The Holy Land

21 Chapter 21: Silver Dagger

Wilhelm had long adapted to the darkness, so he could easily maneuver around the small cavern, positioning himself in an appropriate location. The walking corpses moved rather slowly, giving Wilhelm some room to accommodate his earlier shock.

His fist still stung from striking the sturdy wall, but he ground his teeth and momentarily dealt with the pain. He wasn't one who treasured his life, but he surely wouldn't let all of his efforts go to waste, not after he had just finally obtained a somewhat younger body. He refused to lose, let alone die.

Of course, the walking dead were not aware of his thoughts; they merely sauntered toward him without any significant objective. They were grouped up, moving in a relatively standard military formation, as if they had been warriors in their past life. Rusted scimitars dangled in their skeletal hands, scraping against the ground.

The undead groans reverberated throughout the cave, causing Wilhelm to squint his eyes and scan the room. It was small without much space to move around in, but there were sharp rocks threatening to fall from the roof. The only other distinctive feature was the wooden chest, which was clearly a trap.

A scanty, but cunning plan formulated in Wilhelm's mind, causing him to let out a chuckle and take a step forward, toward the horde of skeletons. Since his strength was now incomparable to an average human, it was time he started acting like it. The muscles on his stream-lined legs began to expand, becoming taut.

He lifted his foot high in the air and stomped the ground with all of his might. Since retreating was impossible, he would kill everything. However, contrary to his expectations, as the ball of his foot met the ground, not a single sound erupted. Instead, a stinging pain assaulted his leg, causing him to writhe in agony.

"W-why? The ground was smooth just a few minutes ago?" he wailed helplessly, watching the skeletons approach in droves. Not only was his fist still aching, but now his leg was practically uncommissioned.

Slowly, the loud steps and creaking echoed out loud and louder, and Wilhelm could only smile wryly whilst stroking his mighty beard. His initial plan that consisted of forcing the spikes on the roof to fall didn't work, so now, he simply gave up and decided to just turn his life in. There was no point in struggling to survive, especially since it was impossible.

He stared death straight in the eye as the first skeleton finally reached his figure, heaving its rusty sword downward. Wilhelm closed his eyes at the last second, cursing his worthless secret-class, and his horrible luck.

He waited there for a few moments, but he felt no discomfort, nor pain. Instead, he could feel the ground start to suddenly rumble. He snapped his open, only to see the skeleton in front of him impaled to the ground by a huge spike. Likewise, a few dozen sharp rocks started to fall from every corner of the cave, descending the small room into chaos.

Dust was wafted into the air, and the heaps of bones were rattling. Wilhelm used this chance to scuttle away, dodging the massive spikes that fell from above. Unlike the skeletons, his movements were much more agile and precise. He could use his night-eye skill to perceive the rocks and use his hands and body to dodge them.

The sharp edges quickly scraped his arms and legs, but he avoided the lethal blows for the most part. As he continuously evaded death, the rumbling gradually came to an end, along with the collapsing cave. The opening behind him finally opened, and the hundreds of small bones and debris flooded his sight.

Wilhelm's body was covered in dirt, including his hair and beard. A stark contrast to his appearance when he had first arrived. Deep breaths escaped from his thin lips as he stared at the massive pile of bones, a few droplets of sweat trailing down the sides of his face and dripping onto the ground.

[A lesser skeleton warrior has been slain, you have been awarded 150 experience]

[A lesser skeleton warrior has been slain, you have been awarded 150 experience]

..

[Brave soldiers demise (Trap level: F) has been cleared, congratulations!]

[4000 experience has been acquired, 6200/4000]

[Two unallocated stat points have been obtained]

The dozen or so notifications brought Wilhelm out of his stupor, causing him to fall on his buttocks and heave a deep sigh of relief. He felt as though he had been staring the god of death straight in the eye for a few moments there. Thankfully, the miniature earthquake occurred at the perfect time, which was extraordinarily lucky. He was unsure if it was caused by his earlier stomp, or if it was just sheer coincidence.

He shakily stood up from the ground and approached the wooden chest which was half-open opened, veiled under a thick shadow. It couldn't be considered large, but a faint glimmer could be seen from inside, pulling Wilhelm closer. The small trap and skeletons were already dealt with, so there wasn't much to be worried about, or so Wilhelm mused to himself.

His small strides finally ended when he reached the chest, peering down into it. Inside, a small dagger, alongside a few bronze coins resided. There was nothing else of much importance, but Wilhelm reached for the dagger with an excited smile plastered on his face.

It possessed a very sharp point and two first-class edges. It was perfect for thrusting and stabbing, a fitting weapon for survival. The blade itself appeared to be made out of silver, with what looked to be engravings of a coursing river etched onto it. The hilt was pure black, further accentuating the beauty of the silver blade.

It gracefully shimmered within the darkness, causing Wilhelm to take a few moments and appreciate its elegant appearance. It wasn't until the bronze gleam from below caught his eye that he finally decided to stash it inside of his loincloth, redirecting his attention to the bronze coins at the bottom of the chest. There wasn't a need for money, especially since he was trapped inside of a dungeon, but he still decided to inspect them thoroughly.

Once his slender fingers grabbed ahold of the coins, they abruptly disappeared into thin dust. Confused, Wilhelm tried touching the other coins, but to no avail, the same thing occurred over and over again.

'Useless..' he thought to himself.

[Coins: 4]

Suddenly, the robotic voice rang out inside of his head. A feature of the system which he had thought to be relatively pointless appeared out of nowhere. His thinking process momentarily halted as he looked at his status.

---------------

[Character Information]

Name: Wilhelm Siegfried

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Level: 9, [2200/6000 EXP]

Class: Undertaker (1) [32/100]

Strength: 12

Agility: 17

Intelligence: 15

Stamina: 12

Magic Power: 0

HP: 100/100

MP: 5/5

Skills: Krav Maga (level 10), indomitable will (level 1), superior intellect (level 2), Gun proficiency (level 10), Night-eye (class-skill), masterful hands (level 5),

Items: None

Allocatable stat points: 2

Evolution points: 0

Coins: 4

Without waiting for another second, he inspected the "coins" feature.

[Coins are capable of purchasing weapons, armor, consumables, allocatable stat points, and even evolution points. However, they are only usable on the blood moon. They are also tradeable.]

Wilhelm nodded his head at the new information and stroked his beard. He had no clue as to what the "blood moon" was, nor could he trade with anyone at the moment. He momentarily put the coin feature at the back of his head and directed his attention to the two allocatable stat points.

He hadn't been able to distribute two points at once before, so he gleefully added one point to both strength and stamina. Immediately, a cold sensation assaulted his body, reinvigorating it. He stretched his limbs one last time and leaped on to the ground, cracking his neck.

More strength meant more confidence, and with enough confidence, he wouldn't hesitate to hunt more frequently. A small smile formed on his lips as he thought of this. Perhaps, his stay in the dungeon wouldn't actually last too long?

Thinking to here, a loud rumbling in his stomach stopped all potential thoughts of acquiring more experience for the day.

"sigh.."