Chapter 331. Cutting Down the Dead.

  I had the drone hold off on using his grenades or the plasma beam for now. I didn’t want to waste them on the first encounter. Instead, I had him and Elida charge the enemy as I cast Duplicate. For the spell, I decided to target Elida. I wanted to see if her Battle Mending was amplified or enhanced in any way by two auras covering my troops.

  Leaping ahead of his lesser minions, the Orc Revenant War Leader moved to intercept the armored drone. Pausing for a moment, the pair of Elida’s fired off Deadly Beams at the skeletal warriors. The beams seemed to have no trouble affecting the undead, and both targets crumbled to the ground and dispersed into mana vapor as the two Elida’s closed to melee distance.

  Brave as he was, and enhanced by the system as a veteran minion, the Orc Revenant War Leader only managed to land a glancing blow on my drone before the drone’s four arms cut him down. Being double the tier and rank of the foe gave my minions an even greater advantage. By the time the drone was done with the target, the two Elidas had dealt with the remaining skeleton warriors.

  It was a bit odd seeing Elida in the front line, I was so used to her being the fragile healer that I needed to protect. Now, she was a heavily armored brawler that could sustain herself, and her allies, in a long engagement. My minions took limited damage in the short fight, and I couldn’t tell if her Battle Mending had stacked or not. I’d have to test it out in a more dangerous fight.

  After the last enemy had fallen, I scoured the area, looking for any loot. This was my first delve and I was used to all my rewards being handed to me after I returned to my personal space. I was a bit embarrassed that I didn’t know all the details of how the loot worked inside the dungeon.

  Where each enemy had fallen, a small gleam was spotted, like a small LED had been buried in the floor. When I approached the light, a system prompt appeared.

  You have begun your first dungeon delve without the Summoned Being status. When inside a dungeon you may choose two ways to receive your rewards. The first option is for the dungeon to generate rewards on the spot, using a portion of the mana from each defeated minion to create something for you.

  The second method is to have the dungeon offer a more substantial reward at the end of the dungeon. Should you leave the dungeon early, or fall to the defenders, no rewards will be offered. You may change your preference prior to each delve. Please choose your preferred reward method for this delve.

  It seemed like an easy choice for this run. I would take the larger reward at the end, since I had little doubt that I would finish the run. Maybe if I was in a group or in a larger dungeon with a greater threat, I would select the immediate rewards if the chances of needing to retreat were high, but for now, I’d be patient and wait for the reward.

  You have selected to accept a larger reward at the end of a successful run. A successful run for this dungeon is the defeat of the final boss.

  That settled that, I had to keep pressing forward if I wanted to get to my reward. The first of the three mini bosses that I had to defeat was down, and my team began to trek through the impressive outdoor environment the dungeon had created. It wasn’t long before we reached another set of ruins and a veteran defender approached, this time, it was an orc skeletal warrior in rusted plate armor sitting atop a skeletal horse.

  The rider stopped about fifty feet from my party before speaking. “Intruder, turn around and flee or be slain. The emperor will abide no invaders into his lands,” the undead creature announced as two more riders appeared from behind the ruins. System information on the new foes appeared as I examined them.

  Skeletal Orc War Troop Leader, Tier 1, Rank 5, Veteran.

  Skeletal Orc War Rider, Tier 1, Rank 0. (2).

  Each orc was armed with a spear and shield. Their mounts also had the rusted remains of barding covering their chests and shins. The two war riders were higher tier than the warriors supporting the other mini boss but having only two in their group instead of six probably evened it out in the system’s eyes.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  I expected the group to charge, given that they were mounted, but the orcs seemed content to let my forces do the attacking. Before I ordered my troops in, I remembered the dungeon information booklet had warned about some traps. Given the lack of a cavalry charge, I figured there was probably something the defenders were hoping we’d run afoul of.

  Pulling my magic missile wand out, I also ordered my minions to draw ranged weapons and attack. The drone created a crossbow from its body that the two smaller hands wielded. While my drone would lose a bit of its mass with each shot it created and fired, a healing spell would replace what was lost.

  Elida and her duplicate had their slings out and fired on my command. The upgraded Duplicate spell for my new class allowed the duplicate to stick around for 24-hours. I could dismiss the duplicate if I wanted to use the spell on the drone instead, but there would be a longer cooldown involved, so it wasn’t something I could do in the middle of a fight.

