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

<Alex, Real - Secure, High School Gym>

Alex woke on the instant, his eyes snapping open.

He didn't feel any danger from his Danger Sense, nor did he see or hear anything that might have woken him.

There were other people sleeping in the room around him, but no one seemed to be moving much.

He sat up and stretched, working out some of the stiffness that had found a way into his muscles.

He seemed to have awoken simply because he was fully rested, as soon as his stamina was filled.

Huh, that's useful.

Checking the quest timer…he realized that he no longer had one of those.

With a sigh, he pulled out his 'magic phone' to check the time. He'd only been in bed for a little over three hours, probably asleep for a little less than that with tossing and turning.

His health was full—which made sense as he could heal from essentially zero health in about twenty minutes—and his mana was over half, so he was in a pretty good state.

No using mana until we go to clear the school. It would take him about five hours to regenerate his mana from empty, so he'd be full once again in about two and half hours, not that he had that much time.

There was only around an hour remaining before they'd leave.

He got up, rolled up his mattress, and stored it within his Inventory—using the skill to re-compact the thing to a truly incredible degree—and stretched, loosening his joints before going and quietly waking Matt.

The martial arts instructor woke quickly, not making a sound, and the two men went back to the hallway.

Alex pulled out his dadao and inspected it.

It was whole and in perfect shape, though there were now many obvious sections of green-ish metal in jagged lines across the body of the blade and in places where chips were fixed along the edge.

His curiosity sated, Alex snapped into the ready position with the blade.

Then, under the watchful eye of his instructor, Alex moved through the forms.

Advanced Kinesthetics forced him to change his general movements even while the skill Great-Blades Basics - Dadao informed him of more minute things, generally relating to the weapon itself instead of his own body. Though the weapon skill did weigh in on some of the positioning, to ensure proper power delivered to any given strike or proper bracing to any block.

Master Adams helped refine his movements even further from there, the man clearly pulling on knowledge and experience far above Alex's (Common) skills.

It was sort of funny to him that he had both an 'Advanced' and a 'Basics' skill labeled common. Could I have a 'Basics' skill higher? My 'Basic Cooking' is GODLY - tiered! I make boxed mac-and-cheese so good that angels weep at its creation!

He chuckled to himself, earning an odd look from Matt, which reminded him where he should be focused at the moment.

Concentrating back on his movements, he continued to try to incorporate the various sources of advice—both internal and external—in each motion.

Beyond those, he took the advice from 'On the Improvement of Skills and Spells,' and did his best to monitor how his own energies moved through his body throughout the whole process.

It felt odd at first, but he soon fell into the flow of it, the three sources of knowledge coming together to refine his every action to an insane degree even while monitoring more about himself than he ever could have before.

He wasn't learning anything new, per se. It felt more like he was picking up a skill he'd allowed to get rusty and ironing out the bad habits he'd picked up in the meantime.

Regardless—with Master Adams' input—Alex felt the skills being pushed to their utmost, and after nearly the entire hour was up, he was sweating, he'd used about a sixth of his stamina, and he had a system prompt waiting for him.

Notice:
Skill Upgrade
Great-Blades Basics - Dadao (Common)
You wield the machete-like great-blade of yore. While it lacks the reach of many other great-blades, it makes up for that in versatility and close-range utility. You have the beginnings of an instinctive understanding of how to hold this weapon and use it in basic combat. Physical Power and Agility have a minor boost when wielding a dadao.
Stamina drains at a marginally slower rate when wielding a dadao.
→
Great-Blades Initiate - Dadao (Common)
You wield the machete-like great-blade of yore. While it lacks the reach of many other great-blades, it makes up for that in versatility and close-range utility. You have a burgeoning, instinctive understanding of how to hold this weapon and use it in combat. Physical Power and Agility have a small boost when wielding a dadao.
Stamina drains at a slightly slower rate when wielding a dadao.

Experience earned.

Alex grinned, finishing the form before turning and bowing to Matt. "Thank you, Master Adams."

Matt bowed in return. "I'm glad to help. You're learning a lot faster now, Alex. Give me a few days, and I'll teach you all I can about using that weapon. Give me a few more, and I'll teach you all that I can, period."

Alex chuckled at the offer. "I just may take you up on that. Thank you."

With that Matt went back to sleep, and Alex pulled out a rag towel to clean up a bit before heading to the meeting with the other Initiates.

Huh… maybe I should try to heal my clothing next… This set was hanging off of him in a rather… exposing manner. Even so, he knew he wasn't clean enough to change into one of his other sets and he didn't have the mana to spare at the moment to test fixing this one.

After all, it was time to clear the school.

Alex found most of the other Initiates near the men's locker room doors as he came out of the back hall, and he checked the phone clock again to make sure he wasn't actually late.

