Alaster dived to the side as a black wolf barreled through four Minotaurs, throwing them to the ground. Its long twin tails stabbing into their shields as it rushed past. He fired off two quick full casts of [Necrotic Bolt]. Six bolts of sickly green Mana streamed towards their target. The wolf was so quick that even just two meters away, only two of the bolts hit its side, beginning to eat through, but barely making it past the thick fur.
The Minotaurs dived onto the wolf, just barely managing to pin it down long enough for two Blackguards to impale it on their spears. Even with two spears in its neck, it glared hatefully at Alaster for several moments before the light in its eyes dimmed. The Undead quickly rejoined the front line, leaving the corpse.
Surrounded by more of the wolves, his forty Undead had seemed powerful and unneeded before, but now, they seemed barely capable. The only reason they had not been completely destroyed yet was that they outnumbered the wolves. Their numbers allowed them to flank around the wolves and wear them down.
It had only been two days since Alaster entered the Dungeon. And yet, he had nearly died with every fight. Of course, Alaster had not only fought. He had also been studying the Monsters. Learning their patterns and habits.
The Bears, which were taller than Alaster when they were on all fours, with overlapping plates of hardened stone, claws capable of ripping a Minotaur in half, and teeth that could do the same.
The Wolves, standing at Alaster’s chest at the shoulder, with razor sharp claws and fangs. Their natural weapons were lethal enough as it was, but their most lethal weapon were the twin tails. Nearly two meters long, capable of moving independently of each other, with a sharp tip.
Alaster had not managed to study the Devils very much, they stuck to the center of the Dungeon, while Alaster was keeping to the edges. He had, however, managed to see them from a distance. They were all over six feet tall in large and thick dark red armor. Most used spears, but some used maces, swords, and even daggers. All the melee Devils, with the exception of the dagger users, carried thick shields.
Roughly every ten melee Devils, Alaster could spot an archer. In lighter dark red armor, a quiver of barbed arrows, and a powerful looking black longbow. They stayed behind the melee Devils.
None of the Monsters in the Dungeon fought each other, but they did avoid each other. The Bears were solitary creatures, roaming alone or with one other. The Wolves moved in packs from five to fifteen. While the Devils marched in neat formations of ten to twenty.
Alaster had been ambushed by a full pack of wolves numbering fifteen. His Undead were barely holding on, however, the longer the fight went on, the more tired the Wolves became. His Undead did not, though the damage was building up, despite [Dead Aura] and [Necrotic Heal].
Each Wolf was incredibly fast and agile, and each of their weapons were strong enough to tear through the strengthened bone like clay. Their hide was tough, and any glancing blows did little to no damage.
Even when the Wolves were down to just four, with the Undead encircling them, they didn’t attempt to flee, they instead continued to fight on until each one was killed.
As the last one fell to the black, ash covered, earth, Alaster fell to his knees, breathing hard. Even with his [Death Pact] armor covering his entire body in light armor, it did little against the attacks of the Wolves. However, with each kill, he could feel his armor becoming stronger, more protective, slowly transforming into heavier armor.
Normally, Alaster would have preferred the light armor as it would have provided much more maneuverability, but the black armor, made of some unknown metal, was built very well, though he doubted the Pact had designed it. He never had an issue moving in it. However, the armor still didn’t provide a helmet, instead Alaster used one he had crafted himself out of bone.
The battle against the Wolves had been a quick one, but it had been viscous. He had been forced to constantly resummon the Undead Soldiers to serve as distractions. Their swords only bounced off the thick fur, but they were able to draw the Wolves attention to themselves, allowing the stronger Undead to deal actual damage. He even had the Archers summoned, though they were just as useless.
And due to how powerful the Wolves were, compared to Alaster, his Abilities were leveling very quickly.
[Summon Undead Soldier
Level 12<21: 38%<64%
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Summon the Dead to fight for you.
Max Minions: 3/4
Mana Cost: 50]
[Summon Undead Archer
Level 1<10: 0%<23%
Summon the Dead to fight for you.
Max Minion: 1/2
Mana Cost: 50]
For the Soldiers, he had made them as resilient as he could. And for the Archers, he made them stronger, their bows and arrows becoming better quality. Both had just reached the level ten threshold during the battle.
[Summon Undead Soldier Evolutions]
[Level Twenty Evolutions Available
1. Summon Undead Rogue.
Soldier will move quicker.
2. Summon Undead Warrior.
Soldier will be stronger.
3. Summon Undead Shield Bearer.
Soldier will be more durable.]
[Summon Undead Archer Evolutions]
[Level Ten Evolutions Available
1. Summon Undead Shortbowman.
Soldier will move quicker.
