[The Lewd Traveler] 6 – A Dungeon

[You have entered an Unknown Dungeon. Caution is advised]

A...Dungeon? What the hell...

[You cannot leave the Dungeon until you reach a checkpoint or clear the Dungeon]

As I looked upon my new surroundings, I couldn't help but grow nervous.

The once Cyberpunk and futuristic city was now a thick Jungle with towering trees, dense foliage, and the distant sounds of birds.

Before I could even move, I froze at the sound of movement behind me.

I cried out in pain when I felt something slam into my back, throwing me to the ground.

[-15 HP] A notification responded at the corner of my eyes.

As I rolled onto the ground, I quickly rose to my feet as fast I could to get a look at my attacker and found it was a...deer?

[Greater Elk - Level 8]

The thing was majestic, with its size being as large as a horse, with its antlers a pristine brown and majestic in size and appearance.

Seeing it begin to be ready to charge, I did not wait. With a mental thought, I cast [Necrotic Bolt], causing a sickly-looking black and white flaming orb to appear in my right hand, which I did not hesitate to launch at the deer who began charging at me.

Jumping to the side as it charged where I was previously crouched, I heard the sickening cry of the animal as well as the fresh smell of decay and raw meat.

Looking at the Elk, I could see it thrashing around on the ground while the sickly black flames of my Necrotic Bolt melted away at the skin and fur on its chest. The area it struck decayed, quickly revealing bone underneath.

Holding back the bile in my throat from the horrible smell assaulting my nose, I quickly cast another [Necrotic Bolt], this time directly sticking the creature in the face.

I watched as the flesh and sinew on its face melted away and decayed, revealing the clean bone underneath.

Within seconds, the Elk lay dead at my feet, its body still twitching.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 2!]

[You have gained +5 HP, +5 MP, 5 SP, and five free Attribute points!]

Taking a deep breath, I felt a sudden rush of energy as all of my wounds healed and my mana refilled to full.

Gasping from the experience, I nearly collapsed. Why...Why does it feel like that?!

Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I felt myself shiver. The forest was unbelievably cold, as if it were in the 30s Fahrenheit, and the wind only made the feeling worse as I felt the cold air flow through my clothes and onto my bare skin.

Trying to ignore the cold, I opened my status screen and entered a point into intelligence, only to find that it did not automatically confirm the use of the point but did show me what I would gain if I put a point into intelligence.

After a bit of experimentation, I found this:

Endurance: Stat increases: +5 Health, +3 Stamina, +0.25 Health Regeneration

Vitality: Stat increases: +2 Health, +1.25 Health Regeneration, +1 Stamina, +1 Stamina Regen

Intelligence: Stat increases: +2 Mana, +0.25 Mana Regeneration.

Wisdom: Stat increases: +0.5 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration.

Most of my skills worked off of mana, so Intelligence and Wisdom proved to be the best available choices for me If I wanted to keep using my spells and abilities.

Sure, each attribute had its ups and downs, but if I wanted to make it out of here alive, I needed to be able to take down whatever came my way.

Without hesitation, I threw all five points into Intelligence, raising my mana from 90 to 100 and my mana regeneration from 12.5 to 13.75 an hour.

Why did I put the points into Intelligence and not Wisdom, even though I needed the mana regeneration a lot more? The answer was simple. One of my skills required 100 mana to use a single time. [Raise Undead]

I had a feeling that this skill would be the only way I could escape from this Dungeon alive, and while I was betting on it if it did not work out, I would have other skills I could use.

Taking a deep breath, I gathered my bearings and confirmed my attribute points.

Feeling a strange warmth flow through my veins, I got up from the ground and walked over to the [Greater Elk].

Taking a deep breath, I reached out to the once majestic beast and cast the spell.

[Raise Undead]

Just before the spell could actualize, I felt as if I had to choose.

[Skeletal Beast (Greater Elk) - Strengths: Resistant to slashing attacks. Weaknesses: Blunt attacks]

[Zombified Beast (Greater Elk) - Strengths: Durable, resistant against blunt attacks. Weaknesses: Fire]

Feeling my mana begin to build up, I had only a few moments to choose, and without thinking much, I decided to make it into a Zombified Beast.

I felt as if my veins began to boil as all of my mana flowed down my veins to my hand, which became covered in a sickly black-and-white flame.

[A/N: For a more accurate representation of how the flame looks, imagine Gon from Hunter X Hunter in his adult form, a pitch-blake flame with streaks of pure white flowing within the flame]

The inky-black flame flowed across the surface of the Elk, bathing it.

Feeling my head start to go blank and my vision darkens, I struggled to stay awake as notifications flashed at the corner of my eye.

[Congratulations! Raise Undead has leveled up!]

[Congratulations! Raise Undead has leveled up!]

[You have obtained 2 PP]

Before I knew it, I collapsed onto the ground, completely drained of all of my Mana.

[Mana Exhaustion Resistance has been obtained!]

[You have obtained 1 PP]

...

[Your Undead: Zombified Greater Elk Level 5 has slain an enemy!]

[Your Undead: Zombified Greater Elk Level 5 has slain an enemy!]

[Your Undead: Zombified Greater Elk Level 5 has slain an enemy!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You have leveled up!]

Groaning, I couldn't help but shiver as I opened my eyes and rapidly blinked due to the bright light of the sky above the Jungle canopy.

Seeing the notifications that spammed the corner of my vision, waiting to be dismissed, I couldn't help but break out into a cold sweat. I didn't expect casting the spell would knock me out! What if the undead Greate Elk couldn't protect me?! I would have died!

Quickly climbing to my feet, I scanned my surroundings, finding multiple dead creatures that lay on the ground around me, dead. What looked to be another Greater Elk, some weird-looking horned...rabbits, a strange skunk-like creature covered in scales, and several dead squirrels.

While I was...asleep, it seemed my Undead Guardian watched over me, killing anything that neared. I counted eight carcasses in the area, and standing like a statue nearby was the Zombified Greater Elk, with half of its flesh melted away, revealing the bone underneath and its organs hanging down to the ground.

Its eyes glowed a strange blue light as it stared at me with a blank stare. It stood still, not moving even a bit as it just stared.

"God damn, is that creepy..." I cursed.

Examining the undead further, I noticed some wounds on it, where it was clear it got stabbed, clawed, and gutted by the creatures around us.

Checking my status revealed that I had leveled up an additional four times, giving me 20 attribute points, +20 HP, MP, and SP.

I also noticed that I seemed to have a... modifier on my Mana regeneration, which I soon discovered to be the upkeep of the Zombified Greater Elk. Seeing as it was only two points of mana an hour to keep the Zombie alive, I realized that my class would quickly become OP if I focused my build around the undead. If a single undead only cost two mana an hour, and I could reanimate more, what's stopping me from eventually having an entire army at my beck and call?

Nothing, I assumed.

Checking my status, I did not hesitate to throw 15 of the attribute points into Intelligence while the five remaining points went into Wisdom to give me more Mana Regen.

Now my mana sat at a comfortable 152.5 points, while my mana regen sat at 22.5, not including the undead's mana upkeep.

With a glance, I looked at the various carcasses surrounding me.

Well. It seems like I will have quite a bit of cannon fodder to take on whatever awaits me in this Dungeon.