The hallway was narrow. This was my only advantage.
The Bone Golem was massive, at least eight feet tall and five feet wide. In an open field, its reach would be deadly. But here, between the rows of mahogany bookshelves, its size was a liability.
It swung the massive double-bladed axe horizontally.
CRASH.
The blade bit deep into the shelves on both sides of the aisle. Wood splintered and books exploded into confetti. The Golem roared in frustration, yanking the weapon free.
That momentary stuck weapon was my window.
I slid across the polished floor, aiming for its legs. The Golem's lower half was a mess of fused femurs and pelvises.
I swung my bat with both hands, channeling every ounce of my 17 Strength into the blow.
CRACK.
I hit its right knee joint. The impact vibrated up my arms, rattling my teeth. It felt like hitting a concrete pillar.
The Golem didn't fall. It didn't even stumble.
[Damage: 12]
[Enemy HP: 988/1000]
I cursed. Its defense was too high. My common-grade baseball bat was like a toothpick against a tank.
The Golem looked down. Its bull-skull head tilted. It raised a massive foot to stomp me flat.
I rolled left.
BOOM.
The foot smashed the floor tiles where my chest had been a second ago. A shockwave of dust knocked me backward.
I scrambled to my feet. "System! Probability of weak point!"
[Glitch Analysis Active...]
[Target: Bone Golem]
[Weak Point: Central Core (Chest Cavity)]
[Probability to Hit: 5%]
The chest. Inside the ribcage, a dark purple crystal pulsed with necrotic energy. That was the battery.
But it was protected by layers of thick bone plating.
I needed to crack the shell.
The Golem charged again. It abandoned the axe and simply barreled forward like a linebacker, smashing through the obstacles.
I turned and ran.
I sprinted down the aisle, vaulted over a fallen desk, and turned the corner. I needed distance. I needed a plan.
My Fireball was on cooldown. I had no mana. My Dash skill had five seconds left on its cooldown.
I scanned the room. This was the "Rare Books" section. Glass display cases. Old maps. A chandelier hanging above the central reading area.
The chandelier.
It was heavy iron, holding fake electric candles. It hung directly over the central walkway.
I skidded to a halt in the middle of the room, directly under the fixture.
"Hey! Ugly!" I shouted. I banged my bat against a metal cart. Clang, clang, clang.
The Golem burst through the stacks, sending books flying. It saw me. It lowered its head and charged.
I waited.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
Fifty feet.
Forty.
I looked at the rope tied to the wall cleat that held the chandelier.
Thirty feet.
The Golem was picking up speed. The floor shook.
Twenty.
[Skill Ready: Dash]
I triggered it instantly.
[Dash Activated.]
I didn't run away from the Golem. I ran toward the wall.
The Golem swiped at me with a massive clawed hand. The wind of the blow ruffled my hair, but I was already gone, moving at 200% speed.
I reached the wall cleat. I slashed down with my chef's knife.
The rope snapped.
CREAK-SNAP.
Above us, the iron chain released.
The Golem looked up just as two tons of wrought iron and glass plummeted down.
CRUNCH.
The chandelier landed squarely on the Golem's back. The monster crumpled under the weight. Iron spikes impaled its bone armor. Glass shattered everywhere.
[Critical Hit!]
[Damage: 350]
The Golem howled, pinned to the floor. It thrashed, trying to lift the iron fixture off its back.
It wasn't dead. But its chest plating was cracked.
Through the fissure in the bone armor, I could see the purple core glowing.
I walked up to it.
The Golem swiped at me, but the chandelier pinned its arms. It was helpless.
"Checkmate," I said.
I climbed on top of the chandelier. I stood directly over the thrashing monster.
I raised the aluminum bat. I reversed my grip, holding it like a spear.
I looked down into the crack in the armor.
I thrust the handle of the bat down, jamming it into the fissure. I used it as a wedge. I heaved, putting my back into it.
SNAP.
The bone plating gave way. The chest cavity lay open.
The purple crystal pulsed, vulnerable.
I dropped the bat. I pulled out my knife.
"For the XP," I whispered.
I drove the knife into the crystal.
It shattered.
A shockwave of necrotic energy blasted outward. It threw me off the Golem. I tumbled through the air and landed hard on a pile of books.
