~SQUOOOOONNNNK~

Having realized that added defense was more important than the extra strength possible with [ Body Modification ] Alyx adjusted his strategy slightly before charging into the second pack of undead.

‘Feels like I’m wearing a coat made out of steel wool. Let’s see if those spears can puncture me now.’ Stamping the ground excitedly, Alyx found himself thrilled by the prospect of more combat, having crushed the first wave of undead so thoroughly and having been rewarded with levels it did feel like he was playing some kind of video game.

It didn’t take long for the second group to stumble and lurch their way out of the forest. This one almost entirely comprised of the [undead warriors] with spears. It was looking like Alyx’s focus on defense had been the smart choice.

Charging in like last time, Alyx tried making use of his horns, head down and bucking it wildly left and right. The tactic had some decent results. His horns managed to slam through the skeletons shattering bones and spear shafts, widening the swath he was able to make as he charged through the small horde of undead.

The undead horde was by no means passive as he charged through their ranks, stabbing out with the rusted spears they carried. This time however they found much less purchase, his strengthened fur turning most of the blades. Those that did find purchase unable to pierce deeply and none got stuck in him like last time.

Turning as he reached the edge of the mass of undead, Alyx lashed out with his claws, the heavy Owlbear paws crashing through the undead, rusted chainmail and bones breaking under the weight of the impacts.

It almost felt like popping bubble wrap, bubble wrap that fought back with sharp spears, sure, but bubble wrap nonetheless. Bones clattered to the ground with every swipe of his paws, the ranks of the undead thinning until finally, Alyx stood alone. Letting out a pleased and smug huff, Alyx shifted back down out of his Owlbear form back to his human self, clothes reappearing.

“No, stop asking! Set to default or something no undead. Ugh, these were only skeletons, and I swear I can smell rotting flesh.”

“Honestly, I don’t feel any different now than I did at level ten. It would be kind of nice if I got stat points or things to spend when I leveled. I guess this isn’t a free spend system, though, which is weird if you ask me, the idea that people have to build off of their first ten skills seems arbitrary.”

Reaching down to pick up a spear from the pile of bones, Alyx gave it a cursory inspection before making his way out of the bone pile and walking further down the path to the temple, and he had made it most of the way around the lake by now. He doubted it would take him much longer to reach the moon shrine.

Using the spear as a walking stick, Alyx looked around at the forest, having thought to find it withering in decay, maybe the leaves falling off the trees or the world plunged into an eternal night as he approached the temple and the source of the undead. Instead, it looked just as vibrant and healthy as the rest of the elven forest. Possibly having fewer small animals in it, but still, birds were abundant overhead.

“This is just weird; where is the ominous feeling? The cawing of a murder of crows, the abundance of mushrooms and rot? You’d hardly know that I was walking toward a desecrated temple that’s ruled by an undead so powerful even elves won’t go near it. You get points for the abundance of skeletons and the fact that I’m already cursed with undeath but still, low budget on the special effects.”

Alyx always felt better after an inane ramble; the fact that he was rambling to himself didn’t bother him too much; Alyx had defeated nearly sixty skeletons in martial combat in the last hour. Nothing made sense anymore anyway, no reason for him to stick to normalcy at this point.

Making his way around the final curve of the lake, the temple came into view. What Alyx hadn’t known when he was on the other side of the lake was that the temple was situated in the lake. The path he was on turned to paved circular stones that were placed every foot or so in a line, the top of which rested just slightly over the water, the lake or at least the section around the temple wasn’t bottomless, only six inches in some places and maybe a foot in others.

Alyx was able to look down into the crystal clear water and see several fish swimming around. Looking from there to the temple itself, Alyx squinted, not seeing any movement around the temple. ‘That is weird, right? Shouldn’t this place be crawling with the undead? This is supposed to be where the big bad, fallen priest is. Maybe it is hostile to other undead. Well, not having to fight it amidst a swarm of skeleton warriors will make this a lot more doable.’

