From a safe distance, Mark opened his pocket plane and out walked his undead. First came the orc, teeth bared in an endless snarl. Next came his tower shield skeleton, flanked by his swift skeleton warrior. Finally, his goblin apprentice stepped into the mines again, carrying its Staff of Fire.

He assembled the same formation he had in the other area. Tower shield in front, faster skeleton warrior in the flanks. Goblin apprentice beside him and orc as the vanguard.

Mark had become more wary of how classes could be combined. Case in point: Theodore, a blend between Fighter and Mage, with both its strengths and less of their disadvantages. The man did not even seem affected by a headache.

Mark's primary concern to prepare for was a fusion between Mage and Rogue. Invisibility spells, muffling spells, and hidden magical tricks were quite frightening additions to a rogue's arsenal.

He was certain Theodore suspected it too, but had only confirmed it fully upon seeing the mark left behind. To snatch a victory, he had to do something unpredictable.

Along the way back, Mark picked up various skeletons. Though many bodies were broken or torn apart - including the most powerful skeleton general - there were still some high-leveled skeleton minions remaining. Like a more advanced skeleton warrior leader with the same swiftness ability as his current cloaked skeleton. And another skeleton with larger bones, who replaced his current tower shield skeleton. Both had been Level 15.

Mark needed to place his three extra stat points into Intelligence to successfully raise them along with his orc and his goblin. Even so, Raise Dead couldn't always reanimate a body with all its skills. It only worked for the swift skeleton warrior. The reason remained hidden, but having one was still good news.

All usable body parts were shoved into his pocket plane, and even some of the bone dust as well. The more the better, especially since he had four workers to help him. He waited quite a while for any attackers to arrive, relying on his undead's magical sight, but nobody came. Were they busy or something?

Mark stacked up a few piles of corpses and a pile of scattered limbs. It was enough for now. He made sure to prioritize higher-leveled skeletons first, the best experimentation material at the moment. There were a few ideas swimming in his mind, but they had to wait.

He then turned his efforts on trying to find the other three people in their group - James, Aria, and Henry. From what Carol said, they were supposed to have gone into another tunnel, which also happened to be in the direction of the carnivorous vine. Mark took his torch to the location and saw it hidden beneath some vines.

He climbed through a small gap and crouched on through. His skeleton's tower shield wouldn't fit, but he could just throw it into his pocket plane for later. Then, his goblin apprentice slipped past him and down into another, more normal tunnel.

Mark didn't get far before he saw a broken body. Henry's expression was twisted, his limbs were splayed out, and the less said about his skin, the better. But where were Aria and James?

"Well," he muttered, "I guess this is the spot." He commanded his skeletons to spread out, keeping the tower shield by his side. They quickly discovered another corpse but not one of theirs. One of the attackers had fallen, meaning Aria and James had gotten away.

There was a lot of blood spilled on the floor. Mark tried to track where they led, but the trail had ended. Something managed to stop their bleeding, likely a healing potion. That would mean these attackers were well-prepared.

Whatever the case, this was his only lead. Perhaps the attackers wanted to kill off the rest first, before doubling back to finish off Theodore's group. Mark had to find them to prevent the failure of his plans. Such a friendly group was one he'd like to cooperate with in the future.

He didn't manage to find anything though until he reached the end of the tunnel and into another cavern. With the help of his brightest torches, he had an easier time seeing what he was dealing with.

Plants. The entire area was covered in a field of grass, soft and delicate under his feet. An aroma of honey hung in the air, making his mouth water. Though there was a dead body covered by a patch of tall grass in the corner, Mark took a moment to enjoy the freshness in the air.

"Alright, what happened here?" he said to no one in particular. Mark ordered the cloaked skeleton warrior to go drag the corpse out. This dead woman was covered in a multitude of cutting wounds and scorch marks. Her eyes were wide open, and her mouth wore a permanent scream.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Looks familiar," Mark muttered. Some of the scorch marks belied a deeper wound once he pushed past burnt skin. Like those from an arrow. A fire arrow, probably from Aria's hand.

Then a dull noise echoed through the cavern. His head snapped in that direction, right as a series of flaming arrows shot out from the ceiling and exploded on the walls. A few of the vines fell and began burning.

