Unchosen Champion

Coop spun, his sword cut through the air and, propelled by his momentum, sliced through the neck of another zombie. He didn’t even wait for the head to hit the ground before he was moving to the next room.

He kicked a flimsy door with the bottom of his foot, putting his weight into it, and the entire thing separated from its frame and slammed onto the floor. Coop stepped over it and swung his sword in a low angle at the next zombie’s leading knee. The blade pierced the monster’s leg, collapsing it to the ground before it had a chance to mount any offensive. Coop used the backswing to bring his sword into a rising swing that removed an arm before he executed the zombie with a powerful overhand strike to the neck.

He continued his rapid progress through the next door and into the corresponding room. He smashed a zombie that was waiting in the dark with his shield, launching it backwards. Before the zombie had reached the zenith of its backward path he was already leaping after it, with his sword chasing the monster’s neck.

Coop was leaning into his rapid assault strategy. Using his significantly higher Agility when compared to the zombies, he gained the upper hand of each fight in the opening seconds, and followed with an onslaught that never allowed the monsters to regain their footing.

He had already killed every zombie on the first level of the offshore oil platform and had continued to the second. The second level was full of prefabricated units that reminded Coop of the temporary classrooms that every school used for decades longer than they were meant to. They were all flimsy with thin walls and weak doors. He had lost his balance several times when he planted a foot too heavily and it smashed a hole in the floor.

Another zombie’s head was removed and Coop paused for a moment as he received another level. He exited the series of rooms to get outside. The sun was trickling through the steel canopy in between the buildings. Coop had been hunting zombies all night and judging by the location of the sun he was already halfway through the day.

Coop was covered in blood. A lot of it was his own, and he wasn’t even close to done yet. He checked his notifications.

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

…

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 26)]

[+305 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Settle the Infestation (54/200)]

The zombies on the second level had been an average of five levels higher than the ones on the first floor. He hoped he hadn’t uncovered a pattern. There were six levels on the oil platform. The difference of five zombie levels hadn’t changed their strengths and weaknesses, but he was a little worried about what the difference between a level 25 elite zombie and a level 50 elite zombie might be in terms of raw stats.

Coop was hoping to finish the whole quest after a total of 48 hours. In the back of his mind. he was worried about the Empire’s goons finding a way to strand him on the oil platform, even without the cooperation of Camila and Charlie. He got the impression they were hoping something would happen to him, but the Puppeteer had explicitly given him three days. Coop didn’t think he had any specific reason to lie about that particular timeline, but he still held some suspicion based on the man’s overall attitude. Some people were just rude, entitled, or arrogant, even before mana had created new stratifications between people.

Either way, he was rushing to finish the quest just in case they had something planned after three days. The urgent battling had played well into his tactic against the zombies, but it had also resulted in a few painful mistakes.

Coop learned the hard way that the zombies were biters. It should have been obvious, they were clearly labeled zombies afterall, but none of them had really prioritized the stereotypical zombie attacks of clawing and biting. He had pushed into a room and engaged the first target he saw, but he missed a second zombie. The second zombie managed to sink its teeth into his exposed tricep, tearing a bloody chunk out of him even after he noticed it with his aura.

He had to remove the biter with several hilt bashes before he could engage it properly. The bite had dealt a significant amount of damage, far more than Coop expected, but it also came with a nasty surprise. He had received a Zombie Infection buff. Not a debuff according to the system, a buff. The stated effect was that he would join the Breathless upon death. The buff was removed when he returned to full life, which only took three more zombie kills to accomplish.

Coop supposed he wouldn’t really care if he turned into a zombie after he died, he just didn’t intend to die at all, so he continued his hunt and other than a few minor surprises similar to the double zombie break room, he was feeling optimistic.

Hunting all the elite zombies had shown him why the factions were so interested in having their Chosen level up in special areas. He could level much faster if he was always able to fight elites that were concentrated in a single area. Unfortunately, the oil rig wasn’t a good place for continuous fighting. For whatever reason, none of the zombies had respawned yet. In fact, they were all lying, dismembered, right where he left them. It was a peculiarity he hadn’t run into before arriving at the oil rig.

