Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 197

Chapter 197

Jake reached the end of the tunnel and paused in the opening, taking in the vast area that lay beyond. The room into which the tunnel opened was enormous, filled with several rows of columns spaced at regular intervals. Flaming torches were mounted on each of the columns, providing enough light to illuminate the entire area.

The ceiling was so high that Jake couldn’t even see it, as the light from the torches didn’t reach that high. For a moment, he stared into the darkness above, half-expecting bat-like monsters to emerge from the deep shadows and swoop down on him. However, nothing happened.

He started across the vast room, looking around. Soon, he became aware of a foul odor that hung in the air. It didn’t take long for him to identify the source: decomposing human bodies scattered across the floor. The tattered, ragged garments they wore resembled those from medieval times.

Among the decaying bodies, Jake spotted several human skeletons scattered across the floor. Some were adorned with fragments of armor—metal helmets, chain-mail shirts, and cuirasses. Beside them rested an array of medieval weapons: swords, battleaxes, maces, crossbows, and various other arms.

When Jake arrived at the room’s center, he paused to survey his surroundings more carefully. Multiple openings branched off in various directions, each leading to a long corridor that disappeared into the depths of the dungeon. He peered into each opening, trying to decide which way to go, but all the tunnels looked identical. Once again, he would have to choose a direction entirely at random.

He decided to proceed across the room toward the entrance on the opposite side from where he had entered. Just as Jake began to move, he heard a sound. It was a hum, faint but distinct, coming from the tunnel to his right. He turned his head, directing his gaze toward the source of the noise.

Jake peered into the darkness of the tunnel. The steady hum continued to emanate from within, but all he could see were deep shadows. Whatever was producing the faint noise remained concealed in the tunnel’s darkness. Then he felt a tingling sensation across his skin as the air became slightly electrified.

He immediately recognized what it meant—some kind of magic was at play. The humming and tingling—the telltale signs of magic—keep intensifying ever so slightly. While most humans might not have noticed them, Jake was acutely aware of both sensations. The real questions were: what was the source of this magic, and what purpose did it serve?

He quickly received the answer to the second question when he suddenly found himself surrounded by the rustling of tattered clothes and the scuffing and scraping sounds of dead bodies rising from the floor. Not that Jake hadn’t expected something like this to occur. Some kind of magic spell had awakened the dead, but before he could unravel the mystery of its source, he had to deal with the undead first.

As they returned to life, rising to their feet all around him, he quickly summoned their stats. Each of the reanimated corpses displayed identical info.

Festering Zombie – Level 75

As for the skeletons, there were several variations depending on their armaments, yet they all bore the same level: 80.

Awakened Dead – Skeleton Soldier – Level 80

Skeleton soldiers wore no armor at all, and each of them was armed with a single one-handed weapon. The additional variations consisted of archers equipped with either longbows or crossbows, warriors clad in pieces of armor for protection, and warlocks carrying magical staves adorned with what seemed to be transparent, spherical crystals.

All the undead creatures immediately began to walk toward him after rising from the floor. Each skeleton had orbs of light glowing red in their empty eye sockets, and the eyes of the festering zombies glowed with the same hue. Jake recalled that the skeletons hadn’t possessed those glowing lights in their eye sockets, and the zombies’ eyes hadn’t glowed either before the magic had awakened them all. They were obviously under some ominous spell that animated them.

He turned toward the first skeleton that was almost upon him. The skeletons moved quickly, while the zombies were sluggish and clumsy, lagging behind. He couldn’t help but notice the offensive scent emanating from the zombies. It was nearly overwhelming his senses. The closer they got, the stronger the smell became. If he could hardly stand the stench, he figured it would have been unbearable for normal survivors, making it hard for them to concentrate on fighting.

The skeleton that reached him first swung the mace it was wielding. Jake easily dodged the blow and delivered a powerful punch to the skeleton, effortlessly ripping through the chain mail shirt it wore and shattering its ribcage. The skeleton collapsed to the floor in a clatter of broken bones, and the two glowing orbs in its hollow eye sockets went out.

