Zyrus saw a pair of crimson eyes staring at him, and before he could make a move, a booming sound came from the opposite direction.
“Fuck,” He cursed at his carelessness and stood in a defending posture.
*Screech*
In the next instance, a pair of red claws scratched against his spear before disappearing again.
*Buzzz*
Zyrus could see nothing except a violet blur moving across the tunnel.
*Clang*
Fortunately, his back was already close to the wall. He was barely able to block the creature’s lightning-fast blows at a short angle.
*Bang*
Instead of deflecting the crimson claws, Zyrus sidestepped and launched his own attack.
“Chree”
The creature faltered in pain. At last, Zyrus was able to make out its features in that split second.
It was the weirdest-looking monster he had seen so far. The creature had a humanoid shape with skinny limbs. With red spikes that jutted out from its joints it looked like an abomination from hell.
*Whizzz*
The most baffling thing, however, was its fighting style. It jumped around the walls like a frog, and when in the air, the purple-blue wings on its back buzzed like an insect. It relied on extreme speed to attack with the claws on its hands and feet.
Despite being caught off guard at the beginning, Zyrus was certain about killing the thing with a couple of blows. However, he didn't plan to do that just yet.
He observed the creature’s every move to gather all the information he could. He paid particular attention to its head. There were cyan feathery wings on the sides of its face along with two pairs of red eyes.
*Slash*
“Chick-”
‘Low defense, unidirectional high-speed attacks,’ Zyrus concluded after slashing its midriff.
Dark green blood seeped out from its gaping wound, and this time, its speed was slow enough for Zyrus to observe its movement.
It jumped from wall to wall like a swimmer in a pool. It didn’t seem to have any powers besides its instantaneous and explosive speed.
“Tch tch, It’s fascinating and disgusting at the same time,” Zyrus muttered as he walked towards the creature.
“Chreek”
“Oh! do you understand what I’m saying with that bug brain of yours?” Zyrus mocked with a derisive sneer, but inwardly, he was very much shocked.
‘It has intelligence and won't back away from a fight,’ he mentally noted its characteristics and walked ahead in a taunting manner.
*Bang*
The creature lunged at him from an adjacent wall, and this time, he allowed the crimson claws to hit his back.
‘Shhh..’
Zyrus inhaled a sharp breadth filled with pain. Four inch-deep wounds were carved on his back. For the information he got though, the pain was very much worth it.
‘Sharp, blade-like claws that can destroy cell structure and slow down the regeneration rate’
*Whizzz*
He once again showed an opening in his stance, but the outcome was different this time.
*Stab*
“CHrekk”
“Looks like you don’t have a second phase huh? Well, goodnight then,” With a forward push, Zyrus plunged his spear deep into its head.
The alien creature was a textbook definition of a glass cannon build. With its lackluster defense and pitiful vitality, it died with a single blow.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
‘Phew… this is fun,’ Zyrus chuckled as he knelt beside the creature. This reminded him of his early days in the sanctuary. He fought grueling battles every day in this same manner to figure out the monsters' strengths and weaknesses.
It was thanks to those broken bones and the countless near-death encounters that he was having an easy time in this life.
Be it the low-level goblins or the highly intelligent spirits, he knew each and every one of their weakness. He had fought against countless species and devised strategies to slaughter them in the most efficient way.
Some succeeded whereas some failed, but he kept repeating the same process.
Over and over again.
His tenacity and battle instincts had made the biggest contributions to humanity’s rise in the sanctuary.
Zyrus leaned back to relax and looked at the screen that floated above the creature.
[You have killed a Verdara beetle]
[You can sacrifice the slain creature to summon a fallen warrior]
After reading the message, he moved his right hand with eager eyes. There was a violet-red insignia on the back of his hand. It was a dragon with pitch-black eyes and nine blue horns.
As his hand inched closer towards the corpse of the Verdara beetle, A purple light flashed on the insignia.
‘Do I have to use a spell or a chant?’ Zyrus thought with scrunched brows as nothing happened after that. He placed the creature's blood on his hand but it was of no use as well.
He recalled the class description and thought of something. He hadn't paid much attention to it but there was a phrase about his authority as a Sylvarix.
In that case, all he needed was a command to summon them.
“AWAKEN.”
