Mark stayed a while, thinking and planning. Losing access to the pocket plane was not the end for him yet. He simply needed to grow stronger.

One of the easiest methods was to find and kill more of the goblin patrol groups, but their numbers were dwindling. He didn't know if another orc patrol group would arrive while he was fighting another. They had to realize their brethren were disappearing.

But he had to take the risk. After making sure nobody was in the area, Mark picked up the Helm and Sword of Ruined Light, animated the hobgoblin, the goblin warrior, and the rogue, then set off. He did try to reanimate the mage, but it failed to keep its magical abilities. Instead, all he'd have was a weak, frail goblin.

The party of four traveled closer to the main outpost where more enemies were present. With his minions and his magic, Mark was suited for facing larger groups instead of stronger enemies. All he needed to do was avoid the orcs whenever he saw them.

They burned a quiet path through the cavern, killing any patrol parties found until they stopped halfway to the outpost. Its lights revealed a crowd of goblins seated on their structures or on the ground, resting for their next patrol.

Mark was relieved to find only a few watchtowers and small huts to deal with. One of these houses looked larger than the others, and most of the goblins flowed through there. It was an important zone to save for later.

Such a large amount of goblins would easily overwhelm him. Mark backed away for now, hunting isolated parties instead, and the ones who patrolled right into his killing area. They were able to finish off quite a large number until the goblins began to realize their population was dwindling. A bell rang shortly afterwards, and the patrols looked much more guarded than before.

The goblins streamed back towards their outpost and began amassing into larger groups. A mage stepped out from the larger building, flanked by its two hobgoblin bodyguards. It pointed wildly around the area, prompting the other goblins to continue patrolling.

But one of these groups lagged behind the others. Two unruly hobgoblins slowed the rest of the goblins down, including a goblin mage. This mage - a feral goblin apprentice, apparently - tried to push them to walk faster, but they wouldn't budge. Mark saw this as a perfect chance to strike.

He and his undead goblins snuck past the other patrols around the area. Once the hobgoblins made a ruckus, they slid through the slow brutes and executed the unaware apprentice within moments. Then they split off in four separate directions, immediately gutting the weaker patrol members first.

Goblin weapons were sometimes poisoned, swinging the fight in Mark's favor as soon as his goblins reached melee range. The two hobgoblins trembled, yet their glare remained fierce. They howled and charged at him first. But a flash of light came from his Helm of Ruined Light and blinded them both, giving time for his three goblins to surround one of the hobgoblins and hack away.

Spellfire brought the other one down, its hands shielding its face as it continued to lumber his way. But Mark easily maintained distance and continued hurling Magic Missiles at the monster. After his goblins finished off the first, they swarmed onto the second and tore it apart as well, disregarding their injuries.

His three goblins had taken too much damage fighting them in melee. Their bodies broke down under the wild swings of the cornered hobgoblin, perishing before they could finish the kill. But that was enough. Mark ended the hobgoblin with a well-placed shot to its eyes. Then he felt something swell inside him as if a dam had broken. He grinned fiercely.

Congratulations! You have reached Level 10. Choose one skill to learn.

Raise Dead (Uncommon) - Infuse necromantic energies into a corpse of your choosing, reanimating the body with true unlife.

Improved Magic Missile (Uncommon) - An active skill for mages who have dived even further into all the methods of the Magic Missile. All aspects of the spell are increased.

Fireball (Uncommon) - An active skill for mages attuned to fire. Conjures a ball of flame and propels it with a roaring force, detonating upon contact.

"There it is," Mark exclaimed in joy. He immediately selected the first option. Knowledge rushed into his mind and filled it to the brim with the ways his spell could be improved. Animate Dead had contained many hidden possibilities concerning his command over his minions, and the system provided him with these insights and more. Within moments, his spell upgraded entirely, becoming something much better.

He glanced at the hobgoblin corpse and unleashed his new skill. Its eyes blazed with light as necromantic magic rushed into its body, propping it up much faster than before. The newly awakened monster swung its fist and howled with victory without Mark's input.

"Rise and shine," he muttered. Soul flames were what this fire was called, representing the connection between the undead monster and its body. That was why it remained a weak spot. Severing this connection was one way to destroy the undead.

That was all Mark understood about soul flames. Since he was still a novice necromancer, he had to support his minions with mana, or they would collapse. He presumed this had something to do with these soul flames, but didn't have the concrete knowledge yet.

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These flames also granted the undead some spirituality. Not a lot of it, but enough to give them the ability to understand and execute complex commands without constant micromanagement. Mark was able to get the hobgoblin to patrol an area, which was impossible for simple animated undead before.

With the improved efficiency in mana cost, he was able to reanimate both of these hobgoblins and the apprentice as well. Surprisingly, he managed to get it to cast a Firebolt spell. It was very similar to his Magic Missile, only much higher in temperature.

