Roseus circled the sea zombie.

Having never seen such a thing before, it was important for him to gauge its speed and the way it advanced.

It took a very short amount of time for him to realise that the gap between himself and the zombie was vast when it came to speed.

With his father’s sword in hand, he felt like it was impossible for the sea zombie to catch him. It would just keep on stupidly walking towards him with its arms outstretched, growling.

Roseus circled around the sea zombie with ease, ending up at its back. Then, he took one step forward, closing the distance between them.

His combat experience told him where to strike if he wanted to kill. Take off its head in one fell swoop.

Despite their low agility and IQ, the sea zombies were durable, as they were already undead. They would keep coming after you, as long as they had the means to.

Severing their head from their bodies was one of the most efficient ways to end them.

He swung his blade above his head first, then slashed down diagonally. He naturally aligned the blade so that it might cleave into the zombie’s neck and continue through, trying to complete his task.

But half way through, he felt the blade meet resistance. It had crashed into the zombie’s neck bone and didn’t have enough force to go through.

Roseus cursed.

His father’s sword helped him with technique, but not strength. It seemed he was too weak to cut through the bone of a monster.

Before he could pull his blade from the zombie’s bleeding neck, it turned around, prying the blade from Roseus’s hand. The weapon remained lodged in the sea zombie’s neck, as it was now facing its opponent. It seemed unbothered by the wound.

Roseus took a step backwards. He no longer had the agility boost from the sword and felt sluggish. Of course, he was still faster than the creature, but that wouldn’t be enough. Not if he didn’t retrieve his sword.

The sea zombie slowly approached, backing Roseus closer to the sea tide. He didn’t dare step foot inside, in case some other creature decided it would join the hunt.

Then, he remembered something. His father had left him multiple gifts, not one.

He reached for the revolver on his waist and pulled it out. It was a standard revolver, not a Treasure, but it would do the trick.

Once in his hand, though, Roseus realised he had never used a gun before, due to not being a licensed firearm carrier. He had no way of checking whether there were even bullets in it, or how to reload it.

But the sea zombie was getting closer. He would have to try something.

He pointed the revolver at the zombie and pressed its trigger.

BANG

A bullet flew from the barrel, and the recoil stung his hand.

When he looked back at the zombie, it had been pushed back, and blood was now seeping from a wound in its chest where the bullet had hit.

It wasn’t enough, so he tried to fire again.

He pulled the trigger.

*Click*

Nothing happened. He wondered if his luck was so bad that his father had only given him one bullet.

There was no time to focus on that. With every passing moment, the creature was getting closer, and now, he had no weapon to defend himself with.

"Shit, shit, shit!" he cursed, then holstered his seemingly useless revolver.

Once his hands were free, he faced the zombie again. He contemplated leaving, but that wasn’t an option. Not without his father’s sword.

So Roseus charged. He ducked low, spearing the sea zombie with his shoulder with all of his weight and force.

They both fell, but Roseus ended up on top of it. The zombie clawed with its outstretched arms, grabbing hold of Roseus’s clothes, trying to pull him closer so that it could bite and eat him.

"Fuck off me!" Roseus swore before driving his elbow onto its forehead.

He heard a slight crack from the blow as blood splattered. He wasn’t sure if his elbow had broken, or the zombie’s skull.

It didn’t matter.

He elbowed again.

CRACK

This time, he felt certain that it was the zombie’s skull, as its head suddenly went soft and its arm fell limp to its side.

Roseus wasn’t finished yet. He elbowed again and again.

After the third elbow, he felt new words being written in his mind.

[You have defeated, Sea Zombie]

[Lesser Soul Absorbed]

[The Ocean Beckons You...]

Roseus looked down at himself and the mess he had made of the sea zombie’s head. Bits of brain, skull, and gore were splattered all over him. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

As for the words presented to him in his mind, he didn’t know what they meant. He guessed that it might have something to do with the powers he might awaken when he set sail, but there was no way to know, nor was there time to dwell on it.

He pushed himself to his feet and pulled his sword from the sea zombie’s neck, sheathing it back at his waist.

Then, wasting no more time, he retrieved his hat and headed south-east.

His friend was waiting for him.

He had a ship to board.

~~~

BlessedPen: Don’t forget to gift power stones if you’re enjoying the novel. It’s very appreciated <3