Shapeshifter

Chapter 18: Undead Mage

Xen went all out as he believed it would be a hard-fought battle with the addition of a magic skeleton. His legs burned as he barreled forward, smashing the Skeleton Warriors aside, and he targeted the only one that mattered: the mage.

"Reinforce Undead," the Skeleton Mage's grave voice echoed, and black mana swirled around the undead horde. To Xen's surprise, the buff made the skeletons feel like they were made of metal as they weighed far more and didn't shatter on impact.

Xen grunted as he used his entire body weight to topple a single Skeleton Warrior. It made a dull thud as it fell, and another stepped in to take its place. A constantly reforming wall of undead stood before Xen and his foe. However, the undead mage didn't account for the fact that an invincible army is pointless if they can't dish out any pain. Despite being reinforced, their strength was still pathetic as their rusty blades failed to leave so much as a scratch on his hardened skin.

The undead mage has turned this into a battle of attrition. The question is, how long does it take for him to recharge that Dark Bolt spell? Xen quickly glanced over at Gerald. The man had collapsed to the floor, and his face was deathly white. He wasn't bleeding despite chunks of rotten flesh falling into his lap and a hole forming in his chest. Can a puny human even survive such an injury?

Xen shook his head and focused back on the fight. It wasn't his fault if Gerald perished due to his own foolishness in following him deeper into the dungeon.

Now, how can I get around this wall of skeletons? Xen looked for an opening between the black mana-wreathed undead but found none. Backing up slightly, he looked to the side at the dungeon wall and suddenly had an idea.

Backing up further, he found it rather amusing that these undead didn't give chase as they remained huddled around their master. Elongating and sharpening his claws with biomass, Xen scraped his paw against the dungeon stone, and his lips curled up into a sneer as he left small indents on the floor.

"Holy smite," Xen snarled, causing golden mana to crackle between his teeth. His head pounded as his slime body melted in his skull from the mana deprivation. I will only have one shot at this. Xen didn't waste a moment and dashed forward. The wall of undead raised their swords and shields in response and swung down, but none hit him as Xen veered to the side and used his momentum to run along the wall.

He didn't have enough grip to stay rooted to the wall, but it was enough to get some height over the skeleton horde and get a line of sight on the undead mage. To Xen's surprise, the undead mage had commanded all of the skeletons to stand before it, leaving its backside open.

"Dark Bol—"

Xen blasted the undead mage with Holy Smite before they could finish conjuring their spell. The golden mana arced through the air and dissipated on the undead mage's black cloak.

Did its cloak block my attack? Xen narrowed his eyes. No, wait, the skeleton isn't lowering its hand or saying anything. The cloak stopped the Holy Smite from turning the undead to dust, but it didn't stop it from getting stunned.

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Before the Skeleton Warriors moved to block his path, Xen lept forward, crashed the undead mage to the floor, and rammed his horn through its skull. It let out a pained gasp as the flickering blue flames in its hollow eyes extinguished.

You have killed an opponent 2 levels above your own. Bonus experience awarded.

Experience split between [Mind Slime] and [Wolf] form.

[Mind Slime] has leveled up: 7 ->8.

[Wolf] has leveled up: 5 -> 6.

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That undead mage was level 9? Xen couldn't believe such a powerful foe was on the first floor. Was it a floor boss? Either way, Xen pulled his horn free from the undead mage's skull and looked up at the surrounding horde. With the death of their leader, the black mana that had been empowering them was gone, reducing them to mindless Skeleton Warriors once more.

Xen debated using Holy Smite to purge them as he had gained some mana from his level-ups but decided against it as mana seemed to be a more precious resource than he had initially thought, and he could destroy these Skeleton Warriors one by one with strength alone.

After a quick one-sided slaughter of the Skeleton Warriors, Xen returned to the undead mage, who was now even more dead than before. If that was even possible. Crouching down, he snipped at the motionless body.

[Undead Ego: Uncommon Grade]

Filled with resentment for the living, sometimes an undead blessed with abundant mana will form an ego. This is a step above relying on pure instincts and allows the undead to wield magic. However, they are still considered mindless and incapable of complex thought or planning.

Whooo! It has a mind I can eat!

[Use Devour on Undead Ego?]

Yes. Xen mentally agreed, and many purple tendrils emerged from his mouth like many tongues and began to melt the undead mage's skull.

[Devour in progress…]

Xen trembled as the coldness of death stroked his heart. Dark whispers and howls of pain invaded his mind, and an even more intense hunger for flesh and absolute hatred twisted by jealousy for the living manifested.

[Devour Complete]

You absorbed 50% of the undead's memories.

You have unlocked the [Undead Mage] form.

You acquired the following skills:

[Dark Bolt (C)]

[Undead Immunity to Poison (A)]

You and the target shared similar skills:

[Mana Vision (D)] has fused with [Darkvision (E)] to form [Mystic Perception (C)]

[A new Free Skill Slot has been unlocked]

Xen glanced down the list of notifications and focused on the new skills to bring up descriptions.

[Dark Bolt (C)]

For the steep price of lifeforce (omitted if the caster is of the undead type) and mana, conjure a ball of condensed death attribute mana and throw it. If a target is hit, there is a chance of inflicting the corruption debuff that rots flesh.

[Undead Immunity to Poison (A)]

A passive effect that gives absolute immunity to poison for undead-type monsters. If not undead, it provides high immunity to most poisons.

[Mystic Perception (C)]

Empowering your eyes with mana, you can see the traces of mana even in complete darkness.

Xen grinned as he saw the rewards. Not only was his slime form getting closer to its first evolution due to all the experience, but he had also unlocked a new form, a Free Skill Slot, and gained powerful skills.

Undead Mage: Level: 1 (F)

+2 Strength, +1 Vitality, +2 Agility, +2 Resistance, +12 Magic per level

"Wow, those stats are one-sided," Xen muttered. "No wonder I killed in a single attack despite its level."

[Do you wish to take on the Undead Mage form?]

Since there wasn't a vessel nearby for him to take over, as the system didn't seem to identify the pile of bones he stood upon as a body, Xen exchanged some of his 432 biomass to create a new undead body.

So that I blend in better with the dungeon's darkness and am not obviously a skeleton at first glance, I'll make my bone black instead of blindingly white.

[98 Biomass consumed]

[Shapeshifting in process]

Xen's battled-hardened wolf body melted into a goop, and from it rose a skeleton of black bone. His eyes flickered with tiny purple flames, and his slime body was safely stored away in the undead body's skull.

"Hehehahaha—AH." Xen's evil laugh was interrupted as he slipped on the puddle of biomass and fell on his bony arse. He had hardly mastered the art of walking on two feet in his human form, and the undead's lighter body threw all that practice out the window. He groaned in pain... until he realized he felt no pain, nor was he groaning. What is that noise?

His head swiveled 180 degrees, and he saw Gerald staring at him in horror. He had been the source of the groaning.

Oh, right, I forgot about the dying human.