The priest of death and the necromancer (part 3)

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison damage (-2 HP)]

*TA-DING*

[Skill - Lesser poison resistance - level up]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

[You have been poisoned]

[Poison has been neutralized]

The creature's ATK was too low to break through the buffed DEF of the young priest of death while he was within the Sacred Ground, but it did proc the Poison with each separate bite. Luckily, it was something that was countered by the Lesser poison resistance skill that Zorey had, and the biggest trouble it fave him was swarming the left side of his vision with an avalanche of notifications.

There was one close call when with it when it seemed that the Artificial Rat King's poison skill increased in level and got through, but luckily, the black-haired boy turned out to be just as talented in neutralizing the Poison as the creature was in poisoning and had his resistance skill catch up with only a little bit of damage getting through.

"GHAAAAA!"

*WHAM*

"SCREEEGH! (GUGH!) x17"

Zorey growled and slammed the undead, swarming his arm against the ground, saying the hay covering the stone floor all over the cell and causing the monster to let out a unison cry.

*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*

Zorey kept swinging his arm wildly, slamming the rat king against the opposing walls and then back against the floor.

*thump*

"Ghh...!"

*WHAM* *WHAM*

With the last hit, Zorey lost his balance and fell down, spitting through his clenched teeth, but even so, he continued rag-dolling the Artificial Rat King against the floor until the undead went silent.

"..."

Zorey breathed out, supporting himself on his free amr that trembled from exhaustion as he raised the one he held the tails of the Artificial Rat King with and glared at each rotting corpse hanging down limply with open mouth and lesser position slowly dripping down from their gruesomely bared teeth.

"...Check... Status..."

[Name: Kaipo's experiment

Race: Undead (Artificial Rat King – temporarily contracted)

Rank: E

Level: 2

HP: 0* MP: 0*

ATK: 0* MAT: 0*

DEF: 0* MDF: 0*

SPD: 0* LUC: 0*

*(Debuff – incapacitated – waiting for the owner's mana)

Skills:

Rapid bite (active) (level 2)

Lesser poison fang (passive) (level 2)

Soul-breaking screech (active) (level 1)]

"Haa...! Resist this now, you idiot...! Appease undead...!"

*plop*

Zorey scoffed, dropping the squishy undead on the floor and using the Skill...

*haaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skills failed]

[EXP points granted]

"!!!"

...that indeed ended up failing, making the young priest of death become lost for words.

"M-mister priest...!"

"Wha...?! Huh? Yes...?"

The young necromancer peeked into the cell and called out shyly, but it still was enough to make Zorey flinch before he realized that it wasn't anyone hostile trying to attack him from behind and asked.

"I just saw a notification informing me about the System blocking an attempt to turn off my Skill! I think that I can break the bond now, and then you can appease it...!"

The greenish-blond-haired boy gulped down his saliva and said, too ashamed to make eye contact.

"Go on then... I definitely need a rest, so let's get over with it..."

Zorey breathed out heavily, nodding his head as droplets of blood from his nostrils kept dripping down from his chin to the floor.

"AH...! O-okay...! Skill, cancel!"

The young necromancer flinched and nodded, raising his trembling finger and pointing it at the lifeless undead and issuing a command.

[Name: Kaipo's experiment

Race: Undead (Artificial Rat King)

Rank: E

Level: 2

HP: 0* MP: 0*

ATK: 0* MAT: 0*

DEF: 0* MDF: 0*

SPD: 0* LUC: 0*

*(Debuff – incapacitated – time remaining 00:04:59)

Skills:

Rapid bite (active) (level 2)

Lesser poison fang (passive) (level 2)

Soul-breaking screech (active) (level 1)]

As soon as the command registered in the System, the monster's status window popped up in Zorey's and the necromancer's visions – with major details being missing information about the contract of any sort and a countdown timer instead of the owner's mana requirement.

"Lesser blessing."

*haaaa~*

Zorey tried again, this time testing ground with the Skill that should be used in standard situations.

"It works...!"

"...whew..."

No notification about the failure popped up, causing both boys to breathe out in relief.

"Appease undead."

*HAAAA~*

That Skill worked out properly, too – most likely because the undead had no will in its current state, so it could not fight back, and a bright warm light filled the cell.

*crack* x17

"...huh...?"

The spectacle was followed by each carcass cracking open, but to Zorey's surprise, what emerged from inside wasn't a spectral Rat King conjoined at tails or even the size-adequate glowing silhouettes of dwarf lesser rats, but seventeen tiny rats that might have as well been born the last hour or so and were moving around blindly trying to feel their way around.

They surely didn't look as if they understood what was going on.

