Chapter 94. Up close and personal

Checking the monster's details, Michael was surprised to realize that it was just an average Minion, not an Elite as he was expecting.

[ Bone Warrior Corpse Axe (Minion) - Level 28 ]

Except for it being taller than normal Skeletons, there was nothing special about this monster. Maybe the fact that there was a bit more putrid meat on those shinny white bones differentiated it from normal Skeletons...

The sight didn't repulse the Necromancer, nor did he feel angry or disturbed after seeing that person being killed.

However, he still fought the creature without using any Skills. First, it was to figure out how he fared in terms of attributes when compared to it, while second, it was to vent slightly.

" *Sigh* Even after Helen warned me that what I'll see in the Dungeon are just souls and not actual people, encountering this scene still pisses me off slightly. Anyway... at least now I know that my attributes are higher than a Minion's when it comes to Strength and Dexterity. As for others, it's hard to properly calculate it and not entirely relevant. This means I can use my shield to block attacks from Minion monsters without worrying that I might get yeeted across the room."

Next, a test of flexibility in battle occurred, as the following room was occupied by Hellions and Skeleton Archers. 

With the four-legged creatures sprinting and lunging at him from all sides, he also had to maintain field awareness as the Skeleton Archers pelted him from behind their allies.

Furthermore, the ranged enemies didn't seem to care much for friendly fire as long as their arrows would inconvenience their enemy in any way or form.

As a result, the Hellions were much easier to kill than Michael expected, easily generating the needed Corpses to clear up the room in less than a minute.

"I managed to endure about five minutes or so of continuous melee and ranged attacks. Also, I did so effortlessly due to the attribute difference between myself and the Minion monsters. Next, I must find a stronger opponent to test my battle reflexes. The more accustomed I am to fighting, the more I can temper my battle intuition."

It goes without saying that a certain someone was suffering from 8th-grade syndrome and thought he could someone awaken his sixth sense by fighting lots of times.

Too many anime, mangas, and novels would do that to you...

Nevertheless, it was a good exercise for his melee skills, as now he could deflect attacks with both his shield and scythe while also capable of repositioning himself mid-battle to reduce the number of assailants through the use of terrain.

There was no sixth sense being awakened as he mowed through the Dungeon. However, he did manage to gain a pretty decent sum of gold coins. As for items, it seems that only Elites would drop any.

"A cheap Dungeon so far... At least the experience gain isn't half bad. If all goes well, I should level up by the end of this dive, seeing how I'm not even halfway through it." 

Unsurprisingly, three chambers later, Michael met his first Elite.

A really tall Skeleton got up from the ground, disturbing all the other monsters in the room. Besides the usual horde of Skeleton Warriors and Archers, the Captains also made a reappearance with their annoyingly high Life Points.

[ Dreadful Bone Warrior Captain (Elite) - Level 28

*Terrifying: Summons three spell circles on the ground. Targets affected by it would fall into 'Terrified' status.

*Shield - Generates a shield protecting from all incoming attacks, equal to 50% of total Life. ]

[ Bone Warrior Captain (Minion) - Level 28

*Shield - Generates a shield protecting from all incoming attacks, equal to 50% of total Life. ]

To make matters even worse, more monsters seemed to be summoned from the rooms around the one the Elite was in, and they swarmed Michael in spectacularly high numbers. 

Using the Corpse Tendrils and Corpse Explosion in quick succession, Michael managed to create small bubbles of clear space where he could catch his breath.

Fortunately, through Decrepify, he could increase the damage he was dealing by making the monsters 'vulnerable' and, at the same time, decrease the time it took for his skills to become available once more.

After ten minutes of tussling with the monsters, Michael finally cleared the last straggler. Leaning with his back against the cold stone walls, he took out a Life Potion and downed it.

"Seems like I'm sturdier than I initially thought. My high Armor helps soften the blows I take, and my high Dexterity allows me to move quickly around the battlefield. That way, I can avoid getting hit continuously. However, I am not invincible... after the number of monsters attacking me grows high enough, the damage accumulates much faster than I can heal through the lifesteal of my scythe. So, what I need is either higher damage to finish the fights faster, higher Armor that can absorb more damage, or higher lifesteal to allow me to go on a rampage without being worried about being hit." 

The following hour was spent going from one room to the other, with droves of monsters being killed over and over again.

It turned into a somewhat boring and repetitive task, similar to a farmer harvesting wheat. That was until he opened a door and was greeted by a three-meter-arrow from a Corpse Balista.

"Fuck! Motherfucker! What sort of bullshit is this!?"

The high-speed arrow/spear pierced through his stomach and sent him sprawling five to six meters. Furthermore, Hellions and Skeletons started rushing at the downed him immediately after.

Without hesitation, he downed another Life Potion, even if the damage he took was only 60 points or so. It was the shock, more than anything, after being impaled with a three-meter-long thing.

Seeing the monsters approaching and the Corpse Balista in the other room loading another 'arrow,' Michael panicked slightly and immediately attacked with Reap to create a Corpse which could be used to save him from his predicament. 

Just as the monsters caught by Corpse Tendrils were slowly killed, the second projectile could be heard hurtling through the air.

This time though, Michael wasn't caught unaware and managed to crawl a bit to the left, as the damned thing created a small crater in the floor.

Struggling to get up to his feet and move out of dodge, the Necromancer had problems staying on his feet due to the 'arrow' impaling him and changing his center of gravity.

