《Terrortorial》


 Chapter One

    The figure trembled as it slowly worked itself upright. It stared at its hands then moved those very hands to pat over its body as if searching for something. A sigh rose from the figure, breaking the silence of the misty forest. A mutter was barely audible as the figure spoke, one simple phrase that explained the wide range of emotions the figure was currently experiencing.


    ¡°What the actual fuck.¡±


    The figures name was... It scratched its head in confusion. It did not remember its own name, it vaguely remembered being human. While vividly remembering having died, violently at that. Although the specifics escaped him the feeling and explosion of sounds had left remnants on his soul. That was not the problem at hand, however, not having died would be great. Except he had died. He was sure of it, the fact that he could poke his finger through his cheek and feel his own teeth helped in proving that.


    A memory tickled just below the surface, he made a mental reach for it and realized that he knew what he now was. A zombie, he had turned into one of those walking dead, shuffling, moaning and supposedly brain-eating undead. Except he had kept his mind, his thinking was still as sharp as it had ever been... At least he hoped it was.


    He furrowed his brows as he tried to remember his past, any details or things of note. He drew a blank, he could not remember anything noteworthy. Well, a man needs a name. Did a zombie need one though? He honestly didn''t know but if he wanted to continue to refer to himself in the third person as he had been so far he needed a name. He shrugged and went with something simple, Z would do.


    The sound of skittering tore Z out of his thoughts. He glanced around only to see a thing from nightmares making its way towards him. A bonafide cat-sized spider, a nasty looking one at that. With surreal looking fangs dripping with a liquid colored such a vivid green that it was nearly luminescent. Normally a person would have panicked, Z did not panic. Panicking had never been nor would he hope that it would ever be the kind of person he was. Calm and controlled whenever shit went down, that''s the kind of person he felt he was.


    The creature continued its path as it rushed closer towards him, it made a clicking sound with its chelicerae. Which was apparently the word for the fang/mandible things that a spider had. As he once more got lost in the nonsensical trappings of his own mind the spider made a lunge towards him. Leaping a surprising distance of nearly twenty feet, blinking at the sudden rush Z simple pulled up his foot and smashed it down on top of the spider once it reached him. Crushing it with ease.


    He should have felt something, the impact of his foot. Or the goo that seeped out of the spider between the toes that had smashed into the spiders insides. Which reminded him, he really did need clothes. Not that being naked bothered him that much, he grinned at the thought. It would be strange to be worried about being naked when he wasn''t concerned at being a zombie. Take everything in stride, that was the best way to live your life. Z thought to himself.


    Then something else happened that caused him to blink and narrow his eyes. A bonafide game-style message.


    [Monstrous Northern Funnel Web Spider, Small size: Slain, 1 KP earned.]


    He frowned, well now he knew what kind of spider it was. But what in the seventy-seven blazes was a KP? As if the message had heard him thinking another one popped up.


    [ KP = Points earned from kills, can be spent on perks, abilities, stats, evolutions and more.]


    Fantastic, so how would he be able to spend those points. The very thought confirmed that whatever was sending him these messages had the ability to read his mind because yet another of the messages popped up.


    [Spending of points currently unavailable.]


    So how do I spend those points? Z wondered, How do I make them available.


    [Spending of points currently unavailable.]


    Fan-friggin tastic, that was no help what so ever. He shrugged and let the matter slide, he had to find out where he was first. Good thing he was undead, finding food and water were no longer important. Nor would he need sleep, meaning he could just go wherever and figure out what to do from there. Making up his mind he set out for the forest, unconcerned about the dangers that possibly lay ahead.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Leisurely making his way through the forest Z was enjoying the sights. The trees surrounding him were... off. The colors of the bark, the leaves and the shape were ever so slightly different than they had been wherever he was from. After a few minutes of strolling through the forest, he came across a clearing. A slight hill in the middle with a small stream running just past it. The moonlight was peering through the leaves creating a shimmering light around the clearing. He enjoyed the look of it and decided that he would set up a home here.


    A man must have a home afterall undead or not. He was not one for continous travel, first, he would have to make a shack or a log cabin. The problem was that he had no tools he could use, he shrugged and headed to the stream bed. As expected there were more then enough rocks giving him a variety of choice, he smashed one of the rocks onto another until one of them broke in half giving it a jagged edge. He used some of the river weeds and a stick to create an impromptu stone axe. He swung his arms back, planted his feet and swung his newly made axe towards the tree, the air whistled as the axe swished through the air. It collided with the tree, the axe exploded into pieces, a few of the splinters piercing the skin of his torso. Not that he felt the pain but it was still extremely annoying.


    He sighed and took his time plucking the pieces of wood from his chest. The sound of many legs tapping against bark alerted him to more spiders. By the sound of it, there was near army of the things coming towards him. Should he leave before they arrived? He pondered the question a moment before shaking his head. No, he would stay, he liked this spot and was determined to make it his. Besides dying a second time wouldn''t be so bad right?


    He mentally shrugged and lowered his center of gravity. He waited with bated breath till they appeared like a skittering horde. Many of the cat-sized spiders rushed towards him with two larger ones lingering near the back. He ignored those for the moment and swung down his foot similar to his first fight and squashed one of the spiders. He grabbed another one out of the air, put his hand over its head and yanked it off. Zombies were stronger than humans and he grinned at the realization. He smashed the body of the spider into one of its comrades, before stomping another one of the critters into the dirt. He swung and stomped and occasionally tore one of the things to pieces. They tried to pierce his skin and inject their venom. Much to the spiders'' displeasure, the toxin did absolutely nothing to his already dead body. His heart did not beat so the blood did not flow, making poison useless when used against him.


    With a manic grin on his face, he tore into the horde of spiders, ripping them apart with apparent ease. A bone-chilling laughter erupted from his mouth as he wrought destruction, being dead was interesting! He chuckled as his eyes unknown to him glowed in the dark. A vivid red a sharp contrast to the monochrome grey of his skin and hair. One of the larger spiders made a move, charging at him. It launched itself towards Z slicing through the air its chelicerae glittering in the moonlight.


    He dipped his shoulder beneath the creature, he stepped back and launched an explosive uppercut into the monstrosities abdomen sending it flying up cracks spreading through its thorax. The spider crashed into the floor near him, he stomped on one of the smaller spiders flattening it. Then rammed his hand into the spider, tearing out its insides. With a flash of insight, he twisted around and held up his arm, just in time to stop the other monstrous spider from piercing his neck with its fangs.


    It snapped its fangs shut onto his arm, he heard the sharp snap of his bone breaking. He smashed the creature into the floor with his arm. Then reached back with his other arm and shoved his fingers into one of the spiders many eyes. A sharp shriek split the air, not one to show mercy Z shoved his hand deeper into the spider until he felt he had a hold of something important which he then proceeded to rip out. With a bloodthirsty grin, he turned around for the next opponent, only to find nothing but the corpses of spiders surrounding him.


    It took him a few seconds to calm down and regain function of his brain. His eyes swiveled from side to side as he read the incoming messages.


    An entire list of kills greeted him, he frowned into annoyance and was only mildly surprised when the system compiled the list into a summary.


    [Monstrous Northern Funnel Web Spider, Small size : Slain, 21 KP earned.]


    [Monstrous Northern Funnel Web Spider, Medium size : Slain, 6 KP earned.]


    He nodded to himself, so he had killed twenty-one of the smaller ones. Each of the bigger ones were worth 3 points then. The next option interested him more, however.


    [Having claimed this area as yours and then bathing it in the blood of those seeking to take it you now have the option to claim the area yours : Cost 10 KP]


    He grinned and tapped the message, getting another message asking him if he was sure about his choice. Naturally he accepted, a deep green light spread throughout the area and he watched with wide eyes as the area changed. The previous green gras turned a crimson, the trees around him had their barked turned into an eye-catching ivory. The leaves turned into various shades of crimson similar to the grass. Then the small hill he stood on started changing, tombstones erupted from the grass. With a large one in the middle with a picturesque drawing of himself on it. He tilted his head to the side as he glanced around the area. He walked up to the large tombstome in the middle and examined it. That was when new options appeared before him.

 Chapter two

    He studied the list, amazed at the options before him. He had expected something, but the changes to his surroundings had baffled him. Now there were new options ones that could have an even larger impact. He sighed as he once more read through the options.


    [Territory Governing Options]


    [Summon a growing Zombie 6 KP]


    [Summon a puppet Zombie 1KP]


    [Create first level walls around your territory center, (Dirt) 30 KP]


    [Create road to another of your territories, (Currently unavailable amount of territory owned too small)]


    He swiped to another panel


    [Current Territory EP gained daily: 2]


    He frowned at the new statistic and shot a question towards the boxes, which was promptly answered.


    [EP = Evolutionary points. EP can be gained by: amount of territory controlled, amount of subservient territories, alliances and trade deals.]


    But what did they do?


    [EP is used to improve the qualities of your race, this can also be used on individuals instead of effecting the race as a whole: Current EP : 0, Options unavailable untill EP has been acquired.]


    So that meant he could change his zombism? If that was even a word, It did open alot of options but he doubted said options would be cheap. He pondered the options a bit before turning back to the previous page and tapping the option Growing zombie for more information.


    [A growing zombie, unlike a puppet, has the ability to learn skills and is self-aware. Their combat potential is higher but they start at the same strength as a puppet zombie.]


    Seeing as there really were no other options available to him right now he shrugged and summoned two of the growing zombies, turning in another twelve KP. Two pairs of hands erupted from the earth beneath the tombstones, dirt falling away as the new zombies stood to their full height, he glanced at the boxes above their head.


    [Unnamed Zombie Tier 1, Common]


    [Unnamed Zombie Tier 1, Rare (Magical Capacity)]


    He frowned as he read the boxes, so one of the zombies was normal, like him he assumed but not as smart judging by the way it stood staring at him blankly. The other he assumed had the capacity to use magic. It was still just as dumb as its brother by the looks of it. First, he decided to name the two zombies, he named the common one Clog and the rare one Brainz. Not the most elegant of names but hey, they were zombies like him, not much elegance needed.


    He spent his remaining six points on puppet zombies and watched as they raised themselves from tombstones similar to the way the growers had appeared. They all stared at him lifelessly, he chuckled at his inside joke, lifelessly... huehue.


    Coughing to cover up the awkward atmosphere at being stared at while laughing he motioned them to follow him and to his surprise they did. He made his way deeper into the forest, he was curious how far this territory of his actually went. Walking deeper into the forest after a few minutes he arrived at the border of his territory, at least he assumed this was the border because of the colour of the greenery around him was just that. Green.


