Chapter 55 Just some really heavy undead (Patreon)

When the sounds of combat faded away, Nathan turned back around, examining himself as he did so. He had no idea where his shoes were and his shirt was once again torn to shreds. At least his pants had fared better this time and he’d only lost the bottom half of the left pants leg. However, he didn’t think they’d be long for this world because he was covered with blood and corpse-goo, except for his head. Nathan clamped down with [Focused mind] to keep himself from dancing in place to get the gunk off. He was pretty sure that [Juggernaut's Wrath] was helping with that too. He took a moment to flick his worst of the pale gore from his hands before starting to swipe the most egregious bits from his arms and chest.

Then he looked up to see the Heirs examining the recent battlefield. Just like after the Stalker fight there was a look of elation on their faces. Nathan found himself smiling as well, half sharing in their glee and half proud of them. They’d survived another trial. They’d dedicated themselves towards being Adventurers and spent months training to live up to their parents. Now they had proof that they could, in fact, be competent adventurers.

Then Stella looked over towards Nathan and wrinkled her nose before flicking him a cleaning cloth. “I’ve got your shoes.”

“Thaaanks. I appreciate it. My clothing budget is high enough as it is.” Nathan’s swiped the rag to get rid of the worst of the goo, tucking it into his belt since he fully expected to get re-gooed later.

Then he nodded at Khachi. “That worked well, I think? One of us in front, the other behind, the one closer to the danger calls the fight?”

Khachi returned the nod. “Indeed. You suggested the mana source was down the central corridor? Let us go there. I believe you should lead the way.”

Nathan frowned for a moment. “We should at least discuss retreating. I think there is more here than Sudraiel expected. Mass animation of ghouls, and whatever those other bones can become? The right decision might be to retreat.”

The Heirs all adopted frowns. They didn’t want to retreat, and Nathan understood. But they were thinking about it.

It’s like teaching undergrads again. Half the battle is getting them to think about things.

After a moment, Sarah spoke up gesturing to the piles of corpses around them. “Yes, and we handled it without trial. Those extra undead are not animated yet. We should deal with this before it gets worse. Break the mana source and they’ll never animate, instead of being a danger to a follow-up team.”

Nathan nodded. “Yeah, I agree. Let’s go.”

Aarl cocked his head, before quietly asking a question. “Didn’t you say the right decision was to retreat? Why ask if you weren’t going to argue we should return?”

Nathan spoke over his shoulder as he clambered over the piles of undead to get back to the entrance room. “Because we need to get in the habit of asking the question aloud, instead of making assumptions that might get us killed.”

The Heirs reached the entrance room and started proceeding down the central corridor, towards the probable source of death mana animating all of the undead in the crypt. This corridor was nicer. The stone was cleaner, the ceiling was higher. The reliefs on the walls were higher quality - though the themes were the same. Lots of figures bowing religiously before a naga, or the naga leading an army of humanoids, or observing them building a grand structure.

After several hundred feet Nathan saw that the corridor let out into a much larger room. The Heirs slowed down, creeping forward cautiously.

They emerged from the corridor, and Stella's light spilled out into the waiting cavernous chamber. It reminded Nathan of nothing so much as a cathedral. There was a wide central nave that stretched into the darkness. Rows of thick pillars marched on either side, beyond which was an aisle with displays that reminded Nathan of reliquaries he’d seen in ancient chapels.

Stella’s lights didn’t spread as far as they should. The slick feeling of death mana permeated the air, strong and invasive. Khachi chanted a quiet prayer from behind. “Deiman, shield us from this darkness. Safeguard us through our trials, and by your holy light we will banish this darkness!”

A golden glow shone from Khachi, pushing back the invasive mana. Nathan took a few extra steps forward to avoid interfering with the spell protecting the Heirs from the negative effects of the darkness. The divinely generated mana spread further, revealing a towering form at the other end of the room. Nathan looked back at his teammates and reflected on the picture they cast.

Four adventurers, striding into darkness. Fire flickered from Stella’s hands, and Aarl’s greatsword glinted in the golden light shining from Khachi’s armor. Sarah had a javelin drawn and her eyes flicked to potential targets. It was impossible to miss their beacons of light, and so they stood straight and strode firmly, footsteps ringing across the ground. They looked like a proper adventuring party, equipped with all of the magic and tools needed to cast down the darkness before them.

They’re drawing a lot of attention, but they have to in order to deal with this miasma. I’m immune, and can probably be our ace-in-the-hole if the guardians of the mana source are intelligent. Hell, maybe I can sneak past them and jump on it.

So he hissed quietly to get the Heirs’ attention, then signaled his intention to creep up ahead and to the right. Khachi nodded, and Nathan slid off into one of the dark aisles on the other sides of the pillars. Close enough to be within easy rescue distance either direction, far enough to be outside of the bright light radiating out from the Heirs.

