Exile 2: Besieged

When Orion regained his senses, he felt exceptionally clear. His nose felt as if he’d just taken the first breath after completely clearing his sinuses after a cold. His ears also felt exceptionally sensitive, as if he’d just had them cleaned by a doctor.

Before he could continue reveling in the sensation, a grunt caught his attention. When he finally opened his eyes after the deep breath, he saw the source and immediately gulped. It was a zombie in all senses of the word. With rotting skin, ripped clothes, and uncoordinated limbs. He immediately summoned the sword from inside the Exile Gear and gripped it tightly. When he realized his nude state with a light breeze hitting his skin, he felt regretful that the internal space couldn’t hold any matter that wasn’t created using the gear itself.

Feeling exceptionally clear in his head, he immediately swung his Katana in a horizontal motion, slicing the zombie’s head before it could notice him.

A notification appeared in his mind.

[Origin Energy + 0.01]

“So that’s how you get Origin Energy…” he mumbled as the zombie’s skull crashed on the ground with a squelch sound.

He didn’t really have the time to pull himself together after killing the zombie as another grunt reached his ears, followed by another, and another, and many more overlapping grunts.

A shiver went down his spine as he quickly turned around, with some flopping motion going on down under. He gulped, looking at the endless parade of zombies that were now in front of him. He was on the side of a street that was full of those creatures.

“You couldn’t find a secluded rooftop or something, dude…” He complained as his eyes darted around, looking for any way to break through the blockade as the zombies slowly approached him. 

They seem to rely mostly on sound. If they had seen me, the response would have come earlier. It’s the sound that attracted them to me… Maybe smell as well, but that’s harder to tell; I probably don’t have any smell for now.

Amidst his thoughts, he quickly located an open door that led to an apartment building. The rest were mostly stores with glass windows that could easily be broken through. This one was the only one that had a double gate, one metal and the other wood.

I’m in Japan…Considering Great Red’s words about a dying world, this might just be another anime that I don’t know about… I doubt I’ll find any familiar characters if it’s normal Japan.

With a destination in mind, he looked at the zombies in his way. He would have to quickly cut through more than twenty zombies before the others could overrun him and make a beeline to the gate.

I swear, George, if I can even get half of what I’m imagining done, I will forgive you for ripping me off a grand to give me six lousy fencing classes…

Without any more time to continue contemplating, Orion could only move forward before the zombies overran him. His footsteps weren’t loud due to the nonexistence of shoes, but he quickly slashed his sword, cutting a zombie in half and stepping to the side before stabbing the next one that lunged at him in the head. Ignoring the two notifications, he stepped forward and quickly tried to repeat the same move. Feeling a little confident, he tried to angle his sword further and sliced two zombies in half at the same time, his sword cutting through them without the slightest impediment.

Due to the extended movement, however, he ended up losing his balance and slipping. His eyes widened as he tried to keep himself from falling and ended up slamming into the wall, barely staying upright as two more zombies lunged at him. He instinctively sliced through one of them as the other quickly reached him. He jumped to the side, dodging the attack and ignoring it before moving forward.

I’m getting tired…I want to enhance my physique, but I don’t know if it’s an instant process…

He decided against enhancing his physique using the Origin Energy he was getting after a thought and continued moving through the zombies, sticking to the wall to keep himself from getting surrounded. As he slowly got the hang of it, he was able to calm down and cut through the zombies with a slightly greater ease than before. Still, he continued fumbling, cursing himself in the process. The only reason that he was even able to continue moving without being swarmed was because of the unreal sharpness of his sword. Every time too many zombies got closer to him, he lunged and sliced through them, getting a moment of respite as the others took a few moments to climb through them. Of course, the sword wasn’t the only reason. The zombies were ridiculously weak. Their usual speed was equivalent to that of someone in their eighties. Only when they lunged forward was it a bit dangerous. He didn’t get grappled by them, so he couldn’t be sure of their physical strength, but he doubted it would be too high.

Unfortunately, there was truly an endless number of them on the street. The more he killed, the more they swarmed toward him. Despite his growing confidence, he knew that he had to focus on his goal. And finally, he was able to reach the door. Slicing through two zombies in front of him, he kicked their bodies to make the approaching horde pause. Grasping the opportunity, he quickly closed the door behind him.

“Fuck…” he breathed deeply, latching the metal gate as the zombies immediately started banging on the grill. He quickly closed the inner door as well and leaned against it, slowly sliding down to the ground. “I need some water…and clothes… Let’s see if there’s anyone here, preferably before the zombies break through. Hopefully, they will give up after a while. I don’t know how long the outer door can hold on.”

Amidst the muffled banging and grunting, he heard a clearer grunt and immediately looked up, wincing at the scene of three zombies approaching him with hurried steps. Inwardly grateful that they weren’t too fast, he quickly swung his sword and sliced all three in half.

[Origin Energy + 0.05]

“0.05?” He frowned before closing his eyes for a moment and parsing through the notifications that he’d ignored. “Not every zombie gives a hundredth…Some have more. Damnit…”

The possible existence of stronger zombies sent him to the edge for a moment as he took a deep breath, calming himself down.

“I have to be stronger than the usual human…I’ve been swinging this katana for so long, but I barely feel tired…”

Name: Orion Vaelor
Exile Gear: Infinite Dream

Specialization: Creation
Origin Energy: 1.46 Units

Physique: 2
Matter Limit: 8 KG

Looking at his status, he understood that the remaining two units had been invested into creating his physique. Considering one to be the base of an average person, a comprehensive evaluation of two would mean double.

“Does this include everything? My senses feel much sharper than they used to, and I feel like my brain is also getting better at processing information and coming up with things than before… This origin energy thing is pretty overpowered. I didn’t even realize that I killed over a hundred zombies while getting here. And I was fully naked at that.”

Looking back at the constant banging sounds, he made his decision and tightened his grip on the katana, immediately moving up the stairs to see if there was anything he could get. He stayed alert, making a sound every once in a while to attract any zombies that were present.

As he went up the floors, without question, almost every single apartment door was open, with the same three to four zombies on every floor. It seemed no one had survived in the entire apartment. After scouring through all five floors and every single unit, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, allowing the tension inside him to fade as his heart calmed down.

“This is crazy… I’m not sure if it’s as crazy as watching my loved ones weep over my corpse while floating above them. But it’s pretty close. I need a shower…”

After calming down, the first thing he noticed was the immense amount of blood that covered him from head to toe, slowly scabbing as it dried up.

“I don’t think this is going to easily clean off…This building should have an internal reservoir. Considering how everyone is dead, it shouldn’t be empty…unless someone already cleared it. But then there wouldn’t be so many supplies in these units. Sadly, there’s no power. Still, cold water is better than walking around caked in blood.”

He quickly went into the bathroom, pausing at the massive tub attached to the edge and looking at the window that illuminated the room better than even the main apartment.

“Is that a sauna button?” He mumbled, looking at the label on the side of the tub that had both Japanese and English. “Say what you will, the Japanese love their baths.”

While it was a pity not to be able to use any of the facilities due to the lack of power, he didn’t have a choice. He turned on the shower, smiling happily after seeing the water immediately come out, and got in, not caring about the cold water. He was still reeling from the adrenaline rush of killing so many zombies, and some slightly cold water was far from enough to affect him right now.