“From the left!” Val shouted as she shot out a poisonous mana ball from her wand at a Turned Zombie that appeared not too far behind Kenny.

Kenny spun around with his leg up in the air. His foot connected against the creature’s head, knocking it off the body, and making it crumble to the ground. Bile threatened to run up his throat, but he quickly clamped down and forced it to stay. They may be monsters, but their human-like appearance still nerved him a bit.

While he felt revulsion to the feeling, he was starting to feel the nausea less and less the more times he was forced to do this. He wasn’t sure he liked that, but for now it was a necessary thing if he wanted to pass this area and complete the Trial Grounds.

Even Val hardened herself after killing so many Turned Zombies. She didn’t have it as bad as Kenny did, with him having to punch their rotted flesh and kick their decayed necks or heads right off their bodies, but watching these once living humans die by their hands really did a number on her mind and stomach.

Turned Zombies weren’t the only monsters they had to deal with though. Skeletal creatures called Bone Walkers appeared. They were a lot sturdier than the Turned Zombies with their bone-like bodies and a Stat Talent in Endurance. Kenny hated fighting them because each punch and kick left a small reverberation that ran through his body.

Not only that, but their movements were faster than the Zombies as well making them more of a threat. Thanks to Val’s Slow Debuffs though Kenny was able to take down the Zombies first before focusing on the Bone Walkers.

After what felt like hours had passed, Kenny and Val finally made it to a safe area. As they rested, they thought over the experience they had. Mobs of Turned Zombies came at them from all directions shortly after they started moving away from the starting area. At first the fights were easy and fast, however, once when the Bone Walkers started appearing things got a bit more hectic.

The pace they were going as they took out the Turned Zombies had started to slow after these walking bone creatures made their appearance. This made it easier for the slower Turned Zombies to catch up. While the waves of nonstop creatures helped them get more experience, both in the form of points and in fighting as a team, it also made them start to grow tired. The continual appearance of these monsters made it harder to keep moving forward. It was fortuitous when Val noticed a safe area and pointed it out.

Due to a combination of Kenny kiting the monsters to make their way in the opposite direction and Val’s successful debuff lands, a path was open to them to make it. Kenny had to use his leap ability off of his bracelet to bypass all the monsters, but after he was able to break free the two of them ran for the area.

After stepping inside, the monsters became docile. It was weird to see it. Kenny was afraid they would follow them, but he was thankful when they didn’t. Leave it to Tower interference or as a Hunter in some old story once said System Fuckery. The Tower could be thought of as some sort of a system, right?

“So…thoughts?” Val asked bringing Kenny out of his thoughts.

Kenny kept his eyes on the creatures aimlessly roaming about outside the safe area. They couldn’t waste time here waiting for all the monsters to walk away. They also couldn’t waste timing trying to kill them all either. The more time they took fighting the monsters the more time would slowly tick away and bring their chances of finishing the Trial Grounds on time to an end.

“Let’s rest up enough to replenish our resources. After that we need to get out of here,” Kenny suggested. He then looked at Val and asked, “How close are we to your trigger?”

Val closed her eyes and felt the pull. After a few second had passed she pointed behind them and said, “Not too far from here. In that direction.”

Kenny turned to see an opening on the other side. With a nod he said, “Alright let’s see how things look over there.”

As Kenny and Val made their way over to the other side of the safe area, Kenny had gotten a better look at the place. They were in a small garden that had a fountain in the middle that overflowed with water. Flowers of different colors surrounded them in a circle with a line of trees that were so compact you could see the other side.

A small dirt area was noticeable that Kenny believed it was safe to make a small fire there, but unlike the other safe areas he had seen before it didn’t look like anyone had done it yet. Off to the side was an enclosed area with a door. He believed that to be the restroom. How the Tower managed that he was still unsure but didn’t have the time to ponder more on it.

