"...n....na....d..."
'What? What is that sound?'
"urgh..uugg...."
*Thump, thump, thump*
'Is that someone knocking on a box?'
"...en... mu... long... t-e..."
'What? What's happening? Why can't I move my body? What was I doing? My head is so muddled. My body won't move.'
I tried to wiggle my fingers or open my eyes, but where I should have felt my fingers, I felt only an intense tingling sensation. My eyes refused to open fully; I could only see a milky-white line in one of them—the right one, maybe?
"Uuurrrrggggg.... Aaaaarrreggggg!!!"
*Thump, thump, thump*
Little by little, the fog in my head began to clear, and I could remember what I had been doing—and what I was supposed to do.
'Oh right, I finally found Mom and Dad; they fixed the car but still needed fuel. I was supposed to get it with Mom in the middle of a sea of zombies, and then...!!!'
As the memory of what had happened returned, I noticed an irritating *zzzziiiii* sound in my ears, and my eyes finally opened. A white blur materialized out of the milky-white haze as my eyes—well, my *eye*—opened.
Moments later, the blur began to take shape and gain color; suddenly, I found myself staring into the face of a pale man with unfocused, yellowish-white eyes and an open mouth, his arm pounding against a semi-transparent golden wall.
The shock of that face appearing mere centimeters from mine made my body instinctively recoil. Or at least, it tried to; I had barely managed to pull away from the [barrier] wall when the numbness in my body was replaced by intense pain—almost identical to what I'd felt after taking the Earth Drake's breath attack.
"[Status]"
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 17
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 8
SP: 0
AP: 5
HP: 160/200
MP: 40/160
Condition: Slightly fatigued, radiant damage (vulnerability), minor fracture.
.....]
'Okay, that doesn't look too good. Wait! Did I lose 40 HP just from that? Or was it mostly the fall?'
[Radiant damage: Damage caused by exposure to a direct holy source; deals direct damage to beings connected to shadows, death, or demons.
Effects: • Nullifies the affected target's regenerative abilities.
• Causes a state of weakness depending on the target's resistance, weakness, or vulnerability levels.
• Small chance of inflicting a state of vulnerability.]
'So, the reason I could barely move my body is because of the vulnerability state? Or the weakness? No, it's probably the weakness; the vulnerability was what made me pass out.'
'Either way—ironically—if it weren't for the barrier that caused this, I would have already been killed by the zombies.'
"Nando!!! Are you okay??!!!!! Get up fast; it won't last much longer now.!!!!!"
After "recovering," the throbbing in my ears stopped (mostly) and my hearing returned; I could finally hear what my mother was shouting from above.
Rolling my eyes—the one I could move, the other side of my face was pressed against the ground—I saw her face was pale with worry and terror, yet she still had to maintain the barrier.
I have no idea how long I was unconscious, but judging by her look, it couldn't have been less than five minutes, which means...
'I need to get up fast—somehow—before the barrier falls and I become a snack for zombies and slimes.'
Easier said than done; I have no clue how long it will take for this weakness to pass.
It's been maybe a minute or two since I woke up, and only now am I starting to feel my fingers, and a little bit of my arms and legs. Unsurprisingly, they were aching badly—especially my right leg.
'Of course I had to break or dislocate my leg when I fell, right?'
[Accelerated Thought activated]
'Tsk, using this is annoying; there's constant pressure on my head and body. But it should do the trick for now. I'm practically immobilized, surrounded by enemies ready to devour me. I have to open a manhole cover, insert a magic hose, and send it to my dad through an office window about eight or ten meters away—all in under five minutes...'
Three seconds passed thanks to the skill, yet it felt like three minutes had gone by.
'...There's so much I'd like to scream right now, but that doesn't matter. My priority now is recovery, and the best way to do that is by "eating".'
Opening [my item box] while [Accelerated Thought] was still active, I quickly located the last rat I had. Honestly, I wanted to grab one of the blood bottles, but in my current state, I needed to sink my fangs in to suck the blood, since I couldn't lift my arms to let gravity help.
I felt the furry, slightly heavy body appear in my hand.
Now came the tricky part. [Accelerated Thought] boosted my reasoning, decision-making, and information-processing capabilities.
But as the name implies, it only applied to my mind; my body remained unchanged. Vulnerable from the radiant damage, it was moving slower than usual.
