Emeros had already suspected something in the room when he saw the mage's corpse. It wasn't a natural death. It was a Dark Dependent's spell! And a very advanced one at that. It was a spell that called forth the soul.
How a mere mage like Rorcrast would have the power of shamanic and Dark Dependent means similar to the Skeletons and Liches who abandon the flesh, Emeros could only guess that it is connected to the Crown.
But when Emeros saw the corpse and confirmed that it was a Dark Dependent spell that caused the Corpse and not that it died of anything, he read the journal, and there felt dread.
Why did his journal detail his poisoned death? And it was very specific? It was as if he wanted the readers to believe he had died!
At first, Emeros thought that it was to fake his death. But the room itself was strangely habitable. Magic lights worked, and potions and other precious magical stones and ores that were rare in this mine were found inside!
As Emeros continued to read the book, he was certain that this room was a trap! A trap designed to lure and lull human adventurers to sleep!
Everything inside the room was perfect to be a secret hideout. Many books and interesting studies were present that would entice mages to read.
Emeros felt that this trap was too dangerous, and so he decided to search for the hidden adversary using his [Gauge] skill that he received from his mother, Wisdom.
But it would seem suspicious if Emeros would suddenly use Gauge up the ceiling, so, Emeros plotted and made the act of getting hit and falling flat on the ground so that his allies would flip his body.
The quick moment he was flipped, he used Pronto and gauged the ceiling. He saw the creature being identified by his skill and quickly stopped using it.
---
Deadwood Troglodyte (Mage Rorcrast) detected.
---
The notification confirmed his worst fears. And so, Emeros devised a plan. He was sure that the creature was observing them, and the fact that it did not immediately attack was because it was conserving its life. Emeros knew that to Dark Dependents, movement and using his powers would shorten his life span.
And as the enemy was a high-leveled mage, Emeros decided to use his special powers.
The Captain Mage that created a vow on him was easily defeated because of the mysterious power that Emeros had in him. Vasilius was Emeros's only weapon.
If he could force this Dark Dependent mage to establish a contract, a forceful contract on him, then they stood a chance to survive! If they tried to leave, the creature might attack and pounce on them, fearing its prey would leave.
Emeros then fed false information to Mage Rorcast to force this Deadwood Troglodyte to prioritize making a contract with him.
The first was to reveal himself as a wise mage who knew Black Magic and even called it by its true name. The phrase Dark Dependent formula alerted Rorcast's attention and desired to know more of its secrets. Emeros also made mentioned of how everyone grew five levels within the span of a few days!
This placed Emeros's value very high! Rorcast had to capture and spare Emeros!
Emeros then revealed that there was a Vow marking on him. This would make it easier for this mage to create a new vow and bind the human. But then, Emeros revealed that he had a Vow Breaker!
Because of this spell, Rorcast should conclude that attacking Wesret, Serena, Philip, and Don had to happen after Emeros was forced into servitude. Should this tree try to ambush everyone, it might awaken Emeros, who would use the Vow Breaker spell that Emeros intentionally mentioned being within him.
And so, despite the possibility of being attacked by the rest, which would shorten his lifespan, Rorcast acted on securing Emeros as his slave.
The wooden arm of the creature reached out and tapped on Emeros's body as it tried to make Emeros move to reveal the mark of the Vow on his back.
A faint glow appeared on the tip of this creature's twig-like fingers, touching Emeros's back.
The vow had begun!
But at that moment, Rorcrast's entire tree-like body suddenly froze as it saw itself in a strange realm.
Emeros tried to act and inform his allies to initiate the plan, but he was once more brought into this strange world where the great king was summoning the Deadwood Troglodyte.
"Who dares?! Who dares to steal the memories of my Prince?! You wish to enslave my heir and take his memories?!" The booming voice of the king echoed in the vast kingdom as the Deadwood Troglodyte was shocked by the scenes before him.
"As you have desired to take his memories, then your memories shall be taken by my Prince! Let all your secrets be given to him, and all you know to be given to my Prince! This is my ruling! The Rule of a King has been invoked!"
