Chapter 9: Growing Horde

This really was the life. What could possibly beat relaxing while your minions fight your enemies for you? Although slightly inefficient I could just kick back and read some books while my dogs cleared the way for me.

As I was checking my drops from my Afk session I noticed some new drops that I had never gotten before. Why is that? Seeing as there were common loot that there wasnt there before they couldn't have just been too rare for me to get before.

[Loot table updates as the Player advances. This is to prevent the emergence of useless loot.]

What a smart game, if only the games I used to play made this much sense. Looking over the new loot my little doggies had fetched me I was pleasantly surprised.

_____________________________

1x Cadaver

3x Undead Bone

12x Undead Flesh

1x Template Card: Zombie Grunt

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Cadaver]

An indistinct and perfectly preserved human corpse. Can be used to perform necromancy or other rituals.

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Template Card: Zombie Grunt]

Adds Zombie Grunt to create undead

_____________________________

I did not jump up and kick my heels together like a prospector who found gold. You can't prove anything.

They won't believe you.

This finally meant that I could create humanoid undead without resorting to drastic measures. And it also seems like I can unlock more undead by committing murder in this dungeon. Great.

Immediately I took out the template card, it was a black and green card with the silhouette of the zombie grunt in the middle. When I used it the card dissolved into notes of light and entered my body. After I pulled out the cadaver.

The system wasn't kidding when it said no identifiable features. It looked like the most average man I have ever seen, I don't even know if it is a man seeing the lack of genitalia. Regardless I raised my hand and cast {Create Undead}.

I decided to try raising a zombie grunt.

_____________________________

[Zombie Grunt]

A buff and durable zombie with the IQ of a shovel.

They are good at soaking up damage and performing physically intensive labor. Hard to kill but it is also hard for them to kill with their lacking agility.

_____________________________

On a second thought, I think I will stick with skeletons. I don't want to lug around a big bag of meat around. Casting the spell the corpse decomposed quickly until it became a skeleton and rose up from the ground.

_____________________________

[Skeleton - Lv. 1]

The classic old reliable of all undead. An all-rounder capable of fitting into basically any role.

_____________________________

Now with all of them raised I healed the wounded dogs by infusing my cursed energy into them. As they are undead they are incapable of regeneration and the only way they can heal is through negative/cursed energy.

With my horde back in tip-top shape, I advanced to the next floor. Before ordering my horde to hunt while I walked behind them while occasionally sipping a vial of poison and throwing out balls of cursed flame.

My level was rising quickly due to the speed at which I hunted along with my horde. The rotten strays could hunt zombies on their own and could even take down brutes when they worked together.

Before long we reached floor 3. And I reached level 25.

Nodding in satisfaction I decided against wasting my time doing this outside the dungeon so I left my horde to grind on this floor while I sat on top of a building and looked over the ingredients I had. Thankfully the monsters on the floor slowly respawn after a while so I wasnt missing out too much.

Most of what I had were just bones and undead flesh though. So I didn't really have anything on me that could be used to craft any proper potions. What a shame, I should look over the dungeons that got unlocked after completing the first one I guess. But first I should re-complete this dungeon.

To speed up the business I went ahead of my horde and used cursed flames before retreating, recovering my mana, and then using it again. And with ease, I was able to complete the dungeon once again. Reaching level 28. And getting another 4 cadavers that got transformed into skeleboys.

I can hold 19 units inside me at the moment. And my horde is growing in strength, my dogs are at level 9 while Fido is at 10 and my skeletons are level 14 since they are less promoted.

Though it is rather annoying that my stats are rather... weak. Or should I say I am rather fragile currently? My health pool is so LOW. I can literally kill myself with 2 spells. At least with cursed energy enhancement, I can mitigate that somewhat but it is rather frustrating.

All I need is to get hit by a car and I'm toast. Well, that just means I have to lean harder into my undead to make up for that weakness. Why fight headfirst when you dont have to? Just make a bunch of undead that can tank the hits for you.

After taking a break to hydrate myself and make myself a sandwich I used ID Create again. It seems like the skill got updated however as it was more detailed now.

[Choose a Dungeon]

[Zombie] - [Zombie(Hard)]

[Crypt]

[Goblin Forest]

This time I chose the crypt, cadavers were nice and all but the Zombie dungeons drops are kind of hot garbage. It had drain life and poison resistance as well as cursed flames but that was it. Its common loot was very common since it was the first dungeon. Most of the things I got from the chests were minor potions and iron weapons like spears, knives, swords, and such alongside Heart Cards.

...

There were 3 Draugr warriors and 1 archer. Upon seeing them my undead sprung into action. My skeletons braced their rusty iron swords and charged at the Draugr while my Rotten Strays distracted them by utilizing their speed to go in, take a bite of their ankles before retreating while the skeletons got a chance to hit.

