The Genesis of the Dead

Red watched his old friend lead the civilians away before turning his attention to the small horde of stumbling, rotting corpses. Their fetid odor alone made him want to gag, but his pride would not allow it. By his side stood a brave few, clutching their newly minted spears tightly as they waited for this venerable man to lead the charge. It was not fear that bound them to him, but respect. For Red was a pillar of their community and, despite not being Awakened, the strongest ordinary man among them.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" he bellowed, sprinting as fast as his weary body would permit. In his younger days, he might have harbored some fear or hesitation, but not now. He was old and fully aware that his time was nearing its end. Red had lived by a simple creed: if he were to die, it would not be in vain. He would ensure his sacrifice mattered.

The others followed his lead without hesitation, thrusting their spears with varying degrees of coordination. Many of the corpses were impaled, yet they moved forward, undeterred by their injuries. Red, wielding strength forged through years of labor, bashed the heads of zombie after zombie. Yet, he cursed his lack of Awakening more than ever on this day.

His stamina ebbed as the relentless dead continued to move. No matter the force of his strikes, the creatures merely staggered before pressing on. His blows, though powerful, were insufficient to permanently dispatch them.

Suddenly, a searing pain erupted in his arm. One of the monsters had sunk its decayed teeth into his flesh. Without pause, Red crushed its skull, but the bite left him reeling. Dizziness crept in, his vision blurred, yet he refused to yield. He swung his hammer relentlessly, even as the screams of his comrades echoed behind him. One by one, they fell, succumbing to bites or being devoured. Still, Red persevered, his hammer striking with undiminished ferocity.

SWING

SWING

SWING

swing

swing

...swing

......swi-

At last, his strength failed him. Red collapsed, his aged eyes heavy with exhaustion. Regret swirled in his fading consciousness, not for the life he had lived, nor for falling to monsters. He regretted breaking his promise to a little girl to craft something special for her. "You'll find someone better than me out there," he thought as eternal sleep claimed him.

Meanwhile, Zoran's situation had taken a dire turn. The number of adversaries had multiplied, from one to three. A towering skeleton, a Twintails corpse, and the one-armed Maveth now stood against him, all likely at the first stage of Awakening. Zoran himself teetered on the edge of the second stage but had not yet crossed that threshold, leaving their mana control and capacity relatively even.

Though he had sparred with Maveth many times, he had never seen the man use mana beyond the ability in his eyes. Zoran had always assumed Maveth's powers were limited to reconnaissance or a similar skill set. However, witnessing Maveth controlling these creatures was both startling and unsurprising. Zoran had long suspected Maveth harbored secrets he just hadn't known their extent.

The trio moved with unnerving coordination. The Twintails corpse, swiftest among them, charged directly at Zoran while the skeleton and Maveth flanked him from opposite sides, attempting to trap him. Zoran, anticipating their strategy, knew his only escape lay through his foremost enemy.

With calculated precision, he charged at the Twintails, evading its snapping jaws and driving his spear into its foot while sliding beneath it. Normally, a live Twintails would retaliate with its deadly tails, but Zoran had noticed something during their initial clash: the creature's tails lacked their former vitality. They drooped lifelessly, confirming his suspicions that the undead Twintails could not wield its tails effectively.

This maneuver allowed Zoran to break free from the encirclement, even managing to injure the largest of his foes in the process. Unfortunately, much like Maveth, the Twintails seemed indifferent to its wound, immediately resuming its assault. Zoran retaliated by plunging his spear deep into the creature's torso, sending it tumbling into the advancing skeleton.

Maveth, during this period, approached Zoran's flank and aimed to deliver a deep strike. Due to his earlier overexertion, Zoran couldn't fully block from his position and narrowly dodged. Maveth's scythe drew a few drops of blood, leaving a shallow cut across Zoran's torso.

Maveth then bore the brunt of Zoran's counterattack as Zoran swept Maveth's feet out from under him with his spear. Before Zoran could follow up, the skeleton intervened, wielding its crude axe-like weapon to strike at the distracted Zoran. Maveth, seeing an opportunity despite being on the ground, swung his scythe, forcing Zoran to block the blow. This maneuver guaranteed that Zoran would be unable to avoid the skeleton's attack.

Zoran's acute awareness of his surroundings saved him yet again. Recognizing the incoming danger from behind, he used the bladed side of his weapon to parry Maveth's sharp scythe while simultaneously striking the skeleton in the chest with the back of his spear. This sent the undead creature sprawling and disrupted its attack.

Taking advantage of the moment, Zoran created some distance, leaving both opponents to rise to their feet. Meanwhile, the Twintails corpse attempted to ambush him, only to be met with a precise spear thrust. This counterattack prompted the other two adversaries to rush back in, creating a relentless cycle of assault and defense.

Zoran quickly identified the crux of his predicament. Although his superior skill allowed him to employ a mix of blocks and evasive maneuvers to survive, achieving victory seemed increasingly unlikely. The primary issue was that his enemies, showed no signs of fatigue. They did not tire, nor did they require rest, no matter how long they fought. After over an hour of back-and-forth skirmishes, Zoran was the only one whose stamina visibly waned.

Moreover, Zoran had been forced to use mana multiple times to escape particularly dire situations, gradually depleting his reserves as the battle dragged on. His situation was growing more precarious by the minute. Ideally, he would have liked to eliminate at least one opponent, but each time he attempted to do so, one of the others intervened to protect their ally. The Twintails' exceptional speed, the skeleton's remarkable durability, and Maveth's formidable strength created a seemingly unbreakable synergy. Zoran realized that if the fight continued in this manner, he would eventually exhaust himself, make a critical error, and lose his life.

Maveth's side, however, was not without its own setbacks. All three adversaries had sustained injuries from Zoran during the prolonged battle. Despite this, they continued their relentless pursuit, aiming to provoke Zoran into revealing his trump card. Maveth suspected Zoran's spear held the key to discovering the incoming and sought to exploit it the moment Zoran deployed its power. Yet, despite their efforts to prolong the fight, Zoran had withheld his ultimate ability, turning the battle into a grueling war of attrition. That was about to change, however, as Zoran's spear began to emit a faint, ominous glow.

Meanwhile, Orros worked tirelessly to lead the group away from the heroic last stand of one of his oldest friends. By the time they had put some distance between themselves and the battle, Orros realized his grave mistake.

"Everyone, we need to get out of here now! There's something in the woods!" Orros shouted in panic. His warning came too late. A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air as a monstrous, long-armed creature violently mauled one of the fleeing civilians.

Before anyone could react, several skeletal monstrosities emerged, charging with reckless abandon. Among them, one figure stood out a skeleton draped in an emerald robe with a mystical purple light flickering in its eye sockets. Its presence exuded an eerie aura of authority and menace.

Orros felt a crushing sense of failure. He had led these people into a dire situation, and now it seemed they would all perish. The sacrifices of both his old friend and Zoran would be rendered meaningless. If he were to leave any legacy, it would be one of failure, if he left anything at all.

Chaos engulfed the group. People scattered in all directions, some plunging into the forest, others fleeing toward open ground. A few, in a desperate bid to fight back, surrounded a lone skeleton and attempted to destroy it. However, a sudden, invisible force sent several of them tumbling to the ground. The purple-eyed skeleton stood motionless, seemingly marveling at its newfound power. It finally had the opportunity to unleash the results of its dark training, and it relished the moment.