"Alright, but first I need to read through it again in my book. It's quite complicated for me. I hope the books weren't damaged in the fall," Itai muttered and opened the bag strapped to his shoulder.
"Luckily, they're fine," he said after checking them. "Alright, I should have it refreshed in about ten minutes." He then started flipping through a book marked with a skull symbol.
About ten minutes passed. Flain just stood there while Itai was engrossed in his book. "Alright, I should have it refreshed now," he said.
"It's probably going to be a pretty weak skeleton since its strength depends on how strong it was when it was still alive. What was its soul like?" Itai asked.
"The weakest one I've absorbed so far," Flain replied.
"Then it'll be even weaker since they tend to be weaker after revival than they originally were. So it'll be pretty useless. But at least it'll be good for training. Of course, that probably doesn't apply to you—you're an ultra-rare skeleton," Itai said with a laugh.
"Alright, here goes," he muttered at last.
Suddenly, his hands were surrounded by a black aura that almost looked like it was burning—it was a really strange sight.
"That's necrotic mana," Itai commented.
Then, with his hands still cloaked in necrotic mana, Itai directed them at the pile of bones left behind by the skeleton. The bones also became enveloped in the same aura and began to tremble slightly.
Suddenly, the necrotic mana vanished from both the bones and Itai's hands. "It didn't work. I had to do this with you eighty times before it finally worked—but I've already mentioned that," Flain sighed.
Itai tried again, his hands once more shrouded in necrotic mana, and again the bones followed suit. But after a moment, all the mana disappeared. This repeated another seventy-two times. After every ten attempts, Itai took a break because he was running low on mana. Flain, meanwhile, leaned against the cave wall the entire time, just watching.
Finally, the last attempt came. As usual, the necrotic mana appeared around Itai's hands, and as usual, it surrounded the bones as well. The bones began to tremble—but this time, the necrotic mana didn't disappear. Eventually, the bones stopped shaking and assembled themselves into a skeleton, piece by piece, like a set of building blocks.
[Occupied Undeath slots for your master: 2/3]
"Finally!" Itai shouted with excitement and jumped up, only to fall back down immediately.
"You said it was just for training. But is it actually useful in combat?" Flain suddenly asked.
"Well, you said its soul was weak. So yeah, probably not," Itai replied.
"Then let me try something," Flain muttered.
He walked up to the skeleton and, without hesitation, sliced off its head.
[Tip: No EXP is gained from killing your master's Undeath.]
"Damn it, Flain! What are you doing? I at least wanted to enjoy it for a bit," Itai grumbled in frustration.
"Hmh. Looks like I can't absorb the souls of your Undeath," Flain muttered.
"Anyway, I came here to hunt skeletons, not to watch your necromancy training. Put those bones in your bag; you can train later," Flain said coldly.
Flain then moved toward Itai, intending to carry him on his back again, but Itai stopped him. "I can walk on my own," he insisted.
Itai stood up, took five steps, and then fell again. "Damn it," he cursed.
"Looks like I'll have to carry you on my back," Flain said and hoisted him up again.
"Not like this. It's making me sick," Itai muttered after a while of walking.
Flain adjusted his grip, placing Itai around his neck, with Itai holding onto his skull wrapped in the cloak. Now, Itai looked like some oversized child.
Flain continued forward, and after five minutes, he saw something in the cave that wasn't a skeleton. It hovered above the ground, shaped like a small sphere with tiny tentacles, with a single large eye in the center. Its body had the texture of fractured red crystal.
Flain set Itai down further away. Without hesitation, he lunged forward, attacking the creature with both swords.
The monster simply floated there, unbothered, as if it had no interest in fighting. Flain's attack was the first act of aggression.
And then...
Just before Flain's blades struck their target, its body dissolved like mist. His swords sliced through nothing—no resistance, no wound, nothing.
Flain felt the air grow colder. The creature reformed several meters away, its eye gleaming faintly, as if analyzing him, reading his movements.
Then, red energy radiated from its body, taking solid form—a small, sharp crystal materialized in the air and shot directly at Flain.
Flain tried to dodge but was a fraction of a second too slow. It struck just below his neck.
[-55 HP]
Flain growled and immediately stepped back, analyzing the situation. This creature would be interesting.
Flain decided on aggression. He dashed forward, feigning an overhead strike.
The moment the monster disappeared again, an idea struck him—he kicked up dust from the ground and threw it into the air.
When the creature reappeared a second later, its eye was covered in dust.
The monster trembled, losing its sense of orientation. Flain didn't hesitate—he leaped forward and slashed through its body twice with all his strength.
The creature began floating erratically, its tentacles trembling. Its body started glowing intensely red.
The ground beneath it began to shake. Flain felt his feet sticking to the floor—the earth beneath him was changing texture. He had no idea what was happening, but he wasn't about to risk death.
With all his strength, he broke through the forming crystals and lunged at the monster.
A large red crystal shot from the creature's eye. Flain couldn't dodge in time—it struck him in the chest.
[-60 HP]
Flain moved behind the creature and started stabbing his sword into its eye repeatedly from the back.
At last, the monster collapsed to the ground, dead.
[+350 EXP]
"Flain, great job!" Itai shouted from behind.
Flain decided not to go deeper into the cave—he now had enough EXP for the next level. And this monster had been much stronger than the Lizards. He had 55 HP left, so if it had hit him one more time, he'd probably be dead.
If he went further, he might encounter something even stronger. It was better to stay in the valley and fight the Lizards instead...