"Bloody hell, so this is the hallway you guys talked about. I ain't know if I am in a horror movie or an apocalypse." Noah said impulsively.
"We're in both and far greater no need to sugar coat it." Caleb said as they stared forward at a mildly large hallway with broken lockers hanging of the wall.
Cobwebs were weaved all around the place, coupled with dead air which could be seen through to rays of moonlight.
Moonlight came through broken miniature windows which hung a bit higher than normal. Arthur wasn't interested in the windows or creepy aesthetic of the place although he paid little attention to details.
" At the end of this hallway by the right we would find what we are looking for… which is death nothing else." David remarked stretching his limbs.
Arthur snapped his fingers getting everyone into formation, " If we encounter death, then you shall die. I wouldn't." David looked at him with a smile. "Lord Ymir, your words would be remembered in Valhalla."
Ignoring those words Arthur cautiously moved forward, the group following behind him. His eyes scanned every single object, from scattered paper sheets to torn backpacks and bloodied lockers.
'There isn't supposed to be blood her, the middle school was supposed to be closed. The only possiblity are waiters.' Just as he was caught up in his thoughts David stopped.
"I heard something." He said observing the area. "Let's keep moving there isn't any…" In an instant, a hole tore though the air, puncturing a spider egg."
The egg which was half the size of an average adult human, rolled down a locker and stopped in front of them. It shivered and faded into ash.
While everyone was focused on the disappearing egg, Mary was instead gazing at another thing. She saw something move in the shadow behind them.
When entering the hallway they had been met with darkness, still darkness, undisturbed darkness. Although they didn't pay attention to it, something was strange, they opened the door but still could see clearly.
It was only when they had moved to the distance they were currently, that Mary noticed this. The other people who should have known this earlier was the rear holders.
However the rear holders Caleb, Tamsin and Noah, were curious to see what David saw. Only with the corner of her eye had Mary saved them all from a swift death.
She saw several pointy feet, resembling that of a Feren Fly but she couldn't tell if it was filled with spikes like the fly. Tracing the obvious insect eggs up to seven glowing eyes, Mary screamed in horror.
The group was immediately alerted, Noah fell to his knees and Caleb dove away. Only Tamsin was left face to face with the blur of darkness and seven glowing eyes.
Mark dragged her just in the nick of time to save her from the mandibles of an enormous spider.
The girl's eyes widened in shock as the spider's mandible clasped shut, at the exact spot her head was if she was still standing.
The sound of splitting air resounded as a whirlwind took one of the spider's leg. Its balance was temporarily shattered, Mary locked eyes with it, her hands clasped tightly creating another whirlwind.
Arthur watched quietly as the battle unfolded, ' It's just a level ten Dark Spider.' hoping that they would end it before he got involved. He faced thier destination looking out for approaching threats.
A loud shriek escaped the spider vocals and it blinked back to its original spot. The most stable of the group got ready to charge at it, but David stepped forward his fists glowing.
"We might be under the open sky." David said walking forward with purpose and a bit of swag. "Still I would teach you why no one attacks the followers of the Son of stars."
What followed next was light, blinding light. An incinerating beam tore through the air and the wall to the next area. The spider let out another harrowing shriek as it avoided David's attacks.
Meanwhile Arthur threw his dagger into the air and caught it, then threw it straight at the end of the hallway. A purposeless action to someone who just looked at him.
But it didn't stay purposeless for long. While The others were completely focused on David and the spider, they had forgotten even a bigger approaching threat.
He could even hear it approaching, a horde, a massive zombie horde. ' They finally found a way in.' The only reasonable explanation Arthur could come up with was simple.
The zombies they attracted during their run to the hall had finally gotten into the middle school. And are on their way here.
The dagger he threw earlier cleanly sliced through an incoming zombie's neck before being imbedded into the wall. Arthur took back the dagger and flung off the blood particles on it.
