Chapter 10 The Skill

Achievement! First Dungeon

“Everyone remembers their first time.”

Reward: One Attribute point. Try to survive to use it.

Elysia’s terrified eyes scanned the dead trees and rotting buildings surrounding what was once Emerson, now crack filled no longer worthy to be called a road. She backed up while shaking her head, but her back contacted a solid invisible wall. Previous soreness forgotten, she spun on her heels only to find the path she created gone. In its place were more dead trees.

Left with no other choice, she crept forward, head on a swivel reaching the bike shop from the previous day, but instead of clean windows displaying fancy bikes, shattered windows revealed rusted and falling apart bikes.

A long groan caused her head to jerk to the right, finding a lone zombie with a gaunt frame draped in a white dress.

Its clouded eyes framed by thin gray hair zeroed in on Elysia, causing her to freeze. The zombie shambled toward her, mouth hanging open, releasing another groan.

Broken from her trance, Elysia backed away only to press her back to the window. Before the zombie could reach her, she dashed to the right, but the zombie picked up its pace. Its stiff legs scrambled after her, somehow not tripping over its tattered ankle-length skirt. Within a second, the zombie closed the distance.

Elysia dropped to the pavement, dodging the zombie’s grasping hand. She crab walked backward before jumping to her feet, turning on her heels dashing down the street. The change in the wind sent her diving to the left, dodging another grasping attempt by the zombie.

Rotting breath blew into Elysia’s face, causing her to choke. The zombie took advantage of the momentary distraction, grasping on to her left ankle. Elysia kicked her feet, stomping her right foot on the gaunt arm, but to no avail. A scream ripped from her throat as she flailed, but the zombie easily overpowered her, pulling on her ankle. She slid across the rough pavement, digging gravel in her back.

In desperation, she instinctively grasped a thread within her core, lighting up her veins purple. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air, followed by an inhuman shriek. The ironclad grip on her ankle released, allowing her to scramble away. Without looking back, she sprinted to the right, through an alleyway between the bike shop and a computer repair shop. This time, the zombie didn’t follow, but Elysia continued to push forward until her lungs burned several blocks later. She collapsed on the cracked sidewalk, panting for breath.

-20 Charge.

Skill unlock: Static Shock.

Would you like to slot the skill?

Before she could answer, the sound of several shambling feet shot her back to her feet. Her head swung from side to side, scanning her surroundings, spotting two zombies, one of them the same from before now with a blackened arm while the other one wore a faded and tattered suit.

Her legs twinged in pain as she took off in a sprint across the street with the zombies following close behind. No matter how hard she pushed, the shambling steps kept gaining ground. A sharp pain shot through the back of her left leg, seizing it up, sending her sprawling to the pavement. Her hands flew to her hamstring as she stared up at the pair of zombies barreling toward her.

Upon flashing back to her previous encounter, she grasped at the strand in her core before spreading her hands outward toward the approaching zombies. Like last time, her veins lit up purple as a crackling stream of purple electricity shot out of her hands toward the chest of the dress-clad zombie, searing a hole through its chest before jumping to the other zombie doing the same then dissipated into the ground.

-50 Charge.

Charge 10.

Elysia’s blurry vision took in silhouettes crumbling to the ground, followed by a warmth shooting through her body as text appeared.

Achievement! Collateral.

“One kill wasn’t enough for you?”

Reward: None, be happy with the free kill!

Killed level 5 zombie.

Killed level 6 zombie.

Level up! Level 6 Channeler.

Skill learned: Electric Current.

Would you like to slot the skill?

Elysia stared down at her hands in disbelief. Did I really shoot lightning from my hands?

Any further thoughts paused at the sound of more shuffling. She jumped to her feet, forgetting about her mysteriously healed hamstring. She turned to the approaching zombie, raising her right hand as she called forth her lightning. A blazing violet stream of electricity jumped from her outstretched hand toward the skeletal zombie, but to her horror, less than a meter from the zombie, the lightning veered downward, dissipating into the ground.

