Stupid

Aria snickered in annoyance, however, she didn't falter despite the zombie running towards her.

'Light Manipulation: Light Arrows!' She thought, activating her skill. She hurriedly stretched her hand towards the zombie, and almost immediately, seven thin, light arrows materialised in front of her.

With a simple mental command, the arrows instantly streaked towards the zombie, each one moving through the air at rapid speed.

Within the blink of an eye, the attacks closed in on the creature. Four pierced through the joints on its arms and knees, while the other three stabbed deeply into its chest.

Growl!

The zombie growled loudly in frustration, as its tall, bony frame came crashing down unto the ground with a low thud.

The light arrows rapidly disintegrated into tiny white particles, leaving deep holes around its upper body.

A thick greenish black liquid slowly oozed out the wounds inflicted by the arrow, gently dripping down its skinny torso.

Growl!!!

The zombie growled in anger, its skin contracting deeply, revealing its ribs and a set of irritating black veins.

Crack!!

Crack!!

Suddenly, the bones in its arms and joints started twisting unnaturally, with sounds of its bones literally breaking and reforming echoing in the air.

Its body swiftly bent backwards, with its torso pointing upwards and its large palms resting firmly on the ground. Its neck slowly twisted, causing more cracking sounds to echo in the air, and its head turned upside down.

Blake's eyes widened in shock, as he watched the zombie's body twist and bend until it stood on all fours like an animal.

'What the hell…' He thought, his eyes flashing with a mix of fear and shock.

Growl!

The zombie growled furiously at Aria, with its upside-down head twitching uncontrollably, and drool leaking from the sides of its mouth.

Aria's brows furrowed slightly in disgust as she stared at twitching head of the zombie. 'Disgusting.' She thought.

Growl!!!

The zombie growled loudly, before suddenly leaping towards Aria with its forelimbs stretched out, hoping to pin her down.

'Fast!' Aria thought in surprise, before swiftly jumping backwards, causing the zombie's claws to miss her and crash into the ground instead.

Compared to the before, the zombie was now twice faster, coupled with its long, thin limbs, which only helped to boost its speed further.

Fortunately, her guard had been up from the start, so she was able to escape the zombie's attack.

Growl!

The zombie snarled in frustration, as its body came crashing down on the harsh floor.

Without giving the creature anytime to recover, Aria swiftly activated her skill once more.

'Light Manipulation: Light beam!' She shouted inwardly, as she stretched her hand towards the zombie.

Hummm!!

Almost immediately, numerous tiny, white dots gathered in front of her palm, rapidly merging together into a small, white ball of light that illuminated the surroundings.

Growl!!

Sensing the danger in the attack, the zombie growled loudly, before suddenly lunging towards her with its mouth wide open, revealing a set of greenish brown fangs.

However, before it could even get to her, a thin, bright, white beam instantly shot from the middle of the ball, streaking towards the zombie's forehead with insane speed.

The zombie could barely react, as the light beam penetrated straight into its forehead, rapidly roasting its brains, before drilling a hole on the other side.

Crack!

The beam, having ripped through the zombie's head, didn't stop, and only reduced greatly in power, crashing into the ground behind it. The impact scattered tiny stone particles and created a deep cave-in on the floor.

For a few seconds, the zombie's body froze, smoke rising from the hole in its head, before its lifeless body finally collapsed to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Blake's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the dead body of the zombie. 'So much power… what kind of skill is that?' He thought.

His lightning ball couldn't even make a dent on the zombie's skin, yet, Aria's attack had completely blasted through its head.

Remembering how excited he felt when he realised he gained lightning ball, he felt quite stupid now.

He shook his head slightly in self-disappointment, as he thought about how weak and useless he was against a single bony zombie. 'And here I was… thinking lightning ball is a powerf—'

While he was still lost in his thoughts, two transparent yellow balls slowly rose up from the zombie's body; one small, and one about twice bigger.

The smaller ball rapidly floated towards Blake who was still paralysed by the wall, before sinking into his chest, while the larger ball went into Aria.

[You have absorbed the records of Level 14 Bony zombie. Strength +6, Agility +2, Endurance +5]

[Level up! You have reached level 13!]

[Level up rewards: +5 status points]

A set of notifications rapidly appeared in front of Blake, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

A warm sensation gently spread around his chest, strengthening him and filling him with satisfaction,

He hadn't expected that he would also gain rewards from the zombie's death, given as he wasn't the one that ended its life.

Seeing the amount of stats he got from that small portion of the records alone, his eyes subconsciously drifted to Aria, who got the main part of it.

'I wonder how much stronger she just got.' Blake thought, with a wry smile on his face.

"Hey! Can you get up now?" Aria's asked, breaking Blake out of his thoughts. She waved her hands in front of her, clearing the system notifications that flashed across her eyes.

Though she was quite satisfied with the stats she got from the zombie, she still felt a little down that she didn't get any treasure or weapon from it.

"Huh?" Blake mumbled, his mind finally coming back to his present predicament.

"Arrgh." He groaned softly, as he tried getting up from the ground. Now that he noticed it, the pains from his back had greatly reduced, and though it was still agonising, it was at least bearable.

At first, he still couldn't muster the strength to get up on his feet, but after trying a few more times, he was finally able to stand up.

"Arrgh." A soft groan of pain escaped his lips, as he rested his hand on the wall behind him. He could still feel his back burning with pain, and his legs felt numb.

"Can you even walk properly… I don't want to be stuck with deadweight." Aria said, her words piercing through Blake's heart like an arrow.

'Deadweight?' Blake thought, with a wry smile on his face.

"You don't have to worry about me holding you back, I can stand on my own." Blake replied with a slight smile, before standing upright.

While his legs were still shaking, he was still able to maintain his balance.

"And before we leave here, there's something I need to confirm." Aria said, her words causing Blake's brows to curl up in confusion.

"Take off your clothes." Aria said in a flat voice, with a slight frown on her face.

"Huh? For what?" Blake asked, with a weird glint flashing through his eyes.

"You were hit by that zombie, how am I supposed know you're not infected?" Aria said coldly, casting a glance outside the building.

"Hmm… I guess that makes sense." Blake mumbled under his breath. Now that he thought about it, how was he even sure he didn't get infected?

After all, the zombie hand did touch him when it send him flying through the bungalow.

Thinking about it, his heart started to beat faster at the thought of being infected. He could still remember vividly how his mother turned into a zombie all from getting a single scratch from one, so he knew better than anyone else that even a scratch from zombies could be deadly.

'I really shouldn't have rushed at the zombie like that…' Blake mumbled inwardly, with beads of sweat running down his forehead.