' We would have to get back to our main objective.' Looking back at the spider battle, Arthur noticed the creature already dead and David standup over its body with an orb in his blood hand.
"Resting time is over!" Arthur yelled getting everyone's attention. "Back to your positions." His order wasn't obeyed till the sound of countless running footsteps was heard.
Everyone quickly assumed their positions except Tamsin who sat at the spot Mark had dropped her. Her eyes wide open, dazed as to how she nearly lost her life.
"Are we ready?" He asked his voice calm but reaching the ears of everyone present. David walked up to him, nodded his head and they prepared to move.
While they were ready to dash forward, the voices of Caleb and Noah trying to revive Tamsin reached Arthur's ear. ' Argh, these lesser brained idiots can't always do things accordingly.'
Hurriedly walking over to the rear of the formation, he met his squad. Before they could explain anything to Arthur, a heavy slap landed on Tamsin's face pulling her out of her trance.
While she made no sound nor place a hand on her reddened cheek, she stared blankly at Arthur's stern face. "Get her in fighting condition immediately." He commanded walking back to his position.
"Everyone move." He said taking three steps forward and pausing. At the fourth move, the first wave emerged.
Arthur's grip on the blade tightened as he watched the zombies charge towards them.
' This is the biggest cluster of zombies I have ever charged into.' "Hold fast, a single scratch could mean death." He reminded as they got enshrouded by the horde.
Grabbing the nearest zombie he could touch, he raised his hand in a brutal thrust and stabbed down at the zombie's neck. This action repeated a few times and the zombie's head was off.
He tossed the head away, he ducked under the grasp of the next zombie he stabbed it in the abdomen. A futile action he knew.
Even the head he threw away was very much still alive, talk less attacking zombies in any other part than their brain.
It was as useless as taking a horse for a drink. They didn't feel pain, just like their body merely functioned as a tool for the brain. Arthur pushed the zombie away as he rose.
He flipped the dagger caught it in a slashing style and sliced the zombie's head in two. Then the ture battle started, Arthur was attacked by four zombies at once.
"Dismantle Formation, everyone protect yourselves." Arthur yelled as he understood the severalty of the battle they were in. Had it been the space was narrow akin to the balcony things would have been better.
The formation would have still been useful, at this moment Arthur knew keeping the formation was plainly a death sentence. He wasn't ready to take chances that would limit his survival.
So disbanding the formation was the best option. His ability was also put to the test has had to split his mind into committing physical actions and telekinetic ones.
Using weapon augmentation he swift cut down all zombies attempting to surround him. The more he used weapon augmentation he understood it didn't just make his weapon more powerful and accurate.
It turned his entire bodies into a weapon without him needing to sole focus it on making his bare attacks more powerful.
It made his body much lighter while increasing the amount of force exerted. Someone with explosive speed coupled with stronger attacks and durability, wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
As Arthur slowly understood this, his attacks became more devastating despite him merely using a short weapon.
[ Congratulations for self leveling your first skill, freely check out its current limits.]
[ Weapon Augmentation
And explosion of power rushed through Arthur's body as he felt lighter yet more powerful. 'This is almost the speed of mobility.' Sliding towards a zombie.
He lowered his body with his dagger posed for a slash. Tearing through the zombie's waistline he rose when he was behind it and drove his blade into its skull.
Catching his breath, Arthur observed how David had already incinerated a two third of the zombies. The rest were still being taken care of by him and the others.
' It seems this is my last close quarter kill.' He rose deactivating weapon augmentation and activating force manipulation. Weapon augmentation would make the throw more powerful, force manipulation would bring the weapon back to him.
So he supported to take care of the remaining by slicing anything that attempted taking the live of someone.
By the time the battle was over everyone was breathing heavily and trying to scavenge for drops. Arthur paid secret attention to this noticing how only few drops came out of the slaughtered horde.
' It's rare.' Now knowing that drops were uncommon, he wouldn't have to check every body he killed. " David the stairs." He reminded as grumblings echoed through the hallway.