[Enemy Defeated: Bone Golem (Lvl 12)]
[Experience +4000]
[First Clear Bonus: +1000 XP]
The golden light of a level-up washed over me. It felt like a warm bath, soothing my bruises and knitting my cuts.
[Level Up!]
[Level 10 Reached.]
I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling. I was laughing. A dry, rasping laugh.
I sat up. The Golem was dissolving into dust.
I reached into my belt and pulled out the black scroll.
[Hidden Class Item: Covenant of the Abyssal Sovereign]
[Requirement: Level 10 - MET]
[Requirement: Survive a Near-Death Experience - MET]
[Requirement: Sacrifice 50% of Total HP]
I paused.
Sacrifice 50% HP.
I looked at my health bar. 150/150. (Increased due to level up).
If I did this, I would drop to 75 HP instantly. In a dungeon. Alone.
But I could feel the power inside the parchment. It was hungry. It was calling to me.
"Do it," I said.
I unrolled the scroll.
The writing wasn't ink. It was blood. As soon as I exposed it to the air, the letters began to burn.
[Do you accept the Covenant?]
[Y/N]
"Yes."
The scroll burst into black flames. The fire didn't burn the paper; it leaped onto my hands. It crawled up my arms like living snakes.
Pain.
Agony unlike anything I had felt today. It felt like ice water was being injected into my veins.
[HP Consumed: -75]
I gritted my teeth, refusing to scream. The black fire covered my chest, then my face. It poured into my eyes, my mouth, my ears.
My vision went black.
[System Error.]
[Class Change Initiated.]
[Analyzing Player Trait: The Glitch...]
[Combining Class 'Necromancer' with Trait 'Glitch'...]
[Result: Success.]
The pain vanished instantly.
I gasped, falling to my knees. The black fire was gone.
I felt... different.
The air in the library felt thick, rich with energy. I could see motes of darkness floating in the corners of the room. I could hear the whispers of the dead things I had just killed.
I opened my status screen.
[Name: Kael Vance]
[Class: Abyssal Sovereign (Glitch Rank)]
[Level: 10]
[Mana: 200/200]
[Class Skills Unlocked:]
1. [Raise Undead (Rank F)]
Raise a corpse to fight for you.Cost: 20 Mana.Limit: 0/10 Units.
2. [Glitch Passive: The Legion]
Effect: Summoned units have NO duration limit. Summoned units consume NO upkeep mana.Secondary Effect: Summon cooldowns removed.
I stared at the passive.
No duration. No upkeep. No cooldowns.
A normal Necromancer summons a skeleton. It lasts for 10 minutes. It drains 1 mana per second to keep active. If the Necromancer runs out of mana, the army crumbles.
But me?
My army never sleeps. My army never vanishes. And I can summon as fast as I can chug mana potions.
I looked at the pile of dust where the Bone Golem had died. There were no bones left to raise.
But the library...
I walked to the balcony and looked down at the lobby.
Dozens of skeletons lay shattered on the floor. My victims.
Usually, you can't raise a monster that has already been "killed" twice. But the skill description didn't say "fresh corpse." It just said "corpse."
I stretched out my hand.
"Rise."
A black mist erupted from my palm. It swirled down to the first floor.
Rattle.
A skull reattached itself to a spine. A femur snapped back into a hip socket.
One skeleton stood up. Then another. Then five. Then ten.
They didn't look like the rusty, weak monsters I had fought. Their bones were turning black. Their eyes burned with a purple fire, the same color as my mana.
[Summoned: Abyssal Soldier (Lvl 10)]
[Summoned: Abyssal Soldier (Lvl 10)]
I felt my mana drain. 180... 160... 140...
I kept casting.
"Rise. Rise. Rise."
I drained my mana bar to zero.
Ten black skeletons stood in formation in the lobby below. They looked up at me, waiting for a command.
I leaned over the railing, a smile spreading across my face.
"Welcome back, boys," I said. "We have a lot of work to do."
I checked the time.
5:00 PM.
One hour until sunset. One hour until the Tutorial protection faded and the real monsters—the Night Walkers—came out to play.
I looked at my new army.
"Let's go hunting."