Chapter 19- A Beautiful Archer (Part 2)
"U-Ugh…" Asher groaned as he dragged himself from beneath the boxes with great difficulty. Even though the hit wasn't lethal, he still suffered an injury to the head when he smashed against the inside of the truck.
Blood trickled down his forehead and over his left eye until he had to wipe it with his left hand.
"What happened?" He murmured as he kicked the door of the truck open and fell outside. Looking at the truck, it was completely tilted to the side with a huge dent on the right side as if it was hit by another car at full speed.
Standing up, Asher looked around with a wary expression. The reason for that is that he had a hunch about what hit the truck and it wasn't a good hunch.
*BANG*
Suddenly, a silhouette jumped from the other side of the truck and landed on top of it while staring directly at Asher. Its giant frame and buffed physique were the most noticeable features of this creature. This wasn't the first time Asher saw one of these Zombies.
"A Crusher!!"
"RAAAAA!!!" The zombie opened its huge mouth and screeched loudly.
'Shit! Not this one of all things!' Clicking his tongue, Asher pulled out a sword from the storage.
'I don't think I can really fight this thing.' Asher thought as he gripped the sword tightly and readied himself. Although he felt his heart shudder with fear at a mere glance, he resolved himself quickly. There was no point in being scared.
'Sali didn't teach me to be a coward!' He thought to himself.
At the same time, the monster jumped from the truck and landed in front of Asher before smashing down with its hands.
Asher jumped back, creating some distance before he ran around. He wanted to drag the Zombie away from the truck as it was his one and only way of reaching the southern star settlement.
'How am I going to kill this thing?' He thought as he looked around, searching for something that he could use. The area was empty so he had a hard time finding anything useful.
Behind him, the Crusher charged at top speed with its arms extended ready to grab Asher. Its speed slightly exceeded that of the boy so the distance was closed down quickly.
"RAAAA!!!"
*BOOOM*
The ground exploded as the monster smashed down violently, shaking Asher off his balance. Then, it followed by aiming to slap him down.
'Shit!'
*Swish*
Suddenly, an arrow flew out of nowhere and hit the monster in the back of the head, catching its attention. Since Zombies are technically brainless, they are always attracted to the thing that grabs their attention at that exact moment.
So, the Crusher ignored Asher and turned around to look at the culprit for throwing that arrow. There, slightly far away, a person stood with a bow in their hands and their face covered by the hooded clothes they were wearing.
"That person…" Asher immediately recognized them as the one he was traveling with.
"RAAAA!!"
The Crusher shrieked and immediately rushed toward the archer. The latter didn't seem fazed by the creepy monster as they skillfully pulled another arrow and aimed it at the monster calmly.
*Swish*
The arrow flew, hitting the forehead perfectly. However, since the monster had a very thick skull and tough skeleton, the arrow didn't pierce the brain.
"RAAAAAA!!!"
The archer quickly dodged the incoming attack before they charged another arrow mid-air and shot it at the monster.
"I will keep its aggro, you aim for a moment to stab it in the head." The person said. The feminine voice made Asher realize that she was a woman.
"Ok…" Standing up, Asher took a deep breath before he quickly opened his system stats.
[Name: Asher Frostbloom
Race: Human
Class: Zombiemancer
Skills: Zombiemancer (Level 2)/ Swordsmanship (level 4)
Level: 2
Stats: Strength: 5 (+2)/ Agility: 4 (+1)/ Stamina: 2/ Mana: 15/ Health: 4 (+2)
Free status points: 4]
'I have 4 points… Hmm, I need strength and agility to be able to kill it.' Since he was lacking in physical prowess, Asher opted to increase it since he had the ability to.
With a simple thought, he allocated 2 points to strength and 2 to agility. Immediately, he felt a change in his body. A rush of unknown energy spread throughout his body. It was akin to adrenaline as it made him feel more powerful and faster if even by a little.
'This is amazing!' Looking at his body with a delighted expression, he forgot for a second that he was still in a fight.
"RAAAA!" At the same time, the Crusher was still following the archer as it smashed everything that stood in its way. Every time it hit the ground, rocks, and debris flew everywhere. It even threw cars around like feathers.
However, even then, the monster was unable to even put a scratch on the archer's clothes let alone injure her. Her nimble and fast movements were very precise and elegant as if they were parts of a dance.
"RAAAA!!!"
The more the archer escaped the Zombie's clutches, the more the latter got outraged. At some point, the whole place was turned into a destroyed mess. Finally, the archer dragged the monster to the other part of the block where it made it get stuck in the middle of a bunch of cars.
"You… Now!" She shouted.
At the same time, Asher was already on the move as he jumped on top of one of the cars before leaping on the Zombie with his sword aiming for its head. However, at the last moment, the monster turned around making the sword hit the neck instead of the brain.
"Shit!" Asher clenched his teeth as he tried to move the sword and slice the monster's skull in two.
"RAAAA!!"
"Woah!!!" In an instant, the boy found himself spinning around as the monster tried to get rid of him at any cost.
"Don't move!!" Exerting more force than ever, the sword started moving slowly up. All he had to do was to move it a few more inches. Unfortunately, that also meant he had to be motionless for a while which left him open to attacks from the monster.
The Crusher grabbed Asher and squeezed his body powerfully. The boy's bones started screeching as if they were threatening to crack at any moment.
"Ugh!! Fuck off!!" Clenching his teeth as blood leaked out of his mouth, Asher ignored the pain and pushed the sword up.
"Die!!"
"RAAAA!!!"
*Swish*
The sword swiftly passed through the skull and cut the brain in half. The Zombie immediately stopped resisting and fell to the ground motionless. Along with it, Asher also dropped down and landed on one of the cars.
"Hah… Hah!! Cough! Cough!"
[You have killed a level 5 Zombie.]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have gained +3 strength, +2 agility, and +3 stamina.]
[You have gained a random item drop.]
[You have unlocked the system interface!]
[You have unlocked inventory!]
"U-Ugh… I can barely move." Murmuring to himself, Asher rose up with great difficulty and looked at the string of notifications. As he was about to read them, the archer called for him.
"Are you good?" She asked as she put her bow behind her back.
"Yeah, it's a small injury." He replied. Then, he looked at the titled truck and asked. "Are the two still alive?"
"I pulled them out. They should be alive."
"... I see." Standing up slowly, Asher made his way back to the truck with the girl archer in tow.
"By the way, what's your name?" Asher decided to ask.
"... Why are you asking?" The girl replied with a cold tone as if she suspected Asher.
"Don't overthink it. I just don't like to keep addressing you by 'You'. I'm Asher." He replied.
"... Rain. My name is Rain."
Asher's footsteps halted as froze in his place completely. Then, he rigidly looked back at the hooded girl with widened eyes.
"What did you just say your name is?"