"No, no, what is Kohaku?"
"Oh, it's her name, she's a fox."
Eliza couldn't say anything anymore, one look at Riku and she could tell that Riku was enamored. She only wished that Riku wasn't like those obsessed cat owners that had 20 cats and still wanted more.
Riku was able to notice her concern, so he reassured her.
"Don't worry when something's wrong, I won't hesitate to act."
Riku wasn't attached to Kohaku, although he likes the fox he didn't think of keeping it as a pet. There was barely any information when it comes to evolved animals, the only reason why the animal is on his shoulder is that it didn't leave him alone. Whenever he tried to leave the fox behind it will cry like a puppy and bite his shoelace, holding on to it even if it was dragged across the floor.
Having no choice he decided to just name it, Kohaku was after all behaved and her small canines weren't a threat to either Riku or Eliza.
Kohaku was smart and docile when it comes to Riku and had an excellent sense of seeing, smelling, and hearing, on their way back it sniffed the air and its ears twitched before it growled towards a house. Riku, who was wary of Kohaku's behavior, watched the house, but nothing appeared so they continued walking when 3 zombies came out of the house.
Their way back was easier thanks to Kohaku who warned them when there's a zombie nearby. It'd either bark or growl in a specific direction only to stop when Riku pats its head. Whenever Riku has to fight he just has to put Kohaku on the ground and it'll wait patiently until Riku would come and pick it up.
[Congratulations! You are now level 5 and you have gained an additional 3 status points and 2 skill points.]
[Name: Takahashi Riku
Age: 18
Strength: 16
Intelligence: 15 (+4)
Vitality: 15
Agility: 16
Dexterity: 11 (+1)
Status points to allocate: 0
Skills: 3
Physical Skill:
Melee Weapon Techniques Level 1
Passive skills:
Psychological Distress Immunity Level 1
Unique Skill:
Appraisal
Skill points to allocate: 8
Equipment:
Ring of Hope, Mask of Pareidolia
Set Item: Bones (1)
Bone gauntlet
Titles: "The First Survivor", "Undying"]
[Mask of Pareidolia, a mask used in a mysterious cult, rumors say that a demonic entity is behind the cult and its members. When equipped the user gains the ability "Scarring Vision and an additional 2 status points are added to Intelligence]
Scarring vision allows the user to target up to 5 targets with weak mental strength and make the targets see an illusion of their fears and nightmares. Ability can be used to focus on 1 target or spread up to 5 targets, for every increase of a target is a decrease in effectiveness.]
Riku has also reached level 5 and he got a piece of equipment and now he was only 1 point away from being able to use the [Appraisal] after he allocated 3 status points to intelligence which he was excited about. Eliza was still level 4 but she was also able to get a leather vest.
[Vest of Resistance, a leather vest worn by a survivor of a now-destroyed world. When equipped an additional 3 status points are added to Vitality.]
The number of zombies, they had to kill was rising at an exponential rate so they were also staying outside longer than before. They considered going out at night, but the growls and the howls made them decide against it.
They were currently killing zombies when they heard the scream of a woman followed by a roar.
The sound of running can be heard getting near them along with the sound of heavy footsteps.
After hiding behind a car, they waited and saw a woman desperately running away from a 3m meter monster.
Its arms were twice the size of a log and it was purely black and covered with scales. Its mouth had two sets of razor-sharp teeth and the rest of its body was simply muscular like a bodybuilder.
"What the f*ck is that?" Riku couldn't help but question the monster in front of him. The things they saw outside at least resembled some animals, but what they saw now was simply out of the norms.
"Should we help her?" Eliza asked. She didn't genuinely want to help but she knew they had to eventually face more monsters like the one in front of them so there was no reason why they shouldn't just help her now.
Riku, who knew her quite well enough realized this and he could only hesitate for a second but nod with a grim face. A part of him wanted to use the woman to see what the monster was capable of but if they waited for too long they might lose the element of surprise and at the same time using his kind as bait was against his principles and he didn't want to do it unless he was in dire straits.
Riku immediately walked around the monster and when he was at its back, he immediately charged at it and swung the hatchet at its back. He wanted to aim for its head, but it was simply too tall and he didn't want to jump, in case the monster had incredible senses. He intended to lacerate its back, but his sharp hatchet could barely reach an inch deep at its extremely tough back.
The monster must've felt the hatchet as it roared before turning around to face Riku. Eliza not wanting to miss the opportunity ran and swung her baseball bat towards the back of its knee. The monster fell on one knee, but it swung its arm towards Riku who was moving back. The arm barely missed Riku, he was able to feel pressure and he knew if that hit the least of his worries would be broken bones.
Seeing an opening Riku immediately swung his hatchet towards its head. The hatchet was embedded in its head and thinking to himself that it was dead, he was about to retrieve the hatchet when he saw the monster's arms coming down to crush him.
"Riku Watch out!"
Eliza could only scream as she watched its arms, she swung her baseball bat towards the other knee. Riku didn't have the time to react and just moments away from being crushed by its arms Kohaku pounced on him making him fall to the side.
