NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Sitting down on the stool in his shelter, he watched as the two zombies arrived with two big rocks and dropped them at his feet.
He signaled for them to wait, his heart was in his throat as he nervously opened the territory panel.
[Crimson Keep]
[Rank: Ordinary]
[Size: Tiny Camp]
[Resources]
[Wood:0, Stone:1, Cores:0]
[Population: 2]
[Buildings: 2]
[Lords Shelter, Blood Altar]
"Yes!"
Zareth stood up and exclaimed in relief as he saw the difference.
His heart returned to his chest where it was supposed to be, and the anxiousness in his limbs released.
He quickly ordered the zombies to bring all the stones within the barrier to him.
All of a sudden, a loud notification sounded, and a large text appeared in front of him.
[Lord of The Emberhold has been the first to advance his territory to Stone ★]
"What!?"
Exclaiming out loud in surprise.
Staring at the notification left a bad taste in his mouth.
It was almost as if he could taste dirt.
"I am struggling to survive, and he has already advanced!?"
A sour expression stayed on his face for some time before he ultimately came to a conclusion.
'He may be first now, but I will make sure I'm above them all!'
'Just you wait.'
After shaking off the bad feeling he went back to what he was doing.
'Now, let's figure out this new body of mine.'
Anticipation slowly built up within him as he stood up and walked out to a flat area.
'A normal workout routine should give me a rough understanding.'
Starting with a small sprint, he rushed as fast as possible to the nearest withered tree.
Within a second he arrived and almost slammed right into it, unable to handle his speed.
'What the fuck!'
Staring at where he started, his mind drifted off to the fantasy movies he watched on earth.
He was way above even the fastest men on earth, not letting his excitement and surprise stop him, he did the next exercises until failure.
Pushups came first, he hit 300 before his arms even burned, sit-ups followed, 250 without a pause.
Then, testing his legs he jumped, soaring over two meters with ease, it was beyond human.
He had never felt this achieved before, something nobody on earth could ever hope to do, he had just done easily.
Last was the most important test.
Zareth walked up to a thick withered tree.
'It won't hurt, it won't hurt, it won't hurt.'
He kept telling himself, as his mind still somewhat stopped him from hitting the trunk of the tree.
Without thinking too much, he hit it with all his might.
"Crack!"
With a loud crunch, splinters were sent flying, and he removed his fist.
Staring at the tree in disbelief, the image of the fist print on the surface of the tree would stay with him for a long time.
'This power is enough to kill a normal human…'
Thinking back to his old self, he felt nothing but gratitude for whatever brought him here.
'Just crushing the ones who go against me.'
A sinister smile flashed on his face but disappeared just as fast.
Before long he looked at his fist and saw that it was a bit bruised but didn't hurt.
He then remembered his racial trait, trying to activate it mentally he could feel blood pumping through his hand and the bruises disappeared within seconds.
'It feels like I have done a short sprint.'
Feeling his stamina taking a small hit, and becoming a tiny bit tired was all because he used a portion of his blood to heal.
Seeing the potential in this trait, his smile was wider than it had ever been today.
After becoming somewhat familiar with himself, he checked the territory panel again.
[Crimson Keep]
[Rank: Ordinary]
[Size: Tiny Camp]
[Resources]
[Wood:0, Stone:14, Cores:0]
[Population: 2]
[Buildings: 2]
'If I'm lucky I can get one of the equipment's.'
Lamenting over the little resources, he looked over at the waddling zombies.
Still carrying big rocks and dropping them off before starting again.
By looking at the pile of rocks before his shelter, he could roughly understand what a unit was.
'I should be able to get around 20 more from inside the barrier.'
Scanning the area one last time before opening the trade tab.
Seeing no one selling equipment, he put up an order.
[Trader: Zareth – Crimson Throne Lord]
[Offering: 14 Stone]
[Seeking: Axe | Pickaxe]
[Notes: Either will suffice]
Satisfied with his order, he closed the panel and checked on the zombies' progress
'They only follow orders until another order is given, huh.'
The zombies moved with mechanical precision, blank eyes staring ahead as they hauled stone after stone.
He spent some time going around and gathering the bigger stones that the zombies couldn't carry.
After several trips back and forth, a crisp notification broke the silence.
[Ding]
[Order has been completed]
[Do you wish to claim]
'Yes.'
The crude stone axe materialized at his feet, rough and simple, yet o Zareth it was worth more than gold.
He let out a breath he had no idea he was holding and thought about how it just appeared.
'No reason to overthink it.'
'It's not like I can understand either way.'
He handed the axe to one of the zombies and ordered it to chop down the few trees within his territory.
