07 | A Tower

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Stepping on top of a rock, I jumped on the cave's wall, pushing my way through.

We had a plan—somewhat—and I had an important role in it.

I needed to distract the zombies.

Yes, there were more—Aria had told me that there were a lot, especially since the humans and elves who died, were transferred somewhere else.

She said that she'd even recognized an elf, who was with them inside there but had died. And now, he was a zombie.

'So that's why there were corpses in there. They were gonna take 'em out sooner or later,' I sighed.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Why was I even bothering myself with these people—I didn't even know them.

Running was a bit hard for me right now, as my right arm wasn't there anymore.

Balancing was a bit difficult. Difficult, but manageable.

Kismet had said that the weapon he'd gifted me required a limb's place; I hoped it was worth it, otherwise, what was the point of losing an arm?

Sighing again, I turned around a corner.

The others were going to try and escape, I didn't know how they planned to do it, but since Doryu was with them, It didn't matter.

They'd make it somehow. Just like I did—playing dead was easy enough. And knowing how the corpses were transported somewhere, I capitalized on the chance.

My battered appearance was just a plus to make the dumb zombie who'd been, supposedly, assigned to bring me wherever they needed the corpses.

Now, the thing was, was I gonna make It?

'I hope I do, I have a daughter to take care of, a family to make proud, and a fiance to marry.'

I chuckled at my own thought.

I just hoped that whatever Kismet did to my body and whatever that weapon was, would help me.

Actually, where was the weapon? I didn't find it yet. When was I going to get it?

The ]Proceed[ button was still hovering in the corner of my vision, but I was sure that clicking on it was going to f*ck my world view, so, I didn't want to proceed yet.

I'd do it when I got home.

Spotting a zombie, I halted and whipped out my dagger.

Holding it tight with my one and only left hand, I sneaked up to it, flaring Dor for an instant, I held my breath, using the steam to enhance my strength.

I jumped, slashing at the zombie's head. The dagger was sharp, too sharp that I wondered sometimes where had grandma got it from.

Without an audible sound, the dagger's blade cleaved through the zombie's head like a watermelon. It was soft, I didn't feel any resistance.

With a thud, the zombie fell down, the upper half of its head rolling for a bit. The brain goo oozed out, but I was far ahead, scuttling towards a sound I'd heard.

The passage came to a strange, abrupt, end and I stopped.

In front of me, spread a vast clearing, with no zombies whatsoever.

It was strangely lit and black flakes of something hovered about. There was a curving path between the stalagmites, which led to a broken tower.

'A tower?' I thought, knitting my eyebrows. 'What's a tower doing inside a cave?'

It was broken, a ruin. Some sort of wires limped from the infrastructure. But that wasn't important. Far from it.

As a sound reminiscent of a shock wave resounded, the tower's top—which was covered in bright-greenish smoke—cleared away.

Revealing with it hundred of zombies of varying sizes and types.

A slick-black tentacle was coiled around the upper half of the infrastructure—it seemed to be coming from the top.

There was a big icosahedron-like object jittering atop the tower, emitting an eerie green light.

Every few moments, the icosahedron-like object would puke out a goo-ish substance, and It would wriggle.

Which—in my honest opinion—was not something good.

I hastened my speed while inspecting my right shoulder.

It didn't hurt in the slightest, but there was the lack of a limb you could only feel when you lose one yourself.

A feeling of loss.

I didn't value my arms enough, believing that I could just heal them back—just like I'd always done.

But now that it wouldn't heal back, I learned the value of the things I had.

I'd refused to take notice of them, Instead, chased for things I didn't have, but now, I learned to value the things I had, instead of the ones I didn't.

Other than that.

A feeling of helplessness. But, It wasn't time to feel helpless.

***

I arrived near the tower, the top was turning smoky again. It had happened twice now. The smoke would gather atop, then the shock wave would blow it from within, clearing it again.

I pushed through the door—there was only one door.

