Octavius set his jaw into a determined line as he stepped forward toward the headless zombie. The mental strain that would come from attempting to use both shadow sense and mana manipulation at the same time would've been far too much for him to deal with, so he kept track of his opponents through their mana cores and the dim light that his spear gave off.

Knowing that the zombie wasn't wearing any armor, he decided to preserve his stamina and not use any of his offensive skills as he struck with his spear. It raced toward the headless thrall's bare stomach, guided by the picture painted by his mana manipulation skill.

Much like before, the zombified thrall entirely failed to react to the threat as it shambled slowly and inexorably toward him. The mana imbued spear flashed forward, slicing easily into the zombie's decayed flesh. The moment that his spear reached the small core of mana, it seemed to meet actual resistance.

Pulling his spear back, he watched through his magical sight as muddy-green mana leaked from the hole he'd sliced into the small ball of mana. The zombie's already slow movements became glacial. When the last bit of mana escaped the core, it lingered ethereally before dissipating without a sound. The moment that it did so, the zombie's movements came to a stop.

It toppled forward toward Octavius and laid sprawled across the hallway. As it fell over, he watched as the small filament of mana that stretched into the distance, the last magical thing on the fallen zombie, seemed to zoom backward like a fishing line being reeled in.

You have killed Common Zombified Thrall Legionnaire (Lvl 34) and gained 3188 EXP (1/4)(34)(1)(3)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

A sigh of relief escaped him; he could kill them. If his final idea hadn't worked, he really would've been forced to turn back and flee. As the next two zombified thralls shambled over the body of their fallen comrade side by side, he squared his shoulders and raised his spear. The sooner that he could finish all of them, the more mana he'd have leftover once the battle was done.

The empty eye sockets of the zombies seemed to absorb the light of his spear as they moved. A frown made its way back onto his face as he eyed the two of them standing shoulder to shoulder in the hallway. Although the zombies didn't seem to have any sense of self-preservation, they didn't entirely lack intelligence. After all, the one that he'd blocked with magic had used its arm to actively destroy his makeshift barrier.

That meant that he couldn't rely on the one that he didn't attack to not interrupt his strike. With a moment's thought, he decided to go for the one on his left first. It was a good half-foot shorter than its companion, meaning that its companion would hopefully be less inclined to swipe at his arm as he attacked and instead go for his center mass.

Tracking the core of muddy-green mana with his mana manipulation skill, he stepped forward and attacked. This time, he did use his instant thrust skill. His glowing spear flew forward and pierced the navel of the zombified thrall. With its momentum, it sliced clean through the magical core.

As soon as he pierced its core, he danced out of the reach of its companion as it windmilled its arm at him. The mana within the now compromised core escaped with a silent woosh, and the zombie de-animated in place, its forward momentum tipping it onto its blank face.

You have killed Common Zombified Thrall Legionnaire (Lvl 34) and gained 3188 EXP (1/4)(34)(1)(3)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

The other zombie stepped over the limp corpse of its companion in its quest to reach him. His eyes landed on its bare navel, or more specifically, on the magical core that was hidden beneath it. Bringing his spear forward again, he cut down the zombie.

You have killed Common Zombified Thrall Legionnaire (Lvl 35) and gained 3281 EXP (1/4)(35)(1)(3)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

As the small filament of green mana retreated out of the range of his senses, he stepped forward to engage the two remaining zombified thralls. With deft movements, he returned the two of them to their eternal slumber.

You have killed Common Zombified Thrall Legionnaire (Lvl 34) and gained 3188 EXP (1/4)(34)(1)(3)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

You have killed Common Zombified Thrall Legionnaire (Lvl 33) and gained 3093 EXP (1/4)(33)(1)(3)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

A smile made its way onto his faces as a total of fifteen thousand experience points brought him more than ten percent closer to his next level up. While he would've dreaded to face the zombies in a wide-open area, fighting them in a confined space where they couldn't encircle him or overwhelm him with numbers was simple now that he'd learned how to dispatch them.

The sound of metal scraping against stone from the site of the ancient battle down the corridor reached his ears. The dwarves! he realized, How the hell am I going to get to their stomachs through their plate armor?

Moving quickly back toward the zombified dwarves, he raised his glowing spear to get a good view of them. They had managed to get to their feet despite their heavy plate armor. The zombie closer to him had its arms hanging limp at its sides, its once helmeted head locked onto him as he approached.

The other zombied dwarf was in much better condition. Its entire body, from head to toe, was covered in armor plates. Beyond that, the screeching sound of metal being dragged across stone came from the massive tower shield that was affixed to its left arm.

After quickly confirming that they both had the muddy-green cores of mana hidden within their lower abdomens, he stopped using his mana manipulation skill. Quickly he halted the flow of mana to his spear, once more casting the hallway into complete and utter darkness.

As soon as the shadows engulfed him once more, his other senses heightened. The dry, musty smell of the hallway filled his nose, and the echo of the metal tower shield on the stone floor filled his ears. Acting quickly, he cast shadow sense, and his detailed awareness returned.

He didn't stop with that, however. He needed to find gaps in the armor of the zombified dwarves, or else he'd be forced to flee. The idea of running away didn't appeal to him very much. If he did, he'd constantly have to be on alert for the zombies simply following him. Even with their slow speed, the amount of noise that they made would be sure to attract unwanted attention.

As his shadow sense engulfed the dwarf in the front, he tried to find gaps in its armor. As the corpse shriveled and shrank with the passage of time, the straps that held its armor in place had shifted.

The most apparent place where that happened was on the dwarf's shoulders. The broad, heavy shoulder plates hung limply on the zombie's skeletal arms, limiting their movement.

After making such a discovery, he intensified his search for a gap that would allow him to reach its abdomen with his spear. Unfortunately, the construction of the armor plates didn't allow for such an occurrence.

A single large piece of metal covered the dwarf's chest and the top of its back, so there was no way that he'd be able to get through it there. The lower section of its armor was made up of articulating ribs that wrapped around the entirety of its abdomen.

After two minutes of detailed searching and moving slowly backward, he was beginning to think that his best chance was in the small gap that was between the dwarf's crotch plate and the plate of metal that protected its thighs. There was also the small gap between its thigh plate and the articulating plates that guarded its abdomen that appeared and disappeared as the zombie shambled toward him, but then he'd have to avoid getting his spear caught.

As he considered his options, he wondered if he could damage the armor itself. The metal plates were all warped and pitted with age. Whatever soft material that connected them had to be in even worse condition than that.

While he took slow steps backward, he concentrated the entirety of his shadow sense on the armor of the dwarf that was closer to him. His senses stretched under the various armor plates and into the shadowed recesses of its torso. There, he was able to sense a total of four straps that connected each of the articulating plates to one another.

Overall, only one of the straps was in good condition. Two of the straps were hanging on by a thread, and the final strap had snapped entirely sometime in the past. As he examined the construction of the armor, a sigh of relief escaped him. If he could sever those three remaining straps, the articulating plates would collapse in on themselves. It would by no means nullify the armor, but it would open up a gap of a few inches where he could strike from above.

Alright, now how am I going to do this? he wondered, I obviously can't do it with my weapons, so that only leaves magic...

He bit his lip as he decided on a course of action. Due to the zombies' slow movement and his constant retreat, he had a significant amount of time to cast spells. Spells such as hardening shadows in a precise way were available for him to use if he decided to spend the mana.

With his eyes closed, he swept the hallway behind him with his shadow sense, using more mana to sense far down the hallway. Once the locations of the various body parts and corpses of the zombified thralls were marked in his mind, he turned his complete attention back onto the nearest zombified dwarf.

His area of focus narrowed onto one of the two damaged straps. There was a small gap, maybe two inches in width, between the armored plates and the corpse's shrunken stomach for him to work with. Gritting his teeth, he poured his will into the small shadow, shaping and hardening it. Even as he worked with every care, he still failed in the creation of a hardened shadow three times. Each time the zombie's irregular movements would cause him to bump his burgeoning shadow construct into it and the shadows to dissipate. Every attempt, however, was closer to succeeding than the last.

Even in the cool air of the underground tunnels, sweat beaded on his forehead as every ounce of concentration he had was devoted to his task. Finally, on his fourth attempt, he created a small bead of hardened shadow next to the strap.

A sigh of relief escaped him as he began to shape the bead into a paper-thin sheet. From there, he waited until the strap's movement was at a predictable point between two of the zombie's shambling steps. Quickly moving his makeshift blade forward, he jammed it against the strap, only for its edge to begin to crumble.

Working as fast as he could, he poured more mana into the blade, strengthening and reinforcing it. Between its next two steps, he once again attempted to slice through the strap and was successful.

One side of the abdominal armor collapsed as the strap that held it up was severed. Octavius wiped the sweat from his forehead and maneuvered his makeshift blade around the dwarf's shrunken stomach. As it passed by its navel, he wondered if he could deal with the zombie without even having to use his spear.

As his shadow blade was jostled against the inside of its armor plates, he moved it so that it was angled toward the core. Quickly, he tried to slice through the thick padding and then its dried skin and muscle but was entirely unsuccessful in even piercing the dwarf's skin. Returning to his original idea, he slowly sliced through the remaining two straps.

By the time that the articulating plates of armor collapsed, he had to move to the side of the hallway to avoid the decapitated head of the first zombie that he'd dealt with. Not wanting to deal with the various corpses behind him, he resumed the flow of mana into his spear.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he was met by three messages that he quickly dismissed.

You have gained a level in the skill Harden Shadow.

Your Harden Shadow is now Lvl 3

You have gained a level in the skill Shadow Manipulation.

Your Shadow Manipulation is now Lvl 2

You have gained a level in the skill Harden Shadow.

Your Harden Shadow is now Lvl 4

This time, he continued to use shadow sense rather than mana manipulation as he halted his retreat. Flipping his grip on his spear, he held it like one would hold a javelin. Raising it into the air, he took two quick steps forward and jammed the spear into the gap in its armor that he'd opened up. It pierced through the decayed padding, dry skin, and finally into the core of mana itself.

The zombified dwarf collapsed as though it were a puppet whose strings were cut. It slammed into the ground with a crash of metal, almost yanking his spear from his hands.

You have killed Common Zombified Dwarven Bulwark (Lvl 43) and gained 6719 EXP (1/4)(43)(1)(5)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

The moment that its death was confirmed, he stepped over its body and hurried toward the final zombie. It moved considerably slower than the other zombified dwarf due to the massive tower shield that it was dragging along the stone ground.

With his additional levels in shadow manipulation and harden shadow, he found the process of slicing the four straps that held its armor together significantly easier. As the articulating plates collapsed, he eyed the armored zombie in distaste. Half of the gap that he'd created was obscured by the massive tower shield.

Undeterred, he angled himself away from the tower shield. Gripping his spear tightly, he thrust it downward toward the gap. As he did so, the zombified dwarf swung its free arm like a club toward him. His spear skipped along the bottom of its chestplate before slipping into the gap and piercing its mana core.

The zombie went limp just as its arm slammed into his shoulder. Even as he angled himself to the side and caught the blow on an armor plate, he felt a deep bruise forming on his shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he withdrew his spear and stepped back from the fallen zombie.

You have killed Common Zombified Dwarven Bulwark (Lvl 44) and gained 6875 EXP (1/4)(43)(1)(5)(1.25)(100)(1.00)

His lungs heaved for air as a sudden silence filled the hallway. Tilting his head, he listened for anything that had been attracted by the loud sounds that the zombies had made as they pursued him down the hallway.

After a full minute of complete silence, he breathed a sigh of relief. While he could deal with the zombified thralls easily enough, dispatching the zombified dwarves took him considerable time and effort. If he were to be attacked by them without somewhere to retreat to... he shuddered at the thought.

As he leaned against the wall to catch his breath from his mostly mental exertion, an idle thought appeared in his mind. The last time he found a dead dwarf in a dungeon, he'd given it his Soulsilver spear and allowed it to pass on into its afterlife. In return, he'd been rewarded.

Stooping down over the heavily armored corpse, he forced the fingers of its left-hand open and placed his spear within.

The spear suddenly began to glow. The glow spread up the arm of the dwarf until it engulfed the entire body and illuminated the hallway for dozens of feet in every direction. Small motes of white light began to drift up from the body before vanishing in the ceiling above. As the last spark left the body, his spear rolled from the corpse's now perfectly white skeletal hand. Suddenly, a blue window flashed into existence.

You have been offered a quest: A Final Peace

Someone or something has been desecrating the corpses of once honorable dwarven warriors. Find this being and put a stop to it.

Objectives:

- Defeat whoever or whatever is creating the zombified dwarves (0/1)

- Assist fallen dwarves in beginning their journey to the afterlife (1/37)

Rewards:

- 200,000 EXP

- One (1) Epic Ranked Dwarf-Forged Item (Random)

- ???

Failure Conditions:

- Death

- Complete destruction of the body of a fallen dwarf

Penalties for Failure:

- Lose one level

Would you like to accept the quest: A Final Peace (Yes/No)

You have been offered your first Quest!

You have unlocked the Quests tab of your status screen!

Quests will be generated by the System based on your actions, goals, and circumstances.

Tip: You may only have three active quests at a time