Chapter 9 Understanding
?"So that's how it is?"
Realization struck him when he took a look at the first written page of the Grimoire. A flood of Memories bombarded him all of a sudden and Zayn recalled many things about the past.
The flood of memories was directly related to the content of the Grimoire's first page and it was all imprinted in his mind.
'The memories of my past self show me everything clearly…will that happen whenever I create another page?'
Zayn was not sure if that was a coincidence or not but it was certainly good that he didn't have to waste time reading the content that was written down on the first page he had manifested. The font was extremely small and there were too many confusing terms used. Zayn wouldn't know what to make of the terms if not for the memories of his old self!
Even the utilization of the small snippet of the empty page was shown quite clearly as it quickly filled in with words.
He was quite satisfied with his gains and happy that it cost only the remnants of soul particles from merely five weak Soul Monsters to manifest the Grimoire's first page.
However, before he could rejoice, Zayn was surprised by something he saw coming from the opposite side of the cavern tunnel he had just entered.
'Fu-...'
Zayn rolled to the side, unable to finish the curse in his mind as a piece of bone was thrown in his direction with eerie accuracy and force. It would have hit his head if not for him evading the projectile in time.
He narrowly avoided hitting his head once again against the low ceiling. Looking up to the path further downward in the cavern tunnel as he was getting up, Zayn couldn't help but swallow nervously. f𝓇𝘦ℯ𝙬𝑒𝐛n𝐨νe𝙡.c𝑜𝗺
"Oh…that's gonna be a hassle…"
Two Goblin Skeletons were rushing toward him from the deeper parts of the cavern tunnel. They must have heard the commotion of the earlier battle and came as reinforcement but they were too late, unfortunately.
If there were only two Goblin Skeletons, Zayn would have welcomed them without fretting about it but there were also two human Skeletons, armed with leather armor and silver iron weapons who had come for him.
There were only two paths for Zayn to escape and they were both blocked by two opponents each.
However, the most troublesome part was that one of the two human skeletons held a shortsword in one hand and a single bone in his other hand. The Skeleton had picked the bone from the scattered bones of the nearby Goblin Skeleton and it used them as projectiles to injure Zayn.
As for the second Skeleton, it was much bigger than the first, almost two meters in height, and it was wielding a huge silver Warhammer…
'I guess, I know where the disappearing adventurers are…found two…'
There was not much time to waste as a second bone projectile came flying at him. Zayn charged toward the Goblin Skeletons and he jumped sideways just before they thrust their stone spears at them.
He was not sure why but all Goblin Skeletons seemed to be wielding the same weapon; a stone spear. Their movements were simple enough for Zayn to predict when they would thrust at him. Clearing his diagonal jump with a roll, he got up on his feet just in time.
The iron pole was still in his right hand and he was just about to smash it on the head of the closest Goblin Skeleton when he saw that the two Skeletons made their way toward him.
They didn't seem to be in a lot of hurry but that didn't improve his situation, at all.
Zayn stomped on one of the Goblin Skeletons with his right foot, pinning the Undead to the ground. He grasped the Goblin's jaw with his left hand and pulled it out with all his might. The Undead was struggling and trying to escape Zayn's grasp but the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins was more than enough to keep the Goblin Skeleton in check.
He stuck the iron pole right through the area just above the collarbone. A loud keening sound accompanied by that of crunching bones reached Zayn's ears as the iron pole pierced through the bones that hid the purple marble from his sight.
After killing five Goblin Skeletons, he could tell where the purple marble was located and destroying it was not that much of a difficulty anymore. It was cracked just in a single attack, which resulted in the bones scattering all over. The stone spear clattered to the ground and Zayn was given the freedom to move straight to the next Goblin Skeleton.
However, before he could move a sharp bone shot toward him. It scratched his neck, nearly cutting through his artery which would have ended his life.
Zayn's heart skipped a beat at this moment, and he nearly forgot to move.
The Skeletons of the former adventurers were still not rushing to him but they were only a little bit more than five meters away from him.
Instead of feeling relieved, he felt increasingly anxious knowing that the Adventurer Skeletons weren't rushing at him. They seemed more intelligent than ordinary monsters, indicating that they had retained some of their intellect even after being awoken as Undeads.
Zayn sensed a few other things that worried him a little such as the equipment of the Adventurers and their strength, however, he couldn't give up that quickly.
Ignoring the stone spear of the last Undead Skeleton that was thrust toward him, Zayn reached for the skull of the Goblin and gripped it tightly. The stone spear missed him by a hair's breadth but that was not something he missed as he smashed the Goblin Skeleton's skull into the ground.
He stomped on its body just like he did with the other Undead and pierced the iron pole just above the collarbone.
The purple marble crushed and Zayn began to move rapidly.
He saw the Soul Wisp of the first Goblin Skeleton he killed, grasped it, and absorbed the soul particles at once.
Just a moment later, the other Soul Wisp emerged from within the crushed purple marble.
Zayn reached out with his hand and absorbed the soul particles before he noticed a huge and a small shadow towering over him. The human skeletons had finally reached him.
He knew that the Skeletons were stronger than him but there was no fear in his eyes anymore.
Zayn was ready to fight the fully armed Skeletons!