Chapter 45 Undead Lord?

A sound similar to that of feet rummaging on the dusty ground of a cave. Damian stood close to the raging campfire flames. He hoped it would be enough to scare whatever it was that was lurking in the shadows.

The unknown sent shivers to any men, and Damian was no different. His first instinct was to wrap the invisibility cloak around his body, vanishing.

His breathing turned lighter, and his body stood still, so much that one might confuse him with a museum statue.

He remained in the same spot — afraid his footprints would share his location.

"What is this?"

A small creature with green-colored skin, any video-game addict would recognize the beast: a goblin!

The creatures that lived inside the third dungeon floor were a mystery to Damian, but he was glad it was only a goblin, not something more powerful, capable of seeing through his cloak.

It looked from side to side, moving its small neck, trying to find Damian. A goblin wasn't stupid. Campfire meant humans, so it knew someone had to be inside the cave.

"Cleek, cleek."

The goblin made strange sounds, and it slammed its feet.

"Little one is angry for not finding me."

Damian stared at the goblin, shrouded by an invisible veil, and reached for his knife, attached behind his back, on his leather belt.

A knife that remained in his hand for a split second before flying with the power of his mind aimed at the neck of that poor creature.

The goblin did not see it coming. Hell, Damian was confident not many things would have the reflexes to avoid such a stealthy attack.

Should he feel bad about it?

"Attacking like this almost feels like cheating."

Damian was not the type of man who saw sneak attacks as unfair. It was his ability, his invisibility cloak. So why should he not use it?

He deactivated his cloak and returned to the rock near the bonfire to sit. The girls had left to hunt, and the only thing Damian could do was wait patiently.

They returned twenty minutes after the goblin had reached the next life. Druvana and Serana saw the corpse once inside the cave, and both wondered what had happened while they were away.

"Did you do this?" they asked as both dropped their hunts above a rock.

Goblins were weak beasts. They knew it. But Damian also looked weak or at least disliked hurting others. That was the vision both girls had of him, and it was wrong.

"I heard some noises, and it was a goblin," Damian said, showing his knife, "a good thing I have this."

"Impressive," Druvana said as she clapped her hands.

"Thanks. But you two are even more impressive. Have anything to eat?"

The girls showed him the rabbits they hunted and the fishes they fished, "can you borrow your knife? We need to clean these animals."

Damian couldn't say no to them — he cared for his life — so he reached out the knife on his belt again and gave it to Druvana.

There was only one knife for two people, so Druvana went first, cleaning the rabbits, cutting the tendons, and taking the skin off.

While they were doing that, Damian did not have anything else to do, so he said, "I will get us some water."

The girls quickly glanced at where he was, "are you sure you want to go out alone?"

"Calm down, you two. Didn't I kill this goblin?" Damian said as he pointed to the small green creature lying on the cave's floor.

He convinced them in the end, which was good because Damian disliked being treated as a child.

"There's nothing you two should worry about."

The quietness of the forest made Damian feel uneasy, and now that his knife was not with him, he decided to put his cloak on, turning invisible. That would make his presence hard to notice.

Damian wandered around, looking for a source of fresh water. He did not know the layout of the place, but all he had to do was follow the animal's trails, as that usually led to water.

"A river, nice."

It took him around ten minutes to find the said river. Once he got there, Damian looked for a recipient to carry the water, and the only thing he saw was a piece of bamboo that he ripped off using his mind's power.

After he filled it, Damian moved back to the cave, seeing and smelling the breath of life.

Druvana and Serana were cooking the rabbits and were glad to see Damian back, as there was a chance something could have attacked him.

"Is this for me? Thank you," Damian said as he grabbed the stick Serana gave him.

It had rabbit meat, and Damian devoured it, finally diminishing his hunger.

"Serana, what did you eat?" Damian asked.

She was a vampire, so Damian knew that type of food would not satisfy her.

"The blood of a deer. It is not ideal, but it is what I have right now," Serana said.

"Blood of a deer?"

Damian was glad she found a way through her hunger — of course he did, but if she drank his blood at night?

Druvana watched the two talk by the sides, and Damian noticed how displeased she was to have someone else with them.

"It is temporary, everything will be all right, I hope."

After the trio ate and cleaned all the mess, it was time for bed.

Serana often slept during the day and was active at night, but since Damian came to the castle, she changed her habits, meaning she was now trying to have a more human-like routine.

It was difficult, and she fell asleep late, around 12 pm. Damian was faking sleeping the whole time, and it had been a nightmare for him, who was tired.

But that was the price he had to pay to read a few pages of the book! The Third Apostle's Book of Necromancy. Damian now had an ability on his system that allowed him to cast the spells present in the book.

"Does this ability give me some mana?"

Damian was unsure, but after he took out the book and read the first spell, he was delighted!

"Summon Minor Skeleton, Haha, my dream of becoming the undead lord begins."