Chapter 139. Hunting

Without wasting time, he walked to Zalan Coste after saying 'good morning' to Vineska.

It was surprising to see the kid tempt fate as he analyzed the painting he gave him before in broad daylight.

"While I said you can give Matvey my name if he pesters you about it, you don't need to push his buttons by doing this, do you?"

[Wanderer! Don't worry, I already talked with him and showed him the painting. He said it's alright as long as I don't 'preach' about it to the villagers. Why are you here so early? Did you find anything else?](Zalan)

"Mhm. It's a merchant's ledger. Take a look."

After giving the kid around five minutes to skim through the ledger, he asked about it.

"What do you make of this old diary?"

[This must've belonged to a traveling merchant. They tried to hire more guards here in Margrave, but nobody would sign on. As they traveled on, members of their caravan disappeared one by one. I... I don't think they made it to their destination if you found this in the hands of the brigands.](Zalan)

"Anything worth of mention? Any clues about your mother or Light's Watch?"

[None, I'm afraid. Thank you for bringing it over, Wanderer.](Zalan)

Waving the kid and headed to the Waypoint, Michael received a notification about the Side Quest being completed.

[ Quest complete - Unwritten End

Reward 1: 5,437 experience points

Reward 2: 1,400 gold coins

Reward 3: Elixir Cache. ]

Satisfied with the reward, he immediately opened the cache and gained two Weak Third-Eye Elixirs and one Rare two-handed sword.

[ Weak Elixir of Third Eye (requires Level 10)

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

Increases dodge by 4% and Experience by 5% for 30 minutes. ]

Smiling, he traveled to Yelesna, where he first headed southeast through the complicated roads. The altar was hidden in a location identified by the Sanctuary as 'Trekker's Nook.' 

Two points of Strength were added to his stats by activating the altar. The second altar was located in the Zeleny Lowlands, in a spot hard to reach due to the bridge being busted.

He initially wanted to find a way around, but his horse started running and easily jumped across. It was at least four meters, surprising Michael greatly.

After getting rid of some Wargs and another colony of bats, he activated the altar and gained two points in Willpower.

'Now, let's return to Yelesna, and from there, I'll teleport to the Bear Tribe. Since the closest Dungeon is the one for the Ice goatmen, let's take care of that first. Maybe I can even find that Kauler the Collector around.'

Without hesitation, he did just that. The Dungeon was north of the Bear Tribe Refuge but pretty close.

As he was planning to investigate the surroundings a bit as well, he unsummoned his mount and decided to walk there.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of Worgen greeted him on his way there, as well as the common undead troops. 

Getting to the Dungeon was simple, even if he met a Skeleton Captain Elite on his way there.

He got a pair of decent Rare pants, but his current one was much better.

"Well... here we are. Hoarfrost Demise, huh? What a lovely name... Let's see... Since I have already saved up several Elixirs, let's use the Third Eye. Can't touch the others just yet."

The Elixir of Demon Slaying was terrific for his current adventure in this Dungeon, but... well... he lacked two levels to use it.

Drinking the potion and stepping inside, Michael took in his surroundings.

The Dungeon looked like a cave, albeit a frozen one.

[ Dungeon Event issued - Hoarfrost Demise

Objective: Destroy the Skeletal Construct (0/3). ]

The tunnels were filled with ice and human skeletons, but Michael was already becoming desensitized to seeing them.

He did find three goatmen nearby, a shaman, and two impalers, which were quickly silenced by his minions and some attacks from him.

The weird addition to the list of enemies faced so far was the Shambling Corpses. Literal zombies, frozen in ice. 

He wished he could bypass them without attacking, but they were too densely packed for such a tactic. Therefore, he did the best next thing: he used the Reap + Corpse Tendrils + Corpse Explosion combo. 

When feeling generous, he even added Decrepify.

His eyes turned wide upon seeing a Resplendent Chest in the next 'room,' and he was even more shocked upon opening it without any enemies attacking him.

