Its eyes slowly turned upwards. A magical force then tried to explore Mark's entire being. This undead creature also knew Identify, though he did not know what it could do with that information.
It stood up. A flick of its wrists, and necromantic energy rushed into spots all over the floor. Then dark magic erupted from its fingertips and sought out his heart.
But the skeleton warrior in front of him blocked the spell. There was no blunt force knocking it back, and the spell splashed against its rusty tower shield without any changes. The skeleton mage flung another spell, a spear, but the same thing happened again.
Mark immediately guessed the spell only drained life. In other words, it posed no threat to his undead. Two of his skeletons advanced, but three Level 17 skeleton warriors appeared to block them.
Hundreds of corpses could be buried inside these walls and he'd never know. For now though, Mark was able to hold the advantage. His skeleton warrior's enchanted sword swept through the warriors like air, and they crumbled immediately.
But waves of skeletons began to rise, aided by an unseen force. Probably another mana core powered by the skeleton mage. His minions fought off the first few waves with ease while Mark studied the necromancy spells it used. The enemy was smarter than he expected, immediately turning its attacks onto him as soon as it realized its spells were ineffective.
He needed to slay the skeleton mage before too many warriors appeared. Fortunately, none of them had skills, so keeping them at bay wasn't too difficult yet. He began to assemble a plan while his minions bought him time.
The skeleton mage's body was encased by a shimmering aura. A Mage Armor, most likely, or a similar support spell. He'd need the Helm and Sword of Ruined Light.
Meanwhile, his other minions needed to clear a path. Two huge axes swept from side to side, clearing rows of undead as the party waded through. Mark's Repair Skeleton spell made sure nobody took enough damage to falter during the charge.
The skeleton mage had begun to hide inside the undead horde, placing dozens of shields between it and them. But his minions were too fast, and too strong to be held back. Though their bodies flaked away, each second brought them closer inch by inch.
It turned back and unleashed a storm of darkness. A few of the skeletons in front of it even looked enhanced by this spell. The skeleton mage then pointed a finger, ordering all but one to attack, but they still couldn't compare to the glowing sword in his skeleton warrior's hands. A web of white lines appeared in the air, and the mage's minions were torn to shreds.
Then the last of his orc's body stepped in to choke the unlife from the last skeleton warrior. His tower shield skeleton transformed into a wall behind them. The axe skeleton warrior rushed forwards and decimated another row of skeletons, revealing the mage once more.
His skeleton warrior moved forwards. The last few skeletons in its way fell, and the skeleton mage became defenseless.
It raised its fingertips for one last spell before it died. Mark made sure to imprint the entire process in his mind, and then pumped mana into the Helm of Ruined Light. The light instantly tore apart the glimmering substance covering the skeleton mage and bore through its skull.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 20. Choose one skill to learn.
Repair Corpse (Uncommon)
Improved Death Bolt (Uncommon)
Fireball (Common)
The system's message almost brought him out of his trance. But Mark pushed it aside. As dozens of still-rising skeletons crumbled behind him, he tried his hand at casting the new spell. He failed a few times, the magic almost exploding in his face before he regained control and let it dissipate. But he eventually managed to succeed.
Gained Skill: Death Bolt (Common)
The battle had ended. His current team of minions was almost entirely destroyed, except for his Ruined Light skeleton warrior, who still had enough of its body left to fight for another few rounds. But his other two skeletons were done. Their bodies could no longer be repaired and a heavy blow would finish them off.
Mark finally focused his attention on the status screen. Though his next goal was to destroy that carnivorous vine, he immediately dismissed learning Fireball. Death Bolt could accomplish the same.
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That meant he'd go a long way further by taking Repair Corpse this time, instead of Improved Death Bolt. He did notice Repair Skeleton became much weaker when cast on the orc instead of his other skeletons. Flesh was a material that gave it improved defenses, enough to last as long as the higher-leveled skeletons even though its level was much lower. So it was definitely a benefit.
And with the Skeleton Mage at his feet, defeating the Carnivorous Vine was no longer an issue. He made his decision and picked Repair Corpse.
Then, his cast Raise Dead. Even with the amount of Intelligence he had, most of his mana was drained away. But when it stood up again, Mark grinned in pure joy.
He commanded it to cast whatever spells it knew. Death Bolt, Black Ray, and Raise Dead were the only spells it had kept. But for Mark, that was enough.
