Chapter 7 - First Loot
The next morning Bel woke well-rested and more stable in both mood and body. He felt good. Better than he had in years. After the morning rat and water breakfast, he meditated for about half an hour not because he needed to but because he wanted to. He had always thought of meditation and such as a waste of time, but now he saw how helpful it could be just to focus the mind and not fall into the pit of despair that always lives at the edge of your mind.
“Right then Josiah, it’s time to regroup the troops and beat these damn rats.” Bel said with a determined look on his face. He would need his sword and then he would make some more weaponry for himself. The skeleton he raised would be custom-made as well.
Turning towards Josiah the skeleton he was surprised by the handle of the sword being held towards him. He wasn’t sure when he sent the command for the sword, more than a passing thought.
He noticed that the sword was in disrepair. The sword was after all bone and not metal. The fight yesterday had made a number on it. He quickly sharpened the edges and smoothed out the blade. The blade felt heavier and stronger today than yesterday.
Focusing within he sensed his mana waiting to be used. He was starting to get used to the dark mist within him, he avoided thinking about just what type of mana he was using and what he was using it for. There was only survival that mattered right now.
He had an idea then, after activating his Gaze to keep training it he Identified his sword.
Bone Sword (Poor)
That was probably the hardest part for him right now, to remember to identify everything. He was still a young man from Earth, these damn skills and this system were still as alien to him as water was to the moon.
Focusing on his highest skill he summoned a Bladed Skeleton. The creature appeared from the dark mist. Something was different this time, the skeleton was taller and wider than before, the bones thicker but it looked nimble still. He also felt a greater pressure on his shoulders than before.
He quickly opened his status and saw why.
Summoning Pool 3/5
The minion had twice the cost now. Identifying the skeleton gave him both a level in the skill and the answer he sought.
Bladed Skeleton – Level 5
It seemed his summons grew more powerful with his increase in power. The skill had also evolved giving him an idea of what he could do with it now. But he assumed the same rules applied, he needed to have a fresh corpse to summon from before he could replicate them out of mana.
He wanted to try something so he focused on the skill again and summoned a regular skeleton, he purposely made it a normal skeleton and soon one stood before him. An Identify later told him that it was a normal skeleton, also level 5, and a check of his pool told him it only cost one spot.
Nodding to himself he thought about de-summoning it and then getting another Blade, but he stopped himself.
“I’ve got some time still, let’s experiment.” Bel said to himself.
He started shaping the bones of the skeleton and when his mana was empty, he meditated again. The process was many times faster this time, both from his better recovery and from the higher level of his shaping Skill.
While he worked, he spoke to Josiah.
“You are starting to fall behind some Josiah. Not that you aren’t formidable in your own way, but you really came through for me yesterday. But it also doesn’t feel right to remake you, you’re a young man and you need to grow on your own, also I don’t know what I would do if I lost you, you know.” Bel was aware of how crazy he sounded but sometimes you need to surrender to insanity to stay sane. Josiah didn’t answer, all Bel heard was a creak as the skeleton shifted slightly, that was a little odd but Bel kept working.
Less than an hour later he was done. Before him stood a large humanoid skeleton, both its arms were shaped into huge tower shields and its legs and torso was protected by large sheets of bone.
“Not bad if I may say so myself. Let’s see if this works.” Bel focused and de-summoned the skeleton which disappeared into dust. He prayed that his work wasn’t in vain.
Focusing again, he summoned a shield skeleton. This was similar to the bladed one, more defined and more real than the lesser cousin he could summon. It was like these things were born with more knowledge and skill than the others, hence their larger cost.
He was now sitting at a full pool again and the pressure to control these beings was heavy indeed. Much heavier than when he had a full pool of regular skeletons. A thought struck, what would happen if he lost control of his summons? He shuddered at the thought and put it down deep with all his other worries.
Bel looked around at his two new minions both towering over him by a good twenty centimeters. Josiah stood guard at the side with his spear as usual, which reminded Bel of his last task. He quickly summoned six spears and laid them out on the ground. He used his remaining mana to shape them into two round shields, both light and not very thick, but they would stop a rat dead in its tracks at least.
He took one and gave the other to Josiah. He didn’t have any leather just rat guts and he didn’t want to use that so there wasn’t a good way to fasten the shield to his arm. Josiah had the constitution to carry the shield at all times but Bel had to reserve his use of it.
