54 Forgotten barrows

Recuperating for a bit, everyone took a breather. Once they had caught their breath, Zanir led his mean further down the small trail. Passing the first cave on the left-hand side, they reached the second cave.

This was it! The cave that senior Lee had told them about. It had been sealed off before his party had to abandon it, though they had no idea if the seal was still holding up currently. For all they knew, undead may have already spread throughout the cave.

Charged with defending their ancient burial grounds, the undead here wouldn't pose a danger to the nearby area, as they couldn't leave the area. Anyone unlucky enough to wander in, or attempt to pilfer, would be considered an intruder and attacked.

Hearing this information, they came up with a plan to exploit that weakness. Setting up the bolt throwers around the cave entrance, Dante volunteered to lure them out.

"I'm the fastest, and I can slice a few if they get too close. Just don't let them bite me!

"Alright, don't be a hero. Get out of there if it looks risky."

With a thumbs up, Dante proceeded slowly into the cave entrance. They could hear shuffling in the darkness, followed by zombies hitting the ground. Soon, the padding of feet could be heard, as he came running out.

Thirty undead came stampeding behind him, they could easily be mistaken for Draugr. Ugly, bloated corpses, they smelled as disgusting as they looked. Giving the signal, once Dante reached safety, the men unloaded the weapons.

Every time the weapons shot off, it was devastating, the power was enough to send multiple undead flying. Having reached the entrance, the undead were still trying to chase, though heavily restricted. Reducing their already slow speed, turned the area into a kill zone.

As the few remainders of the first wave were trying to hobble back inside, Dante moved in, slicing and dicing. Having thinned out the crowd a little, they took a chance to break for lunch. Luckily, Zanir was able to absorb the foul corpses, before they stunk up the area too bad.

Keeping the meal short, since people were still cautious, everyone got back to work. This time, it took a lot longer for Dante to come running out. Somehow, it seemed like he was running even faster, than last time.

Behind him, came a slightly larger crowd of zombies, yet something was different. Last time, no one saw a large zombie with large shoulder pauldrons. It gave off an air of authority, actually commanding the lesser undead.

Before it could finish, the zombie captain was rudely interrupted. Several bolts flew out, tearing the zombies to pieces. Enraged, the large zombie pulled the bolts out of its leg and torso, having been hit directly, twice.

Unfortunately, it didn't read its horoscope, as today just wasn't its day. Before the anger and rage, even had a chance to set in, a large club smashed directly into the zombie captain. Splintering and fracturing noises could be heard, as it was sent flying from the impact.

Bruce blindsiding the captain, was enough of a distraction for Dante to handle the rest. It wasn't due to him taking care of the entire crowd, it was actually Bruce. Swinging his club in wide arcs, he flattened a majority of the crowd.

Now that they'd cleared up the entrance, they could actually proceed into the cave itself. There were a few zombies that popped out of crypts, however, they were outnumbered and easily put down. At the back of the cave, they saw a section of the wall crumbling apart.

Sealing off the area, to prevent a surprise attack, Zanir was able to fortify the cave. Preparing a few bunkers, they would have an escape route, should anything go wrong. Opening up the passage, they made their way into the actual burial mound.

Ancient and musty, these barrows were covered with dust and cobwebs. Moving cautiously, they were constantly on the lookout, for undead and traps. The passageway broke into a hallway, sealing one side off temporarily, they started to explore the other side.

Opening into a small room, there were a few sealed caskets, as well as other miscellaneous offerings placed aside them. The ravages of time had destroyed most of the goods, leaving a pile of mulch. Only the hardiest goods had survived, like strange gold coins, minted with shapes they couldn't recognize.

Among the surviving objects, were a few rusty looking weapons. A one-handed axe was found when absorbing one of the caskets. In an alcove, one of the men found a longsword. Both of them prompted system alerts.

[Material analyzed:

Name: Axe

Type: Fire (weak)

Rating: Level 2

Description: This hatchet was made with a strange meteorite during it's forging process. The otherworldy metal will retain a flame once lit. It must be completely submerged to extinguish.]

[Material analyzed:

Name: Longsword

Type: Frost (weak)

Rating: Level 2

Description: Forged centuries ago, this magical blade was created using metal that had never been above freezing temperatures. Remember to wear gloves, as the cold doesn't discriminate.]

*Ding*

[Magic subroutine can now apply level 1 enchantments to weapons]

Clearing out the rest of the room, they didn't find anything quite as exciting. Heading back to the temporary bunker in the cave, he wanted to play around with the magic weapons. Trying it out with the guards' weapons first, he found that it cost ten points.

With the points steadily rolling in, he could easily afford to enchant everyone's weapons. Not thinking it was a big deal, he just cranked them out. It was a smooth and easy process, shocking the guards.

Even the most basic magic weapons, were highly valued and sought after. If people knew that he could just create them casually, they would have a field day. Terry let him know, that he should keep that under wraps, for safety.

Seeing that it was time for weapon mods, Bruce came over.

"Hey Bruce, do you want me to enchant your club?"

"Actually, Bruce want sword."

Hearing Bruce's request, the nearby Dante spoke up.

"We should totally give him a zanbato sword."

"Check this out!"

Waving his hand, a massive blade was produced. A large handle allowed even Bruce a two-handed grip. A blade the size of the hilt extended upward into a curved point at the top. One side glowed red, while the other glowed blue.

Seeing such a beautiful weapon, Bruce was overjoyed. Carefully picking it up, he was getting used to the weight. Reminding him to be careful and that it was sharp, Zanir gave him the large sheath, which he strapped onto his back.

Turning around, he saw Dante looking at him.

"I thought you said you could only put one element?"

"Look how big that sword is, your katana is too small. It will blow up if I put both of them on there."

Thinking for a second, it was actually Terry who spoke up.

"You don't use a shield, why not just get another sword. You seem skilled enough."

Quickly checking his system, he found the dual wield skill. With enough skill points, he didn't hesitate to purchase it. Letting Zanir know, he handed over his katana. After a few minutes, the system was able to duplicate it, enchanting both.

Returning the original blade, he also handed him the duplicate. Playing around with both swords, Dante swung them lightly. The normally grey flashes of light were now tinged with red and blue, projecting hot and cold air from the pressure.

Now that the weapons had been squared away, he turned himself back to armor. The initial designs had been made without much metal. After trading and mining, they had much more to work with, so it was time to upgrade.

Redesigning the armor, leather and fur were reduced quite a bit, as the system was able to produce a lightweight combination armor. Composite steel plates protected the exterior, while an inner chainmail coating covered the interior.

Bruce got a large suit of chainmail, saying that he didn't want to be slowed down too much. It was just as well, his constitution was much hardier than humans, not much could injure him severely. Ogres were also known to get stronger when hurt in battle.

Insisting that he didn't need any armor, Dante said that he was good. Ensuring him that it wouldn't slow him down, Zanir was able to reinforce his robes, using some synthetic fibers. They weren't ballistic grade but it should be able to stop a cut or slash.

Clearing out the main chamber should be a lot easier, with everyone upgraded. There was always a boss at the end of these things. Probably a zombie king in the main chamber. He'd better have some good loot.