    The other zombies had just shambled behind him during his walk, no comments, no noises except their staggering steps throughout the forest. Another difference he had noticed between himself and the other zombies was the capability to move properly. Even though his flesh had decayed to some point his body still moved as he wanted it to. The other zombies had that familiar shamble you expected from zombies. He wondered where he got the knowledge of other zombies from, trying to pinpoint the memories gave him the usuall blank and a slight headache. He sighed and started walking along the perimeter of his area.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Walking past the clearcut border felt... strange. His mind was already trying to process the many ways he could develop and use this territory. Most important as in any situation were you wanted to build something the priority was resources. Normally one would have to worry about manpower but the access to KP and the instantaneous changes it made to its environment made that a moot point. The only way he would need to utilise his manpower was to harvest resources. Simply put he needed to find things to kill. These spiders made a good enemy, they were non-sentient monsters. They did not use any strategy or reason. They simply attacked what was in their territory.


    After a few more minutes of circling his now still small territory he could see the changes in the landscape. He recognised the forest he expected, the one that was the area of the spiders. Some of the areas around him were different, most of them not so glaringly obvious as his was however. He shrugged and headed deeper into spider territory, another of his most prominent goals was to check the combat ability of these zombies. He gave a quick order to have them form around him. Six puppets in front and the two growers to either side of him.


    Some time passed but then he heard the now familiar sound of spider legs tapping bark. He ordered his units to halt, then proceeded to give a speech of sorts. He told them they would soon be attacked, he told the puppets that they were to protect the growers, he ordered the growers to stay close to him. The dark shadows the spiders created became visible in the mist. Z cracked his neck and grinned in anticipation. He rolled his shoulders as the spiders burst out of the fog. He motioned with his head and his zombies shambled forward to meet the hairy wave of monsters.


    The monstrous creatures leaped towards his zombies, the shambling idiots didn''t even bother to dodge and just caught the creatures after they lashed on. One of the puppets was hugging one of the dog-sized spiders into literal pieces. At first he wanted to shout at them to be more skilled but then he realised something. This might actually be the best way for the zombies to fight, they did not have the skill, dexterity or the brain to fight in the way he did. They could use their toughness to take a blow while taking out their opponents. He grimaced as he saw one of his zombies get swarmed as it took the swarm in stride and just bit kicked or grabbed at anything it could inflicting as much damage as possible.


    Z frowned slightly and stepped in, kicking a spider of the zombies face as the creature tried to rip its head off. He moved smoothly from spider to spider taking smaller attacks inturn for their lives, using the ''zombie strategy'' whenever he thought the loss was worth the gain. The zombies tore through the ranks of spiders wrecking carnage among their numbers. It truly was an unfavourable matchup for them. Immune to poison as they were the zombies were incredibly hard to kill by the short fangs the spiders possessed.


    After a few minutes of fierce battle the waves of spiders stopped coming, Z checked his forces and noticed that only two of his zombies had actually stopped functioning. Another thing he noticed was the difference in quality between a grower and a puppet. The growers improved their fighting from watching Z fight, it was a slight difference but it was there, they would let the spiders attack less important parts of their body in exchange for an attack instead of the simple uncaring attitude of the puppets. A small change that could make a mountain of difference. Z grinned as he imagined the growers learning to fight like him eventually.


    Z gathered his remaining forces and headed back to his area. He read through the messages and saw that he had received 89 KP, he stroked his chin as he marveled at the number. Gathering KP had been easier than he thought it would be. He imagined summoning a small army with that number of KP. He could do that or he could summoned a sixth of that amount and give them the ability to grow. Sighing he looked through the options available to him once more. On a whim he decided to buy the wall, the earth around his little cemetery mound grew untill it gormed into a half meter-thick and a little over two meter tall dirt wall. He walked over and tapped the wall, it was sturdier than it looked, the dirt was compressed quite a bit. He nodded to himself in appreciation and then walked back.


    Clog stood next to the larger tombstone that he had begun to think of as his headquarters. He glanced at the naming box that insistently floated above clog''s head. He furrowed his brows as he noticed the appearance of a plus next to his name. He tapped on the box reading what it had to say. His eyes widened as his eyes flickered through the message.


    [Clog (Zombie) Tier 1 Common, Evolution Available]


    He tapped the message and as expected a new list appeared.


    [Thick Skin (available)]


    [Regenerative stitchwork (available)]


    [Improved Agility (Available)]


    [Improved Strength (Available)]


    [Evolve to tier Two (Available)]


    He tapped all of them to read about what they did, Thick skin did as advertised and simply thickened and hardened the skin of the zombie, making it harder to damage. Regenerative stitchwork gave the zombie the ability to self-heal, according to the message phantom stitches would appear and sow minor wounds back together, keeping the zombie from falling apart or becoming unusable after losing a limb. Improved agility and strength really did not need an explanation, the second on intrigued him the most. After tapping it the boxes showed him a growing branch from the normal growing zombie into other options.


    Some of the options were blacked out and he couldn''t see what they did, the options only gave him question marks when he tapped them. He assumed that meant he had not unlocked said evolution, Z scratched his chin and decided to click on the only evolution available for Clog. He tapped the option Large Zombie and watched with interest as Clogs skin tore itself a part and knitted itself back together as the zombie grew another feet or two, it became broader and the decaying muscles on its body became more defined and its skin and overall appearance had become less rotten. Z smiled as he examined the zombie, it looked a lot more capable than it had before.


    Excited he headed over to the puppet zombies only to be disappointed that they had not gained the ability to evolve, he cheered up when he reached Brainz however. He became jittery when he noticed that Brainz had another evolution option unlocked that had not been available for Clog, it must have been because of the boxes defining him as rare. He tapped the box and watched in anticipation for the changes to appear on Clog.


    Only to be slightldisappointeded, the zombie became slightly slimmer and its patchwork hair turned an ivory white. He checked the box above its head.


    [Brainz (caster zombie) Tier 2 Rare]


    He assumed that Brainz now had the ability to cast magic, but he would have to wait untill their next battle to find out. He shrugged to himself and walked back towards the HQ Tombstone. He tapped it and summoned a veritable army of fifty-nine puppet zombies. He smiled to himself as he watched the group of zombies standing around him. He grinned as he already started thinking up the plan for taking over more of the spiders territory. He tapped his chin as he sank deep into thought. Only to have a message appear before him.


    [Z (Zombie?) Tier 1 Unique, Evolution available]


    Z grinned, this changed everything.

 Chapter Three

    He took a look through the list of options he had for the evolution of the second tier and saw both the caster zombie and large zombie as an option. Z scratched his chin as he thought it over but decided to hold off on evolving to the next tier for now. He tapped the Regenerative stitchwork and rolled his shoulders as a brief feeling of discomfort swept over his body. He saw nothing different about his body but he felt healthier. He glanced back towards the box that contained his own information and saw that he still had an evolution available. He pondered it for a bit but decided to go for the Improved strength option.


    He flexed his fingers to test his strength, he picked up a branch as thick as his wrist and easily snapped it while clenching a fist with his hand. That was a great deal stronger than any regular human. Improved agility would be an interesting ability to get aswell, he was already more agile by far compared to normal zombies so he wondered how much the difference would be.


    He swept his eyes over his forces, he had acquired a small army in a days time. He wanted more, he was curious to see how much he could grow. He gestured to his zombies and headed back into the spider forest, this time determined to find one of the territory hubs like his. Something that he could conquer, he wondered what new options would be available if he did. As usual, he lost himself in thought as he led his shambling army deeper into the darkness.


    It took a good deal longer before they encountered anything on this expedition. After a near half hour of walking, they had seen no signs of spiders, what he did notice was how the forest grew darker and darker the deeper they headed inside. Spider webs were strung from tree to tree and became more numerous the deeper he went. The silence had grown eerie, the lack of birds or insects, unnatural and would have sent shivers up any individuals spine. The undead, of course, were not bothered in the slightest and merely trudged onward.


    Z raised his eyebrows as he carefully listened, that sounded like combat. He frowned and picked up the pace, the zombies behind him struggling to keep up as he broke into a jog. He was sure of it now he heard the angry and pained screeches of warriors in battle and the yelled cruses in a language he was not familiar with. He started running faster as the sound picked up in volume, he breached the clearing and blinked as he looked at the wide plain. Infront of him a horde of spiders that must have numbered in the hundreds. They were facing a shoddily protected town were snarling green warriors were trying to keep the spiders from flooding their wooden walls. Atop one of the walls stood a larger and more muscular green warrior with elven like ears a crooked nose and pointed teeth, he was snarling commands to his soldiers. He knew the type of creatures, Goblins.


    He surveyed the situation for a moment when he heard the sound of his troops catching up, he tapped his chin before making his decision. ¡°Attack the spiders, don''t fight the goblins!¡± A simple command that sent a wave of movement through the undead as they trudged forward at their highest speed. Which was admittedly quite slow and barely faster than walking pace. Z himself however charged into the spiders line at top spring. Heading towards the spider that was even taller than him, it''s brown hair accented by a crimson pattern that made it look even more dangerous than the smaller of its kin. He tore into the line of spiders slaughtering his way through the smaller of their kind.


    From the corner of his eyes, he saw as the goblin noticed the undead army and how they charged into the spiders. To Z''s surprise, the chieftain reacted quickly and pulled units from his left flank where the zombies were tearing into the spiders to reinforce his right flank. Trusting the fact that the spiders would focus their efforts on the new threat that had appeared from the forest. The chieftains instinct had proven right and the spiders were now being pressed from both sides of their sizable army. The creatures fell in droves, the goblins using the protection of their wall to rain death upon the many-legged monsters. While the zombies simply used their superior strength and immunity to the toxin to pound their opponents into the ground.


    Z waded his way through the waves of spiders, crushing them beneath his feet or simply tearing them apart with his hands as he headed towards the largest of the creatures.The lead spider screeched and sent a wave of the larger spiders his way. Z tore through them as if they were paper, none of them even capable of landing a hit on his body. He grinned maliciously as he reveled in his new found strength. The lead spider screeched and charged at him itself, Z ducked beneath one of its razor-sharp legs as he danced his way to its side. The spider used its many legs as weapons as it attempted to cut him down. Z frowned, brows pulled together as he focused on dodging its many limbs. He smoothly twisted and twirled between the limbs for a while until one of its limbs glowed and moved faster than before.


