The Goblin Lair I

Peter's shadow army battled, running through the large enchanted zone berserk, killing anything in sight. They had been ravaging for several hours now, only disappearing when Peter had run out of mana to keep supplying their energy. This method was proving extra effective in killing as many beasts as possible to add to Peter's army further.

He had been spending the whole month solely focusing on increasing his shadow army's numbers, The 'Style of the Soul Reaper' Martial art and his cultivation. Peter had already learned all of the spells and had perfected the 'Ethereal Arts' martial art. Now he just needed to focus on his trump cards.

He had commanded the 30 Tier 2's under him and Five Tier 3 Beasts to handle the hunting whilst the 100+ Tier 1's dealt with logistics; they would bring back the dead bodies of the prey that the other stronger shadow soldiers killed and pile them up for Peter to resurrect.

Meanwhile, Peter would sit in a meditation position and cultivate, restoring the mana they were expending every time they died and further nourishing his mana core. This burden on his mana core was actually boosting his cultivation progress by at least 45%. It had only been 1 month since his previous breakthrough but Peter was already less than halfway to the 5th stage.

Like this, his army and him were working efficiently without rest. It was truly a heaven-defying ability.

Peter slowly opened his eyes, when one of his Tier 1 shadow soldiers had come across something peculiar and had sent a warning to him.

'Another dungeon?' Peter frowned.

He commanded the Tier 1 beast to head into the dungeon through the portal as a scout but as soon as it tried to enter through the blue coloured portal in front of it, an invisible barrier instantly repelled it back.

'Should we head in there? Or is it too risky? I don't think magic beasts are allowed to enter through it. That's probably why the shadow soldier got pushed back instantly as soon as it tried to enter.' Peter throught.

'Mmh. Although I'd advise against it in normal circumstances, we've become much stronger now. You're right brother. If we're lucky it could be another inheritance ground, so it would be unwise to miss such an opportunity. Whilst I continue trying to comprehend the second technique of the 'Style of the Soul Reaper' martial art, you can continue searching the dungeon.

'We also have the Shadow teleportation spell if anything goes wrong, escape will always be an option. Don't forget, we have our undead army too. There's not much to fear, other than Tier 4 beasts, which are still too powerful for us to handle unless we use 110% of our power, utilizing the Stigma's boosts.' Noah replied, giving Noah the green light to go ahead with his plans.

Peter nodded. He wasn't going to waste such an opportunity, so he continued cultivating, restoring the mana depleted from his oversized mana core. Although he was at the 4th Stage of the Novice Rank, his mana core was that of the size of a 6-7th Stage Novice Rank cultivator, due to the effects of the integration process with the 5 star Spell 'Monarch of Darkness'.

When he had finally replenished all of his mana, he instantly teleported to the site, where the portal to the dungeon laid.

'Shadow Teleport.'

Peter teleported to the shadow of one of his undead soldiers on standby near the portal. He then retracted all of the undead beasts running rampant in the Enchanted Zone.

He took a deep breath, before entering the portal.

The pungent smell of vinegar and feces wafted up Peter's nose immediately, causing him to pinch his nose. He scanned with his enhanced senses and found 20 life forms feasting on what seemed to be a dead carcass of goat beast.

The miniature figures looked back to see the figure of the human that had suddenly appeared but couldn't do anything but shiver in fear.

Peter hadn't noticed it but his mana pressure now was immensely strong. Not only because he was a stage 4 Novice Cultivator but also due to the sheer number of magic beasts that were compressed in his shadow.

To the figures looking up at Peter, they could only see a powerful predator that they could do nothing against.

'Fear? They're scared of me?'

Bang. Bang.

The goblins' leader smashed his club on the ground, snapping out of his fear. He shrieked causing the other 19 goblins to also gain morale and rush towards Peter. Goblins were green, filthy creatures that had superhuman strength and an extremely fast reproductive rate, hence their sheer numbers across the world. However, the lower ranking ones lacked intellect, only the higher tier Goblins proved a threat.

Peter sensed that they were all too weak, so he didn't even bother taking out his sword.

Peter danced around dodging the 1.5 meter tall goblins' swings. They attacked with their clubs and charged at him from all sides but Peter still remained calm, using the shadow steps spell and the First Form of the Ethereal Arts to swiftly dodge and counter at the same time.

After a couple minutes, Peter had managed to kill all of them.

'Exsurge A Mortuis.'

The incantation caused an eerie dark smoke to envelope all the dead bodies of the goblins, making them rise up. They all stood in a uniform position, like a small group of well trained soldiers, 19 of them standing behind the taller goblin. Their bodies had a dark complexion and smoke would give off slightly from their skin.

They all kneeled in front of Peter in submission.

'Good. Now let's head to the next place.'

Peter nodded, feeling another portal open up in front of him from the distortion in mana in the atmosphere. His senses and sensitivity to mana had increased by a hundred fold since he had awakened a couple months ago.

Peter entered through the portal without worry, his new Goblin group following right behind him.

A loud guttural shriek resounded as soon as Peter had exited the portal. The goblins residing in this floor of the dungeon were numerous in number and they had several arch goblins - much taller and bigger goblins, usually the leader of groups.

Peter yawned, summoning several of his shadow soldiers. Instantly, the atmosphere became oppressive, as several Tier 2 beasts shrouded in a dark smoke appeared by Peter's side.

They roared, rushing through the crowd of Goblins, tearing them down in seconds. Somehow, the Arch Goblins still managed to survive, with minimal injuries and were actually pushing the beasts back.

However, they still ended up dying, unable to wear down the undying and restless beasts.

'Exsurge A Mortuis.'

Peter said his incantations again, raising the dead arch goblins and weaker goblins from the dead.

They all kneeled in front of him, in loyalty before joining the other goblins still standing behind him.