Waves

When Seer heard Rion, she didn't push it anymore. Jake would have to survive on his own now—he was a Chosen, after all.

They watched the projection. The blood flame lizards started approaching Jake.

Their footsteps were slow, as if cautious. Jake watched them carefully. He didn't understand why they were moving that way, but he knew better than to let his guard down.

The undead skeletons gathered around him in a simple formation, nine of them ready. Crypt stood on his own, his spear behind him, leaning slightly on his body.

Jake looked at him and clicked his tongue. 'This dude, every single time, does he have to try and look good?' Jake wondered.

Suddenly, the lizards started running—they charged at them all at once. Crypt reacted first, kicking the tip of his spear. It launched into the sky while spinning.

He charged toward the lizards without the spear. When he was within striking range, the spear dropped from the sky. He caught it, planted his feet into the ground, using it as a pivot to spin and slash.

His spear cut through the necks in a clean motion. He pushed forward, spinning the spear and stabbing it into the chest of one lizard, pulling it out and cutting its head off.

In only a few seconds, Crypt had taken down more than three lizards. On Jake's side, the lizards flooded toward him, baring their teeth at him.

The undead skeletons immediately formed into a heated battle with the lizards. The blood flame lizards, seeing that they couldn't get past the skeletons, opened their mouths and began hurling flames.

Jake didn't expect this, but the skeletons were able to withstand the flames to an extent, and while they held the lizards back, they created the perfect opportunity for Jake to make input.

His eyes locked on one lizard locked in combat with an undead. He charged toward the lizard. He might not be the strongest human, but he was far above what was considered normal at this point—and even if he was a necromancer, he was still physically strong.

He cut downward with all his strength, and the sword cut through the lizard like hot knife through butter. He was shocked to see how easily he had done it. He stared at the blade.

His strength was not as high as the undead skeletons, so how was he able to cut down the lizard that easily?

[Stop wondering about useless stuff too much]

"Indeed, Master, worrying about how you did that is not important now—but I will tell you. The undead skeletons have very little to no intelligence. Their attacks don't carry their full strength or the finesse that your attack has," Drake explained.

"That makes sense," Jake replied. He gripped his sword and launched at another lizard. He cut it down without resistance. The skeletons held them back while he cut them down.

But the lizards kept coming in waves, their numbers increasing. They started overpowering the undead skeletons. Some pushed past them and rushed at Jake.

Crypt saw the lizards rushing toward his master and tried to go and help him, but the lizards started bombarding him with their flame breaths, throwing their bodies at him—doing everything within their power to slow him down.

It became evident that the test was trying to attack Jake directly. It kept pushing more lizards toward him.

Jake cut down the first lizard to get to him, but the second used flame breath when it was at close range. Jake leaped out of the way, rolled on the ground, got up, and ran toward one of the ruined buildings.

He used the undead skeletons to try and hold the lizards back, even if it was a little. One after the other, he felt the undead skeletons get killed and sent back to the summoning space.

He hid behind a large wall, his chest heaving up and down. The more he breathed, the more pain he felt in his throat. The sand had gotten into his eyes, and it was burning badly.

Crypt saw how much the lizards were trying to get to Jake. He spun his spear around within that tight situation he was in, channeling his mana into the spear and creating an explosive force that sent all the lizards around him flying.

He charged forward, cutting down the lizards that tried to stop him. When he got close to where Jake was hiding, he leaped into the air and came down, stabbing his spear into the ground.

Boom.

The ground exploded and sent the lizards flying in all directions. Crypt immediately went behind the wall, looking at Jake who was down there.

"There is no freaking way this is the first level. What the hell?" Jake complained.

"They're easy to kill, Master, but their number is too much. Seems they keep coming in waves," Crypt said.

"No, the waves have stopped. There are only two hundred of them around you, no more," Drake told Jake.

"Crypt, there are two hundred of them, no more," Jake said.

"I can try to make a full wipeout, but some will still get through and head toward you. Do you think you can handle them?" Crypt asked.

"Surely. I have to participate after all," Jake said and got on his feet. Crypt nodded and leaped over the wall. The lizards were already rushing toward them. The glow in Crypt's eyes became more intense. He charged forward, the ground beneath his feet exploding into bits.

"Raging Tornado!" Crypt roared. His spear spun around so fast it looked like it wasn't spinning. The force from the spin tore up the ground from the distance. The wind raged and tore through the entire area.

Boom.

Crypt's attack landed, and for a few seconds, a mighty tornado could be seen ripping through the area. A massive crater was left on the ground, with bodies of the lizards littered all around—but it was far from over.

Some lizards had gone through the sides to get to Jake, and some were rushing toward Crypt as well.