I still have two minutes, but I'm still the last one here… He sighed. Are they so bored they just waited here? No, that wasn't fair. He hated being late. It's fine, Alex. It's fine…

It really would be fine, but he hated it even so.

Kaylee waved his way. "Good morning, Alex."

Alex glanced up at the clock on his phone again, the clock that still indicated a near-midnight hour. He looked back at her with one eyebrow raised.

"We all slept. It's morning." She gave him a half smile. "You must have been really fun at parties."

He grimaced slightly. "Yeah… I didn't go to parties, but that's probably explicit proof of your point."

There was a round of good natured chuckling.

"So, are we good for the first round of clearing the school?"

They had decided not to wait until too close to the deadline of the school reopening to the outside world because they might need to retreat and recover if they met too stiff resistance.

Everyone nodded, and Kaylee spoke up. "James and I will be staying here. He will be on the roof using his new acquisitions to try and remove the more powerful undead who come near. I will be monitoring the exterior door and holding it if the worst happens."

"How is that going?"

"Excellent question," Kaylee stated, "Lenka? Care to give us an update?"

Lenka nodded. "There has been almost constant pressure against the doors, but seemingly no concerted effort to breach it, not yet."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

That was good to know.

"Oh!" James stepped closer to Alex. "Can I use a bit of magic on you?"

Alex tilted his head to the side then shrugged. "Sure? What's it do?"

"It's basically a magical bath, though not that effective. It was a Simple spell that I thought would be useful."

"That's… really wise, actually. Sure."

Alex felt magic move through the young man before it washed over him. He felt like he could have resisted it, but he had no desire to do so.

A moment later, he felt like he'd just stepped out of a light, cold rain but in the best possible way.

There was no dampness, just a sense of being a little cleaner, a bit refreshed, and slightly reinvigorated.

Even his clothing felt like it was a bit cooler, and some of the places that had been getting a bit… crunky were suddenly soft once more. "What was that spell called?"

"Basic Bodily Cleansing. It's not the cheapest—mana wise—but I've got time to refill my reserves while you all go get stuff done. It took all the merits I had left after my knife."

"Well, thank you." Alex smiled in genuine gratitude. I desperately want that spell now… well, a better version of it. I'd have to double or triple cast such a thing to actually feel clean, but after a quick shower or sponge bath? It would be almost perfect.

James nodded once, and that was that.

<Natasha, Real - Secure, High School Gym>

Natasha relaxed, giving James a subtle thumbs-up.

Alex seemed not to have noticed just how… gross he had become after his sojourn inside the flesh golem. It wasn't even that he was bloody as all of that had been ashed by his odd, green magic. Instead, he'd become covered almost entirely in a now-dried black amalgamation of zombie dust and his own sweat.

The NPCs—Think of them as real. Doing otherwise isn't helpful.—The non-Initiates didn't seem to give advice or comment on most things unless specifically asked, so Alex wasn't going to hear it from any of them, and none of the other Initiates seemed to want to break it to Alex that he had reeked and looked like an extra chimney-sweep from Mary Poppins.

That man's poor bed… I hope he grabbed extra sheets.

They were about to go try to rescue more people, and he would have made that… less easy. Now, he just looked like someone who'd been hiking all day, rather than someone who'd lacked proper facilities for weeks.

It was too bad that James couldn't cast it more times on Alex, but it was what it was.

The fact that she now owed James a favor was a small thing, all things considered.

It had been worth it.

<Alex, Real - Secure, High School Gym>

Alex smiled as Kaylee and James waved them off, and he departed with the six other Initiates.

They passed through the locker room with only one minor incident. There had been a few pairs of teenagers in various corners and hidey-holes of the locker room, but Kaylee had been called, she'd had stern words with them, and they'd fled a bit shamefacedly. Though… some seemed a bit out of it? Does something smell like alcohol in here?

Eh, it wasn't his to deal with, and Alex did not consider how badly things could have gotten if they'd missed even a single zombie lurker… Nope!

After that, the group came out into the absolutely wrecked main hallway.

Even with the fight having been short, the flesh golem of the Plague Guard had really made a mess of the place.

Alex frowned. When did all this damage happen? It wasn't that long of a fight… right?

Oh… his overcharged force burst.

Now that he was looking for it, it became obvious that much of the devastation originated from a single point.

Some of the debris wasn't where it would have been expected, but he had needed to pry fingers, or other parts of the beast from locker grills, out of door-cracks, and from other odd places.

Honestly, he'd been so tired that he hadn't registered the general devastation.

The other Initiates were looking around with wonder.

Lenka was chuckling. "I told you all. Alex was a cracker-breaking wrecking ball."

They all glanced his way, and he shrugged. "If it got past me, everyone would have been hosed."

Thanks were expressed, and Natasha went around to the piles of dust, causing them to disappear into her Inventory.

