“Behemoth, level twenty-five elite,” Jessica warned me. The monster was an impressive creature to say the least. Four legs as thick as tree trunks supported a very elongated but huge body, and yet it stooped low to the ground as if a fast predator. A thick, brown hair covered its entire body, the texture of grass, which explained my earlier confusion.Spikes rose out from its spine and there were four horn-like tusks that came out from the area around its mouth.

  The creature took a moment to come from its stupor and stare at us with viciousness.

  Although I was intimidated, I also found myself thinking this would be a good opportunity to see what exactly changed with my undead troops and I. When we had fought the demon general, I had realized that maybe I had been taking too reserved an approach in fighting. A cautious approach had been good for our survival, as the safety provided by my summoned undead had gotten us through most engagements just fine.

  The situation had changed now though. At high level, our enemies were strong enough to kill in a single unexpected hit, and no one could predict the future. Overwhelming strength was paramount now.

  Somewhere along the way,mysense of having to try desperate tactics in the face of death, had declined. Recently, I had still been trying to survive, but also to live. Living was walking comfortably with Jessica by my side. She had reminded me of what we had been through, and the reason why I wanted to live was right here with me. I’d nearly died more than once, and that moment could come at any time.

  It was time to fight with that same early resolve I once had. “Let me see what I can now do before you come in to help,” I said to Jessica.

  “Hey big guy,” I yelled at the behemoth to gather its attention. It looked at me and roared loud enough to make my ears pop.I turned to Spikey #1 and #2, “Give him a warm welcome.”

  They rushed forward with my skeleton soldiers in tow. I didn’t stand still either, opting to run around the side and away from where my caster undead were standing. The behemoth, while large, had no issue following me with a swift twist of his body.

  It had instantly recognized me as the source of threat and rushed in my direction. Both Spikey One and Two were already prepared and intercepted its charge. I casted Rot as I ran sideways, my skeletons latching onto every part of its body like parasites.

  Their hands, teeth, whatever they could use to grasp was gripping the furry body and perpetrating every possible avenue of attack. That’s what a necromancer could do, use power in numbers.

  The behemoth’s head swiped sideways like a giant hand and sent both Spikeys hurling several feet away. They were powerful, but a level 25 elite that most likely specialized in strength was another story. I realized that maybe I had underestimated its raw stats. Still, my skeletons clung to it without fail.

  The thick fur and hide of the monster acted quite well as an armor, but with no way to easily remove the eleven skeleton soldiers now weighing down its body, the damage would mount quickly. All the same, I still expected it to be a tough fight. Jessica was here to back me up if need be, so despite the danger I was confident.

  The behemoth was surprisingly nimble given its size. It jumped back a dozen feet after sending my generals flying and shook its matted fur like a dog, but only succeeded in dislodging two or three of my warriors. It roared towards the sky in frustration.

  Bone spikes suddenly erupted from all over the behemoth, and the undead that were unlucky enough to be in those positions were pierced through. A few others only had a bone shattered and held on. When that wasn’t enough, the behemoth literally spun upon the ground in place, which sent the remaining summoned troops flying off.

  Two skeleton warriors gone in the first exchange wasn’t great, but there was flesh red blood dripping onto the ground, and my minions didn’t bleed. Unlike the behemoth, there was no amount of rounds I could go with endless corpses and MP.

  Once the behemoth stopped spinning,I whispered,“Unending Hunger.” My undead rushed it again with renewed fervor, like rabid hounds with no fear of death. Their teeth latched on wherever they could. I realized that my undead didn’t need to feast on a dead enemy, that a living one was better.

  “Taste of flesh.” I could feel the life force coming through our connection rapidly, swelling me with an energy that wasn’t quite the same as being ‘full’. “Feast.” And that green ghastly hue covered my minions like a blinding radiance. The shattered ribs, missing arms, fractured legs and torsos repaired at an astonishing rate. Even more astonishing was that a lighter glow covered me as well.

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  My own HP rose rapidly. The red hue of the demonic eye had been draining my HP constantly, and while it wasn’t a detriment to my fighting, I’d lost 5% of my HP since we left. I’d realized that it was actually nearly full even before Life Stealing.

  Even Spikey #1 and #2 realized their HP had recovered from that head swipe. They became even more fearless, more rabid. Spikey #1 and 2 both had red in their eyes, as if they had become demons themselves.

  While Feast served as lifesteal, it also seemed to ignite intense blood-lust in my undead. As if their overwhelming desire was to simply devour everything in sight.

  Sixth Sense flickered intensely for a moment as one of the side spikes of the behemoth launched like a missile in my direction.

  I was already ready for it, and that was enough to keep the blow from being fatal. The bone armor on my thigh shattered as if hit by a sludge hammer and a searing sensation raced up my side.

  I had leaped away enough in that brief half a second of flight to avoid the missile going straight through the center of my lower abdomen. That would have been a hard one to deal with.

  “Mike!” Jessica yelled.

  “I’m okay!” That green hue still remained in some capacity around my body. I watched my HP rapidly climb for several seconds until the green hue faded. The bleeding had already stopped and a red, fleshy wound remained there. Despite that and the red hue, my HP still slowly ticked upwards.

  My regeneration was somehow ungodly. It wasn’t even just the lifesteal provided by the grimoire. I quickly realized Spirit Link was at play. This made the most sense of what I was experiencing. All the buffs I was giving my undead – the attack speed %, the movement speed, regeneration, all of it – a portion of those buffs were affecting me.

  That was why I felt lighter, the shield felt lighter, and I felt faster on my feet. The ability Crowrot’s grimoire had provided me was overpowered, but learning it had triggered something in Mutated, allowing me to learn Spirit Link.

  I repositioned again and casted Rot while focusing on the behemoth’s face and tusks. Spikey #1 and #2 were holding their own, but they couldn’t get past those thick, spear-like bones protruding from the behemoths face. A good shake sent them hurtling away, and the piercing power of its tusk with a ferocious shake of its head was deadly.

  Another spike flashed out in an instant, I was just a millisecond to slow to avoid it lodging into my thigh. The behemoth was intelligently trying to restrict my movement. No doubt once I couldn’t move it would barrel over me like a semi-truck.

  Jessica watched me with fear in her eyes. I could tell she wanted nothing more than to help, but knew this was an important moment. I needed to see what I was actually capable of.

  I screamed loud as I grasped the spike embedded in my thigh. I pulled with all my might and tore it out, a wet mushy sound accompanied my scream. Blood started to rush out rapidly as a slight dizziness washed over me. “Feast.” I mumbled and then tipped a heal potion back into my mouth followed by an MP potion.

  The wound rapidly closed as my hp climbed higher even still.

  I wasn’t good as new, but I could move through the ache. Despite it not showing as a skill in my inventory, using the combination of chants required for ‘Corpse Feast’ took a good amount of MP.

  Rot finally bore fruit as the flesh around a tusk finally became feeble enough for Spikey #1 to lop it clean off. I was so close to dominating the behemoth, just barely missing something.

  I had been holding on to stats for such a long time now, waiting for the perfect moment to use them. I was just a little too weak, a little too slow.

  The Behemoth seemed to have noticed my unusual regeneration and became even more rabid. A roar so loud came from its throat that it sent the undead latched onto it, even Spikey #1 and #2 flying several feet off.

  My hand reached up and felt the blood flowing from my ears. “What a pain in the ass.” Having a good conversation with Jessica on the way home would be impossible now. “Can’t you just die peacefully without problems?”

  I shrugged. It was a beast meant for a party to conquer after all…