It’s hard to tell how long I was in a food coma due to it being dark inside the cave dungeon at all times. Eventually, I woke up feeling much better. I had made up my mind about taking as much of this centipede's delicious flesh. I even concocted an ingenious idea to store it. I removed the unbroken pieces of its armored shell and set them aside. After collecting what I thought was plenty I started to rip the flesh from the monstrous centipede. I then placed said flesh on top of one of the shell plates and stacked another piece of shell on top and tied it securely with rope. After completing this process several times I had quite the collection of to-go platters. It might not stay fresh for long as it would in a refrigerator, but hey it'll do in a pinch. I mean I ate a goddamn baby for fucks sake! Who am I to turn up my nose at some lightly spoiled centipede filets?

After double-checking the platters I loaded them into one of the many packs my golem would be carrying. Before having him pick them back up I figured I’d test out my new Golem Sub Skills. Here goes nothing. Hope it’s as cool as it sounds.

“Golem Reforge!” I chanted.

I looked on in anticipation while my trusty companion Golem turned to liquid clay and melted back into the ground. Oh no! My friend! Slightly saddened at the prospect of losing my only friend I waited while my MP drained to reforge my Golem. With maybe a quarter of my MP left the energy drain stopped as the ground started to rumble and crack just like the first time. However, unlike last time the sheer magnitude of this event was shocking. The earth quaking was so forceful I lost my footing and fell on my ass.

The quaking came to an abrupt stop as the ground exploded into the air. Smoke billowed out as debris fell from the sky. Shielding myself from the falling debris as best I could I watched the massive hole waiting for the big reveal. As the smoke continued to spew out of the ground a giant shiny fist shot out of the ground and grasped the edge of the pit, followed shortly after by the other massive hand.

The Golem dragged its new self out of the ground and I stood awestruck. Oh my god! He’s even bigger than before! He’s at least a foot taller and his body isn’t hardened clay anymore. He’s completely made of metal. His body was no longer rough-hewn rocky clay with jagged edges and sharp points jutting out. He was smoother now, more defined. A new sleek and shiny metal body that made him look even more dangerous than before.

“Hello, again Master! Did you miss me?” the Golem asked.

“It's only been a short time but you bet I did my friend!” I joyfully replied.

Having the Golem pick up the packs we were almost ready to set out again. Oh, wait one more new skill to test. Perfect opportunity to see what it can do! I know I should know what this skill does, I've played more than enough games to know. Hey, you know what? It's different. Raising Skeletons in a game is awesome. Raising Skeletons in real life? Chef's Kiss! I thought while I raised my hand to my mouth and made a kissing sound and gesture.

“Animate Skeleton!” I said.

The usual green energy flowed out of my hands into the corpse of the giant centipede. A green glow surrounded the dead centipede as it started to shake. The armored plates of its carapace and the remainder of its flesh fell to the ground as the centipede skeleton came to life. Organs fell to the ground with a splat as the mandibles slid out of their empty eye sockets and were magically reattached to where they should be. Holy shit Necromancy is awesome! My very first Animated Skeleton was successful!

Yeah, yeah, I know! Centipedes don't have bones blah blah. Well, magic is a hell of a thing, ain't it? It can do some crazy things. Like, animate the remains of a giant centipede into a very intimidating skeletal monstrosity. Think what you will this thing is very real and very scary!

I climbed back up into my backpack nest in the Golem's back and we set off giant centipede skeleton in tow. Hehe, it’s a Skelepede! I crack myself up sometimes.

The click-clack of a multitude of skeletal feet and the loud bangs of massive metal feet echoed through the dungeon caverns and corridors. So much for the stealthy approach. I thought to myself as I was sure that every monster within one hundred miles could hear our approach. This should be interesting. I felt great trepidation about the number of monster encounters we would experience from now on. We should be fine.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

With Skelepede and my brand-new Metal Golem, it should be easy. I can also summon more Spirits at once and they are stronger now. With renewed resolve, we journeyed onward on the trail to the surface. With increased faith in the abilities granted to me by Chooftoof, I had an even greater desire to complete the first step of my quest to free my brethren. First, get out of this dungeon and then free the Goblins in this place. Then we’ll go from there.

We traveled uninterrupted for several days. It was quite a nice change of pace compared to constant monster attacks but I still couldn’t afford to drop my guard. Not when the stakes of the game were my very life. After traveling with two of the noisiest beings to ever exist, I can tell you that you do get used to it. EVENTUALLY! But man does it make travel sleeping extremely difficult?

The peace was nice while it lasted, but all things come to an end at some point. As we were trekking our way in search of a way out we were attacked by some sort of monkey-like creatures covered in crimson fur. By my count, there are eight of them. I don’t know what they are so I’m going to just call them Dungeon Monkeys. Eh, who cares right? They won’t survive long. I’m not overly confident. Really, I’m not!

I shook my head at these foolish creatures. Why rush to your doom? Chuckling to myself as I watch these poor idiotic creatures angrily charge a Golem. A Golem that just so happens to be about nine feet tall and made of a metal I have yet to identify. Metal! Why rush something like that if you had any sort of intelligence? Let's not forget the twelve-foot-long Skelepede! They are so dead!

The Golem delightedly charged in and started smashing these things to a pulp. Just gleefully throwing heavy fists with abandon. Shortly after the Golem charged, Mr. Skelepede skittered into the fray. Zigzagging his way into the Dungeon Monkeys he wrapped himself around three of them and started to constrict violently. The Skelepede looped its head around to bite at one of them. As for the others well, to put it simply, they were squeezed until their heads exploded and blood fountained out painting the Skelepede dark red.

The Skelepede gnawed on the last of its chosen victims like it was a light snack. The Golem had just finished smashing all but one of his opponents. Shaking in fear the Dungeon Monkey tried to flee. With a sinister smile, the Golem quickly charged after it and grabbed it with one mighty hand. After scooping up the final opponent he firmly grasped it with both hands and ripped it asunder. Gross! A river of blood and organs fell upon the Golem as the two halves were casually tossed to the sides. The Golem then brushed his hands together and then turned around and looked at me to see if I was pleased. He sure is willing to go above and beyond for my approval. He is a good Golem.

“Great job Golem! You too Skelepede!” I said encouragingly.

The Golem beamed at me in response pleased at my approval. The Skelepede on the other hand was oblivious. I didn’t expect much from an animated skeleton though. I scouted the area for monster drops. I found some scattered gold, a shield, a dagger, and an odd-looking book that seemed to radiate magical energy. Quickly picking up and storing the unidentified objects I turned my attention to the book. Interesting. The book was pure black and as soon as I touched it the sheer amount of magical energy astounded my sense. Opening it up to investigate its content I was disappointed. Damn! I can’t read whatever language this is written in. I need to fix my lack of knowledge soon. I need to keep going and free my brethren before any more goblin lives are needlessly lost. With that final thought, I tucked the book away for a later date. Pausing for a moment I looked back at the mangled corpses of the Dungeon Monkeys. Can’t let such reinforcements go to waste!

“Animate Skeleton,” I uttered repeatedly.

As usual green energy flowed out of me and into the corpses. This is exhausting. Raising twelve skeletons at once is very taxing. The bones of the deceased Dungeon Monkeys gathered themselves together and formed twelve complete skeletons. Yes! Rise my minions and serve me well! Necromancy is overpowered.

Then we were off again. Riding my Golem-mobile, Mr. Skelepede and Skeleton Monkeys in tow. The start of my very own Army of the Undead. Awesome!