Treasures

[The what?]

I asked myself while looking at the gem that I held in my hand.

[How do I use it?]

After thinking for a while I squished it as hard as I could and it started glowing.

[What the?]

The orb shot out a beam of light in all directions and disappeared. What now appeared in front of me was a pair of black shoes whose sole was made of some type of black metal while the rest was made of a black cloth that seemed too sturdy to be leather.

| Ninja boots

| Rarity: rare

| Treasure orb equipment

| Armor value: 30 (feet only)

| Durability: 100/100

| Effects:

| +7 agility

| Wearer can jump while in the air

[... shieeet]

That's good, that's extremely good. The protection of the feet in itself is amazing, but with the agility and a fucking double jump, holy.

At first it seemed that the boots were a little too big for me, but I still tried wearing them. When I put them on the boots shrunk to the exact size of my feet and were surprisingly comfy. Immediately after equipping them I felt a difference in my speed. However while trying to double jump I found myself flabbergasted. It seemed so simple yet it was so frustrating to fail every time.

I decided to try further when I came back home. Also while making my way back I looked through all of the bodies of defeated zombies and mutants but I didn't find any other treasure orbs.

[You win some you lose some]

After organizing my food I decided to take a look around my city looking for survivors and maybe some more difficult fights.

I packed a first aid kit and some canned food into my backpack, equipped a ninjata onto my back before putting my backpack on. While pondering on what my main weapon would be this time I decided to go with a Zweihander even though it's a big sword with enough experience you can maneuver it fairly easily.

With a Zweihander resting on my shoulder and a ninjata which I can quickly access on my back, I ventured into the city to slaughter my enemies. As for why I would do this? The thrill of battle made me feel. Feel alive, feel the adrenaline rushing through my blood. From the start of this "Apocalypse" I felt an unusual amount of emotions and stress which can be addicting if you're deprived of them. Because of this "addiction" I felt as If I was drawn into battle with entities that can pose a challenge to me unlike zombies that go down in one swift stab, jab or slash, even though I haven't fought anything like that yet.

| Title acquired: "Battle Junkie"

| After experiencing the thrill of battle for the first time it made you addicted, searching for more dangerous enemies and more challenging foes. Go forth and slay them all and stand atop all of them on the peak of the mountain made from their corpses

| Effects:

| Upon entering into a fight with an entity stronger than you +10% to all stats

| Winning and killing stronger foes will provide even more additional statistics and levels

[... I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that.]

֍ ֍ ֍

Somewhere else in the city of Srok.

[Don't let them in, we have to protect the young lady!]

A group of armed men were standing in front of the building with two snipers on the roof. In front of them a horde of zombies advanced towards them.

[I don't think using guns was a good idea in this situation!]

One of the guards shouted as he emptied another mag into the horde.

[Shut the fuck up Joe and just shoot!]

֍ ֍ ֍

[No humans, eh]

The streets were devoid of human life with survivors either dead or hiding in their houses but otherwise the streets were a zombie fest. The sight of the destroyed town with undead on it's streets was gruesome.

[Mutated dogs and cats sure are a pain in the ass]

I muttered to myself while cutting off a mutated dog's head.

| Level up

[Yea, yea whatever]

I cleared the streets of mutated beasts and zombies as I made my way to the city center.

[I hope that there is something interesting there]

As I progressed the number of zombies and mutated animals was increasing, but with every step one or two fell to the ground, dead.

| Level up

With every level my sword became lighter and zombies became slower. Bit by bit I was able to face more and more enemies at the same time.

At level 6 I could kill 3 zombies at the same time, even though they look horrible and smell even worse they are quite weak and slow, but their strength lies in their numbers so I made sure that only 5 zombies at most came into my striking distance.

Constantly checking if I'm not surrounded was quite distracting, but it made the fight more fun. The more difficult it felt, the more I was exhausted, the more zombies fell the more I felt alive. The thrill of battle as I would say.

I moved by streets, clearing them one by one and after killing everything there I took a moment to rest and check the bodies for treasures. I found two rares after clearing about 6 streets..

| Juk Vest

| Rarity: rare

| Treasure orb equipment

| Armor value: 60

| Durability: 140/140

| Effects:

| +8 health

| +6 stamina

| Juk kneepads

| Rarity: rare

| Treasure orb equipment

| Armor value: 20

| Durability: 200/200

| Effects:

| +5 strength

| Any fall lower than 8 meters will not deal any damage to the wearer

Juk Vest was a typical black bulletproof vest that was surprisingly light and didn't restrict my movements in even the slightest bit. Kneepads were also black and looked like military issued equipment and fitted surprisingly well and didn't move even a centimeter after equipping them. I couldn't comprehend how this worked but everything from the treasure orb fitted perfectly the moment I put it on.

