A few hours later, four Black Guards stood in front of Alaster. They were all the same. None of them any different from the other. The only difference were the weapons they used. Two of them used the Bills and shields Alaster had bought in Sicon. While the other two used a spear and shield made from bone.

The bone spear was simply a long stick with a sharp point that flared slightly. It was as strong as he could make it. However, he knew that he would be repairing or replacing them regularly, so he made then very simple. The Bills were best used with swings, which required the shield to be smaller. They were still larger than a buckler, but definitely not as big as the metal shield in Alaster’s Ring. A shield that was still too heavy for Alaster to actually use in combat.

Since the spears were designed for more thrusts, the shields paired with them could be larger. Alaster first tried to make a Tower Shield, a shield designed to cover the entire body, leaving only an inch or two of their feet and head exposed. However, after making the shields strong enough, they proved too heavy for the Black Guards. They could still carry and run with them, but using them in actual combat, they were simply too slow.

Instead, Alaster went with a Kite Shield. As wide as the shoulders at the top, with a rounded top to help cover the head, and gradually narrowed into a point the lower it went. Normally, that bottom point would be capped with iron or steel. Both to protect the point, and allow it to be used offensively. Unfortunately, the strongest material Alaster had, was the bone, which wasn’t saying much.

After making them, he had the Black Guard do some exercises and combat movements. Alaster was satisfied. He had given each of them a Mind equal to five hundred mana, which had been much quicker thanks to [Blood Price]. The Mind allowed them to learn. The Undead seemed to naturally know how to fight, but it wasn’t much better than the Goblins. With the Minds, the Undead were at least able to learn a few movements from Alaster. They were still clumsy and slow with even the basics, but certainly better than the Horde Skeletons, who tended to rip and tear into everything regardless of the weapon they were using.

Making shield itself was simple, figuring out a way that the Black Guards could hold them was not. After nearly an hour of beating his brain against the issue, he just used some of the tougher hides to make some straps. The Bone was able to hold onto the makeshift straps well enough. In the end, the Bone Kite Shield was no different from a normal Kite Shield, at least in use.

However, despite how durable the bone equipment was, they were still not up to par with standard metal weapons. Alaster fully expected for them to break often, and if they broke in the middle of a fight, that could be disastrous. So Alaster slightly modified the Black Guards’ hands. He gave them sharp claws that they could use either to stab into their foe, or to slash. The older two Black Guards looked at their new hands with curiosity.

Alaster had to show them some basic moves they could use with their claws. But he didn’t really know any actual attacks, so it was just very basic stuff. As Alaster finished the final touches, the sun was nearing its peak. The young man took one last look around the area to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. The pile of the boneless Dog Monsters was still there, and was still disgusting, but Alaster still made sure he hadn’t missed anything.

Finally, Alaster stood before the Dungeon, mentally preparing himself to enter. He wasn’t worried about his Undead following him. The Dungeon would only count other people as part of his party, so he didn’t have to worry about the limit. It counted his Undead as his Minions, which he already knew would be brought along, unless Alaster wanted some to stay behind, which in this case, he didn’t. He had no idea what he was going to face in the Dungeon, so he wanted every thing he had.

It would be a shame if he left the Night Children out of the Dungeon, only to find out that he could have used them inside.

Alaster stepped forward and placed his hand into the void.

[Everfrost Woods Dungeon

Rank: F+

Instance

Time Dilution: 5:1

Party Limit: 7]

[Enter?]

“Yes.”

Even as the word was being spoken, Alaster could feel his vision fading. As it returned, Alaster immediately noticed that he was not in the same place as he was before.

There was still snow on the ground, but it wasn’t as deep. The trees were shorter, with pines instead of leaves. Not that it mattered, each pine was encased in thick ice, as were the trunks of the trees. The trees were fairly spaced out, allowing plenty of sunlight to come through. While the Sun outside the Dungeon was just reaching Midday, the sun inside the Dungeon looked to be more early morning.

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As Alaster observed his surroundings, his Black Guards immediately took up defensive positions around him, as he had instructed them to do the moment they entered. Meanwhile, the two Night Children sprinted on all fours to the nearest tree, intent on climbing it and getting a high point they could ambush from. But they couldn’t find purchase. They shaved off quite a lot of the Ice, but Alaster could tell that there was still a good inch of Ice before they could reach the trunk.

The Night Children quickly returned at his order, but he could tell they were less than impressed with the trees. They preferred to be higher than their enemies, Alaster had designed them to be most effective that way, and now they couldn’t.

As was usual among lower Ranked Dungeons, nothing attacked Alaster just as he entered, a sort of safe zone until he moved further away from where he had appeared, then it would disappear. This sort of Safe Zone was not guaranteed in any Dungeon, but the lower the Rank, the more likely there was to be one at the beginning. While Higher Rank Dungeons would rarely have a Safe Zone somewhere deeper inside.