    Z managed to twist his body away in the nick of time dodging the gleaming red leg. Then he felt a tug on his left shoulder as he was smacked into the ground, he utilised his momentum to roll back to his feet as he snarled at the spider. He glanced to his left shoulder only to see nothing but rotten flesh, his arm torn off. The other spiders and zombies had backed off from the fight between him and the lead spider. Even his own zombies were tearing into the arachnid forces while keeping an area free around him and the lead spider. Z spotted his arm near the edge of the freed area and picked it up and pressed it to the stump of his shoulder. He kept his eyes on the spider as the creature stared at him wearily. Its eight eyes focused on his every move.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Z breathed in as he saw an ethereal needle appear and thread a just as ethereal thread through his flesh tying his arm back to his body. He flexed his arm and marveled at how it had not lost any of its mobility. He grinned as he made his way further towards the lead spider, the creature still keeping a distance from him for a reason he did not know. Z took another step forward and saw the spider do the same, Z noticed how the leg the spider had used to tear of his arm was trembling and he grinned. The attack had been a double-edged sword, the creature had either wounded or exhausted itself. Not one to let such opportunities waste away Z charged towards the creature, his teeth bared in a wordless snarl.


    The spider hissed at him as it did a charge of its own, Z slipped beneath one of the legs only to have another pierce his abdomen, he ignored the wound and tore off the leg the spider had used to cause the injury. Their battle waged on, the zombie dodging agilely beneath the swipes of the spider, occasionally taking a hit but returning the favor by tearing of the offending leg. The spider was down to 5 legs as it started backing off, out of nowhere a glowing blue bolt smashed into its back shattering its exoskeleton as the creature shrieked in pain. Brainz stood there with a raised arm, blue motes of power swirling around his stretched arm. Clog came thundering through the wave of spiders tackling the larger creature.


    Z took the opening and jumped onto the creature himself, his hands tearing into the spider''s body as the creature shrieked in agony, then his hand or that of clog found something important as a shudder went through the spider and it stopped moving. The remaining hundred or so spiders shivered as they turned around and skittered back into the forest, running from the forces that had destroyed their own. Z stood up wiping blood and spider innards of him as he glanced towards the goblin ''fortress''. The chieftain much like himself was covered in blood and his left arm was hanging limp.


    Z wiped the gore of his body as he stepped towards the chieftain, his remaining troops moved to follow him and Z glanced at his forces. Of the fifty-five or so zombies he had led into combat only twenty-three had survived. The fact that both Brainz and Clog had survived the battle made those numbers irrelevant. He was sure he had earned a lot more KP than he had lost. He motioned for his troops to halt as he walked towards the fortress by himself. The goblin chieftain frowned for a moment before jumping down from his wall and moving to greet him, to the protest of his troops who watched with wary eyes as they knocked arrows on their bows to protect their chief should the need arise.


    Z walked a bit forward untill he was in range of the bows to set the goblins at ease then waited for the chieftain to reach him. Now that he had a closer look at the chief he noticed that he wasn''t exactly a goblin-like the rest of his village, the chief was at least six feet tall. Which was a good two inches taller than Z was himself. His body was muscular and there were more than a few scars apparent on his body. Z grinned in appreciation, this here was a man who knew how to do battle. The chief had in those brief moments proven to be intelligent and powerful. The chieftain stopped about ten paces away from Z and stared him in the eye.


    ¡°Why you help goblin.¡± He rumbled, eyes narrowed.


    Z shrugged, ¡°Didn''t really have a reason, spiders attacked as soon as they saw me so they are proven to be my enemy. Not really sure if I do want to help the goblins, this was just a good chance to get rid of many of the spiders.¡±


    The chief nodded in understanding, ¡°You goblin enemy now?¡± The words were spoken calmly the hob-goblin stared into his eyes, his posture radiating readiness to do battle, yet his eyes remained cold and calculating.


    Z smiled, ¡°I was thinking you would make a better ally than enemy, not to mention that the main forces of the spiders are still out there.¡±


    The chief grinned, showing his pointy teeth. ¡°Red Grass tribe would accept you as ally.¡± The chief extended his hand Z stepped forward to grab it. A message flashed before his eyes.


    [Both you and the Red Grass tribe have agreed to form an alliance, Should you accept this alliance you will not be able to attack the Red Grass tribe. Doing so anyway will incur massive penalties to your faction. Allies are sworn to help each other in battle as do they gain 10% of the other factions EP gains if the territories are connected. Do you accept the alliance Y/N]


    He tapped the Y and saw the chieftain do the same which was confirmed when another message appeared declaring the two factions allies. Z smiled, elated as he was on the inside he kept his face calm. The creation of a strong foundation for any faction needed a few things. Resources and Manpower, both which could be achieved through development of ones lands. Capable and trustworthy allies, which would protect your lands borders. Meaning one less possible avenue for enemies to attack so forces and resources could be concentrated on other fronts. The last thing he would need was the time to build a strong infrastructure and foundation. The last he was not sure he would ever get... Not in this world.


    He focused his mind back towards the present as the goblins happy cheering broke him out of his thought process. Another thing he noticed was that the goblins now had a nearly transparent green outline. He could ''feel'' that they were his allies, he assumed that his forces could feel the same. He frowned as he thought about the implication, perhaps this system was set in place so that less intelligent monsters would not attack their allies by accident. It made sense in a strange sort of way.


    He nodded his goodbye to the chief and told him that he would like to spend the resources gained from this battle. The chief nodded in understanding and said he would like to do the same. So each headed back to their headquarters and promised to meet when they were done with their expenditures. Z grinned, he was really looking forward to spending those points.

 Chapter Four

    As he walked back to his base he pondered his decision. He felt like the sudden urge to decide on creating an alliance with the goblin chieftain, he was pretty sure that whoever he had been previously was not as impulsive as he had just been. There wasn''t even a date of time on how long their alliance was supposed to last. Were these alliances permanent? He sighed and stopped thinking about it, questions with no answers could keep him occupied for days but for now he had things to do. He walked up to his headstone and let the messages from the battle flood over him.


    [Monstrous Northern Funnel Web Spider, Leader class Tier 2: Slain, 14 KP earned, 264 KP earned from other kills Total KP: 288.]


    Z grinned at the result before he took a look at potentially new options from his headstone he had to go through the individual evolutions gained. First, he glanced over to the puppets, six of them had the evolution option, he tapped their boxes and frowned slightly at the result. They did not have the ability options he himself and the grower zombies had, they only had the option to evolve into the next tier. He shrugged and tapped the Large Zombie evolution, the six of them burst into growth and now towered over their lesser brethren. Next, he walked over to Clog and tapped his screen.


    [Clog (Large Zombie) Tier 2 Common, Evolution Available]


    The same options as before were still there except surprisingly the evolution to tier three which was greyed out. A few new options had been added aswell.


    [Collosal Presence (Available)]


    [Sub Leader (Available)]


    [Base Guardian (Available)]


    Z tapped the options in order, first up was Colossal Presence.


    [Collosal Presence has been unlocked by this individual for standing out on the battlefield, It has shown strength and insight during battle. This ability increases the size of the unit by 30% regardless of the tier. It shall always be 30% larger than its counterparts.]


    So Clog would be about 9-10 feet tall, he had to admit that he did like the sound of that but for now, he tapped the other options.


    [Sub leader has been unlocked by this individual for taking control of its lesser minded brethren and leading them on the battlefield. This ability increases the cognitive ability of the unit and grants them some tactical insight.]


    That Z could definitely use, he was more than smart enough to lead the troops himself except for the fact that he lost his cool in battle and enjoyed fighting too much himself to pay much attention to his troops. This would free him up from his responsibilities. He grinned, he rather liked that option. He tapped the last one.


    [Base Guardian has been unlocked by this individual for being suitable for the position. This ability increases the overall abilities and strength of the unit by 33% but binds the individual to the territory which it will now view as its primary directive to defend.]


    Z frowned at the message, he had to admit he hadn''t really thought about defense yet, he cursed softly to himself. What would have happened if this base had been attacked while he was away? He shrugged, done was done, first he had to decide what upgrades to pick on Clog.


    On another impulse he tapped the Colossal Presence upgrade, he watched with awe as the zombie burst up into the sky it''s muscles thickening and its skin looking slightly less decayed. Clog was easily over 10 feet tall, the systems 30% must have been slightly off because he was absolutely sure that this was more than a 30% growth. Clog towered over even the larger zombies, when he noticed Clog''s box though he grinned, Clog still had an evolution available to him. Z tapped the box and selected Sub Leader.


    [Clog (Large+ Zombie) Tier 2 uncommon Leader Class.]


    Clog looked down at him, his dark eyes now showing a hint of intelligence. ¡°You have granted intelligence. This one thanks you.¡± To Z''s utter amazement the words were accompanied by a formal bow.


    He grinned at the humongous zombie, ¡°Not a problem Clog, glad to have you with me. Hope you''ll stick around for a while.¡±


    The giant nodded solemnly, ¡°If that is thy wish.¡± Z smirked, what an amusing guy. So not only did their intellect grow they also grew a personality. He had to admit he liked the earnest big guy already, now he only had to see how effective the big guy would be in combat when leading troops. He walked over to Brainz, Clog walked behind him keeping a two paces behind him and a pace to his right, like some gigantic bodyguard. He tapped Brainz box.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    [Brainz (caster zombie) Tier 2 Rare]


    Brainz to his surprise had actually LOST options, improved strength and thick skin were no longer an option. He had gotten a few that replaced them however. He tapped on the box then glanced at Clog. ¡°Share information box with Clog.¡± He told the system, curious if his idea would work.


    He watched as the giant blinked when a box invisible to Z appeared before him. ¡°What do you wish this one to do with the information?¡±


    ¡°Let me know what you think of them, I will read through them myself first. You do the same and then we will talk about them afterwards.¡± Clog nodded in confirmation and started reading through the message. Z realised with a start that the giant actually knew how to read, now that he thought it through he shouldn''t have expected him to be able to do that. He shrugged, just one of the many strange things that he could throw on the insanity pile. He turned his attention backed to Brainz''s options.


    [Brainz (caster zombie) Tier 2 Rare]


    [Regenerative stitchwork (available)]


    [Improved Agility (Available)]


    [Improved Purist Bolt (available)]


    [Purist Shield (Available)]


    [Elemental Choice (Available)]


    [Base Guardian (Available)]


    [Magic Savant (Available)]


    The first two were nothing knew, Base guardian he was now familiar with as well the others were new to him however and he tapped their boxes for more information. He noted that Brainz did not have the option for Sub Leader or Collosal Presence like Clog.


    He tapped the first of the abilities.


    [Improved Purist Bolt has been unlocked by this individual because of its proficiency with the Purist bolt spell. The purist bolt spell is a simple yet powerfull spell where the user gathers raw mana from around him/herself and fires it in a concentrated bolt of pure mana. The improved version increases it''s power.]