He opened up his pocket plane. Instead of reanimating his second orc himself and costing him another chunk of mana, he had the skeleton mage do it. Without even spending another drop of mana, the orc stood up again and roared.
It turned and reanimated another two skeleton warriors - unfortunately reaching its limit already. Though these were the weaker versions, and Mark had to give orders by proxy, it still increased the maximum number of minions he had at a time.
Mark's mana pool was quite constricted though. He raised his Intelligence to 43 and began to find suitable targets to reanimate. The goblin mage could also be used, and he did have that damaged dual-sword skeleton as well. These more complex minions were good for him to control.
Mark had his minions drag all the corpses back inside his pocket plane while he spent time with his new skeleton mage. Though it no longer carried the same autonomy as when he fought it, a simple order allowed it to demonstrate its knowledge of necromancy on the broken bodies. This was unlike the goblin apprentice who could only cast a single spell of its chosen element.
He saw the effects of its necromancy, purer than his. Though the corpses still blew up, they seemed different, somehow, and it took Mark a few tries for him to see why. The bones in their bodies had gone whiter than ever, and some other parts seemed to swell. It was as if their state of decay had suddenly increased drastically.
After all the corpses in the room were no longer there, Mark took inventory. His skeleton mage's crown was an enchanted item. And it looked especially unique.
Magical Crown of Bone (Uncommon) - A crown crafted from the remnants of a magical beast. Imbues its wearer with an extra point of Intelligence.
"So, items can give stats too," Mark noted. It was another avenue to increase his overall power.
He found the mana core socketed behind the bony-white throne. This one was not damaged, but the array it powered certainly was. Mark needed to find another use for it instead of reanimating a horde of minions.
With the castle clear of enemies, Mark was finished here. He did one last search with his minions but uncovered nothing else. Then he immediately began jogging back to the area filled with plant life. He quickly checked up on Aria and James before he went down the tunnel.
"I'm good," she yawned, poking her head out of the hole. "James is healing up fine. He wanted to thank you."
Mark nodded and said his farewells. His next destination was to hunt down the Carnivorous Vine, who was waiting for him when he returned.
Its immobile nature gave him the advantage of being the first to strike. By now the humongous plant had forgotten his deeds, and was now resting peacefully in the darkness. When his enhanced torchlight illuminated its body, the vine seemed to be startled. It trembled violently, but he retreated.
Mark could use necromancy spells to easily win the fight. But the decay would cause a tremendous amount of damage to the monster, reducing the bounty he'd gain from its corpse. He considered using axes instead.
After all, with the skeleton mage, they had twice the casts of Raise Dead to eliminate the drawbacks of losing minions. So he set the team up for a long, drawn-out fight, with axe-wielders positioned as their primary damage dealers.
Mark allowed fodder skeletons to approach the vine first. They drew close and seemed to snuggle into the vine's mouths before an axe fell onto the plant, cleaving a large gash onto its trunk.
The carnivorous vine slammed his skeleton fodder onto the ground and crushed them in moments. His axe warrior had already ducked out of the way. The vine then swept towards their direction, but recoiled when it met spells of fire and decay.
Another axe tore a second chunk from its body, and the monstrous plant no longer cared about taking damage. It writhed around, trying to bludgeon them to death. But his minions did not fear sticking close. They were able to slip past its attacks every time.
Festering boils appeared on the Carnivorous Vine - the aftermath of many Death Bolts. He targeted the weak spots he saw, where the plant grew improperly and crooked. The decay spread, though not too much, giving him the opportunity to keep most of the Sleepy Sap.
When the vine moved dangerously close, three skeleton fodder rose up to take up the monster's attention. It preferred to wrap around his minions and devour them, but that also meant it would slow down for a moment of time. This allowed them to do even more damage - enough to outspeed its natural healing.
Eventually, the vine became so infected with deathly energies that it suddenly withered away completely. Its immense bulk was no help against his mounting decay. The body fell on the ground, leaving behind a rapidly rotting plant. But there was enough Sleepy Sap remaining to fill up an empty jar.
Though Mark was a little disappointed at the waste, Death Bolt had made it much easier than he expected. It was a worthy trade. After having his minions chop up a few uncontaminated chunks of vine, he had them take it inside his pocket plane.
Then he stared at what the monster had covered. Behind the vine was a tunnel, and without a massive body blocking noise, he heard the deafening sound of water falling.