Chereads / Prey Runs Free / Chapter 19 - Zombies!

Chapter 19 - Zombies!

~Splash~

Stepping out of the portal, Kai fell into the knee-high brown water. Everywhere he looked, water followed. Protruding the water were giant gray trees. The trees didn't have any leaves, only dead branches.

Occasional there was tall grass around some trees.

The sun was only partly showing. With a dark sky, there was little light, just enough to see 100 feet in front.

Looking into the distance, Kai could see shadow figures walking toward him.

'I wonder what could be in this dungeon.'

Kai wanted to stay on the first floor and read his books. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a place where he could read.

The tree branches were far too high for him to climb. The thought of using his claws entered his mind, but what if he used a little more strength and slashed straight through the tree trunk?

'Hopefully, the next floor has land or somewhere I can read at.'

~Slush Slush~

The shadow figures were getting closer, yet the speed was only slightly faster than a Green King Caterpillar.

Looking around, Kai couldn't find anything that would lead him to the next portal.

Before, he had a dirt path to walk on, or a giant rose in the sky. However, this time he had no idea where to go.

'Whatever those shadow figures are, they must be in the direction of the portal, right?'

With nothing else to go on, he started walking toward the shadow figures through the water.

"Mmaaahh"

"AHHHHH"

"Ughhh"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Kai looked at the shadow figures, 'Are they grunting?'

Slowly as he got closer, the light finally descended on the shadows, expelling the shadows, revealing...

"I gotta finish this dungeon quickly. There's no way I'm eating that.'

Soft gray decaying skin, with bones showing, crooked black teeth, and lifeless black eyes. Black torn cloth around their waist.

'The hell are those things?'

"{Inspect}!"

{Zombie}

{Tier 1:Level 1}

Three zombies were slowly but surely coming at Kai. With each step, they would grunt, limping toward him. It made Kai feel weird.

Seeing their decaying flesh and falling off skin, he didn't want to be on this floor for much longer.

One of the Zombies even had a hole through the chest, big enough to look through.

Taking out his dagger, Kai continued walking toward the small group.

'How are these things tier 1?' Kai thought it was ridiculous for them to be tier 1 when they could barely walk.

Kai quickly dealt with the three zombies, earning himself 75 experience.

{Level Up!}

~Slush~

Moving on, he decided to keep going where the Zombies came from. Hoping it would lead him to the next floor portal.

"Haha, at least I'll have some fun!"

Ten, no twenty Zombies! Emerging from the darkness, slowly coming for Kai.

"{Shapeshift}!"

White mist covered Kai for only a few seconds before he emerged, a tall, fierce Werewolf.

Looking at his white-purple fur and black claws, Kai grinned, showing his sharp, long fangs.

Going on all fours, he leaped through the swamp water. At first, he felt weird, but then it changed to as normal as walking on two legs. Because he was Werewolf, his instincts helped him gain control of his limbs.

Arriving at the group of zombies in only a few seconds. Testing his claws, Kai sliced straight through a zombie, killing the undead.

Jumping from zombie to zombie, slicing and stomping on them. Kai massacred the group in only a few minutes.

Adding up the total, Kai earned 400 experience points.

'It really is hard to level up in tier 1.'

'Ahh, what was it again? [Collect]'

{Obtained, Zombie Flesh x20}

{Obtained, Zombie eye x26}

'Aha, now this is helpful. It seems some of the zombies didn't have two eyes, or I destroyed them.'

Venturing forward, Kai decided to stay in his Werewolf form. He was much faster in this form, and he didn't get much of a chance to stay in this form. This was the perfect place to practice his Werewolf form.

Broken stone walls started appearing randomly through the water, like ruins of a once big building.

'It seems I'm close.'

~Uhhhhh~

~MAAAAA~

More grunts came from the darkness.

Walking through the water, his foot sank slightly.

'A trap?!'

Jumping back, he looked around, searching for any changes.

~Boom~

Just then, a bright red light erupted from the darkness, reaching high in the sky.

The red light illuminated all the surroundings with a red hue.

"Hahaha, now this will be fun!"

The darkness was gone, replaced with a mossy stone pyramid; the red light shot through the middle of the pyramid, with a slightly blue glow at the top. Zombies infested the surroundings. The stairs up to the top had bigger and uglier Zombies than the ones that surrounded the bottom.

'So the boss and portal are at the top, hehe.'

Showing his fangs, he howled, showing his intentions.

Jumping from Zombie to Zombie, Kai made his way toward the stairs.

Fortunately, Zombies had little to no blood, so his racial ability didn't trigger. Back when he fought in the blue district and Floo, he made sure not to touch any blood. It was only because he was so much stronger and caught the others off guard that he wasn't injured, and therefore he didn't make contact with any blood.

Kai was curious how it would feel to activate his passive ability, but he wouldn't willingly touch any blood.

After killing the thirty zombies on the ground, Kai started climbing up the stairs.

