Inhabitants of the Swamp

Everyone is stunned into utter silence. Their eyes follow the flying severed head as it curves along the air and descends onto the ground, bouncing against the hard concrete of the school's yard.

Then the screams start, and the combination of all the voices is extremely deafening. Enough to wake up other unconscious people.

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Did Jake just kill a teacher!? Holy shit! What is happening to him? He becomes all green and…!" Alex calls out, sounding rather excited despite what had just happened. "Is he? Is he becoming a monster!? Holy shit! We're going to be on the front page for this!"

"Calm the fuck down Alex!" I tell him and eye the monster. "Identify."

The moment that I have said the word, a window appears above Jake, allowing all to see and read the information. It is just like the Quest Window before, and it seems that everyone can see the windows regardless of whether they are acknowledged by the System or not.

Since my Perception attribute is low, the only thing that is revealed to me is its name. This is the same for everyone, as they are seeing the same information that I have invoked.

"Swamp Troll? What is that number next to its name?" Thomas questions. His hand grips his weapon tightly, readying to use it without hesitation. There is no fear in his eyes, and I like that about him.

"Its level," I answer and charge towards the semi-transformed monster. Since it is still transforming, I should be able to kill it without much effort. To that end, I swing my butcher-knife polearm, trying to behead the creature in one swoop, but it manages to dodge by tiling his head back. "Shit!"

This is the difference between intelligence monster and mindless one such as zombies. They don't go down that easy.

"Kill… kill… human…" Jake mutters and clenches his teeth, which are now razor sharp. His eyes morphs into slit as the whiteness changes into yellow. His fingers harden, becoming ever more deadly. "Kill…!"

I manage to block its strike with my weapon, but the force behind the strike sends me backwards and falling on the ground. "Fuck! Guys! Don't just stand there! Fucking help me!"

Thomas immediate jumps into action. His huge size manages to knock back the monster but not before it manages to cut his forearm. Using the chance, I leap off the ground and charge at the monster from its blindside, and with a swing of my weapon, its claw hand is severed.

Green blood sprays all over the ground. More as gunshots echo the air, coming from Alex, but despite the bullet wounds, Jake remains standing.

Thomas follows up and slams the monster to the ground. He stabs it repeatedly, but that doesn't seem to kill it either, as it other claw hand slashes Thomas several times. It only stops when I behead it.

Shit. This is much tougher than killing zombies or ghouls. That means so many people are going to die here and now, as more and more students are awoken. They all have a deranged smile on them.

"Get him off me! Get him off me!" Max calls as he is tackled onto the ground. His attacker takes a bite into his neck, tearing out a huge chunk of flesh. It is a fatal wound, and Max gurgles to death.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" Alex calls out and empties his gun into the approaching monster, but it doesn't seem to even slow it down. "Holy fucking shit!"