Chapter 10: Close Combat
10 meters above the ground, on a branch of a tree.
Mel froze when he saw the zombie striking him from behind. Their tactics were so remarkable that he began to doubt life.
First, they had escaped his bombardment by digging underneath. Then attack him from underground and later made a distraction. They even use projectiles to fool his senses and once again attack him from behind.
Mel shivered when remembered the zombie's grind, a creature who can make that expression should be in hell and not roaming on the surface.
'Why am I still even alive? I still haven't even able to find that shitty zombie leader. Could humans even survive this sh*t?' These thoughts appeared before his mind suddenly turned completely blank.
In Sigmund Freud's study about human consciousness. He stated that it was multitiered divided among conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. The unconscious level of human functioning contains basic instinctual drives. It is the process of the mind that occurs automatically and is not available to introspection.
Mel's instinctual drive kicked in and activated the unconscious inside him. His body's instinct overdrove his mind. In primordial times where the human brain wasn't developed, the human body and senses can be called one of the best, allowing humans to survive from the fiercest of beasts and the hellish environment.
Mel bent his right knees and inhumanly twisted his body as he leaned back. The zombieroo slashed its two arms, hitting nothing but air.
The zombieroo's face changed, not expecting the human to evade bizarrely. It was so close to decapitating the human.
Mel's eyes were still lifeless as he suddenly lifted his left knee and banged the zombieroo's head. At the same time, he grabbed its rough greyish arms—which were still crossed from slashing—and rip them off from the zombie's shoulder.
Mel's strength or more specifically the Grade 3 battle suit's strength can't be underestimated. With the armor, Mel could even punch through an armored car and have a head to head fight with the Grade 3 Gigantic Snake.
The zombieroo's skull immediately caved in, blood was spewing from its shoulder. The short exchange ended before it could even begin.
It was clear that the zombieroo's defense was severely lacking compared to its terrifying speed.
Mel lost his footing and both of them fell from the tree. The branch on the peak of the tree wasn't that spacious compared to the bottom and middle branches.
[Ding! Grade 3 Shadow Walker Zombie killed. +100 origin points]
[+1 soul]
A second later after the system prompt, Mel regained his mind and became dumbfounded when he found a bloodied and amputated zombie falling with him.
Realizing that he was falling, Mel quickly calmed down and scanned the surroundings, mainly looking for the enemies. He didn't know what happened just now, all he could remember was blacking out when the zombieroo neared him.
As he turned his head towards the direction of the muscle zombie, he suddenly saw another branch of wood coming towards him. The wood's size was similar to him.
He crossed his arms and endured the impact. Having no footing, Mel immediately flew with the wood and was pinned on the tree.
Mel almost coughed a mouthful of blood, he could taste a sweet and metallic taste in his mouth. Just as he was about to fall again, Mel grabbed a hold of the tree. and crawled to a branch, the shock resistance alleviated some impact from the shot.
Before he could even fix himself, he got another cold feeling behind him. Mel rolled to the side, landing in a belly flop. He had caught a glimpse of a shadow, it was the zombieroo again.
'F*ck this sh*t'
Mel finally couldn't take it anymore. The endless sneak attacks annoyed him much more than a drunkard chattering and laughing at midnight.
He didn't know if it was the zombie leader taking revenge from his unending bombardment earlier or it's just how they fight. Nevertheless, it made him quite irritated.
[Origin Points: 17,900]
He had earned 18,300 from the Grade 2 Zombies he had killed earlier but was later decreased from the cluster bombs he had created. The cluster bombs only cost 10 OP each.
Mel then bought the Blueprint of a sword he had always wanted but wasn't able to buy due to its price.
[Grade 3 Ultra Sonic Blade Origin Blueprint]
[-2000 OP]
[Grade 3 Ultra Sonic Blade Created]
[-3 Soul]
[-4000 OP](materials)
[Origin Points: 11,900]
Mel waved his arm and a long sword appeared. It was black as a shadow, with a double-edged blade. It was very plain, no designs, no carvings, no glowing lights, just an eerie black long sword.
Mel waved the sword, it may look normal but it was actually vibrating at an ultrasonic frequency. It was just vibrating so fast that it looked ordinary to the eye. But he knew that if it were to touch an object, it would be sliced without difficulty—like a heated knife to butter.
He looked at the two zombies who stopped moving. They were looking at him, alarmed. They felt an ominous threat coming from the blade.
But it was only for a bit before they continued charging at him like they received instruction from somewhere. Mel guessed it was the zombie leader, until now he still couldn't find the zombie. He tried searching at the radar but it seems to burrow itself from underground, blinding Mel from its movements.
A shadow then plunged towards him, with his combat sense, Mel dodge and slashed his sword at the shadow. But it was too fast, before he could even make contact, it was already gone.
The indistinct fight went over and over, the zombieroo would attack him and he would dodge and retaliates.
He tried following the shadow with top speed, but the muscle zombie would shoot wood branches at him. It had taken control of the other tree—not far away from him—as King Kong did to the Empire State Building.
And just like the behemoth ape, it would throw some projectiles at him. Tearing some branches from the trees with ease. Its strength was visible to Mel, if it wasn't afraid with his sword it would have joined the zombieroo with close combat.
Mel swung his sword at the branch, the ultrasonic vibrations cut the branch with ease. But he started having a predicament, the debris of the branch would leave him open. The zombieroo swung its claws furiously, he could barely keep up with their teamwork.
He may have a complete understanding of the blade, but it wasn't like the crossbow—where he could foresee the direction of the bolts with the crossbow's mechanics.
The way of the sword was much more complicated. Yes, he was proficient with the sword. But that was it, all he could do was swing it in a precise manner. He needs techniques and strategies to fight his enemies, Mel was a novice when it comes to that.
'Sword Techniques'
Mel kicked the branch, escaping the zombies' assault. He suddenly had an epiphany.
His strength wasn't about brawling but versatility. He has a system that can practically make anything.
"System, any recommendations to improve or rather acquire sword techniques?"
Inside his helmet, Mel revealed a smile. He was now greatly enthralled with the feeling of combat, the sensation of life and death, and then grasping the ability to triumph over his opponent was just a wonderful experience.
Mel couldn't explain it clearly and wanted to compare it to sex. But then he realized: "I'm a virgin"
[Obviously]
"Would you believe me if I say I would create a sex doll and call it system?"
[....]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone