The Templars dragged the cart, reigns around their rotting bodies as they sprinted at near superhuman speed to pull us through the woods. I leashed four in total to the front of the wagon, while three rode on the back beside Tavi. I sprinted alongside them until we arrived at the Dungeon.

A new wave of drones circled the air above. The first floor had yet to be refilled with monsters — part of the reason for the drones was to see where they came from. Did they crawl down from the top of the dungeon? Or pop right out of the ground? If they respawned, we would have to kill them all again. That would not be an issue, however — tanks of compressed chlorine gas hung on the drones, ready to suppress the first floor. My original plan did not account for Tavi, however.

There was a high probability he would survive a gassing. If not, it was of little concern. He would make an excellent undead as well. We crossed the dungeon in relative silence, Tavi watching the environment.

“You don’t talk much.” Tavi said.

//Communication is unnecessary. Our objective is understood and communicated. Your role is to resurrect the monsters.

We fanned the Templar corpses out in front of us, charging up the steps into the dungeon. They had seen heavy use; their white armor was stained brown from caked mud and drying blood, flesh painted with dirt. The swords and armor were free from rust, but they had long since lost their shine.

I added routine washing for the list of maintenance activities for the undead. Preventing them from spreading disease was a priority. They spent most of their time in static guarding positions below the monitoring drones.

We arrived back to the first room of the second floor in no time at all. The SHADOW01 still acted with the pretense of stealth, which told me it had rather low intelligence. The GOAT01C charged, erupting in flame as it punched towards the Templars. I ordered three to engage with it and repositioned the other 3 to block off the SHADOW’s charge. It stopped when it saw the Templars between us, repositioning to the other side to charge again. Once again, I moved the Templars into the way.

The Templars fighting the goat made quick progress, cutting into its legs and body. The goat was screaming.

TEMPLAR06 exploded into smoking fire and viscera where the goat punched it. Its teeth tore into TEMPLAR03, significantly debilitating it.

I fired the Nova-03 at the SHADOW. It yowled from the other side of the room, setting on fire as plasma arched across its body. The knee high foliage erupted into flame and steam, further obscuring it across the room. It finally charged, burning and screaming, directly into the Templar line.

Its momentum carved it to pieces as Templar swords carved through it. Two of their swords cut opposite sides, each taking a limb and carving deep into its chest. In exchange, it took out a head with a swipe of its paw. I leapt forward to finish the kill before we wasted the XP, burying my prybar into its skull and carving downwards until it stilled.

///XP: 1550/3000

I walked to the ongoing fight against the GOAT01C, standing outside of its range but stabbing in occasionally, collecting as much damage as possible.

It was flailing on the ground now, panicking at the loss of its limbs. The other 3 Templars joined us quickly, encircling it and carving it to bits.

I finished it with a stab to its head.

///XP: 2000/3000

I retracted my blade, dragging the body towards Tavi. The Templars dragged the rest of the limbs.

Tavi stared forward, a look of shock and awe on his face. I waited for a moment, knowing that humans were slow to complete any task. After another moment of silence, I prompted him.

//The blanket.// Tavi looked down at his hands, then back up, then nodded.

“Yes… yes, of course.” He said, unfolding the leather object, rolling it out in the field. He seemed to struggle with it more than Tobias; the lines that made up the sigils were like writhing snakes trying to escape his grasp. He grunted, and they righted themselves, forming a complex ritual diagram.

I threw the body into the center, and Tavi went to work. After a minute of focus, the sigil activated. The GOAT01C stood as if on puppet strings, dragged upwards and moving in staggering steps. It hopped forward, missing several limbs, and then we repeated the ritual with the SHADOW. Its organs hung loose from below its body, dragging through the grass and leaving a trail of blood.

“I don’t know how many more I’ll be able to raise.” Tavi said, looking to me. “If… if we had mana potions, I could raise more.”

//Ack. Query: Composition of mana potions?

“I heard that they’re produced from monster blood. When the dungeon makes creatures, or when anything has sufficient mana in its body, its blood carries mana. If it’s reduced, then it can be used to… refill.” Tavi said.

That was usable information. We could increase productivity by distilling what was left of the dungeon monsters we were using.

Our damaged Templars leaked ichor, bodies broken and spilling rotting organs. One Templar’s upper body hung forward at a right angle; the force of the monster's attack shattered its spine. TEMPLAR03 could only crawl, functionally destroyed. We had dutifully replaced it with the SHADOW; the GOAT01C would likely be little use after this, though.

I sawed TEMPLAR03 in half with my prybar.

///XP: 2800/3000

I could finish the GOAT01C now and save time; it would grant me a level. However, I could also use it to acquire a more intact corpse, bolstering our defenses.

We walked to the next room. Tavi struggled to fold the blanket, dashing behind me to catch up before scrabbling over the uneven staircase that led the way up into the dungeon. The farther we progressed, the more shadow swallowed the rooms, enclosing them in darkness, the ceiling slowly becoming lower above us.

This room was no exception. In the center of the room was a monster that towered half as tall as the wall, covered in spotted gray scales. It sat on its backside, scratching its head as it looked up at us, a monstrous cross between an anteater and a bear.

Then it roared.