Noah and by extension Krall, were the first to react to the invading monster. One, because he could see it with his dark vision, and two, he was already in the process of chasing after Victor.

He knew he couldn’t let Victor live, but by this point, he was long gone. Neither did he know of the dangers hiding within, and by the strength of the skeleton in front of him, they were big. Chasing after the furry wolf-man would just get himself injured, or killed.

He’ll die on his own, hopefully, Noah hoped, but he couldn’t worry about it now. He had an opponent to face.

Noah was already charging. The monster was busy trying to free itself from the ground. It was a perfect opportunity to nip the emerging threat in the bud.

He reared his pointed spear to its skull, and pierced it forward. Activating [Beastly Pike], and both of his Shards, the tip roared.

Rattling its teeth, the skeleton raised its arm. It blocked the hit, but at the cost of its own arm. Noah’s attack, powered by the shadows, cleaved its arm in two.

However, his original aim of destroying its skull was squashed. Repeating his attack, he thrust his weapon again, but the lights within the monster's eye blazed. Pain. It poured into his brain like a branding blade.

Attack cancelled, Noah stumbled back a few steps as the skeleton fully emerged from its grave.

Mind attack? Noah grimaced. Arm missing, Krall arrived.

Although the migraine still squirmed within his mind, he activated [Kill Command], or he attempted to. The moment he attempted it, a sudden pain blossomed within his head. Grimacing, holding his skull, Krall, and Thraz barreled toward the monster.

Krall’s massive limbs slammed into the creature's waist, stumbling it. While Thraz swung with all his might. A faint yellow green earthy hue covered the blade of his weapon. Along with the armour surrounding his body like a second skin, he truly had the image of an earth warrior.

The air tousled at the might of his weapon. It cleaved into the skeleton's other raised arm. Blocking it, but the same situation occurred.

The monster didn’t have the defence to entirely stop the attack. Thraz’s axe sliced into bone with a thwack. Cracking into hundreds of splinters, it crashed to the floor.

Thraz was about to attack again, but its eyes lit up like lanterns once more. However, unlike Noah, it had a much greater effect. Red seeped out from his eyes, nose, and ears. The dragonborn attempted to stay mounted on Krall, but his body refused to listen to him. With no strength in his limbs, he fell off from Noah’s mighty companion.

It was Krall’s turn.

Even without the help from Noah’s skill, his body was more than enough to deal great damage. There was no technique involved, he only relied on his animal instincts. Kill. Devour. Consume. Those were the thoughts revolving through his head like an inferno.

He raised his hands like a gorilla and smashed its skull to the side. It fell, the flickering within its eyes gradually becoming brighter.

It’s trying to use the mind attack again. Noah thought, and Krall listened.

He relentlessly beat the skull until cracks formed. It attempted to use its skill again, but Krall stuck his sharpened fingers into the monster's sockets. It seemed to do the trick. Along with the repeated bashing of its cranium, along with no arms, the monster couldn’t mount an attack. Helpless.

Soon, the crack in its skull split open. Noah shook his head, finally receiving a bout of relief. He walked forward and peered into the skull of the skeleton, revealing a crystalised core of some sort. It was the first time he had seen it. Not from the broadcast, and not in person either.

Noah had witnessed countless Otherworlders slay the undead, but it was the first time a core was revealed. Every other time, they always had some sort of demonic sigil painted in blood.

Was it yet another new addition?

He picked it up. It was hot to the touch, like a battery still in operation.

Uncommon - Mid Grade Expansion Core: A core created from pure Expansion.

Expansion Core? He remembered reading something about them in the System Manual. If he activated his Energy and focused on the core, he could obtain the Energy from within, adding it to his own.

Curiosity bit him, and just as he was about to try it out, the ground rumbled once more. Grunting, he tucked it into his pocket, and leapt up onto Krall’s back.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

More were coming.

One, two, four, six of them all smashed up from the ground below. Sets of flickering lanterns like eyes peered at everyone within the hall.

Declan was busy shouting orders, controlling the battlefield with well practised precision. His voice was like supernatural honey, calming them down, focusing them to a point. All their attacks were released on one target at a time.

From watching Noah fight, they knew what to look out for. What to aim at. But the mental attacks were proving a lot to bear. Blood seeped, and even with the skeletons not making a move–the Otherworlders were losing.

If it was a battle against bodies, then their practice would shine, but against a seemingly unavoidable attack–they were fighting an invisible enemy. They just had to hope their attacks landed before their minds were assaulted.

