Choose Your Apocalypse (A LitRPG Apocalypse, Progression, System Fantasy) [CYA]

<Alex, Real - Prepare, High School Gym>

Alex rolled onto his side, hacking out zombie dust, even as several more portable lights came on throughout the space, illuminating the chaos.

He used Create Water to fill his mouth with a cup of water and tried to swish it while still feeling his body buck as it tried to cough.

The most important thing, however, was the second zombie that was sprinting away from the locker room in his direction… where he was laying on the ground, feet toward the oncoming attacker.

He immediately directed Analyze at it.

Zombie Ravager
Level 3

Low-resilience shock troops

Conditions:
None

Its spark of life—unlife in this case—was as twisty as the wights had been, if not as powerful. It was another one of the things… and it was wearing a letterman's jacket.

Students? Well, former students… that is quite unfortunate.

He only hitched a bit at the System censoring obscenities out of his own internal thoughts.

He managed to kip-up to his feet, his Advanced Kinesthetics letting his body move exactly as it should even if several of his muscles and joints groaned in protest.

The beast was almost upon him, so he spit the water already in his mouth at its face even as he swung his dadao upward.

Its health dropped—from the sword strike, not the spit to the face—but he didn't try to pay attention to the exact sense of it.

He'd stopped its charge, striking to embed his blade in its diaphragm and lower sternum through the open front of its jacket.

There was more screaming, and Alex noticed Grant bringing a hammer down on a third zombie coming from the locker room as well.

All the zombies seemed to have been boys.

At least the zombies honored the rules of locker room segregation? But that isn't really why it stood out to him. He doubted that zombies cared for the sex of their victims.

"Natasha!" He coughed again. "Shield the other door! Keep it from being opened."

The spear wielder pivoted mid-sprint as she had already been running toward him, and instead made it to the other locker room door in time to cast Force Shield across it, bracing the materials already sealing it off.

She then began coordinating those who would listen in an effort to reinforce the blockade on the door with additional materials.

But all of that was rather irrelevant to Alex in the moment. After all, the zombie that he was dealing with was biting at his fingers.

Damage taken:
5 scraping damage to your knuckles
HP: 642/660

Condition Resisted:
Plague - Zombification x 5

Alex had to deal with the momentarily stopped undead threat before him.

I can do this.

<Alex, Introspection - His Plan>

Alex twisted, ripping his dadao free and bringing his massive blade around to behead the zombie in one quick strike.

As the head went flying off, he reached out with his off hand and tapped the monster's chest, sending in a single point of Basic Life Transfusion into the creature.

The magic flashed through the zombie, turning it to dust, the disintegration even extending to the blood and spinning head.

He completed his spin facing the locker room, ready for the next threat even as the dust fell to the ground behind him.

<Alex, Real - Prepare, High School Gym>

That should work.

He twisted… and the dadao was stuck.

Still, his body mechanics were excellent, and he was a lot stronger than he had been before.

He managed to pick up the all-too-fresh zombie for a brief moment before it unbalanced him.

Strength didn't matter as much when his center of gravity moved beyond his planted feet.

His Advanced Kinesthetics came in handy yet again as he managed to change the orientation of the falling burden, slamming the zombie down onto the gym floor on its back and driving his dadao in deeper, splitting its torso front to back.

He felt that the wound took it down to almost zero health. So, he reached out and enacted the last part of his plan, sending life energy into the zombie to knock out its last few HP.

Once again, he felt an outer power extend forth, at his touch, carrying his health energy along with it.

There was virtually no resistance left in the split zombie, and so the life energy obliterated it with ease.

Kill Notice:
You killed Zombie Ravager (Common), level 3

Reward:
Experience to be granted when in a safe location.

Apology Tutorial Addendum:
Because it was destroyed with life energy, the zombie's corpse has turned to dust.

It was good to know that he didn't have to do all the damage with his Basic Life Transfusion to dust the zombies—even if that had been his hope and plan before he was sure. That result would almost definitely come in handy.

Alex grinned as he spun back around, standing to his feet. Not how I planned it, but it worked alright.

As he spun, however, his back let out a massive twinge.

He gasped and dropped to his knees from the spasm.

He knew how to move properly; he was even strong enough to do it; but his body was not used to moving that way.

