Leo and Mathew discussed how to go about talking to Bob and his zone of people. From what little they know, they choose to not use magic. Leo would need to keep his few magical abilities secret. Lucas would be going with them as well, plus three adventurers and three more guards. All who use martial weapons, technological ones, or their magical abilities are minor.

Mathew had a feeling Bob was smarter than Tyrone. Then again, he had no idea how Bob became leader. That was Leo’s prime objective, to learn about Bob and the zone. If they can undermine his rulership with show of force and goods, then that HC is good as his.

On the other hand, if Bob has a strong fellowship of people, it will be harder to pull off. The two lawyers established three different contracts. Since Mathew couldn’t be there himself to make them himself. The first set was similar to the one Tyrone signed.

There wre blank spaces for information to be filled in. Tax percentages, flat rate numbers, and smaller things to be filled in as needed. The other two were lesser versions on each of them. Of course, all three had their fill of purposifull mistakes. Leo was against that idea at first, thinking it wasn’t fair or honorable.

“We don’t have time to risk being fair. So long as Bob keeps his promises up, then none of these punishments will even happen.”

“But we are hiding them through obscure wording. He is going to notice the fact the punishments are different on the first contract.” Leo said, pointing at the sheet of paper.

“Then move to the other two. This is why I’m making them.” Mathew huffed in annoyance.

“I don’t see why we finish off the Dungeon first, then pull the political stuff after…”

“It’s so they don’t backstab us while we are pincered.”

Leo frowned, “They wouldn’t do that…”

“And Tyrone wouldn’t threaten me, Payne wouldn’t try to imprison me, or all the other horrible things that still happen. All in a perfect world, one I wish we had Leo. We can’t afford that right now. After the World Quest, maybe. If you want to go play hero, be my guest. Right now, my goal is to get stronger, and keep people safe. If that means underhand methods and being imoral, so be it.”

Leo’s group left the next morning. All eight of them were expected to be back before dark. If they weren't, that meant something went wrong. Mathew was tempted to have Agnox tag along as a scout, but refrained from doing so.

He had other important things to do today. Mathew had three guards and Lindsey with him. One of the guards had the [First Aid] skill. He might end up needing it. Seeing Leo get stronger lit a fire inside of him last night. Leo not only improved two of his techniques, but gained a level as well.

He needed to remain ahead of everyone. His own brothers were all almost Level 25. The World Quest would have hundreds of people attending. Murderers, backstabbers, thieves, but also good hearted people. However, he wouldn’t take a risk to only meet nice people.

He wanted that special Dungeon Core for himself. He had only three weeks until the Dungeon would open. That was his time limit. He would need to milk every training chance he could to not only catch up to the top fighters on earth, but to surpass them.

Mathew would be a liar if he said he wasn’t a bit worried with what he was going to end up doing. However, he is a damn good liar, and played it off very well.

He was now standing in the middle of a street with a horde of ten zombies shuffling toward him. Nearby was Agnox on Jeffrey’s back. The three guards and Lindsey were further away with explicit orders to only intervene if it looked like he was going to die.

Agnox and Jeffrey on the other hand were there in case things get dicey. A contingency plan. Not that he would let such an event happen. He had an Axiom to improve. Powers to level up. Undead to clear out to get closer to the Dungeon.

The problem right now was the giant horde surrounding the old woman’s shelter building. Hundreds of undead.

Mathew relied too much on his summons. In a battle of numbers, he would need to kill them faster than they could gain ground on him. If they got too close, he would then rely upon his knife skills.

Mana collected in his rod as he then pushed his Axiom to surround it. He was repeating a mantra inside his head. “To resist your current path.”

It was the best he could come up with to hopefully allow his bolt to turn in the air. His Axiom wasn’t [Curving] or [Projectiles]. So he needed to find a way to apply it to the current situation.

Once the first zombie was within range he fired his bolt forward. Pushing his [Channel Mana] skill and Axiom to overdrive. The bolt moved from the closest undead to the one directly to Mathew’s left.

A direct hit in the chest caused the undead to fall over, leaving a gaping hole.

Mathew didn’t take the moment to celebrate. It was only the start. A single lucky strike was just that. Now he needed to keep doing it reliably. Using less effort, until he could control it perfectly in the air.

The first ten were taken out easily enough. Mathew wasn’t satisfied. He moved the group closer toward the horde. He took careful steps to ensure nothing could sneak up behind them without plenty of a heads up.