Raise Dead enabled some minions to keep their spellcasting abilities though he had no idea what the conditions were. He tried to reanimate the goblin mages again, after retreating back into the tunnels. But there was no change in their casting ability. It seemed only this goblin apprentice had that power.

Unfortunately, the staff of fire was still in the pocket plane. Without it, a simple Firebolt posed no threat to the orc. He turned to a third goblin warrior as his next minion instead.

"They should be enough," Mark said. He closed his eyes and breathed. After a brief moment of calm meditation, he opened up his portal and ran far behind his minions.

The orc burst free a few seconds later. His hobgoblins immediately brought down their arms onto the monster before it could swing its axe. Then his goblin warrior slipped its knife into the orc's artery.

It grunted in pain, but refused to relent. The monster managed to throw off one of his hobgoblins only to find the other tackling it down. His goblin warrior's knife was able to finish the job, stabbing into all the soft spots detected.

Even under the brief confusion of exiting a portal, his minions had almost lost this ambush. Mark made sure to engrave in his mind how powerful these orcs were. Then he ordered his minions to drag the body back inside.

After getting back access to his pocket plane, he found most of the corpses obliterated by axe wounds. His mushrooms, too, had been crushed.

The staff of fire remained intact, buried underneath a huge pile of body parts. He gave it to his goblin apprentice, having it test out its fire spells. On Firebolt, it seemed to have a similar effect, though the mage naturally had a stronger attack. But when he ordered it to try upgrading to Fireball, the spell dissipated halfway, and the backlash seared the skin off the apprentice's hands.

Mark believed his mastery over Raise Dead influenced how many skills he could extract from corpses. For now, he'd have to make do with weaker magic.

After his minions dragged the severed body parts into separate piles, Mark tried to reanimate the orc. But his mana drained dry within moments. He had considered placing his new stat points into Wisdom, but trying to reanimate an orc as soon as possible was likely the better idea. The only exception was if more Wisdom improved his ability to control more minions.

Mark decided to test the power of his new minions first, before he made a choice. Though there were other patrol groups carrying two torches, not all of them contained orcs. All but one had a focus on hobgoblins instead. Mark was simply unlucky to encounter an orc the first time.

He easily slaughtered the ones he could, and when he found a second orc, immediately chose to sacrifice a hobgoblin and run away. There were plenty of corpses for him to use. One loss was nothing. After rapidly clearing out entire patrol groups, the rest of the goblins became frightened. They retreated back into camp while the remaining orc group wandered close by.

Mark, now at Level 11, had seen how powerful his minions were during battle. After putting one more point into Wisdom to confirm it wasn't necessary yet, he placed the rest of his points into Intelligence. Then he bit into a mushroom and waited for any signs of illness. None came.

Mark Winters - Level 11

Class: Mage (Common)

Stats

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 5

Endurance: 11

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 25

Wisdom: 9

By now he had figured out the use of Wisdom for necromancers: finer control over his magic and therefore his undead. Meanwhile, Intelligence gave him a larger magic pool and empowered his spells. More Intelligence meant he could reanimate stronger creatures, while more Wisdom meant they could fight better.

Both stats were so necessary he wondered how he was going to raise the other four. Vitality hadn't showcased much of its effects other than his increased stamina recovery after each battle, but that was still quite powerful. His Strength and Dexterity were his current weaknesses, and catching him off-guard was probably the best way to kill him.

Mark wanted to minimize his chances of dying. He vowed to try and acquire stats in other ways than leveling, if that was even possible. With a nod of his head, he stood back up. It was time to stop resting. Magic pulsed from his arms and burrowed into the corpse of the orc. As it began to rise back up, his mana drained away at an alarming rate. He wouldn't be able to continue without sacrificing one of his current hobgoblins.

Mark gritted his teeth and let some of his hobgoblins' magic bleed back into him. Two of them collapsed onto the floor and their soul flames faded away. Finally, after a few long moments to regenerate his mana, the orc stood up and growled, a pale energy coursing through its body. But his magic was completely spent.

The orc grunted and heaved its axe upwards. Though he had lost the use of his spells and two of his three hobgoblins, it would be his most solid bulwark in the upcoming battle. There was one last feral orc remaining, after all, and he needed levels.

The challenge in this fight was to keep his undead orc as undamaged as possible with only one ally by its side. A nearly impossible task. Currently, he couldn't restore the damage accumulated by his minions. Hobgoblin corpses were plentiful, but orc bodies were too rare and he preferred to keep them intact for larger fights - like the carnivorous vine.

"The goblins seem to rule this place," he remarked. They were everywhere, and if Mark could run faster, he could avoid the feral orc while letting his own orc convert the rest of the population into levels. Then he'd gain more Intelligence to raise a second hobgoblin and reenact his first kill of an orc.

Mark wracked his brain for a solution. Fight head on, or try and pull his tricks again? The difference between this battle and the last was the entire swarm of goblins backing the enemy orc. He couldn't just wait in his pocket plane for the orc to come running.

It would've been so much easier if he could summon the portal while the orc was charging.