Emeros suddenly saw himself back at the cave.
CRASH!
The Deadwood Troglodyte fell from the top of the cave as his wooden body lost grip on the ceiling and fell.
"Now!" He shouted and took the 'potion' that he had everyone take and threw it to the Deadwood Troglodyte.
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
The Deadwood Troglodyte was still in a daze as he felt a strange power rip out what he knew, and it was all being transferred to Emeros!
But because of this, he couldn't move for a time and then felt a sharp pain in his head.
Emeros shoved a small Fire ore to ignite the flames.
VOOSH!
The entire body of the tree was suddenly engulfed in flames.
"Ahhhhh!" A piercing cry was heard as the Deadwood Troglodyte shouted in pain.
When Emeros had pretended to be wounded and asked for everyone to sit next to him, he informed everyone of the lurking predator. In the parchment, Emeros instructed that everyone was to take the remaining oil flasks that they had.
Don then intentionally wounded himself, which gave everyone an excuse to get the potion without rousing even a hint of suspicion.
The Deadwood Troglodyte regained his senses, but the sharp pain constantly attacking his mind hindered his focus.
It roared angrily and saw the group throw more oil flasks at it.
"You... pests!" The Deadwood Troglodyte swung its arms as its body began to twist.
FLASH!
But all of a sudden, a strange binding energy appeared!
Emeros had his arms on the Energy Conversion circle, and the Deadwood Troglodyte realized that a Formation Plate had been kicked beneath him.
When Emeros pretended to get hit, he revealed to the rest that he was bleeding at the back of his head. But the truth was, the blood was from a cut he secretly made on his palm.
While appearing to work on the Formation Plate, Emeros was actually drawing another Energy Conversion Circle at the bottom using the blood from his hand. It was a basic Energy Conversion Circle found in the book of Emeros. A binding spell was made.
Emeros also recalled the binding and Sealing spells that the Nephilim Sealing Temple had when it sealed Kyros. Though Kyros was free, the remnants of that energy conversion circle remained on the floor of the Temple.
"Please work!" Emeros pleaded as he poured out his mana into it.
The Deadwood Troglodyte turned stiff, and his movements greatly slowed down.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! STAB!
Emeros's allies began to hack away at the beast.
"Ahhh!" Wesret shouted as he swung his weapon again and again.
The group did not make wild attacks. As Emeros instructed, they had to focus and make powerful attacks since their enemy would have high defenses. They would have over fifteen levels apart, and weak attacks would do little damage.
Emeros wrote that they should not wildly swing their blades but focus on the quality of their attacks instead of the quantity.
"Fight! If you don't kill it, we die! Release everything! Release your Force! We will die if you can't! Make every swing count! Train yourself to keep bringing out your Force!" Emeros shouted.
With their life on the line, everyone struck the monster with all their might. Their damage would be very small, and so Emeros instructed them that even with the pitiful amount of force that they had, they had to shell it out.
The attacks had managed to sap out the small amount of force that they had which increased the actual damage that they could make.
Emeros saw a small branch of the Deadwood Troglodyte and reached out to touch it with one hand while his other hand kept pouring out mana into the circle.
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Deadwood Troglodyte (Mage Rorcrast)
Level 23
Strength: 71
ραndαsΝοvεl.cοm Magic: 71
Dexterity: 81
Vitality: 91
Intelligence: 154
Hit Points: 745/1090
Armor Rating: 26
Force: 31
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The stats were shown, and Emeros could see what every attack would do against the Troglodyte.
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Deadwood Troglodyte damage received: 18
Deadwood Troglodyte damage received: 15
Deadwood Troglodyte damage received: 17
Deadwood Troglodyte damage received: 16
Deadwood Troglodyte damage received: 39 Per second (Burn)
---
Emeros's expression turned grim. He could only hold the creature for nine more seconds!
But his thoughts remained focused, and he did not panic. He then learned more about the strange potions and magical items inside this chamber.
"Philip! Get the green potions on that shelf and throw them at him!" Emeros ordered and pointed in a certain direction of the large room.
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