‘In fact, it might make it the only way it is doable, and I’ve no idea how strong this priest was.’ Such comforting thoughts fresh in his head Alyx began making his way across the paving stones over the lake, taking his time and using the spear to poke down into the lake, checking for any undead. After all, they don’t have to breathe, so hiding in the mud and muck to grab unsuspecting travelers seems like something an undead might do.

Despite his paranoia, no undead lurched out of the lake and attempted to grab him, which gave Alyx a chance to get a closer look at the temple itself. It really did look like the pyramids built in South America. The differences though subtle did sell Alyx on the idea that he might very well not be on earth anymore or would have if he had any doubts left after turning into an Owlbear and fighting actual walking skeletons.

The art that decorated the outside of the shrine was made of what looked like etched blue crystal, with a silver sheen, that shimmered in the sunlight, depicting wolves and the moon’s cycles. The color of the crystal was in sharp contrast to the grey stone covered in moss that seemed to make up most of the pyramid-like temple.

As he approached the stairs that lead up to the entrance, Alyx found himself getting a little nervous. “Fuuuuck, I do not know if I want to fight the kind of undead that so badass that the people who two-shot my ass actively stay away from it.”

Alyx looked back over his shoulder at the tree line behind him, uncertain where the elves were exactly but confident they were nearby.

“Ah fuck, a little late for me to worry about this, isn’t it? Ah, good old anxiety always here to keep me on my toes.” Delaying just a few more seconds longer, Alyx looked around a moment before setting the spear next to the steps and shifting into his Owlbear form.

Feeling much more confident now that he weighs in at over 1500 pounds, Alyx climbed the steps at a moderate pace, sticking with caution and attempting to poke his head up over the top of the stairs. His gaze found only an open doorway, the door if there ever was one long gone. The daylight from outside only illuminated a small portion. Interior, leaving the rest of the inside in shadows and darkness.

~Squonk~

‘Oh, right, can’t talk. How the fuck am I supposed to see inside the temple? It’s a friggin pyramid. It’s not like they built windows.’ That thought bounced around Alyx’s head for a moment, and then a second thought occurred. ‘I’m an Owlbear...an OWL...bear...Dammit, I can see in the dark, can’t I?’

As it turns out, Alyx could see in the dark. After he stepped through the doorway of the temple, it only took a couple of minutes for his eyes to adjust. The temple was surprisingly spacious until Alyx figured out that the entire thing had likely been made up of ten-foot by ten-foot cubes of stone. It seemed very at odds with the elven tree homes he had seen before, though the art on the walls was very elven in nature.

Alyx didn’t know if a typical Owl could see in true darkness, but he found that as he went farther into the temple and down the hallway, instead of getting darker, his vision seemed to shift into greyscale. The color of everything had greyed out, but he could still see just fine, which is what allowed him to notice the corpses strewn across the floor. ,

Seventy or so feet from the entrance to the moon temple, a massacre had occurred. As Alyx attempted to make it through the hallway without stepping on any of the bodies, it was plain to see that this elves...no, these people, species doesn’t matter, had died running from something. Almost all of the big wounds were on the back of the corpses. Only when he came to the other end of the moat of corpses did Alyx find bodies with injuries on their front. They looked like guards and had probably died defending the other elves.

What Alyx didn’t understand was why none of these elves had risen as undead. Maybe it’s because they died in a temple? Alyx had never been a man of worship in his life on earth, and he doubted he’d understand the rules of this world’s deities any better. So deciding to edge on the side of caution, or perhaps paranoia, he nudged one of the fallen guards with a paw once he was on the other side of the corpses, wanting to know if these were perhaps undead merely playing a trick.

When the guard failed to move or rise and begin trying to kill him, Alyx turned away to continue down the hall. ‘ I suppose I can add disturbing a corpse to my resume. Does it count if I only nudged him a little?’

