"Oooh, I wonder what you're gonna do!" Tandem playfully stated as she floated upside down in the air. Her big vibrant eyes gazed mysteriously at Tamada for an extended amount of time before she looked at the door.
She was curious as to why his expression had changed so drastically in but a matter of a few seconds.
Tamada grasped the metal pipe with all his strength and walked up to the door once more. He took a deep breathe before unlocking and slamming to door open with all his strength. Without any hesitation, he pierced the metal pipe right at the zombie's neck.
The zombie was caught off guard by the sudden attack and it's sluggish movements weren't quick enough to evade such a surprise attack. The metal pipe struck the zombie's neck, going all the way through before an immense force pulled it back.
It was ripped out of the zombie's neck just as quick as it had entered, leaving murky red blood leaking from the wound. The zombie tried to attack Tamada, but to its surprise another attack had hit it.
The metal pipe struck again, this time going straight into the zombie's head, piercing its brain and quickly killing it. The pipe was yanked forcefully out of the zombie's head, leaving bits of mushy brain matter slowly falling from the wound.
Tandem looked surprised at Tamada's way of executing the zombie and wondered if he had done something like this before. Her eyes followed Tamada's every moment while containing a hint of amusement inside.
Tamada immediately closed the door and stared through the peep hole at the lifeless zombie. It had slumped over on the floor before it even had the chance to attack, and before long Tamada heard a message.
[You killed an Unranked Level 1 Undead! +2 Strength +2 Agility!]
Tamada's eyes contracted and he questioned whether or not he was going crazy because of the series of bizarre events that happened today. Tandem quickly spoke, reassuring him but also causing a pit of despair to open up in his heart.
"Don't be shocked, that is the voice of the Hexograph, allow me to explain. The Hexograph is an unknown entity that visits desolate universes and awakens the mana and various energies within them. It allows the inhabitants of said universe to acquire power, but the reason for this is as well as the Hexograph's origin is unknown. Since the awakening of your universe's mana was rather abrupt and not natural, some creatures that weren't able to cope with such a change were overwhelmed and transformed by the mana. Hence, why there was a zombie at your door."
Tandem gave a brief explanation of Tamada's current situation to him which startled him and left him with numerous questions. He stared at Tandem's fiery red hair, pale and ghostly-white skin and her bright yellow dress.
He was lost in thought for a moment before asking a question; though Tandem ended up interrupting him.
"You should probably open the door and get that skill scroll before somebody else does. It'd be a shame if someone else were to reap the rewards you worked for right?" Tamada was confused at this sudden statement, but when he looked through the peep hole again, he was shocked.
There was a small scroll emitting a mysterious aura alongside being shrouded in a ghostly teal-blue fire. The power it gave off shook Tamada to his soul and he immediately opened the door.
He quickly grabbed the skill scroll and slammed the door closed again. He held it in his hand for a moment before a screen abruptly appeared in his retina.
[Soul Manipulation (Active Skill) (Tier 1 Skill)]
[Users of Soul Manipulation can create shape and manipulate the soul, the incorporeal and immortal essence of a living thing, souls are usually most obviously present in sentient beings.]
Tamada stared blankly at the information about the skill scroll before turning his gaze towards Tandem, hoping for answers.
"Tier 1? To think you'd get a Tier 1 Active Skill on your first kill, you really are something, I'm glad my prediction wasn't off. Anyways, that skill of yours is something I haven't seen before, but I can guarantee you that It's powerful. To learn it, just think about wanting to learn it." Tandem said.
Her pseudo-explanation was extremely helpful and Tamada wasted no more time. He looked back at the skill scroll and closed his eyes, imagining learning the skill. Soon, the skill scroll turned into teal-blue light and flowed into his head.
Tamada felt something appear in his soul. Since he wasn't capable of feeling the presence of his own soul at first, this was quite the surprise.
"What?!" He was astonished; he recalled the information regarding the skill and tried to activate it.
He tried to go based off of the information he had learned in fantasy books and try to imagine the form of a weapon appearing, but Tandem quickly stopped him.
"Ah ah ah! You need to check your status screen first. It's essential that you know your own stats before you try to use skills." She said.
"Oh, right. How do I open my status screen? Is it the same way that I'm thinking?" He asked.
"Yep, it's just like what you're thinking, go ahead and give it a try." Tandem encouraged Tamada to open his status screen.
"Status screen." He said. Glowing blue letters quickly appeared within his eyes, displaying various bits of information about him that he believed he partly knew already.
[Tamada Koushin]
[Level: 1]
[Class: None]
[Health: 10] [Strength: 12]
[Defense: 9] [Agility: 14]
[Magic Power: 93] [Mana: 98]
[Stamina: 12]
Tamada carefully read his stats and his eyes stopped on the magic power and mana stats.
"Tandem, why is my magic power and mana so high? They're both at ninety-something!" He exclaimed. It wasn't a bad thing, it just shocked him to see some of his stats so high.
Tandem's lips curved into a mischievous smile and her the top half of her face darkened. She looked like somebody who was holding in a secret that they were dying to share.
"That's because you have quite the strong soul naturally! Your soul can only hold so many stat points without being strengthened! And the fact that your soul can hold hundreds of stat points without being strengthened once means you soul is quite strong!"