章 19: New Skill

Bethany then blushed and got into a fighting stance. With the shield in her left hand and the short katana on her right, she bent slightly to resist the impact when the remaining zombie leapt into the air, tried to punch Bethany's face.

When the zombie's punch was going to hit Bethany, she lifted the shield and felt the arm bone shift from the impact. She then let out a cry of pain and lost focus of the fight when she heard Matthew speaking:

"Don't be distracted or you will die. Use your healing skill and try to fight back whenever you see a chance! The zombies are stronger than we are, at least for now."

Bethany then used her [MINOR HEALING] skill on herself and felt a warmth rising in her body and gathering in her arm. The bone immediately recovered from the small fractures and returned to where it should be.

This process of Matthew warning Bethany and healing her arm was delayed but it occurred in just one second, giving enough time just for thezombie to reach Bethany again and try to hit her.

Bethany realized that she could not face the zombie face-to-face and certainly could not deflect the blow from him as Matthew did. Therefore, she decided to wait for the last moment of the blow and deflect him with the shield while attacking the zombie with the short katana while he was unbalanced.

Unfortunately, reality is different than expectation. When the zombie attacked and Bethany tried to do what she had planned, she could not react in time. Just when the zombie would hit her and she thought it was the end, the zombie's arm was cut off and blood began to stream on her face.

Taking advantage of the chance, she kicked the zombie away and while she was still frightened by the fact that she almost died, she looked at Matthew who, after cutting off the zombie's arm, recoiled and was indifferent as he watched her fight.

Bethany then blushed and focused her vision on the zombie again, which now had only one arm. The zombie then ran back toward Bethany, who knew that Matthew would protect her should anything happen, decided to try to use the same strategy she had planned before again.

As the zombie approached Bethany and tried to scratch her chest, she bent down and pushed the shield up with all the strength she had, thusdeflecting the blow from the zombie. Taking advantage of the gap she had created, she cut toward the zombie's waist that had his body split in half.

Bethany then paled at the sight of what she had just done, pulled away from the zombie crawling toward her, and took a minute to calm down. When she finally calmed down, she walked crying while she stabbed the zombie's head, killing him.

Matthew then walked over to her and hugged her as she cried on his shoulders. Matthew then told her:

"Don't worry Beth, you don't have to feel guilty. I know you don't want to hear it right now but you're doing a good thing. Hardening your heart and killing these zombies, you're preventing others from becoming zombies."

Bethany then wept for three minutes. When she finally calmed down, she wiped the tear from her face and said to Matthew:

"Thank you for saving me and consoling me. Thank you so much for everything you are doing for me."

Matthew then nodded as he walked over to the remaining zombie and killed him. As soon as he did so notifications popped up in his vision.

* Ding * "Congratulations to the user for killing two zombies."

* 20 exp granted *

* 4 evolutionary credits acquired *

* Acquired zombie loot - common-grade invocation skill (INVOCATE PYTHON) *

Matthew was both surprised and glad when he realized that he would have an invocation to help him in his battles. More importantly, it was such a powerful invocation.

Matthew then opened the [STATUS].

[STATUS]

User: Matthew Parker

Age: 22 yo

Mana: 6/10

Rank: No Rank

Attribute Point: 0

Skill Point: 0

Level: 2/10

Exp: 100/200

STR: 1.50 AGI: 1.20 STA: 1.40 CONS: 2.10 INT: 1.10 WIS: 1.20

[MASTERY OF WEAPONS] (+)

[SKILLS] (-)

Shield of Salvation (GRADE: UNCOMMON) (LEVEL: 6/20) (PASSIVE)

Description: Enhanced version of the common-grade skill: Protection Shield, automatically activates before the user receives any damage, costing from 1-7 mana per activation depending on the impact damage.

Invoke Python (GRADE: COMMON) (LEVEL: 1/10) (ACTIVE)

Description: A common-grade invocation skill, which invokes a python that understands all user commands and can fight independently, an invoked python gains exp from eating corpses.

[CULTIVATION] (+)

Matthew then summoned his python which was about a meter long and sixty centimeters high. He ordered it to eat the corpse of the two zombies that were in that area and then to stay around his neck.

The python opened its mouth and began to eat the corpse of the first zombie. After the python finished eating the corpse of the zombie, it went towards the second corpse. To Matthew's surprise, the corpse of the zombie immediately disappeared from the body of the python when it reached its stomach.

The python, after eating the corpses, began to slither until it reached Matthew's feet and then began to climb Matthew's body until it reached his neck and settled on his shoulders.