With my new equipment I ventured once again into the streets of my city while slashing at the zombies that seemed endless. No matter how much I killed, even if I cleared the street the next one was almost full of zombies. The time needed to clear one street depended on the number of zombies so I could clear some in minutes but others needed an hour or two.

[Why are there no survivors? Or did they barricade themselves in their houses? Well anyways, what the hell is this?]

I muttered to myself while looking from the corner of my current street to another. A giant stood in the middle of the road. He looked like a zombie but mutated, he was higher and bigger. 3 meters tall and 2 meters wide, hands like trunks and his legs like pillars.

{Holy shit}

Ran through my mind as I looked at him wondering how I should tackle him. Is it better to escape or engage into the fight?

[Ah, fuck this]

I sighed as I started looking around on how to get to the roof of the houses, luckily for me the street this giant was standing in was a tenement so I wouldn't have any trouble getting from roof to roof. But first I needed to get on the roof.

[Is it possible to scale this building and get to the roof?]

I looked up and looked for places I can catch on to and stand on. After deciding I would try to climb the house in front of me I decided I will run if I somehow alert the giant or fall to the ground.

{It's a good thing I don't have a fear of heights or I would be screwed.}

After some time I finally managed to scale the whole building, but it sure was nerve wracking, thanks to the Juk Kneepads I didn't have to worry about the fall damage, but it wasn't exactly pleasant climbing without equipment. After resting for a little bit I started to make my way to the building that was perpendicular to the giant zombie.

{He sure looks fucking gross, now, how should I kill him? Scrolls. Ho, it even works without having to say it out loud.}

| Name: Aron

| Race: human

| Class: -

| Title: "Emotionless" , "Battle Junkie"

| Level: 9

| Statistics:

| Strength: 32(+5)

| Dexterity: 46

| Agility: 32(+7)

| Health: 40(+8)

| Stamina: 40/44(+6)

| Mana: 30/30

| Attunement: 18

| Will: 35

| Undistributed points: 9

| Active skills: "Extreme focus" level 4 generation 2

| Passive skills: "Fast recovery" level 3 generation 1

{Hm? Fast recovery leveled up?}

| Fast Recovery level 3 generation 1

| Type: passive

| Acquired by the host

| By going beyond your limits almost daily your body adapted and now recovers quicker and tire less easily

| Effects:

| Stamina recovery: +7%

| Stamina usage: -7%

{How should I distribute my free points?}

I wondered and after a quick thought I put 3 points into strength and 2 into agility.

| Strength: 32(+5) → 35(+5)

| Agility: 32(+7) → 35(+7)

| Undistributed points: 4

As I looked at the giant below me I wondered how much strength and health he had and if it was even possible for me to take it on.

[Agh, fuck it]

I mumbled as I prepared to jump off the roof of the building I was standing on. I decided that the best course of action was to use the kneepads I recently acquired and just jump onto the giant zombie with my zweihander pointed downwards.

A few steps backwards, a moment to focus and then I activated 'Extreme focus' and using all of my might I sprinted forward and at the last moment jumped into the air with my sword pointing downwards.

As I was falling down I looked at the zombie, it was still oblivious that I was above it because I tried to act as silently as I could. When It finally realized what I was doing it was too late and there was no time to evade my sword.

And then the sound of metal piercing flesh and crushing bone echoed through the empty street. I pierced his left shoulder. As the zombie yelled I put both of my legs on his collarbone and using all of my strength jumped pulling my zweihander out of his shoulder. After landing on the ground 2 meters before him without hesitation I charged at him and aimed for his legs, especially the achilles tendons.

The angry giant started punching towards me, his fists tore through the air and threatened with at least a few broken bones. I either evaded or deflected his fist with my sword. As I got closer and closer to the zombie his right arm was slowly tearing from his torso because of the strength he was using in his punches and the massive hole I left in there. When I finally got close to his legs his right arm was no longer there and had fallen to the ground. Using this I quickly slided behind the giant zombie and quickly slashed at his ankles immobilizing him. After the zombie fell to his knees I swiftly beheaded him with a strike in which I used all of my strength.

All of this happened in a matter of at most 2 minutes and even then was extremely tiring.

[Holy shit, I actually did it]

I said to myself as I sat on the concrete breathing heavily.

{Even though 'Extreme focus' uses only 1 stamina per minute I don't think I can have it on for more than ten minutes, it is mentally exhausting}

I thought as I checked my body for scratches or any other injuries. Somehow I was fine but the mental exhaustion was there. I stood up and took a few steps to inspect the zombie's corpse for any treasures.

{HOLY SHIT}

| Treasure orb:

| Rarity: exotic