“You guys ready?” Bel looked at the three skeletons, their eerie green glowing eyes looking straight forward. Was Josiah looking at him, he thought? He must have imagined it; it must have been the angle. He was closer to Bel’s height after all.
Bel walked over to the stairs and looked down on the platform expecting to see a slaughterhouse, but once again the dungeon surprised him and the platform looked like it did before, except fewer rats were running around now. Bel tried counting them and he wasn’t sure but it looked like there was a little more than half remaining.
Sitting down on the first step he meditated to get his mana back to full. It was a part of training, sitting here where he wasn’t in a safe zone. It was harder but he managed and got back to his feet.
“Let’s do this.” He sent the tank forward and the other skeleton covered its back. Josiah stayed on Bel’s sword arm.
They made it to the platform and nothing happened, no rat screeched or attacked. Bel thought for a moment, then had his tank slam his shields into the ground. He wasn’t prepared for the ruckus that followed, the skeleton was far stronger than one would think and the slam echoed like a shotgun blast in the room. Bel could see dust and pebbles lift off the ground around the tank.
That had an immediate effect the sounds of a skittering horde of rats could be heard and then they came, like a wave of patchy fur and crooked teeth, like a horde of British descending on the last pint in the world.
The first rats reached the tank and got squished upon its shield by the sheer force of the horde. The tank slid a few centimeters back from the pressure, before catching its feet.
Then he went to work, slamming the shields in a rhythm, killing a rat with every swing. Those that made it passed him got a blade to their skulls or back, killing them by the dozen.
Bel supported the front line by throwing spears and occasionally stepping forward to stab a rat that made it through. The fighting seemed to go on for hours but it was probably the adrenaline. The fight ended as abruptly as it started, the last rat falling to a stab from Blade.
Bel took a deep breath, his emotions going wild, then he screamed with joy.
“We did it guys!” He had finally done it, he made it through this area. He was almost out of here; the thought made him smile. He would soon be free from this hellhole and then he would see the sun again if there even was a sun on this planet that is.
A slow rumbling had started as he did his introspection and happy dance and now it reached a stage where he could both hear and feel it. Looking around in alarm he noticed something in the darkness, movement. Then from the edges of the plateau, another swarm of rats came, these were larger rats and they had bone plates on their bodies like makeshift armor.
“No, no! You damn dungeon, I want out of here. Fine, this is how it’s going to be!? I’ll kill everything you throw at me!” Bel screamed as the new horde screamed back.
He was angry, so very angry at all this bullshit. Bel sent a mental command and his troops prepared themselves. Had he been more collected perhaps he would have reconsidered this plan. The large rats reached them and the slaughter began again. There were so many bodies and blood in the way that it helped Bel, otherwise they would have been overrun by the larger rats.
A quick Identify showed that they weren't only bigger, but stronger as well.
Armored Rat (Dead) – Level 5
They fought and fought until the last rat died. Josiah and Bel had both been forced to join the others at the front to keep the pressure down. The shield on the tank's arms was dented and chipped, the Blades arms were chipped and jagged. Bel was breathing heavily, sweat pouring from him. He was exhausted but he had half his mana left.
“That’s it, let’s get out of here.” Bel took a step forward aiming for the stairs on the other side of the platform. They made it halfway there when the rumbling started again. He froze then, several thoughts crossed his mind and he was just about to start running to the stairs but logic stopped him. Instead, he ordered a retreat and that turned out to be the right decision.
Over the edge climbed a small army of creatures, they were toadlike humanoids about 120 centimeters tall. They had sharp teeth and wicked claws but they also held crude clubs. Bel and his minions managed to reach about halfway back before the creatures saw them and attacked. They had an undulating froglike cry; it sounded terrifying to Bel. The first one reached the tank and was slammed back. It told Bel all he needed to know about its durability that it didn’t outright die. He identified the creature as it got back up.
Troglodyte (Wounded) - Level 9
“Damn this place.” Bel swore under his breath. Another troglodyte landed next to him and he stabbed out and hit it under its left arm, the blade went in but got stuck in the dying creature so Bel kicked it away and made his way forward. He ordered Josiah to grab a rat and run toward the safe zone and the other two to hold their retreat and kill as many enemies as they could.
