I scratched my head as I arrived at the first batch of dropped items. Ummm… What? At my feet were several shiny gold coins and a pair of leather pants. What the fuck does a slime need with a pair of pants? This is goddamn ridiculous! Matter of fact what does a slime need with money? Is he hopping down to the Slime Market and buying some eggs? This world gets crazier by the day apparently. Reminder to self ask Chooftoof about item drops.

Going from pile to pile, Golem at my side, I started to pick up all the gold and items. Right away I found a pair of leather boots and a leather vest. Oh, sweet new clothes! It's about damn time I got out of these rags! I removes the tattered remains of my current ensemble and dressed myself in the new pants, boots, and vest combo. A perfect fit? As if the items were tailor-made for me. How the hell does that make sense?

Oh, nice! Increased defense. I collected all the gold and tossed it into a pack the Golem was carrying. As I started gathering the other items I kept getting message pop-ups when looking at them closely.

Well, that’s odd. Guess I’ll add it to the list of things to ask Chooftoof next time I speak to him. Frustrated with my inability to identify these item drops I angrily tossed them into one of the packs. I’ll deal with them later. After collecting all of the loot I patted my Golem on the arm and said, “Let’s go.”

Rumble rumble. I’m starving. That fight must have taken a lot out of me. What am I supposed to eat? Standing still stumped as to what I should do because I probably wouldn’t make it much further without eating. I looked at the slime jelly scattered across the ground. Should I? I mean do I have a choice? Starve or eat some dead slimes?

I sighed and reached down scooping up a handful of the stuff. Here goes nothing. I quickly stuffed the handful into my mouth before my resolve failed me. Chewing as fast as I could I gulped it down. That’s a weird texture and it’s quite off-putting. But it has a decent flavor albeit a little overly sweet and salty. Not sure I’d eat it if I wasn’t hungry. Eh, what the hell? I’m not trying to die of starvation. That’d be embarrassing as the badass Necromancer I am. I scurried to and from scooping and eating my fill of the slightly odd-tasting jelly.

After finally satisfying my hunger I scooped up the little remaining jelly and popped it into an empty pack. After that, I double-checked to make sure I had gotten all of the loot drops. After I confirmed I had collected all the items the Golem and I once again set off exploring the labyrinth looking for a route back to the surface. It was an uneventful couple of days for the most part. Travel, eat, sleep while the Golem guards me, and repeat. I grew tired of my need to stop and rest so I devised a clever alternative.

I grabbed some rope out of one of the packs and looped it through a few of them. I tied them together to form a makeshift hammock for myself, so I can sleep while my golem continues. It is a creation of magic so it never tires and doesn’t require rest. This is genius. We’re going to cover so much ground like this. I climbed up the Golem and settled into my pack hammock to make sure it was structurally sound. It’s a bit strange but it will hold up.

“Let’s go Golem!” I said as I closed my eyes and started to snooze.

“Ok, Master. I will.” The Golem responded.

The Golem started lumbering down the meandering corridors of this abysmal cavern. My half-asleep body swayed with every heavy step. This is going to take some getting used to. That was my last thought before I abruptly succumbed to sleep. It was a restless sleep filled with dreams. Dreams of my goblin brethren still trapped in slavery, days filled with endless labor and harsh beatings. Dreams of Chooftoof whispering to me but it couldn’t be heard. Dreams turned to nightmares as I failed repeatedly to free them from such torments.

Nightmares of my death. Nightmares of my return to slavery. Nightmares of being executed in front of the goblins as an example. A restless sleep filled with nightmares ended abruptly as I fell from the back of my Golem mobile.

“OUCH!” I yelped in immense pain.

Laying there in pain I realized I had pulled or sprained something in my leg. Damn, that hurts so much. Attempting to ignore the pain I struggled back to my feet. Yeah... Something definitely messed up with my foot. I just hope it’s not broken. I did a weird half-limp half-hop to get back to the Golems' side. I ordered the Golem to kneel so I could reach one of the packs.

After a little time spent rummaging, I found what was left of my old clothes. I ripped them into strands to make a binding for my injured ankle. After completing that task I rummaged around for some more rope and made myself a safety harness to prevent falling while sleeping from happening again.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Securing the harness around me, we continued traveling. As we traveled I munched on some slime jelly in an attempt to ignore the throbbing pain in my ankle. Eventually, I nodded off to sleep again. My trusty Golem kept on going searching for a way up. After a long nap, I was suddenly awoken by a giant rocky finger jabbing me in the side.

“Master, wake up. Something is coming.” The Golem warned.