I bet if I dropped [Lecturing] right now I could pick up a [Quiet footfalls] or something. Probably not worth it - stealth is useful, but only situationally and not something I’m focused on now. I know how to walk quietly in bare feet on solid stone. Balls of the feet, don’t slide. Maybe pick up stealth skills later. I know I can get through magical security.

He matched their pace, staying ahead of the Heirs and straining his ears and eyes for signs of motion or hints as to the locus of mana. With his back turned to the light from the Heirs Nathan’s eyes quickly adapted to the darkness. He sunk into [Focused Mind], and even with the death mana in the air absorbing the light was able to start making out details of the other end of the room.

Where the altar would have sat in a Catholic cathedral was dominated by a gray marble statue. Surprise surprise - it was a giant snake man. The naga’s lower body was all coiled snake, while where the head would be on a normal snake was a humanoid torso holding an enormous staff. The statue was big, reaching two thirds of the way to the sixty-foot ceiling so the face was lost in the darkness.

On either side of the statue were a series of shadowed alcoves as the aisles angled towards the central space. Nathan saw shadowed shapes inside them. Something about those shapes struck him as important, so he focused on them as he snuck forward. As Heirs advanced and gave the light a better angle, Nathan could make out the figures inside. They were suits of blackened full plate, each of which was holding a bared longsword against their shoulders while a shield rested against their knees. One of the heads turned, following the Heirs as they walked towards the giant statue.

{Mid-tier Notice 5 achieved!}

Nathan plastered himself against the wall and scooted forward with alacrity, trying to stay out of their lines of sight.

Bet there are undead under those armor. I dunno, some sort of disciplined ghoul. Draugr? Grave Guard? Bone Knight? Whatever. Grave Guard for now.

The Heirs could see the giant snake clearly now, and stood examining it. Nathan scooted around the corner where the first armored figure lurked and grabbed it around the neck with both hands to yank off the helmet, activating Rage as he did so.

Not gonna ambush my friends today. Get counter-ambushed, nerd!

The armor was enchanted somehow, and it resisted Nathan’s Rage- and stamina-enhanced strength for a moment before some critical part of the enchantment gave way. He managed to tear the helmet from the rest of the armor to reveal a grinning skull carved delicately with complex symbols. The body was starting to move, raising the sword to strike at Nathan. He stuck his fingers through the eyeholes of the skull and pulled both physically and with his antimagic.

Nathan absorbed a torrent of concentrated death mana as the armored skeleton lurched forward, taken off balance by Nathan’s firm grip on the inside of its face. It tried to bring the sword down but Nathan ducked close and almost hugged the figure, feeling its movements weaken as he continued to drain the mana out of it. The head was still the focus of the necromantic mana, even without a brain or remnants of a nervous system.

Good. Time to collect some skulls, and maybe look for a skull god who needs a few!

Nathan should have carefully lowered the suit of heavy armor to the ground, but he was too immersed in the thrill of imminent battle to care about that. The other armors were creeping from their alcoves and advancing on the Heirs while they examined the statue. The grave guard Nathan had ambushed was falling to the ground when Khachi snapped out a quick command. “Shield up!” and stepped forward while chanting rapidly.

The clatter of the Grave Guard hitting the ground was drowned out by the sound of impact as the statue struck out with its staff. The blow was enormous, and Stella’s quickly formed force shield only slowed the blow before it impacted Khachi’s upraised shield, already glowing with golden light.

The Wolfolk bent under the blow, but he did not break. Sarah’s javelin shattered against the statue’s face as it bent down from above, smiling cruelly at the Heirs.

Nathan yelled out “Foes from the sides!” And ran towards the exposed backs of the armored undead as the Heirs began a hasty retreat from the giant and apparently mobile statue.

I really don’t know what else I expected. Looks fun as hell to fight though!

Nathan tackled the closet Grave Guard, slamming his shoulder into its backplate so they both went down. He grabbed at its helmet, repeating his trick of tearing it off to get at the juicy death magic. The armored figure struggled under him with incredible strength, catching Nathan in the side with an elbow that cracked ribs and almost tossed him away. His death-grip on the undead’s spine kept him attached, and Nathan held on as the Guard’s motions quickly stilled. It was extremely satisfying to literally drain the motive force out of your enemies.

Then another Grave Guard brought its sword down on Nathan’s back. It was holding the enchanted blade in a two-handed reversed grip, and the blade tore through Nathan’s spine and into the ground below. He was pinned like a bug, cut off from all feeling to his butt and below.

Fuuuck.

