Everything had happened so fast that Zain could not even try out his newly levelled-up Sword Mastery skill, and by now, he was starting to realise his mistake of how heavily he had underestimated the enemy. After taking out the Spitter, he believed he was ready for whatever was to come next and had become quite complacent.
He had forgotten that due to the situation they were in, the Spitter was severely weakened in terms of its full capabilities, which was why, when Zain had to face a Stage 2 that could use its real strength in every way, he was hopeless.
'That stage 2...it was fast, its body was hard and strong. I don't know what was worse, the Titan or this.'
Thinking back to what the Stage 2 Zombie looked like, he recalled it had a normal human figure and was the same size as a human, unlike the Titan. However, both of the new Stage 2 Zombies were bladed in a strange thick white colour.
Thinking back to what Shark had said, Zain recalled that the latter had referred to the parts of the body as bones. The back, the chest and the rest of its body had these sharp white bits sticking out from it that indeed did look like bones.
The fact that Zain was unable to cut through them meant that the bones were most likely a bit harder than regular bones. According to Shark, this was the most dangerous type of evolved Zombie.
'I guess, Bonezom is an appropriate name for it?' Zain wondered. He was naming it based on its characteristics and thus came up with a direct and simple name.
[The Stage 2 type Zombie has been assigned the name 'Bonezom']
With this, Zain had crossed paths with all of the Stage 2 type Zombies: the Spitter, the Bonezom, and the Titan. The only thing was, he just hoped he wouldn't see a Bonezom in real life, at least not yet in any way.
At the moment, Zain had a lot of time to think about what went wrong or possibly how he would have defeated the Bonezom if he was to face it again in the future because right now, he was experiencing the penalty applied to him for failing the quest.
[Your real body will be inactive for four hours]
This was the message that Zain had seen as soon as the quest had come to an end. Out of all the possible penalties, he never thought that something that happened in his vision would affect his real-world body.
Now though, it was making him think that maybe all of the visions he was having, everything that was going on, was to do with the System in one way or another. He was also lucky that they were currently in hiding, and he had both Cobra and Skittle to protect him.
It made him wonder if he didn't have them, or in the future, if something like this happened, how much trouble he could possibly end up in?
'The time of the penalty as well, is it four hours because I reached Round Four? Or is the penalty the same regardless? If I was to guess, it is most likely related to the different rounds. I got pretty good items as a reward, so in a way, it's given that I will most likely receive a bigger penalty for failing as well.'
In the end, with the current child-like body, Zain was unable to think of a single way to defeat that Stage Two Zombie. If only there was a way to enter the place again but with his real body.
[The penalty has come to an end, you are now returning to your real body]
In almost an instant, Zain could feel a difference, and his body was no longer alive. In all honesty, it was a feeling that he didn't know that he had missed.
To feel things fully with a sense of touch, to feel one's heart beating and to work as it should, was an experience one could only treasure after losing it. Slowly, when opening his eyes, he found himself in the same room, and Cobra, along with Skittle, were still around him, keeping watch.
When staring out of the window and looking up at the sky, Zain noticed its grey tone. The sun was only starting to rise and had yet to fully light up the streets.
In a couple of hours, he would be able to safely move out of the room.
'If Shark was right about that Stage 2 Zombie, then he probably is right about those Demons as well. It's best not to take any chances for now and stay back.'
Getting a bit more comfortable but still lying on the couch, Zain decided to open up his System to check out his new stats and also observe if there has been a new change.
'It's all there, the Sword mastery, the Gun mastery and all of the other weapons. Everything that I got in that place has come here as well, but how is that possible?'
There was no point for Zain to fully understand his position. He didn't even understand how a gaming system along with him and how still being alive as a zombie was possible.
'The Return Key is here as well. So can I really return to that place when I want?' Zain thought. 'For now, it's best if I don't use it, but when I do, I should use it during a time where I know my real body remains safe. I got lucky today.
'And besides, if I want to take full advantage of that place, then it would be best to wait until I was stronger to enter it again or improve my sword skills and more outside of the area. Next time I get back in there, I will definitely get past Round Four.'
For the first time in a while, Zain felt anticipation and excitement over something. Since turning into a zombie, his emotions seemed to be slightly dulled, he was unable to feel things, but now, it was as if his old self was taking over, wanting to surpass the challenge of prevailing as long as possible.
He stood up and raised the sword, and then Zain also finally. He wouldn't be able to leave until the sun went up anyway, so he tried swinging his sword about.
A vertical slash, a horizontal one, and a thrust forward. They were all basic moves, but everything felt several times easier than before.
'I'm faster than I was in the cave since I have the added stats here as well. I did the right thing by levelling up my sword skills.'
Continuing his practice session, Zain started to swing the sword while combining strikes and imagining multiple enemies in front of him. He needed to also use his mind to find the best out of situations with his new-found skills.
After getting the hang of it for a while, Zain wanted to test something else and checked on his System again.
[Sword Mastery: Level 2]
[6.32/100]
'My sword mastery went up after all that training? It's still not as fast as using it in a real fight, but it still went up…wait, isn't there something I could do then?'
Standing in the centre of the room, Zain prepared himself and looked directly at Cobra.
'Attack.'
Cobra came charging in with his two daggers and went for a slash from above. Swinging his sword up, Zain deflected the incoming dagger and also hit the second one with his sword path before it could reach him.
It was then that Zain went for a vertical slash, but Cobra had jumped back in time, avoiding the attack, and instantly went for another and kept on asking for the Crates.
'I should be careful. I don't want to hurt Cobra. Right now, he's my ace. Even with my improved sword skills, Cobra is giving me a tough challenge.'
Due to the small size of the room, all Zain had to do was defend, and, as he continued to use his sword skills against Cobra, he noticed that the stats were now slowly going up bit by bit.
Eventually, the messages Zain raised on his phone to alert him about energy going down, Cobra's hunger alerts, and the sun rising had caused them to stop.
[12.7/100]
'It's still not going up fast enough, but that might be the fact that it's now at Level 2. Either way, this is a good way to upgrade my skills. If possible, maybe I should start upgrading other weapons like the dagger and stuff as well.
'The sun is out, so I should focus on getting some food before returning to this place as well.'
The current plan was to stay in the apartment opposite the club in which the Reborn group were. Zain was sure that whoever was behind the scenes and giving orders to Shark would come back eventually, but he needed to get some food and perhaps even go and explore to find meteorites during the day.
When looking out the window, Zain's eyes opened wide as he saw something he hadn't noticed before.
'The door….why is the door to the club open?'
Constantly, the door was swinging from the wind slamming shut, open and closed, open and closed as if there wasn't a single person inside who had noticed.
****
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