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Completely focused on escaping, I was thinking of ways to deal with the horde of insects, when I realized I had forgotten something.
"Oh right! I still have that way!"
I first ran past the sulfur gas to hide the baby dragon in a safe location, before coming back to ambush them.
"Come on!"
When the wave of termites neared the sulfuric gas, I immediately bathed them in fire.
"Fireball!"
KaBooom~!
[+144 experience points]
[+288 experience points]
[+589824 experience points]
[Level increased 3 ➢ 6]
"Wow, thats insane! I gained so much experience but only went up 3 levels!"
I had no time to complain though as I could see some termites coming through the ashes and stepping over the burnt corpses of their comrades.
"Do they not feel any fear?"
It was time to put my plan into action, so I once again ran away. When I arrived to pick up the dragon It was already awake and wailing, I fed it some meat to pacify it and hurried along the tunnel. After some time, I arrived to the narrow pa.s.sage connecting the dragon"s lair to where I first hunted the tomb rats .
"This should work!"
The leading termites were already approaching.
"Slow! Fireball!"
I continued with this combination trying to shave of their HP. Constantly checking their statuses when they neared about 20 health, I backed up into the aisle and waited for them to arrive. Because the path was so narrow at most 2 of them could approach me at the same time. As the first one approached I enchanted my dagger and thrust out.
[+144 experience points]
"Okay! That"ll be the first minion!"
Seeing another stick its head I gave him a taste of my dagger, turning him into some experience.
"Oh, can they do that?"
Unexpectedly three of them had managed to come in a the same time, two were running along the floor while the third had jumped on top of them.
Shick! Shick! Shick!
Fortunately my plan was a success and the termite I had first killed, rose as my minion.
[Necromancy level 1 ➢ 2]
I was going use the full potential of a Lich. I could also use my lifesteal to finish off the weakened termites and then revive them.
I seemed to have found some answers through this experiment. I had to stay on the front lines, in order to continually be using my Lifesteal. Still, a revived giant termite only had ⅓ of its previous strength, so I had a long way to go in order to gain the upperhand.
"Fireball!"
As new termites approached, I bathed them in fire, but it was important to restrain myself and not kill them with Fireball because I realised that a corpse that was burnt to ashes wouldn"t be able to rise up again. I had to be constantly checking their health and when one would be low, I"d either strike out with my dagger or kick it away, creating some distance and giving time for my lifesteal to finish it off, or allow one of my minions to deliver the killing blow.
The only inconvenience is that I wouldn"t gain experience for those which my minions killed. Still,I was slowly creating a small army through Fireb.a.l.l.s, my daggers and expert kicking.
[Necromancy level 2 ➢ 3]
[Acquired ｟t.i.tle: Ant Exterminator｠ Lv5]
The first minion I had revived dissolved into a pile of grey ash. It seems like their duration is about 10 minutes. However, this limitation wasn"t a big deal as their were more and more bodies and my MP regeneration could keep up.
Shick! Shick!
My army of dead had risen to a total of 30 and the number of termites I had to personally face was diminishing. Still, I was able to continue to ama.s.s some experience through my dagger thrusts and lifesteal kills. Although it was repet.i.tive work, I never became bored because there were so many variables to account for, although I did try to maintain a certain pattern. Their numbers had swelled to a swarm of almost 10,000, but thankfully the tunnel could only allow about 30-40 at the time and only three could go through this narrow pa.s.sage.
[Necromancy level 3 ➢ 4]
The number of troops I can sustain increased as my Necromancy level rose. I now had 40 revived termites forming a frontline while I repeatedly sniped those who were low on health. I was controlling the situation while always keeping an eye on their HP. After about an hour of this stalemate, I suddenly felt threatened.
Ptuui! Ptuui!
Fortunately I had moved at the last second, as the spot where I had been standing melted from the acid projectiles. It was the saliva spit out from the flying termites. Although the pa.s.sageway was narrow it was almost 3 meters high allowing the airborne insects to bombard over their frontline.
Ptuui! Ptuui!
My small army was. .h.i.t hard by the acid which almost instantly collapsed my front line.
Shick Shick
"Inferno!"
I cast the spell I had prepared for them.
Inferno has great combustion power and burns at high temperatures, leaving a mini vacuum in its wake. I aimed at the guy flying in the back which caused those nearby to fall down to the ground.
"Seems like I can"t keep it up and have to move on to the next step, d.a.m.n I was planning to take out about 1,000 here, too bad it failed."
My original plan was to take out about half of them here, but I never expected they would be almost 10,000 so my calculations were way off. That meant I should try to kill at least half of them with the next step.
I backed out of the pa.s.sageway and into the tombs, my eyes always on the incoming termites.
"Fireball!"
Shick Shick
I revived those who were pierced by my dagger or killed through lifesteal, always retreating and by letting my minions fight on the front line, I was safe from their acid spit.
Shick! Shick!
Suddenly, the walls and ceiling were collapsing around me. I could see the termite heads and mandibles protruding.
"Did they dig through the walls?"
Although their jaws did look strong, this was solid rock we were talking about, I was completely caught off guard. Little by little my group of minions were being pushed back and we would soon be out of the safety of the narrow pa.s.sage and into a wider area of the Tombs.
I couldn"t keep up this same strategy in a larger area, because I would be easily overrun. Therefore, I decided to get in as much damage as possible before moving on. Spamming my spells, I threw everything I had at the walls, creating chaos with my countless fireb.a.l.l.s and infernos. My plan was to cave in the pa.s.sage to buy some time, even if it meant not receiving experience for the termite kills
Shick! Shick! Shick!
The narrow pa.s.sage was filled with dead termites and piles of rocks but I could see them using their strong mandibles to dig, or acid to melt their way through. I shot out some more fireb.a.l.l.s and inferno.
