6.

I stared down at the two goblin's dead bodies and shook my head that carnage. The one Vanta had killed was basically beheaded, and Skelipede had torn a hole through the other one's chest. The blood hadn't dried yet as I stepped into a small puddle. I cast Create Undead and watched as my magic coated the corpses.

Necronomicon (P) Activated.

Goblin (LVL 6) x2 Detected.

(2) Possible Undead Forms:

Skeleton (LVL 4)

Zombie (LVL 5)

Well, I did skeleton last time, so I should try the other option this time. I selected zombie and watched the silver and gold sparks consume the bodies. They slowly stood up, and the goblin with the neck injury tried to keep its head from falling off.

Create Undead Successful!

Do you wish to name Undead?

I named them Headless and Gobert.

Goblin (LVL 6) -> Headless (LVL 5)

Goblin (LVL 6) -> Gobert (LVL 5)

The two zombies hadn't transformed the way Skelipede had. Gobert still had a hole through him, and Headless was nearly headless. I doubted they would be useful for anything more than meat shields. We were pretty far away from our shed and had drifted from the main path. Thankfully, Vanta remembered the way and led us back. It added an extra hour to our journey, and by the time we got back, I was angry and hungry. I ate a smaller amount of my usual fare and realized I would need to track down a food and water source soon. I didn't want to wait until I had nothing left but hope for a miracle. We were going to have to figure out where those goblins came from tomorrow. Hopefully, they'd drop some loot as well. Gobert and Headless waited outside due to their smell, and Skelipede got into its perch to watch out for Vanta and me while we slept.

Vanta woke me up the following day by licking my face.

*Wake.Sol.Go*

*Hunger.Prey.Food*

I groggily responded to him while blinking away my sleepiness.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. I'm UP."

I got up slowly, stretching out my body. The floor was an awful sleeping spot, and I longed for my bed back at campus. I would give my right arm for a good night's sleep. I walked outside with Vanta at my side and Skelipede following closely behind. I called over the zombies and asked Vanta if he could lead us to where we fought yesterday.

*Track.Lead.Follow*

I could feel Vanta's frustration at our travel speed. I had to promise him not to make any more slow undead. How was I supposed to know they'd be The Walking Dead And not 28 Days Later? Hopefully, they are better in combat. We walked in silence; neither Vanta nor I had much to say. I was relieved when Vanta told me we were close to the ambush spot. I crept low and got ready to cast a spell at any moment.

*Smell.Bad.Enemy*

*Alone.Hunger.Prey*

Deciphering what he means is getting easier.

"Go for it, buddy. We'll back you up if you need it".

I watched him as he stalked through the forest without disturbing a twig or even rustling a bush. Slowly he advanced until I could see the goblin ahead of us. Its back was facing us, and it looked to be investigating the bloodstains; it never had a chance. Vanta barreled into it, knocking it face-first into the ground. He opened his mouth and began biting chunks out of its neck. The dirt muffles the goblin's noises. Vanta keeps ripping and biting until the white of the goblin's neck bone is visible. He buried his face into the wound and bit down, tearing out a couple of vertebrae. The goblin did not get back up.

Your Familiar has defeated an enemy: level 6 Goblin.

Experience awarded!

No level-up notification followed, and I was bummed about that. I’d gotten used to getting a level after most fights. I turned away as Vanta began to devour the goblin. His movements may have been silent, but I could still hear the sound of flesh ripping and the wet noises of him lapping up the blood. I tried to ignore it and block out the sounds, but it was hard when I could feel Vanta’s happiness through our bond. After a minute or two, he stopped, and I turned to look and saw there was nothing left of the goblin. I looked around but couldn’t find the clubs my two undead had used yesterday.

“Ughh. Let’s get moving. I want to figure out a food solution today.”

*Food.Find.Go*

“Put that nose of yours to work. Try and find where the goblins came from. Maybe they have a base nearby.”

Vanta nodded at me and began sniffing around before heading deeper into the forest. We walked with Vanta leading the way, me in the middle, the zombies on either side of me, and Skelipede bringing up the rear. We walked for what I guessed was about 30 minutes until Vanta let me know that we were close. I instructed my undead to slow down, and I crouched low. This part of the forest still had the weird warm blue trees, but thick bushes were also scattered about. The bushes were a light green and had small red berries on them. I was tempted to try one, but I kept focused.

Finally, I began hearing the goblin language up ahead. I couldn’t see any, but there were definitely a lot of them ahead. The treeline abruptly stopped, so I commanded the undead to wait behind. Sneaking up towards the treeline, I had to stifle a gasp. A flat muddy plain stretched out in front of me for about 300 feet before the trees started again. Spotted about the area was a little shantytown. Simple tents were set up everywhere, and there was a larger structure at the opposite end of the camp that looked like a shitty log cabin. All around were goblins. The stench was unbearable, and I had been surrounded by undead for days now. Some of them lazed around, others fought, and some were just defecating on the ground. These creatures were disgusting, and I wanted to hurl.

I smiled at Vanta and tried to send him feelings about doing a good job and being a good boy. His tail wagged a bit, letting me know that my attempt was successful. There are too many goblins in the camp for us to attack them. I decided we would retreat for now; I’m going to need to think of a plan.

The next day I was up as soon as the sky-light was above. My plan boiled down to trying to lure one or two away at a time to whittle down their numbers. I had hoped I might get a flash of inspiration before we got there, but I didn't. I decided we’d use Gobert as bait because Headless had his hands full. We arrived, and I saw that there were still as many goblins as yesterday, if not more. Some carried spears and clubs, but some had rusted swords. At that moment, one thought entered my head; I wanted one of them. We were hiding while I had Gobert try to attract a sword wielder. I had him wave his arms from behind the treeline, hoping he’d be seen. I started getting frustrated at the lack of progress when none of the goblins noticed us.

I searched around my feet for a rock. I found one about half the size of my hand and got ready to throw it. I threw the stone when one of the sword users came close enough to us that I knew I wouldn’t miss. It missed the target but hit right in front of it. The goblin stared at the stone, confused, before turning to where we were waiting. Its eyes focused on Gobert, and it squawked. He obviously couldn’t respond, so I had Gobert retreat deeper, hoping it would bait the other goblin. I held my breath and prayed to The Void Empress. I don’t know whether she heard me or not, but the goblin gave chase. As soon as it was deep enough that nobody could see him, we unleashed our ambush.

Skelipede shot across the ground and chomped at its right ankle, causing the goblin to stumble. Headless slowly approached the fallen goblin, still using one hand to prop up his head. The goblin lashed out with its sword, and it went right through Headless’ side before getting stuck. The enemy goblin tried to rip its blade out but failed as Vanta and Skelipede descended upon it. Skelipede wrapped his body around the goblin’s neck to stop it from calling for help, and Vanta bit into the arm holding the sword. The goblin rolled around, clawing at Skelipede to no avail. Skelipede had no stamina and could do this forever.

A couple of minutes later, the goblin stopped struggling, and a blue box appeared.

Your Summon has defeated an enemy: Level 8 Goblin.

Experience awarded!

LVL UP!

You have unspent stat points available!

I closed my notifications and looked down at the dead goblin. It was a pristine corpse if you ignored the lacerations around its throat. I had high hopes for my newest undead. I didn’t know whether the quality of the corpse had anything to do with the undead created, but I had a feeling it did. I had Gobert, and Headless drag the body deeper into the forest to ensure we weren't seen; I didn’t want any interruptions.