Then he ran for it, putting as much speed into his legs as he could. He made it safely to the narrow path and by dumb luck, he managed to not fall as his feet slipped on the blood-soaked stone. Grabbing a rock, he managed to stay upright before shuffling over the path to the stairs, a troglodyte just behind him.
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Fueled by desperation he summoned a spear and threw it, hitting the stairs where it lodged in the stone for a moment. That was all the time he needed as he ran for it, jumping and clearing the spear just barely. The creature behind him didn’t see the spear and ran head-first into the spear skewering itself through the nose.
Bel let out a wicked chuckle as he turned. Exhaustion made him sluggish; he had been fighting and using skills none stop for hours now. He noticed that the creature wasn’t dead yet, but it was quite out of the fight. Hesitating he made a decision and went back to it, igniting his hand with Life Transference and drained the last drop of life from the monster.
A wave of energy and euphoria entered him again, but this time he held it back. It soothed his tired muscles and energized his mind, but more enemies were coming so he quickly backed up the stairs into the safe zone. His two minions fought for several more minutes before being dragged down, their sheer strength and size making them greater than the higher leveled-enemies. But in the end, they were swarmed and brought down. Not without killing a significant number of Troglodytes first.
Bel sat down and watched the Troglodytes calm down. They started to collect the dead rats and made crude fires from some kind of moss they pulled out of pouches at their sides. The pouches seemed far too small to contain that much moss. Then they started to cook the rats and fight amongst each other. The sight was surreal, they seemed to have some crude intelligence and tribal system.
“So much for getting out of here today. Should have guessed it wouldn’t be that easy. I got to stop being so foolish. I might have gotten superpowers but I'm not unstoppable. There’s always a bigger fish.” He crossed his legs just enjoying being alive, he was thirsty and starving but for now, he would sit here and collect his thoughts.
A bony hand came into view holding his waterskin.
“Thank you, Josiah.” He took the waterskin and drank a few mouthfuls, it was heavenly cold and refreshing. He poured some on his head which also felt nic...
His eyes widened in shock and he half crawled, half ran away from the skeleton.
“What did you do Josiah?” The skeleton didn’t respond.
“How did you know what I wanted; I didn’t give a command. What’s been going on with you?” Bel felt like he was going mad.
“What are you?”
…
“Answer me!” Bel felt rage inside of him and his mana responded. He didn’t know what he was doing but he pulled on the mana he had and when it ran dry, he pulled more from around him. A vortex of dark atoms formed in his hand, larger and larger it grew. Josiah stood there watching with his emotionless face.
“I gave you an order, I am your master, ANSWER ME!” The vortex of mana entered the skull of the skeleton which started to burn with a green flame, the body slowly disintegrating. The skull shook itself as the mana died away and only the flaming skull remained.
Bel looked at his hand and then the mana fatigue struck, several times harder than before he fell to the floor in a limp pile but he managed to stay awake, he didn’t want to make it a habit of passing out every time he needed a moment to rest. The terror he felt at seeing the skull helped him stay awake as well.
“I’m terribly sorry Master. That tends to happen when you overdraw mana from one's core and then keep pulling from the ambient source. You were lucky that there is almost 100 percent pure death mana around you. This probably helped with the, not dying horribly.” The skull spoke with a strange accent but it sounded somewhat posh.
“What... what are you?” Bel whispered as he stared at the floating skull.
“Grave soil! Once more sir, take my heartfelt apology. My name is Ignatius Pennyfeather the third. But you may call me Ignatius sir.” The skull floated down next to his face.
“As for what I am. I am your servitor sir. I am a must have assistant to all Necro-Lords. Not that there have been a Necro-Lord here on Eshander for several millennia now. You see they were hunted down when our lord Death was defeated by his siblings. Most terrible sir.” The skull kept talking but Bel zoned him out.
Instead, he focused on calming his heartbeat down, breathing in, breathing out. Soon mana started to trickle in and a minuscule amount of energy returned to his limbs, enough for him to sit up and start moving again.
“Marvelous sir, you are a quick study and a persistent individual are you not? You truly have what it takes to succeed here. To be up and about already after your endeavor...” The skull kept going.
“Stop, talking.” Bel didn’t mean to sound so harsh but the sudden influx of speech was disorienting. The skull immediately went silent.
“Sorry Ignatius. You may speak but please stay on topic, no anecdotes or brown-nosing, okay?” Bel made his way to the pool of water and the large armored rat that lay there.