Mark stamped out some of the flames early, but they seemed unable to spread far anyway. After burning up a small area of grass, they extinguished themselves. He extinguished all his torches and quietly approached. Most of the area was already lit up already, though, by scattered torches dug into the soil. Another sign of human presence.

The quiet steps of his undead allowed them to reach a vantage point without alerting anyone. There was a small hill to the side, with some shrubbery. He crept into a bush and scanned his surroundings. Three different patches of underbrush were below his view, one containing the barest hint of unnatural colors - a pant leg sticking out.

How many enemies were there? Mark couldn't tell, and nobody was moving. But what he could do was try and Identify one of the people down there, and estimate their threat level.

The one with their pant leg exposed was only Level 7. The person shivered and looked around wildly, but another person hidden in a nearby bush laughed at him instead.

"...too worried," he chuckled. "Another bug on your leg?" Mark's heightened senses allowed him to still hear what they were saying.

"Dunno. I just don't want to deal with those flies again. Creepiest things I ever saw." This voice was also male.

"Focus," a harsh female voice sounded right beside them. The woman was nowhere to be found, however. Mark's brows were raised as he looked around.

Nobody spoke afterwards, and they all just kept still, waiting for something. They were probably here to ambush Aria and James, though. Mark began to move.

Another two sets of flaming arrows soared from above their heads, and Mark saw where they came from: a small hole up on the wall. But the light cast down by the flames failed to illuminate any of their attackers' hiding spots. The spells crashed into the floor, accomplishing nothing but the destruction of a few more plants.

That stealthed woman was the most probable threat he faced. To test her mettle, Mark opened his pocket plane behind the hill. He then sent his weakest skeleton warrior to stumble into the bushes with the Level 7.

"Why is there a skeleton here?" the man asked. Then a dagger sank into the skeleton's spine, disabling it. A woman appeared with magical light flaring to life in her hands. She vanished again shortly afterwards.

Mark frowned. An invisible rogue was too great a threat for him to openly reveal himself. He needed to use proxies. Skeleton after skeleton was raised and sent into the fray, striding into the ambushing grounds to target the Level 7 alone. The woman showed up once again, killing them all in an instant before becoming invisible again, but then a third wave appeared.

"What is going on!" exclaimed the man being attacked. He stood up and attacked the skeleton when it became clear his allies were not willing to defend him. But being at such a low level, the man struggled to defeat the first. The second was still possible, but the third? Finally, the woman stepped in again, stabbing straight through its skull.

"Come out," she said. "I know you're there."

But Mark had already closed his pocket plane and reanimated his actual minion team. Five people stepped out of the bushes, wildly glancing around. Six in total. He was waiting for Aria to send those fire arrows down again.

She did so with gusto. Fire arrows sieved the grasslands, causing the attackers to run. One of them died pincered between eight different arrows, somehow able to maneuver mid-air. The others ran straight towards Mark's location as he slipped away to hide.

His orc's roar shattered the sounds of their footsteps and sent the men doubling backwards. Fear was evident on their faces, especially when one of them tripped. His cloaked skeleton warrior swooped in and cut the man's throat in an instant. A blast of light erupted from its helmet, blinding everyone in the area except for his orc.

The beast crashed into another man and split him in two. A huge burning mass flew through the air and executed another, backed by thrown shards of bone. From the top of the hill sat his goblin apprentice and tower shield skeleton, launching a stream of projectiles below.

Mark poked his head back over the hill when he no longer heard the sound of combat. He counted five dead bodies. But the woman was nowhere to be found. She had gone invisible again, but this time, chose to flee.

Mark put Aria and James out of his mind as he focused on recovering his mana and driving away his headache. He kept his gold-flecked healing potion and Sleepy Sap bottle on hand, in case the woman managed to find him. Eventually, he recovered, and Aria seemed to understand there was an ally below from all the screaming. She no longer attacked, though her eye was probably trained on the hill.

Since the situation was still dangerous, Mark chose to simply sit there and meditate. He practiced injecting the portal key with environmental mana, then letting it leak back out. Through this, he was able to train his summoning speed without having to manifest the portal.

Eventually, as time slowly crawled forwards hour by hour, he accomplished his goal. Even with his eyes open, Mark managed to pump mana inside the portal key. He wore a massive grin on his face as he stepped out into the torchlight.