As quickly as I did so, I saw two zombies.

Fortunately, they weren't able to walk as they didn't have legs. They didn't even have their lower halves, so they couldn't move in the slightest, and were killed by two Dor-enhanced kicks.

'And here goes my steam,' I thought, sighing as I did so.

I'd used up three Red Dor until now.

But I wasn't running out any time soon—courtesy of Kismet. He had given me some, and by some, I mean a lot.

I'd given twenty to the twins and instructed them to use them when needed.

I myself had thirty Red Dor in my pocket. They were small, so I could easily carry this much.

(A/N: I feel the need to explain their size. Especially since I haven't till now. The Dor has a radius of 0.5 cm(do the math if you want). They are artificially made using flakes of pure Dor inside them. Just read ahead, and the whole process will be explained in the upcoming chapters, sooner or later.)

Munching another Dor, I toppled over the zombies' corpses and onto the stairs.

The stairs were spiraling to the top.

I climbed the stairways. For more than five minutes I had wasted another Dor—the one I'd eaten before—to enhance my speed.

As the steam ran out, I was near the top. I picked some more and gulped them down.

Then, another climbing spree followed, this time, I had to step on the tentacle as well—it was the only way atop.

The stairways were broken after a certain height, so I had to hop on the tentacle for a ride.

As I was getting higher and higher, the incoming zombies increased in quantity.

I had to stop during my ride to blow them down. I didn't have the time to kill every single one, so I just blew them away with my EXPLOSION!

Ahem!

As the tentacle was a bit slippery they felled easily.

After a while—with some occasional fights—I reached the top. It was messed up, the whole section was crumbling except the floor.

Now that I took a closer look, the tentacle was coming out of the icosahedron-like object.

My eyes opened wide, I wasn't surprised at the crumbling tower. No. I was surprised that the hundreds of zombies that I'd seen before, were nowhere to be seen. There was nothing but an individual standing near a monolith, atop which, was the icosahedron-like object.

The individual standing near it turned and faced me, grinning ear to ear creepily.

"Welcome, welcome! you pesky bug. I was waiting when you'd show up again. Name's Davis by the way." He said, and this time—as I could see its face clearly—I recognized who it was.

It was the same zombie I'd failed to behead before. The one who'd injected that suspicious substance inside me—which cost me an arm.

I was enraged.

Just as I was about the run towards him, he raised a hand.

"Now, now, don't be hasty. Let me introduce you to someone else as well." He said, pointing at the tentacle.

"Meet my lord! Bow before him you peasant! And he shall grant you mercy and an opportunity to serve!"

Before he could continue, I flipped him the middle finger—which, after glowing in a magnificent red hue, exploded, hurtling towards him.

Translucent green light spiraled around him and he vanished while laughing out loud.

Appearing right a few paces in front of me, he threw a punch to my right. I ducked and skidded to my left while whipping the dagger at his ribs.

He jumped back.

But that one moment when he jumped back, I noticed something. He had his brain exposed.

It pulsed and something wriggled inside of it.

I toppled forth, enhancing my legs to jump high, then shifting to use my spark.

Coiling in the air, I hurled an explosion using all the steam I had towards it.

The next moment, I tucked some more Dor and munched.

Landing on the floor, I waited cautiously.

As the dust settled, Davis was revealed, standing upright, with nothing but some burnt meat on his chest.

My stomach churned.

"Look! This is what my lord gave me! And he has promised to revive my mother as well! Come join us, and he shall bless you as well-"

"Oh, f*ck off, jerk face! I'd rather die than have a half-dead d*ck!" I shouted, tightening my grip on the dagger.

Davis flinched. (A/N: Emotional Damage Keke)

There seemed to be no sign of a weak spot other than the brain.

'Yeah, I know, how typical of a zombie,' I shook my head.

This one was different. His body was tough to the point that it was safe after a full-blown explosion. So, In my eyes, only the brain seemed his weak point.