“Certainly sir, I do not take offense, I am but a servant.” The skull didn’t seem offended but he had no problem conveying emotions at least, he was quite articulate.
“What happened to Josiah?” Bel stood at the edge of the pool.
“You in your infinite anger, put out a sort of call that told people you were looking for a Servitor. We are the minds, knowledge, and memories behind any good Necro-Lord.” Ignatius explained.
“But why did Josiah act like that?” Bel was starting to feel agitated again.
“I cannot be certain. Your familiarity with your summoned creature probably brought on some measure of self-awareness due to the mana and emotions you fed into the bond. Luckily for me, you kill and burned that bridge quickly, and here I am!”
Sitting with a sigh, he rested for a moment. It felt good just sitting and not doing anything, suddenly he went cold, and then immediately after he was too hot. In the back of his mind, he recognized that he was in shock. Once again, he had a brush with death and made it out by the skin of his teeth. He didn’t want to die. His entire life had been sheltered from conflict and death. But now he was subjected to kill or be killed every time he woke up.
It was the last battle though, that affected him more than he thought it would. He had killed dozens of rats but they were just that, rats. The Troglodyte looked and acted like monsters, but what if they weren’t monsters? They displayed some kind of society, so had he just killed sentient people? Even if people were a loose term, he still killed something that could be part of a society, he was a murderer. Because what if the next enemy was a human, could he kill then as well? Deep in his heart, he knew that the answer was yes.
His heart started to beat faster and faster he didn’t know what to do, what could he do? He was alone... The only thing he had was this talking, flying nightmare that he didn’t trust at all yet. At least he wasn’t completely alone anymore. But for all he knew, the thing worked for whoever summoned him here. But he was someone that could help him, speak to him, and perhaps even soothe his worries. But he’ll be damn if he gives up now. He wasn’t about to lie down and die just because he had another moment of terror. He would use the tools he was given and he would rise from this hole in the ground. Steeling his emotion with determination he squashed the panic within him. Never again would he worry about death, he would keep going no matter what.
You have received a new trait by the grace of one of the Gods.
New trait – Determined
The sudden notification startled him so bad he flinched so hard he pulled a muscle.
“By one of the gods?” What the hell is going on here he thought as he rubbed his back.
“That is quite remarkable, sir. You must have done something quite spectacular or you’re very important to someone.” Ignatius said.
“I did nothing, I was just thinking, and then... Wait, you can see my notifications?”
“Of course, sir. How else would I be able to help you to the fullest?” Ignatius sounded somewhat offended to the thought of that.
“I don’t know, I don’t know anything! That’s the problem. Wait, you know a lot about the system and such, right Ignatius?” Bel looked at the floating skull hopefully.
“Indeed, I do sir, I am however limited in what I am allowed to share with you, set forth by the will of the Gods.” Of course, he was, Bel thought. The trust not growing just yet.
“Fine, I have like a million questions for you, but first I need to harvest the meat of this ugly rat and eat, I'm starving.” Bel dragged the rat closer to the light from the braziers.
“Why do you need to do that, sir? You’ve been awarded several rations due to your past actions.” Ignatius asked. Bel looked at him in surprise before remembering that he had several notifications unread.
“Damn, I really need to be better at checking my notifications when things die down.” Bel sighed and turned his attention to them. He received so many notifications that his vision blurred from them all and several waves of energy hit him at the same time, they would have knocked him over if he wasn’t ready for the influx of energy. The sensation was so intense it almost became painful.
“Sir if I may? I can sort these for you if you want?”
“Please do.” Bel massaged his temples.
You have leveled up.
You have slain a Plague-Rat x34
You have slain an Armored-Rat x60
You have slain a Troglodyte x18
You have received 94 Copper Coins
You have received 18 Silver Coins
You have received – Boots of the Necro-Lord for defeating the first wave.
You have received – Greaves of the Necro-Lord for defeating the second wave.
You have received a Ration x45 (Good)
Deathless Gaze has leveled up.
Bone Spear has leveled up.
Bone Spear has evolved into – Bone Storm.
Summon Lesser Undead has leveled up.
Bone Shaping has leveled up.
Life Transference has leveled up.
Identify has leveled up.
You have been awarded three new skills.