    It kinda spoke for itself, but it was good to know the specifics, he tapped the next one.


    [Purist Shield has been unlocked by this individual because of its proficiency in the use of raw mana. This ability allows one to conjure a raw shield of mana that will protect the user from harm as long as the user has enough mana to utilise the ability. This ability will only require extra mana to sustain it when it has been damaged.]


    So a simple mana shield, the fact that Brainz could leave it on passivly without it consuming mana was a huge boon. It would protect the zombie from being ambushed, a good skill to keep in mind.


    [Elemental Choice as a beginner magic caster the user has been given the choice of element. Available choices are : Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Magma, Ice, Void, Shadow, Light, Life and Death. This feat may be taken multiple times as the user will gain acces to beginner level spells for that element and be able to work his/her way up from there.]


    An interesting choice but risky without more information about the elements. Which left him with the ability that interested him the most.


    [Magic Savant has been unlocked by this individual because of its singular interest in magic. Through the actions this individual has portrayed it has shown an incredible lack in everything except the utalisation of his/her magic. This ability grants the user the ability to become increasingly proficient in any magical abilities with an accelerated rate of growth while making it next to useless for anything else.]


    Z kind of guessed the abilities from the name but he was surprised to hear that Brainz had shown such a focused interest in only magic, he had not really been paying attention to either of his zombies during combat as he had been laser-focused on reaching and then fighting the leader spider. He tapped his chin in thought and glanced over to Clog, the giant was still reading so Z waited patiently for the zombie to finish.


    Once he did finish Z popped a question. ¡°So what do you think we should pick for Brainz and why do you think so?¡±


    Clog stared at him for a few seconds, deep in thought. ¡°This one does not feel like he has the capability to decide but this one shall tell the master this one''s thoughts because it was asked of this one.¡±


    Z sat down and motioned for the giant to do the same, Clog sat down with a heavy thump. Z tried to look at him yet still had to arc his neck to stare the big guy in the eye. He scooted back a little to make it easier on himself.


    ¡°Brainz has not shown any interest in those around him, that one has shown an interest only in its magical capabilities and has used them whenever he was able. This one thinks that that one would be best served with the Magic Savant ability as it promotes that one''s ability to grow in that which that one is best.¡±


    Z frowned as he thought it through, he agreed with Clog. On another note he really had to get the big guy to stop with the this one and that one bullshit. It was getting on his nerves. He turned his attention back to the menu and decided to go with Clog''s judgement and tapped the Magic Savant ability. Nothing visibly changed that he could see but Brainz did look a little happier somehow. Just like Clog he had the points for another ability so he added the Purist Shield. Giving the zombie some definsive capabilities.


    Last but not least was he himself. He tapped his chest to have his own box appear and had a look.


    [Z (Zombie?) Tier 1 Unique, Evolution available]


    [Improved Agility (Available)]


    [Thick Skin(Available)]


    [The Hunt (Available)]


    [Undying Rage (Available)]


    He tapped the two abilities he didn''t know.


    [The Hunt has been unlocked by this individual because of its focus on the strongest of prey he/she could find. This ability gives increased speed and strength when moving towards the strongest opponent within vision. Also leaves a trail should the opponent try to leave without first battling the individual with The Hunt skill.]


    Interesting, this would make him a predator. Although he did not think this ability would be of immediate use to him.


    [Undying Rage has been unlocked by this individual because of its love for battle and his/her tendency to lose themselves in the bloody fog of war. This ability gives the user a small increase in strength and vitality per kill it gets in combat. Amount of times the increase stacks is dependent on grade and tier of the individual.]


    Now that was a much more interesting ability. He thought a moment about the grade mentioned but then he realised it was probably about the common/uncommon/rare and unique tags he had seen. He wondered how many of these grades there were.


    First out of sheer need to have all of the standard abilities he pressed Improved Agility and Thick Skin. It simply wouldn''t do to not do things in order, it was fine when experimenting with his troops but it he would feel uncomfortable if he tried to do such a thing on himself. He felt a little lighter on his feet as he moved about a bit. His skin had also grown a good deal thicker, it felt like tough leather and the smaller spiders would have a hard time even penetrating his skill. He blinked when an unnexpected message appeared.


    [Due to having unlocked all tier 1 abilities you have been granted a forced evolution, Make your choice.]


    Z Grinned, now that was more like it!

 Chapter Four and a half?

    Baraknirs Basic Bestiary ¨C Zombies


    Zombies are one of the easiest and simultaniously hardest monsters to fight. Fight them with bow and arrow and you will watch with dread as your choice of weapon is useless against their thick dead flesh. Unlike common superstituon an arrow to the head will not kill a zombie, the head must either be completely pulverised or seperated from the body. Zombies are however extremely flammable, set those arrows ablaze and watch as your undead foe falls before you. Baraknir wishes you the best of luck on your hunt.


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Z tapped his available evolutions. He had the Large zombie as a possibility, he was not surprised at that. He also had three other evolutions available, Caster, Leader and Heavy. The caster zombie he was familiar with because of Brainz. He tapped the leader option for more information but was disappointed. All it did was boost the speed and strength of the zombies under his command, It did the same thing as the perk Clog had gotten but with slightly greater effect. Z scoffed, that was not worth getting as an evolution. Nor did he feel like he was much of a mage, which left the regular Large zombie or this new option, Heavy. He tapped it.


    [Heavy Zombie is one of the options the individual has unlocked for unlocking all tier 1 abilities. This evolution makes the individual six inches taller than a large zombie, yet the power of the Heavy does not rely on its height it relies on its sheer force. A heavy zombie is noticeably broader than any others of its kind at the second tier level. Its specialty lies in it''s near unstoppable force.]


    Z grinned, yup. This was much more his speed. He tapped the evolution and felt himself grow, he looked at his regular five-foot ten-ish zombies and he towered head and shoulders over them, he was even a head taller than the large zombies. Clog, however, was head and shoulders above even him. He really would have to get used to how big the guy had gotten. Z tapped his chest but to his disappointment did not have the option for another ability. He shrugged, he would just have to kill more spiders to earn more strength. He still had plenty of points left to spend, he headed towards the Tombstone and looked at the list of options.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    [Territory Governing Options]


    [Summon a growing Zombie 6 KP]


    [Summon a puppet Zombie 1KP]


    [Create second level walls around your territory center, (Wood) 60 KP]


    [Create first tier road to another of your territories, (Currently unavailable amount of territory owned too small)]


    [Create first tier road to your Allies. (Current available Ally locations: Red Grass Tribe Village.) 25 KP]


    [Create Defensive Stronghold tier one. 40 KP]


    [Create Garrison Barracks tier one. 40 KP]


    First things first he needed the road, easing the travel between his own faction and his allies was more than worth its KP. He was hoping the goblins abilities with weapons would help fill his own gap in strategic possibilities. His current options were simple and singular, smash his opponents. He smiled, not that he disliked that strategy, but having options was good.


    The new options also would help with his defensive issues, he really should have checked the Tombstone before upgrading himself and the others. He cursed softly to himself but tapped the option to look at its contents.


    [Create Defensive Stronghold tier one. This territory upgrade builds a small tier one fortress that will serve as a conquer point for your territory. It is easily defendable and allows for one Base Guardian spawn. It will also allow the Base Guardian to gain experience based on faction kills instead of individual kills. In addition, a Stronghold allows for additional Base Guardian upgrades based on KP.]


    Z sighed softly in relief, this was exactly what he needed. He would feel truly uncomfortable if he left the home base undefended. Nodding to himself he tapped the upgrade and accepted the change. The ground around the tombstone turned to cold stone as walls grew out of that very same stone and surrounded the tombstone. Z stayed in his spot as he waited for the growth spurt to finish before he stepped outside. He glanced back and his brows rose, the tombstone was now surrounded by an honest to god mausoleum. The mausoleum somehow managed to look like a castle instead of just a simple tomb. Z shook his head, it did fit the theme.

 Chapter Five

    Baraknirs Basic Bestiary ¨C Large Zombies


    The first change in the regular ranks of zombies is the larger specimen. It is a little more than a foot taller than its brethren. Do not mistake it for the weaker of its kind, their strength is remarkable. The tactics to deal with these pests remains the same. It is best to stay at range and use fire to defeat these undead from safety. Baraknir wishes you the best of luck on your hunt.


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    He walked over to the mausoleum and tapped it. He studied the list of options while in deep thought a few of them he was sure he needed. He still had more than 200 KP left so he wasn''t short on resources. Before going into detail on the Stronghold upgrades he tapped the Tombstone inside and bought the Garrison. He heard the now familiar rumble of change outside, when he stepped outside there was mass grave that served as the barracks. It was distasteful but fitting for the undead he supposed. With a shrug he reopened the Stronghold list.


    [Tier one Zombie Stronghold: Governing Options.]


    [Spawn a Base Guardian 20 KP (Based on tier level of subordinate units this unit will spawn at Tier 2 with 2 available upgrades.]


    [Defensive layout Tier One 20 KP]


    [Personal Guard Tier One, Special Growables 40 KP]


    [Base Guardians Personal Guard Tier One, Special Growables 30 KP]


    [Stronghold Automated Defenses Tier One 25 KP]


    [Stronghold Fortifications Tier One 25 KP]


    ¡°There were quite a few options, looks like I have some reading to do.¡± Z thought to himself with a smirk.


    The Base Guardian he was already familiar with, he had already decided that he needed one so he tapped the upgrade. He had the option to choose between a Large, Caster and Leader type. He chose the Leader type. He then got to choose the available abilities the guardian would have available. There were new options to available to the Leader zombie.


    [Defensive Tactics Tier 1]


    [Offensive Tactics Tier 1]


    [Animate Dead Tier 1]


    He read through the abilities, the defensive and offensive abilities were knowledge and intelligence based. The guardian would simply know how to use some basic tactics and the units under his command would gain a bonus when defending. As a Base Guardian Z felt that this was a must-have for the unit. Animate dead was more interesting, it would allow the guardian to animate the fallen opponents into units of his own. The maximum tier the undead could summon was two tiers below his own at the minimum of tier 1. Which made this ability especially effective when defending, so Z also selected that ability for the new addition to his troops. Once he finished upgrading the base guardian it rose from the mass grave.


    This unit was different from the others... It had actual clothes instead of rags!


    The Guardian walked towards Z with its hands behind its back. It had the gait of a military man and the uniform to match it. Black laced boots matched with simple black trousers, with a black blouse tucked into it. A white tie complimented the dark clothing, a dark long unbuttoned coat hung over the zombie''s shoulders. On either shoulder there was a patch with the Zombies military rank, in this case it had the five stars befitting of a general. The patches were embroidered with softly glowing silver thread. The coat had some elegant embroidering at the cuffs, in the same glowing silver thread. Z had to admit, the zombie certainly had presence.


