SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

It’s a New Month Let’s Vote!!!

100 Golden Tickets for one Bonus Chapter

100 Power Stones for 1 Bonus Chapter

1 Castle for 3 Bonus Chapters

Let’s gooooooo!!

...

In another part of the undead city.

The group had found a cellar in a district that was less crowded with undead and decided to take shelter there.

Vaerok had told everyone to take a temporary rest before they proceeded again, however Helen didn’t.

She claimed it was because of the cold.

However, this was far from the truth.

The real reason was Zich.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the market square from above. The white haired youth standing alone in the middle of the undead. Cutting and bleeding and not dropping the bag.

Not too far from her, the short Velhari was asleep in the corner. The big Velhari sat by the door like a wall. Varok leaned on the far wall with his spear. His eyes were closed, but his hand was still on the shaft, so she knew he was not really sleeping.

Jayden sat on the bottom step. He had not moved or talked since they got there. He had only told them the watch times in a flat voice and then gone quiet.

Helen looked at the back of his head all night.

She was mad at Jayden. But she was more mad at herself. She should have jumped. Why had she listened to him? With her fire, she was confident of at least helping him clear a path.

...

Some time later, not able to control herself anymore, she said,

"We are going back."

At her words, the cellar became quiet and tense. Varok looked at her, then at Jayden. The Velhari wisely decided not to interfere in this conversation.

Jayden turned his head toward her and said, "The square is not safe. We talked about this."

"You said it. I did not agree."

"The undead are still..."

"I do not care about the undead."

Her voice was louder now. The short Velhari opened one eye, looked at her, and closed it again because he was not stupid.

"Zich was alive when we left," Helen said. "He was still fighting. If he lived through the horde..."

"If he lived," Jayden clicked his tongue. "I could swear he didn’t survive."

"He survived. I know," Helen retorted in a confident tone as if she had known Zich for a long time. "He held that square by himself. He even saved you... And you want to leave without even looking?"

"I want to keep the rest of us alive," Jayden said. "That is my job."

"Your job?" Helen’s eyes flashed. "Are you just going to forget how he saved you from those undead knights?"

Jayden clenched his fist, clearly hating the fact that Helen was reminding him of this.

Varok’s eyes glinted as he listened even more, finding the conversation quite interesting. The big Velhari was very quiet. The short Velhari kept his eyes closed.

"If we go back and he is dead, we get nothing," Jayden said. "If we go back and the square is still full of undead, we all die. If he moved..."

"Then at least we will know," Helen said.

"I am not asking," she said. "I am going back. Come or do not."

She turned and walked to the stairs.

Varok stood up. He picked up his spear and followed her without a word. The short Velhari made a tired sound and got up. The big Velhari was already moving.

Jayden sat on the step for three seconds.

Then he stood and followed with displeasure written across his face.

...

Meanwhile...

Zich’s hand was still raised from the slap.

He stared at the notification floating in his vision, reading it once. Twice. A third time just to make sure he wasn’t seeing things due to fatigue.

[ Ding, you have slain an Undead Mosquito. ]

[ Lucky Handband has been triggered. ]

[ Ding, you have received your own personal dungeon: Undead Crypt. ]

"...What?"

He lowered his hand slowly, looking at his palm as if expecting to find the crushed remains of the insect there. There was nothing. Just the faint notification blinking in his retina.

A personal dungeon!

They were extremely rare dungeons that bound themselves to a single individual and could only be accessed by their owner. They were the kind of thing that made kingdoms take notice. The kind of thing that propelled nobodies into legends and made one a target.

And he had gotten one from killing a mosquito.

A dry laugh escaped his lips.

"Lucky Handband," he muttered, touching the handband, feeling a genuine sense of joy. It was the first time he was actually impressed with the handband.

"I need to see this."

He pushed himself to his feet. His body screamed in protest. His shoulder, his ribs, his legs. Every joint ached, and his left arm was still mostly useless. But color had returned to his face, and his mana core was slowly refilling.

He grabbed the soul stone bag, still intact, still heavy with its precious contents, and stepped out of the ruined building.

The sky was still that strange purple color. The dead city stretched around him, silent and hollow under the fading light. Zich looked around, expecting some direction to follow for locating the dungeon.

Instead, the notification flashed again in his vision.

[ Would you like to open the portal to the Undead Crypt? ]

[ Yes / No ]

Zich blinked.

"A portal?"

He stared at the prompt for a moment, then let out a short laugh. Of course it was a portal. Why would he need to walk anywhere when the dungeon was bound to him?

He selected Yes.

Vrooooooom!

The air in front of him split open.

The portal was tall enough for two men to walk through side by side. Its surface was a rippling void of purple and black, with faint motes of light drifting across it like distant stars.

[ Undead Crypt Dungeon — Bound to Zich Grave’s]

[ Difficulty Level: Hard ]

[ Status: Unexplored ]

[ Note: The portal will remain open as long as you are nearby. It can be dismissed and recalled at will. ]

Zich’s lips curled into a grin as he stepped through.

[ You have entered the Undead Crypt ]

[ Gained 10 experience points ]

[ The necrotic aura is affecting you... ]

[ HP will decrease over time while inside the Crypt ]