Digging Up Trouble
The Ent Forest (3). Maybe it was because we were finally digging after so long, but Wangwang looked absolutely thrilled. (Whoa— a little deeper. Yeah, now shift right. No, not left, right!!) Following my guidance, Wangwang adjusted its direction bit by bit until it suddenly seemed to find something. It began digging at a much faster pace. Moments later, the little guy emerged completely covered in dirt with a metal box the size of its own head clamped firmly in its jaws.
That's it!! What a good boy!
Wangwang spat out the handle, dropped the box on the ground, and began wagging its tail like crazy in front of Yeonhee.
"Wow! Wangwang!! You're so, so amazing! Oh my goodness, you're just the cutest thing ever."
I pulled my gaze away from Yeonhee, who was brushing the dirt off him and pouring every ounce of affection she possessed into the little creature. Then I calmly opened the box that was glowing with a soft red light. Inside lay a ring-shaped object about the size of a donut. It was so large it seemed more like a bracelet than a ring. I was mesmerized by the beautiful glow emanating from it when Yeonhee suddenly screamed.
"Ilwol!! Ttungi, Ddakkak!!"
Bwooooooo—
A low, heavy groan that sounded like it had given up on the entire world echoed out, yet it carried a dark hunger within it. Seeing her immediately summon every creature except Ran, I quickly took the item from the box and slipped it onto her finger. The oversized ring shrank perfectly to fit her finger.
Blessed Anduwi's Mithril Ring
Mana +200
Lesser Heal (1/1)
"Ugh—?! Huh? What is this—"
"Haaaa— Ilwoool..."
Yeonhee called my name in a voice full of distress, but this was no time to explain.
Wearing two artifacts might feel a bit burdensome, but the next one will be mine, so you don't need to worry too much.
The second artifact raised her mana capacity by quite a lot and even allowed her to use a heal once per day. Sure, it was only a lesser heal, but it was still an incredibly useful skill.
"Uwaaa— I seriously have no idea what's going on anymore..."
"Clack clack clack!!"
I ruffled Yeonhee's hair to snap her out of it, then pointed at the zombies rushing toward us in a frenzied horde.
"Eek!! O-okay!!"
She used to be the type who could coldly survey the battlefield like ice in her previous life... Seeing her like this made me feel a little bitter. It felt like it was all my fault.
She immediately called forth the spirit Ran.
(Yahoot!! Spirit Ran has arrived!! To what do I owe the honor of being summoned twice in one day? This is truly a blessed occasion!!)
As always, he talked nonstop, but he was still reliable—casting Acceleration on Yeonhee and keeping watch over our surroundings.
Agility +5
With the new agility buff on top of Ran's previous one, I swung my hammer at the head of the nearest charging zombie right before it could reach me.
Crunch—!!
"Kiiiaaak!!"
Even though its head had been smashed by the stone hammer, the creature let out a disgusting gurgling shriek. I stomped down hard, crushing its skull completely.
Zombie defeated!
A small amount of experience has been gained.
Low-grade magic stone acquired.
The magic stone has been moved to the Summoner's inventory.
This entity possesses no skills.
While facing this entity, the Thievery trait's steal probability increases by 5%.
Of course a zombie wouldn't have any skills. So as compensation, it raises the chance of stealing a passive trait by 5%? That's actually pretty reasonable.
I had some expectations since zombies were bound to have at least one useful trait.
"W-why are there so many of them?!"
Just moments ago they had been ordinary corpses without any mana, but now it felt like every single thing buried in the ground was crawling up to the surface. The sheer number was overwhelming.
Noticing something strange, I carefully examined the bodies of the approaching zombies. That's when I spotted faint threads of mana, barely connected, stretching toward each one of them.
Someone's here. Where?
I expanded my senses to their maximum. Dozens of zombies were rushing toward us with grotesque creaking sounds. It was a situation that could easily turn dangerous. But thanks to Yeonhee's greatly increased mana, she had summoned all her creatures—including the three lizards—and built a solid defensive formation. That allowed me to focus entirely on my senses.
Found them! They're about 35 meters away.
I consciously stretched my sensory range to its limit and detected two grotesque figures at the very edge. And the reason they were targeting us was painfully obvious.
