Chapter 4

""Skill set?" Aldrich looked at the type of Necromancy, which stated it was a skill set. "Has this ever happened to anybody?" He had never seen a skill set on the internet, but there could be somebody who may have it but hasn't revealed it.

"Conjuring Death, and Hollow Shelter, both of which I have used. So, this 'Eye of the Dead' is a new skill." He then looked at his undead.

Each undead grew a meter taller, along with their bones getting thicker. The flames in their eyes intensified.

Aldrich was astonished. As he thought of Eye of the Dead, a hologram appeared before him.

[Undead Wolf]

[Trait: Undead]

[Species: Demonic Wolf]

[Title: Minion]

[Skill: None]

The small undead had the title Minion. Aldrich nodded and looked at the orange-tinted undead wolf.

[Undead Wolf]

[Trait: Undead]

[Species: Demonic Wolf]

[Title: Fighter]

[Skill: None]

Then the blue undead one.

[Undead Wolf]

[Trait: Undead]

[Species: Demonic Wolf]

[Title: Soldier]

[Skill: None]

Finally, the black-tinted undead wolf, the biggest among normal wolves.

[Undead Wolf]

[Trait: Undead]

[Species: Demonic Wolf]

[Title: Skilled Soldier]

[Skill: None]

Then the boss undead wolf.

[Undead Wolf]

[Trait: Undead]

[Species: Demonic Wolf]

[Title: Boss]

[Skill: None]

"Normal wolves are either minions, fighters, or soldiers. But the boss monster is the boss." Aldrich didn't know what to think, as none of them had a skill.

"From today, my exploration in Wolf Cavern will end." He had 10 boss undead wolves, and scavenged 6,000 cores. So, he decided not to waste time in an F-rank dungeon.

He returned to the 'Peaceful Residence' and had a nice rest. He didn't save and spent 100 coins just to buy a horde of burgers and meats.

Chicken meat soup, chicken legs, steak, burgers, and pizza. He ate to his heart's content and slept late into the morning.

"Never knew eating and sleeping to my heart's content would be addictive." The next day, Aldrich whispered while stretching his arms and legs.

Never in his life had he ever slept so late. He had never missed his work, and had never slept until 9 in the morning.

"Let's sell cores." He went to the association."

____

"Sir… You collected all of this…" The receptionist was shocked by the sheer amount of cores, which had reached 6,000.

Even if a party of 10 spent a whole day in the dungeon, they might never collect even 10% of this.

Aldrich obtained this much by letting his undead roam free. When hundreds of undead spread in all directions and killed every wolf they saw, they carried the cores back to Aldrich.

This way, Aldrich leisurely spent his time in the dungeon, while all the work was done by the undead.

However, other parties, no matter the number, couldn't defeat wolves faster. Even if they did, they would have to rest; they could only fight with one group and not multiple groups at the same time… Due to that, a party couldn't defeat more than 100 to 200 wolves a day.

The maximum would be a thousand, but Aldrich, who just came yesterday to sell cores, brought thousands of them the next day.

"This… you get, sir… 1,000 low-quality cores, 2,000 upper-quality, 2,000 high-quality, and 1,000 superior-quality. Total money you would get would be 180,000 coins."

She transferred the money to his bank account through his card. Aldrich's hands trembled as he took the card with a grin on his face.

He entered the skill store and bought an E-rank skill, [Predator's Gaze]. A skill that enhances vision sharply for 5 minutes, which was quite necessary for the next exploration in another dungeon. The skill cost him 35,000 coins.

Then he entered the equipment shop and bought a D-rank armor set, along with two D-rank rings, all for 150,000 coins.

[Heroic Armor Set - Protects the wearer from all kinds of attacks, without hindering their movement. Increases Movement Speed, Strength, and Magical Power by 5%.]

[Gladiator Ring: Increases Strength by 5 points.]

[Ring of Mana: Increases Magical Power by 5 points.]

Aldrich felt a rush of energy surging through his entire body. His muscles expanded a bit, while his joints loosened.

He could feel his body becoming stronger.