The movement of the zombie was sluggish and inaccurate, but still, it was chopping down a tree.
He hadn't thought of it until now, but he could see something with a striking resemblance to the sun going down across the horizon.
And within just a few minutes as he watched the zombies work, the surroundings darkened.
Expecting it to be hard to see, he found he could see just as good as before, if not even better.
Right then, he felt power gushing through his limbs at an incredible speed.
'This should be the other trait.'
He clenched his fist and felt the power rushing through it.
'hahaha, I could do double of what I did before!'
Zareth was reveling in the sense of power that surged within him.
Before he could try something out, he heard a loud bang a bit further from him.
Looking over he could see something moving about at the barrier, so he got closer to check it out.
Not without bringing his two zombies.
Arriving, he saw something that resembled a wolf.
A gaunt, hairless wolf-like beast, skin cracked and oozing black ichor, with glowing red eyes and elongated fangs.
"Hmm, what should we do with you?"
[Blightfang Hound]
[Power: Stone ★]
[Traits]
[Pack Hunters: They stalk in groups of 3-5.]
[Blight Bite: Their bite inflicts a minor infection that saps stamina.]
[Unnatural Speed: Faster than zombies, capable of quick lunges.]
[Notes]
[Once loyal hunting dogs, warped into predatory pack hunters by the necrotic fog. Their hunger is endless, their bodies driven by rot and madness.]
Looking at its information, he could see it was one rank higher than the zombies, but the same rank as him.
'Hunt in packs… The others can't be too far away, better get this done quick.'
Closing in but still within the safety of his territory, Zareth looked around to see if there was anything else close.
"Well, of course we have to welcome you!"
Staring at the rabid beast, Zareth's whole face twisted into a sinister smile at the thought of his first kill.
Taking the axe from the zombie he barked orders with the same grotesque facial expression.
"Restrain it for me!"
Zareth's adrenaline was at an all-time high, he was sweating with excitement as he watched the zombies approach the barrier.
The zombies exited the barrier and the mad hound that had been pounding the barrier for some time lunged at the first zombie it could.
Quickly biting onto its arm and violently shaking, trying to tear it apart.
The bite did quite a lot of damage, but both zombies rushed at it and grabbed it.
All three are now locked in a biting and thrashing competition.
'Looks like you can't just oversee their rank.'
Zareth concluded as he saw the zombies were on the losing end.
Even though the hound had wounds over its body, the zombies were still in way worse shape.
One of them had lost their arm, and the other had a deep puncture through its stomach.
'Let's not keep our guest waiting for long!'
Clenching the axe, he sprinted at the hound from behind.
With his axe held high, he swung down at its neck with all his might.
The sound of the axe piercing flesh could be heard as the hound yelped.
"Keep him stuck!"
The hound thrashed around as if it felt the danger, trying to break free with all its might.
Unfortunately, zombies are quite resilient.
The second axe swing cut through a third of its thick neck, blackish blood tainted the axe, ground and even Zareth.
The thrashing got even more intense, as it desperately tried to find a way out.
Before it had time to do that, another heavy swing hit its neck.
The axe bit into flesh with a sickening crunch, vibrating through his hands. Warm, black blood splattered his face, and its guttural yelp turned into a wet gurgle
The hound stopped thrashing and started twitching instead.
"Let it go."
It collapsed onto the ground, covered in its own blood, but also the blood of his zombies.
As the hound collapsed in a pool of black ichor, a sick joy coiled in Zareth's chest, the thrill of dominance, the power to end life
As the final blow severed the hound's neck, Zareth stood over the corpse, breathless. His heart pounded, not from exertion, but from triumph.
He had won, He had taken a life, and it felt good
A joy he knew was not normal, but why should he care.
This is him now, he thought as he stared at the head of the hound.
It barely hung on to a bit of fur as it finally stopped twitching.
[Ding]
[Killed a Blightfang Hound]
Glancing at the notification before turning to look at the zombies.
The damage was severe, one zombie dragged its stump where an arm used to be, while the other leaked black ichor from its torn gut.
They were barely half as effective as before, if that.
'They won't suffice. Can they heal? Or will I need to replace them?'
The thought stirred unease, resources were scarce, and weak troops meant death.
"Drag it back to the lords shelter."
Staring at his bloodstained hands, he wonders.
'Is this really who I am now?'
'Or is this who I have always been?'
Shaking his head and following closely behind the zombies.
'This is who I will be!'
Remember his reward for shortening the time of Novice Lord Protection Barrier.
'Maybe I can get something more useful than these zombies.'
'They are basically useless in another fight.'
"Claim the reward!"
[Ding]