The ground was fairly flat, as was the undisturbed snow, which appeared to only be a few inches thick. Though each of the tree trunks had a good foot piled up around the edges of their iced branches, where Alaster imagined any falling snow would just slide off.

In the distance, perhaps a mile, Alaster spotted the Monsters of the Dungeon. While Mid and High Rank Dungeons could have neutral or perhaps even allies that spawned with the Dungeon, Lower Rank Dungeons were very simple. For an F Rank Dungeon, such as this one, Alaster was certain that it was a standard Kill Dungeon.

Basically, just a Dungeon with some Monsters wandering around or in small groups, and then a much stronger ‘Boss’ Monster at the end. Once the Boss was killed, a portal would open up, allowing Alaster to leave the Dungeon, whether or not, any of the other Monsters were still alive. But Alaster was here to gather as much EXP as he could. He had no intention of letting even a single Monster live.

And with the 5:1 Time Dilution, where five hours in the Dungeon equaled only one in the Real World, He had plenty of time. Colius had mentioned that those who stayed in Dungeons for a long time, and aged, would be returned to their normal age when they left the Dungeon, as if they had never entered at all. Apparently, some of the stronger and more influential used that as a means of extending their life.

Though by advancing from Novice to Adept, or Adept to Expert, would also extend their natural lives. And then there were artifacts and potions, and even some Classes or Abilities. Simply put, there were many ways to extend their natural lifespan.

Alaster wasn’t able to see much of the Monsters from that distance, but they appeared to be hunchbacked white apes. He was only able to see them when they were moving. As each one occasionally stopped, Alaster lost sight of them. Their fur naturally blending into the snow.

Rolling his shoulders to loosen them, Alaster drew his sword and stepped forward, his Black Guards right behind him and the Night Children slightly ahead. However, while Alaster had only seen the Apes at a distance, they were attacked at only one hundred feet away from where they appeared in the Dungeon.

Two of the Apes lept out of the snow on either side of the path, attacking the two Night Children. Both Night Children, unable to jump away, held their arms up, their sharp blades pointing to the sky. The Apes, already in the air, were unable to avoid the blades. The Apes crashed onto the Night Child, but with cries of pain, immediately jumped away, each with two deep holes in their chest. Their light blue blood ran down their blueish gray chests and onto the snow beneath them, melting it and being to pool.

‘So they are warm-blooded.’

Alaster tucked that bit of knowledge away. He did however look at their thick coats of fur. As two of the Black Guards rushed forward to assist the Night Children, and two stayed back to protect their Master, Alaster gave them an additional order.

‘Try to avoid damaging their fur.’

Seeing that their ambush had failed, and they had been quite heavily wounded, the two Apes made to escape. But, unburdened by additional thoughts and injuries, The Night Children were faster. They sprinted around and behind the apes, cutting off their escape. Now surrounded, the Apes began to panic.

The two Black Guards, wielding the spears, reached them. One of the Apes attempted to backhand the Black Guard in front of it, but the Undead simply raised its shield at an angle. The Hand slammed into the shield, causing the Black Guard to stumble, but the angle did its work, and the Hand was pushed up and away, exposing the Ape. The Black Guard was slow to thrust due to its footing. The sharp edge cut deeply into the Ape’s stomach, but it was able to sidestep, avoiding being impaled.

The other Black Guard had no such issue. Its Ape had been unable to choose whether to focus on the Black Guard in front of it, or the Night Child behind it. Doing so, allowed the Black Guard to thrust its spear deep into the side of the Ape. It twisted the shaft, eliciting an even louder cry of pain and shredding the Ape’s insides. The Ape collapsed to the ground, blood flooding from its side, as the spear was removed. The last Ape didn’t last much longer after the Night Child jumped onto its back and used its sharp claws to shred its throat.

Despite the ambush, the Apes themselves were fairly weak. Smiling to himself, Alaster began to remove the fur from the Apes while the Undead kept watch. In short order, both furs were removed, and he began to prepare them with [Death Touch]. In just over an hour, Alaster had two new thick white fur coats. He put one on, while he put the other Ape Coat in his Ring. He was immediately impressed with the warmth of the Fur. He took off the rest of the furs and hides he had been wearing and put them in the Ring. Even alone, the Ape fur was perfectly comfortable, even in the freezing temperatures.

However, he wasn’t finished with the Ape corpses. Activating [Horde], Alaster raised them as Skeletons. Their bones were thick and dense, as were the green Mana Veins. Alaster didn’t bother to check their Status, but he was sure they were stronger than even the Black Guards, and perhaps even faster, at the cost of agility. His Mana Regen lowered by two as the Ape Skeletons stood, leaving him with seven more points.

Alaster chuckled to himself, ‘This is gonna suck, for them.’