Rex placed both hands on Grom's gradually cooling corpse.
"In the name of death, First Tier • Bone Summons!"
The moment he spoke the incantation, he felt all the mana in his body surge like a tidal wave, nearly draining him completely like opening floodgates.
Fortunately, the pump paid off handsomely.
The giant ghoul's corpse began convulsing violently. Rotting flesh peeled away like melting wax, revealing pitch-black bones beneath that gleamed with metallic luster.
Those heads that originally had three mouths actually retained all six eyes during the reconstruction process, now arranged in a fan pattern on the skull, burning with dark green undead flames.
When this ten-foot-tall giant skeleton warrior fully stood up, Rex had to crane his neck to meet its gaze.
Those originally protruding tumors had transformed into bone spikes extending menacingly from the spine, each as thick as a forearm.
[Obtained: Giant Skeleton (Grom)]
[Rank: Unranked (Elite)]
[Attributes: Strength 8, Agility 4, Intelligence 3, Constitution 9]
[Special Traits: Bone Spike Assault/Poison Resistance/Bone Devouring]
Rex nodded with satisfaction.
This new servant not only completely inherited Grom's pre-death strength attributes, but had even gained an agility point due to the skeletal transformation.
Most amazing was the Bone Devouring trait — it could repair itself by gnawing on other skeletons!
"This is practically tailor-made for dungeon exploration."
Rex circled the mutated skeleton once and suddenly noticed the bone spikes at the end of its spine were unconsciously swaying like some kind of sensory organ.
When he tried issuing mental commands, its reaction speed was nearly three times faster than other skeletons.
However, when Rex noticed it occasionally staring at the other skeletons, he couldn't help but twitch his mouth. This guy wasn't considering his companions as backup food, was he?
Looks like he needed to establish some rules...
"Listen, unless I explicitly order it, you're not allowed to eat companions, including but not limited to skeletons, zombies, ghosts..."
The giant skeleton tilted its head, all six green-flamed eyes blinking simultaneously. It seemed to understand and slowly nodded.
Rex breathed a sigh of relief.
Good thing it could distinguish friend from foe — his investment in using remaining minion slots to convert this big guy wasn't wasted.
He patted the mutated skeleton's leg bone (since he couldn't reach its shoulder) and turned toward the passage leading to the second floor.
The bronze key grew hot in his palm, as if urging him to continue forward.
"All troops, prepare!" Rex raised the Devouring Ring, pale blue light enveloping all skeleton warriors. "Next, let's see what surprises the second floor holds."
The mutated skeleton suddenly knelt on one knee, using its massive palm bones to lift Rex and gently place him on its shoulder blade.
There, two crossed bone spikes formed a natural chair. When Rex sat down, all six undead eyes turned toward him, seemingly asking if he was comfortable.
"Not bad." Rex nodded, very satisfied with this vantage point. This way his main body would also be protected.
This guy's intelligence was definitely more than the 3 points listed on the status panel. Could it have retained some of Grom's memories? This thought made him secretly decide to look up literature on "Undead Creature Mental Remnant Phenomena Research" when he got back.
Skeletons were different from ghosts — undead flames only allowed them to manipulate bones for movement, they didn't possess memory or intelligence.
Truly worthy of being the first floor's guardian, wasn't it?
As the skeleton army entered the passage, Rex suddenly remembered something and looked back at the BOSS chamber's devastation.
Those shattered skeleton remains were automatically decomposing into light particles. The console dungeon's rule was "loot can be taken out, consumables will refresh."
When the last trace of light was swallowed by darkness, Rex felt the mutated skeleton's bone spikes suddenly all stand erect. In absolute darkness, the tips of those spikes actually glowed with faint phosphorescence, illuminating his path forward.
The passage was much longer than expected.
Rex estimated they walked for at least 15 minutes before seeing a glimmer of light ahead.
That light gradually expanded, eventually becoming a bronze gate embedded in the stone wall. The relief on the door depicted a pack of wolves chasing the moon, echoing the patterns on the key.
Rex jumped down from the giant skeleton's shoulder, inserted the bronze key into the lock, and with a crisp "click," the gate slowly opened inward.
What greeted them wasn't the expected musty dungeon air, but night wind carrying the fragrance of grass.
Rex's eyes widened.
A vast, boundless grassland stretched to the horizon under moonlight, silver grass waves rippling in the wind like liquid moonlight.
Overhead was a star-studded night sky with a full moon hanging high — larger and brighter than any moon he'd seen in the real world.
"How is this different from my memory?" Rex murmured. "The dungeon's second floor is actually an open grassland? Shouldn't this be the Hellhound Dungeon?"
Everything was different from his memory.
He looked back — the bronze gate still stood there like a portal to another world, but further back, where stone walls should have been, there was nothing but grassland and starry sky.
"Looks like the dungeon floors don't completely follow the past, but each floor is an independent space." Rex quickly calmed down. "Interesting."
The giant skeleton suddenly made clicking sounds, all six eyes turning toward the grassland's depths.
Rex followed its gaze and saw something moving in the distant grass waves.
"Alert!" Rex commanded in a low voice, and all skeletons immediately assumed battle positions.
The night wind carried a long wolf howl, followed by a second, third... Soon the entire grassland echoed with rising and falling wolf howls.