The ground shook slightly as the arms reached the ground. The concrete was cracked and deformed into the shape of its hand. Riku could only imagine what he would be had Kohaku not reacted in time.
As much as he wanted to hug Kohaku he had no choice but to focus on the monster as it roared in anger.
It was now down to both of its knees and the monster just barely missed Riku, who was now running toward it with the other hatchet. Eliza also went in front of it and swung her baseball bat towards the hatchet that dug deeper into its skull before distancing herself followed by Riku who immediately struck the head of the monster with his hatchet. In its last throes, the monster swung its arms towards Riku, who was just about to distance himself.
Caught off-guard the arm was able to hit Riku in the chest and was sent flying. The monster dropped a box, but Eliza didn't care about that, she immediately ran towards Riku, who was coughing blood while holding his chest.
He felt like a few of his ribs were broken and he could only take shallow breaths as he tries to breathe normally, but every time he breathes in he felt intense pain. It was painful yet he was relieved that the wounds of the monster have weakened it if it was in a better condition it probably wouldn't just break a few of his ribs but the other thing that made him happy was the announcement
[Congratulations! You are now level 6 and you have gained an additional 3 status points and 2 skill points.]
He didn't have the time to think about it though, as the pain he felt intensified. He could only request Eliza to bring him back home. The box was covered with a cloth and tied before Kohaku carried it with her mouth.
Eliza assisted Riku back home, sometimes she has to put him on the ground to fight zombies that were on their way. The woman they saved just silently followed them and Eliza didn't have the time to worry about her.
When they reached the apartment Eliza made Riku lie on the bed. Removing his shirt, she could see that his chest was bruised and slightly caved in. Eliza wasn't a nurse or a doctor, but she knew that she couldn't treat his chest without any medical knowledge otherwise she might endanger his life further. She had no choice but rely on his natural recovery, she opened the box in hopes of getting a piece of equipment that boosts the vitality.
[Ambrogio's Spear, a weapon wielded by a human who was cursed by a god during ancient times. When equipped the ability [Vampiric] can be gained and an additional 4 status points are added to Strength.]
[Vampiric, as the first vampire's weapon, it can heal the user with his/her every attack on an enemy.]
Fortunately or unfortunately, she didn't get armor, which she was hoping for but luckily the weapon could heal the user. Eliza just needed to wait for Riku to recover slightly, Riku was able to walk, but he couldn't do much besides that so she decided to see the woman.
Kohaku was watching the woman that came along, but she didn't do anything aside from wait for Eliza. She didn't get a good look before now that she was looking at her, bruises can be seen on her face and there were marks on her wrists that suggest that she was tied before using a rope or something. Eliza didn't want to waste time and directly asked.
"Why did you follow us?"
"I wanted to thank you and warn you at the same time."
The woman was searching for something to eat when she heard a group of people shouting. They claimed that they were there to save the other survivors. Desperate and hungry, she didn't doubt the ones shouting and approached the group only to see 3 men with guns pointing it towards 2 tied women. She was just about to run away, but unfortunately, the group has already seen her and threatened to shoot her.
She was captured and she saw how those 3 men would ravage all the women they captured. Sometimes one of the three men would bring a woman somewhere after a few hours the man would return alone, then the next day they'd have meat that they claimed they got from hunting animals.
"They're lunatics, especially their leader. You two seemed nicer in comparison to them so I wanted to warn you, I admit that you two are strong but they have guns."
The woman initially told her story with anger in her voice but at the end of her story there was no longer any emotion in her voice.
"I'll take my leave now, I hope you two wouldn't have to meet them."
Eliza was initially in a dazed state, but she stopped the woman before saying.
"If you can kill the zombies, you can become stronger."
The woman just stared at her and she smiled weakly before leaving the apartment. Eliza felt like that would be the last time they'd meet. When the woman was gone, Eliza didn't know what to think.
The zombies and the animals were terrifying, but they were at the very least acceptable because they were no longer capable of rational thought, but to think that humans would do something even worse was just horrible to imagine.
She could only pray that what has said would come true. She was ready to kill whatever monster it was coming their way, she couldn't say the same for humans though. She didn't think Riku was capable of killing humans as well considering how guilty Riku was for killing a zombie.
Perhaps if they had any experience killing a human before the zombies ever appeared they wouldn't mind killing another one, however that expecting too much from someone like Riku and Eliza.
Riku was on the bed unaware of what had transpired in the other room. He allocated 2 status points to vitality and the remaining one to intelligence. After allocating his points he finally had enough to fulfill the requirements of his unique skill [Appraisal].
He thought of activating the skill and various descriptions appeared on everything he looked at, he didn't know if it worked on living things and just when he was about to call Kohaku.
His head started to ache as he thought about deactivating the skill. The unique skill made his head hurt when activated yet he was about it.
He has also used 6 skill points to level up [Melee Weapon Techniques] and [Psychological Distress Immunity] to level 2. The physical skill didn't help Riku much when it came to the spear, aside from stances, now that it leveled up. He learned the basics of piercing, swinging and throwing spears.