Each group he mowed down was killed with equal shots to the number of undead. Eventually Mathew decided to change tactics. He summoned both his wisps and worked on infusing them with more mana compared to how he can with [Mana Bolt] using his [Channel Mana] ability.

The two wisps, while just creation of his own mana, always appeared differently. A fun fact Mathew enjoyed. Mathew wanted to start experimenting on using them differently. He got the idea since he had no clue when he could get more summons.

Having more wisps would be a welcome upgrade, but having all of them do the same thing would be a waste of their potential. Having a wisp that attacked differently would be what he needed. A hard hitter, and a fast hitter. If the next upgrade allowed him to have more wisps, then he could create more variant attack patterns.

A Wisp that could attack fast to mow down weak enemies like these undead. A Wisp to blast heavy damage to strong enemies like the birds or Mothrus. It wasn’t something he foresaw solidifying anytime soon with how his progression on [Mana Bolt] was going.

But he could still train them to attack differently. Just like how Agnox can fly without a skill, the wisps could attack differently.

At first it was difficult to control the two wisps to attack in different patterns. He didn’t dare try to use his Axiom on them while doing so, as it was already stretching his mental capacity too thin. Just the mere thought of trying gave him a headache. Either it was an internal warning, or just his inability to comprehend everything right now.

The second group of undead Mathew faced was less in numbers, but Mathew noticed two had actual gear from their past lives. He had zero cares if they could properly use a sword or gun, his two wisps took turns focusing on their new paths.

To any outsider, no difference between the wisps could be noticed in attacks. But Mathew could tell. This was easier on him physically. He didn't have to keep moving his arms in various directions to better control the wisps compared to the bolts.

He could just stand there and focus. Granted, while he was focused, he couldn’t quite pay attention to his surroundings.

No, this is him testing various ways to evolve his powers. Leo is set on pure power growth. He hasn’t cared to try and experiment further than what is easily within reach. Mathew even offered to tell him about Mana Cycling and the benefits it has. His mana regeneration is faster, his spells are faster, it’s an overall win as far as he can tell.

Leo didn’t care. He only cared about immediate power to kill the undead, after that, he would owe up his side of the bargain with his God.

Mathew kinda felt bad for Leo. He’s tried to talk him back to a grounded mindset, but he is too far gone emotionally. All he can do for his old friend is ensure he doesn’t kill himself.

After an hour of testing his new technique with his wisps, and cleared out over fifty undead, he sat down to take a break.

Lindsey handed him a canteen. “You seem to actually be trying out there.”

“Because I am. There are bigger fish out there, I can’t let myself be eaten.”

“Just don’t push yourself too hard Mathew. It’s a marathon not a sprint. At least, that’s what all the novels always said. I remember playing games for nights on end to grind levels and back to back world bosses.”

“Zack said you were some sort of important gamer, right?”

She rubbed the back of her neck, “Yea, kinda. It helps that I'm a woman. Helpless men would flock toward me. They would donate money just to say their username. I won’t lie, it’s creepy but it paid the rent.”

Mathew smrirked, “I had a case where my clients now ex-husband spent all their money on a streamer just to have his name said and join some sort of high price entry chat room. Least to say, she won.”

“Some women are horrible and will milk people for every cent. I always refunded anything over a thousand. I couldn’t sleep well at night taking that much unless it was for charity.” She sighed and looked at all the dead undead. “Crazy to think that was just a few months ago.”

“I agree, time has flown. We are barely into the time limit The System placed a protection over our planet. I’m assuming that’s when phase 2 will end as well, opening us up to the greater universe and all it’s horrors.”

Lindsey raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t read the terms and conditions?” He shook his head, “Rookie mistake.”

Her face was in shock, “I didn’t know there was one! I wouldn’t have agreed to anything before I read it.”

“Don’t bother. Not accepting it granted you none of the protections. Which I’m assuming meant death, or worse. Maybe no access to your menu and Hearth Crystals. Messing with your stats was you signing the dotted line, so you probably wouldn’t have the bonus stats either.”

Lindsey looked down at her bow, rolling it back and forth in her hands. “That sounds horrible. I wonder if anyone would agree to it.”

“Maybe. I doubt they are alive if so.”

“What else was on the contract we all apparently agreed to? Hopefully nothing dangerous.”

Mathew shared what he remembered from it. However, he only got halfway through before a loud metal grating sound brought everyone's attention down the road. A car was shoved to the side as a giant undead walked toward them. Behind it was a dozen more undead.

Lindsey shot up and started to ready her bow. “What the fuck is that?!”

