Chapter 14

Meet monsters:

- Common earthworm x68 (easy, worthless)

- Common earthworm+ x43 (easy, fangs worth collecting)

- Field mouse x11 (easy, fur worth collecting and edible meat)

- Field mouse+ x2 (easy, fur worth collecting and edible meat)

- Lesser basilisk pup x8 (easy, magic ingredient, worth collecting)

- Young lesser basilisk x9 (medium, good quality magic ingredient, worth collecting)

- Lesser basilisk (hard, very good quality magic ingredient, worth collecting)

- Corpse-eating fly larvae x23 (easy, worthless)

- Corpse-eating fly x19 (easy, worthless)

- Corpse-eating fly mother x1 (medium, worthless)

- Baby trunk spider x67 (easy, webs can be collected)

- Young trunk spider x18 (medium, webs can be collected)"

- Difficulty levels changed? I guess it's a good sign - I stared at the crystal tablet very interested.

I continued my journey along this path and observed my surroundings. I was primarily looking for plants with some kind of healing effect. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything, and I was constantly tormented by young trunk spiders and young lesser basilisks.

I also found one side path, but I saved it for later. The fights there have always been harder. I wasn't in shape to fight big battles if I could avoid them.

Regarding the larva, I used to think having it was cheating... I changed my mind. This little monster is a shredder for food supplies. If we weren't in a dungeon, it would cost a fortune to feed it. Lesser basilisk was just a memory now. Even the bones were not spared. Maybe later it won't be so bad... When the larva will be in its final form.

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw THIS. A rich cluster of phoenix feathers. A battle of terrible taste versus usefulness crossed my mind. But I had no choice. I gathered everything and ate one twig. After a few minutes of torment, I had no more scars or wounds. This time nothing was as serious as broken ribs and deep wounds all over my body...

The large stock of this herb was also a wonderful awareness. I closed the box tightly and hid it in a bag out of reach of the larva. I was hoping that as long as she was getting other stuff, it wouldn't even try to get into the secured supplies.

I felt very motivated to keep going and turned back to explore the additional corridor. The tunnel was very narrow and no vegetation grew in it. The only source of light at the moment was that of my crystal tablet. There was also a musty and mildew smell that irritated my nose.

At the end of the road, I came across a floor paved with stone cubes. Intriguing, but it also left me in a state of great uncertainty. In the center of the room, it turned out to be sitting... A skeleton?!

Dark crystal sheen, clear fangs, tail... Belongs to Exceed! Suddenly, the bones moved and the undead's dark eye sockets turned towards me. The skeleton's jaw opened as if to say something, but I heard nothing.

I took a step back, staring at the figure that hadn't moved from where it was. Soon after, I was in the corridor and waited several minutes... It didn't come to me.

I took a deep breath. This is undead... A work of dark and forbidden magic. I had no idea why, but it didn't scare me that much. I cautiously made my way back to the room where the skeleton was. He was waiting in the middle with his hands on his knees as if he expected me to come back.

I couldn't ask hard questions. The skeleton couldn't utter a single word. I didn't trust him enough to give him my crystal tablet.

- Have you been here for a long time? - I asked.

He nodded his bony head almost immediately. At least I know he's aware... The undead were usually puppets.

- Will you hurt me?

He shook his head after a few seconds. After this, he pointed a bony finger at me.

- Are you asking who am I? - he nodded again. - I'm William... I got into this dungeon by accident... I'm human, but I'm learning magic here... And I have magical genes of Exceed race - I explained. - I think that's the only reason I survived here

He tilted his head and stared at me. At one point, he raised his hand and a ball of dark energy appeared on it. When it was gone, he pointed again at me.

- Should I show you what I can do? - he nodded when I told him this.

I felt very strange at the moment. What could he want from me? I had more and more questions in my head. Why is an Exceed skeleton sitting here, why is he interested in my magic? I suspected that if he wanted to hurt me, he would have done so already... Or was he waiting for an opportunity? He or she?

I decided to sketch... First I showed my fireballs and fire breath. Then darkness enveloped my hands and I shaped it into blades. The skeleton was waiting as if expecting me to show him something more... But after a while, he realized that this was the peak of my abilities. At least that's what I could infer from his behavior. He looked from my hands to my face and back again as if he needed a moment.