Unfortunately, the strength difference between a skeleton and a draugr was noticeable as the Draugr was able to easily bat away my skeletons. Just as the Draugr was about to end my skeleman I activated Cursed Energy Enhancement and rush to its side before dropkicking the Draugr.

While it was down 2 Mutts and 2 Skelefellows ganged up on the draugr and ripped it to shreds. Before joining the other 3 skeletons and 2 mutts to take down the other 2 warriors. Unfortunately, the archer draugr was standing back and taking potshots at my dogs, wounding them heavily before they reached him. I of course did not let my dogs die and instead rushed the archer and snapped its back.

[Level up!]

It is very annoying that both my Strenght and Intelligence are just one point away from reaching their respective thresholds. They dropped several vials of undead essence and ancient iron weapons which I handed to my skelemen. After progressing some more the next room held a chest which I had my undead open for me.

[ 1+ Skill Book: Grave Buster ]

[Grave Buster]

Cost: 150CE

Summons skeletal hands that burst out of the ground and grab onto the target. The strength of the hands depends on intelligence. The hands persist for 1 second before disappearing.

Seeing the skill I immediately learned it. It was the perfect skill to support my minions from behind. The skill cost was rather annoying but I could live with it.

In the next room were 5 draugr warriors which I tested my new spell on. Casting the spell, a pair of skeletal arms rose from the ground and grasped at the draugr's ankles and tripped it, bringing it down to the ground after which my boys swept the floor with it. The rest of the Draugr went down just as easily, though one of them actually managed to break the hands hold on it which was impressive.

And finally killing those draugr brought me to level 30. And I reached 50 strength and 100 intelligence.

[You have reached 50 Strenght! You have acquired the perk: Brute force]

[Brute Force]

+20% Damage to unarmed attacks

[You have reached 100 Intelligence! You have acquired the perk: Precise Casting]

[Precise Casting]

Allows you to adjust the output of spells, letting you use earlier levels of it or cast with reduced power. CE used can't be below the 1st level of the spell.

I could've asked for a better perk that is reasonable. This meant I didn't have to empty my entire CE bar for even the most elementary of enemies. It was also for when I would need to defeat someone weaker than me and keep them alive.

The draugr also dropped me a pleasant surprise.

[Template Card: Skeleton Warrior]

Adds Skeleton Warrior to create undead.

Safe to say I immediately used it. I noticed my skeletons stopped evolving past level 15. And after I got this card they got their promotion options. Without hesitation, I evolved them all into skeleton warriors.

They all got slightly larger and emerged with simple worn iron armor. Wielding iron longswords and simple iron and wood round shields. They also had green fire eyes now.

[Skeleton Warrior Lv. 15]

Warriors reanimated through necromancy as skeletal servants. Unlike their lesser counterparts, they are capable of handling weapons somewhat proficiently.

Now, instead of being shambling bag of bones barely capable of keeping themselves alive, these were now proper warriors. Upon my command, they got into an arrow formation with their shields raised and swords poised.

And the next group of draugr we encountered we obliterated them. I used grave buster to trip them the skelewarriors hacked away their heads and the undead dogs pinned their arms. My undead may be slightly weaker but they have the power of friendship. And also me behind them.

After reaching level 30, I also received a notification. Finally telling me how I actually leveled up my CE control.

____________________________________________

[Skill Promotion Quests Available]

[Skill Promotion Questions Tutorial: Unlike regular skills, mastery skills are graded from novice to master. To upgrade the grade of a mastery skill you must complete a promotion quest.]

[Cursed Energy Control(Intermediate)] Available

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Quest: Cursed Energy Control(Intermediate)]

It is time to increase your control over cursed energy. Step into the next stage of the world of Jujutsu.

Condition:

Get your Innate Cursed Technique: {Create Undead} to level 25

Acquire a Cursed Technique extension: Complete(Grave Buster)

Rewards:

Skill [Simple Domain]

Skill [Curtain]

Skill [Cursed Energy Control(Intermediate)]

_____________________________

Huh, I didn't know grave buster was actually an extension technique of my innate technique but now it makes sense. After all, I am still creating undead in a way, and as I know Cursed Energy and techniques are really conceptual.

Curtains would be really useful for me as I dont have the mindfuck magic like the locals of dragon deus. Besides I am fairly certain that at a higher level, curtain is capable of a lot of things. After all, unlike a lot of other barriers these ones were really conceptual on how they worked.

I mean they literally managed to make a barrier whose sole purpose is just keeping a singular person out of it and nothing else.

Create Undead was currently at level 16, pretty close to 25. I sure as hell won't reach it today. Create Undead's exp increases every time I create undead, my undead kills something or I use Grave Buster. And I was pretty close to reaching my limit as it was.