So, instead of the usual parting message that Zorey received from the appeased undead, the seventeen rat pups dissolved into hundreds of 0-and1-looking symbols that floated up and disappeared into thin air, ending the light show.

*whoosh*

The earthly remains of the appeased undead crumbled into an inconspicuous pile of dust with a soft sound, soaking in the remains of venom that poured from the Artificial Rat King's teeth.

*TA-DING*

[You have successfully appeased the undead (Artificial Rat King)]

[EXP points granted]

*TA-DING*

[You leveled up!]

[Level 5 → Level 6]

[All base stats incressed]

[Your skills have leveled up]

[Proficiency level reached. You gained a skill – Unarmed combat (level 1)]

"Gosh...! That was insane...! I understand why the teacher told me to not attempt to fight with the undead without a party! If it didn't have such unbalanced stats with ridiculously weak DEF and ATK for an E rank monster, I would be dead for sure...!"

Zorey groaned, sitting heavily against the wall and resting his arms on his spread knees, hanging his head down.

"Umm... I... I'm sorry... ah...! And thank you very much!"

"..."

The greenish-blond-haired necromancer approached him timidly and did his best to convey his gratitude while pushing his handkerchief forwards o that the black-haired priest of death would take it.

Zorey didn't pay attention to it before, but originally the other boy's complexion was terribly pale; thankfully, now, the healthy color began to slowly return.

"It's fine, it's fine. All a part of my training anyway. And I even got to level 6 thanks to the EXP from your undead, so it's all good~!"

The black-haired boy accepted the expensive-looking handkerchief and pressed it to his nose without a moment of hesitation while waving his hand dismissively to reassure the troubled necromancer.

"L-level 6?! I had no idea that you were my senior...! I'm sorry for being so rude to you, mister priest! M-my name is Kaipo, and I'm a level 3 necromancer! Once again, thank you for helping me deal with the mess I made!"

The greenish-blond-haired boy gasped, looking kind of terrified, and hurriedly bowed his head and introduced himself.

"Hi, Kaipo~! I'm Zorey, level 6 priest of death. Don't worry, you were plenty polite before... but if you really want to return the favor, then I have a little proposition. Do you want to hear it?"

The black-haired boy raised his hand and returned the greeting and introduction before nodding encouragingly at the young necromancer.

"I... well... y-yes. If it's within my capability, I will do my best!"

Kaipo hesitated for a moment but then pulled himself together and declared while straightening his back.

"Don't make that face before hearing me out."

Zorey smiled, wiping the slowly coagulating blood off his chin and lips.

"My teacher promised to take me to go around the city tomorrow. Join us if you want. I want to take a look at a few things, including staff and most importantly a ring increasing ATK for a present. I want to have a talk with my teacher so that he would allow me to try hunting out some low-level monsters outside the city walls to earn enough for all of that. And if we both tell him that we will hunt together, which would work out as training for increasing our levels, I'm sure he would agree!"

The black-haired priest of death declared, taking the handkerchief away from his face just to put it back as his nosebleed didn't stop nearly as much as he had hoped.

"We will form a party to level up?!"

Kaipo's response was even warmer than Zorey hoped for as the greenish-blond-haired necromancer gasped, clenching his fists as his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Yeah! And with two of us, we will really be able to get things going. Not only will we get the shared EXP from hunting the monsters, but then you can raise them as undead, and I can appease them for even more EXP!"

Zorey laughed triumphantly as if he had come up with just the greatest idea...

"Whoa...! You're right! A-alright! I promise I will come by tomorrow morning too!"

...and if one would only take Kaipo's response into consideration, the plan really seemed incredible.

"Great! I'll be waiting! Ugh... You can leave first if you want... I have to get myself back into working order."

Zorey cheered out and tried to stand up, but he felt the world spinning the moment he even attempted changing position, so he sat down heavily and waved encouragingly at his new friend.

"Are you sure you will be okay? Should I call someone?"

Kaipo hesitated and asked, leaning down to have a better look at Zorey's face.

"Everything's fine~ At level 5, I got a healing skill. I am;m just waiting for my MP to... oh, it's already fine. Mend."

The black-haired boy was in the middle of assuring his worried friend when he realized he didn't have to wait any longer and just used his Skill.

*CRACK*

"Urgh...!"

"Zorey...?!"

As the Skill activated, the young priest's body shone with murky gray light and jolted, releasing a rather disturbing snapping sound which got followed by the groan of pain from Zorey, making Kaipo gasp in panic.

"Owwwww...! Mend is a skill that can heal the undead... it doesn't involve any powers of life, but as compensation, it is rather painful... You know, it's not something that bothers undead, but for living..."

"Ohhh..."

Zorey massaged his chest with a grimace and explained, trying to smile – failing at it – and Kaipo let out a gasp of understanding.