Noah, on the back of Krall, fought alongside the weakened Thraz. It seemed like the mind attack had taken its toll on his low Will mind, but the other skeletons didn’t seem to have the same level as the one they faced before.

But still, Noah had to prepare. Even if they didn’t have the same power as the first, the mental attacks would stack against Thraz–turning his mind into mush.

Thankfully, it was easy to see when they would fire their mind attacks. Eyes lit up like beacons, Thraz would duck behind Krall’s bulky body. Then he would counter attack.

Noah was in a unique position thanks to his high Will. he could experiment. He closed his eyes when the attack happened, only to realise that it had no effect.

“Thraz, close your eyes when the light reaches its apex!” Noah shouted loud enough so that the others could hear it.

With the new information, the tide was turned. Everyone here was capable. They just had to time it right, and they did. With new found accuracy, it wasn’t long before they dealt with the physically weak skeletons.

Exhaling a sharp breath of air, Noah finished the last target.

You defeated a - Level 42 Mind Skeleton.

…

You defeated a - Level 38 Mind Skeleton.

| Extra experience gained from fighting a higher levelled monster!

You have Levelled up!

| Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 40 -> Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 41

Krall, the Scourge of the Jungle has levelled up.

| Krall level 40 -> Krall level 41

Noah also obtained a few Fragments, along with a Rare mind attacking skill. Of course, he couldn’t use it as it was considered a mage skill, but he kept it for the future.

By this point, he had enough Uncommon, and Rare fragments to create skills with, but he decided to wait. Now wasn’t the time to be experimenting.

Noah recalled the fight. It was strange. At first he expected them to be warriors, but in actuality, they had no physical stats to mention. They didn’t even have any defence. If he, or the Otherworlders got close, it was game over.

Noah, Krall, and Thraz killed more than half of them, and so the majority of spoils went to them. Of course, he could have taken the others' rewards, but he didn’t. He didn’t want to. Well, at first he did. But now he was on his path, he didn’t feel inclined to take from others unless they pissed him off.

He didn’t know how strong this ‘Lord’ of the dungeon would be, and a group was always stronger than a single entity. Unless he was strong enough, but a few cores, and Rare skills wouldn’t make that difference.

And the others had made a choice. For now, they were working with him. How long would that last exactly? They were smart, and he wasn’t naive. As soon as he was no longer of use, he would be thrown to the curb. Just like Maera had done.

He would cross that path when it arrived.

“What do we do now?” Declan arrived at Noah's side, hesitantly.

“We forge on, I doubt you want Maera to take all the rewards for herself, do you?” Noah asked, half smiling.

“Definitely not,” Lorena added.

She also approached with her bow in hand, looking down at Noah. The other dark elf to her side was even taller than she was. He held a long curved blade tucked under his arm. As if ready to unsheathe it and strike at any time.

Don’t tell me, is she also royalty?

Well unlike Maera, Lorena didn’t seem like it. She didn’t try to recruit people, or even attempt to claw at a relationship with the others. It was why she was alone on the outskirts of the hub. Well, not exactly alone, but almost.

“So you do have something against the princess then?” Noah teased.

“Now I do have a reason,” She said. “Being betrayed isn’t an enjoyable experience.”

“It's not betrayal if it's expected." Noah chuckled, then turned to Declan. “So have you finally come to your senses?”

“It’s not like I wanted to face you in the first place,” Declan sighed. “I had a responsibility as a leader to face you because of what happened. But if it’s between you, Thraz, and your tamed monster, or Victor, then I choose the former.”

“Shameless,” Noah replied.

“Survival,” Declan corrected.

“Right.” Noah clapped. “Let’s get moving on. We’ll focus on speed while remaining cautious. There’s no way that Maera and her knights can clear faster than us.”

“If it’s a castle, then we must be in the cellars.” Declain struck a light, illuminating the room. It confirmed his words. “If the Lord of the castle is anywhere, it will be the main throne room.”

They moved. Easy, Noah thought. Except it wasn’t. As soon as they exited the cellar, and walked into a large hallway, it was made apparent that this was no ordinary castle.

If the castle was large on the outside, then the labyrinth of tunnels they had just encountered would be considered massive. It was like a pocket dimension, there was no way that the castle outside was the same as what they were walking through.

It felt like hours that they were walking, but finally, the walls changed. Two paths formed. A choice would have to be made.