Those sounds weren't like ordinary wild wolves, but carried a certain rhythm, as if performing some kind of ritual.
Rex felt a bit nervous.
The original had read in the Monster Guide that wolf packs capable of collective howling usually had extremely high organization, which meant...
"There's an alpha."
As if responding to his guess, the grass waves on the grassland suddenly parted, and dozens of glowing eyes appeared in the darkness.
Those wolves were larger than any Rex had ever seen, with shoulder heights nearly reaching his waist, muscles bulging beneath silver-white fur.
They moved silently, only moonlight reflecting cold light off their sharp claws and fangs.
Most unsettling was that these wolves weren't surrounding them in disorder, but divided into three groups in a fan formation, each with clear vanguard and flanking units.
Behind them, a figure larger than the other wolves slowly paced forward — that must be the alpha.
Rex's gaze was wary.
This was a well-trained army before him.
"Prepare for battle!"
The wolf pack didn't immediately attack, but stopped about twenty meters from the skeleton army, forming a perfect encirclement.
The alpha walked to the front. Only then did Rex see its full appearance — a silver-gray giant wolf with a crescent-shaped white marking on its forehead and eerie amber eyes that flickered with nearly human intelligence.
The alpha raised its head in a long howl, the sound seemingly containing some kind of command.
Instantly, the entire wolf pack attacked simultaneously!
"Defensive formation!" Rex shouted.
The wolf pack's tactics far exceeded his expectations.
The vanguard wolves didn't attack directly, but feinted and quickly withdrew, luring the skeleton soldiers into pursuit.
When the skeletons' formation scattered, the flanking wolves immediately pounced, precisely biting the skeletons' joint areas.
Rex heard a series of bone-breaking sounds — at least two ordinary skeletons lost combat effectiveness in the first exchange.
Seeing this, Rex quickly ordered the giant skeleton to charge toward the wolf pack's densest area.
The giant skeleton let out a soundless roar, all bone spikes extended, charging into the wolf pack like a meat grinder.
Two wolves couldn't dodge in time and were directly pierced by bone spikes. The other wolves immediately changed tactics, beginning to circle the giant skeleton, occasionally pouncing for a bite before quickly retreating.
Rex noticed the alpha remained at the battlefield's edge, occasionally letting out short howls — clearly commanding the battle.
More terrifyingly, injured wolves would immediately retreat to the rear while others took their place. The entire wolf pack operated like a precision war machine.
The alpha had to be eliminated.
Rex understood the key and ordered two elite skeletons wearing iron-reinforced leather armor to charge the alpha.
The alpha seemed to have anticipated this move.
It gracefully leaped up, dodging the first skeleton's attack while simultaneously biting the second skeleton's arm.
Rex heard the sound of metal twisting — the skeleton's iron-reinforced leather armor was actually torn apart by the alpha's bite force!
The battle situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
Rex's skeleton army retreated step by step under the wolf pack's exquisite coordination.
Ordinary skeletons were nearly annihilated, and even the two best-equipped skeletons were badly wounded.
Only the giant skeleton continued fighting stubbornly. Its hard bones could resist the pack's tearing, but two of its six eyes had already been extinguished.
The alpha suddenly let out a special howl, and all wolves simultaneously stopped attacking and retreated several steps.
Rex had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the wolf pack neatly part to create a path. The alpha slowly approached, amber eyes staring directly at him.
In that moment, Rex felt an almost human intelligence emanating from that gaze — not the eyes of a beast, but those of an experienced general sizing up his opponent.
The alpha opened its mouth, revealing snow-white fangs. Rex suddenly realized it was about to take action personally.
Seeing the dire situation, Rex immediately pulled out a Return Scroll from his chest.
The alpha seemed to sense his intention and pounced with astonishing speed.
The giant skeleton desperately blocked, all six bone spikes pointing toward the alpha. The alpha incredibly twisted its body mid-air, avoiding most spikes, though two still pierced its flanks.
Blood splashed across the silver-white grassland. The alpha let out a pained howl. Rex seized the opportunity to tear open the scroll, and golden light enveloped him and his remaining skeleton army.
In the final moment, he saw the alpha struggling to stand, amber eyes fixed on him, as if saying: I'll be waiting for your return.
Then the world spun, and Rex felt a strong pulling sensation—
When he opened eyes again, he was back on his dorm bed. Outside the window was the familiar Saint Lor Advanced Academy night scene, with distant sounds of students returning late with laughter.
Dorms had this disadvantage — too many people, not much privacy. But the original couldn't afford to move to a higher-grade individual dormitory.
Having a single room was purely because no one wanted to room with a necromancer — thinking he might covet their flesh kept everyone from sleeping peacefully.
Rex now looked around — only the giant skeleton and two elite skeletons remained standing beside his bed.
"Looks like the second floor isn't easy to clear. Heavy losses..."
Rex rubbed his chin. "I need to find a way to improve myself."
How to improve?
Of course, by continuing to explore the dungeon.
He opened the console again.
[Welcome back, Rex]
[Please select exploration floor]
[Choose first floor Ghoul Dungeon?]
[Yes]
Rex opened his eyes, looking at the familiar damp dungeon, at the ghouls wandering by distant braziers. He straightened his spine and nodded with satisfaction.
"If I can't handle the wolf pack, can't I handle you guys?"