Alex needed time to stretch and retrain his body. He didn't have that time.

There was a sharp twang-thwack as Kaylee put a bolt into the eye of the fourth zombie coming through the locker room door, and it staggered backward.

Grant was panting, having just crushed the head of the third. He wore a face shield that was a bit gross for wear. Still, that had been a very smart accessory choice.

Alex scrambled forward, sending a flicker of life through first one then the next of the downed zombies.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

That was interesting to sense. The zombies were dead and gone… re-dead and gone he supposed. So his life energy flowed through like water poured through the air. Additionally, there seemed to be an inherent connection between the zombie and its blood that he could feel.

In a moment of insight, Alex realized that this was either caused by, or what allowed, the magical zombieism plague to spread as it did.

Regardless, Alex's life energy used that still-strong connection to bridge the physical distance and turn everything to magically non-zombieism-carrying dust.

Destruction Notice:
You dusted Zombie Ravager (Common), level 3
X2

The Life energy you used is anathema to undead flesh, turning even inanimate undead to dust.

Reward:
None

Apology Tutorial Addendum:
No Reward save the satisfaction of a job well done.

Well done.

Alex coughed as the dust puffed around him.

Grant staggered his way, his large—but not comically so—war-hammer now braced on his shoulder, and his face-shield now clean due to the blood and other fleshy bits becoming dust. "We need to clear the locker rooms, and see where these are coming from."

Alex groaned, even as his body continued healing.

<Watcher, Apology Tutorial #486 Control and Observation Room>

The Watcher chuckled to herself, careful to keep the volume down. The men's locker room was now empty, but they were right to be cautious. One of their party had almost gone in there before, and that would have been a disaster…

She frowned. Wait… the locker rooms aren't empty?

That didn't make sense. How could…?

Her eyes widened. There was a Supervisory override in place on the monster spawns in the school.

The supervisor could adjust the difficulty a bit more than she could, and now the school, at least, was set to the hard cap. Unless Lord Ares himself interferes.

She shuddered at the very idea.

Now, however, she was glad that Alex and his group were being cautious. She could see what now awaited them within the locker rooms.

She cursed herself for not re-checking sooner, and in that same vein, she rechecked the school as a whole.

She paled. Undead from the Plague Guard? They aren't supposed to come in until the third stage…

The Watcher swallowed, shaking her head. She'd still bet on Alex if she had to, but the odds were definitely tilting against him.

She spoke under her breath without thought. "Live if you can, Alex. Things are definitely getting interesting for you."

<Alex, Real - Prepare, High School Gym>

A large sheet of plywood was dropped back across the men's locker room door and braced while Alex and Grant took a moment to catch their breath and think.

Alex looked back on what he'd seen with his Detect Life.

There was a lot going on around them. Having seen in a sphere roughly a hundred and twenty five feet in radius gave him a fascinating look at what was happening.

There were still a few people outside, all fleeing in the same direction.

He was deep enough into the gym that the nearest building outside the school had only had the nearest side within the radius, and he'd seen what looked like people hunkering down in homes or shops, doing what they could to seal up their hidey-holes.

Some of the school had been within range as well on the other side of the locker rooms. "I think some of the students and teachers are still alive and holed up."

Grant's eyes widened. "You think that the zombies came through from the school itself?"

"That makes the most sense to me. Letterman jackets make that likely. They were also really fresh, so I don't think they've been in the locker room for very long."

Grant grimaced. "We didn't check the locker rooms or their doors into the school earlier because we figured they'd be the most secure. We were about to, but then people started arriving, and we… didn't get to it."

Alex straightened, his aches and pains lessing as his HP kept rising. "It's… fine. It's probably better that you didn't, honestly. I should be the one to go. I'm immune, none of the rest of you are."

He was here to defend others, no matter how much worse that was in practice than in his imagination.

He would save those whom he could save.

Grant smiled as he held up a slightly glowing, green vial, clearly pulled from his Inventory. "Cure Magical Disease."

Alex nodded. "How many?"

"Ten. That's all the magic shop we found had."

Alex sighed. "Well, that was too good to be true. That's a good safety measure for sure, but not enough to make you effective on the front line." He hesitated. "I didn't even think to ask after potions and the like. I feel a bit foolish. Could you give me five to take with me?"

