Mark came across a series of wooden structures embedded into the cave. Now it was beginning to look like a proper mineshaft.
"This place should've been an outpost," Mark thought out loud. He glanced at the various supplies scattered around. Though damaged or rotted away, he could tell they were meant to store food and water. And there were many little things which gave off the impression this place was meant for resting.
"There's grain," he murmured. Bags of spilled, bug-infested foodstuff sat on the ground, making him frown. They were of little use to him. But this scene made little sense.
Did the goblins not need to eat? The presence of grain meant there was a connection to the surface, but having unopened bags like this hinted they were either transformed instantly, or the tutorial had placed these here for a reason. Mark wracked his brains but he couldn't figure out the meaning behind it all. So he ignored it and kept rummaging through other containers.
Much of the items lying around had decayed. He could clearly tell the goblins had failed to maintain any of this equipment. The weaponry they carried remained polished, but everything else had been forgotten.
After coming across a small puddle of stained liquid in the remains of a stone well, Mark remembered his dwindling water reserves. A few more drinks and it would all be gone. He could still eat some of the mushrooms, but that would only be a temporary solution.
The carnivorous vine was his best lead for now. Mark had realized from the beginning he might have no choice but to head back. To prevent himself from becoming lost in such a maze, he had broken down the skeletons inside his pocket plane and separated out their bones. He then buried them into the dirt while walking down the tunnel, like pieces of bread on a trail. Those markings gave him the confidence to keep going.
When Mark discovered a map inside an old rusted chest, he handled it very carefully. It took him a while to discern what it really was, but after studying the little shapes and figures, he managed to figure out what was drawn on the dusty page.
Ahead of this outpost contained a larger outpost. It was fairly straightforward, though what was drawn on the page did make Mark frown. Two deep etches similar to the one drawn on his current outpost made him think there would be two goblin leaders ahead. Much more dangerous.
Unfortunately, the goblins had not reached the carnivorous vine yet, and provided no useful information beyond the area of their outposts. They did encounter the undead rooms behind him, and scrawled down some images, but had apparently chosen to ignore them. Strangely, he thought one of the drawings looked like an ox. Coupled with the grain he had found, Mark was very curious about what was going on aboveground.
He focused on the task at hand. "In the tutorial, risk comes hand in hand with reward," Mark reminded himself. Though the outpost ahead looked twice as dangerous, pushing forwards would give him the best chance to improve rapidly. Each series of enemies he slew provided the experience he needed to grow stronger and stronger. If he found some more goblin packs during the long journey ahead, he could try to push for Level 10, drawing him closer to a matchup against the Carnivorous Vine.
After searching every nook and cranny inside the outpost, Mark set his gains down on the floor. There were two bottles of tightly-corked wine, a small satchel containing extremely well-preserved healing herbs, and a few small gemstones. The loot here seemed more like small bonuses for a perceptive eye, instead of something special like the staff of fire.
He had also piled up the goblin corpses inside his pocket plane. Mark was beginning to feel like a hoarder, but it was necessary, he reassured himself. After all, he hadn't taken every single miscellaneous item scattered around the place. At least with corpses, he gained something usable from every encounter.
Almost eleven hours had passed since he first set foot into these mines. It was time for Mark to rest. He wasn't thirsty or hungry yet, so his rations remained good for another few days. Meat, mushrooms, two wines, bread loaves, and water bottles were plenty. Combined with the sleepy sap and the healing herbs, he had the energy to continue his chain of battles.
So Mark focused on reducing his weaknesses. Again and again, he summoned his pocket plane portal as quickly as possible. When the mana in the environment grew thin, he switched to practicing his control over Bruce and the undead tiger. Eventually, he grew sleepy, and wandered inside his pocket plane for a short nap on the soft soil.
In the span of two hours, Mark was able to reduce his portal summoning time to ten seconds. His minions' cooperation grew more seamless, and he felt refreshed after that nap. His control over magic had improved as well. There was no problem for him to continue.
He set off with Bruce by his side and the tiger in front. By consolidating his magical connection with his minions, he had managed to gain the ability to detect their current condition. Now he could react whenever they took damage, instead of when they were destroyed.
The range in which he could maintain control had also increased. Such improvements made Mark approach the next fight with a lot more confidence. Instead of shivering, an almost fanatical glee rose within him as he glimpsed the next group of goblins approach. And they had no ranged weapons either.
His tiger cracked its teeth open in a snarl. This attempt at intimidation failed to dissuade the goblins from charging. But they posed no threat to Mark's powerful team. With no way to defend themselves against his spells, all five goblins fell in moments.
Three more of these patrol groups came within view and were subsequently slain. They mostly consisted of goblins around Level 3, though sometimes there would be auxiliary goblins at Level 2. None of them were anything special unlike the mage and the bodyguard he had found. In fact, they were less intelligent than he expected.
Taking the map out, Mark figured out a point where the goblin packs were most likely to patrol. He snuffed out his torch and lay in wait. Once he heard the little monsters approaching, he attacked and finished them off quickly before another group came.
This continued until he reached Level 8. Mark dumped all three additional stat points into Intelligence, giving him the power to animate a third undead creature at the same time, though controlling all of them was another story altogether. He had to admit, he struggled. Casting spells also became incredibly difficult in-between his orders.
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Still, this gave him an extra undead minion who could continuously follow simple orders. It was far more efficient to fight with minions and preserve mana for other battles. And by pushing his control to the limits, his mind noticeably became faster. Mark felt himself growing with each fight.
He was able to ambush two more groups of goblins before they started to appear much less often. A third was slain, and then Mark had to continue onwards to find more enemies.
