Raise Dead

Aron walked outside the city, smiling as he stared at his sword, ^Todays is my first kill," He couldn't stop his hands from shaking. He is actively looking for trouble.

He slowly pulled the paper from his pocket, looking at it. ^I picked something I'm used to dealing with,^

{Quest: Kill five wolves and bring their hide, teeth, and claws.}

He stopped by a tree, shaking as his back shivered. ^Everything father taught me about dealing with the wolves. I'm about to break.^

The man who usually only stood against wolves defending is now attacking. The man who usually only hoped to scare them enough so they run away is now wishing they stay and fight to the death.

Aron looked at the bushes, seeing the tiny claw marks, fur remains, and signs of the wolves going by. ^All my instincts are telling me to change direction. Don't keep going. You're going to cross the wolves.^

He kept walking. ^I saw people getting torn apart by hoards of wolves. I know how painful of a death it is, and now I'm walking into it,^

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Aron shook, standing still as sweat covered his back. He can see the alpha of the pack staring at him from a distance.

CRACK! In the next moment, he could hear the wolves prowling around him, he couldn't see them, but they could spot him.

^I'm surrounded. One wrong move and they will tear me to shreds,^

Aron smiled, "GRWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He shouted, screaming at the top of his lungs. ^Look as big, as loud, and as intimidating as you can,^

AWOOOOOOOO! The alpha howled, and the wolves charged at Aron from every direction. One of them charged from his back, lunging at Aron's neck.

Thud! Arad turned in the blink of an eye, pointing his sword forward. ^They go for the neck. I go for the throat.^

BLAT! The tip of his sword pierced the wolf's throat. The beast growled as Aron kicked him in the guts, sending him rolling.

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 1/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 5/20]

"This is one," He smiled, looking around to spot all the wolves. ^Don't lose focus. Keep them all in your mind,^

Thud! Thud! Two wolves charged at him from each direction, opening their jaws. One aiming at Aron's left leg and the other at his soft side.

Thud! Aron jumped back, swinging his sword to the side and dispatching the second wolf.

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 2/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 6/20]

CLENCH! The other wolf got Aron's leg, biting his calves and pulling, trying to drop him to the ground.

GIH! Aron gasped, stabbing the wolf in the eye with his sword, "Die!"

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 3/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 7/20]

Thud! Thud! Arad pulled his leg from the wolf's jaw and tapped the ground. He flinched for a second. ^I can still move. It isn't broken.^

AWOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The alpha growled, enraged at Aron for killing three of his kind. BAM! He jumped from his high spot, approaching with the rest of the wolves, over twenty of them.

"So the big guy is coming," Aron laughed, "I knew this was a bad idea. But wanted to bet on my luck of not facing you,"

^I can collect the corpses later. Now it's time to bolt the hell out of here.^ Aron turned around and started running as fast as his legs allowed him. Sweat dripped from his head as he weaved between the trees.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! The wolves chased after him, quickly clawing at his back and legs.

Aron swung his sword back, hitting one of the wolves in the neck. "Another one," He smiled.

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 4/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 8/20]

After just a few seconds of running, Aron could see a small cave. ^Good, I should be able to bottleneck them inside.^ He immediately ran inside without thinking twice, as only a painful death awaited him in the forest.

Just after passing the entrance, the jagged stalagmite dotted the ground. Aron could run above them as he's a human with tall legs. The wolves on the other hand found it hard, with many of them getting stopped the moment they lept over the stones.

"Serve you right! Do you know how many cattle I lost to you?" He laughed, "For Suzan!" He lifted his sword.

{Suzan was a lamb he raised on his father's farm. She got eaten by wolves when he was a kid,}

Aron swung his sword at the stuck wolves, aiming at their necks and eyes.

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 5/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 9/20]

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 6/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 10/20]

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 7/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 11/20]

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 8/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 12/20]

[Swordsmanship] [Level 1] [S-Exp: 9/10]

[Level 2] [Exp: 13/20]

[Swordsmanship] [Level 2] [S-Exp: 0/20]

[Level 2] [Exp: 14/20]

Ba-dump! Aron felt a sharp pain rushing from his fingertips to his chest. He fell on his knees, gasping for air. But for some reason, he perceived the feeling as good instead of bad.