The hall only went on for another thirty feet or so before it opened up into a large chamber, easily two hundred feet across in a massive cubic shape. No pillars held up the ceiling; instead, the room was dotted with circular pools of glowing water that cast an eerie silver and blue light from their depths. Some as small as a foot in diameter, while others looked like they could easily hold Alyx’s Owlbear form. Wandering among those Glowing pools was the priest Alyx had come looking to slay.

Taller than even Alyx’s Owlbear form on its hind legs, the abomination looked like a werewolf in the middle of decomposition. Its ribcage partially stuck out of t’s chest, and the meat of one bicep was almost entirely missing. Its legs were digitigrade with skeletal paws, and one-third of the monster’s muzzle had rotted away, revealing the bone underneath. In one of its clawed hands was a lance made of what looked like glowing narwhal bone.

Looking upon that creature, Alyx felt truly afraid. Every alarm bell and survival instinct he had told him that getting into a fight with this creature was a terrible, no good, lousy idea.

‘Yeah, but what kind of bitch makes it to the boss room of the dungeon and doesn’t at least attempt the boss?’ Alyx’s actual logic wasn’t quite that shaky, the truth was he either needed to fight and kill this thing or try and escape the elves above, and neither option was a good one. At least this way, he would probably level, which might allow him to evolve his class. It was only conjecture that led him to believe he would get a class evolution at twenty, but one more level, and he would be out of abilities to prep for evolution, so he had to hope he was right.

believe

~SQREE-OONNK~

It was a simple plan, And quite infallible. Alyx’s screech had gotten the undead’s attention if the way it jerked its upper torso in a way that should be possible to look in his direction at the sound of his roar was any indication. Backing into the ten-foot by ten-foot hallway, Alyx hoped it would force the creature to crouch and put it at a disadvantage for the fight, only belatedly realizing that all of those people had died in the hallway just the same. Still, when the undead werewolf came for him, he’d need to hit it with his best shot; after all, what else could he do?

And come for him, it did, no howling, no growls, not even the sound of skeletal feet click-clacking on stone. The monster was disturbing to watch in motion as it came for him, moving with an effortless preternatural grace that made tracking its movements difficult it closed the gap between them in mere seconds. Transitioning from a loping run to all fours as it reached the hallway, the hand with the lance never bothering to touch the ground as it raised it to strike Alyx down.

With a startled squonk, the Owlbear threw himself to the side, trying to avoid the lance. But it followed him effortlessly changing directory even as it struck out and stabbed Alyx in the left shoulder and piercing deeply. Squonking in pain and fear, Alyx Lashed out with his right paw, claws fully extended. Not expecting its prey to fight back, the werewolf was caught in the face, flesh-ripping as now its skeletal head sat revealed, scraps of flesh hanging from it. However, the skull itself was still intact, and the werewolf leaped backward to reassess its target.

“Squonk”

‘Fuck’

That wasn’t good. Alyx’s ability to regenerate had been the core of his combat tactics so far. Well, at least it didn’t seem like the werewolf was regenerating either. The said werewolf didn’t give Alyx time to rethink his situation either as it rushed forward again, lance lashing out in an attempt to stab Alyx through his neck. Not quick enough to dodge out of the way, Alyx attempted to parry the assault with his horns, slamming his head against the lance to knock it off target.

Which sent the lance scraping against Alyx’s back, tearing through his tough hide with ease, but this was an opportunity. The werewolf had overextended due to Alyx’s parry, so he rushed forward, swinging his head forward and up, and goring his opponent.

Horns decidedly now stuck in the ribs of the werewolf Alyx attempted to throw both him and the werewolf forward to slam the undead against the wall of the temple. His attempt was met with the realization that the werewolf was stronger than he was, as the creature discarded its lance and bodily grabbed Alyx, spinning and tossing the Owlbear down the hall and out into the open room filled with glowing pools.

Alyx tumbled as he landed on the ground, something in his shoulder cracking as he landed and spun across the floor. With a whimper of pain, Alyx attempted to stand only for his front left leg to fail to hold his weight and send him ass over tea kettle into one of the larger glowing pools.

