The hole in the wall lets in the eerie horse moans of zombies. I can’t see any through the hole and I can’t really tell if there’s any left on this floor. But I know that doors are open throughout the building and on the ground floor means more can get in and wander freely around.

“I need to turn that alarm off.” I tell myself.

Still looking at the hole I think back to the energy ball I made. It would definitely blow the head of a zombie off but at most I could probably only create two of those. If I’m going to try and get that gun I’m going to need something to help manage the zombies.

Using my mana is the obvious tool to help me clear the building.However, I’m going to either need a lot more of it, or find a better way to use it.

Thinking back to the blue ball I’m reminded of an anime my mother used to let me watch. The main character had died and was made into a spirit detective where he would help out the spirit world in exchange for being brought back to life. He was able to control an energy called spirit energy. With it the main character had a variety of attacks but the most iconic was the spirit gun.

I grin to myself as the idea solidifies in my head. I take a portion of my pond and let it flow to my right index finger. Blue veins of energy glow throughout my hand, with the brightest being at my finger. I push the energy out of my hand. An arctic light casts shadows around me as the small blue ball of energy floats an inch above my finger, no bigger than a quarter

If I can’t learn any spells then I’ll make them. I point my finger at the hole in the wall, in a gun-like fashion. I focus for a second on a poster in the bathroom. The distance being around 30 ft I figure this will be a good test of the distance and accuracy. With my target picked I will the ball to fly.

It zips through the air leaving a sky blue trail in its wake. The ball slams into the poster just slightly off from where I had intended it to hit. The ball instantly burns a hole in the wall before popping in a small explosion. Leaving scorch marks and cracks on the concrete wall.

Looking at the pond inside of me I estimate that I could probably fire off twelve shots before running out of mana. However, I don’t think one shot would be enough to kill a zombie. I could always add more mana but if it costs too much then it’s not a very useful attack. Either way I’ll dub this attack my Mana Bullet. Thinking of my other long range attack I dub the other energy ball shot from my hand my Cannonball.

With two long range attacks I try to think about how I could use mana in close quarters. Forcing the mana outside of my body burns off more mana. The further away the mana is from me the more it requires to be sustained. So maybe in closer quarters it’s more effective or even damaging.

In lots of shows and stories the characters can use energy to enhance their physical attacks, by wrapping or pushing it out of their limbs. Moving more mana to flow in my arm makes my arm glow with the familiar blue veins. However, my muscles don’t seem affected by the energy.

I punch the wall leaving a small hole in the plaster. Letting the energy recede into it’s natural flow, I punch out again leaving a similar sized hole. Frowning in displeasure I start thinking of other ideas.

Thinking of attacks where the energy is sent out after a strike to double the damage. I focus and mana flow into my hand, letting it grow almost unbearably hot. My hand glows brightly as I push the energy just outside of my body, floating on my skin. Then I close my fist and punch the wall as hard as I can.

My fist punches through plaster and I command the mana to expand. The mana reacts to my command flashing brighter. It explodes creating a large hole in the wall, pushing out to the other side.

I pull my arm back in shock and pain. My hand feeling burnt and abused. Wafts of smoke rise from the hole in the wall as well as my hand. Looking down at it I see no visible damage, but my hand definitely feels sore.

The mana in my arm disappears leaving me drained. Focusing on the pool inside of me I can sense that the punch cost me a quarter of my mana. So it costs a lot and hurts a lot. Definitely not an attack I want to use. However, I shouldn’t dismiss it.

I sit down and let my mana pool replenish while trying to imagine other ways I can use it against the zombies. Thinking back to other forms of media I remember how some people can imbue objects with magic or use them as conduits.

Taking stock of what I have, I take everything off my utility belt. Radio holder, knife, baton, pepper spray, and a pouch holding disposable gloves. The radio hoder is useless and I throw it across the room, it’s bulky and gets in my way sometimes.

The knife is small, about three inches, but maybe I can extend the blade with mana. Or maybe I can use it to control the knife remotely.

The baton is a nice midrange weapon but requires too much effort to kill, maybe I can coat it with mana to be more lethal, kinda like the exploding punch thing I can do.