"s.h.i.t, I can"t continue like this, my MP is running out!"
Using Inferno required a lot of MP. I could only use it a maximum of 3 times, before having to wait for the regeneration to kick in. Meanwhile, the termites were digging through and enlarging the pa.s.sage.
[Acquired ｟t.i.tle: Ant Exterminator｠ Lv7]
"Time to move on, how many have I killed? 2000? 3000? I had yet to kill ⅓ but was already running out of tricks."
I had lost count after 2000, it was too hard to keep track of my kill count. When the flying termites died, the acidic liquid in their stomachs would ooze out and melt the floor and walls further enlarging the tunnel. When we had first faced off I was able to hold my ground along with my minions, but the caves were now too wide and we would quickly lose any engagements forcing me to pull back.
"s.h.i.t, time to abandon this position."
The pits where I first fell down would be too wide and I"d be overrun by thousands of termites were swarming in.
Therefore, I decided to head past the Dragon"s lair and into the Catacombs.
"d.a.m.n, this is my last chance!"
Kueeeeeeeek!
The baby dragon cried again and he was really starting to get on my nerves. I threw him some more termite meat to keep him quiet, before moving on to my last resort.
Thud Thud Thud
I came to the large cave hall which was full of stone statues, yes my plan was to use the gargoyles. Because I had killed two gargoyles previously, they immediately recognized me as an enemy and woke up from their slumber. The termites had also followed me through the hole and all the way to the current cave. All that was left to do, was to trick them into fighting each other.
"Slow! Slow! Slow!…."
I cast slow on 14 gargoyles. Having successfully aggroed them, I began to run back towards the swarm of ants with a determined face.
Shick Shick
As far as the eye could see, there were termites rushing towards me, with the occasional flying variant as well. We were now only 10 meters apart and close to clashing.
Ptuui! Ptuui!
Acid spit was landing all around me, termites in front and gargoyle"s behind I was completely surrounded.
"This is the moment of truth!"
I quickly pulled out the dragon hide and used it to wrap my head, shoulders and shield.
"Fireball! Fireball!"
I sent Fireb.a.l.l.s to both the termite and gargoyle frontlines The insects were now just 2-3 meters away and I could hear the chomping of their mandibles.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Likewise the heavy steps of the gargoyles sounded just meters behind me.
"Now!"
"Inferno!"
I rolled to the side and hugged the wall as I cast Inferno smack in the middle of both sides.
Swooosh!
The momentary vacuum it created pulled a few termites in and likewise moved the gargoyles albeit much less because of their weight. The vacuum effect caused the two sides to run into each other, effectively changing their aggro priority. I used this short window of time to sneak past, behind the gargoyles which were still in a slowed state.
Slash
When I had almost slipped through all the gargoyles I saw a giant sword swinging towards me. I instinctively dropped and performed several awkward rolls to evade it
Kueeeeeek
The young dragon on my back was thrown out and hit the floor, struggling to stand up. Worried, I quickly check its status.
"Thank G.o.d."
The hit wasn"t too bad and its health had only gone down a little. It probably had good physical resistance and the rolling helped reduce the impact.
Slash!
Shick Shick!
I witnessed a great battle before me, dozens of termites would gang up on one gargoyle, but even with their acidic spit, the gargoyles still stood strong. One swing of their large stone greatsword would crush everything in its path.
"Fireball! Fireball!"
I aimed at the flying termites because they were the most dangerous and could be useful on my side. It was difficult to keep track of all their HP"s, but I killed so many that eventually I was able to form a small group.
Ptuui! Ptuui! Ptuui!
I had revived a squadron of Flying ants and had a great combination of strong frontline gargoyles as the perfect tanks and ranged acid missiles supporting from behind. I was simply conducting the battle from the back, but I noticed that the power of their numbers was too great.
Death by a thousand cuts, the termites were wearing down the gargoyles with countless bites, scratches and acid saliva, slowly eroding their stone bodies until they fell down one by one.
"Seems like it"s still not enough, I"ve only killed half!"
I was getting nervous because there were only 8 gargoyles left, which I figured would only last me another 10 minutes tops. I had nowhere to go with the locked Iron doors at my back and thousands of angry termites before me.
[Acquired ｟t.i.tle: Ant Exterminator｠ Lv8]
[Level increased 8 ➢ 9]
[You can now learn new magic]
"Oh sweet! What spell is it?"
Name: Chompy
Gender: N/A
Status: Normal
Type: Skeleton/ Undead
Cla.s.s: Lich
Rank: H+
Level: 9/60
HP: 147/147
MP: 241/388
Attack: 24
Defense: 312 (+2)
Agility: 21
Intelligence: 74
Luck: 7
Charisma: 4
✧ Unique Skills
[Resurrection Lv 1] [Night Vision Lv1] [Falling resistance Lv1] [Magic Chanting Max]
[Fire Shock Max] [Lesser Slow Max] [Fireball Lv8] [Acid Resistance Lv1] [Identification Lv1]
[Sage"s Wisdom Lv1] [Weapon Enchant Lv3] [Armor Enchant Lv3] [Sunlight Resistance Lv1] [Physical Resistance Lv2] [Inferno Lv2] [Water Sphere Lv1] [Necromancy Lv1]
[Lifesteal Lv1] [(MP Regeneration Lv1]
✧ t.i.tles
[Rat Trapper] [Hit-and-Run] [Savior Lv2] [Coldhearted Lv2] [Dragon Slayer Lv1]
[Ant Exterminator Lv8]
✧ Skill Selection
[Corpse Explosion Lv1] [Intermediate Slow Lv1] [Poison Lv1]
"Yes!"
I cheered inwardly, it seemed like Lady Luck was finally smiling down on me.