A sea of flame consumed the night sky, lighting up the darkness. Clouds of heavy smoke rose, blending in with the night sky, carrying the stench of burning flesh. Zane frowned, pinching his nose. He gagged a few times, but he endured. Despite the burning zombies around him, most of them were still unaffected by the ravaging flames as their numbers were too great.

[Fireball increased to level 4!]

Zane’s MP was nearing its end, and he wasn’t liking the situation. “Whoa,” he wobbled. Stabling himself on the ruin’s roof as the platform underneath him started to shake. The growing numbers of the horde around him were making things worse as the pushes from behind were slowly affecting the base of the ruin. Sooner or later, the ruin might not be able to hold on any longer, and he hoped it would be the latter.

[Cleric-class leveled up to 8. Stat points distributed; +1 Arcane Power, +1 Vitality.]

Over the last hour, his Cleric-class had been skyrocketed. Boosting his MP even for just a little bit at a time as he sent more fireballs at these walking dead. Burning them to cinders, racking up more experience under his belt. But even that wasn’t enough.

[MP is empty. Spellcasting unavailable.]

The thing he waited had come, and rather than being upset, he shifted his offense to a more physical approach. Zane grabbed his Glock 19. Feeling the familiar weight of it in his hands, gripping the cool metal of the firearm. He aimed down sight at the zombie’s head right below him and within a split second, he pulled the trigger.

The gunshot roared across the crackling flames of burning zombies, and it was just the beginning. His muzzle flashed as bullet after bullet escaped the cylindrical barrel, blasting the zombies’ heads off. Sending blood and brain matter splattering across the other shamblers around it. He took his time and didn’t rush, making every shot count. His arms were steadied and his aim was dead-on accurate, and by the time he cracked the skull of the fifteenth zombie, his next pull came out empty.

“I’m out,” he said. Holstering the gun as he reserved his ammo in case of emergency. He could have kept himself from using it, but in this situation, he had just had an itch of pulling the trigger. Seeing all those zombies films where the heroes were trigger-happy, Zane had to have a taste of it even once. And once was enough. He knew well he wasn’t in a movie as the ammo was limited and not limitless as he saw on the big screen.

Pulling out the dagger, he kind of missed his scimitar, seeing how short the dagger was. But what could he do? It was trapped in a forest with giant spiders lurking around and not to forget the mini-boss who had been roaming outside of its usual area. But Zane couldn’t just let it go. He made a mental note to try getting it back when he was sure Anasi’s Last Child wasn’t around there.

Zane stabbed his dagger right through the eye socket of a shambler. Pulling it out immediately, preventing himself from losing another weapon. In this sort of situation, he could not let that happen.

By chance, a new list of announcements emerged right after that kill he made.

[You have leveled up to 14. Five stat points have been given.]

[Mage-class leveled up to 14. Stat points distributed; +2 Arcane Power.]

Zane opted for what was useful at the moment. Placing two to strength and three to agility. If things went wrong, he still could flee using his speed against these slow-walkers. The blade in his hand went to work, slashing and cutting these zombies down by the neck or by the head. At the same time, he dodged those hordes of hands that tried to pull him into their midst. He got a few scratches a few times on his arms, but it was nothing serious. Zane just hoped he wasn’t getting infected or anything as he was a bit paranoid even after the analysis told him the curse could only transfer through bite wounds.

Opening up his status screen, the absence of any ill status effect was reassuring.

[Status]

[Zane][Lv.14]

[Class: Mage(Lv.14), Cleric(Lv.8)]

[HP: 54/56]

[MP: 8/82]

[Strength: 25]

[Vitality: 28(+8)]*

[Agility: 30][+1]

[Arcane Power: 41(+36)]

[Perception: 20]

[Available Points: 0]

[Trait]

[Enhanced Drop Rate]

[Multi-Class]

[Unique Skill]

[Warp][Lv.1]

[General Skill]

[Hi-Analysis][Lv.1]

[Physical Resistance][Lv.3]

[Mage Spell]

[Mana Manipulation][Lv.1]

[Force Beat][Lv.3]

[Fireball][Lv.4]

[Earth Wall][Lv.1]

[Sense][Lv.1]

[Wind Burst][Lv.1]

[Cleric Spell]

[Healing Touch][Lv.1]

[Protection of the Light][Lv.1]

Another hour went by. His hands never stopped moving, killing what was already dead. But the dead kept coming. Soon, the ruin he stood on started to wobble even worse. Swaying left and right as he could feel himself tilting to the side. The groans of the shambler zombies grew louder as if knowing that Zane was coming.

