff’s crystal ball before launching straight for them. The right side of the arena was ignited in a burst of flames, sending their targets in different directions until the flames quickly died down. Four of the goblins had been killed by the one attack with six remaining.
“My turn, this mere level one monsters can’t do anything against me. Sword technique: Six slash of light!” Gripping her blade tightly she unleashed six sword strikes nearly simultaneously, decapitating every single target in a mere second their bodes hit the ground motionless in a pool of blood.
“By the way you only get loot boxes every three floors. Keep that in mind” The dead bodies vanished when large cyclops formed from black mist standing over them. It was a level seven. “Hmm, going from level one to seven that quick? This may take a while” Kento commented as the one-eyed brute threw it’s fist down right for the undead warrior. The zombie quickly jumped just out of the monster’s range landing on it’s arm and running up towards it shoulder.
Suddenly the cyclops flung it’s hand to the left, causing Kento to go flying backwards towards Rin who stood watching just a few meters away. Once more the boss threw a blow right for him while he was I mid-air. (Crap!) He put his staff up to guard just as the blow struck. Rin watched s her partner was standing right in front of her, his back to her as he blocked the punch. Their foe pushed down with it’s great fist trying to crush them. The floor beneath Kento began to crack as his guard was finally broken staggering back laying on his side with his staff landing beside him.
“Alright one eye, I’ve had enough waiting, I can easily defeat a mere level seven. Sword ability: Aura manipulation!” Once more her sword glistened in a golden glow along with her as she threw her hand in the beast’s direction, sending her sword right for it’s eye like a shooting star. The monster managed to put it’s hand up to keep the sword from reaching it’s eye. Er blade pierced straight through the monster’s hand as blood dripped from the hole. It backed away in fear before falling off the arena to it’s death.
[Lvl. 10 Acquired]
A black screen popped up:
Evolution Available!
He got to his feet looking at the screen. “E-evolution?” He slowly tapped the screen as it shattered apart into pieces. Suddenly a purple flame-like aura warped around him as he clutched his head in pain. “Raaghh! W-what is this!? Electricity surged around the arena as he clinched his teeth. His eyeballs vanished leaving only white holes as he clinched his fists.
The female warrior watched as Kento grew a foot taller, his body becoming far more muscular gaining a six pack with his teeth becoming sharp. His eyes now just red glowing sockets.
“What happened?” Kento asked, his voice much deeper. She stared at him walking over. The evolved zombie looked at her with glowing eye and a menacing look.
“Sukada…is that still you?” The brute looked at his large buff fist clinching it before looking at her. “Yes Rin, it’s me” She cheered with sparkles in her eyes hugging him before backing away trying to reclaim her calm attitude.
“W-well, it’s not like I care, just wanted to make sure you weren’t some monster I had to kill” She said turning away blushing with a frown.
“Don’t worry Rin, seems I reached an evolution level, it’s where you can evolve into a stronger version of yourself”
(I’ve played enough games to know how this kind of things work. The only thing I’m not sure of is how many evolutions I have) He opened his stats panel, “Race: Empowered Zombie…so that’s the name of this form. Hmm, I wonder just how much stronger I’ve gotten”
[Skill Obtained: Fist Of Destruction]
Just then a large basilisk formed from the black mist I font of them It had black shiny skin with purple eyes. “I guess I’ll test my abilities on you!” Clinching his fist once more he charged straight for the serpent. The creature lunged straight for him when purple flames engulfed Kento’s fist. “Fist of Destruction! The evolved zombie sent a clean blow across the basilisk’s jaw, sending it flying up into the air.
Using the full strength of his legs he ascended up into the air above the massive snake, sending another blow to the monster's body as they both fell back towards the arena. The target hit the surface injured and burned by the flames as Sukada landed in front of it with a large boom. Rin stood there shocked, her teammate was only a level 10 yet had such incredible power.
(This man, could he be the closest one to becoming the number one adventurer!? If just one evolution could make this much of a difference, what will happen when he reaches his next evolution!?) She stared at him with his back to her as the foe vanished. Moments later a shadow knight appeared. It was a knight made of black energy with red glowing eyes. It was a level 20.
“Hmm, with that level different I don’t think my new form is going to be enough to take him down. Hey Rin, you wanna go at him?” She gave him a pout face before pulling her blade out. “Don’t act like you’ve surpassed me Kento, I’m still six levels higher than you since that last fight finally leveled me up. Here I come knight!” She took off at great speed, her hair blowing in the wind as she went for a head on sword attack when the boss abruptly deflected it at the last second.
Without warning purple slashes went straight through the adventurer, sending her staggering back when Kento managed to catch her. “Are you alright? You took a lot of hits in that mere moment, your HP is already half”
“Y-yeah I’m fine, I don’t think we can defeat this one”
“Don’t be so sure, remember what the weapons shop owner said about my staff” Holding his large hand open his staff formed in a flash of light. “Let’s go, back me up!” Sukada advanced forward fighting the boss head on as they exchanged blows at incredible speed, the force of their strikes sending shockwaves across the arena. The black mist began to fade from the knight with each second they fought. That’s when Rin remembered:
“This staff syphons dark energy within a 10 feet radius”
“So as long as Kento fights him up close, he’s absorbing the dark mist protecting the knight!” She moved in for an attack as the mist finally completely vanished from the knight. Kento knocked the enemy away as Rin flew straight from behind piercing straight through him with a trail of golden light from the target’s torso to her blade 20 feet apart.