There seemed to be a looming structure in the distance. That was probably where he wanted to go. But as soon as he took a few steps, he was beset by a group of five goblins, complete with warriors, rogues, mages, and archers. A full team of enemies, with three at Level 5, and a mage-bodyguard pair both at Level 6. The bodyguard was not a simple goblin though, but a hobgoblin.
Mark sent his undead tiger to probe the mage first, hiding his true intentions from them. Magic Missiles swarmed around the warriors while his other two undead ran in to tie down the melee goblins. As they became entangled in battle, he suddenly diverted the tiger to leap away and aim for the archer instead.
Its arrow flew broken and fell to the floor. Now, Mark only needed to worry about the mage's attacks. He dodged the fireball aimed at him and stepped forwards, suppressing the mage with Magic Missiles and his skeletal tiger.
Mark wasn't aiming to kill the mage in one blow. Its hobgoblin bodyguard was quite good at its job. Able to sling the tiger over its shoulders with ease, he had to concentrate on helping his tiger to dodge.
He needed something to help turn the tides. After revealing a weakness, the goblin rogue slipped away from his third minion, but Bruce caught it off guard by throwing his shield at it. An eruption of light from his helmet scorched the goblin and sent it running in fear. Then his skeleton stalked forwards to continue helping Bruce.
Mark gave one final order to the tiger to kill the goblin mage by any means necessary and began to conjure his pocket plane. Its bodyguard, unprepared for a reckless attack, missed its next grab entirely and watched its enemy tear open a hole in the mage's arm. But its reaction was quick enough. After pulling the tiger away, the hobgoblin wrestled it under its feet.
Mark immediately cut the connection and switched to his fourth animated undead, lying dormant inside his pocket plane. A giant skeleton stomped out. Its massive sword swept out and knocked down the goblin warrior, enabling Bruce to cut through its neck.
The goblin mage noticed this new threat. A Fireball blasted a chunk of the giant's body apart, but it still remained intact.
Then it barreled down the tunnel like a truck, tackling the hobgoblin onto the floor. The mage, now defenseless, turned around to run, but Mark was already there. He kicked the goblin down and plunged a goblin knife deep into its belly.
Bruce and the giant skeleton tore the hobgoblin apart. Mark quickly dragged all the corpses into his pocket plane before the rogue could return, and sent the skeleton giant back in as well. It was harder to control than he expected.
He animated a new undead wolf, who had a smaller profile than the tiger. It was more likely to avoid attacks - though its speed lagged slightly behind - and was a better fit for the upcoming fights than the damaged tiger. Mark's enemies were becoming fiercer and fiercer. Maybe even an orc would appear soon.
Spots of light began to flicker in the distance, coming from torches placed near the outpost. They illuminated the pathways around the buildings from afar. He saw many roaming goblin packs appear and disappear, and Mark slowed down to watch them go.
His fingers trailed along the wall and stopped at a point where it ran off to the right and disappeared into the darkness. The cave had opened up into a large cavern. These goblins could be anywhere.
For now, Mark switched directions and crept alongside the left wall. He traveled slowly, making sure to stay in darker areas. His undead minions walked soundlessly behind him. Goblins on patrol wouldn't remain dumb; if they were alerted by anything suspicious and couldn't solve the problem by themselves, they would notify the entire camp. Mark's previous tactic of sending out a scout wouldn't turn out well for him - but neither was it necessary.
As feral goblins, they had low-light vision. But this cavern was much darker than the tunnels. Mark was able to hide in the shadows and stay out of sight. He saw flicker torchlight appear in odd areas, deducing that they might've been patrols. He sat still and tried to see if there was a pattern to their movements.
His efforts were rewarded when he saw one of those torches come closer to where he was sitting. Taking care to stay out of sight, Mark waited until they were right next to him before unleashing his attack. Magic Missiles swiftly tore through the body of the warrior and the archer beside it. Then Bruce tied down the hobgoblin long enough for the wolf to rip out the throat of the mage. The rogue, unable to do much alone, tried to run but could never be faster than a wolf.
Mark ambushed another patrol group and leveled up to nine. Raising his Intelligence, Wisdom, and Endurance by one point each, he took a break to rest before continuing.
Mark Winters - Level 9
Class: Mage (Common)
Stats
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 5
Endurance: 11
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 8
There was a different patrol group in the distance, which always moved with two points of light at a time. These two glimmers never strayed from one another. Mark had been suspicious of this, avoiding them in case they contained different types of creatures - like orcs. But the extra level now gave him the confidence to battle one of these groups.
He backed up to the entrance of the cavern and waited for a two-torch patrol group to approach. His pocket plane was already summoned just in case. When the face of a large, pig-headed being carrying an axe in its hands appeared, Mark was not surprised. He prepared to try his best.
A Magic Missile burst open the head of a goblin archer through a gap in the hobgoblin's guard. After fighting them so many times, he had memorized their habits. Then his next spell came for the rogue and killed it as well.
But the feral goblin mage did not respond as he expected. Instead, it aimed its spell at the Level 8 Feral Orc. White light washed over the monster, and it roared with triumph.
Mark immediately dashed to his portal. The orc swung its axe and cleaved the wolf in two, moving much, much faster than anything he had seen before. Then it rammed its shoulder into Bruce and lopped off his first minion's head in a single blow.
His third skeleton tried to stop it, but the orc was too fast and strong. After it exploded past another undead and into his portal, Mark's giant skeleton only slowed the monster down slightly before crumbling to pieces from the sheer brutality imbued in the orc's strikes. But before it fell, his undead had managed to delay it long enough for him to close the portal.
That bought him time to kill off the rest of the goblins, including the now defenseless mage. Then he fled back into the tunnel, collapsing into the ground with heavy breaths a great distance away. Mark could not fight an orc yet. It was too powerful. But he still needed a way to drive it out of his pocket plane.