Grant frowned. "Natasha asked. Your shop didn't have any. Why would I give you any? You're immune."

"Because others aren't. I'd rather be able to get someone this—if required—than kill them. I'll try other things first, but I'd like a few for emergencies."

The younger man nodded slowly. "I suppose that that makes sense."

Alex put the five in his Inventory, then asked a follow-up question. "Do you have anything around MP or mana regeneration?"

Grant nodded. "Yeah, I grabbed a few potions of enhanced mana regeneration."

"Are you willing to part with one?"

He shrugged. "If you're the one going in there? Sure."

He pulled out a vial filled with a blue looking potion.

On a whim, Alex tried to Analyze it.

Potion of Mana Regeneration:
The drinker of this potion will have their regeneration increased.
Effectively 60x Mana regeneration for five minutes.

Alex's eyes widened. "That's fantastic!"

"I know, right? Try not to waste it," the other man joked.

"I won't." Alex smiled.

This potion was effectively worth 175 MP for him at the moment, if used properly.

That wouldn't be enough for him to fight hundreds of zombies with magic, but it would be enough for him to dust well more than fifty of the zombies after the fact, with mana to spare.

He glanced down at this dadao. I guess it's time for you and me to do some work.

Out of curiosity, Alex Analyzed his weapon.

System Granted Dadao:
This is a great-blade weapon usable with one or two hands.
Base damage dealt calculated based on Physical Power.
Base damage multiplied by 2.5x when wielded by two hands.
Damage type: Slashing/Piercing

Apology Tutorial Addendum:
Base damage modified based on what part of the weapon is used, and where it hits on the target.
Base damage can be reduced, negated, or altered by armor.

Courtesy Notice:
Slashing/Piercing weapons tend to use weight and/or strength behind their 'slash' in order to 'pierce' or otherwise overwhelm or overcome defenses which a standard slashing weapon could not. The ax is a common example of this weapon type.

Well, weapons were meant to be force multipliers. He'd be curious what everyone else's starting weapons looked like, but it was hardly the time.

His coat had some scuffs on it, but the zombies had just had normal nails, not claws like the wight. Thus, the jacket had proven its worth. So, he decided to keep it on.

He thanked Grant for the potions and stretched as his health continued to rise.

Less than a minute later, Alex was ready to give the locker room a go for the second time. At least, he was almost ready.

Grant had brought him a length of something that looked like emergency LED light-strings, and the man helped Alex get them to loosely coil around his neck and waist, before securing them in place.

The rest of his party—save Lenka who was still working on traps, apparently—gathered around him.

He had one last thing to do before final words were exchanged. "Accept Experience."

Safe location detected:
Calculating and granting experience…

You killed
Zombie Ravager (Common), level 3
X2

Reward:
Extra experience awarded for killing creatures above your level.
All opponents were of a lower Rarity, experience reduced accordingly.

He glanced at the quest timer one last time.

Group Quest [Prepare]:
Create a base of operations from which you can survive the end of the world.

Outbreak will begin within:
03 hrs 39 min

Alex gave a humorless smile. It hadn't even been half of the supposedly allotted time.

This is going to be just great…

Lenka came into the gym, then, clearly out of sorts. Grant moved to meet her, seemingly letting her know what happened and what was going on.

Alex decided not to delay any longer. "Alright, so I'll go into the men's locker room and ensure it's cleared out. When I get the far door secured, I'll come back to check in. If I can't secure it… what should I do?"

"Call one of us." Kaylee said with a grin. "James said that just outside these locker room doors, to the left, is the only entrance into the school, save the one directly into the gym that you and Natasha used. To the right, is the main hallway of the school. We'll want to assess once that point is secure."

James smiled and nodded his confirmation.

Alex frowned, glancing at his phone. "What if the grid's down?"

"Oh, it already is, but the call feature of the phones is magic-based. We can't get data any more, but they'll work as point-to-point communicators. Grant? Can you make sure his phone is in the right mode?"

Grant and Lenka came over, the man nodding, "Yes, boss."

Alex felt himself smiling as he handed over his phone. "So, I'll call if I can't get the door secure enough to leave. Then, proceed from there?"

Kaylee nodded. "The best plans are made with the most information."

"True enough." He steeled his resolve. It was time to face the locker room.