The artifact... Did it stand out too much? They couldn't have been following us... Were they already hunting in this area? Either way, having a necromancer-type opponent is bad news... Damn it.
The worst possible scenario—having to fight in an environment packed with perfect corpses for a necromancer.
I can't charge at them right now.
If they moved even slightly farther away, Yeonhee would hit her summoning range limit unless she moved with me, which would cause serious problems.
Fine. I'll hold the line. Just give me one opening, you bastards.
Thud!!
While the Lizardman blocked a zombie's attack, I knocked another one down with my machete and crushed it with my stone hammer, organizing my thoughts.
Zombie defeated...
At most, it's an E-rank necromancer. There's no way they have enough mana to raise Ents.
I slowly pushed Yeonhee backward until her back was against the mountain of Ent corpses.
Fighting while running from an unknown enemy is never good. We'll make our stand here—sink or swim.
"Let's hold them off!! As far as I know, even the Dungeon of Nargul doesn't spawn this many zombies!!"
Bingo. The scary thing about this place isn't the zombies—it's the thick toxic smoke pouring out of the Ent corpses. The zombies themselves aren't that threatening.
Still, we couldn't drag this out too long. We had brought plenty of masks, but swapping them mid-battle would be burdensome for Yeonhee too.
Bwooooo—!!
Watching the zombies charge mindlessly even as their kneebones pierced through their rotting flesh, I began defending the front and both flanks alongside the three Lizardmen.
Thud!! Crunch!!
Bweeeeh—!!
Even if I rammed them with my body, knocked them down, and crushed their legs, or sliced off their heads, they kept coming relentlessly unless their heads were completely destroyed.
Zombie defeated...
Zombie defeated...
"Ddakkak!!"
Chiriririr—!!
As the zombies gradually surrounded us, Yeonhee finally shifted to a strategy of throwing out her summons as bait. The Lizardman hurled the ironclad beetle that had Wide Area Provocation cast on it far into the distance. Over thirty percent of the zombies immediately turned their heads and charged the other way.
Good. Yeonhee isn't taking any damage at all.
Now in her accelerated state, Yeonhee was actually the most active attacker among our allies. Arrows weren't particularly effective against zombies, but she smartly focused on their legs to reduce their mobility.
Hehehe~
Beside her stood Kobold Ttungi, acting as a bodyguard and drawing the zombies' primary aggression. Ttungi's blind swings with the stone hammer proved surprisingly effective against these mindless monsters, while the three Lizardmen's machetes continuously pounded the zombies' heads even if they couldn't decapitate them in one strike.
And then there was me.
Boom boom boom boom boom—!!
I threw the flame bombs I'd been saving at clusters of tangled zombies, then diligently smashed the heads of those whose bodies had been significantly weakened by the fire.
Mana: 25/55
Contaminated Breath won't work on these things, and I don't need Acid Spray or Heavy Strike right now, so my mana is holding up fine.
I focused on using flame bombs to deal fire damage to enemies at a moderate distance while maintaining balance within our formation.
Kwuuuuh!! Weeeeh—
When the number of zombies we'd killed exceeded thirty, both Yeonhee and I were enveloped in a flash of light. Maybe because of their tenacious vitality, zombies gave surprisingly decent experience. Our levels were rising quickly.
Zombie defeated!
Level has increased!
Trait Thievery has activated.
Randomly stealing a trait from the zombie.
Acquired trait: Pain Resistance.
Ah, damn it!!
Pain Resistance – Reduces pain received by 20%.
Thievery had triggered quickly and stolen a trait, but since I was an undead, it was completely useless to me. What a shame.
Traits: Cold Reason, Protection, Thievery, 98 Lives, Adhesion, Obez's Blessing, Pain Resistance
Skills: Heavy Strike, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Basic Transformation, Reckless Charge, Lesser Flame Bomb, Contaminated Breath
Equipment: Kobold's Crude Stone Hammer, Big Bore Leather Armor
I quickly invested the stats gained from leveling up into agility, mana, and sense. The reason I put another point into agility—which was already boosted by +5 thanks to Ran—was because I had no intention of letting the ones who picked this fight get away.
Okay. Now I can see them clearly.
With my increased sense stat, I could now fully feel the two figures within range of my mana waves. They were definitely watching us.