David pushed himself off the ground, sending his body rolling away, out of the path of the approaching zombie.
He jumped to his feet, expecting to be at the zombie's back. But it was already facing him, stumbling over its own feet to get closer to him.
"Guuuuuuua!"
The zombie let out a loud yell, and now, having learned from his mistake, David took a brief moment to glance around, and check his CoreScanner, for any of the other zombies.
Even their chopped up bodies were a danger to him.
David channeled the last of his mana to his sword, there were no more chances for trickery or strategy, he would be face to face against the whirling arms of the final enemy.
David's sword shone in the white glow of the flaming obelisk, his long deep purple hair was slicked back against his head with sweat, and his pale skin was marked with dirt and blood.
Blood dripped on to the ground from his injured arm and ankle, but he stood strong, not even showing a hint of weakness.
His legs slightly bent, David's arms were high above his head, the tip of his sword pointed at the zombie's head. Any person who say his stance would have assumed he practiced some form of sword art.
This was not the case, the stance he held came from the endless practice sessions, the endless attempts at forming his own mana technique, all the times he had watched the other children learn from their own families.
In this moment, all the years of training, combined with the David's strengthened and upgraded body, allowed everything to come together.
The faint glow of David's mana enhanced sword brightened and covered his entire body, it was as though the light of the moon had descended and shrouded David.
All the fear and anxiety melted away. David stepped forward, the zombie's noises fading into nothingness.
Slash
Slash
Slash
The zombies was engulfed in multiple bright white slashes, each one shaped like a crescent moon.
In an instant, the zombie fell to the ground, cut into countless pieces, crumbling into nothingness, leaving only a small section of its torse where its core was.
The moonlight that had surrounded David faded away, and he collapsed to the ground, his mind and body overcome with exhaustion.
He had used the last of his mana on this attack.
Ding!
[Congratulations User!]
[New Active Skill Unlocked!]
[Active: Crescent Moon Slash - The user channels their mana to form an empowered slash reminiscent of a crescent moon. The sight of this skill is both beautiful and deadly, leaving enemies to die with a smile on their faces.
Cost: Unknown]
'Huh?'
'Wasn't I supposed to receive a skill after forming my core?'
[That would be a system generated skill. This active skill is based on your realization and training.]
[I must gather more information regarding it, hence why the mana cost is unknown.]
[You would have developed it on your own even without the system.]
[You were selected for a reason.]
A small spark of hope appeared in David's heart.
Hearing the words of the system, had made him realize, that he didn't need it, this strange, powerful thing needed him, far more than he needed it.
He might be weak now, but he had hope for strength, strength that was far greater than he could even imagine.
The system knew his thoughts as well him, David didn't think of holding back in what he told it next.
'Remember this, you thing, I'll allow you to live inside of me only until the day I can tear you out and destroy you.'
There was pure venom in David's words, but there was no response from the system, it was totally silent.
Just as David had been bound to it, the system was bound to him, it had made its choice.
David sat amongst the wriggling remains of the zombies, gulping in air. His wounds slowly healing as the little purple tendrils purged out the toxins.
When he finally struggled to his feet, he had no clue how much time had passed, deep under ground, there was no way of knowing.
[User, please examine the obelisk, carefully, I require closer analysis.]
The system finally broke its silence, if its voice were not so cold and emotionless, David would have assumed it was sulking.
Now that the enemies had been defeated, David could walk freely amongst the ruins.
While he had been hiding and running from shadow to shadow, he hadn't had a chance to appreciate the beauty of this place.
Up ahead, the final obelisk rose high up into the air, it had five sides, each side was inscribed with the maze like writing of the civilization that had constructed these ruins.
Every single bit of writing burned with a white flame, which overpowered the glow of the moss that grew thick on the ceiling above.
David looked up to the top of the obelisk, above the pointed tip, the ceiling rose up so high he couldn't see the polished rock and moss that could be seen on the further edges of the cavern.
As David approached the base of the obelisk, he found that the ground beneath him had changed from the stone blocks to what seemed like one piece of shiny, polished black rock.
But the rock was not smooth, carved within it, were countless grooves, forming a maze.
The rock sloped down, forming a sort of basin, David found himself following the slope, and found himself standing in front of raised block of stone.
The block was directly next to the towering obelisk, out of all the structures and statues that David had come across in this ruin, it was the most densely covered in the strange patterns.
Now that he was closer, David could see that the white flames were all interconnected, moving between each other as if alive.
He reached out a hand toward the white flame, he felt no heat, or pain, only a slight response from the little mana that remained inside him.
All the patterns converged at this point, a thick groove running from the obelisk to the stone block.
[This is likely where the zombies were created. The patterns all around would gather mana from the air and reanimate the body.]
[Their patterned language is extremely advanced, which is likely why they were able to form zombies with a core.]
[User, please lay down on the block, I can adapt their techniques to form your core. ]
'Huh? You want to turn me into a zombie?'
[User, that would be counter productive, simply, I would utilize the existing infrastructure to form your core.]
'Can't I do it without laying down on a weird zombie ritual block?'
[Unfortunately User, you do not possess a bloodline which naturally forms a core, nor do you have knowledge of an Core Formation technique, nor do -]
'Okay, enough. I get it.'
David sighed, he knew that whatever happened, this system wouldn't kill him.
It took a moment for David to brush away the thick layer of dust that had gathered on the block.
With a deep breath, David lay down on the cold stone block.