    The zombie stopped in front of Z and smashed his hand into his chest in salute. ¡°Awaiting your orders Commander!¡± He stated with the calm cadence of an experienced military man.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°At ease general.¡± Z replied on instinct. The zombie fell into a more casual stance, as casual as a military man could get in front of his commanding officer at least. ¡°First order of business would be to give you a name, unless you already have one?¡±


    ¡°If I may sir?¡± Z nodded his approval, ¡°I would prefer my military rank instead of a name if that would not inconvenience you sir.¡±


    Z tapped his chin, ¡°That will work, from here on out you shall be known as The General or simply General when in more casual company.¡±


    ¡°Understood sir! My thanks.¡± General accompanied his words with a small bow. Z nodded in appreciation, he also made a small notation in his mind that he himself had probably also been former military. He felt at ease with this new chain of command and the ranks that came with his new Guardian.


    ¡°Let us talk business General, You will be in charge of the defense of the center of our domain. Our heart is yours to protect, should it fall, the entirety of our faction will follow.¡± Z told the man, his voice deep, his eyes serious.


    ¡°I will carry out my duties with honor sir. Consider this base defended to my death should it be so required!¡± The General stated, saluting once more.


    Z nodded, ¡°Now we have to talk tactics, as you can see we have a semblance of walls, though they may not be much. Our forces are currently lacking, a large invasion of any kind will wipe us off the map. I still have 135 KP left to spend. I wish to use seventy-five for my own force. I plan to acquire a personal guard for myself, accompanied by thirty-five tier one soldiers.this leaves 60 KP for us to spend on our defenses.¡±


    The General nodded, Z could see the gears within the zombies'' mind working as was already considering the many ways to spend the points available. ¡°I would like to give you a personal guard of your own, this would cost 30 KP. Although the automated defenses, defensive layout and fortifications are all attractive options I do not think they would currently make a worthwhile investment. Thus I was thinking another thirty tier one soldiers would be assigned to you for defense. What are your thoughts on this?¡±


    ¡°I approve of your well-constructed plan sir. This should be enough to protect ourselves from enemies of similar tier who may have their eyes set on our domain. Should any forces of higher tiers wish to attack us we would lose no matter if we had the earlier defensive fortifications. I am also aware of the experience myself and my personal guard will gain when you and your forces fight outside of our domain. The garrison will not gain experience from doing so however, they will gain these points over time. Defensive forces would be most efficient if bought from the garrison. In exchange for not being able to leave our domain, they are slightly tougher.¡±


    Z nodded, ¡°First let''s summon these personal guards.¡± He tapped the stronghold to summon The Generals personal guard. Out of the mass grave, ten large zombies with a similar outfit to The General appeared. The ranks on their shoulders marked them as sergeants and for some reason, their tie was black instead of white like the generals. Their silver thread did not glow either, nor did they have any embroidering. What surprised Z the most was the fact that these were tier 2 zombies and that they had weapons. Each of them had a black iron heater shield and a black longsword to accompany it.


    Z frowned, these zombies were worth way more than their price in KP, they were armed, spawned at tier two and each seemed to possess sentience. Not to mention the fact that each of them was a growing specimen. Then why was the personal guard so cheap, because of their limitations? He had read from the description that the personal guard had to stay within two-hundred meters of their assigned unit. It still made no sense to him. Z shrugged, he would take any advantage he could get.


    The General was inspecting his troops, he roared at them to get into a double row formation. The guard reacted promptly and smoothly fell into a two-row formation. The general nodded in appreciation. He walked over to Z, ¡°I am very satisfied with these troops sir, their equipment is of decent quality and they seem experienced. They are more than worth their price.¡±


    Z nodded in agreement, ¡°I myself am confused about the price attached to the personal guard. I was also surprised to see them so personalized. They fit you well, you can see they are your attach¨¦. Well then, I wonder what my guard will look like.¡± He tapped the upgrade and watched as his guard stepped out of the mass grave. He grinned in delight, his guard looked spectacular.


    Each of them had a conical helmet with a point towards the front and one towards their back. They wore leather vests which was connected to a shoulder guard on their left shoulder. Their left arm had a metal bracer. Their vest had a turtleneck that reached over their noses and mouths, this was also made from sturdy leather. A metal mask was connected between the helmet and the vest leaving nothing but the eyes uncovered. Their pants were also leather, with dark cloth beneath it, both of their legs had metal knee-guards. Theboots were relatively high and also made from sturdy leather. Each of the guard had a greatsword slung across their back and a knife with a sheath tied to their waist. Across their shoulders they wore a tattered red cape.


    Z stared at them slack jawed as they walked towards him, they stood infront of him in two rows and bent their knee''s. ¡°We live to serve.¡± They spoke solemnly in harmony.


    Z looked from one to the next, admiring their armour set. ¡°At ease men, tell me. Do you have names?¡±


    As one they shook their heads. ¡°We do not have names nor de we require one. We live to protect, this is our goal. This is who we are, this is what we are.¡±


    Z remained silent as he looked at them, it was hard to tell them to accept a name when they were so adamant about their lack of need for one. He nodded, ¡°Your resolution has been accepted and is apreciated. We will soon be heading into battle, if you have preparations to make feel free to do so.¡±


    ¡°At your command!¡± They answered in unison.


    Z walked over to The General, after working out some details he summoned the general''s garrison units and then proceeded to summon his own soldiers. He marched out of their ''gate'' which consisted of a simple gap between the dirt walls. He looked over his units, ¡°We will once more head out towards combat, with our goblin allies we will move to eradicate the arachnid menace. We march!¡±


    His personal guard smacked their fists into their chests in salute, Clog did the same albeit slightly slower. Brainz and the rest of the zombies just gazed with their lifeless eyes. Z just grinned and turned around, leaving his domain behind once more. Heading away from safety, towards battle. It truly got the blood pumping!

 Chapter Six

    araknirs Basic Bestiary ¨C Heavy Zombies


    The name heavy zombies was given to the strange evolution of zombie that rarely appears. The name is completely inappropriate. Many a novice adventurer has been led to their demise by assuming that these zombies are as slow as their brethren. They are anything but, heavy zombies thrive on the charge. Not only are they fast but they are stronger than even the Large Zombies. Heavy zombies if spotted on the shield are a priority, take them down as quickly as you can or they will press the attack and charge through your formation. Once they break your formation they will wreck havoc. Baraknir wishes the best of luck should you have the misfortune of encountering one.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Z thought about his words, it got the blood pumping. Did his blood even flow anymore, he could find out but even if he didn''t feel pain needlessly stabbing himself... Not such a great idea. Ridding himself of the once more randomly appearing thoughts he headed towards the goblin village. He and his troops now walked along the newly created dirt road. Clog kept the spot he had claimed for himself one step to the right and two steps behind. The Guard followed behind Z in two rows. Brainz was somewhere with the rest of the zombies. That one truly did not care where he was.


    He walked over towards the village, their walls had been repaired and improved. The former shoddy wooden walls had been transformed into a tall and sturdy wooden palisade. They had a gatehouse and the archers to man both it and the walls. The chief walked out from his Village, he had grown slightly in size and was only a few inches shorter than Z. His green body was covered in red warpaint, the tribal symbols did not have any meaning to Z but the energy they emitted was almost palpable.The chief stopped in front of him and inclined his head slightly in greeting, Z returned the favor. The chief glanced at the oversized Clog with a raised eyebrow and then studied the Guard and their equipment.


    The chief tilted his head, red beady eyes gleaming.¡°You have found weapons or the means to create them?¡±


    Z shook his head, ¡°After I acquired the Stronghold upgrade, I got the option to purchase a personal guard. The armed men you see behind me are the result.¡±


    The chief stroked his chin, ¡°I have yet to spend the points we have acquired from the last battle, I was hoping to exchange some information before I did so. If you would not mind.¡±


    Z grinned, ¡°Exchange of information is always a good thing. I have also forgotten to introduce myself, things have been... Hectic lately.¡± The chief nodded in agreement. ¡°I am called Z.¡± Z continued. ¡°I have been a zombie for... Not even a day yet I suppose.¡±


    The chief blinked at that but then nodded to himself in thought. ¡°I am called Yara, I have been chieftain of the Red Grass tribe for two full moons. I do not remember a life before that, nor were there others of my kind in the tribe. I was the first, much like yourself I assume.¡± Z nodded, ¡°I would like to invite you into my village, I shall tell you what me and mine know.¡± He stretched his hand in invitation and gestured towards his village.


    Z stepped towards the village then hesitated, He motioned Clog to follow him and did the same for four of the guard. He trusted the Goblin chieftain but he thought it would be a sign of disrespect if he entered the village without an entourage. Judging by the chieftain''s nod he had made the correct decision. As they entered the village and made their way to the topmost house which resembled a longhouse. They attracted many amazed and awed gazes from the goblin''s around the village. Unlike his own faction, there were women and children here, some of them had small gardens that they tended too. He also noticed a few tanneries and what he presumed was a shaman''s hut.


    The goblins had grown an entire culture, unlike the entirely battle focused faction that Z commanded. To be fair zombies did not need food, nor did they wives or children, not as far as he knew at least. That was an interesting point, would he ever have a village much like this. With people who he would need to protect. He frowned as he lost himself in thought. The walk to the longhouse was short and surprisingly pleasant. Z hadn''t noticed how much he missed the air of the living. The boisterous sounds of a busy village doing what needed to be done to get through the day. Back home at the Tombstone there was nothing but silence, no true people to make conversation with. At least not yet.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Yara opened the door and Z stepped into the house, motioning for the rest to stay outside. The chief followed him inside and lead him towards a surprisingly well-made table where they each sat down on opposite sides. ¡°Well then let''s start this information exchange, would you like to start?¡± Z nodded, ¡°That would be best, my story is relatively short after all.¡±


    Z told him everything that had happened so far, how he suddenly found himself in the forest, how a spider had attacked him and he found out the existence of KP. He explained how he had gotten his own territory and how he had built it up, he went into detail about his use of KP. He also explained that the lack of need for sustainability and family had allowed his faction to grow purely in the military strength. He also told Yara about how he expected that was the reason he and his forces grew to a similar military strength as the goblins and spiders in such a short time frame. Yara nodded at the right times throughout the stories, there were a few things he asked Z to elaborate. Which Z did in detail, after the goblin''s curiosity was satisfied the tables were turned.