-50 Charge.

She swayed on her feet for a second before dashing in the opposite direction, scrambling over a crumbling wall. The moment her feet contacted the ground, she took off down the alley. Her breath came out in quick pants but she kept going despite no longer hearing footsteps behind her.

Elysia ducked into a collapsed building, sliding down the wall, curling up into a ball, arms wrapped around her knees, tears brimming in her terrified amethyst eyes. She stilled upon hearing footsteps approaching her nook. Her eyes followed a skeletal zombie shambling past her nook, releasing a sigh in relief as the zombie moved out of sight. She tensed a moment later, straining her ears, but nothing came out to jump her.

After taking several minutes to rein in her emotions, her mind began to work. I can’t keep running for my life. My luck will eventually run out. Flinging lightning isn’t the answer either. I wonder what the skill slots mean. Maybe they will help.

Elysia pulled up her status menu, focusing on the skill slot section. As an experiment, she willed Electric Current into the first slot.

Achievement! Skill slot.

“Congratulations! You accomplished something even a toddler could do.”

Reward: Really? You expect a reward for this?

Elysia glared at the status menu as she fumed. So what if I accomplished something simple! There’s no reason to insult me for it.

After taking a deep breath, she focused on the next line of text.

Electric Current slotted +20% efficiency +10% power.

So slotting a skill increases its efficiency and power? Though handy, that seems a little worthless when I only have five slots. Some classes had even less. Whatever, I guess any bonus helps.

Next, she slotted static shock, receiving a similar message.

Static shock slotted +10% efficiency +20% power.

Interesting, so it’s not a static bonus for every skill. If I ever get out of here, I’ll need to do some experimenting. Neither of these slots help me with my zombie problem. So far, the only way I’ve found that I can kill them effectively is lightning. Even blowing their head off with a shotgun didn’t kill them. I only have enough charge for one more electrical current, so how else will I kill them? To make it worse, I can’t even outrun them. There has to be a way to take them down.

Elysia flashed back to her electrocution, causing an idea to form. First, she listened for any sign of zombies before standing up and creeping out of her nook. While rapidly scanning her surroundings, she tiptoed out of the alleyway, taking a right down Emerson. She followed the toppled power lines, stopping every time she heard the telltale signs of zombies.

After several minutes, dozens of groans reached her ears, freezing her solid. She stood in the middle of the street as the horde of zombies neared for a second before taking off in a sprint, forgoing any stealth.

The moment she made her move, the zombies one street over ran through the dead lawn chasing after her. Unlike the smaller groups of zombies, the dozen strong horde stumbled over one another trying to reach their prey first.

Elysia put her track prowess to work, pumping her arms as she dashed down the road faster than she had ever run. Blocks flew by as the horde gradually gained ground, but she refused to give up following the trail of downed power lines.

One extra fast zombie broke away from the group, rapidly gaining ground on its prey only for another zombie to catch up to it, tripping them both up. Uncaring for their comrades, the horde behind them trampled over them as they continued the chase.

Elysia hesitated at the next intersection, shifting her gaze between two power lines, allowing the now horde of ten to gain ground. The approaching footsteps urged her into action, choosing to go straight. However, her indecision cost her as a zombie grasped her right arm, yanking her off her feet back toward the horde.

In desperation, she pulled on the strand, activating static shock, eliciting an inhuman scream as she broke free, taking off in a sprint once more.

-18 Charge.

Her stride faltered as her legs numbed and vision swam, but used to the feeling she pushed on. Aided by her static shock, she pulled away from the horde despite her crumbling form.

The reprieve only lasted a block before the zombies once again gained ground, this time faster than ever. Within a minute, the zombies were a couple of meters behind her.

Over the hill, an electrical substation became visible. Her heart dropped as even from a distance, the rusted metal showed its deteriorated state. As she neared, zombies at her heels, her eyes landed on several power lines running to the station. One, in particular, leaned precariously but remained upright and intact.

