"Assimilate," Kyoma commanded the undead rabbit under his control to absorb and assimilate the other undead rabbit. A strange reaction occurred, causing both rabbits to transform into slimy, gelatinous entities. The two merged together, reforming into one undead rabbit, which retained its original size.
Kyoma, curious about the new stats of the transformed rabbit, used his appraisal skill to examine its attributes. The results were shocking. The once-weak undead rabbit had undergone a significant boost in overall stats, now boasting a 1.5x increase. Its HP had increased by 30, while its strength, agility, and intelligence had each gained an additional point.
"Assimilate, assimilate, assimilate, assimiate.."
Kyoma then let out a sigh of relief as he watched his undead rabbit devour the pile of 8 rotting rabbit corpses he had been lugging around. The corpses had been starting to rot and emit a foul odor, and Kyoma was relieved that he no longer had to lug around a sack full of decaying rabbit carcasses. He had been worrying about how he would return to Greenridge Town without drawing attention to himself due to the stench emanating from the bag. He couldn't imagine the looks he would have gotten from the townsfolk if he had walked into Greenridge carrying that stinky sack of death. But now, he was free of the burden, and his slime-like, powered-up rabbit seemed to be enjoying the feast. Kyoma couldn't help but feel proud of his little undead companion. From a weak and puny creature to a formidable force, all thanks to the power of assimilation. As he watched his rabbit finish off the last of the corpses, Kyoma felt a sense of satisfaction wash over him.
Kyoma's undead field rabbit had undergone a complete makeover after assimilating nine field rabbits. Gone were the gory appearance, multiple stabbed wounds, and blood-soaked white fur with a tinge of greyness. In its place, the newly evolved windcutter rabbit now sported spotless, fully grey fur with a tinge of silver on the edges, making it look much cuter. The hallmark glowing ember red eyes of an undead creature remained the same. The windcutter rabbit's size seemed slightly smaller than a normal field rabbit, but that didn't matter as Kyoma was too busy admiring the rabbit's new appearance. As the undead windcutter rabbit licked its fur, Kyoma couldn't resist the urge to cast appraisal on it to examine its stats.
Name: Undead Windcutter Field Rabbit (Evolved)
Race: Monster (Pet)
Level: 5
HP: 300/300
MP: 50/50
Strength: 10
Agility: 25
Intelligence: 10
Passive Skill: Lesser Agility Up (Level 5), Undead Resilience (Level 5)
Active Skills: Windcutter (Level 1)
Description: This is an evolved form of a lesser field rabbit that has been brought back to life by Ryoma's necromancy magic. Enchanted by the dark arts, it now possesses stats proportionate to its master. It is fiercely loyal to Ryoma and will serve him until its second death. However, it still retains its love for carrots, which makes it a bit of an oddity in the world of undead monsters.
Kyoma was left utterly astounded as he witnessed the incredible growth of his undead furry friend's stats. They had multiplied by an astonishing five times! Most notable was its agility, which had skyrocketed from a mere 3 to an impressive 25! The other stats had also increased significantly, with strength and intelligence rising from 2 to 10, and HP from 60 to 300. Kyoma couldn't help but wonder if this incredible growth was due to the passive skill "lesser agility up" reaching level 5, which had propelled the agility stats to such incredible heights. He couldn't help but marvel at the fact that, on this world, one point in any stat was roughly equivalent to the strength of a 12-year-old boy back on Earth. With an agility of 25, Kyoma couldn't help but imagine his windcutter rabbit darting around at a speed 25 times faster than that of a typical 12-year-old boy.
Kyoma wasted no time and ordered his undead goblin to assimilate the horns of three other goblins from his inventory. Despite his hopes for an evolution, nothing happened. However, the combined power of four goblins was still impressive. The final stats of the goblin had more than doubled from that of a single goblin, making it a super goblin capable of taking on two regular goblins by itself. Kyoma knew that in the enclosed tunnels of the dungeon, quality was more important than quantity.
With two powerful undead companions by his side, Kyoma was ready to continue his exploration. Although he had lost one undead creature in the assimilation process, he was now free from the burden of carrying the heavy sack of rotting rabbit corpses, making him more agile and mobile. Unbeknownst to Kyoma, he had also received power-ups from the shared stats with his undead companions, which explained why he felt lighter despite carrying less weight.
"Krugghahhhh"
"Kahhhasfasdff"
"Gugaahhhh"
The windcutter rabbit was a sight to behold as it effortlessly dispatched goblins with its lightning-fast movements. It bounded off walls and ceilings, striking at the vulnerable points on their necks with ease. Even when faced with groups of three or four goblins, the windcutter rabbit made quick work of them. Its signature move, the pressurized wind blade, sliced through the air and landed on the unfortunate goblins with devastating force. The best part of this dungeon was lo and behold:
<+21 experience points>
<+18 experience points>
<+25 experience points>
Kyoma was practically swimming in experience points as he breezed through the dungeon. Whenever he came across a wooden club-wielding goblin, he let his goblin companion absorb their corpse to boost its power. And on other occasions, he would summon an undead archer goblin to join his group and assimilate any other archers they came across. With his three undead companions by his side, Kyoma made quick work of any obstacles in his path. A long time passed when finally:
A regular goblin just couldn't compare to the sheer power of the dark goblin, which boasted strength levels five times that of its weaker counterpart. And that's not all - the Undead Goblin could harness the power of darkness itself, imbuing its already formidable mace with dark energy and making it even heavier and sturdier. Meanwhile, the dark goblin archer had developed a new trick as well, shooting arrows infused with poison that reduced its target's strength, agility, and defense according to their level. It was a deadly combo, and both dark goblins were now at level 5 with stats that were off the charts. On top of that, they had a handy active skill called Stealth (level 1), which allowed them to hide in the shadows and launch surprise attacks.
Kyoma, our dungeon-crawling hero, is now on the cusp of levelling up to 5th level. But before he can celebrate, he's faced with a daunting challenge: a massive stone door that's practically screaming "boss fight." After spending an entire day trawling the depths of the dungeon, defeating goblins and collecting treasure, Kyoma must now summon all his courage and face the toughest challenge yet - his very first boss fight.
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End of chapter stats
Name: Kyoma
Class: Necromancer
Level: 4
Experience points: 402/800
Hp: 655/655
Mp: 100/100
Strength: 35
Agility: 42
Intelligence: 55
Physical resistance: 10
Passive skills: Reincarnation's Blessing (Level 1), Necromancy Mastery (Level 3)
Active skills: Summon Undead (Level 1), Appraisal (Level 1), Assimilate (Level 1)
Titles: Necromancer, Killer of Lesser Field Rabbit, Killer of Goblins
Items: Serpent Fangs Dagger, Leather Armor, Lesser Goblin Horn, 100 Bronze Coins, 3 Silver Coins
Pets: Undead Windcutter Field Rabbit (Level 5), Undead Dark Goblin (Level 5), Undead Dark Goblin Archer (Level 5)