<Aldrich >

[Strength: 31 +5]

[Stamina: 32]

[Magical Power: 35 +5]

[Skills: (Necromancy), (Holy Shield - 1), (Predator's Gaze -1)]

His status was better than before, boasting 3 skills. However, not a single one of them was an offensive skill.

Aldrich spent all his money on them, so he didn't have money to buy another skill.

"Time to head to Goblin Shelter."

[Goblin Shelter]

Surrounded by thick walls, a huge gate blocked the entrance to the dungeon. Aldrich swiped his card on the panel, and the door opened instantly.

Aldrich moved inside the door. As he did, the door closed with a thud.

Inside the periphery of the E-rank dungeon, masses of Supers moved. Stalls, more than five, existed selling their stocks.

It wasn't as bustling as the F-rank, but the E-rank dungeon also had quite a number of Supers going in and out on a daily basis.

"Goblin Shelter, an E-rank dungeon. Main enemies: goblin, goblin warrior, and goblin commander. And the boss: Goblin Chief." He looked into the information as he joined the queue.

There were many gossips about Aldrich being alone, but he didn't bother listening to them.

As his turn came, he dived into the portal. When he opened his eyes, he was standing in front of an abandoned hospital.

"The dungeon of Goblin Shelter is the Abandoned Hospital," Aldrich sighed.

It wasn't bright. The surroundings were dark. Only dim light illuminated the surroundings, barely enough to see.

A door was in front of Aldrich, and beside him was nothing but void. The darkness looked terrifying, and it required courage to even try walking in the void, not to mention the eerie voices that resonated as if some terrifying being resided there.

*Gulp!*

Aldrich gulped and activated his skill, Predator's Vision.

His eyes glowed. The surroundings, which were dark and gloomy previously, were now bright to him. His vision could zoom in and out according to his will.

It could zoom in up to 100 meters. With this skill activated, Aldrich's heart stopped pounding, and he felt a bit relaxed.

He summoned two undead wolves to move first, as he didn't want to activate any traps and be at risk.

*Clang!*

The wolves slammed their heads into the door and opened it. The sound resonated, announcing Aldrich's presence.

"Now, let's begin the hunt." Despite his heart palpitating, Aldrich formed a fist and walked inside confidently.

A large lobby room lay before his eyes. Dust and leaves covered almost all of the floor, walls, and ceiling. Cracks covered most of the walls, as it was dark with only something like moonlight illuminating the place dimly.

Rows of rooms existed on both sides of the hallway walls. The receptionist desk was covered in rust and dust.

Aldrich's [Predator's Eyes] helped him see the environment brightly. Every detail around the hospital was clear to him.

"A trap?" There was a very thin wire at the entrance of the hallway. The wire was so thin that it looked almost invisible; nobody could see that wire unless they looked at it very carefully.

"Abandoned Hospital, the house of goblins, filled with traps, is one of the least-visited dungeons by Supers. The traps are random every time one visits, so there isn't a proper guide to this place. However, with reference to every trap one has encountered, there are hints of where a trap can exist." Aldrich remembered all the details he learned through the internet, as he couldn't access the information since no device worked in the hospital, unless they were special devices made to work in dungeons.

Aldrich looked around the lobby very carefully and noticed several traps.

A button on the wall, on the floor, on the door, and so on. There were thin wires, buttons, and something similar to a lever in places where one could accidentally touch them, like on a door handle.

Aldrich walked around the room carefully and jumped over the wire. The hospital was huge; just the hallway extended for kilometers.

Rows of rooms were on both sides, which made Aldrich shudder, as he feared a goblin sneak attack from these rooms. Aldrich didn't check the rooms. He feared a trap would activate when he opened them.

There were no windows to look into the rooms, and each door was airtight, not even letting air inside.

Just as he walked for five minutes, the door beside him suddenly opened. Aldrich activated his Holy Shield in a hurry.

*Clang!*

A sharp dagger hit his body, bouncing off as it collided with the shield. Aldrich touched his chest to calm down his pounding heart.