    Yara started from the point where he had suddenly appeared in the forest. His start had been very similar to Z''s own start. He had been attacked by another goblin however, he had killed the goblin and laid claim to his own little village. The place had a nice defensive position with a cliff behind them, Yara told him that the cliff was almost invisible from the position Z had arrived from, information about the cliff itself and what lay at the bottom was something they had not collected. He had at first been too focused on taking out the other goblin faction that had been harassing him since the start. After he had finally with a lot of effort and strategy managed to take out the opposing faction those abhorred spiders had launched their assault.


    As for how he had spent his KP, the first thing he had bought was warriors. After they had established themselves sturdily in their newfound territory, he split his earnings between the military and civilian aspects of his domain. He explained that similar to Z he had not had access to the civilian part of the upgrades until he had gathered his first 10 EP. That was when his faction had grown from a simple military outpost to a true tribe. He had spent far more in the civilian aspect than in the military aspect. He was of a mind that he needed a strong civilian foundation on which to build his military. He did not have as many soldiers, a total of 52 at the moment. But each and every one of them was growable, seventeen of them had evolved into the tier two hobgoblin evolution. One of them was a Shaman, seven of them were archers and the other nine excluding himself were warriors.


    Z and Yara discussed strategy and upgrade options for a while before they came to a decision. Yara decided to follow Z''s lead and purchased the stronghold option. From the ground a wooden castle sprung from the ground, if it could even truly be called a castle. It was more of a walled house than anything, he then purchased a Base Guardian as Z had done. Yara''s Base Guardian was a female archer who had the Sub Leader trait. She had a mischivious glint in her eye and winked towards the chief when she came out of the stronghold. Unlike Z''s zombies the goblins simply appeared in a puff of green smoke out of a cauldron of all things.


    Yara assigned a personal guard to the mischevious archer who went by the name Laila. The archer got an all female squadron of rangers, each of them with hoods pulled up from their dark green cloaks and their faces masked. They wore tight leather armour and had a longbow and quiver slung from their shoulders. Z eyed the warriors in apreciation, they did look more capable than the normal hobgoblins. By the gling in Yara''s eyes the chief was thinking the same thing. He then eagerly purchased his own personal guard. Yara''s personal squadron consisted of muscular hob-goblins who wore loinclothes and had similar warpaint to Yara''s decorating their bodies. Each of them held two axes and had another two axes sheathed in leather in the smalls of their backs.


    Yara nodded in satisfaction, he then spent the remaining points to purchase growable goblins, he outfitted most of them with bows. The strategy the two of them had made was that the zombies with their superiour physical prowess would take lead and that the goblins would back them up with their ranged capablilties. The melee inclined goblins would protect the archer''s while Yara and his personal guard would join Z in the thick of battle.


    Once they finished their preparation and Yara finished giving orders to Laila they head out of the village. Z motioned with his hand and the zombies fell into formation behind him. If you could call the moblike group of puppets a formation.Yara joined him at the front, with his guard close behind. Yara knew the general direction of the spider''s lair. It was time for them to finish of the eight-legged monstrousities once and for all.


    Their army kept up the pace for another thirty minutes before they noticed the change in surroundings. The trees turned darker, there were minute traces of webs in the trees and the trees themselves were larger and their foilage blocked the light leaving the the forest in an eery darkness. With a few words Z had his puppets surround the archer group, unlike the zombies the goblins were very extremely vulnerable to the toxin. As a result Z had spread the order around for his zombies to stop the spiders from reaching their new green friends.


    The deeper they went the darker the forest became, soon enough the goblins had to light torches to be able to see, a quick word from Z to Yara and the goblins were told to be carefull with the fire because the zombies were flammable. Everything was planned well.


    Too bad that even the best laid plans can go to hell.

 Chapter Seven

    Deeper in the forest, the darkness overhead blocking anything but the smallest rays of sunlight. Z looked around, eyes narrowed in search of the expected enemy. Only to find no trace of them. The forest was silent, unnaturally so. He clenched his fist, something was off... His eyes swiveled from the left to the right, he clenched and unclenched his hand rapidly. Yara noticed the way he was acting and gripped his axes tighter. A blood-curdling scream erupted through the forest and everything erupted into chaos.


    Spiders dropped from their hiding spots in the top of the trees onto the goblin archers, fierce six-legged cockroach-like beings with rows upon rows of teeth burst upwards from the ground at the same time. All of them targeted the archers, ¡°Protect the archers!¡± Z roared towards his units, as the zombies showed the briefest moment of hesitation. The undead lurched into motion moving towards the ambushed archers. They were slow, too slow. He cursed under his breath and rushed back towards the archers, his guard close behind him.


    As his units tried to peel the roaches and arachnids of the vulnerable archers he heard another of the blood-curdling screeches. He glanced towards the source and let loose a string of curses, from their left wave upon wave of spiders were approaching, led by multiple of the leader spiders and one truly gigantic specimen. Clicking was audible through the forest from the opposing side, he turned around and saw a similar hoard of the roaches approaching. His unbeating heart dropped into his stomach, he had messed up. He underestimated the spiders and walked right into their ambush. Their formation was crushed, they were heavily outnumbered and they had a disadvantage in terrain.


    He motioned towards Yara desperatly, ¡°Retreat!¡± He roared. Yara glanced quickly to both the incoming hordes and started roaring at his troops to pull back. Z hesitated a fraction of a second before screaming orders. ¡°Zombie group one! Engage the incoming spider horde, Group Two engage the roaches. Brainz, Clog cover the Gobs!¡±


    His forces would be decimated by the horde he was well aware of that, but he had to buy time. ¡°Guard on me! Kill the ambushers!¡± He accentuated his words with a charge towards the closest group of spiders. He smashed into them tearing them apart with his hands, on the roaches lunged at him so he stomped the creature. He smashed the creature into half yet still it made an effort to reach him. He stomped on its head this time and the creature stopped struggling. Spiders crawled over his body attempting to reach a soft spot, his leather thick skin giving them a hard time. He smashed, tore and stomped his way through the hordes of spiders. One of the canine sized arachnids lunged at his face, he stepped to the side and sent a roundhouse kick into its maw as a present.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    He glanced to either side of him, nearly all the puppet zombies had already been decimated. Only the large zombies and a few of the luckier tier one zombies remained standing. Doing their best but failing miserably at holding back the oncoming horde of spiders. The archers were retreating as best as they could, the goblin warriors fighting to push back the ambushers giving them some room to escape. Yara was reforming the remaining soldiers into a unit and was making his retreat while putting up a resistance, the chieftain himself was locked in battle with a wave of monsters, he and his guard tearing through the monsters.


    Brainz was carefully aiming bolts at anything attempting to lunge at either the chieftain or his guard. Clog was somewhat further away smashing his way through the largest groups he could find.


    He had five large zombies with him for some reason. Z took the brief moment his guard was giving him to analyse the battlefield. ¡°Guard! We need to make our way towards the retreating forces! Let''s Move!¡±


    Z and his well-armed guard tore their way through wave upon wave of the spiders, the spiders proving as easy to kill as they had always been. Yet they made up for their lack in strength by their sheer numbers. The roaches however were proving to be a problem, they were far more ressiliant. Their exoskeleton was tough and the puppets could not tear their way through the shells, the larger zombies could use sheer strength to stomp the roaches into the earth but even they were soon overwhelmed.


    The goblins attempted to pepper the roaches with arrows but the projectiles just bounced of their shells as they approached the green archers. Their warriors formed a line and used their stone axes and clubs to smash into armored pests. They showed better odds, managing to kill a discernable amount of the things. Z and his guard tore their way through enemy ranks to meet back up with the rest of their forces, his guard proving their capability with the smooth way they handled their blades, their physical strength was still at the tier one, yet their agility was markedly better. Their skill and smoothness of movement made up for anything they lacked in strength.


    Z met up with Yara and his group and they slowly but surely thought their way out of the forest, once they managed to carve a way for retreat the troops that had the option broke into sprints. Z really wished he had torches so he could torch the place, he had no such thing so he had to make do with his bare hands as he tore through their ranks, tearing one of the roaches in two and throwing the halves at oncoming spiders killing one and sending the other tumbling. Once they retreated a few hundred paces from where they had been ambushed the insects stopped chasing their group. Z muttered curses under his breath as he took stock of his remaining troops. His personal guard had survived intact, Brainz and Clog were still alive... as alive as they could be atleast. But he only had three large zombies remaining from the sixty orso puppets he had set out with. This was a loss.

 Chapter Eight

    Baraknirs Basic Bestiary ¨C Goblins.


    Goblins are the staple monster that can be found in nearly any environment. Easy opponents if handled correctly, yet the sheer variety of the creatures that you can find out there in the wild is what makes it dangerous. They can use weapons and the higher tier monsters can handle them better than even some countries soldiers can. They are as capable as most human communities so fight them at your own risk. Gathering information on them before hand is highly advisable. May you be lucky on your hunt. --- Baraknir


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    The walk back to the goblin village was done in silence. Z was frustrated by his lack of preparation, he had severely underestimated his enemy and had paid the price for his mistake. Z glanced at Yara, noticing his tightly clenched fists. The way his back was no longer as straight or as proud as it had been before. Although Z had technically lost the most in the previous fight the losses cut much deeper for the Goblin Chieftain. He did not lose mere puppets, he lost people. Individuals, each with their own names, dreams... soul. Something that Z himself didn''t know if he possessed. Z walked over to Yara and placed a cold hand on the tall hob-goblin. Yara froze for a brief moment before accepting the pat of consolation.


    Z squeezed gently with his hand. ¡°I am sorry for your losses.¡±


    Yara shook his head, ¡°This was not on you, you had your units prepared. Their senses are severely lacking. It is on me and mine that we did not see this ambush. I... Thank you for the sacrifice.¡± The chief''s shoulders slumped slightly before they straightened.


    ¡°Their forces suffered heavy casualties aswell. Our guards performed splendidly, but I fear we will not have the resources for another assault for a while. Your zombies can be created and are instantly battle ready. Mine need to be trained, although that makes them superior in most battles it also means that recovering from a loss similar to this one is hard on us. I will need to prepare for a counter-assault from them, I would advise you to do the same.¡± The determined glint in the chieftains eyes had returned.


    Z nodded, ¡°Let me know if you need aid, these first two days have been extremely eventfull. I could use a rest myself, even though my kind no longer needs the sleep.¡± He glanced ahead as the goblin village came into sight. ¡°Then we shall head to our home, do not hesitate to call should you need us. Or should you simply want to talk.¡± Z opened his mouth then closed it, he hesitated a short while before finishing his sentence. ¡°We are friends after all.¡±


    He quickly turned away from the chieftain, heading towards his own base of operations. He rolled his shoulder as he stared at the ground, refusing to acknowledge the slight feeling of warmth he felt in his cheeks. An undead that could blush... This was preposterous and beyond embarrassing.