Repeated dungeon runs are like running, taking a 10-minute brake before running again and repeating over and over. At some point, it really starts to add up. And then your legs will give up on you because of exhaustion and fatigue.

The same thing is with my brain. Unlike most forms of energy Cursed Energy directly taxes on my brain to use. Overuse can lead to headaches and dizziness. Regardless I ran a few more rooms.

Although I didn't get any more template cards it still got some equipment such as swords and shields. I also got 2 tokens from this dungeon. As well as a sword with the chilling effect alongside the ghost flame spell. A spell so elementary it didn't have a level.

_____________________________

[Ghost Flame]

You can create small wisps of ghost flames, giving off light. These flames will float in place and how long they last is equal to the casters Int x 1 Minute

_____________________________

That is a nice spell to have I guess. I also reached level 32 a pretty big leap from when I started the dungeon. Switching the exp display from numbers to percentages since it hurt my eyes I looked at my status.

_____________________________

Status:

Gojo Akira

Level - 32

HP: 420 (42 HP/min 1x multiplier)

CE: 1,185 (15x times multiplier) (94 CE/min) (1.2x multiplier)

Race: Human

Tier: Low

Class: Sorcerer - [LV. 32/100](40%)

Vit: 42

End: 74

Str: 52

Agi: 47

Int: 116

Wis: 79

Cha: 10

Luk: 20

Skills:

[ Cursed Energy Manipulation ]

[ Cursed Energy Control(Novice) ]

[ Taijustu(Novice) ]

[ Kenjutsu(Novice) ]

[ Cooking Lv. 3/100 ]

_____________________________

[Binding Vow]

You can create binding vows with yourself, creating self-restricting vows that can amplify other aspects in exchange for penalties.

Current Binding Vows:

None

_____________________________

_____________________________

[ {Create Undead} Lv. 16/100 ]

Cost: 230CE

Raise a corpse as your undead servant. The type of undead you can raise depends on multiple factors such as the race, level, and condition of the corpse. The amount of undead that can be maintained at once is equal to your Int/5.

Undead Available: [Zombie], [Skeleton], [Skeleton Dog], [Zombie Dog], [Zombie Grunt], [Skeleton Warrior], [Rotten Stray], [Skeleton Wolf]

Current undead limit: 21

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Grave Buster Lv. 12/100]

Cost: 150CE

Summons skeletal hands that burst out of the ground and grab onto the target. The strength of the hands depends on intelligence. The hands can persist for 12 seconds before disappearing.

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Cursed Flames Lv. 32/100]

Cost: 320CE

Shoot a ball of cursed flame from your palm. Deals (Int x 1.6) damage. Has a 30% chance to inflict cursed flames. Affected by gravity, will bounce twice before dissipating.

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Cursed Energy Enhancement Lv. 20/100]

Cost: 20CE/s

You can use cursed energy to cover your entire body. Reinforcing your entire body and boosting all physical stats.

Adds (Int + Wis)/ 18 to all physical stats (9)

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Life Drain - Lv. 2/100]

Cost: 51CE/s

Through contact, you can drain a target's health and add it to your own at a rate of 11HP per second.

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Poison Resistance Lv. 36/100]

Increases your resistance to all poisons by 36%

_____________________________

_____________________________

[Ghost Flame]

You can create small wisps of ghost flames, that give off light. These flames will float in place and how long they last is equal to the casters Int x 1 Minute

_____________________________

Perks:

[Gamer]

-Allows you to interact with reality as if it were a game

[Heavenly Restriction]

-Increases libido by 500% and max CE by 50%

[Fortune Favours the Bold ]

-Lowers the requirements of active luck checks.

[Spellcaster]

+10% damage to all spells.

[Precise Casting]

Allows you to adjust the output of spells, letting you use earlier levels of it or cast with reduced power. CE used can't be below the 1st level of the spell.

[Sturdy]

You take 10% less physical damage

[Cursed Well]

+20% Cursed Energy Recover speed

[Brute Force]

+20% Damage to unarmed attacks

____________________________________________

Nodding in satisfaction I retrieved my undead and used Id escape the dungeon. I was way too tired and my think tank did not have enough juice inside it for me to roll gacha at this moment. Pulling out my phone I checked the time and grimaced.

6:12 am

Great, I only get an hour and a half of sleep before I have to meet the sisters of satan themselves.

Whelp, I better make it count then. So I went over to my bed and passed out before my body even hit the bed.

Authors note: Your comments and interactions helps motivate me so please write what you thought about the chapter in the comments. I am open to suggestions to help improve my fics.

Also, if anyone has interesting ideas for the random gatcha I will be glad to include those ideas if I like them. You can also recommend characters for the occasional companion card mc may pull from the gatcha.

-------------------------------------

❗You can read up to 10 chapters ahead on this fic and the other ones I write on my p*treon at:

p*treon.com/BronzDeck

Just replace the * with an a