The numbing pain from the electric shock stopped, and Grey fell to his knees, breathing heavily.
He looked down at the stat window in front of him, glancing through the notification that had appeared when he was being electrocuted.
[Congratulation on awakening affinity: Lightning]
'What the hell! Did I just awaken an element by getting electrocuted?'
Grey grunted, still feeling the pain from the electrocution. Luckily he had exceptional healing abilities even before the system descent. An abnormal trait made people view him as a monster.
Feeling somewhat eased, he rose to his feet.
But then heard a zombie growl from behind.
Reacting on instinct, he swung the fire axe, and the blade glowing with blue energy, sliced through the zombie's neck like a hot knife through butter.
Grey's eyes widened in shock as he watched the zombie's head fall to the ground.
He felt a strange energy coursing through him. Tingling in his veins.
He decided to summon the stats window to confirm and found he had really awakened the lightning affinity.
Name: Grey Adamas
Race: Human
Title: Necrotic Heir
Strength: 12
Agility: 11
Stamina: 10
Vitality: 11
Intelligence: 10
Energy: 500
Health: 1100
Affinity: [Lightning ]
Elemental Ability: None
Innate Ability: [Essence Plunderer]
Using the same logic of getting electrocuted to have an affinity to lighting.
Grey wondered if he would gain an affinity for fire if he put his hand inside a flame. But he shook his head, dismissing the idea.
As it sounded absurd.
But everything he had been dealing with since the system's arrival was absurd. So it wouldn't be far-fetched to think like that.
Whatever the case, Grey knew he had to get stronger as he planned. And as long as the end justifies the means he would take the craziest action.
Grey noticed he had an innate ability called [Essence Devourer].
[Essence Devourer]: Grants user with the capacity to absorb the essence of defeated foes, siphoning their abilities and skills directly into himself.
Grey let out a loud gasp. Shock by how powerful the ability was.
Hands over his mouth, he couldn't help but envision the possibilities of acquiring numerous abilities and using them all to fight a massive horde of zombies, like some sort of epic boss character.
The thought gave him goosebumps, but a nagging question remained in his mind:
'When the system said 'those you defeat,' did it refer to zombies, humans, or both?'
"Killing humans, huh?"
In an apocalypse setting, it was unavoidable, but Grey wouldn't actively seek out humans to kill.
If the skill could only be used on zombies, then what it meant was that he would be facing some undead creatures that had powers.
Grey shivered. The thought of fighting zombies with telekinesis or flight gave him chills, his heart thudding with a mix of anticipation and fear.
He then heard the sound of growls coming from upstairs.
It seemed the zombies had finally broken the door and were coming down.
Gripping his axe, Grey readied himself for a fight.
The zombies descended cautiously, and Grey approached the first one.
With a swift motion, he severed the zombie's head effortlessly with a slice fueled by lightning. And Grey grinned, feeling a surge of excitement.
He could feel a strange energy coursing through his body and he figured it was his energy. Focusing on it he sensed he could manipulate it however he wanted and that was probably a step he needed to take in activating elemental abilities.
Another zombie descended, and Grey channeled his energy and shot out abolt of lightning out of his palm, blasting its head. The release of his energy was rather rough but it was progress. And it made Grey grin, feeling like a wizard.
He eagerly climbed up the stairs and, one by one, dealt with the zombies.
Facing a zombie, he stabbed his axe, and a bolt of lightning shot out of the weapon, and it fell to the ground with a gaping hole in its chest.
Grey was now on the sixth floor of the building and excited about the fact that his attacks were becoming more potent. He had slightly improved in utilizing his element, but he still hadn't awakened any elemental ability.
Suddenly, a growl came from the zombie he had just impaled, shocking Grey.
He realized that decapitation was the only sure way to dispatch these undead creatures, and released another lightning blast.
This time he aimed at the zombie's head. But nothing happened.
Grey felt dizziness suddenly hit him, and he lost his balance. But he managed to grip the stair railing in time, avoiding a fall.
Gasping for breath, he wondered what had just happened, but then the persistent zombie rushed him, about to bite his throat. And Grey kicked the zombie, to the ground, taking off its head with the axe.
"What the hell happened to me?"
Grey held his temples. His body had weakened all of a sudden, and with a quick check of the system, he saw his energy had depleted.
He had been so lost in the satisfying feeling that came with one-shotting the zombies, that he hadn't paid attention to his draining energy. If it had been multiple zombies he was fighting, such dizziness could have been fatal.
Grey figured he'd have to be more careful and made a mental note to pay attention to his energy consumption.
His thoughts turned to boosting his energy.
He recalled that the system was like video game-like mechanics, and theorized that adding points to his intelligence would increase his energy.
However, he had only gotten one intelligence shard, so far. As the zombies rarely dropped it.
'Probable because they weren't very smart.'
He absorbed the intelligence shard, and his energy rose from five hundred to five fifty; one point in intelligence adding fifty points to his energy.
Knowing he had to be more careful, Grey wasted no time using all the shards he had gotten from the zombies he had killed.
Name: Grey Adamas
Race: Human
Title: Necrotic Heir
Strength: 15
Agility: 13
Stamina: 15
Vitality: 12
Intelligence: 11
Energy: 550
Health: 1200
Affinity: [Lightning]
Elemental Abilities: None
Innate Ability: [Essence Plunderer]
Grey felt the transformation immediately. His body had grown lighter, and his muscles felt firmer and a bit bulkier.
He tested his newfound strength with a powerful, sharp punch, and exhilaration coursed through him.
"Great, with this, I should be able to disperse a zombie with ease."
He pressed on, ascending the building's stairs. But then he heard the unmistakable sound of something fast approaching.
Tightening his grip on his axe, Grey prepared for danger.
However, as the creature appeared before him, Grey couldn't help but chuckle.
The zombie was upside down on the ground, grunting as it tried to get up.
Grey figured their warped bodies and broken limbs, made them struggle to maintain balance while climbing down the stairs. Tumbling as they fell.
Grey used this chance to dispatch them, their lack of motor skills working in his favor.
Reaching the seventh floor, he found the door broken, and walked in, not willing to face what was to come.
This was the place he had been working in just a couple of minutes ago, and now he was here to kill his co-workers, who had turned into zombies.
Three zombies lurched toward Grey.
Two were male, but the third was a female Grey recognized.
She was one of the many ladies Jace had a crush on, but now her appearance was a stark contrast to her former beauty.
Grey hit the first male zombie with a powerful kick, sending it flying, its chest caved in.
Then, with raw power, he decapitated the second zombie and finished the third with a casual swing of the axe, decapitating it.
Grey's eyes were cold as he watched the female's head roll to the ground.
He approached the male zombie he had kicked earlier.
Its shattered chest had left it immobilized, and the zombie struggled to move.
Grey watching it struggle, found it hard to believe this was once a human as it was so unconventional.
'A human wouldn't survive this.'
Despite its broken body, it still looked at him with hunger in its eyes.
Grey raised his axe and mercilessly ended its suffering with a well-aimed strike.
From the zombie he had killed, he had gotten a vitality shard and an intelligence shard, but before he could attempt to use them, he heard a noise.
A soft shuffle, dragging its feet on broken glass.
Grey turned toward it, his expression turning somber.
He looked closely, searching for any trace of the friend he once knew in the mindless, flesh-craving creature he was seeing, but he found nothing.
Jace was gone, and he had to accept it.
Grey then raised his axe and declared in a cold, emotionless tone.
"Don't worry, Jace, I'll make it quick."