Ten goblins surrounded him. Green and small, they wore leather on their lower bodies.

*Khe! Khe! Khe!*

They all laughed weirdly, thinking they had surrounded him.

Ten goblins became double as more emerged from other rooms, both from ahead and behind.

"You want to surround me," Aldrich smiled, looking at the goblins. His five undead were surrounding him. "Hahahaha!" He laughed. "You missed your chance; now you can't kill me." His hands glowed, and undead boss wolves landed on the floor.

One landed near him, one landed far, and one landed on top of the goblins.

The goblins jumped and dodged the boss undead wolf, looking at it with fear. They all rushed into the rooms just at the sight of the huge wolf, which towered over them.

The hallway was a bit narrow, only allowing five people to walk in a row, so the boss undead wolf couldn't stand beside him.

The boss wolf struck at the goblins who were escaping. The goblins flung and hit the walls.

The boss undead wolf tore apart the goblin bodies, and they disappeared, leaving small cores behind.

This happened from both sides, but the goblins escaped into the rooms. Similarly, while striking, the undead wolf hit some buttons.

*Gurungurun!*

From the end of the hallway, at great speed, a huge and thick boulder rolled towards them.

Aldrich looked at it. "Shit!" he cursed, knowing there was no way they could stop that thing. "Destroy the door!" Aldrich shouted and rushed to the nearest boss undead wolf.

The undead boss wolf struck at the door. Despite its great strength, the door didn't budge.

The undead boss wolf repeatedly struck at the door desperately according to Aldrich's emotions.

Finally, striking at it repeatedly, the door flew open. Aldrich stored all the undead wolves and jumped into the room.

Seconds later, the boulder passed by him. However, it wasn't over as a dagger collided with his disappearing shield. There were only a few seconds left before it disappeared.

"Phew!" Aldrich didn't even look at the goblins as he left thirty undead wolves at them.

Ten goblins were so small that they were even smaller than the smallest wolf in the Wolf Cavern. So the black wolf, the biggest among normal wolves, looked giant in front of the goblins.

The goblins all stepped back. They nodded and rushed at the undead wolves. However, goblins were known for their trickery; they weren't particularly strong.

They ran around and hit the undead wolf, but their daggers couldn't even leave a scratch on their thick bones.

The undead wolf slapped the goblin, and it hit the wall, the dagger flying from its hands.

Aldrich activated his Holy Shield again and rushed to retrieve the dagger. The undead wolves weren't fast, so they couldn't hit every goblin who was fast and agile.

The goblins tried running away to the door. "I lost 3 cores due to the trap, but I won't lose again," seeing them trying to escape, Aldrich chuckled.

Aldrich had left five undead wolves and a boss undead wolf at the door, blocking their escape route.

He grabbed the dagger and looked at the fallen goblins. He didn't go and kill them.

He summoned another boss undead wolf and let it do the honor.

The boss undead wolf went leisurely and stabbed its claws into the fragile goblin bodies. They died easily and dropped cores.

"Necromancy," he cast Necromancy on two cores. Small skeletons appeared, just a meter tall.

They were small but had humanoid shapes and looked agile. Their bones were so thin and fragile that even Aldrich could break them without trying.

He was at the peak of F-rank, so his strength was way above that of a normal human. He could go toe-to-toe with a tiger, but would have to think a hundred times before facing an elephant.

"It's getting late. Finish them." Aldrich summoned many undead into the room, nearly filling it up.

The goblins could run as there was space in the room, and the undead were slow. But the undead wolves were all over the room. The goblins had no way to run.

They tried sneaking away through the gaps at their legs, but the undead wolves jumped, and another undead wolf swiped its claw at the same time, throwing away the goblin.

In just a minute, the ten goblins turned into undead goblins. Small, fragile, and fast, the skeletons carried daggers in their hands.

"Hmm…" Aldrich observed the undead goblins as they ran in the room. Their speed was impressive, and they were seriously agile.

"Now catching goblins won't be hard." Aldrich nodded and exited the room, preparing for his next hunt.