For a moment, Alyx lost all orientation. Unable to determine which way was up, he foolishly opened his mouth and chugged a mouth full of water in an attempt to breathe. Nearly wretching at the taste and sure he was going to die choking on some weird glowing pond water, Alyx’s flailing paws found the rim of the pool, and he managed to pull himself out hurriedly. ‘ Not, drowning, not drowning, I’d rather get stabbed with the lance.’

< Bing-Bong you have---

‘Not now!’

Alyx would have shouted at the screen if he wasn’t still an Owlbear, his eye’s desperately searching for the Undead that had tossed him into the pool and found him quickly enough. The beast was, after all, charging straight for him. Alyx was just grateful it hadn’t taken the time to retrieve the lance. He was less grateful when the werewolf kicked him in the face. Taking the blow full on, Alyx heard more than felt his beak cracking.

That didn’t stop him from biting the foot, though. His beak snapping closed around the boney paws, as Alyx swung both forepaws down on the leg, claws tearing and ripping at the undead werewolf’s fleshy thigh, Alyx held it in a decidedly awkward position. At least until it came down on Alyx’s head with both of its arms and the top half of his beak snapped in half, freeing the monster from his bite and putting Alyx in a world of fresh new agony.

From there, it was an ugly melee. Neither Alyx nor the werewolf stepped back at that point. Instead, moving in, they grappled each other, Alyx tearing with his horns and claws, the undead biting and grabbing Alyx to rip out chunks of his flesh. Alyx’s blood was everywhere at this point, so much so that they both were slipping in it as they scrambled over each other, both looking for a dominant position to get at the other vitals.

But where Alyx was slowly weakening and running out of steam, the undead monstrosity he fought was not. Every claw mark, every puncture from a horn the undead fought on, stoic and unyielding. It had a purpose, which was to kill the living, and nothing else mattered, and both Alyx and the undead seemed to know that Alyx wasn’t going to win this war of attrition.

Growing more desperate, the Owlbear mustered up the last of its strength. It shoved the undead werewolf as hard as it could, sending the undead monster stumbling backward. Alyx took this opportunity to shift back to his human form in the hopes that there was enough mass left of his Owlbear form that he would be virtually full health.

The trick paid off, and Alyx grinned as he returned to his human shape, unharmed and arms spread wide. “ Effective Health Bitch!” Alyx stumbled slightly as the exhaustion washed over him, the loss of mass supposedly coming from his probably limited mana pool. But even as the injured undead stumbled forward to attack him, Alyx stepped forward into the attack and found he was moving quicker than the undead at this point. Slamming not one but two punches into the chest of the creature before he had to duck under a swipe of its claws, Alyx grinned. He was faster than it!

Better safe than sorry, though, the newfound speed at his disposal, Alyx found he could dance around the undead. Each of its clawed swipes, which still packed enough power to gut him, just couldn’t keep up, not with so many of its ligaments damaged from the fight with his Owlbear form.

Stepping in under another swipe of claws, Alyx let loose with two swift punches to the creature’s sternum and was rewarded with a resounding crack as its ribcage finally gave under the blows. Dodging backward to avoid a sweeping kick that the werewolf retaliated with, he then lept forward, landing with hands and feet on the werewolf’s rib cage and sending the monster stumbling down onto its back. Moving his feet to either side of the ribcage, Alyx pulled at the cracked ribs with all his might, flexing the ribcage slowly, open, and though the werewolf leaned forward with a silent snarl and planted its fangs deep into Alyx’s shoulder, he didn’t stop until the ribs cracked open.

The ruined insides of the monster’s chest were mostly gore and grime. Whatever organs and what purposes they served lost to time as black sludge leaked out all over the floor, and the undead finally stopped moving. Alyx hard to grab the jaws of the corpse to pry the fangs out of his shoulder, though before he could finally step away and breathe a sigh of relief.

< You have defeated a ghoulish werewolf level 32! >

“Yes?”

“No..come on, man, just fuck off on the undead.”

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck me.