  My magic missile flew straight into the leader, the ball of magic cracking into the undead creature’s face and shattering some of the bone when it landed. The two sling stones hit, with only fifty feet separating us, it would be considered an easy shot for them. My drone’s crossbow bolt also landed, burying itself into the chest of the lead orc’s horse.

  Other than my magic missiles, the ranged attacks weren’t the most effective against skeletal foes, but the damage would eventually accumulate. A second, then a third volley flew out to pelt the enemy, and as if realizing their plan to goad us into attacking wasn’t going to work, the trio of enemies charged.

  The two Elida’s switched to their Deadly Beam spells, firing both at the leader of the enemy horsemen. Both beams struck home and burned deep into the orc’s body as the trio of horsemen maneuvered around us in a sweeping arc which gave me a good idea where any potential traps might be found. Though they weren’t enough to kill the already wounded leader outright, I could see a small glow around the area each beam had struck. The damage over time component of Elida’s spell was still cooking away, further weakening our foe.

  The drone reabsorbed the crossbow and instead armed its smaller appendages with a pair of warhammers. I heartily approved of the weapon choice given the skeletal nature of our foes. Not wanting to burn up too many resources just yet, I had the two Elida’s prepare to meet the charge of the approaching riders. They had burned two of their four spell slots for non-healing spells, but after this fight, I could have the pair use Channel Mana to replace them.

  Giving the drone permission to fire one high explosive grenade, he expertly landed the shot right in the middle of the trio of riders as they finished their turn to avoid the suspected traps and began to charge directly at us. The blast tore into the attackers, but instead of blasting the riders from their mounts, all three managed to remain in the saddle.

  Battered and damaged, the three slammed into my minions. Using my minions as cover, I continued to peck away at the undead orcs with my magic missile wand. One Elida was bowled over by the charge, the spear held by the Orc War Rider managed to avoid her shield and pierce her armored form.

  The strike was a powerful one, but Elida was durable enough to survive the hit. I could already see her casting a healing spell on herself, as the pair activated Battle Mending before attacking. My drone went after the troop leader, his longer clawed arms had little trouble shearing though bone and rusted armor.

  Now that they were close, I realized that the riders weren’t in fact, riders. It appeared that the upper body of the orcish warriors were somehow grafted onto their mounts like a skeletal centaur type of thing. That explained why they hadn’t been blasted off their mounts by the grenade.

  A spear pierced the drone, but now the fight was up close and personal, where the spears of the charging undead were less useful. Their mounts did bite at my minions, but we had the fight well in hand. First to fall was the leader as the drone, along with the existing damage, turned the veteran minion into mana vapor.

  The two regular orcs went down seconds later. My drone had taken a few hits, but nothing serious. I cast Health Bloom which would patch up any lingering damage on my minions. Once the healing magic had run its course, we continued through the dungeon, making sure to avoid the trapped area and moving toward the last set of ruins that we hadn’t visited yet.

  We had one more mini boss to deal with before the path to the final boss of the dungeon would be revealed. Just like with the previous two encounters, the third mini boss issued a challenge before attacking. This time, we faced not infantry or cavalry, we faced the magic wielding branch of the dungeon’s army.

  A Skeletal Orc Battle Caster was the tier one, rank five veteran of this group. It was supported by a trio of tier one, rank zero acolytes. They fired their own magic missiles at my team, but like the previous two fights, the enemy wasn’t strong enough to stop us. I took my first injury of the battle, as a magic missile slammed into my chest. The armor stopped most of the blow, leaving only a big bruise behind.

  “You have defeated my minions and are judged worthy to face me in battle. Best me, and you will be rewarded. Fear not, for even if you fall, your exploits will live on as your undead forms bolster the ranks of my army!” A loud voice boomed as the last acolyte fell.

  A glowing portal opened nearby, and a system prompt told me that through the portal waited the boss of the dungeon. So far, we’d had little trouble against the normal defenders and the mini bosses. Now, we were going to be up against something quite a bit more dangerous. I’d have to be careful and not get complacent. We were playing for keeps here, and no respawn awaited me if I messed this fight up.