    It took him a few seconds to calm down, he didn''t even know why he had felt so embarrassed. Maybe previous me was extremely shy and terrible at making friends, and that somehow leaked into current me? Z thought about it for a bit before sighing, he had no way to know who he was before he became Z. Nor was he particularly interested in it, he did not want his past to change the present. He shrugged, better to leave such thoughts were they lie. He marched home with Clog, Brainz, his guard and the remaining 3 large zombies. He really needed a better name for his personal guard than simply the guard. They deserved at least that, he motioned one of them to come over. He was kind of sure it was the same one he had talked to before but it was near impossible to tell them apart.


    ¡°I was thinking that you guys deserve a name or a title. Something at the least, referring to you as the ''guard'' simply won''t do. Do you have any opinions on this matter?¡±


    The guard stood still for a few seconds before replying in his odd gravely voice. ¡° Z''s Guards... Sir?¡±


    Z sighed, note to self, do not ask the guard for creative ideas. ¡°That is not what i am looking for but thank you for the effort. You may return to the rest of the group.¡±


    He had the odd notion in his head that whenever he asked something personal of the guard that they felt distinctly uncomfortable. As if they preferred not to think like sentient beings and instead just wanted to focus on the task they had been given, namely protect him. He wondered if they were not fully sentient like Brainz and Clog. Perhaps they did have some sense of self but it was all controlled by the greater directive, their mission. Even more food for thought. He still had to think of a name aswell. The Everliving? The BlackGuard? Still Hearts or BlackWatch? Perhaps simply the Protectors? So many ideas''s yet he did not know which one would fit them best.


    He sighed in private relief when he saw the familiar cemetery that was now his home, strange to feel that such a place was home but here he was. At least it would give him something to do besides lose himself in thought. The general approached him with his guard... ¡°Owh great another guard that I have to think of a name for. ¡° Z muttered softly.


    ¡°Commander, welcome back. I see the mission did not go as well as we had hoped.¡± The General stated, letting his eyes roam over the tattered forces. ¡°It must have been a fierce battle, some of my garrisons have been able to move on to the second tier because of it. May I inquire as to what has happened?¡±


    General stood at attention as he waited for his superior to report. Z hesitated as he went over the battle in his head. ¡°The arachnids were more intelligent then I gave them credit for, they made an alliance themselves with other insectoids that relied more on defense then poison. They set up an ambush and their combined efforts caught us by surprise. Our losses are many but not as heavy resource wise. The Red Grass Tribe will need time to get their forces back to strength.¡±


    ¡°So our opponents are not mindless critters but perhaps even sentient beings themselves.¡± The General mused, stroking his somehow neatly combed grey beard. Z frowned as he stared at the beard, he wanted to grow a proper beard himself but his flesh refused to co-operate. The general coughed and Z shook away the idle thoughts.


    ¡°My apologies General, you were saying?¡±


    The General straightened and like a true professional pretended nothing had happened. ¡°I reported on the relative calm we have had sir. A few nosy neighbors came over to have a look but they have not attacked, as such I have refrained from attacking them myself. It might have been presumptuous of me but I assumed there was no need for us to make enemies were there are none?¡± He raised an eyebrow as he stated this, his hands still folded neatly behind his back.


    Z nodded, ¡°You assumed correctly.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    The General nodded, ¡°I am glad my assumption was correct sir. If you wou-----.¡± The general frowned as he glanced away from the village. ¡°We seem to have... Visitors sir.¡±


    ¡°Explain.¡±


    ¡°I can feel a presence encroaching on our domain, their intentions are... not friendly sir. I can feel their bloodlust and their presence. It is like an itch.¡± The General frowned, glaring at something in the distance that Z himself couldn''t see.


    ¡°Lead the way General, let''s have a look at these intruders.¡± Z motioned the General onward with his hand, following behind his black billowing cape as the military man marched towards whoever was intruding upon his domain. Both his Guard and the General''s guard followed behind them, Brainz and Clog followed suit. The puppets all stayed back. Z didn''t want to leave the base completely empty so leaving the puppets behind worked out for him.


    It did not take long for them to come close to the border where General had felt the intrusion. They waited at the edge of the forest, hidden behind the trees as they saw a group approach from the distance. Z could see a road a distance from here, a group of... people? Was heading their direction with a cart in tow. The man on the cart was hooded and clad in leather, there were four armed guards, thugs really, walking on either side of the cart. They weren''t very good at their job because it seemed they hadn''t even noticed Z and his undead standing just inside the forest. Even though Clog and he himself were more than tall enough to be easily noticeable.


    The cart headed towards the forest yet stopped about a hundred meters from the edge. Two guards walked towards the cart and picked up a sack and dumped it on the ground, they did the same with two other sacks before packing up their business and leaving. Z watched them go for a while before they were far enough away that his curiosity could be sated. The cart had just passed behind a hill and disappeared from vision. He stepped towards the sacks, he froze when one of the sacks showed movement. He stared at the sac for a few seconds before motioning with his head for his guard to open them. ¡°Carefully.¡± He instructed.


    His face darkened once the sack was cut open. ¡°Clog, take my guard. Kill those men.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Boss.¡± The huge undead walked away, his heavy footsteps flattening the grass, the guard jogging to keep up with the giant.


    Z looked back at the sack''s contents. Two women and a man, all of them injured. Injured was not the right word to use here he mused, tortured was more accurate. All of them were unconscious, some of their limbs were at odd angles. Broken, there was blood covering their bodies and it matted their hair. Z gently picked up the one closest to him, she groaned despite the gentle treatment. The only reason he could tell she was a female was because of her torn ragged clothes, that hid nothing. Her long hair was dirt covered and her face so swollen that it was impossible to tell what she looked like. Cuts littered her body, blood was leaking from her lower body. Which at a glance had been ravaged. It was clear the treatment she had been given.


    ¡°General, take those other two with you, be gentle with them.¡± Z glanced towards Brainz. ¡°I hope you have enough ep...¡±


    He rushed back towards his base as fast as he could without jolting the injured, two of the general''s guard doing the same with the other injured. Z headed straight for the Tombstone and tapped it for upgrades, scanning quickly before he found the option he was hoping for.


    He tapped the option and relinquished 30 KP for it. From the ground across from the mass grave, a dark building rose from the ground. It''s dark stone walls and ancient-seeming architecture looming over the smaller surrounding buildings. A hospital, not something the undead should have but here it was. The building was easily the largest of anything he had purchased and he quickly made his way inside. Inside the two-story building were various clean yet somehow still ancient-seeming rooms. All of them had beds, he looked around for a few seconds before finding a somewhat larger room with three beds and put the injured woman he was carrying at the far end. The General''s guard did the same with their injured without needing to be asked.


    He then turned to Brainz who ,praise whatever undead god he was supposed to worship, had enough points for new abilities. He quickly tapped the box and selected a new element for magic, Life. Brainz had accumulated enough points for another upgrade so after another tap, he learned the spell minor healing. ¡°Brainz! Heal them!¡±


    The undead did not answer, but moved towards the nearest injured and got to work, his hands glowing a soft green. A strange sight, seeing a walking corpse falling apart at the seams using healing magic on an injured person that looked like she was in a better shape than the one doing the treatment. Z sat down on the window ledge as he watched Brainz using his magic to slowly heal the injured woman, her wounds were closing ever so slowly. Brainz''s magic was not yet at the strength needed to heal such injuries in mere moments. The undead sometimes had to wait for his mana to recharge before continuing with the treatment.


    After a few such sessions of healing the woman''s face started regaining her shape. She was not yet healed completely but Z waved Brainz towards the next injured. He did not want any of the three to die under his watch. The colour slowly started coming back to the woman''s face but she was still a mess. Not one for shame in such circumstances he carried the woman back towards a nearby stream and gently washed her wounds and body. Flinching whenever the woman groaned, he felt a simmering anger build within as he looked at her various wounds. He was certain this woman had been raped, more than a few times. He looked at the golden circlet around her neck and thought about removing it but refrained from doing so. All three of the injured had the same circlet, Brainz had found the things interesting so Z assumed they were magical.


    Once he cleaned the woman, he carried her back towards the hospital. They lacked clothes however, he frowned. Not much he could do about that, he tossed away the rags she had been wearing and put her in a new room with a bed that had clean sheets. He could hear the heavy footsteps of Clog, signaling the giant''s return. He walked outside and went to meet him, the giant was unharmed yet had some off-color spots that Z assumed was blood. ¡°Thanks for that Clog, Well done. Same to you Guard.¡± He nodded in appreciation to both.


    Clog shrugged with his oversized shoulders. ¡°It was nothing boss, they weren''t particularly strong.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to do this but I need to send you out again. Can you head towards Yara and tell him what happened here. We also need some clothing if he has any to spare, two female sets and one male set also..¡±


    ¡°If I may sir.¡± General interrupted.


    Z turned towards him, ¡°You may.¡±


    The General folded his hands behind his back. ¡°I can create another set of clothing similar to mine for the male, unfortunately, our clothing is not exactly fitting for females. So you will only need clothing for the females.¡±


    Z smiled, shoulders losing a bit of their tension.¡°I see, that is fortuitous. Thank you General.¡±


    ¡°Not at all sir.¡± The General responded with a slight bow.


    ¡°Two sets of clothing for female humans if he has anything that we might use. Of course only if it does not trouble him. Two Guards go with him, Speed would be appreciated.¡± He pointed towards two of the guards and they bowed, Clog lead the way out of the village, running at a pace that the Guard could barely match when at full sprint.


    Z watched him go before he went back inside the hospital. He walked towards the room where the injured woman had been placed and grabbed a chair, tried to sit on it but the chair broke. Z flailed as he smacked into the floor, he had forgotten about his increased size and weight. He looked around the hospital for a sturdier chair, finding one he carried it into the room and sat down. He stared at the woman''s still slightly swollen face with narrowed eyes. Why had they done this to her and to the other two?


    He sat there staring at her, he combed the hair out of her face with gentle fingers. He grabbed a lock of hair and let her now clean dark hair run through his fingers. It was surprisingly soft, he glanced back at the woman only to see wide open green eyes staring back it him. Her face had gotten a few shades whiter and she stared at him in silent horror. Z quickly let go of the hair before fake coughing as he sat there awkwardly.


