Negotiation

"...grrrr..."

As the spells stopped, the monster let out a low growl – funnily enough, it didn't actually sound as if it was angry or even annoyed, but as if it tried to communicate properly but was unable due to the lack of luck on the young priest of death's side.

"Lesser prayer!"

*haaaa~*

"...grrr... (Finally.)"

Zorey stubbornly tried again, and this time skill activated properly, which the monster noticed and let out a relieved growl that instantly got translated into the boy's head.

"Grrrr... (You're that puppy who suddenly walked in, aren't you?) Grrrr. (You want to make me respawn, but I won't.) Grrr. (Unless I will take revenge on the human who made me fight my own kind.)"

The Rotten Fang Wolf got up and walked towards the door, getting up on its hind legs and putting its front paws on the wood.

"Grrr. (I don't even want to kill that human anymore.) Grrrr. (But I want to at least bite it – I will take their front paw at most, and I will be satisfied.) Grrr. (Bring them to me, and I will be satisfied enough to respawn after taking a chunk of their flesh)."

The monster growled at the door, trying to find a crack to catch a glimpse of the young priest of death with its cloudy lifeless eyes.

"Oh, absolutely not."

Zorey leaned back and shook his head, decisively rejecting the monster's proposition.

"Grrr. (And why is that?) Grrr! (They made me fight my own kind, members of my own pack!) Grrr! (You dare to say that I don't deserve the retribution?!)."

The undead wolf snarled, getting agitated and scratching the surface of the door with its front left paw's claws.

"No. Not like that."

Zorey shook his head even though the monster couldn't see him properly.

"I will get in so much trouble if I would actually do what you ask me of! Think about it. If a puppy from your pack would purposefully lead one of the other members to get its front paw bitten off, it would get abandoned or worse! That would happen to me if I listened to your request! I would get punished!"

The boy explained with a stern expression.

"Grrr... (...I see... that's true...) Grrr! (But if you can't do it, then stop bothering me!)."

The undead wolf growled and went back on all fours before returning to its spot on the stack of hay, turning its back to the door and the boy behind it.

"Hey. But if you respawn as a living creature, it will be okay for you to get stronger and go after that human. You know? And you will get back to your pack too – you all of you could gang up on them."

Zorey furrowed his brows before perking up and presenting the undead with his idea for its revenge.

"Grrr. (Don't joke around.) Grrr. (If I respawn, I will forget everything and be back to level 1 Stone Fang Wolf.) Grrr. (My best chance for revenge is now as I am a step away from ranking up and being the most powerful I ever was.)"

The Rotten Fang Wolf glanced back towards the door and snarled, showing that it was much smarter than the undead dwarf lesser rat – which was expected, of course, but it didn't make it any better.

"Hmm... anyway... Appease undead."

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

Zorey made a sour expression... and then used a Skill anyway – although he expected the result and was not wrong about it.

"...grrr... (...are you serious...?)"

The wolf scoffed in disbelief and laid its head back on the hay.

"You shot your shot too and failed, didn't you? There's nothing wrong with trying."

[The effect of the Skill has ended.]

[EXP points granted]

"...grrr..."

Zorey pouted and grumbled, to which the wolf responded – but the meaning stopped being translated as the notification popping up in the boy's vision informed him that the active time of the Skill had run out.

"Tsk! I wasn't done talking! Lesser prayer!"

*haaaa~*

Zorey clicked his tongue at the notification and cast the Skill once more...

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

...and failed...

"Grrr."

"!!!"

Zorey was about to move to the next door to try his luck with the next monster that would hopefully be weaker, but then he heard the Rotten Fang Wolf growling at him from behind the door, and even without the translation, he could just instinctively tell that the monster was mocking him.

"Haa?! You little...! You think you can say whatever you want just because I don't understand you?! Lesser prayer!"

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

The boy shouldn't let something like that get to him, and he knew it, but he still did and glued himself to the door while casting the Skill...

"Lesser prayer!"

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

"Grrr." *whack*

The boy tried and failed again, to which the wolf reacted by snarling and smacking its mangled tail against the floor of its cell.

"Grrrh...! You know what?! Fine! I will do what you want!"

"..."

It was Zorey's turn to growl, but the undead wolf didn't respond – just like the boy could not understand it properly, the creature was unable to figure out the meaning of the human language.

The young priest of death stormed out of the basement, climbing the spiral staircase and running through the Temple.

He got a few surprised looks from the priests, but no one stopped him until he reached his destination – the dining room.

The lady with the Cook Class was there as always, and Zorey approached her with a serious expression.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Luterestia. Is it okay for me to get a chunk of raw meat? Around that big."

The black-haired boy greeted the woman diligently and asked while raising his hands to show what amount interested him.

"Hello again, my boy, what... wait... could you repeat that?"

Mrs. Luterestia smiled at the boy and was about to ask the usual question he asked every priest that came up to her, but then she blinked a few times and shook her head before leaning forward and inquiring.

"I need a piece of raw meat around that big. Would that be okay? It's for my training to become reliable!"

Zorey asked diligently, making the woman even more confused.

"...to become reliable... ah! I understand!"

She muttered, furrowing her brows before gasping in understanding and smiling.

"You're in luck, young one. I did find a forgotten piece of Wild Horned Rabbit meat in the cold storage. I can tell it lost all beneficial attributes and is about to go bad, but if you promise me to just use it for training and not actually eat it, I will give it to you."

Mrs. Luterestia tilted her head and declared, giving Zorey a warning before moving a single step.

"I definitely will not try to eat it myself, I promise!"

The boy's expression brightened up, and he assured the woman, who nodded and disappeared behind the door in the back of her small kitchen area.

"Here. It thawed and became room temperature, so there will be a lot of juices. Watch out to not get too dirty."

Mrs. Luterestia returned shortly, carrying the piece of monster meat just the right size, and informed the boy as she handed it to him.

"Thank you, I will!"

Zorey thanked her while grinning at the ingredient and rushed out of the dining room.

"Yes, yes. Practicing meat is the best way to gain the experience necessary to receive cooking skills. Bless such a diligent child, making sure that he will learn some household Skills besides training his Class-exclusive ones!"

The woman breathed out with satisfaction, watching the boy leave and return to her own chores.

Meanwhile, Zorey kept the meat by his side as he returned to the basement.

"Lesser prayer."

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

He approached the sixth door and instantly used the Skill to a dissatisfying result.

"Lesser prayer!"

*haaaa~*

But this time around, the second time turned out to be the charm as the Skill activated properly!

"Grr... (You're stubborn, but we have nothing to...)"

"I got you a piece of flesh of the necromancer that left you here!"

The Rotten Fang Wolf growled in annoyance, but the young priest of death interrupted him with urgency.

"Grrr?! (Wh... what...?!) Grrr! (You're lying!)"

The undead monster jumped right at its feet and snarled in shock.

"No, I'm not!"

Zorey shook his head and insisted.

"Necromancers and priests of death don't like each other. The human who left you here to have you appeased in hopes of turning you into a contracted undead came nagging about the procedure taking too long. My teacher got fed up with them and knocked them out!"

The boy declared, masking the awkwardness of being really bad at lying by speaking with anger and urgency.

"All priests get buffed while within Sacred Ground like this place, so my teacher is really strong! The unconscious necromancer was taken to a separate room, and I sneaked in and cut their leg! You wanted a piece of their flesh, right? It didn't have to be a hand, right?!"

It would not work out on a human but with an undead monster...