Zyrus spoke in a voice filled with mana and placed his hand on the Verdara beetle. Instantaneously, a gray light flashed and the corpse decayed at a visible rate.
His mana was being drained at a rapid pace. In just a couple of seconds, more than two-thirds of his mana was consumed.
Suddenly, a grayish-black crack appeared on top of the crumbling corpse. Zyrus looked at the process with an anxious gaze with barely a tenth of his mana left.
Thankfully, the suction of mana stopped at this moment. The crack expanded at a slow pace and consumed the entirety of the corpse.
*Crack*
As if someone had punched a mirror, the space cracked starting from the gray spot.
‘Spatial crack!’ Zyrus paced back a step and observed the crack with rapt attention.
The crack stabilized not long after that, And a being walked out from the other side.
The creature looked similar to Zyrus with a few notable differences. Along with a pair of slit eyes and a short tail, the creature had dark green reptilian skin over its body.
“A Lizardman!” Zyrus was surprised as he looked at the summoned creature. He wasn’t sure about its species as it was quite different from the lizardman. It looked like a hybrid of a naga and lizardman, but there wasn't such a race in the sanctuary as far he knew.
“Can you speak?” He asked as he stood in front of the creature.
The creature looked at Zyrus with a gaze filled with respect, but it wasn’t able to do much besides that. He wanted to give more commands but he reined in his curiosity and opened his class window.
[Class: Balaur Summoner]
[Awaken the ancient bloodline by sacrificing the vanquished foes. With your authority as the last Sylvarix you can bring forth the fallen warriors of the past]
[Summoned Subordinates: 1]
Rank I units:
Ophidian infantry: 1
There wasn’t much information about the creature. Left with no other choice Zyrus had to give the creature all sorts of commands to check its battle capabilities.
As a result, an hour passed by before he got a general idea about his summon.
“Hahaha… follow me,” Zyrus walked towards the splitting tunnels with a wide grin.
It was time to create an army of his own.
…
*Slash*
“CHrek”
Zyrus ducked on the ground after hitting a beetle, narrowly avoiding a pair of crimson claws above his head.
*Boom*
*Whizz*
“Finish him,” he commanded the ophidian warriors to attack the injured Verdara beetle as he fought against the other two.
Contrary to his expectations, the dungeon's exploration didn’t go as smoothly as he had thought. He managed to summon three more Ophidian infantry in just a couple of hours.
However, things went downhill from then on.
At first, he was opening the doors one by one. Whenever there was a beetle inside, he would kill it with his summons who possessed flexible muscles and high agility.
It was a pity that the summoned creatures didn’t have any weapons despite their ‘infantry’ tag. Instead, they fought with their fists and tails like a martial artist. Nonetheless, they were a good match against the Verdara beetles with their quick feet and a whip-like tail.
But Zyrus made a serious miscalculation. He had overlooked the fact that the aliens were insectoid in nature, and just like any other insects, they were much more fearsome in groups.
He had provoked a swarm after he went in to explore a hall. It was in the middle of a tunnel, and Zyrus had to cancel the summoning as he ran for his life.
Only after running for an hour and losing more than half of his health was he able to shake off the Verdara beetles. And as lady luck would have it, he had encountered this bunch of aliens on his way back.
*Whip*
*Flick*
Zyrus heaved a sigh of relief after the ophidian warriors finished off a beetle. The creature was reduced to minced meat after getting pummeled by the infantry trio.
*Whizz*
He rolled sideways to avoid the attack and stabbed towards the other beetle. The ophidians seized the opportunity as they lunged towards the first attacker as well.
The Verdara beetle didn’t have the chance to showcase its remarkable speed with three of them surrounding it.
On the other hand, Zyrus was busy dealing with the last remaining pursuer.
*Slash*
*Clang*
However, his mind was focused on something else.
With his poison breath being ineffective against the beetles, he was left with no other aoe abilities. The summoned Ophidian infantry had the same issue as well. They were as strong as an average player in close combat, but their power was limited without complementary equipment and magic.
‘Looks like I’ll have to create a spell that uses the power of origin,’ Zyrus pondered as he stabbed the beetle's skull. As an archmage, he had no lack of aoe spells in his memories.
This time, however, he wanted to create a spell with the source of origin. And he had a clear vision of what he wanted.
‘I’ll let these fuckers know what it feels like to be in a void domain.’