“Agnox!” Mathew shouted as he too stood up and prepared himself.

The imp popped his head out of a nearby window “What?” He looked toward the noise and flew down to the group. “Please tell me you have a giant version of humans on this planet, and he is selling boy’s brownies.”

“Girl Scout Cookies…I think that is what you meant.” Lindsey hopefully corrected, “And no we don’t.”

“Great…” One of the guards mumbled. “Leave it to my luck to get smashed by Undead Hulk.”

“We will all die one day.” Mathew said as he started to channel his spell into Droozkora’s Rod. “So long as I’m in charge, that day will be a long time from now.” He fired his bolt at full power once the giant creature was close enough.

It impacted its chest and left behind a shallow wound. Mathew’s face turned sour. “That was almost at max power!”

“Everyone, don’t hold back here! That thing was strong enough to take a full powered attack from me. It’s no normal undead.”

“What!” Another guard exclaimed. “Let’s just run!”

“And let this thing run amok? No. We kill it and use it as propaganda.” Mathew said. “Fight here and now, we can kill it, just not easily. That isn’t going to be the Dungeon Boss. Probably a General or equivalent. Similar to the wolf Infernal you had in your Dungeon.”

Everyone readied their weapons except one of the guards. “I did this as an easy detail job, not to die!”

Mathew glared back for a moment before the giant creature and the other undead were within range. “You running away just proves you are weak. What purpose will you serve Blue Oaks by doing so? Go ahead, leave. It just means you won’t amount to anything. I’m sure Captain Henderson will have a field day with you. Not to mention what I’ll do when she is done.”

He turned back and the creature was only a block away. It let out a thundering roar. Now close enough, Mathew could see finer details on the body. It was covered with scars. Certain patches on its body didn’t match in color. A hand was white, while its forearm was black on one side and a duller brown on the other. One leg was slightly thicker than another. Even its eyes were two different colors.

“A Frankenstien’s Monster situation? At least this proves it’s from the Undead Dungeon.”

Mathew didn’t have another moment to think about it. He pointed forward and yelled at Jeffrey to attack. The red wolf darted forward, its jaw agape ready to pounce and bite at the hulking figure.

Mathew peppered attacks while his two wisps attacked. He didn’t bother continuing their training while in a high risk fight. He had faith the five of them could take it down, only if they went all out.

Two of the guards drew their weapons and charged at a slower pace than Jeffrey. Once all three were in melee, Agnox used them as a distraction.

He would dive down and attack the weaker undead with blitz attacks. He would swerve in the air to dodge wide arm swings from the giant beast. His sword was ablaze, showing he was taking this fight seriously.

Lindsey drew her bow and fired shot after shot trying to help clear out the weaker undead. Her powers were more suited in the wilderness, not an urban environment. She was at a disadvantage, but didn’t slow down at all.

Mathew continued to fire [Mana Blast] in succession, purly focusing on the bigger threat. He didn’t fully charge them, afraid of running out of mana. Nor did he dare get close. Those arms were huge. He had zero doubts a single punch could knock him out, maybe even kill him in one or two attacks.

One of the guards was kicked by the giant, punting him several feet into a nearby building. “Fuck, go get him!” Mathew shouted to the remaining guard. The healer he brought with them just in case things went south. Apparently he decided to actually help instead of run away.

Jeffrey got behind the giant and nipped at its ankle, trying to bring it down. Yet, the thick legs were as solid as a tree trunk. It swung another meating arm down at Jeffrey, slamming him into the ground.

Agnox dove down and left behind a deep cut on its left shoulder that instantly turned black from the flames that surrounded his blade. “Ha! Big and stupid, you can’t get me up here!”

The giant looked up at Agnox and growled. It looked around and reached down at the last guard that was still attacking it. He dodged the hand with ease. “Mathew, what do we do? Few of our attacks-” He thrusted forward with his blade and jumped back to avoid another attempted grab. “Few of our attacks are even working. How are we going to kill this thing?!”

“It can’t be immune to all our attacks, just keep at it!” Mathew charged up a heavier attack and took aim at its head. He started to push his Axiom into it, just in case it tried to dodge.

The giant eyeballed Mathew and ran toward him. With wide eyes, Mathew released the spell and started to run away. “Fuck! Jeffrey! Agnox! Stop that thing!”

After only ten strides the giant undead was close enough and tried to grab Mathew. He jumped to the side causing the hand smack a wisp, killing it instantly.

A roar of pain came from the beast as it’s back was peppered with arrows and gunshots. Mathew prayed that it would cause it to turn, but it still focused on him.