With new hope, Elysia shot forward, straining her body to the limit. Without breaking stride, she leaped onto the rusted metal fence, climbing as fast as she could. Zombies reached the fence a moment later. The first arrival reached up, grasping her ankle, but the zombie behind it collided into its back, releasing Elysia’s ankle. Not wasting the opportunity, Elysia climbed the last meter before dropping down.

The fence rocked and groaned precariously as more zombies piled in behind the first two. Her eyes widened when several new zombies joined the original group, scratching at the fence from the opposite side as the first group. She spun on her heels, scanning the rusted remains of the electrical substation.

She approached the breaker box, hoping she made the right decision as over a hundred zombies surrounded the substation, leaving her no escape. With a swing of a brick laying on the ground, she broke the lock, granting her access. Unlike the outside, the circuit breakers themselves appeared in decent shape. She stared at the circuit breaker for a second. Am I really going to do this? If I’m wrong, I’ll die. Though I would take electrocution over getting torn apart by zombies. Neither is pleasant.

Elysia took a deep breath, trying to drown out the deafening rattling of the fence before pulling off the plastic shield over the main line. She stuck both hands in, grasping the line before she could back out. Her body seized up immediately as thousands of volts coursed through her body, sending a pleasant warmth while lighting up her veins violet.

+200 charge!

Lightning Affinity Level 3.

Warning overcharge! Discharge immediately!

Her veins turned blinding, repelling the surrounding zombies on instinct. The pleasant warmth of the coursing electricity gathering at her core within her heart, but within a second, the warmth turned painful. She tried to release the line, but her seizing body refused to respond, remaining glued.

Elysia grasped at the now much thicker strand within her core, sending it outward. A small purple lightning stream flowed out of her chest, but without the use of her hands to aim, the electricity harmlessly grounded itself.

-40 Charge.

With an ear shattering crack, she shot backward into the fence. The nearby zombie’s hand forced its way through the fence, digging its skeletal fingers into her right forearm as she twitched against the fence in a daze.

Her mind snapped into focus a second later, activating static shock as she drove away from the fence.

-18 Charge.

She jumped to her feet, glowing amethyst eyes scanning the surrounding zombies rattling the fence. A devious smile formed as she approached the fence while grasping at the thread within her core. Her veins glowed brighter as she grabbed the fence, discharging electricity.

The rusted fence glowed as electricity jumped between the links into the surrounding zombies. A symphony of shrieks filled the air as the stench of burned flesh permeated. Her smile widened as the zombies blackened and jerked. The blackened limbs broke off, leaving several zombies armless, but they refused to give up.

-80 Charge.

Elysia’s electricity sputtered as she swayed on her feet. Her smile morphed into a frown as her blurry vision scanned surrounding zombies waiting for a kill notification, but none came.

Without the electricity holding them back, the zombies piled into the fence once more, bending the fence posts. She raised her hands to release another burst of electricity, but nothing came as her veins dimmed to nothing.

She dashed back to the circuit breaker, reaching in, but unlike last time, the electricity painfully coursed through her body before shooting her backward. This time she caught herself before she impacted the fence, but frowned at the resulting message.

+50 charge.

Warning overcharge!

Elysia ignored the burning pain through her body as she raised her hands before activating electric current. A stream of purple electricity jumped from her hands onto the fence before striking the nearest zombie, burning a hole through its chest. The electricity jumped back to the fence, then struck another nearby zombie with the same deadly efficiency. On the third zombie, the electricity burned the zombie’s tattered suit, shooting the zombie back before grounding out.

She collapsed to the ground as a warmth washed away her pain followed by several notifications.

Killed level 5 zombie.

Killed level 7 zombie.

Level up! Level 7 Channeler.

A screeching of metal drew her attention, causing her eyes to widen in terror. The rusted fence posts to her right gave into the combined weight of rotten bodies, bending inward.

Elysia jumped to her feet, veins glowing purple while lightning dancing between her fingers, ready to fight her way out.