He looted 23,582 gold coins from it and a pair of Rare gloves. That's right! 23,582 gold coins.

It was the most he had ever found to date in one go! Now, even after his expenses with the horse, he has reached 202,531 coins in total.

In a great mood, he continued exploring further and even descended deeper into the Dungeon. He was creeped out by the lack of enemies but kept going.

"Eh? That's a Healing Well? The Boss Room already!? And the road forward is blocked... Seems like I need to find these Skeletal Constructs first. The path going west is clear. Let's check there."

He found his first Skeletal Construct after reaching a fork in the road going deeper in, and as expected, it was literally a strange pile of bones.

The goatmen and undead guarding it didn't make things easier, but fortunately, their large numbers in the narrow space made Michael's job simple enough.

[ Woxith Boltrend (Elite) - Level 39

*Shock Lance: Creates a ball of lighting that attacks everything in a two-meter radius, dealing 350 damage. 

*Shield - Generates a shield protecting from all incoming attacks, equal to 90% of total Life. ]

The unique Skeleton Captain Elite fell, and he continued his exploration.

With one construct down, he moved on and found a group of five Wanderers fighting against a ton of undead.

[ Dungeon Event joined - Save the Wanderers

Objective: Survive the incoming waves (0/5)

Mastery: The Wanderers must survive (5/5). ]

It was to be expected, but with his Golem and Corpse Tendrils, he made short work of the plenty of Bone Warriors, Archers, and other types of disgustingly smelling creatures.

The Resplendent Chest he opened at the end of the Event rewarded him with 10 Obols, a Rare Two-handed sword, and a Legendary Shield. 

As he was currently using the Legendary Focus item, he ignored the new addition temporarily.

The second Skeletal Construct also had a ton of goatmen and undead guarding it, but once it fell, it similarly summoned a Unique Elite.

[ Odrekar Sloughloam (Elite) - Level 39

*Poison Enchanted: All attacks create a poison puddle on the ground. Enemies affected by poison are dealt 200 damage per second for a duration of 3 seconds.

*Shield - Generates a shield protecting from all incoming attacks, equal to 90% of total Life. ]

His suspicion of all the unique Elites being Skeleton Captains was proven further after reaching the third Skeletal Construct.

Thankfully, a Channeling Shrine, which reduced his skill cooldowns by 75%, was in the previous room, and with it, the final one fell swiftly.

[ Guiraudet Doomspawn (Elite) - Level 39

*Summoner: Creates three summoning circles through which demonic creatures can be called upon every 2 minutes.

*Shield - Generates a shield protecting from all incoming attacks, equal to 90% of total Life. ]

As if it wasn't enough, it was straight to the Boss fight after finishing the constructs.

He returned to the previously blocked road and entered the Boss Room.

[ Khazra Abomination (Boss) - Level 40 ]

Having his minions rush at the five-meter tall goatmen Boss, Michael struggled for a while, even after reaching Level 35, as he hadn't spent any of his skill points yet.

The Boss was a pretty shitty host, as it kept punching at the Necromancer while ignoring the minions, and once in a while, he would randomly throw poison around the room.

When it fell, Michael's eye lit up as another Legendary item dropped, but his dreams quickly shattered upon seeing that it was a sword. One-handed, true, but a sword nevertheless.

Looking at his half-full inventory, Michael left the Dungeon and was surprised to see a blue area marked on the MAP for his 'Beast Challenge' Side Quest.

"Seems like the fabled 'Collector' is somewhere around here. Let's get rid of it quickly and head for the Alabaster Monastery next."

After a bit of rock climbing and even discovering a locked Silent Chest, Michael reached a strangely quiet area. It was eery how not even the usual undead or animals were around.

Upon searching the area, he found the reason sitting in a pile of broken bones and scattered limbs. It appeared that even the monsters weren't spared this beast's cruelty.

[ Kauller the Collector (Elite) - Level 40

*Vampiric: Each successful hit on an enemy heals you for 75% of the damage dealt.

*Summoner: Creates three summoning circles through which demonic creatures can be called upon every 1 minute.

