Unholy_Student

[The Lewd Traveler] 8 – A Cave

Added 2024-04-10 22:55:12 +0000 UTC

As I dashed through the dense foliage and trees with the slow skeletons not far behind, I came upon the scene of a fight as multiple of my Undead were fighting what looked to be a small green tide of Goblins swarming out from a cave.

Mentally calling for all of my undead to come to assist, I stuck back and watched. Part of me wanted to dive into the fight alongside my Zombies and the skeletons, but I knew full well that I would be nearly useless and needlessly endangering myself due to how...weak I was.

The Goblins came out by the dozen, attacking and attempting to swarm my Undead. Luckily for me, my undead were not cowed from the challenge and charged straight into the Goblins, killing them faster than they could charge out from the cave. However, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, as several of my Undead were quickly dispatched by the Goblins.

Knowing that my life would be in danger if I didn't get involved, I encroached on a Goblin that just stomped on one of my Squirrels, killing it, that leaped off the back of one of the Elk before mauling another Goblin's face, and before it could react, I jumped forward, tackling the creature to the ground where I found myself easily overpowering the small creature.

Not wasting a moment, I called upon [Drain Life] and watched as the squirming Goblin beneath me rotted and decayed under my grasp. I felt the flesh part way to the bone as the Goblin screamed in udder agony before eventually passing out from the pain and shock, but that didn't stop me, as I grabbed its face and continued absorbing it of life.

[Congratulations! Your skill: Drain Life has leveled up!]

Within moments, I held the corpse of a Goblin in my grasp as the Goblin died due to the shock and pain long before it would from the wounds.

I used the skill only for half a minute, and it took 50 mana from me, leaving me mentally exhausted from using almost all of my mana. Of course, that meant the skill drained a hundred mana from me every minute it was in use, which was yet another reason as to why I needed more mana.

Not wanting to waste any time, I climbed off the Goblin and charged into the fight to help my Undead. I wanted to stick back and attack from afar, but right now, I could not afford to lose more Undead if I could really only escape after clearing the Dungeon. Who knows what could be lurking in here other than the Goblins and larger-than-usual animals?

One by one, my other undead came rushing out from the Jungle, joining the fray before I suddenly felt a terrible pain along with searing heat as something dug into my leg, turning I was met with one of the buggers holding a makeshift primitive wooden spear that was sunk into my leg.

Falling to my ground with a cry, I grit my teeth as I reach out to grab the little shit's head, but the smart little shit lets go of the spear to jump back, only for a horn to pierce into its chest, as one of my horned rabbits stabbed into its back.

[Your Undead: Zombified Horned Rabbit Level 3 has slain an enemy!]

Looking down at the wound, I grimaced at the scene of the spear dug deep into my leg.

I was certainly bleeding, but I was lucky that it did not hit any of my arteries; otherwise, I really would have been screwed. Quickly, I ripped off a large chunk of cloth from my shirt to staunch the bleeding.

Taking quick breaths, in one motion, I pulled the spear out, something I realized moments later was extremely stupid, as blood gushed out of the wound. Clenching my teeth as horrible pain assaulted my senses, I quickly commanded my undead to bring one living Goblin to me post haste and kill the rest.

The Undead did what they were told, though not in a way I was expecting, as they dragged a barely living Goblin to my side. This goblin was clearly brutally beaten, with all of its limbs broken and twisted in the wrong way, and a myriad of other injuries that were scattered across its body.

Not wasting any time, I once again cast [Drain Life], hoping that using the skill on the Goblin would heal me.

As the Goblin withered under my touch, I was barely able to hold him for even 15 seconds before my mana was in the single digits and draining unbelievably fast.

Not wanting to pass out, I stopped.

[Congratulations! Resistance: Mana Exhaustion has been obtained!]

[Congratulations! Your Resistance: Mana Exhaustion has leveled up!]

I felt a soothing energy flow through me from where I touched the Goblin, gathering in my wound and healing it rapidly, much to my surprise.

[HP: 93/145]

[+7 HP]

Before my eyes, my HP rose as I stopped bleeding, but the pain was still very much there. I felt indescribable agony as I felt my wound twist and shift as it healed.

[Congratulations! Resistance: Pain Tolerance has been obtained!]

[Congratulations! Your Resistance: Pain Tolerance has leveled up! x14]

I cried out in horrible pain as I felt the flesh knit itself closed, and much to my dismay, it did not fully heal, still leaving a horrible wound on my leg.

Gritting my teeth as tears poured from my eyes, I wrapped the leg around with the bloody cloth and just sat as I watched my Undead kill the remaining goblins.

When I checked my notifications, I discovered that 16 Goblins had been slain, but I did not level up. Checking their levels revealed why. They were all level 1 and 2, with only a single Goblin at level 3.

It made sense that it was going to be harder to level up as I grew in level, but that meant...I would plateau at a certain point if I had no one and nothing around my level to fight...

Looking at what Undead remained after the battle, I realized a few had been 'killed' or put to rest by the Goblins. Specifically, three of the four squirrels I had were destroyed, along with the injured Greater Elk, my first Undead I reanimated, and one of the Skeleton Goblins.

It was a big loss, but one that I could recover from with time.

After the remaining skeleton Goblin came over and helped me stand, I managed to limp over to the cave, stopping at the entrance.

"Clear it out," I commanded my Undead, watching them charge into the Cave to make sure there weren't any stragglers hiding within. Only a few hung back to protect me.

Not even a minute later, I began hearing screams from Goblins from within the Cave, as whatever Goblins hid within were soon killed.

Six more Goblins were killed, and with the last Goblin, I leveled up.

Letting out a sigh of relief as a wave of energy flowed across my body from my chest, healing all of my injuries as it flowed through my body. My exhaustion floated away as I felt invigored, and my mind cleared.

Looking down, I slowly pulled the cloth off of my leg, finding that my wound was completely healed.

Opening my status revealed the same: my HP, MP, and SP were all refilled. I knew that my stamina and mana would be refilled from a level up, but I did not expect my health to be the same.

Pulling off the bloodied cloth, I stretched my leg, feeling no pain. I threw two points into Intelligence and three into Wisdom, and at my next level, I would do the opposite, throwing three into intelligence and two into wisdom. I felt that this would be the best allocation method for a while while I built up my Mana regen, which was growing strong now that it was at 36 an hour.

Perhaps once I hit a hundred an hour, I could start throwing more points into other attributes, but in all reality, it's only because of my Undead and magic that I have survived thus far. I have no doubt I would have been possibly killed if those Goblins had swarmed me, and I had no Undead to back me up.

Taking a deep breath, I realized that not only did I need to learn how to fight by myself if I had no undead to help me, and I also needed to expand my little...army of undead.

Question was, is there a time limit to how long I will be here?