He continued to the next series of rooms. He had no idea how many zombies he would find, but so far they had all been relatively spread out and he never had to fight a large number of them at once. His aura skill only allowed him to detect monsters within an area that was too small to be helpful in scanning the interiors from outside. It really only allowed him to have a split second of advanced warning when he was being ambushed, at most, but Coop didn’t doubt that could be a valuable split second.

Kicking in the door, Coop immediately realized he had made a grave error. He was making his way around the perimeter of the level, and was still on what he considered the residential side. The other three sides and the central area were more industrial. He had been working his way through what were basically a series of dorms, and that was what he expected to find here. Instead he was staring at a large dining area and more than 70 zombies. He had jinxed himself.

The zombies had all noticed his dramatic entrance and were standing up from their various seated and prone positions. Coop had to make a decision, fast. He identified a few of the zombies.

[Elite Human Zombie (Level 25)]

[(Strength)]

[Minion of the Breathless]

[Human Zombie (Level 21)]

[(Body)]

[Human Zombie (Level 20)]

[(Body)]

Coop found a silver lining in finding many of the zombies weren’t elites. That wouldn’t matter much if he let himself be swarmed. He didn’t want to fall back to the metal walkways because it would limit his own movement just as much as theirs. If he had to fight this many zombies one at a time he would run out of space to keep backing down the paths. He had to thin them out a bit before he led them down the walkways.

Once Coop decided to start the fight, he committed. Without exposing the doorway to the zombies, he engaged the closest regular monster. It was probably meant to be a meat shield with its investment into the Body stat, but it was a complete weakling compared to the elites. Coop had dismantled it in two swings and shifted to the other side to do the same to another.

His abilities with the sword had already improved significantly. At this point he was convinced that the Haunted title was providing him with guidance. Every time he swung his sword in an effective way he received some positive mental feedback. It was like he was constantly being conditioned to improve his form. As long as he actively practiced, he was able to advance his technique at a rapid pace. He wouldn’t be mistaken for an expert with any weapons just yet, but he definitely didn’t seem like an amateur either.

Coop bashed a zombie with his shield and cut the arm off of another. Spinning with his follow through, he beheaded a third zombie before leaping backwards. He was making sure to avoid any zombies from getting behind him.

He blocked an attacking zombie that chased his backwards leap and cut off one of its legs at the knee. He sidestepped another attack and stabbed his sword into the upper back of a third lunging zombie.

He let go of his sword and swung his shield at two more zombies that approached his side, knocking them both backwards into the crowd. He mistjumped to his sword that was still impaled below the neck of a previous zombie and yanked it upwards, beheading the surprised zombie from behind before bringing it down into the neck of yet another.

Coop hacked and slashed his way through weaker zombies before blocking an elite’s special attack. As he slid backwards from the force of the blocked blow, he sliced his sword through the leg of another zombie and beheaded the downed monster in one smooth motion.

He flipped his sword above the elite zombie that was in pursuit before he shield bashed it in the chin, then mistjumped to the airborne sword and swung it through the stunned zombie’s neck and landed behind where it had stood.

A downed zombie bit him on the shin and Coop brought his shield down on its neck, finishing it off. While he was leaning over, he took the legs off of another zombie before righting himself and backing further toward the door.

He quickly spun toward an approaching zombie and plunged his sword into its neck with a forward thrust, like a fencer. He pulled the sword into a horizontal swing beheading the first zombie and a second that had stepped forward in one arcing swing.

Another elite zombie landed an attack into Coop’s side, forcing him closer to several more on his other flank. Coop swiped with his shield and followed with his sword, detaching the arm of one at his flank before the second blocked his attack.

He slid between the two zombies knocking the one-armed first away with the hilt of his sword and following with a quick swing to his other side that caught the second in the upper arm. He quickly swung again and beheaded the second injured monster before he hacked the first zombie in the neck, defeating it as well.

Coop backed away even closer to the door and quickly looked at his health, he had taken several hits and was worried that he was being whittled down by the swarm. His health was at its maximum. His mana was down 400, but his Bloodthirsty title was keeping his health topped off. Coop kept fighting.

He had barely made a noticeable dent in the horde of zombies. He wasn’t ready to start a slow retreat outside, afraid of getting cornered or forced into another group of zombies and being attacked from both sides. He preferred to fight it out where he could still move.

