Chapter 23: 22. Blighted Zombies

The other side was far different from what they were expecting.

Though they were still inside the mine, their surrounding changed. The walls were green and despite there being no light sources, the cave was lit with the same mold green color.

"Are we… in another realm?" Naomi asked while hiding behind Gabriel.

"It seems so. This sudden change in the environment feels like the work of some highly advanced magic skills. Or, if I were to apply this world's rules, this must be a slight display of the immense power Chaos holds."

"So… Is this a dungeon?"

"Only one way to find out." Gabriel said as he went ahead.

That deep droning sound was still echoing between the mine's walls. It was unnatural, too grotesque for anything made by the hands of Mother Nature.

Following the railroad, they found themselves in the middle of a complicated, deep opening. Different bridges sailed across the hole, dozens filled with abandoned minecarts and grotesque figures.

They were men, though there was no life in their eyes. Only a green fire that flamed through a crack in their skull. These undead workers moved in a mockery of life, pretending to fulfill their duty.

Two of these zombies were across the bridge, mining a large stack of stones.

Gabriel pulled out his rapier and approached the undead.

"What are you doing?!" Naomi whispered so that they won't hear. However, Gabriel did not stay so quiet.

"I'm testing to see whether they are hostile."

"Have you gone insane?! Just look at them! They are literally undead!"

"You can never know until you see it for yourself…" Gabriel said and kicked a pebble before the monsters.

The zombies looked at the stone, then towards the direction where it came from. Though they had no real eyes, they were clearly looking at Gabriel, further proven as they charged toward him with raised pickaxes.

"Alright!" Gabriel tightened the grip around his rapier. "That means you are up for the dance!"

One of the zombies jumped into the air and aimed his pickaxe at Gabriel's head. The demon stepped out of the way and let the miner fall before sticking his rapier through its chest.

The other miner swung his pickaxe at him, but Gabriel dodged under the weapon with ease, then kicked the zombie in the head. The monsters stumbled a few steps back, then roared like a ferocious animal.

"Hmph!" Gabriel smiled, seeing how weak the monsters were.

However, that overconfidence is what led him to his first mistake.

"Watch out!" Naomi yelled as the first zombie stood up again.

Gabriel was surprised that the zombie survived his attack, much more that he could stand up again. He swiped his rapier to behead the beast, but he needed to quickly defend as the monster used a surprise attack.

Opening its vile mouth, the zombie poured fiery gas out of his mouth. It was acidic, much like a slime's internal juice.

Gabriel managed to dodge most of the attack, but at a hefty cost. He turned his back against the second undead, that reached below his shoulder in an attempt to grapple him.

"Tectonic Birds!" Came the words from Naomi, followed by three flying disks destroying the monster's head.

As Gabriel was freed, the other zombie tried to burn him again. This time Gabriel was ready for it, and he ducked the gas.

"Have some decency!" He yelled as he launched his kick into the monster's side, sending him flying away, right down the depths of the mine.

Thumping echoed as the monster's body hit various objects and fell further down the mines. Even if this was the work of chaos, the mine was remarkably deep.

But in Gabriel's eyes that was a good thing. It meant a bigger dungeon, which means more experience points.

"Are you alright?" Naomi rushed to Gabriel.

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"Mostly. That acidic attack caught me off-guard and burnt some of my arm."

"Let me see!" Naomi said and pulled up Gabriel's sleeve.

He put his hand onto Gabriel's wound and murmured something. Suddenly, his hand began to glow with a pleasant green light that spread onto Gabriel's skin.

The pain in Gabriel's arm began to numb. His wounds started rapidly healing from the magic's embrace.

"This is the only healing spell in that book." Naomi said with somewhat of a proud smirk. "Others would easily glance over it, as they would learn fireballs and thunder attacks first. However, you got a 'pro gamer' on your squad that knows the importance of a support."

Gabriel did not understand half of what he said, but still nodded along.

This healing spell was not instantaneous. Naomi needed to channel the spell and constantly drain his mana supplies.

After a few more seconds, Gabriel's wound completely healed.

"By the way," Naomi's Sigil began to glow. "I got the rewards for killing that zombie, but I don't think you got anything for that other one."

"No." Gabriel sighed. "My dumbass kicked him off the bridge."

"Don't worry about it! I'm sure you got EXP for it. Besides, guess what I got!"

Blue particles gathered in Naomi's hand as he summoned something from his inventory.

Suddenly, there was a blue potion in his hand.

"I got this cool mana potion! When I run out of MP, I just chug it down and we're good to go!"

"Huh, that's nice." Gabriel said with an expressionless face.

"W-Well, let's keep going! This dungeon is deep and we got some EXP to grind!"

Naomi felt way more comfortable than when they arrived. He ran ahead and charged his tectonic birds for their next encounter.

While he was not looking, Gabriel focused to summon his stat screen. He was curious to see how many experience points he earned and if anything has changed.

[ Name: Gabriel ]

[ HP: 20/20 ]

[ MP: 5/5 ]

[ Class: Warrior/Demon ]

[ Level: 1 (12/20) ]

[ Strength: 10 ]

[ Dexterity: 8 ]

[ Sturdiness: 10 ]

[ Intelligence: 10 ]

[ Souls: 1.125 ]

He was disappointed to see no change in his level.

"Vi was not joking about how little experience I get. If I want my Sigil to evolve, I need to work much harder than others. But that's just one more reason to keep going…"

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