"Fucking hell... It doesn't even hurt that bad, but it looks terrifying. Furthermore, how the fuck I'm I supposed to take it out!? It's gone at least a meter through..."

Finally managing to find support on a nearby pillar, Michael dropped his scythe on the ground and grabbed hold of the arrow's wooden shaft.

Only that sent tremors through his entire being as the weapon managed to cut through many nerves. It took him a full half an hour to pull it out, with each pull resulting in a five-minute break in which he would wipe down his cold sweat.

The wounds created through pulling the wood and the splinters had to be healed through another Life Potion. Then, shakily, he moved close to the door and waved the shield to bait the next shot.

*BANG*

With a loud sound, the shield was sent flying from his hands and into the air as Michael bolted inside the room and started hacking at the Corpse Balista with everything he had.

After he recovered his shield, he walked to the shrine in the middle of the room and activated it. Through Inarius's help, a blessing descended on him, and the Sanctuary informed him of the shrine's name.

[ Shrine of Conduit ]

With a bolt of lightning descending on him, Michael felt his body disintegrate and become lightning itself.

The state he was turned in was even stranger than the one of Blood Mist, as he was now a literal spark, discharging bolts of lightning left and right.

Curious of how things worked now, Michael willed his body to move forward, and it did. With surprising haste as well.

'I can't seem to be capable of speech, but it doesn't impede my thought process in any way or form. Furthermore, it seems that I can interact with the outside world through... lightning. Let's see what the damage output is for this is...' 

Floating to the closest door leading him to the next room, Michael slammed some electricity whips onto it, forcing it open.

Unsurprisingly, two Elites were waiting for him. One of which was the goal of the Dungeon.

[ Shattering Spewer (Elite) - Level 27

*Cold Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 50 Cold damage.]

[ Aldagrim Guardian of the Gate (Elite) - Level 28 

*Cold Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 50 Cold damage.

*Chilling Wind: Summons a wall of wind to block all ranged attacks. ]

Curious to see if this form has any damage reduction, Michael allowed the Spewer to throw a spear at him. The attack passed through his electricity-fueled body without dealing any damage at all.

'Now, let's see the actual fun part!' 

Willing his body forward, Michael moved closer to the two Elites and began whipping them with lightning, though the damage dealt wasn't anything impressive.

Then, remembering his current form, he decided to see if he could burrow through their bodies. Which he did... It was an unpleasant sight and feeling but highly effective.

The two Elites disintegrated after a single hit.

Collecting his spoils as well as a pink item in the form of a key, Michael rushed to the next room, hoping to make use of the blessing for as long as possible.

The Dungeon updated itself as well once the Key was picked up.

[ Dungeon Quest updated - Tormented Ruins

Objective: Use the Tower Key to open the Gate. ]

To his utmost dismay, though, by the time he returned the way he came from and rerouted towards this 'Gate,' the blessing had ended. 

"That was... something. A truly impressive amount of damage, and I am invincible in that form. What a truly amazing blessing!"

Taking time to shake away the strange feeling of being incorporeal, Michael advanced slowly toward the unexplored area.

The locked 'Gate' in question was two rooms back, and nothing fancy happened after unlocking it, except for gaining access to a new area. 

As for the new place, it had the same variety of monsters, except for them being in higher numbers. 

"The strange part is that the Dungeon's objective hasn't changed, and the Key is still with me. Is there a secondary gate I need to unlock with it?" 

Before he could get an answer, though, the snort of a strange animal entered his ears as an almost four-meter-tall demon rushed at him.

The demon looked like an obese minotaur with long cow-like horns but strange human feet and hands. It was also wielding a strange club, which he appeared to be planning to put to use very soon.

From a distance, Michael found the demon's appearance quite silly. When it got closer to him, however, and especially when he noticed that the club was longer and thicker than his own body, panic set in immediately and forced him to activate Blood Mist to allow himself to escape death by being smashed into a pulp. 

Fortunately, the other monsters in the room could be used to grind the Elite down.

[ Wretched Warden (Elite) - Level 28 

*Poison Enchanted: All attacks create a poison puddle on the ground. Enemies affected by poison are dealt 50 damage per second for a duration of 5 seconds. ]

Unsurprisingly, the bigger the monster, the less agile it was. Michael was able to avoid all its club strikes but still got poisoned after stepping into a puddle by mistake.

Fortunately, the lifesteal was enough to cover the damage dealt by it. Furthermore, killing this Elite finally dropped a Healing Orb, which he used to replenish his used-up Life Potions.

Now, he could finally see the 'Gate' in question. Seeing how it was twice the size of the previous one, Michael used the Key to unlock it, and upon doing so, the object disintegrated. 

With the doors opened, though, the Dungeon's objective finally changed again.

[ Dungeon Event Updated - Tormented Ruins

Objective: Travel to the Chamber of Calling. ]

Seeing the very familiar name of the Boss's Room, Michael's face paled slightly.

"In the end, it really comes down to this... That's exactly what I went through in Nev... huh!? Wait! Could it be the same Dungeon!?"

Excavating from his memory, the Necromancer realized that there were differences between the two; however, the theme was much too similar. Eerily so!

Before he could process what that implied, the Dungeon updated its objective once more.

Through it, the door behind him was sealed by a wall of air, and the one in front appeared to be in a similar condition.

[ Dungeon Quest updated - Tormented Ruins

Objective 1: Travel to the Chamber of Calling.

Objective 2: Slay all enemies. ]