“Nice work” He said as their enemy vanished. “Thanks, but I think I’ve had enough of the tower for tonight, lets head back to the inn and rest” With a nod they looked to see a chest sitting in front of them. They opened it to receive:
200 silver
1 gold
CHAPTER 2 Climbing Higher
The pair made their way back to the inn where they sat at a table hoping to get something to eat and rest. A scream rang out as a woman who was at the bar turned to see Sukada in his empowered zombie form. She let out a scream, throwing her beer glass straight for them. The undead man easily dodged the coming glass as it shattered against the wall
“I know I look scary, but that doesn’t give you the right to attack me” She ran out of the bar while Yukomi walked over setting their drinks down. “Don’t mind them, it’ll take time for others to get used to an undead being within the city. I’m surprised at your new form though, what happened?”
“I’m not sure, once I reached level 10, I evolved into this form. I’ve been curious just how many evolutions I’ll go through if I manage to keep leveling up”
“His power was much more than I expected when he transformed inside the tower. Even at just level 10 his power was impressive. I’m actually scared of how strong he’ll be once he reaches his final evolution” Rin commented. Kento smirked while Rin gave him an annoyed look.
While they were talking, Kento spotted an old man with a cane making his way towards the door when a trio of armored adventurers walked in, knocking the man back onto his butt. “I-I’m so sorry sir the elderly man said in fear. Kento clinched his teeth in anger watching the old man run out in fear. Both Yukomi and Rin turned to see Kento get up blocking the party leader’s way who was the man that knocked the old man over. He had red hair with golden eyes
“Ugly creature, what do you want?”
“Why didn’t you apologize to that man you knocked over? He was only a mere level five wearing mere brown ragged clothes while you’re a level 30 wearing high-ranked gear. If this is how you treat the innocent, then you don’t deserve your armor or position as an adventurer”
Without a word the player threw his palm forward aimed right for the zombie, sending him smashing through the doors of the inn landing in the street covered in bruises with his HP all the way down to merely 10%.
“Kento!” Rin and the bartender ran outside to help their wounded friend as the assailant stood just outside the inn.
“Undead like you have no place here. The fact you got past the gates is beyond me. Maybe you snuck into the city and are lying to others about your permission to be here. Undead haven’t been allowed within the city for years yet one suddenly shows up. Perhaps I should kill you here and rid the city of your ugly presence” The man pulled out his large great sword as fire swarmed around it. “Be gone zombie” Kento was to hurt to move sitting up against the wall of a store while Rin was just about to help when a figure appeared, stopping the large blade with his own.
Both warriors looked to see Kazuhiko stopping the blade with his katana. “Stop this Akira, I refuse you to kill anyone in this city, especially are newest citizen Kento”
“But commander, that undead attacked first, I was only trying to defend myself”
“We both know this isn’t the first fight you’ve started. Not to mention you’re a level 30 while he’s a mere level 10. Even if he did attack first, he was down at the brink of health and yet you had the intent to end this man’s life. My decision is final…you’re banished from Osokomi forever! You are no longer part of the royal guardians and so there’s no loose ends, your party members are also banished as well for doing nothing to stop this chaos”
“You…you bastard!” In a burst of rage, Akira swung his blade at full power toward the commander as flames blazed from his body and blade. Kazuhiko however caught the blade with his bare hand taking minor damage as the flames diminished. “Power has corrupted your mind, the once heroic prodigy you were is no more, now you’re nothing but mere brute” Letting go of the great sword, the commander moved in for a finishing blow.
“Palm of justice!” Hitting the man’s abdomen with his open palm, golden light glistened around the strike point before a fierce wave of force went right through the man’s body. The power was so fierce, it felt like wind blasting out of the target’s back. Akira shook in pain before collapsing on the spot. Lastly the commander tapped near the defeated target’s body, taking everything out of his inventory, even the armor he wore leaving him in only black rags.
“You both, hand over your items or I’ll take them back like your team leader here” Both men, one with long white hair and blue eyes and the other with short brown hair gave them all their items as well before picking up their unconscious teammate leaving the city.
“Sorry about that Kento, I should’ve known this was going to happen, we’ve been having trouble with them for weeks. I knew seeing an undead would push him over the edge. Pity, he was a great hero when he started out, seems the talent and power went to his head. Here drink this” The man pulled out a small bottle with purple liquid, pouring it into the injured zombie’s mouth.
A green light outlined the man as his wounds were healed and his health went back up.
“Thanks commander, you’ve helped us more than you should have to” Rin praised helping her friend to his feet with Yumiko holding Kento’s other hand.
“Don’t worry about it, he’s still only a level 10, once he reaches level 30, I’m sure he’ll be a powerful warrior…
(TO BE CONTINUED…)