Enemy killed. +300 XP

Several more skeletons armed with various melee weapons surrounded him. He ducked as one of them swung its flail at him, the spiked ball zipping through the air next to his head. He countered with a strike to the skeleton’s skull. The close helmet it wore failed to protect the skeleton, and Jake’s blow tore it free from the spinal column, sending it flying across the room.

Another skeleton lunged at him, its broadsword swinging with unexpected speed and strength. Jake managed to jump to the side just in time to avoid the strike. Before the skeleton could swing its large sword again, Jake smashed its breastplate with his smashfist, easily breaking through the metal and shattering its ribs. To his surprise, the undead creature remained on its feet, prompting Jake to quickly follow up with a decisive blow to its skull, shattering it to pieces.

His Feral Instincts suddenly alerted him to a projectile zipping toward him from behind. He jumped aside, and a bolt whizzed past his shoulder. Another archer let loose an arrow at him. Jake swung the claws of his other hand, slicing through the shaft midair. Several other archers fired their longbows and crossbows simultaneously. It was impossible to dodge every single projectile, and he felt one dig into his shoulder from the front. However, it failed to penetrate his hardened body, as Adaptive Armor immediately grew an additional plate at the point of impact, causing the arrow to bounce off harmlessly.

One of the zombies lunged at him, its arms outstretched in an attempt to grab him, but Jake easily sidestepped the groping hands. The foul odor radiating from the creature was almost unbearable, even for him. He swung both of his smashfists to the sides of the zombie’s head, causing it to burst apart like an overripe melon in an explosion of rotting flesh, bone, and brain matter. He earned 250 XP for defeating it, which was 50 XP less than the experience gained from killing skeletons.

The undead creatures kept coming at him from several directions, swinging their swords and maces. Jake dodged and ducked, successfully avoiding most of the hits. However, occasionally the skeletons did manage to land a blow. They failed to inflict any damage, though, thanks to his skills such as Adaptive Armor and Enhanced Durability, which shielded his body remarkably well.

Regular monsters like those undead creatures didn’t stand a chance of defeating him, even though they greatly outnumbered him. Their numbers didn’t help much. In fact, their sheer quantity became a disadvantage, as arrows and bolts launched by the skeleton archers frequently hit their own allies.

The warlocks armed with magical staves fired lightning bolts from the tops of their staves, often hitting some of the zombies or other skeletons surrounding him. Those lightning bolts seemed to be pretty powerful, causing skeletons to blow apart in an explosion of bones flying every which way. When a zombie was struck, half of its body got burned to a crisp, resulting in an almost instantaneous death.

While a single hit from a lightning bolt was enough to kill a skeleton or a zombie, when Jake was hit by one, he only felt stunned for a second and didn’t suffer any additional damage. Most of the time, he successfully avoided being hit by them, though.

Jake kept fighting the undead, killing one after another until they were all dead again. Their eyes no longer glowed, and their broken bodies lay motionlessly on the floor.

Multiple enemies killed. +10,900 XP

You have gained enough XP to level up. Your level went up from 79 to 80. You have gained 5 SP.

He had received a significant amount of XP for defeating those undead creatures, despite the fact that the fight had been relatively easy for him. He took a moment to consider where to allocate the five skill points and then distributed them to his attributes.

Body: 72

Mind: 70 → 73

Magick: 73 → 75

He invested three skill points in Mind, hoping that the foul odor of the decaying zombies would be easier to endure now.

He was about to continue exploring the dungeon when the humming sound returned, and the air crackled with electricity once more. The eyes of the zombies lit up again, and glowing lights appeared in the empty eye sockets of the skeletons’ skulls once more. Their shattered bones reassembled themselves, and the damaged bodies quickly began to reconstruct. Within a minute, fully recovered undead creatures started to rise from the floor once again.

Jake pondered for a moment and decided to defeat the undead monsters again to see if he would receive XP for slaying them for a second time. As it turned out, he did not. He killed one undead creature after another, but no extra XP came his way. It became clear that he was only rewarded XP the first time he defeated an undead creature.

He continued to battle the group of undead until he had defeated them all once again. Almost instantly, the humming resumed, and the fallen undead began to rise again. This time, Jake didn’t wait for them to fully revive. Instead, he headed toward the entrance that led to the corridor from which the humming sound emanated. It was time to find out what was causing the undead to resurrect.