2. Summon Undead Longbowman.
Soldier will be stronger.
3. Summon Undead Ranger.
Soldier will be more durable.]
Alaster was intrigued by the Rogue option, but it wouldn’t be very useful in the Dungeon. Even if they did manage to sneak up on the Monsters, which was doubtful, they wouldn’t be able to do much damage, if any.
It was the same issue with the Shield Bearer. Even his Minotaurs were struggling to withstand more than two attacks. Of course, both options would quickly grow stronger against the Monsters. But he was leaning more towards Warrior.
He still doubted the Warrior would be able to do much, but he imagined that it was the option geared more towards power. It would be able to do damage much sooner and quicker than the other two options. So, he made his choice.
[Summon Undead Warrior
Level 1: 0%
Summon the Dead to fight for you.
Max Minions: 0/1
Mana Cost: 50]
Applying the same logic to the Archer, he selected Longbowman. Though he was interested in how the Ranger would look.
[Summon Undead Longbowmen
Level 1: 0%
Summon the Dead to fight for you.
Max Minions: 0/1
Mana Cost: 50]
Alaster summoned his two new summons. The Warrior looked just like the Soldier, including the effects of the Evolutions.
‘Do the Soldier Evolutions effect the branch off Summons?’
It carried the same shield, but instead of a sword, it held a large hatchet. Being a hatchet, it was still small, but the length of the blade was six inches. Such a wound would be lethal to an ordinary person.
The Longbowman was also the same as the Archer, except it held a crude longbow. Alaster had an Archer and the Longbowman draw their bows, in order to see the difference in power. The Longbowman was slower to draw, but not by much. Upon releasing their arrows, it was immediately apparent the Longbowman was much more powerful.
The Archer’s arrow impacted a boulder and clattered away. The Longbowman’s arrow impacted the same boulder and shattered.
Alaster grinned to himself. The Archer’s arrows had just bounced off the Wolves’ fur, but the Longbowmen might be able to actually pierce it.
Summoning all of his Third Method Undead, he looked over them while [Dead Aura] continued to heal the damaged Undead. Eight of the preset Undead stood before him. Their naked bones weren’t very frightening, but he still wouldn’t want to fight them in the dark, even if they wouldn’t be able to do much damage to him.
Looking to the side, he saw the Skeletal Mage moving from Undead to Undead, slowly healing them. Twenty-five Blackguards, fourteen Minotaurs, and one Undead Stallion. Alaster called out the Stallion from his Domain.
It galloped out and lowered its head to its Master. Alaster patted its head and quickly got on. As he did, he summoned the Workers and Butcher Undead. They quickly got to work, with the Butcher immediately crouching at the closest Wolf while the Workers began dragging the others closer.
As the Butcher worked, it reached level five. Alaster quickly looked through the options. Stronger, faster, or more skilled. The Butcher was already becoming all three with each level, but Alaster chose to make it more skilled. If he managed to find a Mana Crystal, he wanted the Butcher to be able to properly extract it. He was also able to raise a second.
Together, the two Butchers quickly skinned the Wolves, as well as cut a few chunks of meat. There was of course plenty more meat left on the corpses, but Alaster didn’t care. He only took enough to feed him and the furs. He didn’t care about the rest, nor did he want to wait around for the Butchers to harvest the meat that wouldn’t fit in his Ring.
He quickly stored the furs and meat and ordered his Undead forward. There was no point unsummoning the Butchers and Workers. It didn’t refund the Mana spent to summon them, and they could provide a distraction if needed.
As they moved forward, with Alaster in the middle, his Minotaurs forming a protective ring around him, he looked around.
Only two days had passed since he entered the Dungeon. Two hours in the real world. Yet he had already gained so much.
[Blood Price] now allowed the reverse to happen, using Mana to heal. [Blood Aura]’s range had doubled to ten meters, and also made him harder to damage. He could now raise three more Undead, six with the Evolution, but he had not had the time to create them.
Several more Abilities were on the cusp of a new Evolution. He had even been experimenting with [Flesh Crafting], though the only use he found was making it easier to retrieve the bones.
The Dungeon was large and Alaster had limited himself to the edges. As Aila had told him, the Dungeon was filled with old ruins. What she had not mentioned was how depressing the atmosphere was. The sky was a blood red. The ground was black and covered in ash. Wind sent up a cloud of it. None of the ruins Alaster had searched had anything valuable, nor had he found anything about its previous owners. There was no furniture, only broken stone.
Alaster stretched his back as his Stallion marched forward.
‘One more fight, then I’ll find a safe place to camp.’