As soon as they reached the other side they noticed there weren’t any monsters lurking around. Val, with her higher perception, looked harder than Kenny could and after a couple of minutes confirmed that there weren’t any. What they did find, however, was a dirt path that led away from the safe area. Val stated that the direction it was going did align with where they needed to go.

Kenny wasn’t sure if it was a coincidence or if it was intentional, but having a path to follow was better than walking around blindly. He would take what they could get. Having no monsters around this area was a blessing as well, but at the same time he wasn’t sure if it would remain like that when they finally left.

Deciding not to worry about it this exact moment, Kenny turned around and went over to the fountain. He replenished his empty vials as well as refilled his water flask with cleaner water. He did drink out of it a couple times before adding more to it and felt the warm sensation of the effect that came from his other bracelet. He didn’t need much healing, but the amount that filled him made him feel more relaxed.

“That’s such a cheat-like effect,” Val teased as she filled her water flask.

Kenny gave her a grin as he said, “It has its flaws, but I agree that it does feel like it is a cheat.”

Val stared at him for a moment before asking, “What flaws? I don’t see how an item that lets you heal yourself through eating or drinking having any flaws.”

Kenny nodded as he understood her confusion. “One of the biggest flaws this effect has is the amount of healing it does. Right now, it does wonders for me, but later when I have a lot more health? It won’t have its usefulness like it does now when I’m at a lower level.”

Val hummed as she thought about it. After a few seconds she nodded and said in agreement, “That’s true, but right now. I still think it’s such a cheat-like effect.”

“Says the girl who could slow her enemies down or cause them to feel pain,” Kenny countered.

“Still can’t regenerate health in an instant like you,” Val countered. “A few hits on me and that’s it.”

She then made a sound like she was dying while crossing her eyes and dropping her tongue out. Her hands quickly shot up to her heart trying to look like she was dying. She chuckled for a few seconds before it died off and she looked around.

Feeling a bit embarrassed she said after letting out a quick cough, “That probably wasn’t the best joke with all that’s going on right now.”

Kenny tried to hold back the smile he wanted to form, but instead opted to say, “Yeah probably not the best timing. I’m sure those Zombies would be offended if they saw that. It would kill their fragile little hearts.”

Val stuck her tongue out as she gave him a fake scowl which brought Kenny to laugh a little. After his laughter calmed down Kenny looked at Val and noticed she was staring at the fountain. The look on her face was concerning, but he believed she was thinking about a lot at the moment.

Maybe it had to do with the fact it felt like they were killing other humans or how they were coming up on the timer soon. They had little more than a day and a half left to get the rest of their Skill Trees awakened as well as needed to kill the final boss of the Trial Grounds. A lot of pressure was starting to build up just from that alone.

Before Kenny could say anything Val looked over at him and asked, “What are we going to do?”

Kenny was confused by the question. When he looked at her he saw the concerned look in her eyes. He wasn’t sure why she looked so concerned. She was about to get her last Skill Tree awakened in this area. After that all she needed to do was beat the final boss. Was she worried about how much time was left?

He noticed she kept looking at him. After a few seconds, his line of thoughts changed. Instead of being concerned about herself, was she concerned about him? But why though? She had no reason to be worried or concerned about him.

This Trial Grounds was a gamble. Either you picked the right path and was lucky to find the triggers to awaken your Skill Trees or not. Sure it would suck to work your hardest only to be met with failure at the end, but that was the risk. Something Vesely had questioned his resolve on.

Almost like she was reading his mind she explained, “I’m talking about your triggers.” Realization finally dawned on Kenny. “It’s basically confirmed that the trigger needed to awaken my last Skill Tree is in this Area, but you haven’t found any of your two. What do we do if it’s not in the second half of this area?”

Kenny shrugged. He really didn’t want to have this conversation. He had resolved himself when he first came here that he was going to try his best to make it to the end. Even though reality right now was looking anything but hopeful he didn’t want to say it. After all, there was that strange superstition that said if you put it out there into the universe it might become reality.

“What do you mean what do we do?” Kenny started back up. “We push forward. That’s all we can do.”

