Ah, nothing beats some go olde fun that was slaying zombies. The rapidly intensifying waves of Draugur Warriors beat through Anastasia's army of silk made puppets. Eventually me and Anastasia pushed to a choke point, enough room for me to wield my sword and pretty much nothing else.

  Keeping my stance firm but moveable I created slashes that made short work of the light leather armor, that barely put up against my claymore. I decided to slash through the horde rather than stabbing them. It was a simple slaughter using [Geomancy] to move the bodies aside to keep up a fresh wave of victims.

  A certain part of me, a childhood dream being partially fulfilled as I fought against a horde of zombies in full plate Knights armor. Redirected the direction of my blade arch I decapitated a whole row as they came towards me. There's a reason they called the great sword the bodyguard's weapon, it was a weapon of control. Its long reach and deadly edge allowed me to keep back the host of lightly armored enemies.

  My slaughter unfortunately ebbed as the corpses of the Draugur numbered a hundred. Sure I could have collapsed the caves and then reformed them but that wasn't fun also I could accidentally collapse on me or leave anything of value. Marching forward I made quick work of the small groups of undead, I was really hoping that their bosses might posses a spark of intelligence. Cause otherwise this was going to boring quickly.

  Like a mighty roar I heard more far off footfall, more were coming, oh boy a gift! With an over embellished over head slash decapitating a zombie I smiled. In my head a small symphony of guitars and drums blared half remembered music. Jamming out to my auditory hallucinations in my head I pushed forward into the hoard. Their poor technique and weaponry failed to pierce my heavy armor.

  ...

  'what the hell?' is what Anastasia thought as she watched her companion go forth with relish. What insane creature was happy to kill undead? She had to shut down her telepathy as the strange sounds coming from his head was chaotic with ever changing rhythmic beat.

  As a monster she didn't have nearly the flexibility that her companion had and she knew she was significantly weaker then Kien but she didn't know how to gain skills. She was practically born with [Toxicokinesis] and she had distinct feeling that her venom wouldn't effect the mindless undead. So in the back of the fight she weaved. The way the trait worked was that I had to weave a near complete recreation of the human body leaving out stuff like stomachs and other organs. So really only the bones, sinews, ligaments, and muscles then the trait imparted intent onto the strands on what they were bone strands became rigid and so on. Unfortunately I had little to do with the process, I new how to do it but didn't know how or why it worked. Kinda like those equations Kien knew, he them and he knew what they where used for but had zero idea why they worked when he tried explaining them to her.

  Finishing the top of the puppets head I sent it off to battle, before though it reached down grasping the discarded blade of a fallen Draugur before rushing off to battle. It lasted less time than it took to weave the guy as it was cut apart easily.

  I did have an idea, talismans, the small statues if created properly then I could use them to empower the puppets. I was unfortunately stuck making humanoid puppets because that was the 'default' that came with the trait. Inorder for me to make a different kind for example a bear I would have to know the exact muscle structure of the creature. Also for some reason ants and other insects were incompatible with the trait. I could weave a spider but well as much as I likes my spider body I knew we did not make great frontliners.

  Looking down at Kien I saw him cut a Draugur Completely in half, down the middle. I knew he was an odd one but he was a good guy, he was just enjoying killing undead to much. For one I was unhappy with them as they expired, I couldn't even eat them!

  ...

  Back to Kien's P.o.v

  ...

  After slashing a Draugur Completely in half for the fun of it I continued to push back the nearest wave. Anastasia's puppets tried to help but their webbing did not stand a chance against the Draugur's weapons.

  I pushed forward elbowing a legless zombie that didn't get the redead memo. Whipping around Decapitating its fellow I continued to slash through their ranks. With lower level, abilities, and poorly maintained equipment I easily out classed the hoard before. The elites where hopefully more of a challenge otherwise I couldn't imagine this place being that hard.

  Eventually I managed to seal these creatures back to death, numbering about two hundred and fifty slain I was making progress even though I was being extremely inefficient. If I wanted to be efficient I would have pulled back letting Anastasia's puppets armor up and then I would spearhead the groups ahead as the puppets ganked any that I missed. Unfortunately for reason and common Sense I was loving this!

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  If I had some tunes it would be even better! Skewering the last three like an undead shish kebab I exited the tunnel and it a vast open space. Overlooking the vast cavern that held a pocket of nature. Large deposits of crystals hung glowing an eerie maroon. Vast forests spread out from the cavern, poking up from the pines and spruce were the skeletons of buildings.

