Zain knew who the opponent would be for this wave, because there was a distinct memory in his head. The last time he had participated in the challenge it was where he failed, the only stage 2 evolved zombie that he hadn't seen outside of the place.
Coming out of the tunnel, it was similar to the stage 3 zombie he had faced, only it was smaller in size, around the same size as himself. It had bladed hands that weren't as large and the bones sticking out of its body weren't as long either.
Unlike the last opponents Zain had faced, he didn't go out straight away and instead he took a deep breath as he waited, and the zombie soon ran straight towards him.
It swung its arm, and Zain used minimal strength as he parried the attack away. With its other hand it swung for his stomach, but Zain avoided the hit, by jumping back, as soon as his feet landed, he charged in, and used the back of the machete to hit the evolved creature.
Sword mastery [Level 4] 38.2/100
'As I thought, out of all the stage 2, you're the only one that is useful in getting my sword mastery up. So I'm sorry but I'm going to use you!'
Zain watched carefully, the stage 2 creature was about as fast as himself but the stage 3 had two advantages over the creature in front of him. One of them was the strange bones on its body could extend but it didn't seem to be the case here, at least not in the same way.
The second, was the strength of the stage 3 was far superior. Due to his new weapon Zain could tell if he swung at full strength he would be able to cut through the evolved Zombie's body, the Bonezom as Zain named it.
Which was why he was swinging with next to no strength and only speed, so he could go against a worthy opponent.
The Bonezom seemed to be frustrated as it swung both bladed parts of its body towards Zain. Instead of using two of his blades, Zain skimmed it with one, and allowed for most of the weight of the attack to carry on and hit the ground.
There was a clear opening, and it was almost as if Zain knew the right moment and place to hit. Swinging his sword, he had hit the back of the Bonezom's neck. It cut through, even though he wasn't using a large amount of strength. When pulling it out, the Bonezom looked to be acting strange and suddenly it fell to the ground.
'Did it die... I got carried away a little bit there, but it was a zombie that doesn't need the brain crushed for it to die. I guess evolution can really change a zombie.' Zain thought.
Sword mastery [Level 4] 39.4/100
Although his sword mastery had increased for the first time in a while, it wasn't close to the level he wished. He had been fighting against the Bonezom for around half an hour or so, and it seemed to be slowing down as he got used to the Bonezom's movement.
[Quest complete]
[A Silver card has been given.]
'Silver, for the other two Stage 2 zombies I still only got a bronze reward. Is it because I didn't clear this stage the last time? I guess it would make sense to give lesser rewards for stages that have already been completed.'
Unlike the bronze cards, Zain decided that it was best for him to open the silver card immediately, just in case it was a return Key, even though he believed that a return key would be rarer than that.
[Silver card has been used]
[You have received a stage 2 Bonezom crystal]
'A stage 2 crystal!' Zain was excited. The most common stage 2 zombie he saw in the real world was the Titan. Having already created a weapon with the Titan crystals, he was interested in the other variations.
But, honestly Zain couldn't imagine that weapons created with the Spitter type crystals would be strong weapons on their own, most likely it would have some trait, but Zain wanted to increase his individual strength.
What he wanted was a weapon created out of the Bonezom crystals. In his opinion it was the hardest stage 2 he had fought, so he thought it would create a weapon that would make up for his shortcomings.
'This is great, if I can get another stage two Bonezom crystal then I can upgrade the other machete as well!'
If Zain wasn't already pumped to continue the challenge, he was over the moon now, but the messages didn't end there, as there were more to come.
[The player seems to be too advanced for the current wave levels]
[The player is able to jump to wave 10]
[In doing so, the player will receive an additional gold card reward upon completing wave 10]
It was an interesting proposal and if games were anything to go by, every ten or five waves there would be a jump in difficulty. One would have to think of it as a boss of a particular stage. The fact that the system wanted him to do level 10 was somewhat proof of that as well.
'I have been completing these stages rather easily, even if stage 10 is a jump in difficulty, with the new weapons, I should be able to complete it. The question is whether the gold reward is bigger than the rewards that I would have received naturally for passing the other waves.'
A lot of thought was given into making his decision, and in the end, Zain had made his choice.
'There are always Silver quests and Bronze quests that come up, but anything Gold and above, is a rare occurrence. I won't get this chance again.'
[You have accepted the request]
[Wave 10 will begin in 10 seconds.]
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Thank you for all the support so far on LUZ. LUZ will be continuing on, and I hope I can do more chapters for all my series as time free's up in the future