Fierce Battle

Rael's heart raced as the massive red dog charged toward him. He tightened his grip on his sword and took a defensive stance, ready to face this unexpected adversary.

'This doggo seems to not like pats…' As Rael thought this, he saw that the dangerous creature was ready to attack.

The giant red dog closed the distance with astonishing speed, its bloodshot eyes fixed on Rael. With a powerful leap, it lunged at him, jaws gaping wide, aiming to tear him apart. Rael had only a split second to react.

He sidestepped with lightning reflexes, narrowly avoiding the dog's deadly bite. The creature crashed into the corridor wall with a thunderous impact, leaving deep cracks in the concrete.

'Shit! That's a lot of damage.'

Rael seized this opportunity to counterattack. With a swift and precise strike, he slashed his sword across the dog's flank. The blade cut through the creature's flesh, drawing a gash that oozed dark, foul-smelling blood.

The giant red dog howled in pain and fury, its massive body recoiling from the injury. It turned to face Rael again, saliva dripping from its bared fangs, its eyes filled with even more rage.

'It got pissed huh, guess what… I'm the same.'

Rael wasn't about to back down. He had faced zombies, leveled up, and acquired new equipment; he was more than ready for this unexpected challenge. He watched the dog's movements carefully, waiting for the right moment to strike.

As the dog lunged once more, Rael dodged to the side and aimed for its exposed underbelly. With a powerful swing, his sword sliced through the creature's flesh once more, causing it to yelp in agony.

"GRAWRR!"

"Shut up doggo!" Shouted Rael when he heard the giant red dog's miserable screams.

The giant red dog staggered back, clearly weakened by Rael's attacks. But it wasn't ready to give up just yet. It gathered its strength for another assault, this time more desperate and ferocious.

Rael knew he had to finish this quickly. He took a deep breath, focused his energy, and channeled all his power into his sword. With a final, mighty swing, he delivered a devastating blow, aiming for the dog's head.

The sword struck true, and the giant red dog let out a final, pained howl before collapsing to the ground, lifeless. Rael stood there, panting and covered in sweat, victorious in his unexpected battle.

As the adrenaline rush subsided, Rael couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment.

(Ding! Congratulations on leveling up!)

Unfortunately, there was no drop on the ground for him to pick up.

"What a miser, not even an item…" Sighing, Rael felt a bit tired about the challenging fight. Still, his tiredness washed away after knowing that he won, against such a powerful foe no less.

He was pretty sure that normal bullets would do little to no damage to this mutated dog.

'Could this be why the gunshots ceased earlier? Did this dog kill the guards? Wait…did he level up from them?!'

Rael's brain was in overdrive trying to come up with another answer, but this was the most plausible one that he could think of.

After shaking his head, his thoughts returned to normal.

Not only had he leveled up again, but he had also defeated a formidable opponent. He knew he had much to learn and many challenges ahead, but this experience had made him more confident in his abilities.

With the giant red dog defeated, Rael quickly checked his System once more to see how this battle had affected his character profile and XP.

**Character Profile**

[Name]: Rael

[Bloodline]: None

[Level]: 8

[Experience Point](XP)**: 950/25600

**Attributes**

- Strength: 25(+9)

- Stamina: 26(+10)

- Intelligence: 12

- Agility: 28(+8)

- Perception: 20

- Attribute Points: 3

Rael couldn't help but smile as he saw the improvements in his attributes. He knew that this was just the beginning of his journey in this strange apocalyptic world, but he was determined to continue growing stronger.

With the battle over, Rael went back to the door where he had left Maria and opened it. She looked at him with a mix of relief and awe.

"You did it," she said, her eyes wide.

Rael nodded. "Yeah, it was unexpected, but I managed. Let's keep moving. I have a feeling this prison holds more surprises for us."

Together, they ventured deeper into the prison, ready to face the challenges and mysteries that lay ahead.

After a few more minutes of walking, Rael's eyes lit up, he quickly put his unused attributes points into Perception, thus, bringing it to 23.

"Maria, stay here. I think I heard something ahead of us."

Hearing Rael say that, Maria quickly believed him.

Seeing this, Rael's eyes glinted with surprise, he didn't expect this woman to be so foolish as to believe him like that.

In fact, Rael heard some people whispering and this prompted him to think they were some guards that took refuge, most probably afraid of the giant red dog.

He thought they were perfect to serve as XP for him.

"Go and hide in this room for a while, I think there are a lot of zombies ahead, I don't want you to be in danger." Playing his cards right, Rael was happy to see Maria nodding at him like a chicken.

He watched as the woman quickly entered the room to their right, before taking his sword in hand and preparing himself for the next hunt.

Since Rael's speed was even higher than the doggo- than the giant red dog, he was confident enough in being able to evade bullets.

Not only his speed mattered, but his Perception was also playing a huge role in this.

When Rael got in front of the room, he heard a few whispers, "Donovan took most of the guards to the gym, since there's only one entrance there, they could better kill those mindless zombies that only know how to charge ahead."

Said a man, who sounded somewhat angry.

"Indeed. Well, can't blame him, I would've done the same."

"Yes, but he also took our provisions, saying that there was a need for them, but they already managed to move tons of provisions to the gym."

"Be quiet. We don't want that monster to find us."

In total, four people talked, but Rael heard a few more noises inside, probably made by other people who didn't want to take part in the discussion.

"If that monster wanted to find and kill us, he would've already done so. He's a mutated dog, you know? Good smell and all that stuff."

When Rael heard a young voice butting in, he couldn't help but find it funny how his remark sounded.

And thinking about it, Rael thought it made sense. Since the giant red dog was a normal dog before, wouldn't his sense of smell be enhanced by a few times now that he was stronger?

'He was probably occupied with killing others before he was attracted to me and didn't bother himself with these guys.'

After not hearing anything else from the guards, Rael made up his mind to rush inside the room and try to quickly finish them off.

Though, he may have some plans for the young man he heard speaking earlier.