Lastly is the pepper spray. Completely useless against the zombies, but I keep it on me just in case. You never know when you’ll need to blind someone.

As I go to put it back in it’s hoster an idea strikes me. Mana kinda burns when I use it and I can still see the singe marks that my punch made. If I heat up the can enough it could probably explode. It’d be a one time attack but it could be devastating.

Getting to work on my experiments I pick up my knife. Holding it in my hand I close my eyes and command the flow of mana to the knife. The energy moves and builds in my hand and then nothing. The knife doesn't heat up or feel connected to me or anything.

Opening my eyes in confusion I watch as the mana leaves my body and pushes against the knife. However, it doesn’t go into the knife. Instead I feel the mana push against the knife almost pushing it out of my grasp. With that idea scrapped I focus on another.

I push the mana over the knife and onto the blade where it sits glowing a brilliant arctic blue. With the blade glowing I drag the knife across the wall expecting it to slice through like butter. Contrary to my expectations the mana just burns the white paint a little, not even making it easier to cut.

Letting the energy dispel I drag the blade across the wall leaving a gouge in it. Just coating the blade isn’t enough to make doing so useful. If anything it makes it more blunt I realize.

What if the energy is moving? With that thought I set to work on coating the blade in energy, but this time I make it circulate while giving it little bumps, like the teeth of a chainsaw. It’s slow at first but as I focus the energy builds in speed until I hear a soft humming coming from it.

Slightly pushing the coated weapon into the wall causes the knife to sink in effortlessly. The mana chews away at the plastor like it was cutting through water. I cut off the flow of mana and the spell lasts a few more seconds before fading.

I realize that it only takes maybe a tenth of my mana pool to start the saw. Then to keep it going costs about about a point of mana per minute. So I could theoretically keep the spell up for 27 minutes.

Putting the knife back on my belt I mentally dub the spell my Mana Saw. Grabbing the baton I cast Mana Saw on it. I notice that it takes about twice as much mana to coat the whole baton in the revolving mana, letting the spell last I find that the upkeep is also doubled. So I have about thirteen minutes with the baton.

Pushing the mana coated baton into the wall causes the same seamless cutting that the knife did. It can cut into plaster pretty well but what about a body? I’m trying to make weapons capable of killing zombies and the only way I know to do that is to destroy their heads.

Looking around the room I don’t see anything that can be used to simulate a human skull. But what I do see is the corpse lying in the middle of the floor bleeding out. An idea crosses my mind leaving me feeling a little squeamish but I don’t see many other options that are safe.

I walk to the body standing over it’s mutilated corpse. The smell of blood is more prominent here. Taking the baton I coat it in mana and with a thought extend the length of the baton. The blue light lengthens from one and a half feet to two and a half. It takes up vastly more mana but it’s possible.

I slowly push the spiraling mana into the sternum of the corpse. I feel resistance as the baton sinks into the skin then bone, but it’s not much and with little force I push the button all the way through the thing’s torso. I pull out causing blood to be flug out as the drops clinging to the mana are sent flying. Letting the mana disperse leaves me feeling mentally fatigued.

With some effort this is probably more than enough to stab into their brains. I holster the baton and point my finger at the corpse. Letting a Mana Bullet fly into it causes a popping sound as the bullet hits the torso and explodes creating a small hole. Not deep enough to make me think of the spell as a killing shot. Then an idea hits me.

I form a bullet above my finger and force it to spin. Once it’s rotational speed feels sufficient I shoot the bullet at the body. The bullet flies faster than even my Cannonball and punches a hole clean through the bodies’ torso before exploding with a muffled pop. With a smile I know I have my long range spell. I dub it my Rifle Round and it only costs slightly more mana than my Mana Bullet, leaving me about eight shots total.

I move away from the corpse and sit in the corner, letting my mana replenish. Once I’m at full I’m going to start clearing the building. With my new arsenal of attacks I feel a lot more confident about taking down multiple zombies.

Closing my eyes I let the time slip by as I watch the mana inside of me flow throughout me. Slowly but surely filling back up to max. Once I’m full I take out my baton and walk to the door. I push down on the lock release with my foot and breath out trying to calm myself. I open the door slowly and leave the safety of the room.

It’s time to hunt.