"Can't you catch a break dude, my fatigue bar is high."
"My limbs are starting to hurt senior Arthur."
"Fighting at this state is death bro, chill out."
Arthur sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. "Bother not." He walked passed them and took a turn to the right appearing before a door to lower floors.
His squad hurriedly caught up to him. "Bloody hell, there's gat to be something coming up. I can here it." Noah said as they stared into the dark stairway.
Unbothered he walked into the darkness relying only on his instinct to sense evil intent. His squad followed regardless some slight hesitation. Carefully he lead them down the stairs, sensing nothing till the last flight.
A few left behinds, clearing them out with telekinetic strikes, they entered the second floor. "Sit, rest for a minute." Arthur instructed pulling up his system interface.
He went straight to his inventory and pulled up the Grey sight.
-----
Name: Grey Sight
Category: Tool
Rank: Uncommon
Tier: 2
[Description: Forged for the wandering master who age had made blind. It was never delivered as the master died on the duel of truths before it could be completed.]
{Enchantments: True Sight, Watcher of Time, Mental Clarity}
-----
Looking at he grey blindfold in his hands Arthur paused in awe by what the tool could do. True sight was enhanced vision, watcher of time, slowed his perception of time. Mental Clarity allowed him think faster and push his focus to the the inhumane.
While he was still checking his first supernatural tool, someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Arthur we might have a problem. " Caleb said pointing at a fresh horde of approaching zombies at the courtyard below them.
' I knew they were coming from outside. Which zombie was strong enough to pull down those iron doors.' The zombies poured into the middle school through the main exit, their hurried footsteps were heard climbing the stairs to the first floor.
Soon they would be at the second floor, Arthur had to move fast. As he thought of a way out, the cohort ran down the third floor stairs and regrouped with them.
"Arthur the sounds are getting louder. A second wave would be bigger and stronger than the last." Mary panicked tugging Arthur's arm, he ignored her and looked down at the courtyard again.
' A fall from two stories would hurt but it wouldn't kill awakened like us. To avoid a fight which might be our last, we would have to lock these zombies in the first floor. '
Turning to the group, "Lock all doors and barricade them, let no zombie cross into this floor. Failure is death." With this words he jumped off the balcony.
Free falling into the courtyard knees first, he felt his bones rattle on impact. The rushing zombies had swelled down, it would take sometime for other zombies to locate the exit.
So his objective was to lock the doors of the first floor stairway and the exit. Rising to complete his objective. He was attacked by the late comers of the second wave.
Counting five zombies, he speed blitzed the zombies with mobility. Tearing out their brains open with David's dagger before they could encircle him.
[ You Have Leveled Up ]
[ 2 Stat points received ]
' It's about time.' Activating mobility again, he dashed towards the first floor stairway. Four zombies heard his footstep as he entered the corridor and turned to him.
He threw the dagger and manipulated its movement to decapitate them one after the other. It happened so quickly.
That when the dagger returned to his hand, all four zombies were still standing. Zooming past them, he bolted the door and ran towards the main exit which was left wide open.
Instead of stopping and closing it he stopped outside the school's building and stared towards the dark forest still looming behind them. 'A bigger horde is still waiting at the entrance of the hall. What lead these hordes to come all the way here. '
Walking into the door, he bolted it and turned to leave, but paused. Something wasn't right. If a zombie opened this door, it would be on the ground not perfectly opened wide.
Some things didn't add up. He looked around and found a rusty padlock with a sturdy chain. Observing the padlock, it was forcefully snapped open and the chain cut in two.
' Someone plan this, someone who can control zombies. And that person must already be very powerful.' He tied the doors with the longer part of the broken chain.
The padlock was broken and useless so he hung it to hold the ends of the chain together and with that his mission was complete. Walking back into the courtyard he met the group resting and David looked around.
"If your parts are complete then we can…" Just as Arthur was about to announce their victory, a magma ball slammed into the ground and sent everyone flying.