Alex ignored her and set to work. "Alright. First pulse."

He and Lenka both had the Detect Unlife spell, so they would alternate who used it.

Lenka closed her eyes, and Alex felt the magic radiate out from her before being pulled back in.

"We're clear for the next hundred feet. A lot outside the building, but nothing back in the gym nor in the hall for that far."

They walked to the end of the hallway, just a bit outside the radius of that initial pulse, carefully looking both ways at the T-junction.

One way was a short corridor leading to a set of stairs, the other was a long hallway, leading down the perpendicular side of the block which contained the school.

They'd gone about a hundred and fifty feet, so it was Alex's turn. He spent ten mana on Detect Undead to get a hundred foot radius sphere of detection, followed by spending a single point of mana on Detect Life to get a similar radius for that better skill.

"Undead both down the hall and upstairs. Survivors in both directions, too. Based on the fire-escape maps, I think that there's a good chunk of survivors in the cafeteria that way." He pointed down the hallway. "But the largest concentration of undead is almost directly above us. I think that was the science labs."

Lenka sighed. "So, am I trapping the stairs or the hallway?"

Alex frowned. If they went for the survivors first, they would be pulling them out of safety to bring them through a dangerous area. The survivors probably wouldn't be perfectly quiet, and that could bring who-knew-what down on them, forcing the Initiates to fight with non-fighters' lives on the line.

He only took a moment to think that through, and he seemed to be the fastest to come to a decision.

"I think we should clear the undead first—at least from inside the building—before getting any survivors." He then gave his reasoning, all in a whisper.

Grant frowned, whispering in turn, "While I'm as interested in getting to smashing the enemy as anyone, I don't like leaving people trapped and uncertain longer than necessary."

Lenka shook her head. "If I trap the corridor and something we do spooks the survivors to leave their safety run before we come for them? I could be the one to kill them." She frowned. "I know that's unlikely but…"

John considered for a moment. "Honestly, I think if they haven't come out yet, they probably won't in the next short while. They are safe where they are, and exposing them unnecessarily to danger of moving them past potential hostiles is ill advised."

Pillar came to the support of her husband and Alex, leaving Natasha to either make it a tie or join the majority. She shrugged and added her own whispered answer. "I think securing a safe path takes precedence."

There still was some mild disagreement, but Grant and Lenka weren't so stubborn as to make it into a true issue.

"Alright, up the stairs first…" Then, Alex grimaced. He would be going up the stairs first.

Why do I do this to myself?

He knew the answer.

If he didn't do it, someone else would have to. If he didn't do it, other people could get hurt.

He squared his shoulder, called his dadao to his hand and took a calming breath. "I'm ready."

His Detect Unlife, used a few minutes earlier, had revealed a single zombie hiding at the top of the stairs, likely ready to jump anyone who came to the top.

There hadn't been any others close by, so he should be able to deal with that one before standing watch as his group came up the stairs to join him.

He walked forward and turned his face up, turning around to look at the landing above.

As there were only two floors, there was nothing above the stairs that led up, giving the upper floor a view down on the stairs, with just a half-wall for safety.

He spoke just loudly enough to be heard. "I sensed one undead waiting at the top. Let me deal with that, and then you all come up after. I think that will be quieter."

They nodded, and he mentally prepared himself. Let's do this.

After a moment's consideration, he realized something. There's no need to walk up, right?

He crouched and jumped.

As he did, he sensed power from the world itself collect below his feet, keeping the ground intact as he jumped off.

He somehow knew that if his intention had been to destroy the ground, the energy wouldn't have gathered, and his jump would have harmed the tiles, but since he was simply moving, the world naturally provided counter force so that he didn't destroy the ground below himself.

Or the System does it.

Regardless, he easily reached the upper landing, barely hearing gasps from the other Initiates down below.

He had done this for one very simple reason.

An undead was waiting right at the top of the stairs, crouched and ready to attack anyone who came up.

Waiting in ambush definitely implies quite a bit of intelligence or purposeful direction.

As Alex landed lightly on the half-wall, he kept his legs bent so that he could slam his dadao downward through the back of the waiting creature's neck, watching carefully to ensure that he didn't create any unnecessary noise.

Kill Notice:
You killed Zombie Ambusher (Uncommon), level 8

Sneak Attack Damage multipliers factored.
Critical strike multipliers factored.

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

Alex reached over and ran a pulse of Basic Life Transfusion through the body, dusting the zombie.

Nicely done, Alex. He smiled in self congratulations. Now he could approach this with stealth and finesse. His group would be safe as they came up the stai—

He lifted his gaze and found an undead looking back at him from barely twenty feet away.

She hadn't been there when he'd pulsed Detect Undead… almost five minutes earlier, "Oh. You moved."

He Analyzed her on reflex.

Zombie Plague Witch
Level ??

Poodles.