'Ggggggrrrr... move faster, just a little—faster, faster, faster, faster, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast.'
Mustering every ounce of willpower I could, I directed all the strength my weakened arm possessed. I managed to lift my arm slightly—just a tiny bit—but it was enough to make the rat slide from my palm toward my fingers.
From there, I strained as hard as I could to flick my fingers, tossing the rat (roughly the size of a 1.5-liter pet bottle) toward my face.
Miraculously, I managed to do this in under five seconds—though it felt like much longer to me. Having a rat flying toward my face was, needless to say, deeply unsettling.
And still my mouth was already open with my fangs bared before the rat hit my face; the moment the animal's cooling body touched me, my neck moved before my [Accelerated Thought]-enhanced mind could even register it.
My fangs sank into the rat's body, and my body instantly began drawing out the blood before my brain had even issued the command. Not a second later—with or without a racing mind—blood, already somewhat stiff from clotting, was entering my body.
More putrid than usual, more "lumpy" than usual, with a taste just as "good" as before—yet it still spread a warm, comforting sensation through my body. As quickly as that feeling spread, the flow of blood into my mouth began to taper off.
Moments later, I could no longer sense anything coming from the rat. I opened my eyes—realizing only then that I had closed them—and saw that the rat in my mouth had withered away completely; it was so emaciated that its bones were clearly visible through the skin, even though the flesh was still intact.
I didn't dwell on the reason why. I took stock of my body: it was still sore, with sharp pangs of pain shooting from my leg; I could still feel tiny needles pricking my skin whenever the faint breeze touched me. Yet, I could move without issue; despite the pain, my movements didn't falter.
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 17
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 8
SP: 0
AP: 5
HP: 165/200
MP: 41/160
Condition: Slightly fatigued, radiant damage, minor fracture (healing)
.....]
'Not bad. Now, work.'
[Accelerated Thought deactivated]
Spitting the rat out of my mouth, I sprang to my feet; my body protested, just as I'd expected, but it obeyed. I looked upward and shouted with all the strength I could muster, cutting through the din of the zombies' own "screams".
"HOW MUCH TIME LEFT UNTIL THE BARRIER FALLS?"
"THREE MORE MINUTES, AT MOST."
My mother answered, her face still pale but with obvious relief in her eyes.
'Okay, three minutes max—so, at a minimum, it should take two. That should be enough time.'
Even as I thought this, I didn't stop moving; by the time the thought finished, I had already grabbed one end of the hose and was prying open the manhole cover.
"[Shadow Ball]"
With the cover "open," I tossed one end of the hose into the tank. Then, I took my bow and one of the last large arrows I had left, tied the other end of the hose to it, aimed, pulled the string with all my might, and fired it toward the window where my father was waiting.
I don't know if it was due to the radiant damage or simply because the hose was much heavier than the rope I'd used before (which it certainly was), but the arrow lost momentum and started falling sooner than I expected; it was going to hit the lower section of the office wall.
That is, IF my father hadn't seen the whole thing coming and prepared an iron rod made from the leftover slag. The moment the arrow began to drop, he used the rod to catch the hose and pull it toward himself.
As for me—just as expected—the bow finally snapped completely, though at least it didn't shatter explosively and injure me (I'm not sure how). We managed to pull off that crucial step in under a minute.
Usually, this would be the desperate part where we'd have no escape plan and I'd start cursing God and everyone else, but for this stage, at least, we had a plan.
As soon as I saw the fuel level start to drop, I gave my mother the "OK" signal; she nodded and began to descend, dismantling the barrier.
As expected, the zombies swarmed in fast and in huge numbers. But I was ready.
"[Ice Wall]"
Using the mana I had, I created a small mound that lifted me above the zombies; however, since I didn't use all my mana—making the wall just big enough to stand on comfortably—it wouldn't last more than a few seconds. Fortunately, that was more than enough time; my mother swooped down, grabbed my hands, and lifted me into the air with her.
I'll admit I was actually more scared of that part than of the horde of zombies charging at me—or of feeling my shoulders dislocate as we shot upward.
(Author: Yeah, I know—I said I would before, and my bad. I'm not going to make excuses; I honestly just forgot. Sorry about that, but I'll still post updates for the other stories by tomorrow at the latest... with some luck.)