"Hmmm, that will be a problem," the green Svetloid muttered and returned to eating.
----
On the other side of the valley stood another set of bone walls. Inside were black Lizards and scattered debris. There were significantly fewer black Lizards than green ones.
At the far end was their Svetloid. He was entirely black, about three meters tall. He sat on a bone throne, staring ahead at his subordinates.
One Lizard approached him fearfully. He spat toxic saliva onto his hands and smeared it on his face.
Smearing the face with toxic saliva: Among Lizards, this signifies recognition and is done when speaking to a Svetloid.
"My Svetloid. The commander who went to fetch water has been gone for a long time. He is likely dead," he said with fear in his eyes.
Svetloid's eyes began flashing red.
"SO THEY WANT?!" he roared.
"My Svetloid, perhaps you could consider sending a reconnaissance team to analyze the situation before making any decisions," the Lizard stammered.
As soon as he said it, all the Lizards within the walls turned to look at him.
"YOU DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!" Svetloid bellowed.
He leaped from the throne, grabbed the Lizard into the air, and crushed him into a pulp, which he then tossed into his mouth. Afterward, he sat back down on the throne.
A commander approached Svetloid and smeared toxic saliva on his face.
"My Svetloid. I believe it would be wise to investigate the area and, if necessary, meet with Aran," the commander said.
"Alright, I also find that reasonable. First, send a reconnaissance team. Put three Lizards at the front in case there's a trap, followed by two commanders and fifteen more Lizards," he said, now calmer.
----
Meanwhile, Flain was returning from the cave. Itai was already asleep. Flain decided to go back to the valley to gain more EXP, as he had nothing else to do.
He left the cave. This time, he chose to head to the right, where the black Lizards were. Black Lizards were stronger, but they also gave more EXP.
Flain set off to the right. He walked for quite a while but found no black Lizards. Eventually, he spotted a group of three black Lizards.
Flain immediately charged at them, but as his swords clashed with the Lizard's dagger, he noticed something.
Behind the Lizards, further in the mist, were two large silhouettes, with many smaller ones behind them.
The moment he saw the massive figures in the fog, Flain instinctively leaped back. He knew this wouldn't be an ordinary fight. The black Lizards were already stronger than their green counterparts, and if there were that many of them, he had no chance.
Yet he decided to fight. He couldn't run—Lizards were everywhere, and the ranged ones would kill him from a distance since there were about six of them. On top of that, all the Lizards would unleash a swarm of toxic spit on him.
One of the black Lizards lunged forward with a dagger, and Flain tried to end his life quickly before the others could join in. He knocked the weapon aside and slashed his throat with both swords.
[+310 EXP]
At that moment, a rock from one of the ranged Lizards struck him.
[-60 HP]
Flain quickly turned, but another Lizard was already upon him, and its dagger sank into his side.
[-70 HP]
One of the commanders arrived. Flain's swords clashed with the commander's spear, and he was forced to the ground because the commander's strength was too much for him.
Behind him, another commander appeared and released a large projectile of toxic saliva from his mouth, which hit Flain directly in the skull and completely dissolved it.
[-120 HP]
[You have died.]
Flain appeared in darkness. He wasn't too angry about losing because how was he supposed to know that an entire army of black Lizards would come at him?
Dark hands engulfed Flain, and he was rather irritated. He was irritated because he had finally reached a point where he could quickly gain EXP. But now he had to redo everything and get back to that point again. Which he wasn't exactly thrilled about.
The hands swallowed Flain, and he appeared in the grave.
Then, he did exactly the same as in attempt 13. He killed the bandits, armed himself, found the magic map, looted the camp, and fell into the dungeon. There, he regenerated and was then attacked by Black Lizards, which he killed. Then he went on an expedition where the Lizards had a conflict among themselves. This time, only the black commander remained because the green commander had killed all the black Lizards. Flain used the same trick on the commander; he almost died but managed to kill him in the end.
He went to the base, where Itai had woken up, and Flain convinced him again. Then he went to kill three skeletons so that Itai would have bones to practice necromancy on.
When Flain opened his stats, he noticed that he had 2,680 EXP, and level 10 required 2,500 EXP, so he leveled up.
[Level 9 -> Level 10]
[Strength increased by 1, agility increased by 1, vitality increased by 1]
[You have gained 1 bonus point]
[You have reached a sufficient level to access the function of having items available for purchase in the shop]
Flain allocated the bonus point to agility because he felt it was lagging behind compared to his other stats.
[Agility increased by 1]
Flain noticed that he had unlocked the ability to buy something in the shop. He had almost forgotten that the shop even existed if not for the fact that the option to open it always appeared when he activated the system. He had checked the shop several times, but it always said that nothing was for sale.
But the shop had to wait. First, he needed to do everything from attempt 13 again—except for dying. So he still had to kill those green Lizards and snakes and let them rot in the cave.
Flain did just that. He went to the left side, killed two snakes and seven Lizards, and gained 2,280 EXP. He carried the corpses back to the base.
Itai had summoned skeletons, and Flain brought the corpses into the cave, marking them with a waypoint. Itai was already asleep, and Flain sat down next to him.
He definitely wasn't planning to go outside now because somewhere out there in the valley, a large army of black Lizards was roaming around. Flain just hoped they wouldn't come too close and notice them.
But now, it was time to check what he had unlocked…