*Cold Enchanted: All attacks deal an extra 300 Cold damage. ]

Even after leveling up and reaching almost 1,200 Life points, this Kauller was a pain in the ass. 

It kept jumping over his minions and throwing overhead swings at Michael with his large axe.

With his Blood Mist on cooldown, all he could do was use his Bone Storm and try to get some damage reduction through it. 

Unfortunately, his left arm fell alongside his hastily swapped shield, making this the first time in a long while since he got so heavily injured.

The good thing was that the Unique Elite seemed to focus only on him so the minions could attack unobstructed. Using that knowledge, he also repositioned himself atop plenty of Corpses and detonated them as soon as Kauller was in range.

Ten minutes later, covered in bruises and cuts and with his left arm safely secured around his waist, Michael saddled his mount and rushed back to the Bear Tribe Refuge.

He wasn't sure what he was more annoyed by: the fact that he lost his left hand in this battle or that the fucking 'Collector' didn't drop any items.

[You're the Wanderer from yesterday. Huh!? Your arm! Get down from the horse, hurry up. I'll get our Shaman to help you. Fortunately, you were smart enough to bring it along.](Oleth)

"I would appreciate that."

[You're lucky the weather is cold, and the arm will be maintained by it. Come inside.](Oleth)

Entering a tent, he found both Sena and Greganoch, as well as about ten other people, around a fire. They all looked at him in surprise. 

Seeing his left arm missing from under the shoulder, one of the older women stepped forward, grabbed the severed arm, fastened through a string around his waist, and pushed it back into the wound.

The pain upon contact drained the color off Michael's face, but he did his best not to scream. The old lady, probably the Shaman, cast a strange spell and fed him a bowl of disgustingly tasting soup.

Ten minutes later, he could move his left arm again, albeit with some pain.

[Take it easy. It would take about an hour until you're back in fighting shape. What happened? Did the goatmen get to you?](Oleth)

"I would rather say that it was me that got to them. Before I forget. Miss Sena, I offer these as tribute."

Handing over the Ice Clan Bones, he saw appreciation in the eyes of those present.

[Hahaha! Splintered and broken as they should be! This will be a most worthy offering!](Sena)

[ Quest complete - Shattered Tribute

Reward 1: 11,056 experience points

Reward 2: 1,800 gold coins

Reward 3: Leather Cache. ]

Oleth, the woman he saw training the tribesmen yesterday, patted him heavily on the shoulder, drawing a pained gasp from the Necromancer.

[Good job, Wanderer! But to lose an arm to those pitiful goatmen... you seem to lack training. How about you stick around for a couple of days? I can train you into shape.](Oleth)

Seeing the thirsty look in the woman's eyes, Michael blanked out as the surrounding people jeered and laughed.

Recovering slightly, the Necromancer ignored the teasing Oleth and looked at Greganoch.

"I was looking for Kauller."

[This crazy bastard! Didn't you listen to what I said!? You should've waited to level up some more...](Greganoch)

"I wasn't paying enough attention. I found the Hoarfroast Demise Dungeon and entered it. I was able to clear it."

[The Khazra Abomination, huh? To beat it alone, not bad. Not bad at all!](Greganoch)

"After exiting, I tracked Kauller. I lost my hand to it."

[Damn it! Where is it? I can send a party and finish him. Did you injure him?](Greganoch)

Taking out the Head of Kauller, which was now a bloody Quest Item, Michael put it on the ground in the middle of the tent, silencing the room.

"I've returned with its head."

[Ha! Hahahahaha! Well done! Well done indeed! You shall have the honor of mounting the head. Let both friends and foe know that you have brought down the beast!](Greganoch)

Following the excited crowd, Michael was guided back to the pile of skulls used as trophies and stepped forward after being nudged by Oleth.

After mounting the Head of Kauller on the highest point of the wooden pole, the tribe members called for a celebration.

The preparations would take around two to three hours, so Michael smiled and prepared to head to the Alabaster Monastery in the meantime.