“Help!” He screamed out, desperately reaching back to push the undead off of him. He had no leverage, no ability to push with his legs. His rage flared white-hot and his stamina dropped precipitously as Nathan struggled, feeling his [Regeneration] fail to heal around the metal object embedded in his spine. The enchantments in the blade flickered and died as he absorbed the mana from them, but they’d already done their job in allowing the blade to shear through reinforced bone and body. He pushed himself up with one arm, reaching back with the other to grab at the hands holding the sword that still pinned him to the ground.

{Stamina: 422/530}

He looked towards the Heirs, hoping for salvation. Aarl was a veritable whirlwind of blades, holding off four Grave Guard that had appeared from the other side of the chamber. He’d taken down one in the initial exchange, leaving an enormous ax embedded in its helmet. Stella was busy fending off magical attacks the statue was firing from its staff, using wind to blow aside a broad spray of darkened needles before conjuring another shield to deflect a strike from the giant staff’s full reach and retaliating with a fireball that didn’t faze the statute in the slightest. Khachi had his hands full blocking bolts of darkness flying from the statue’s eyes and defending against two more Grave Guard.

But Sarah… Sarah turned towards Nathan’s yell. Khachi’s shield flashed with golden light and she saw what was going on, her whole body sharpening. She reached into her pouch and pulled free a hammer. A heavy mallet, really. She wound up and took a step forward, hurling the hammer overhand in Nathan’s direction like a pitcher delivering a fastball.

Nathan braced, ready to push and roll as the hammer spun twice and smashed into the undead holding him down. It lurched back, letting go of the sword. Nathan pushed up with both hands, rolling his torso to free the sword from the stone beneath him. Then he reached back and grabbed the blade, ripping it out of his back. He looked back up at the Grave guard looming above him. Its helmet was mildly dented courtesy of Sarah’s hammer.

I will rip you apart with my teeth if I have to.

It stepped forward to stomp on him and Nathan flopped towards it to grab the upraised leg, pushing up with both hands. The heavy undead toppled backwards with a clatter and Nathan grabbed onto its feet, using every muscle he could control to lever himself closer as it sat up. He gained the faintest bit of motion of his legs and used that to worm himself farther up the undead’s body until he was almost sitting in its lap.

{Low-tier Tumbling 8 achieved!}

I guess that counted as an unorthodox movement.

It punched him in the side, causing another white-hot flare of rage as more bones broke. In return, Nathan pounded at the undead’s helmet and shoulders without leaving a mark on anything but the enchantments. He felt helpless for all his Rage against its armor and overmatching strength.

Focus. Don’t flail. Don’t panic. FOCUS

{High-tier Focused Mind 4 achieved!}

Nathan moved closer, hugging the armor under its shoulders and denying it easy leverage to strike him. He couldn’t strike it, but he could absorb mana from it. He focused on the sensation of mana flowing in smooth elegant lines through the armor. He drew it out, guiding the flow into his own body. Then he reached deeper, into the undead that lay beneath the armor.

Slurp slurp motherfucker.

It was a slower process than when Nathan had direct physical contact with the skull. But this time Nathan had surface area. He drew mana through every inch of his body that was in contact with the suit of armor. Its movements grew weaker and then tapered off to weak flopping as Nathan drew out more and more of the animating death mana.

{Magic Absorption 5 achieved!}

The Grave Guard had never stopped pummeling Nathan, and had broken bones and given him bruises aplenty. But the mana he’d drained had kept it from being an entirely losing battle.

{Stamina: 359/530}

Full feeling had returned to Nathan’s legs and he sat up to look over the battle. The Heirs were still being harried back towards the entrance. Another three Grave Guard had been rendered immobile, leaving four to continue harassing the Heirs as the giant statue slithered after them with the grating of stone against stone.

I wonder.

Nathan stood up, sparing a moment to look at the now-empty dias on which the giant naga statute had rested. There was a black crystal there, but it wasn’t the source of the death mana. The flow of mana in the room pulsed away from the statue pursuing the heirs.

So, Nathan shrugged and began sprinting towards it.

Let’s see how easy it is to climb a giant moving statue.

{Mid-tier Sprinting 4 achieved!}

Overall Status:

{Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 5

Permanent Talent 2: High-tier Regeneration 4

Talent 3: None

Class: Spellbreaker Juggernaut level 43

Class skills:

Stamina: 355/530

Juggernaut's Wrath

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Juggernaut's Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Utility skills:

High-tier Focused Mind 3

Mid-tier Earnestness 7

Mid-tier Sprinting 4

Mid-tier Spellsense 4

Mid-tier Notice 5

Low-tier Identify 10

Mid-tier Dodging Footwork 2

Mid-tier Enhanced Memory 7

Low-tier Lecturing 6

Low-tier Tumbling 8}