Handy had finally leveled up.
It was a skeleton Jay had been training into a zweihander since it was created, and Jay had kept it from touching anything that wasn’t a two-handed sword - when he practically could anyway.
Yet the classes available only revealed more secrets.
<[Germinating Skeleton Level 4 - Handy]>
[Type - Undead]
[Role - Unclear]
HP - 55/55
MP - 10/10
<[Skills]>
[Bone Eater]
[Scrimshaw Level 1] (Passive)
[Undeath] (Passive)
[Fear] (Weak) (Passive)
[Shade Vision] (Passive)
<[Description]>
[An abomination, its existence spits in the face of life and death - and they spit back. Stop it before it’s too late. Execute with extreme prejudice. Burn the bones.]
<[Evolution Available]>
[Please choose a role from available categories - Available categories are based on the skeleton's qualitative experience. If no choice is made, a random role will be assigned once the skeleton levels up.]
[Commander] (1)
[Guard] (1)
[False Hope] (1)
[Rear Guard] (1)
[Zweihander]
[Warrior]
[Champion]
Jay saw the option he wanted, the zweihander - but now there was a new role he hadn’t seen: the ‘champion’ role.
“Champion… huh.” Jay scratched his chin, thinking for a moment.
Jay only knew about the zweihander role because Red once had the option, but now there was the champion role.
“Hmm… while Red wasn’t trained specifically to be a zweihander, it did have the role available. Since Handy was trained specifically for it, it obviously got the role - but now there’s a new role. I’m guessing it’s an even more specialized role?”
Since zweihander was available to a skeleton which only used a two-handed weapon a few times, the champion role unlocked for a skeleton which did nothing but use a two-handed weapon.
It was logical of Jay to assume that the champion role was therefore more accustomed to fighting with, solely, a two-handed weapon.
It was far too intriguing, and Jay’s choice was obvious.
“Champion is simply too rare to pass up.” He nodded, locking in the choice.
Handy was now the same level and height as the other level four skeletons now, and before Jay could start his march, Handy was wanting more bones - undoubtedly to upgrade its weapon.
“Ah… I suppose we have some time.” Jay pursed his lips and sat down.
“It will be better to do it before the fight ahead anyway.”
Handy used Jay’s sword as a base as more bones were added around its outside and molded into it.
Instead of doing it all at once, it did it at smaller intervals along the sword, allowing it to create a fairly high quality product; higher than what should be possible with its level one scrimshaw skill.
Jay watched it as he ate a snack and drank some of his water, reminding himself to do that with his next crafts. While on his journey in the outside world, Jay had not been idle himself, and had been continually crafting, melting and re-crafting bone daggers while he was carried along on his pseudo throne.
“Hmm… all level four. Might be a good idea to get Dark in here, otherwise the skeleton-exp might go to waste.”
Heavy was an option too, but Jay needed it to stay with Asra.
While exp for Jay could travel from a dungeon to the real world, the skeleton version of exp could not. Since all the skeletons were level four in the dungeon, which was currently their max level, it would be wasted.
“Well, if I need Dark, maybe I’ll bring it in. It has its own mission in the real world after all.”
Blue was still in charge of the skeletons, and had already sent Lamp off to scout further ahead, following the flesh-like root along.
It seemed no more enemies were coming, so the seventeen knights dead knights must have been the whole response force; there to reinforce the knights, and possibly repair the chopped flesh-root.
It would take time before another force was sent again, but that depended on how long it would take to fix the flesh-root nutrient pipeline - but how much time that was? Jay couldn’t be sure, but he would not be here by the time they realized.
Handy’s sword was getting larger and more hefty. It had also become more straight and symmetrical, compared to Jay’s original design.
Jay idly watched, his eyes sometimes drifting to Red’s new shield by his side as he waited, the blue and white color catching his eyes.
“Two… two what? Two towers? Two Lords?”
It was simply too vague.
With a sigh, Jay gave up, ending his brainstorming session after Handy had completed its new sword, ending the crafting process with the sword grip.
Handy made the grip thicker, wider and more of a rectangle shape than a round one, which would help it to keep the sword straight as it cut towards its target.
The end of the sword tapered off to a perfect triangle point which was flattened on each side so it could still effectively stab, though it would be more like a jagged cut than a puncture.
Jay was ready to march, but he couldn’t help but take in the grandeur of his skeletons for a moment.
While the skeletons with weapons were threatening and magnificent in their own right, they now seemed like an ancient fighting force of deadly soldiers. Armored and ready to carry out their masters will, whether it be to pillage a town or assault a fortified castle. The world seemed like it was at their feet.
Jay was speechless, if only for a moment.
As he glanced at Blue though, the feelings faded; its armor incomplete.
“Still more work to do…” he thought, seeing that Blue was missing a chest piece, among other things.
Coincidentally, the spectral ashen-gray armor mixed well with the metal-gray armor; only lacking the luster of the metal - and Jay only wanted more.
“The more armor we get, the more knights we can deal with too.” Jay nodded approving of his skeletons, feeling content as he was ready to leave.
(Let’s move. We have work to do.)
Jay ordered, and followed Handy along; Red and Blue at either side with Sweeper at the back.
Some time passed as they marched, and Lamp had stopped again. As the necromancer and his minions travelled the terrain began to change.
Less and less trees were around, while the roots climbed higher and higher up their trunks. There were some mounds of roots around now too, which Jay had guessed were trees or rocks, as he had already come across a few trees in the process of being swallowed by the undeniable roots.
The innocuous roots were forming coffins, swallowing up whatever they could.
This allowed Jay to see further, but removed any forms of camouflage and cover, forcing him to trace his path between the mounds of roots.
Jay didn’t really have to follow the large flesh-like root anymore, as all of the smaller ones had been forming a pattern, all trailing back towards the source: a castle.
It was the first castle Jay had ever seen. Its smooth giant-block walls looked impenetrable, able to withstand whatever was thrown at it and standing resolutely against all time. It came complete with battlements, towers, and a large rusted gate.
The roots, strangely, did not touch the walls, and instead sprung up from underneath them, not damaging them in the slightest.
“So the source of the roots is protected by a damn castle, because - well of course it is.” Jay pursed his lips.
He was not expecting it to be easy, it never was.
So far, Jay had only conquered a level one dungeon - having not yet finished the level three mist keep dungeon, although he came close; yet a part of him assumed, or perhaps knew, he would travel back to Losla and finish it. Someday.
Around the base of the castle were more buildings, however they seemed more like little pebbles below the overbearing fortress. Constructed with large stone blocks, each of them were angular with smooth surfaces; as practical as they were durable.
“Pretty advanced… at least compared to the villages,” he smirked, “they just need a floating gate, then I’ll be impressed.”
Groups of Knights had slowly patrolled between these buildings, and Jay noticed they were going into a particular handful of buildings and ignoring others.
“What would they be doing in there?” Jay wondered.
Groups of three marched around between the buildings, though there were a few larger groups of twenty or so marching around the outermost perimeter, with another force of troops moving around in the gate entrance.
“Damn… pretty much locked down. It must always be like this since I didn’t give up my presence.”
Jay continued to watch for the next hour, plotting and planning his next moves - though he could only think of one strategy: to lure them out and slowly whittle down their numbers.
Classically known as guerrilla warfare.