“But,” Val started, but stopped as Kenny continued, “No point in worrying about something we have no clue might or might not happen. Better we live in the now and not in the uncertain future. Rest up. I have a feeling the fight to get to where we’re going is going to be tough.”

Val looked like she wanted to argue more on the topic, but the stubbornness and firm tone in his voice made her think it was best to drop it…for now. Instead, she sat down and did as they were supposed to do while inside the safe area.

After a half an hour had passed, Kenny and Val both stood back up and walked over to the edge of the safe area. Val scanned the area ahead of them. When she didn’t see anything she looked back at Kenny and said, “Should be all clear for now. What’s the plan?”

Kenny stared out and let her know his thoughts. “Going slow and cautious will get us caught up in waves of enemies. If we want to get through this without wasting any time we’re going to have to rush to where your trigger is pulling you. I want to say it’ll bring us to the Mid-Area Boss or maybe the boss of the area, but until we reach it I don’t know.”

“So you’re suggesting we run all the way to where I’m being pull to?” Val questioned.

Kenny gave a pained look as he responded, “Kind of. Rushing isn’t the best option either since there’s a chance we can fall into a trap.” He looked at her and gave her a teasing grin. “Kind of like that one grave pit you almost fell into earlier.”

Val frowned as she stared at him. “Hey, it’s not my fault I almost tripped and fell into it. You were the one that kicked that zombie and sent it flying at me.”

Kenny winced. “Yeah sorry, I didn’t think I would be able to kick it that hard.”

“As long as you learned your lesson and are sorry, I will forgive you,” Val smirked.

Kenny shook his head. “Getting back to the matter. I don’t think we should run because it will drain our stamina faster. While I have a decent amount of it, you don’t.”

“So then…what should we do?” Val asked as she tried to think of their best solution.

“We should keep a light jog and keep the fighting to as minimum as we can,” Kenny started. “If they are coming from the sides we ignore them. If there’s a decent amount blocking the path then we take them down as fast as we can before getting swarmed. Also, I think you should limit how much mana you use. In case we find the mid boss sooner than we expect.”

Val nodded in agreement with this plan. She had to admit he was smarter than he looked. Most physical fighters’ plans were blast through or punch anything and everything. She chuckled quietly at the thought of Kenny acting that way. Just running right into a horde of zombies and punching away with a meathead kind of laugh.

Before she could let the thoughts overtake her mind and let the giggles she was feeling starting to form in the back of her throat, she cleared her throat and said, “Alright, that sounds like a good plan. Are we ready to head out now?”

Kenny nodded as he responded, “I’m ready whenever you are.”

Val closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself. Releasing the air she held, she opened her eyes, looked at Kenny, and stated, “I’m ready.”

“Then let’s do it,” Kenny said as he stood up. They looked in the direction they needed to head and then took off.

 

 

“How much further is it?!” Kenny yelled out as he threw a one two punch combination against two Zombies’ faces. Both male zombies fell to the ground, allowing Kenny to leap forward at another zombie right behind the two drilling a knee right into his chest as he threw two more powerful punches into its face.

“I don’t understand! This should be the spot!” Val shouted back as she swirled around looking around the area they were in.

They had entered a fenced graveyard that was surrounded by nasty dark oily barked trees outside of the fenced area. A small, stoned building, looking suspiciously like a mausoleum, with ten unlit torches running along the side wall of the building in two rows, rested in the back area where twenty tombstones were gathered. The gravestones lined up in four rows of five with fresh wet dirt patches in front of them. More unlit torches stood tall on top of the fence line.

The area looked exactly what a Mid Area Boss field would look like, but when they entered the usual motion of the entrance closing up didn’t happen. This confused Val greatly. If this was where the Mid Area Boss was supposed to be then why didn’t the entrance close up and why hadn’t the Mid Area boss shown its face? Was this not the right place?

