ch4. skills

Jeremy sat on a cracked gravestone, legs stretched out, watching Mordis bash a zombie's head in with its own severed arm.

This was the third one today.

"…I think I'm getting desensitized to violence," Jeremy muttered.

Mordis, now slightly bulkier from all his recent "growth," glanced at him and gave a questioning tilt of his skull.

Jeremy waved a hand. "No, no, don't worry. Keep doing your thing. You're killing it—literally."

The zombie twitched one last time before collapsing into a pile of decayed flesh. A faint shimmer of light rose from its remains.

[EXP Gained: +120]

Jeremy glanced at his status.

[Jeremy – Level 5]

It had been two days since he arrived in this nightmare of a world.

In that time, he had:

Killed way too many zombies,

Discovered that skeletons don't need to eat (unfair),

Learned that he, unfortunately, does,

And realized something was very, very wrong.

At first, he thought he was just wandering in circles. The graveyard stretched endlessly, with scattered ruins, twisted trees, and abandoned crypts. It wasn't until he decided to test it that he realized the truth.

He had walked straight ahead for hours. Hours.

Then, suddenly—

WHAM.

It was like hitting a wall.

No, worse. It wasn't physical. It was like reality itself refused to let him pass. Every time he tried, his body locked up, his vision blurred, and his entire being screamed at him to turn back.

And when he did turn back, the world was exactly the same as before.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I'm trapped in some kind of twisted dungeon, aren't I?"

Mordis gave a slow, lazy thumbs-up, as if he had known this the whole time and was just waiting for Jeremy to catch up.

Jeremy groaned. "You could've told me, you know."

Silence.

"…Right. You don't talk. Fantastic."

The realization that he was trapped made everything worse.

His stomach was empty, his throat dry. He had tried drinking rainwater collected in broken urns—bad idea. Immediate vomiting.

Food? Forget it. The only creatures here were undead. Even if he was desperate enough to try eating them, they turned into dust upon death.

So how was he supposed to survive?

Then, salvation came in the most unexpected form.

Jeremy had been exploring a half-buried ruin when he spotted something strange—a plant.

A single, withered purple mushroom growing in the cracks of a broken tomb.

A system message popped up.

[Necrotic Fungi – Highly toxic. Inedible for normal beings.]

Jeremy scowled. "Great. So I guess I just—wait. 'Normal beings'?"

He glanced at his new class title: Necromancer of Uniqueness.

A thought hit him.

He carefully picked the mushroom, took a deep breath… and popped a piece into his mouth.

The taste was awful—like licking a moldy grave—but then…

[Due to your unique class, you have gained a new passive ability: "Necrotic Adaptation."]

[You can now consume necrotic materials for sustenance.]

Jeremy laughed out loud.

"I can eat zombie mushrooms! Oh my god, this is the worst superpower ever."

Still, it worked. The aching hunger in his stomach dulled slightly, and his energy returned. He gathered as many of the disgusting fungi as he could.

Now he just needed water.

That came on the second night, when he stumbled into an abandoned temple and found a stone basin filled with eerie, glowing liquid.

[Necrotic Essence – Undrinkable by living beings.]

Jeremy grinned. "Good thing I'm a necromancer."

He scooped up a handful and drank.

It was cold, like swallowing liquid death, but his body absorbed it.

[Necrotic Adaptation Activated – Hydration Restored]

Jeremy wiped his mouth. "Okay. So I'm drinking cursed ghost juice and eating zombie mushrooms. Love that for me."

Now that he could actually survive, Jeremy focused on escaping.

If this was a dungeon, that meant one thing—there was a boss.

And if he wanted out, he had to find it and kill it.

He and Mordis fought their way deeper into the ruins. As the days passed, Jeremy leveled up, unlocking new abilities:

"Necrotic Infusion" – Strengthens summoned undead by temporarily fusing part of his energy into them.

"Graveborn Armor" – Creates a temporary bone armor shield around his body.

He was getting stronger. But the monsters were, too.

They weren't just zombies anymore. He encountered skeletal knights, ghouls, and even wraiths that nearly killed him. If it weren't for Mordis evolving again—gaining "Bone Blade", a sharp protrusion extending from his arm—they wouldn't have made it.

Then, finally, Jeremy found something different.

A ruined cathedral, its doors broken open. A massive, darkened chamber.

And in the center…

A throne.

A figure sat upon it—a towering, armored corpse, its skeletal form wrapped in black iron, a rusted greatsword resting at its side. Its empty eye sockets burned red as it slowly lifted its head.

[Dungeon Boss Discovered – The Fallen Warden]

Jeremy gulped. "Welp. Guess I found the way out."

The Fallen Warden stood. Dust and bones scattered as it rose to its full height—easily over eight feet tall. The greatsword howled as it was lifted, dark energy crackling around it.

Then, without a word, it charged.

Jeremy barely had time to yell, "MORDIS, DO SOMETHING!" before the battle began.