He cursed inside. His eyes scattered around, searching for a way out of this. But the horde was packed against each other like a can of sardine, leaving no opening for Zane to get out of this trap. He could take the easy way out and warped himself out of here. But his urge to keep on grinding left that thought at the back of his mind, preserving that escape plan only when things really went south.

Eying what was left of his MP, Zane's lips mumbled. His hand grabbed a hold of the edge of the roof as the whole ruin started to tilt steeper. Rotten hands reached out frantically at him as the shamblers yearned for his fresh flesh, knowing he was nearer.

But Zane was a step ahead.

“Earth Wall,” he uttered. Ten meters ahead, a wall of earth emerged from the ground, pushing the zombies to the side, and stood firm at three meters in height. Zane let go and he jumped. The strength in his legs soared him through the night sky as dead hands reached out at him from below like fans in a concert readied to catch their beloved star for a crowd surfing.

Too bad for them Zane landed on top of the wall. Yet his arms flailed around like flapping wings, stopping himself from falling forward.

The horde turned their attention at the new structure, crowding like starving rabid dogs. Zane cast another earth wall at the distance and leaped. He almost slipped the second time, but he recovered quickly, pulling up his dangling leg before it could be grabbed.

A clear space behind the horde was close. But it wasn’t going to be easy. Zane vaulted over the dead with everything he got, but it was still too short. “Wind Burst,” he said. A strong gush of wind pushed him from behind, propelling further in the air, getting him closer to the edge of the horde.

His feet kicked a shambler right on the face as he landed on the ground, surrounded at every angle by the decaying corpses that still moved. The dagger in his hand danced as he raced at the zombies who were on the edges of the horde. Metal blade cut against rotten flesh as he forced himself against the two rows of zombies.

He managed to reach the edge, but their hands grasped him tight over his skin, his clothes, and even his hair. Zane could feel those smelly jaws coming closer at him even without looking back. “Wind Burst,” he shouted. A strong draft exploded from behind, hurling Zane to the front while also pushing the zombies away from him.

Ignoring the pain, Zane got up and made a run for it. Unlike during the day, the clouds were nowhere to be seen in the sky above the valley as the two moons graced Zane with their light, letting him see the zombies that were sporadically positioned at his front. They came closer, influenced by the horde. Yet the vast space in between them made it easier for him to dispatch them without worrying about his back. He killed the undead and he wasn’t stopping, beheading them off like slicing a melon into two. His blade was sharp and his strength made it easier.

Unlike before, Zane had the freedom to grab his loots. He snatched it all without hesitation and stuffed everything in his bag. It wouldn’t compensate for the loot that he lost that vanished within the horde, but at least he got something.

His run through the shambler-zombies dyed most of his blue cloak in darkish crimson blood. He noticed it for a while and he wasn’t happy about it. Cleaning off blood from fur cloak was definitely not going to be fun. Yet the worst part of the whole thing was the rotten smell of the dead clinging to his body. Again, he could only frown.

But hey, at least he got his cleric-class up to level nine.

Zane found the giant boulder, Keeper of the Dead at the far end of his sight. He raced towards it and found the rope hanging near a cliff to the side. He leaped and grabbed on it, ascending upwards until he reached the safety on top of the boulder. Zane pulled the rope, and for the first time, he could finally have a breather. He lay on the cold stone of the Keeper of the Dead, staring at the vast night sky with the stars decorating at every corner of the black curtain.

His heart was still beating like mad, and as it slowed down it got him thinking. I guess that’s kinda fun, he smiled. For the first time, the danger he felt wasn’t like the one that would immediately make him die, and to be fair, he kind of enjoyed that feeling. And he wouldn’t mind having a second go at it, right after he got some adequate rest.