Val felt her trigger resonate with the area, but at the same time it wasn’t in this area. She tried to focus harder to see if she could tell where it was exactly. She closed her eyes and tried to block out the grunts, moans, and even Kenny’s shouts as he fought and killed each zombie that made their way inside the gated graveyard.

She understood what she was doing was both selfish and could put her teammate in trouble if she didn’t hurry, but she was growing irritated from how confusing this place was. Even after almost a minute she couldn’t pinpoint the exact area her trigger was leading her…Wait.

Val felt something pull at her very being. She couldn’t describe it fully, but she understood it was the trigger she was feeling. Her body turned as she tuned into it more. Once she found the right direction, Val opened her eyes and looked right at the mausoleum.

“I think I found it!” Val shouted as she turned enough to get a good look at Kenny.

“Then go get it!” Kenny replied as he took down another Turned Zombie.

Val turned her head to face forward and nodded. That’s all she needed. Confirmation he was fine. She didn’t waste any time as she hurried over to the mausoleum. If this wasn’t a Mid Area Boss area then it was probably a hidden treasure place. That meant the trigger she was looking for was probably in the form of a grimoire. That worked out perfectly for her.

It didn’t take long for Val to reach the doors of the mausoleum. She ran up the three small steps and threw her hands out to the doors. As soon as her palms touched the stone doors she pushed as hard as she could.

They were heavy and felt like they hadn’t been opened in years. Putting her back into it, she finally felt the doors give way, just slightly. However, that amount of movement was enough for a reaction to happen.

As the doors cracked open slightly, a powerful dark purple gas cloud suddenly rushed out of the small building. The force was enough to send Val flying backwards towards Kenny. Kenny turned around the moment he heard Val let out a surprised shriek. His eyes widened as he watched her lithe and flailing body flying right for him.

Kenny took a horse stance and readied himself for impact as the strange cloud blew over and past him. The monsters still making their way towards his back were hit by the cloud and suddenly disintegrated. Kenny hadn’t noticed that though since he kept his eyes on Val so he could catch her.

She slammed right into his chest and arms and let out a loud grunt. She looked at him with a confused frown and muttered, “Damn boy. What are you a brick wall?”

Kenny let out a laugh as he commented back, “Is that any way to thank me for catching you? I could have just let you crash into the monst…” Kenny’s words died down as he turned his body to look at the monsters who were nowhere in sight. His brows furrowed as he muttered, “Huh, I wonder what happened to them.”

“That’s a good question,” Val agreed as she threw an arm behind Kenny’s head and rested her arm on his shoulder before grabbing that hand with her other. A few seconds after she did this she looked at Kenny and realized the position she was in. With a slight blush she let out a cough before saying, “As much as I like being in a princess carry like any other girl, I think you should put me down now.”

Kenny gave her a puzzled look before it finally hit him what she meant. His cheeks slightly reddened a bit before he muttered an agreement as he set her feet down first. After letting her go once she balanced herself, he dusted himself and looked back at the mausoleum.

The heavy stone doors suddenly slammed shut as the dark purple cloud disappeared. The unlit torches that sat on the fence line suddenly lit up as the sky darkened a bit. A light breeze blew around them outside of the graveyard, but for some reason didn’t enter the fenced area. Instead, the air around them dropped a few degrees creating a cold chill that ran down both their spines.

Kenny and Val looked around to see if they could find the cause of this disturbance, but they didn’t find anything. That was until the strange purple cloud came back. However, instead of it blowing around in a powerful gust, it started to swirl into a ball in the air right behind the rows of gravestones.

After a few seconds had passed, the purple swirling cloud condensed and shaped the ball into a form. A head, two arms, and the upper half of a body covered in a dark purple layer of smoke took shape. This form was ethereal with the body being slightly see-through. A pair of sinister red eyes glowed and stared directly at Kenny and Val. A screen suddenly appeared above its head revealing what it was.

[Mid-Area Boss. Call of the Undead (Incomplete, Ghost Form) Level – 6. Stat Talent – Intelligence.]