  The nearest groupings of these buildings was a small town with humanoid figures wandering the dirt streets. I had a distinct feeling they were not human or at least not any longer. The remaining architecture showed a modest skill in masonry though from far and after a unknown age of the buildings they could've had very advanced knowledge of building.

  The small cave we exited from was one of many all along the walls and roof. Sitting down on the ledge I looked back at Anastasia.

  'hey you need to time to weave right?' I asked her and she nodded her head as she set up her factory of puppets. She started mass making them, I had long tried to replicate even a part of the process she used but her explanations always fell short. Just as mine did when I tried to explain how some of my traits worked.

  The improved cloak was extremely comfortable and fluffy which was nice. Getting nice and toasty, I continued to survey the surroundings, and I noticed a few stark differences between the Grove and this place.

  First off their sunstones or whatever variant they possessed was a bit different beyond just the color. It wasn't shedding first off, and the wildlife I could see where odd I could only see shadows and the like from a far. It was truly a interesting ecosystem, videos and documentaries that I love to watch about the development of earth ecosystems always fascinated me. I suppose I would get to see it occur in real time once I got out of the Tutorial. My mind flipped back to a specific video about a fungi that evolved to absorb radiation in Chernobyl I wonder what would happen when mana became part of it?

  'hey, Kien I'm done making puppets I've got forty fully outfitted and ready to go' Anastasia interrupted my musings and looking back Insane the puppets having scavenged their fallen brethrens armor and weapons that we had come here with.

  'alrighty then, I suppose we should go to that ruined town down their' I stated guiding Anastasia's eyes to the group of buildings. Agreeing with me I created a series of steps down of to the side along the cliff face. Looking back I could see claw marks from where the Draugur climbed up. Turning back we ran quickly through the forest, and the wildlife I saw where now easier to spot, first off they all looked like they were starving with shallow skin and sunken features. Inspecting them I saw something that hinted at it.

  ...

  [Mutated Squirrel] Lv. 8

  Rank One Undeath Attuned Mammal

  ...

  Luckily it appeared that the wildlife were only rank one, but the 'undeath Attuned' part was worrying as I didn't want that to happen to me. Luckily we made it to the town unscathed as I looked closely at the make of it. Now that I was closer I saw a few rotted planks and came to the conclusion that much of the outlying houses must have been made of wood. The skeletons of the buildings that stood where made of stone with some kind of adhesive that still kept parts together.

  "RAAAGGGG" The high pitched scream of a Draugur that had spotted me as it stumbled further. The echo calls of its brethren followed. Smiling I Readied my sword in front of me, and slashed right through the first Draugur as the Puppets followed behind me as Anastasia was stringing a base of Operations it woods.

  The now redead Draugur's allies came, some ran full speed while others stumbled slowly. The fast ones I Could deal with easy as many only wore simple ruined linen garb. The slow ones were quickly put out by the puppets who could easily kill them despite the technical power gap. Using my [Floramancy] abilities to break up the hoard as large shrubs and overgrown gardens tore apart a few and held off the rest. Meanwhile the Puppets set up a supply line wherein they would drag the few armored Draugur back to Anastasia where she replaced them with a puppet wearing their gear.

  Eventually the Draugur stopped coming in droves and it became a small trickle which were picked off by the growing Puppet army.

  Reinvestigating the town I saw that not much was held sacred by the ravages of time and poor maintenance. Then I saw something a small engraving into a side wall.

  'Warning Draugur shelter This way' with a small arrow pointing in the opposite direction following the small markings I entered the woods where small stones with similar markings followed.

  I got my hopes up for a moment before I came across a cave entrance that had been at one time fortified. A small group of Draugur came forward, putting them down Income across a few skeletons that had been undisturbed. Like a snap shot in time I saw varing acts of going out on their own terms amongst the dead. Like a crash it came to end.

  It was sobering moment as I stepped out of the area. Those people had been real, at one point, and I knew that this plague it curse that had caused the undead had been a truly devastating time for them. Shrugging off the funk I heard a far off crash, and a tingle entered my mind.

  'Where the hell are you Kien! I think one of the elites you mentioned showed up!' Anastasia's telepathic panic came into my mind. Moving forward and putting the place I had been at in the back of my mind I ran through the forest and into the outskirts of the town with the rotting wooden foundations.

  Then I saw it, a tall humanoid figure, clad in pelts and a metal helm. In his left hand a flame dark as midnight wafted on a torch and a bearded axe in his right. A long stringy beard that was falling out in patches hung from under his helm.

  ...

  [Draugur Raider] Lvl. 30

  Rank Two Elite Undead

  ...