Chapter 9: A Desperate Discovery

I cleared two more caverns before I decided to call it quits. I was nearly out of shotgun ammo, and while I could use my Glock, I wasn't as well trained with it as I was with the Remington, and the light on the pistol was not as strong as the shotgun's light attachment, so I had a quick look around at the cavern I was currently in just to make sure nothing else was here. The corpses had vanished a few minutes ago, and this time I actually had gotten some loot, though I did not pick it up. What the hell was I going to do with rotten meat and zombie bones? They weren't even that strong considering I'd accidentally snapped one in half by stepping on it.

I turned to make my way out of the cavern when I heard an odd sound. I spun around and quickly shone my light to see what it was. I could make out the vague outline of another zombie, though this one was at least twice as large as the others and was walking towards me normally, and not in a shuffle. As it walked closer to my light I got a better look at it and took a few steps back. The only way I could describe it is if a bodybuilder was a zombie. It had bulging purple muscles all over its body, but the oddest thing was the fact it had no head.

Was this some sort of boss zombie?

I sighted its chest and fired. The bullet struck but didn't go all the way through and there was no blood to be seen. A moment later its muscles began to shift and contort around the wound, growing, and knitting together.

A regenerating headless zombie, just my luck

"Fuck." I fired three more times in quick succession, this time aiming for its legs. It fell to its knees as its kneecaps and tendons were blown apart, but I didn't wait to see if it would regenerate and turned to flee, but before I could take a few steps, I heard a whoosh of air and then something slammed into my back at great speed.

I fell forward onto the ground and tried to turn, but the weight was pressing down on me. I reached for my gun, but it was pressing into the ground and I was unable to lift myself up enough to draw it. Things got worse though, as a purplish arm wrapped around my neck. It was the bodybuilder zombie. How the hell had it gotten to me? Had it leapt?

I grasped its arm with both my hands and tried to push, but it was useless. This thing had a vice grip on my neck and even though I had increased strength, it was not enough to match the zombie's. I cursed and sputtered as its grip tightened. I kicked my legs as best I could and tried to buck it off me, but it was pointless. It was too heavy and strong to budge.

My vision began to darken as I was deprived of oxygen, and I truly began to panic, flailing every part of my body even as I continued to try and push its arm away. Thoughts of my uncle, mother, and even my asshole of a father ran through my mind as I was choked to death. Would they even know what happened to me? Was this how I was going to die?

For some reason, that thought really pissed me off, and rage bloomed along with something else, some form of power coursing through me, and towards my arms. I felt a pins and needles sensation as the power surged through me, and just as my vision was about to fully fail, I pushed. This time, the arm did move, and with a gasp, I quickly rolled out from under it, and at the same time drew my pistol. I turned and spotted an odd organ in its neck which was open like a hole. Without hesitation I fired, emptying the whole magazine into it.

The organ exploded in a shower of blood that covered me, and to my great relief, the headless zombie toppled, twitching for a few seconds before going limp.

I panted heavily as I fell onto my back. I moved a hand to my throat and winced. It was definitely bruised. I spent a long few minutes just catching my breath before I got to my feet and glanced around myself. The shotgun was only a few feet away, and after I picked it up I turned to the loot the zombie had dropped. It was a bracer that seemed to be made out of the same material the zombie's muscles were. I placed it in my bag and then looked at the system notification waiting for me. Whenever I was in a fight they would always wait until the fight was over and then appear in the corner of my vision as a flashing light.

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Congratulations! You have learned the Ability! [Heavy Impact]

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I smiled. At least I got something out of that fight. I opened up my status, noting the large amount of XP I'd gotten and the one percent increase in ascension for body before focusing on the ability.

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Heavy Impact(1)[Tier 0]

Heavy Impact: Greatly increase the force of an attack.

Time: N/A

Cooldown: 10 minutes

Type: Active

Cost: 1 IE

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So it was basically like a spell but using IE instead of mana. It was a basic ability, and the cooldown was fairly long, but the number and tier next to it indicated it could be leveled and improved.

I thought back to what I'd done and wondered if I could create more abilities. This Heavy Impact had been created out of sheer desperation and a will to live. Could I do the same but to my legs to get an increase in speed? I put it on my non-existent to-do list.

As I made my way out of the dungeon, I used some cream on my throat and wrapped a simple bandage around it. It was best not to let Maya see it, not just because she'd asked questions, but because she'd probably tease me about it. I could just imagine the joke now.

'I didn't know you were into men, Kaiden, you should be careful what you do.'

It would be just like her.

To my great fortune, I didn't run into any rats on the way back, and the first thing I did after removing my armor was taking a shower. I stank of death, and was covered in rate gore, and who knew what else was covering me? If someone saw me, they'd probably think I'd just killed someone or an animal. In either case, it would not be good.

There was also another problem. My shoulder. It was aching after having fired the shotgun as much as I had. I'd fired it before with my uncle but not for hours and not in years. The adrenaline was all gone and now my shoulder was protesting the abuse it had gone through. I knew my constitution would eventually negate that problem but for now, I had to deal with it. I was definitely done for the day.

After a thorough wash, I ordered a pizza and devoured it in minutes before making my way to my room. I crashed onto my bed. So far, I'd come to a few conclusions. I needed to get stronger, experiment with my IE, and spend longer in the dungeon, just to list a few. But all of that would be for tomorrow.