I charged forward, jumping and propelling myself with the monolith.

Rolling on the ground after the fall, I rushed towards his hand and slammed my dagger—which, on impact, cleaved through it without much resistance.

'What?' I thought.

Amazed at the sharpness once again, I grinned—which lasted only a moment as Davis' hand regrew on astonishingly high speed.

Before I could jump back, I felt a bolt of pain from my left side.

With a glance, I saw his other hand on my waist. The pain was bearable, but the force sent me hurtling on the ground until I hit the monolith.

The dagger slipped away.

Coughing twice, I got up, crawling towards the dagger.

Before I could pick it up, I felt myself tumbling away. A jolt of pain spread across my stomach.

"I offered," Davis said. "I offered!" he slammed his foot on the ground.

"You wanna get beat up that much huh?! Is that it!?" He jumped, aiming for my head. But I rolled away and propelled against the monolith to get away from his range.

I peered around, looking for my dagger. Spotting it a few paces away, I was going to go for it when some type of black goo-like substance enveloped it, and in front of my eyes, the dagger disintegrated inside the black goo-like substance.

"NO!" I bellowed, skidding towards it.

"F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!"

A sudden shock wave sent me tumbling toward the end of the tower as a screech resounded in the area.

The tentacles flailed about in excitement, which, in turn, made it so that the tower began to shake violently.

"Yes, YES! My lord is arriving!" Davis stopped where he was, and kneeled down towards the tentacles, hitting his head on the ground, the brain flailing in response.

'Is he an idiot?'

That was the only question In my mind. He could only be an idiot to expose himself like that.

'Not that I care,' I thought, shrugging my shoulders.

I shuffled through my pocket, throwing five pieces of Dor inside my mouth, and gulped.

Then, burning Dor, I jumped, making sure that I didn't make much sound. Planning to blow up his head with my full power, I exploded into flames, my vision turning 360 degrees.

In this form, I didn't have any humanoid form, just fire.

I hovered towards him, then latched on top of his brain.

He visibly stiffened, but—for some unknown reason—didn't stand up. He just kept kneeling.

'Weird,' I thought.

Not caring one bit, I burned Dor full throttle as I brightened, shimmering in a dangerous red hue.

With a sound akin to boiling oil, it burned.

Davis didn't let out a sound and remained in his position until his body fell limp.

In my eyes, he was an idiot. To keep kneeling to the 'vibrating tentacle monster' even when his death was near.

I morphed back into my humanoid form, slumping down just beside Davis' corpse.

I was somewhat tired. As I sat there, I felt something crawl on top of me.

Startled, I looked at it. It was the same black goo-like substance. Before I could do much, It latched onto my right shoulder.

I bolted up, trying to shake it off.

It kept sizzling and wriggling until it turned into sand, but black in color. Some of it fell down, while the other kept struggling on top of my shoulder.

⟨don't interfere! That's the weapon I was talking about!⟩

Kismet's voice resounded inside my mind, making me halt on the spot.

⟨just let it do what it wants. Oh, before you ask anything. This is merely a pre-recorded message. I haven't talked with you ever since I met you in the hall and we ate. Whatever you hear from me will be per-recorded. Except for some occasions.⟩

I calmed down, slumping on the ground again.

The black sand kept wriggling on my skin for a while before it started taking shape of something.

'An arm?'

I thought as I stared at it. It kept falling apart and reshaping into an arm.

After a while, I felt the Dor burn and the black sand shimmering with golden light before the tiny sand particles grew larger and larger.

They stopped after they looked like centimeter-long dragon scales.

The scales fluttered akin to a butterfly's wings, then settled down after flickering with a vein-like light from inside.

The heaps of sand around me fluttered and turned small. After which, they floated over to me and settled on my wrists, morphing into two beautiful bracelets.

Much to my surprise, the sand's color shifted from pitch black to color matching my skin.

A few seconds later, it was as if I'd never lost an arm.

'What, the actual f*ck!?'

**

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