BLADECRAFT: The Undead Spear Emperor

Onward

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[Mental: A Stat that shows the percentage of mental power you can output from your Race]

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[Spiritual: A Stat that shows the percentage of spiritual power you can harness and output from your Race]

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[Flow: A Stat that shows the amount of Flow you possess]

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[Karma: A numerical record of your good and bad deeds]

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[Affinity: A Stat that shows your connection with an Element, Concept, or aspect of reality]

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Ozias read through the information calmly, not bothering to look up at the approaching Zombie.

It was still quite a distance away though… Until it wasn't.

So he moved.

His body bent out of the way of a vicious swipe, his weapon twirling in his hand and across his body, tripping the Zombie, while smacking its face at the same time.

The Zombie fell backwards, and following that, the weapon came down on it, breaking its neck.

Yet, it lived.

Regardless, Ozias didn't fret, moving his weapon and smashing it against the side of the Zombies head, rattling its brain and cracking its skull.

He repeated the action again and again, until he had turned it into a grotesque farrago.

Satisfied when he saw the particles of light entering his body, he raised his bloody weapon up and flicked it to the side.

He could feel the light empowering him, nurturing his body and making it stronger. His senses sharpened, his muscles became denser, and he could feel something moving within him.

His eyes closed for a moment, and he communicated with that energy, channeling it towards his palm, specifically the one holding the makeshift spear.

From a distance on a rooftop, Cole watched with fascination in his eyes. He noticed how much easier it was for Ozias to deal with the Zombies now—though the ones around were much weaker than the four-armed mutant Zombie.

He saw Ozias stand still after killing the second Zombie, and his eyes widened after he felt the shift in the atmosphere.

Ozias was channeling Flow! Something that no one with knowledge of its consequences should do.

But he didn't warn Ozias… yet. He wanted to see how he fared against a horde of Zombies, and also see how he dealt with the situation if he was pushed to a corner.

Everything came naturally to Ozias. The flow of energy was peculiar, but he seemed to understand its intricacies subconsciously, so he let his instincts take control.

The energy gathered in the palm of a hand, coalescing in the form of a soft bluish light. It naturally streamed into the weapon held—following the order of his Lineage—but due to a reason he didn't know of yet, he was forced to watch as the weapon began to vibrate, its surface beginning to shave off into a cloud of metallic dust.

The pole was breaking down bit by bit in real time, the substance making it up coming undone at a shocking rate.

Ozias swiftly cut off the flow of… Flow, feeling as the weapon got lighter.

Its quality had dropped, and now it was even weaker than it already was. There were chips and small fissures in it before as a result of its constant use, but now it was as smooth as a baby's skin, a large part of it missing.

Ozias wondered why this was, but his mind was soon taken away by a sudden, ethereal tug.

He felt something pull at him, urging him to come towards it.

And as suddenly as he felt it, the feeling multiplied, and he could suddenly feel his being being pulled in three distinct directions.

One pointed forward, in the direction he was headed. The second came from the West, and the last from behind—supposedly where he was coming from.

He thought about it, tallying it with what he had learnt from Cole, and it was just like he had explained. It was the way one felt when a huge amount of Flow was nearby, and that was usually caused by Dungeons, or anything in general with large quantities or great quality of Flow.

Ozias calculated in his mind, taking into account several variables and thinking of the best option.

Soon, he was on the move, heading North.

‘Onward.’

Cole, meanwhile, lowered the binoculars in his hands and frowned. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what.

***

Not long after Ozias left, the sound of the ground shaking could be felt by any living or unliving thing around.

The Zombies continued towards the nearest source of Flow, though, not minding the sound one bit. They knew their own when they were around.

And from a distance, a hulking mass of a Zombie was revealed. It had the vague looks of a humanoid, but its body consisted of numerous human parts.

It stood at a height of four meters, its brawny body littered with human arms, feets and heads.

All were rotten, a deadly putrid smell radiating off it in greenish waves.

The heads made ghostly sounds as the large Zombie moved, as though thousands of unique voices crying from the pits of an abyssal hell.

Slowly the Zombie turned its head, staring in a direction—the same direction Ozias had taken.

Then, it turned and walked away, heading the opposite way.

Cole watched the monstrosity take one step after another, the ground quaking with each slow, crushing step.

‘Lucky,’ he thought. ‘If that thing had given chase, running with our tails between our legs would have been the only option.’

He raised the binoculars to his eyes again, taking a good look at it. Even without being close to it, he could feel its power, a greenish black Flow revolving around it like a mantle.

“I need to get stronger,” Cole whispered, his eyes narrowing as the Zombie turned, its countless heads staring right at him.

If not for the large distance separating them, it would have attacked right away. But just like Ozias, it ignored him, continuing on its way.

“This level of intelligence…” Cole continued, feeling the weight of it all—the impending doom of their planet.

“I need to get stronger. And fast.”