    ¡°Uuuhhh, I''m sorry about touching your hair without p-permission.¡± Z raised his hands towards her palms forward, ¡°I kinda you know, got carried away? Uh yes, I will, uuuh. Get you something to eat!¡± Z stood up and rushed outside of the room. After giving it some thought he noticed a problem, there was nothing a human could eat in his domain. He cursed and quickly set out.


    ----- Injured Woman POV -----


    It''s soft... So I am dead. This is way to comfortable to be life, barely any pain. I smile, I haven''t felt this relaxed in a long time. I feel the soft gentle tug as someone gently touches my hair. I open my eyes and freeze. I feel all my muscles clenching together, my heart drops to my stomach and I forcibly stop the scream rising up in my throat. Next to me, a bare few inches away is a monster. It''s skin is grey, it''s messy hair... The exact same colour of grey. The torn rags it is wearing, still the exact same grey. It''s eyes are focused on my hair. I pray with all my might that the monster does not look at me, I pray to Syf the last god to care about the broken and the damned.


    It turns it''s face to look at me, I desperately try to shut my eyes. I can''t, my desperate plea to my body goes ignored as I stare in wide-eyed horror as the creature notices I''m awake. The creature freezes, I recognize the freeze. A bunny suddenly leaps in front of an unexpected wolf, both of them freeze the barest of seconds before they explode into action. My heart sinks into my stomach, after all I''ve been through. Now I end up in a monsters hands, I feel the tears that i thought had dried up ages ago prickling behind my eyes.


    The monster lets go of my hair and panics, I try to move but my body refuses to respond. I must have been bound by magic, I try to scream but no sound escapes my panicked throat. The monster raises his hands towards me, I flinch away. Trying to press myself as far back into the matress as I can. Then a deep voice hits me, sending a shiver through my body.


    ¡°Uuuhhh, I''m sorry about touching your hair without p-permission.¡±


    I stare at the monster. Did the gigantic monster just stutter in embarrassment? The thought tickles my mind as I try to comprehend it.


    ¡°I kinda you know, got carried away? Uh yes, I will, uuuh. Get you something to eat!¡±


    The monster apologized... It was getting her food? What in all the hells?

 Chapter Nine

    Z rushed outside of the hospital before coming to a stop to calm himself down. He had no clue what had him so flustered, facing a horde of spiders. Yea that''s fine, no biggie. Slaughtering your way through waves of enemies with death surrounding you on all sides, all dandy. Feels like home! Having a woman you don''t know stare at you when you were absorbed in petting her hair, NOPE! Total panic, he could almost feel his heart start pounding again from the shock. He muttered a bit as he walked away from the hospital. Lost in thought, he heard the clanking of steel as his guard, The Everliving, followed in his wake. He thought the name would work well enough, he turned around and let them know about his decision then proceeded to ask them to get ingredients usable for food.


    It did not take long for the Everliving to return with some hunted animals, herbs and one of them had even found tomatoes. Where he found tomatoes was a mystery, he took the ingredients and re?ntered the hospital. He headed to the small kitchen on the first floor, grabbed an apron and went to work. He wasn''t sure if he actually knew how to cook so he just went with whatever felt right.He taste tested once he was close to finished before realising that he couldn''t taste anything because his tastebuds had long since perished. With a sigh he put his finished dish onto a plate and walked towards the woman''s room. He stood outside for a few seconds, he was nervous still. Strange that such a weak specimen had more effect on him than any opponent he had faced. He rolled his shoulders, knocked... waited for a few seconds then entered the room.


    The woman was still in the same bed and was staring at him, her face wasn''t quite as pale as it had been at first so he would take that as a sign of improvement. He walked over to her andplaced the tray with the plate and eating utensils on herlap and helped her sit up. ¡°I don''t know how it tastes, I tried to taste-test but turns out I can''t taste anything at all so... I hope it doesn''t taste terrible!¡± Z tried to force a smile but felt the attempt crumble halfway through. He sighed dipped his head towards her and then left the room. He entered the room next door to check on the other patients, Brainz had finished treating the other female and was working on the male. Z gave a few brief instructions to the Black Guard, that was what he decided to name the General''s personal guard, and they were tasked with cleaning the wounded and finding them a room.


    He then knocked on the woman''s room again and entered, she paused for a moment when he walked into the room before continuing to eat. He walked over to her and sat down on the sturdy chair, he put his arms on his knees and leaned forward. ¡°How''s the taste?¡±


    The woman stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a small nod. Z smiled, ¡°I''m glad that I managed to cook something halfway decent then.¡± His face turned serious, ¡°We found you with two others in a.... beaten up state. We killed the ones who dumped you and you do not have to tell me what has happened to you unless you feel like it. Just know that you are safe here for however long you wish to stay.¡±


    The woman took another fork full thus emptying the plate, she then carefully it on a tray then put the tray on the bedside table. She then stared at him for a few moments before attempting a seated bow, she grimaced as the gesture put a strain on her still not completely fixed body. Z put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. ¡°No need for that, you have probably noticed but I am not human, nor are any of the others here. I have marked you as guests for now so you need not fear they attack you unless provoked. If you have need of me feel free to ask, I am called Z and this here is my domain. I have a few things to take care of, take your time and rest. Your friends are in the next room.¡±


    With that he got up smiled at her and headed back outside, he still had points to spend and forces to rebuild. He considered having a troop of units stationed at the goblin village to aid in defense, then realized the goblin village was probably better protected than his own dirt wall home.


    Z tapped his own box, he had completely forgotten that he had the option, things had been chaotic since his return.


    [Z (Zombie?) Tier 2 Unique, Evolution available]


    [The Hunt (Available)]


    [Undying Rage (Available)]Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    [Dense (Available)]


    [Charge (Available)]


    [Shockwave Stomp (Available)]


    As usual, he tapped the unknown options and worked his way down the list.


    [Dense has been unlocked due to the individual having the Heavy Zombie evolution. It increases the density of the individual without changing size. Making the individual both tougher and heavier.]


    [Charge has been unlocked due to the individual having the Heavy Zombie evolution. When running the individual can activate charge to gain speed, speed will continue to grow the further the individual runs. Movement bonuses will be canceled after a collision.]


    [Shockwave Stomp has been unlocked due to the individual having stomped many an opponent into their graves. Upon choosing this ability a stomp will spread out in a shockwave, radius and strength of the shockwave depend on the user''s physical strength.]


    Interesting abilities one and all, he had already made up his mind to get undying rage. He selected the ability and to his slight disappointment did not have the option for a second ability. Shrugging he headed towards the Tombstone to check his earned KP and options.


    After checking the points earned which were just a little over three-hundred he tapped the upgrade list.


    [Territory Governing Options]


    [Summon a growing Zombie 6 KP]


    [Summon a puppet Zombie 1KP]


    [Create second tier walls around your territory center, (Wood) 60 KP]


    [Create first tier road to another of your territories, (Currently unavailable amount of territory owned too small)]


    [Create second tier road to your Allies. (Currently available Ally locations: Red Grass Tribe Village.) 50 KP]


    [Create Defensive Stronghold tier two. 65 KP]


    [Create Garrison Barracks tier two. 65 KP]


    [Create Weapon Shop Tier one 40 KP]


    [Create Armour Shop Tier one 40 KP]


    [Create Guest House Tier one 30 KP]


    Z blinked, weapons and armour shops were great, but where had the guest house come from. It was the same with the hospital it made no sense for zombies to have a hospital yet when he felt in need of one the option to purchase it had appeared. Perhaps these upgrades appeared out of necessity or will of the domain leader? It was a curious thought. He tapped the guest house, he had a gut feeling the humans would be staying a while. He could use some more people to converse with.


    He also purchased both the armour and weapon shop. The familiar rumble spread through the ground as some buildings shuffled around to make space for the new ones, a road appeared running through the middle of the clearing, the hospital, Mausoleum and mass-grave all moved to one side of the road while both shops and the guest house appeared on the other side. His system was extremely different compared to the one that governed the goblins. Yara had told him that for them to create better weapons he could purchase the knowledge how to make said weapons and the goblins would then construct the weapons themselves. Z''s domain did not work the same way it seemed, he had shops instead. It made sense in the fact that zombies are not known for their craftsmanship, if they could even do so at all.


    He still had quite a few points to spend but before deciding on what to spend them on he walked over to the shops and took a look at them. Shop might have been the wrong word, as they were merely a pile of weapons and a pile of armour at this point. He attempted to move a weapon from the pile but to his surprise, the weapons wouldn''t budge, the same went for the armour. He shrugged and tapped the ''shop'', he wasn''t surprised that it brought up yet another menu.


    [Tier one Weapons Shop]


    [Self Equip, Weapon tier One Bad quality 3 KP]


    [Self Equip, Weapon tier One Decent quality 7 KP]


    [Self Equip, Weapon Tier One Good Quality 14 KP]


    [Equip All, Weapon Tier one Bad Quality 75 KP]


    [Equip All, Weapon Tier one Decent Quality 175 KP]


    [Equip All, Weapon Tier one Good quality 400 KP]


    Z let out a soft whistle, those were quite the prices. He tapped the box and it told him that self equip would give only him a weapon of choice, equip all would give all current and future units a weapon of that quality. The prices made a lot more sense when he looked at it that way. It could even be considered cheap if he had a huge amount of soldiers. He shook his head, the prices were currently not worth it. He needed more units before he could afford to spend points on this. He checked the armour shop as well, it had the same options except the prices were fifty percent higher. It made sense, armour covered more and would cost more to create than just a weapon. It was curious that he could not select the type of weapon or armour his units would get, after some more digging around through the menu''s he found out that each unit would be equipped with what the system thought was most fitting to the individuals abilities.


    What he needed now was simple, the previous battle had shown him the weak points of the puppet zombies, their senses were abysmal and they could nor react well to unexpected circumstances. They would be usefull for defensive purposes but lacking if he wanted to assault another''s domain. He thought about it for a moment and then decided to buy twenty growing zombies, quite the amount but he would make sure they were worth the money. More of the undead popped out of the mass-grave, Z''s eyes widened slightly. For the first time since he had started summoning units there were female undead. Four of them to be precise, he hadn''t even noticed the lack of gender diversity in his troops untill the opposite gender made an appearance.


    He shook his head, he was going to need to name them. He frowned, he would name those that made it to tier Two. It might be harsh but the undead had little to no personality at the first tier, their evolution gave them a spark of personality. He wondered if higher tiers would alter the personality or if they would stay unchanged. Food for thought. He spent another twenty points on summoning puppet zombies from the garrison, increasing the size of the General''s forces. He nodded to himself in satisfaction, that would have to do for now.