He put his hands on his skull and stared at me with his jaw dropped. I imagined this scream "And what are you doing in the dungeon?".

- Yes... I also wonder what I'm doing here... Possibly just trying to survive - I said.

After a while, he just stood up and created more darkness. He formed them into blades and threw them at the wall and looked at me.

- Do you... Do you want to help me? And teach me this? - he nodded again.

I wondered how many strange things would happen to me here. Universal larva, skeleton-teacher? I decided to give it a chance and started imitating what he was doing. Sometimes it was very difficult... After an hour, I handed him my crystal tablet.

- You know how to us...? - I didn't finish the question because he quickly turned on notebook on my tablet and started writing in it.

I watched it curiously. After a while, he handed me the tablet so that I could read everything. He wrote down very detailed instructions on dark magic... I started reading everything carefully. Who was he when he was alive? Best explained tips for using magic I've ever seen. After reading everything, we went back to practical activities. I was doing much better.

After five hours, however, I needed time to rest. I was also running out of strength.

- Thank you... Mr. Skeleton? Can you write something about yourself? I suppose it was very difficult... To spend a long time here... As an undead - I said friendly.

He took the crystal tablet and started writing on it again.

In the meantime, I took the edible flowers out of the bag and started eating them. Of the edible things, unfortunately, I only have this... I looked at the larva... It still has plenty of stock. In addition, despite the huge amounts it has eaten so far, the larva is still tiny...

- I'll have to look for food... Do you know where I can find something edible? - he nodded and went back to writing.

After 5 minutes I got my tablet... Let's see...

"My name is Edan. I've probably spent about 500 years here. The date on your tablet shows it. I don't know what it's like now but Exceeds with dark magic gifts were treated very badly. And if the dark Exceed awakened the gift of necromancy... Their fate was cruel. Even if they didn't use that power. I didn't have any other predispositions, so I had to practice my physical strength a lot... I thought I managed to make friends with a few Exceeds. But unfortunately, they had a bad plan... And they tricked me into going to the dungeons... That supposedly I could get new powers here. I've lived here for half a year, I haven't found anything that could help me... And when I died, I woke up after some time as a goddamn lich. After this, when I tried to use the dungeon exit... I couldn't. I'm stuck here. At last, I can help someone to survive."

It was... a very sad story. And I also kind of understand the reason they didn't teach me dark magic. Exceeds possibly still don't like this kind of magic. I was silent for a long time.

- I'm very sorry... That it happened to you - I said to him. - Can I help you in some way? - I asked.

"Possibly not. I suspect it was due to dungeon magic that I was able to be reborn as a Lich and now I am bonded to it... But for some reason, I don't feel bad here. If you leave me your tablet for a moment, I'll draw you a map of the entire area I've explored so far."

- That would be amazing! - I was very happy about this.

He drew me clues to the location of the fruit trees, and after memorizing, I headed in that direction. I left my crystal tablet with him. I wonder if this was a good idea to fully trust him, but he learned me a lot about dark magic.

But anyway, I decided to be careful. I don't know what a person mastering necromancy is capable of, but after all, as a lich, he should be able to have his undead subordinates?

On my way to the fruit trees, I killed a few spiders. Throwing blades made of darkness was an amazing facilitation. The trees were indeed where the clues were leading me! Five large trees that are full of fruit. Regular fruits, but that didn't bother me. It took me two hours to fill all the don't-go-bad containers.

Several spiders and baby basilisks tried to attack me, but I defeated them all easily. I put them all in a bag later so my familiar could eat. I took the larva out of the bag for a while. It grew to 7 centimeters in length. I stroked her with my finger and it looked happy... On its way. I put it in the bag so it could continue eating.

I started my way back to Lich. He was still in his place. He waved and gave me my tablet back. There was a very large and detailed map on it! He even described the species of monsters that I can find.

But the most important place on the map is the exit from this place! According to the notes, however, it will be very difficult. The creatures there are gargoyles, golems, and stone wolves... I need a lot of time to be able to beat them.

- Thank you... Thank you very much - I said gratefully.

There were also more notes about practicing my dark magic. I ate some fruits and started exercising under his supervision again.