The horde is the biggest problem. Hundreds or thousands of zombies, fast and strong. The saving grace is that they aren't getting stronger.
The first few go down easily. I just run up and bitch slap them, before I run away. The fire spreads rapidly, from zombie to zombie, making a field of black fire in front of us.
It burns brightly, illuminating the entire graveyard. We are at about the middle, with plenty of open space to move. The zombies drop like flies, one by one, as the fire consumers their bodies.
It still takes almost an hour for all of them to die, because of the absurd number of them, and the necromancer.
Speaking of which, it looks pissed. It stares at us, it's rotten lungs breathing heavily, and it's remaining eye glaring daggers at us.
"You hide. I'll deal with it. Use your spears from afar, but make sure you stay safe."
Fein nods her head, and runs off to a nearby mausoleum, the stone structure providing safety. Breath in. Hold. Breath out.
My heart steadies, and my mind clears. I'm ready.
Until hands rip the earth apart, trying to drag me to hell.
I use my black fire, burning the hands. I quickly switch to kinetic energy, and dash away. The zombie necromancer raises it's hand, and more zombies come up from the ground.
This will be fun.
Faster, stronger, but no smarter, it seems. As the first one catches fire, the others run up to me, getting a bit too close to the fire. It spreads easily, killing them again.
If only there was exp for the system.
I take a breath again, and push myself to the limit. I use as much kinetic energy as I can, but on my whole body. I launch forwards, closing the distance instantly.
I use gravitational energy to stop myself, my feet burying into the ground as my double sided sword crashes down. It hits the necromancer on the shoulder, my lack of control and it's reflexes causing me to miss.
I move the gravitational energy onto the necromancer, but it doesn't do much. It helps some though. I throw the sword, and grab the katana, cutting horizontally across it's neck.
This one lands true, most of the flesh ripping off, but it backs up last second, barley keeping its head on. I dash forward, and channel kinetic energy into the sword and my arm, flying into the zombie the rest of the way.
It stands for a moment, looking at me stunned, before it falls over, and I hear a loud bell go off.
(Challenge complete! +1 to all stats, Basic Passive: increased healing, hand of ;'+$;"-+$)
I look down at my right hand, the claws receding into it's self. My hand returns to normal, but when I try to summon the claw, it slashes out, my hand turning pitch black.
It recedes again, and I head over to the mausoleum, finding Fein standing there. She looks shocked, my prowess clearly unexpected.
"When did you get so strong? You were weaker than me when we met, and we both have been getting stronger together."
I try to think of why, when I remember my boosts. Natural Intelligence, Unnatural Body, Boosted Learning. Adaptive and Adaptive Resistance probably helped a lot as well.
"I have some skills that make me gain stats faster. And when we fought the derabbit, I was gone for awhile, getting stronger. We were about the same strength at that point."
She nods her head. "Makes sense." I try to continue the conversation, but a loud sound goes off in my head.
The loudest yet, like sitting in the center of a jet engine with a microphone, it blares through my head, and I can't hear anything for a few seconds.
When I can, I see a black screen in front of me. The letters are also black, but of a much darker shade, which makes no sense since the screen is pure black.
[You have attracted the attention of several gods and demons. Be warned. Do not treat us lightly. Make sure you sign a contract with a god that you align with. You have my hand already, and you are still alive. You have a high darkness affinity.]
The screen disappears as I read the last word, leaving me confused and disoriented. Gods? Demons? Why did I get this hand? Who's hand is it? None of my skills or abilities have anything to do with darkness, so why do I have a high affinity for it?
Of course, I get no answers, but I do get a string of notifications. It looks more like messages, asking to sign a contract with me. I close them all for now, and warn Fein not to do anything.
I use Return, and we wake up in the Room. I stand up, and get another notification.
(Congratulations on completing your first challenge! Unlocked: genre identification)
I see nothing here, but on the other side of the door is the words "Horror", written in large black letters. I check the Sci-fi and Fantasy doors, and they say the same thing.
I head to the door across the hall from Horror, and see Terror written on it. I decide to wait on that one, since I still need to train. My stats are much better, but Fein needs some way to get stronger too.
I head over to the Horror door, and open the south door. I see a normal city, looking towards the road from the side wall.
"Mine is in a house, looking out the window." Fein is elsewhere, and we walk through the door. My head spins slightly as memories fill my head.
Hunter, a normal man. He went to college, has a good job, and is living in a good apartment. He has a small friend group, but they don't meet often. We were going to have dinner at an old restaurant we all like tonight.
That was the plan at least. The sky suddenly darkens, going from a light yellow to an ominous orange and red. A wave of energy washes over the entire earth. All electricity stops working, explosions in the distance, and screams all around me.
(Welcome to the apocalypse! Don't die too soon!)