Exploring the Neighborhood - Part 1

[22:06:08]

[STATS:

Name: Althea Witt

Age: 25

Level: 1 (145/1000)

Life: 190/200

Spirit: 121/200 (-5%)

Physical: 30 (-5%)

Agility: 27 (-20%)

Attack: 8

Defense: 15

Mana: 100

Physical Potential: B

Mental potential: SS+

Skills:

Active: None

Passive: None

Elemental Affinity: Wood, Water, Earth

Titles: None

Overall rank: S

Current Status: Gestating: two life forms, weakened state ]

Her eyes paused at 'spirit' and judged it must have something to do with stamina.

As for what would happen if these got too low, she'd rather not find out for herself.

She went back to the house to take a little rest. Killing those dozens of zombies had not been easy, especially in her current state.

It was really fortunate that the gate was able to handle the weight, and the zombies she had to deal with were only a few at a time.

First, she had killed the ones accessible through the gaps of the gates and then killed the overflowing ones climbing up the corpses.

Although they could not smell her, she made a lot of noise so she managed to attract the zombies until there were none in her street.

She was actually surprised by the number of people here. After all, the 40 or so households wouldn't have more than 10 people on average, including the servants.

Although this was a high-end villa area, this was still in the city's scope. How large could single detached houses get?

In her street alone, there shouldn't be so many zombies ambling about outside.

What she didn't know yet was that the neighbors held some sort of reunion. It just so happened that many of the guests were hanging around in the gardens and outside.

Amusingly, they had the 'old age' theme so the zombies were all wearing old-school party clothes.

She was relieved to notice that her spirit had risen to 150 after half an hour of rest. Now that she had an idea of the rate of Spirit increase, she could resume her adventure outside.

She could feel that she was stronger and she could jump a few meters. If she wasn't pregnant, of course.

Now that she was carrying two kids, she couldn't be so presumptuous.

So she took out the ladder and placed it on the adjoining wall with the neighbor. Standing on the wall, she took the foldable ladder to the other side so she could effortlessly cross to the neighbor's lawn.

This neighbor was a former politician, with very classy young wives… er… wife and sister-in-law. It was very likely they weren't home at this time, considering their very active nightlife.

Their house was a classically designed home of three floors. It had intricate patterns, cornices, and others. Even the gutters had curves.

Checking the surroundings for monsters, she slowly walked towards the direction of the house.

Her steps were lithe and light, and her handy weapon was ready to be used at any time. It didn't take long for her to hear rustling and growling.

Her feet paused, waiting for the rustles to get closer, likely to be attracted by her arrival.

But when she stopped moving, the zombies no longer had a way to determine her location, and the two servant zombies ended up zoning around.

Her Armor of Zombie Goo was still useful, so they didn't actively attack her even as she approached them. She took them down quite easily.

[+5 copper, +5 experience]

[+5 copper, +5 experience]

[+5 copper, +5 experience]

Hey, practice made perfect. It had been a while since she practiced fencing, but she felt that she was getting pretty good.

She reached the door of the house and deliberately called for people in case the owner was still in the house.

She was not so desperate as to rob a house with the owner still in the house. "Hello? Anyone there?"

No answer. 

She asked again, "Hello?" 

Still, no answer. 

Seeing that there was no one home, she opened the door by destroying the handle. 

It happened very suddenly. She had not even stepped past the threshold when she heard a sudden gust of wind whip in her direction, something lunging at her from the shadows.

In a swift motion, she barely blocked the sharp teeth of the toy dog with the shaft.

Clang!

Her heart stopped for a moment as she gaped at the ferocious fangs snap shut mere inches away from her face.

The creature's horrid breath, combined with the smell of its decaying body, attacked her sense of smell. It was so rancid that she almost blacked out.

But she kept the bile down and kept defending herself, swinging the shaft to where her instincts told her to, eventually connecting to the skull of the creature.

She kicked it away and struck another direction, directly hitting the ribcage of the other one.

The shadows were thrown a few steps back in similar directions and Althea held her makeshift weapon, a little shaken from the shock.

There were indeed creatures that approached her but they were not zombies, but zombie dogs.

Their eyes were vacant and glazed, but their growls told her they were hungry for her meat.

A moment later, the two dogs lunged at her with speed that those previous zombies could not compare.

Fortunately, she was no longer taken by surprise and managed to avoid being mauled by their sharp fangs.

The dog she hit on the head already had an open skull. Its movements were slower and much easier to deal with.

Adrenaline flowing through her veins, Althea lifted the rod and, while avoiding the other dog's attack, threw down a powerful stroke that finally ended one of the dogs.

Not taking an extra breath, she turned her weapon to block a deadly bite, and she could see the metal handle slowly bending.

She shivered at how sharp the bites were and she immediately whipped the rod with the dog attached to it. 

It refused to budge. If anything, it was just bending her weapon.

Seeing that she may even lose control of her only weapon, she fought for the rod with all her strength, and they eventually ended up inside the house.

However, the dog's grip was too strong. Instead, she hit the rod with the dog towards the art feature with sharp edges. 

The dog's body splattered with blood and finally let go of her weapon. She hit it over and over until a familiar ding echoed in her head, and she finally heaved a sigh of relief.

[+10 copper, + 10 experience]

She dragged her feet to the door and closed it, for fear of new monsters being attracted by the noise.

At this time, she allowed herself a short moment of respite.

So animals turned to those monsters, too? And because of their physiques, they were also innately harder to deal with.

Most importantly, they could smell her underneath all this gruel…

She instinctively cradled her belly, feeling a little shaken.

It seemed that she still thought things too lightly.