It’s not like he would’ve been much use in combat after all.
Ansel had picked up the habit only after a chilling tale from his father, in which the adventurer had gone into a maze-like dungeon, gotten lost, and spent almost seven days trapped with his party, much to Ansel’s mother’s disappointment. Ansel’s father had always wanted to be an adventurer. Delving into dungeons, slaying monsters and beasts by the hundreds, reaping treasures beyond imagination, and above it all, teaching his son how to follow in his footsteps. However, before Ansel had even turned thirteen and been bestowed his class, his father passed, spending his last moments within a dungeon far beyond what he was equipped to handle.
The boy glanced up, startled by a pack of orcs. They were large, humanoid, and brutish monsters that now stood in the hallway before the party, blocking them from pushing forward. Each one wielded some sort of blade, sharpened into a unique, triangular formation on one side of the blade's tip. They were clad in basic iron armour, although Ansel knew that the pitiful dagger he carried couldn’t hope to pierce even that.
All was still for a moment, then the orc in front raised his weapon and charged forward, letting loose a chilling battle cry.
“Focus, Ansel! If you can’t even manage to use your skills to assist us, then move!” The older boy yelled, shoving Ansel to the side and knocking him out of his trance. He brandished the tip of his spear, and with one swift motion, he thrusted the weapon forward, impaling it deep into the sternum of the orc before them.
“Sorry, Thane!” Ansel squeaked, gripping the tiny dagger in his hands and shuffling away from the ensuing battle. The leader of the party, gifted with the Dragon Lancer class, twirled his weapon with expert precision, slaying two more orcs, smoothly severing limbs and tearing apart green, grotesque, and rotting flesh.
Ansel swung his gaze around wildly, checking for any orcs who may have slipped through the cracks. It was only an E-Rank dungeon, the lowest in existence, at least, as far as the fledgling necromancer could tell, yet still, he was essentially worthless. If only you were around to teach me, Dad, he thought to himself sadly, remembering the man whose smile brought a sense of comfort that no other could hope to replicate. It had been only a year since his father’s death, just a few days before Ansel’s thirteenth birthday, and the memory was still fresh in his mind.
“Take it easy, Ansel. It’s only an E-Rank. Maybe you could try activating one of your class skills again?” Luna, the archer of the party, comforted with a warm smile, drawing back her bowstring and letting a barrage of arrows loose, each one landing square into an orc’s chest.
“It’s no use,” the young boy responded dejectedly, but he reluctantly raised his arms, allowing them to hover cautiously above the body of an orc. He closed his eyes, channeling the mana he knew lay dormant in his body. He thought of the one skill he had managed to put a skill token into, the Raise Undead class skill, and waited.
And waited.
“Ugh! This is useless—”
A splatter of blood interrupted him mid-speech.
“Maybe try resurrecting an actual corpse next time, Ansel,” Malik laughed, the final member of the four-member party, winking as he did. His medium-length, obsidian dagger slid out from the orc’s neck, dripping blood onto the stone floor below. The orc’s fist, mere inches away from slamming into Ansel’s head, fell to the ground unceremoniously as the monster breathed its final breaths.
“Thanks,” Ansel muttered, shaking his head. The bastard wasn’t even dead. Not that it mattered much. Even when he had tried to activate his skill on actual corpses, he never managed to truly succeed. Once, about a week ago, he did manage to resurrect the skeleton of a small goblin; however, it crumpled into a pile of bones about five seconds later, drawing a torrent of laughter from the assassin class adventurer who had just saved him.
The pack of orcs was quickly dispatched, and the small party of adventurers continued onwards, killing several other packs of orcs along the way.
“Level four yet, buddy?” Malik questioned, half sarcastically. He knew that since Ansel didn’t directly participate in any kills, his Exp gains were greatly diminished.
“No,” the young boy mumbled in response.
“You’ll get there,” Luna comforted, staring daggers at Malik.
Thane, the de facto leader of the party, Silverstride, held up a hand, silencing the other three members. “This is it.”
The hallway that they had been traveling through came to an end, and before the party was an unassuming wooden door. Hardly fitting for a boss room, but Ansel knew to trust Thane’s instincts when it came to dungeoning. The older boy was much more experienced than the rest, and he was also easily the strongest of the four, having recently reached level twelve. Malik and Luna were levels seven and nine, respectively.
Without another word, Thane pushed the door open with a heavy creaking sound, and the four members of Silverstride entered.
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[You have entered the Tomb of Kortak, the Orc Champion]
It was a huge, square-shaped room, each corner held up by a massive stone pillar. At its center was an ornate, golden casket, the top of which was slowly being lifted off, revealing a gnarled, green hand reaching out. Slowly, the Orc Champion, nearly seven feet tall, revealed himself, standing up and shaking his head, as if he had just woken from a long nap.
“Who dares to enter my tomb and interrupt my slumber?!” Kortak roared.
“Shouldn’t a tomb have, you know, dead people?” Malik questioned.
Ansel shrugged in response, eyeing the dangerous creature. Kortak lifted his weapon, a terrifying war axe, nearly twice the length of a full-grown man. The Orc Champion wore a suit of shining golden armor, and above his head was a circlet forged from bone, the centerpiece taking the shape of a skull. Two sharp tusks poked out from the Orc’s mouth, while his muscular frame bulged outwards against his tight armor.
