Necromancer 6

Test

6. Floor Boss 1

In the dungeon, there are sometimes monsters that act like boss characters controlling the floor.

We call these "floor bosses", and generally, the deeper you go, the stronger they get.

And this guy is the floor boss of the lowest level.

“I can already tell how strong it is...”

I gulped, staring at it.

Its face was made of rock— so let’s call it Rockface.

As Rockface slowly moved through the air, it fired a beam again.

“Everyone, get out!”

I dodged as I retreated and summoned all my servants.

In addition to the thirteen Sword Wolves, I had also enslaved every monster I defeated along the way.

By the way, the main effect of the Necromancer skill is 'to subdue and control the undead.'

The "undead" in this case doesn’t just mean ghosts or undead-like creatures, but also monsters like Sword Wolves, who weren't originally undead but died.

In other words, if a normal monster dies, it gets classified as undead, and I can make it my servant.

Strictly speaking, it’s not exactly an "undead monster"— it seems like it's the "spirit form of the monster" that falls under the skill's control.

…But I'll dive deeper into those details once we get out of here.

For now— the focus is on defeating Rockface.

Crack!

Rockface fired its beam for the third time.

“Protect me and Mirage!”

I commanded my servants.

Both Mirage and I had lost our shields in the first blast, so I ordered my other servants to step forward and act as the shield.

Please hold on, somehow—

That hope was crushed.

Whoosh…

With a single blow, all my servants except Mirage were vaporized.

“They’re all wiped out—”

A chill ran down my spine.

The destructive power was beyond what I expected.

“There’s no defending against that. I’ll have to switch to offense.”

I braced myself.

First, I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

One of the effects of the advanced Necromancer skill is that a portion of the strength of my enslaved undead gets added to my stats.

Thanks to making Mirage and the Sword Wolves my servants, my strength, speed, and other stats had significantly increased—

“Status open.”

***

Name: Shigure

Strength: 51 → 59

Speed: 66 → 75

Endurance: 39 → 45

Magic Power: 128 → 141

Additional Skills:

[Slash] [Shield]

[Mapping - Basic]

***

“Huh? My stats are higher than last time—”

I felt puzzled, but quickly realized why.

Oh, right, when I made that Dungeon Worm my servant, my stats must’ve gone up again.

I had forgotten to check my stats immediately afterward.

That means even if my servants are destroyed by the enemy, my stats stay the same...

Even though the Dungeon Worm and the Sword Wolves were wiped out, my stat numbers haven’t changed at all.

“That’s at least a silver lining, but it doesn’t change the fact we’re in trouble.”

I steeled myself.

“If we keep defending like this, we’ll get overrun. We need to go on the offensive.”

“In that case, I’ll act as a decoy.”

Mirage spoke up.

“I’ll draw the floor boss’s attacks. In the meantime, you take it down.”

“I will—”

I swallowed hard.

A wave of tension surged through me.