whilst moving back to his hiding place, Marcus dragged his hand across the stone wall on his left. It was cold, hard, but at the same time perfectly smooth. This must be from the slimes moving through here constantly. The halls were filled with an eerie quietness only being broken by the rhythmic stepping of Marcus. This had become the usual for Marcus. even though he had only been down there for a day and a bit.

Arriving at his cave he saw that the original chest he looted had also been recreated. Before he went to open it he went to one of the walls to carve in a crude but useful map of the surroundings. If he could expand this over the coming few days he would have an easier time surviving. Knowing his way around the maze of halls and corridors down here could be useful if not needed.

Once he had finished making the crude map, he moved over to the chest. He could no longer halt his curiosity, speed walking over to the chest to see what else he could find. The hinges of the chest let out a high pitch creak while Marcus opened the chest, revealing a single item, an iron helmet. Because it looked to be in better shape then the leather one he was currently wearing he decided to put it on.

Whilst Marcus was inspecting his new helmet and broke down the chest, a rattling sound could be heard from the hallway. An undead was moving, and it was getting louder. Grabbing his sword made his way over to the door to see where it was coming from.

A group of 5 skeletons came walking around the corner. All in iron armor with enchanted weapons ready for a fight. Marcus knew he couldn't survive this encounter, but he lucky didn't have to. A slime that reached came from the other side. Even though the skeletons didn't show any emotions they somehow looked panicked. They started making a dash for the room Marcus was in. He didn't have much time to do anything.

He quickly grabbed a piece of dry wood, he had prepared for to light on fire. When the first skeleton turned the corner he slammed the board in its face. The skeleton fell over, grabbing two others with him. The sound of armor hitting the floor and other metal must have been heard from far. The fourth skeleton only partially got hit by the slime causing his entire left arm to be devoured, while the others were hopeless and all died to the hands of the slime. Marcus prepared for the fight that was about to ensue.

The skeleton was clearly frightened, not only did it lose his arm, it also lost 4 of its companions. Yet Marcus showed no remorse. It was the skeleton or him who had to die. He flung himself at the skeleton trying to stab between the armor, to pry something off. But it's all in vain, his sword bounces off the chestplate. To win this he needed brute strength to cause bludgeoning damage to it.

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The skeleton having awoken from its shock didn't like the violent response from Marcus, it raised up its sword high and mighty ready to strike him. With a single step forward Marcus ended up in the range of the sword. With speed the sword fell down on to Marcus only to be parried to the side missing him.

Marcus quickly tried slashing the hand of the skeleton to fully disarm him. Yet he could not muster enough strength to break the arm. The blade now stuck in the radius bone, Marcus tried pulling it out but it was wedged stuck. Without any other options he reached for the other sword he had acquired from the chest not long ago.

Once the sword was equipped, a white glow radiated from the blade. Trying not to get too distracted, Marcus lunged at the skeleton for another strike, but this time the effect was different. The sword was like an antidote but for skeletons. It ripped through its ribs, breaking off 3 in the process.

The skeleton, now annoyed, slashed at Marcus hitting him in the face. A small wound formed on his cheek, slowly dripping blood as the fight continued.

To not stay in this danger he made quick work of the skeleton slashing at its neck. It was cleanly separated and with a loud clunk, the head fell on the ground marking the end of the battle.

Marcus, trying to catch a breath, sat down. Only to be informed by the system that he had reached his 5th level. With this he also gained not one but two new skills.

Identify and lithoidmancy

Trying out his new skills he identified himself only to be welcomed by a voice in his head saying "Human male".

Disappointed in this new ability he tried his hand at lithoidmancy. Grabbing a few stones from around the room he placed it in a small pile to try and move. When not much happened, he heard the same voice "Surge of stone".

When he repeated those words a small yellow stone formed in front of his hand. Without knowing why, he brought it to the pile of rocks, only for the stone to float into the pile. With that rocks and roots started moving and merging until a single stone was formed. Unlike anything he had seen before it. Resembling a plant, but the flowers and fruit being replaced by stones it looked at its creator longingly for a task.

Marcus, overjoyed with a new friend, once again tried using the identify skill to see what it would say only to return a short "stone golem" and nothing more. Because of that it decided to name the golem Terrin, as it was made from rocks and plants.

After that he ordered Terrin to show what it's capable of. So it started moving. After Marcus seemed satisfied it broke down its pile of rocks and shot the root and yellow stone into the ground.

Marcus quickly stood up to see where his new friend had gone. Only then he noticed his wound had fully healed thanks to the level he had acquired.