“Malik, right flank, wait for an opportunity,” Thane commanded swiftly, shifting into a fighting stance, his spear poised dangerously behind his back. “Luna, hang back and keep a lookout for any chances to hit his weak points. Eyes, joints, anything to put him off balance.”
“Got it,” they responded in tandem, quickly moving to follow Thane’s orders. Even though Ansel had only been adventuring with the party for a month or two, it still impressed him to see them in action.
“And you,” Thane added, almost an afterthought. “Try not to die.”
With that, the older boy charged forward, letting his spear clash against the humongous war axe the Orc Champion wielded.
“Right, don’t die,” Ansel sighed, drawing his dagger and stepping backward into the shadows, drifting closer to Luna in the backlines.
Thane and Kortak clashed for a few moments, and even though the massive orc should’ve been slow and cumbersome with all the extra weight and heavy armor cladding his form, the monster was almost as fast as Thane himself. The leader of Silverstride grit his teeth, digging his feet into the ground as he countered blow after blow from the Orc Champion.
This is the boss of an E-Rank dungeon, the weakest of them all… how exactly am I supposed to contend with something like this? Ansel questioned hopelessly. Even if the boy were capable of summoning a few skeletons to fight for him, he still wouldn’t be able to defeat something like the Orc Champion.
“Now, Luna!” Thane shouted, ducking low and sliding between the confused orc’s legs. Three arrows shot out, one landing directly into Kortak’s left eye, drawing a howl of pain and anger, while the others bounced off his armor.
“You will pay!” Kortak screamed, raising his war axe.
[Call of the Horde]
Fifteen orcs, each armored to the teeth and wielding an assortment of swords and bows, materialized with a haunting green glow, each one snarling and baring their signature tusks.
Thane didn’t have to tell the party members what to do, however, as Luna immediately swapped targets, taking out a pair of orc archers within moments.
Malik struck next, slicing into the ankle of an orc grunt, finishing it off with a second dagger he held in his off hand. Blood painted the floor like a sea of red, and Ansel felt entirely helpless watching the battle continue. Surely I can help somehow, he thought to himself.
Then, he heard something.
Something… sinister.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Ansel’s eyes widened as he flung his gaze around, searching for the source of the mysterious voice, but there was nothing.
“You okay, Ansel?” Luna questioned worriedly.
“I… did you say something?”
The archer only shook her head in response, continuing to participate in the battle at hand.
What the hell was that? Ansel wondered.
“Return to me, alone.”
“Who said that?!” The necromancer demanded out loud, louder than he intended to.
“Ansel, what’s going—”
But Luna couldn’t finish her sentence, cut off by a final cry as Kortak finally fell to Thane’s spear. Malik stood beside him, and judging by the still bleeding wounds at the Orc Champion's ankles, it seemed that the boss of the dungeon wasn’t quite strong enough to handle both of them at the same time.
“Sloppy, Malik. It took you far too long to dispatch the monster’s summons,” Thane reprimanded sternly.
The assassin waved a hand dismissively. “Just admit you're angry you couldn’t beat the guy on your own, Thane.”
“Is that a challenge?” The Dragon Lancer demanded.
Malik shrugged, but his smile held a cocky undertone.
“Even he knows Thane could’ve cleared the dungeon on his own if he used any of his skills, right?” Ansel whispered.
“I don’t know, guy’s got a bag of rocks for brains,” Luna chuckled in response.
“What was that?” Malik demanded, and he and Luna began to bicker back and forth like they always did.
[Dungeon cleared! Determining rewards.]
[System Message]
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Leaderboard:
- Thane - 1st
- Luna - 2nd
- Malik - 3rd
- Ansel - 4th
Info: Individual rewards will be given based on total contribution. This Zone has now been cleared, and new monsters will no longer spawn.
“How the hell did you rank ahead of me?” Malik shouted, mouth almost foaming with anger.
“I’m better, after all,” Luna responded proudly.
The bluescreen shimmered in the air, and each of the members of Silverstride took in their new rewards. The System still shocked Ansel in many ways, having only been able to access it after receiving his class at thirteen, but he was slowly getting used to the way it doled out strength in mysterious ways. An excited grin on Luna’s face told Ansel all he needed to know about her reward, whereas Malik looked rather dejected. Thane’s expression barely flickered, but even the first-place reward of an E-Rank dungeon held a relatively decent amount of worth.
Of course, after ranking last and having killed basically nothing, Ansel’s reward was… not great.
[New Item!]
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Common Item
Info: A Rag used to clean the halls of the Orc Champion’s Tomb!
What exactly am I supposed to do with this?!
“Let’s go,” Thane called out. He turned, making his way for the wooden door they had entered through. Now that the Zone Dungeon had been cleared, the way out would be unlocked, and they would be able to escape through the same way they had entered. However, Thane stopped, turning his head a few degrees to the left. “And Ansel…”
The necromancer’s breath caught for a moment, but he dared not say anything in front of the older, intimidating adventurer.
“You are no longer a member of Silverstride.”
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