He blocked an attack with his shield and retaliated with a hammer-like strike with his sword. The zombie lost its arm at the shoulder, but Coop didn’t have an opportunity to finish it off, instead he thrust his sword into a second attacking zombie. The monster jerked away and Coop let go of his sword rather than be pulled with it. Abandoning his sword avoided letting his back be exposed to other zombies.

He resummoned his sword and used it to end the one armed zombie while blocking a different attack. Feeling inspired, he dismissed his sword and shield and summoned the glaive, immediately swinging it in wide horizontal arcs that dismembered and beheaded multiple zombies at a time. While the zombies were at the glaive’s effective range and he had enough space to thrust the blade, spin the shaft, and swing, the glaive was an extremely potent anti-zombie weapon.

He kept the horde at bay momentarily, with the glaive’s sweeping attacks, but the press was too much to be held back and he was forced to resummon his sword and shield when too many crowded his space. The mid battle tactical change had cost him 150 mana, but he had destroyed almost as many zombies as he had during the entire engagement prior. It had been a worthy trade.

Coop made quick slashing attacks with his short sword, dismembering as much as he beheaded. He blocked almost every attack with his round shield, but the elite’s heavy attacks caused him to yield ground.

He resorted to some riskier tactics, slicing with his sword and releasing his grip on it to mistjump adjacent to his position. The sudden movements allowed him to defeat more zombies by separating them in pairs and trios from the rest of the pack, but if he wasn’t careful he might lose his escape route. He changed his tempo, incorporating even more sidesteps. A small quick dodge was plenty to get around the zombie’s slow guards and allow him to eliminate them before repositioning.

Coop found himself moving at the waist like a professional boxer, weaving between zombies and stabbing at exposed necks with jabs, all while keeping his guard up with his shield. The zombies were being defeated one or two at a time as he peeled them away from the crowd. As long as he kept making new space he was able to prevent himself from being overwhelmed.

Half of the zombies were defeated when Coop finally ran out of room and yielded the doorway. He just couldn’t maneuver between the zombies anymore with all of their fallen comrades piling up on the floor. He backed his way into the daylight and onto the walkways.

The fight completely changed once again. It had started as a messy melee with Coop dancing around the nearest zombies, then the numbers started pressuring him into a more tightly controlled stance. He had shifted to making space for himself with the defeats of pairs of zombies, using more deliberate attacks to finish off his targets. Once the fight moved outside it became a gauntlet of duels. The zombies could barely stand shoulder to shoulder on the path so Coop would dismantle the guard of his opponent, behead it, then hop backwards and let his next victim climb over the dead zombie to enter combat.

When the final zombie stepped up to Coop’s waiting blade he immediately sliced at its neck. It blocked with its forearm, but Coop was counting on the block. He used the recoil to pull his sword back and chopped off the zombie’s hand instead, then immediately reversed his swing taking its other arm off at the elbow. He bashed the zombie with his shield, throwing the handless arm out of the way before he chopped the monster’s head off.

Coop had been pressed all the way to the stairs that led back to the first level. He had purposely led them there in case the fight continued even further. He knew there were no more zombies down there, so he wasn’t going to risk being challenged from both sides at the same time with an extended retreat.

Before he did anything else, he made his way through the beheaded zombie corpses and made sure they were all dead. Inside the dining area it was way messier. Some zombies were still alive but unable to pursue due to missing legs. Coop made sure every single one was defeated before he checked his notifications.

[You defeated Human Zombie (Level 20)]

[+26 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[You defeated Elite Human Zombie (Level 26)]

[+264 Basic Credits]

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Your profession has leveled up!]

[Settle the Infestation (74/200)]

In total, Coop defeated over 70 zombies, but only 20 of them had been elites, and apparently only the elites contributed to his quest. He received a ton of class and profession experience from fighting both types of zombies. His progress was exploding while he completed this quest.

He had to restrain himself from checking the leaderboards. He knew his position was climbing like a rocket, but he needed to stay on task. He was running out of time. If he wanted to be on schedule for completing the quest in 48 hours, he needed another 26 elite kills before it got dark..

Coop continued his hunt.