Dodging into a nearby alley, Mathew charged two bolts in either hand. He grunted as his mana was getting low and turned to fire. Both attacks left behind open wounds on the beast's arm that it used to block the attack.

The alley was narrow, but the beast could still walk in at an angle. “Why is it after me? Go after one of the others you idiot!”

He pulled out his trusted knife and threw it. A shallow cut opened on its exposed chest. He returned the weapon to his hand and stabbed at the hand that was reaching toward him. Neither wound bled out making Mathew hate the thing even more.

“Magic bolts of cold does nothing, it doesn’t bleed, how the fuck do I kill this thing!” Mathew complained to himself as he continued to backpedal away from the creature.

Between its legs, Mathew saw Jeffrey and Agnox enter the alleyway. Agnox flew high and sliced more flesh with his flaming blade, while Jeffrey continued to attack its legs. All the attacks were ignored.

Mathew’s eyes were full of fear. He had zero worries if the entire team fought it. With proper frontliners to tank the beast he would have been fine.

Another giant fist came flying at Mathew and he dodged left to avoid the strike, but that put him in a bad place. The opposite fist flew forward at him. Mathew raised his arms and pumped both man and his Axiom to the block. It was pure instinct as he had no other defense to use.

Bones cracked as he was sent flying backwards, landing on his back. Pain filled his arms, but they still functioned and he was alive. He grunted in pain and reached out for his rod that landed next to him.

The giant roared and lifted both its fists. Rolling to the side Mathew blasted more bolts at the creature, firing one after another. A huge headache overcame him that was overshadowed by the pain in his arms.

Each cast of his spell caused a wave of pain from the mana. Yet he continued to put everything he could into this. He scrambled to his feet, then turned to run away.

“Fucking kill it already!” Mathew cried out to anyone.

Nobody responded but gun fire now filled the air. Mathew assumed the others finished off the weaker undead and was now there to help him. He darted onto an open street and ran left. Any distance between him and the beast would be his greatest asset.

He heard the thing closing behind him. Realizing he was almost out of mana he put everything into one final blast from his rod. The splitting headache almost knocked him out, yet the pain in his arms kept him awake, a small blessing.

He turned and released the blast, aiming at its chest. A giant hole appeared with bits of blood and flesh pouring out. It only paused for a moment before it swung its right arm wide and slammed Mathew through a window of a building next to him.

Dazed, Mathew squeezed his eyes closed for a moment. His entire left arm was broken and blood was pooling around him. “Why…” Was all he could fathom as a thought.

The beast squated down as if looking into the building. Mathew remained still, praying it would leave him alone. He brought a pill to his hand from his personal storage and shoved it into his mouth. The pain started to numb, but he knew he was on a timer. This needed to end soon or he was good as dead.

Agnox stabbed his flaming blade into the creature's neck, and sliced it forward, a few bits of blood flew out, but not as much as what should have come out. “Why isn’t it dead!” He screamed and took a glance to see Mathew using a nearby table to help himself stand.

Gritting his teeth, Agnox kept slicing at the undead beast's body. Jeffrey was gnawing at it’s legs, slowly getting through its tough skin and muscles.

Mathew sniffed and brought his knife to his only good hand. “Come and get me you fat bastard. You think you can take me down? I survived two of your punches. I bet my niece could punch harder than you. Hell, I bet you are only good at tanking attacks, shit at dishing them out. Is that how you work? All defenses and zero offenses?”

Banter was the only thing Mathew could resort to at this point. He doubted it could understand him, but he wasn’t sober enough to care. Pain was his true motivator, with fear of death right behind that.

“Gatta stab…the…head” Mathew threw his blade, but it flew wide and missed the head completely. He groaned and got ready to dodge another strike. The roof was low, and forced the giant to hunch down. It reached out with its arm to grab Mathew.

Mathew barely sidestepped it, favoring his left side. He let out a yell as he darted forward. Its head was now within reach. He drew his arm back and summoned his knife one last time, the leftover mana in his ring now gone as well.

He shoved the blade forward into its eye socket. The small blade went all the way into its hilt. Mathew stepped away and slumped down onto the ground. The giant undead also collapsed to the ground, dead.

As the experience flowed into his body, Mathew started to chuckle. “Ha, I guess the movies were right. Guess Zack gets a point in his favor.” Mathew muttered as he breathed heavily. He tried to fight the pull of fatigue to have him close his eyes.

His vision slowly blurred as he saw two figures rush toward him screaming his name.