He laughed, standing up with a red face, "I never felt better, come at me, wolves!" He pointed his sword forward.

CRACKLE! As Aron shouted, he heard something behind him. SLASH! Suddenly, something slashed his back, and he fell face first, bleeding rivers.

From the side of his eye, he looked back, seeing five skeletons growling at him. "What?" He gasped, pushing his body up with his arms and running deeper into the cave.

"Where did they come from?" He gasped for air, seeing more skeletons inside.

At that moment, the guild man's words rang in Aron's head. ^That's right, there was an undead dungeon in this forest, don't tell me I stumbled into it.^ He stopped, looking back.

^Should I get out? The wolves would rip me apart?^ He looked back, hearing his blood hitting the ground. ^No, skeletons are easier to deal with, and I might find something to patch my wounds inside.^ He kept running inside the cave until several skeletons blocked his path.

"Get out of the way!" Aron shouted, rolling between them and knocking them to the ground.

As he stood to run away, a sharp pain jolted from his back wound. ^Damn it, did I scratch it on the ground^

His legs felt weak as he slipped to the side, falling into a hole and hitting his head on a stone.

***

GAH! Aron gasped for air, opening his eyes to the darkness. "Where am I?" He quickly remembered what happened, alongside the sharp pain in his head.

Touching himself, He could feel the blood on the back of his skull. ^Thank god. I'm alive,^

He walked around, sending his surrounding with touch, until he touched something strange.

"Wait, it's the armor? A dead adventurer!" He smiled, and couldn't be happier smelling rot. With only his hands, he managed to locate the adventurer's lantern and ignited it.

When Aron inspected the corpse, hoping to find a healing potion or something to help him, he found none. "Damn it," He sighed, "He used everything before dying,"

It didn't make sense to find healing potions with a corpse, as they use all they got to survive.

Aron found something else that scared him, a purple tome. "My the gods," Aron gasped, reading it, "This bastard was a necromancer,"

[Raise Dead] He immediately knew the spell as it was written on the front page, and depending on the tome's size, this was the most basic necromancy spell.

^I have to give this back to the church once I'm back.^ Aron inspected the corpse, gathering everything that he had.

Aron stood, walking deeper into the dungeon, searching for something to patch his wounds or an exit. On his way, he decided to give the tome a read just for fun, to take his head off the pain.

The spell seemed simple enough to cast. Going the evil way was easy. ^Don't tell me what those skeletons are that bastards doing?^

CRACKLE! Four skeletons cut his way. That one had thicker bones and carried heavier weapons. Aron started sweating. ^My bones are shaking. Those are strong,^

He turned around, trying to run away.

CLACK! One of the skeletons blasted forward, swinging its massive sword.

Aron blocked the attack, but it blasted him to the wall, cracking his back. The moment he fell on the ground, all the sensations in his lower back had disappeared.

Trying to crawl away in the dark, he fell into another hole, falling even deeper into the dungeon.

CRACK! Aron woke up instantly from the impact, bleeding as he heard skeletons approaching him. ^I'm dying...^

His consciousness started to fade. His fingertips turned blue as his body got colder. [Raise Dead] He attempted to cast the spell on his body as a last resort.

Even Aron didn't know why he was doing it, but it seemed as if the only way to survive that his brain reached.

[Raise Dead]

Ba-dump! Aron's heart stopped as a purple lightning bolt flashed across his body.

[Raise Dead]

Ba-dump! CRACKLE! The lightning bolt turned green, flashing from his heart to the rusted sword by his side.

[Raise Dead] CRACKLE! The green lighting flashed again. Aron's legs twitched, and the skeletons approaching him stopped.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

"Raise Dead!" Aron growled, blood gushing from his mouth. CLAP! The lightning bolt flashed from his eyes, spreading across his body as he sat up, the tome on his side burning to ash.