{Earned 495 Experience Points}

{Obtained, Zombie Flesh x30}

{Obtained, Zombie Eye x50}

{Obtained, Silver Sword x1}

'Oh, I can get other items from killing normal monsters? If I farm a lot, will I get rare items?'

The idea excited him. The possibility of getting better gear meant he could take on more dungeons.

"{Inspect}."

{Zombie Warrior}

{Tier 1:Level-10}

The Zombie Warriors were 6 feet tall, wielding giant wooden clubs with spikes on the ends. They all wore black cloth around their waist. Gray rotting flesh, Kai could even see the rib cage of a Zombie.

A total of twenty Zombie Worriers protected the way to the top of the pyramid.

Showing his fangs, his tail wagged. If it weren't for his monstrous and terrifying appearance, one would think he was a happy dog.

Running up to the first Zombie Warrior, Kai empowered his claws with his Will power, [Slash]. His claws glowed brighter.

~Boom~

His claws left deep marks on Zombie Warrior; green blood sprayed on Kai's fur. Swinging its club, it struck Kai's back, sending him flying a few feet.

Standing up, Kai's eyes glowed red.

[Blood Rush]

{+25% Stat Bonus}

Standing up, Kai could feel his thoughts being blocked; the only thing he could think of was killing.

"HAHAHA"

Launching at the Zombie, Warrior Kai swung his claws at its neck, ending its undead life.

Looking toward the next Zombie Warrior, Kai howled into the sky.

Running toward it, Kai jumped high in the sky; both his claws glowed white. [Slash]

An 'X' mark appeared on the Zombie Worrier's chest where Kai attacked.

~Boom~

The Zombie Warrior fell over.

Continuing his rampage, Kai jumped from Zombie Warrior to Zombie Worrier, executing them as he climbed the stairs.

It was only after Kai had killed the final Zombie Warrior that Kai had awoken from his [Blood Rush] state.

Climbing the final step, he had a full view of the platform. At the end was the blue portal, protecting the portal was the Floor Guardian. The Floor Guardian was a Zombie only slightly smaller than a Zombie Warrior. It wore full metal armor and a silver sword in its hand. Its blue eyes glowed from behind its metal helmet.

"{Inspect}!"

{Zomva- The Undead Knight-Floor Guardian}

{Tier 1:Level-15}

'This could be bad.' Looking over at his system notifications, he grinned, 'Never mind, this won't take long.'

{Earned 1,750 Experience Points}

{Level Up! x2}

{Obtained, Zombie Flesh x20}

{Obtained, Zombie Heart x4}

{Obtained, Wooden Spike Club x1}

{Obtained, Warrior Skill [Thrust]-Focusing Will power into a single point, the user attacks a critical spot on the target.}

"Hahaha."

Focusing his Will power into his right claw, Kai ran at the Zombie Knight. Reacting to the attack, the Zombie Knight charged toward Kai with his sword ready.

Bringing his claw forward; Kai tried to attack the Zombie Knight. Meeting his attack, the Zombie Knight countered with its sword.

Clash!

The sword and claw met, no one wavering in the slightest. Smirking, Kai raised his other claw, attacking the Zombie Knights' arm.

~Clang~

His claw bounced off the metal armor.

"GRRR!"

Kai growled in disappointment and anger. He didn't want to stay on this floor for long, yet his attack didn't even scratch the Zombie Knights' armor!

Retreating back, he carefully looked at the Zombie Knight's armor. The armor covered almost the entire Knight's armor. The only part that wasn't covered was the eye holes.

"The eye holes, huh, Hahaha!"

Empowering his claws, Kai ran at the Zombie Knight. Taking the Knight's word head on.

~Cling~

'This is gonna hurt.'

Grabbing the sword with his other hand, Kai twisted his body upward; jumping in the air, he empowered his free claw all into a small point. Kai used [Thrust], jamming his claw into the eye holes.

~Boom~

The sword fell, along with the Knight's body.

{Earned 5,000 Experience Points}

{Obtained, Undead Knight Boots}

{Obtained, Undead Knight's Sword-(The Dead's Revenge)}

"Aha ahaa." Breathing heavily, Kai's eyes flickered between red, his passive ability!

Falling down, Kai forced his body to the ground. Although his reasoning and ability to think were limited, he was able to force his body not to move through his sheer will.

"Ahha"

After a while, he finally calmed down.

'Damn, that was stupid. Damnit!' Kai continued to curse at himself. At that moment he thought his plan was great, but now he realized how stupid he had been.

What if the sword entirely cut through his hand, copping it off? Then what?

"Damn, the instructor even warned me about this."

"{Shapeshift}." Disappointed, Kai turned to his human form. There was a deep gash on his left palm.

Sitting down, he made up his mind.

Taking out 'Monsters & Beast, By Anton Welth,' Kai decided to learn about the different monsters before continuing.

If he had known the weakness of Zomva, he could have avoided this situation completely.

{Kai Venator}

{Tier 1:Level-16 - 640/1050}