Bolting up and observing the surrounding area, trying to shake the sleep out of my eyes. Is it just me or is the Golem getting smarter? No! No distractions what is coming? It was then that I started hearing a constant click-clack noise like many tiny legs rushing toward me. I don’t know what is coming but I don’t like that it sounds like a whole mess of insects.

My jaw dropped when I saw a giant centipede come hurtling around the corner heading straight for me. Oh shit! Quietly panicking I tried to think of a way to come out on top of this situation. I don’t know if I can beat this thing. I mean I nearly got my ass handed to me by some fucking slimes. This thing is huge. Don’t have a choice really, got to risk it for the biscuit as they say. The biscuit here is my life. No sweat!

The giant centipede came rushing in and immediately wrapped itself around my Golem. Its maw full of razor-sharp teeth shot towards my shoulder in an attempt at fast food. I quickly crouched down as far as I could. Just at the right time as my Golems hands enclosed upon the monster's mandibles, completely stopping the bite. Whew, that was a close one! Standing back up I quickly started casting.

“Bone Armor!” I shouted covering myself in bone armor.

“Summon Spirits!” I yelled until my mana was out.

Eleven spirits formed in front of me as I was panting for breath. Chest heaving the spirits threw themselves at the giant centipede, still being held in check by my Golem. The centipede roared in annoyance as its armored carapace started to crack. Green flames licked at the centipede in numerous spots. The centipede attempted to free its head but roared in pain as one of the mandibles snapped off in the Golem's grip.

With a wicked grin, the Golem swung his mighty arm and lodged the broken mandible straight into one of the centipedes' eyes.

Yellow ichor exploded out of the now ruined eye, splattering onto the Golem. The centipede started reeling in pain, this only deepened the grin as the Golem seemed to revel in the agony of his Master’s enemy. It was then the Golem uttered a single word before continuing the savage beating.

“Suffer!” the Golem roared.

He then broke off the other mandible and repeated the process of mercilessly impaling it into the eye. Enraged by the pain and sudden blindness the centipede flailed wildly. The spirits relentlessly savaged the monster while the armored plates shattered. The flames raced towards the openings as if they were alive and hungry for flesh.

The Golem wrapped one of his gigantic hands around the centipede's body and with the other started hammering the mandibles into its brain-like nails. A rumbling noise came from deep within the Golem as he wailed on the centipede, a sound that couldn’t be taken for anything other than laughter.

The flames from my summoned spirits started to engulf the centipede from head to tail and weakened his sturdy carapace. The centipedes' armored plates began to shatter at an alarming pace, further enraging the already maddened beast. The enticing smell of barbequed centipede filled the air as the monster screeched in immense pain. That actually smells delicious.

The spirits continued their assault dealing a considerable amount of damage until one by one they dissipated. The centipede was nearly finished when my Golem finished punching the last mandible through the brain. The centipede went limp as the Golem dropped it with a smile.

< Health increased by 50>

Level 12

Goblin

Youngling

Chooftoofs Chosen

HP : 170

MP : 300

SP : 240

Str : 7

Dex : 6

Con : 10

Int : 8

Wis : 7

Cha : 1

Looks like my base HP goes up by 10, MP goes up by 30, and SP goes up by 20 per level. But my attributes didn’t increase at all. Oh, snap! I didn’t directly participate in that battle so my attributes wouldn’t have had an opportunity to increase. Alright, let me allocate these 5 skill points really quickly. Hmm, let's put 2 into Create Golem, 2 into Summon Spirits, and let's learn Animate Skeleton.

Skills

Dark Vision

Summon Spirits Lvl 5

Create Golem Lvl 5

Bone Armor Lvl 2

Decay Lvl 1

Animate Skeleton Lvl 1

1. Animate Skeleton - Calls forth the remains of the dead and animates them as Skeletal Warriors. Amount, type, and strength depend on skill level.

Sub Skills

Create Golem – Golem Reforge

Wow, that was an awesome result for me. Five levels and a New Subskill for Create Golem. It means I can make my trusty Golem even stronger! How cool is that? This world seems more and more like a video game every day.

The centipede was dead but hadn’t realized it yet, writhing out its death throes. Belly rumbling I patiently waited for the beast to lie still before hastily digging into its roasted flesh.

Wow, that’s actually delicious. It practically melts in my mouth. I dined on the first hot meal I’d ever experienced in this world. This tastes way better than slime jelly! I ate and ate until I was bloated and couldn’t move. Ugh, why is it so good? I sort of rolled myself into a corner and promptly fell asleep. My Golem stood guard, ever vigilant. He’s the best Golem!