Chapter 5-  Zombiemancer

Chapter 5- Zombiemancer

"You have never been the expressive type. Most of the time, you are either silent or asleep. Hahaha! But, I still know that deep down you're kind and caring." Even though Sali was smiling through her words, Edward could see it clearly.

Her smile wasn't happy nor energetic but a forced one born from her desire to make sure Edward wouldn't feel as if he was bizarre. However, it didn't take a genius to realize that deep down, she wasn't really feeling great.

'She lost all of her family and her only brother was most likely traumatized for life because of it and yet she had to support him and protect him for a whole year as they journeyed through a dangerous world. No sane person will simply move on from such things.' He thought to himself.

Responsibility, pain, and worry mixed together can never be something easy to ignore yet Sali was able to hide it and keep her priorities straight. Her brother needed her and she must be ready to carry him back up.

'What a cruel life they had to live.'

Even though Zombie Highschool was, for the better part, a light-hearted action, romcom with a bit of harem. However, it did have some dramatic aspects that were quite decent that were mostly related to the main cast of characters. But, it never divulged into such tragic backstories at all. It's an apocalyptic world so death was normal and tragic lives were bound to happen and end.

This was, for better or worse, the first time Edward came across such a backstory even though he read the whole novel.

"I'm sorry…" Grimacing slightly, he murmured those words.

"Hm? What are you apologizing for?" Sali asked with confusion on her face.

"Uh, no, nothing. Don't worry about it."

After that, Edward turned around and left the classroom quickly.

"Hm? I wonder what he wanted to say." Sali didn't pursue the matter further and simply picked up everything before following him outside.

The two then walked together through the corridor, ending up in front of a set of broken stairs.

"Be careful of where you step. You might fall." Sali said as she stepped forward and jumped down, reaching the ground floor with ease.

Gulping down a mouthful of saliva, Edward carefully made his way down. However, the moment he stepped on one of the staircases, it immediately broke down and he found himself falling forward.

"Be careful!"

As his body got ready for the impact of the rough ground, instead, he felt his face landing on something soft and warm. Opening his eyes, he found his face shoved in Sali's breasts.

"I told you to be careful, Asher."

"Uh! Yeah, my bad." He murmured as he stared at the two giant melons that were cupping his face with ease. The sleeveless, thin shirt didn't help in making them less textured, for lack of a better word.

"You can release me."

Pushing himself away with a complicated gaze, Edward moved forward as if nothing happened. However, deep down he was…

'Holy shit! I felt them! The breasts of a woman! But, they are from this body's biological sister! Goddamit! I don't know whether to be happy or sad!' He screamed in his head.

Anyway, the two continued their walk till they reached an area where there was a hole in the wall the size of three humans. It was their exit from the building as the main doors were blocked by cars and rocks.

"So, where are we going exactly?"

"Even though the forbidden lands are very dangerous and uncharted territories, some people still built some settlements here and there and lived in this place. Most of them are either outlaws or people that couldn't pay to live in the cities ruled by The Four Clans." Sali explained.

'Taxes, huh? Well considering the fact that the economy is basically still in a horrible state, These clans can't afford to allow poor people to live inside.'

After emerging from the hole, Edward was welcomed with one of a kind sight. The world of an apocalypse story. Many mediums from movies to TV series and animes tried to portray these images, some of them succeeded and some simply made it look as stupid as it could get.

However, none could top an actual, real apocalyptic city that was ruined by the monsters. The destroyed buildings, the old roads, the broken cars, and the sky-high towers that were threatening to crumble at any given second. Not to mention, the odd, tense atmosphere of the place and the quietness that made it almost unbearable for those who don't know what they are going to face in this place.

'What a truly magnificent world.' Edward felt completely attracted to it.

"What are dili daling about? Let's go."

Nodding his head, Edward quickly ran after Sali and the two started walking through the desolate city.

"How long it would take for us to reach a settlement?"

"Hmm… Let me see." Looking down at the watch that was tied to her left arm, a holographic image appeared in front of her that showed a giant map of presumably the Forbidden Lands.

The map did show two dots in the middle walking at a very slow speed. But, compared to the area around them, Edward felt that the two of them were extremely insignificant.

"If we don't have to take detours because of Zombies and other mutants then it would take us two weeks."

"Two weeks?! That much?!" Edward almost choked on his own saliva when he heard the number.

'14 days?! That's enough to cross an entire country.'

"Yeah, that's why we must not waste time, or your memory loss could get worse."

Nodding his head, Edward fell silent for a moment.

'I should probably check the system. Hm, wait, how do I open it in the first place?'

There was no guide on how to open a system status that came with the system itself but he thought maybe just imagining the system would summon it automatically. Luckily, his guess was on point as a holographic image appeared floating in front of his retina.

[Name: Asher Frostbloom

Race: Human

Class: Zombiemancer

Skills: Zombiemancer (Level 1)

Level: 1

Stats: Strength: 3/ Agility: 3/ Stamina: 2/ Mana: 15/ Health: 2

Free status points: 2]

His eyes were immediately drawn to the stats part since he was someone who liked seeing numbers in games. However, these numbers didn't delight him at all.

'Oi, what's up with these stats?! I'm not that weak, right? I'm average, right?! 3 is the average for sure!' He wanted to yell loudly in frustration but then quickly calmed himself.

'No, no. Calm down, Edward. We are barely at the start. I'm sure after killing Zombies, the stats will look slightly better. Ok, let's see, the class is Zombiemancer? Is that even a real word?'

Squinting his eyes at the class, another notification popped up.

[Skills: Zombiemancer (Level 1): Rise from the dead, my legion and wreak havoc across the realms. Using this skill, the host is able to revive the Zombie they kill and turn it into a usable subordinate. Requires mana to activate.

Number of Zombies allowed to summon: 1.]

'Oh, interesting. So I can basically be a necromancer but with Zombies. That's badass!'