You have learned a new skill – Necrotic Bolt
You have learned a new skill – Imbue Undead
You have learned a new skill – Shields (Passive)
His jaw dropped as he read it all. Opening his status, he saw that he had gained five levels which brought all his attributes a lot, which explained why he felt so much better. He also got a shit ton of rewards and new skills. He wanted to check everything out immediately but he passed himself.
“Ignatius, who gives out the rewards and skills?”
“That would be the dungeon sir. Gods grant traits or rewards if you complete a system-based quest or similar tasks, but they may also grant rewards due to a whim or if you perform heroic feats, those are quite rare though, like the trait you were given. The dungeon grants rewards based on how strong the dungeon core is, the type it is, the purpose it was created for, and other smaller factors. The skill rewards are based on your class and race and are given by the System directly. In your case, since you are not human according to the system, you break the old rule and receive a lot more than a peer of yours might.” Ignatius was all business and almost soothing to listen to when he explained things.
“Hold on. I’m not human anymore!?” Bel shouted the last part.
“Well, I assume that you are sir. But the System does not see you as such due to your trait.” Ignoring the unpleasant sensation that comment made him feel, Bel moved on.
“I have another question. The monsters in here, are they real?” Bel wanted to ask this question first but he was also afraid of the answers.
“That is a hard question to answer, Master.” Ignatius seemed to think about his answer.
“The short answer is yes and no. The monsters are created by the dungeon from the energy in its core. It is why it recycles the dead so often; it saves energy for more summons and rewards. The monsters are created perfect for their tasks, which means that the rats are living breathing rats that do what rats do. The Troglodytes spawn with memories and a purpose as well, hence their tribal nature. The dungeon can spawn sentient beings that are born with memories of their lives and they believe them to a fault. But they can never leave this place, they don’t exist anywhere else.” It made sense, but Bel was horrified for the creatures in a sense. Dungeons sounded like monsters in his ears.
“Fine, we’ll get back to that later.” He held out his hands and a shower of items cascaded down upon them. He let most of it fall to the dirt floor but the boots and greaves he held on to.
The boots were soft black leather reaching just below his knees if he put them on. They were beautiful with silver stitched into the seams and they had a sort of ruggish medieval quality to them. There was one thing that marred the looks though. The leather was etched with strange runes and sigils forming a picture of skulls and bones. It gave off a menacing but hauntingly beautiful look.
“These are marvelous. Why did I get these from the dungeon?” Bel was staring at the boots in front of him.
“The dungeon hands out items as rewards as well. If it only gave out food and coins then there would be no adventures delving into its halls, dying to its traps and enemies so as to make it stronger.” Ignatius explained.
Bel was about to ask about that part, then he remembered the dead people at the entrance, with their throats slit, thrown down the well to die in the dungeon, feeding it. A smoldering rage he didn’t notice started to build in his chest, fueled by everything he had seen and heard down here so far.
“I see, makes sense actually.” He quickly identified the boots and the greaves.
Boots of the Necro-Lord Tin Rank - +1 Willpower
Greaves of the Necro-Lord Tin Rank - +1 Willpower
He wasn’t surprised that the items gave attributes, it made sense that magical items were a thing here. His gaming knowledge was still paying off it seemed.
“These say that they are Tin ranked, what other ranks are there?” Bel asked.
“These are Tin-Ranked as they were made for you. All magical items can be upgraded by a talented Crafter or by fulfilling certain conditions, not easily known. Sometimes it's just giving the item higher ranked materials, other times its completing a hidden task or quest. These also seem to be part of a set, the Armaments of the Necro-Lord. Combining all the items would give a huge bonus as well as making the upgrade to each rank easier. One thing you need to take with you though is that trying to wield an item of a higher rank could kill or cripple you just from the pressure. A Bronze rank would probably just hurt but an Iron or Silver ranked item would kill you most certainly.” Ignatius soothing voice helped settle his anger and nerves.
Bel inspected the greaves as Ignatius continued. They shared the etching of the boots but their metal was a dark green color.
“As for the rank system. It goes Tin, Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, Titanium, and then Diamond. The ranks symbolize many things, they all have a level requirement and a tempering requirement, and the higher you climb the harder it gets. Only one in a million reaches the top ranks. Ranking up has consequences as well of course. But I think that is enough information for now. Don’t you agree?” He looked down at Bel who had fallen asleep on the floor.