Svetloid
"Look, you can train necromancy here as much as you want without anyone discovering you. If you want to be the best necromancer in the world, it's necessary. Also, I'll be getting stronger too, so I'll be able to protect you better," Flain said convincingly.
"Hmh, I don't know, I don't feel like staying in this muddy hole. But I do want to be the best necromancer! So I have to endure it," Itai exclaimed, sparks in his eyes.
"Alright, I'm going to kill some skeletons in the cave and bring you their bones for training. If you see any Lizards or other monsters nearby, hide immediately," Flain said, to which Itai nodded.
Flain then set off into the caves. In 30 minutes, he effortlessly killed three skeletons. He had also fully recovered his HP, so he was ready for another real fight. He gained 370 EXP and returned to their makeshift base with the bones.
"Here you go. Nothing happened while I was gone?" Flain handed the sack of bones to Itai.
"No, nothing. But I wanted to tell you that once I get good at summoning these skeletons, I'll need better bones. Because the better the bones, the stronger the skeletons will be. And once I learn to summon them properly, then I can summon even stronger ones. You get it?" Itai explained, to which Flain nodded.
"I'm going out to collect souls. Give me a sack—I'll bring back corpses and leave them in the cave to rot. That way, it'll be easier to strip the flesh off them later," Flain said.
"Good idea. Just make sure to put them further into the cave, I don't want to smell rotting flesh here," Itai said with a smile.
After that, they parted ways, and Flain entered the valley. Earlier, Flain had gone to the right side, where the black Lizards were yelling at the green ones for taking their water. Based on his theory, the right side should be the black Lizards' territory, and the left side should belong to the green ones.
So, Flain moved along the valley's left edge because he wanted to kill the green ones—they were weaker than the black ones, making them better for necromancy training.
Flain wanted Itai to become stronger in necromancy—he had no reason not to. If Itai could summon powerful skeletons, they could assist Flain in battle. They just needed to agree that Flain would deliver the finishing blow for the EXP.
Flain walked for about five minutes when he saw a silhouette in the fog. As he got closer, he realized it wasn't a Lizard but something new.
It was a large snake with a gray, hammer-shaped head. It was about 1.5 meters long.
Flain didn't hesitate. The snake coiled in the mud, its gray hammer-shaped head slowly rising as if sensing the presence of an intruder.
The snake hissed and lunged sharply at Flain.
Flain quickly shifted to the side, keeping a close eye on the creature's movements. The snake was fast, but its attacks were predictable—it always moved directly toward its target and couldn't change direction quickly.
When the snake lunged forward a second time, Flain dodged to the side at the same moment and performed a diagonal slash with his swords. The blades easily sliced through the scaly body, and the snake's head dropped to the ground, dead.
[+190 EXP]
"Hmh, that was really weak. But free EXP is always useful. It's stronger than the skeletons in the cave, so I'll take the snake's corpse with me—Itai will find it useful," Flain muttered to himself and put the corpse into a sack.
Flain continued forward, and soon he spotted a group of four green Lizards ahead. This didn't confirm his theory, but it brought him closer to proving it.
It was a group of two melee Lizards and two ranged ones. Flain charged at them and killed them fairly easily. He only lost 40 HP because he failed to dodge one of the toxic spit attacks. He gained 1070 EXP.
He now had a total of 2660 EXP, and since 1900 EXP was needed for level 9, he leveled up immediately.
[Level 8 -> Level 9]
[Strength increased by 1, agility increased by 1, vitality increased by 1]
[You have gained 1 bonus point]
He decided to put the bonus point into strength. Strength was always needed.
[Strength increased by 1]
Flain kept moving. He encountered another snake and another group of green Lizards. This time, he killed them all without any trouble and didn't lose a single HP. He gained 1020 EXP.
With all the corpses in his sack, he headed back to the base. He didn't even need to use the magic map—he just had to turn around, walk straight enough, and he'd reach the base.
He arrived at the base. In front of him, he saw Itai sitting on a rock with three skeletons standing before him.
"You're back," Itai said tiredly.
"I've got nine corpses. Two snakes that are a bit stronger than skeletons and seven dead Lizards, and seven green lizards." Flain said.
"I'm resting now because summoning all three of them took a lot out of me. Anyway, I tested them, and whatever I think of them doing, they do. But I doubt they can handle more complex tasks," Itai muttered.
"Anyway, I'm pretty tired and ready to sleep. Sleeping in the mud will be hell, but at least this mud is special—it doesn't soak my clothes, only makes them dirty. Better than sleeping on a rock," Itai added.
"Alright. I'll go drop off the corpses in the cave," Flain said and headed toward the cave.
In the cave, not far from the base, he dumped all the corpses. He marked the location as a waypoint on the magic map and then returned to the base.
----
Somewhere in the valley, there were small walls made of bones. Inside, many green Lizards were gathered, surrounded by all kinds of junk. But one green Lizard stood out among them.
He was green with large purple spots. He was about two meters tall and sat on a massive throne made of bones. He held a hammer-headed snake in his hand, slowly eating it.
Suddenly, another Lizard approached him. He spat toxic saliva onto his hands and rubbed it on his face.
Svetloid: King of the Lizards. Everyone under his rule must obey him 100%.
"My Svetloid. The commander who went to investigate the report from one of the soldiers hasn't returned. He is most likely dead," the Lizard reported.
Svetloid shifted his gaze from the snake he was eating and looked at the Lizard…