Who knew the dead could make voluntary noise, but I learned they could as the [Wild Feral Zombie] screamed as Danicus disemboweled it. Its health bar was strobing in the critical range but before it could jump onto the Spartan, two of my Skeletal Warrior skewered it on spears ending its existence.

With a mental command, the two Skeletal Warrior fell back to rejoin me as I looked around. "I wish we had a Rogue with us, I guarantee there are a bunch of hidden and secret compartments and treasure here," I told the Spartan as he cleaned his sword before touching the body and looting it.

"Yes, but it would also probably bring everything in the Necropolis down on our heads and neither one of us can stand against that," Danicus replied with a smirk and gestured at the body. It was the first relatively intact Zombie we had destroyed and while I had easily managed to summon Skeletal Warrior from the abundant resources around us, Summoning a Zombie required a somewhat intact body to use.

I started chanting as I thought of what I wanted and the body started jerking as the gaping wound across its stomach and other wounds sealed shut as its eyes glowed a bright green color as it stood and bowed towards me. I quickly pulled up the information on the two types of Dead I could Summon and reviewed the information.

<<<>>>

Minion Type: Skeletal Warrior
Level: (Current Level)
Base Damage: 20
Armor: 20
Primary Effects...
--- +30% Resistance to Death Damage
--- +30% Resistance to Plague Damage
--- +15% Resistance to Piercing and Slashing Damage
--- 20% Vulnerability to Blunt and Holy/Light Damage
Secondary Effects...
--- Powered Strike: Next Attack deals an additional 25% Damage. (Cooldown 30 Seconds)
--- Charge: the Skeletal Warriors can use this Skill to close with their enemies rapidly and Stunning them for 5 seconds. (Cooldown 30 Seconds)
--- Parry: Skeletal Warriors have a 10% chance to deflect incoming attacks.

Minion Type: Feral Zombie
Level: (Current Level)
Base Damage: 30
Armor: 25
Primary Effects...
--- +10 + (Level X 0.25) Plague Damage
--- +35% Resistance to Death Damage
--- +35% Resistance to Plague Damage
--- +20% Resistance to Piercing and Slashing Damage
--- 20% Vulnerability to Blunt and Holy/Light Damage
Secondary Effects...
--- Hardened Claws: Zombie attacks ignore 5% of an enemy's armor.
--- Consume: 10% Damage dealt is recovered as health.
--- Enrage: Once the Feral Zombie drops below 25% Health, their damage is boosted by 50%. (Duration 30 Seconds, Cooldown 5 Minutes)

<<<>>>

I smiled, while the Skeletal Warrior were literal Minions to be used and discarded as needed. Feral Zombies could deal some actual damage, and coupled with their ability to deal Plague Damage, they could quickly damage living opponents. Right now it was just a meat shield for Danicus and me. Their vulnerabilities were glaring, but every one of them might be the difference between life and death for us. "Ready?" the Spartan asked and I nodded as he continued to walk deeper into the Necropolis.

While the corridors were fairly dark, shafts of light, torches, and the occasional brazier provided enough light to see and find our way deeper into the Necropolis. While it was larger than a town, it wasn't as big as Athens but for all intents and purposes, it was an oversized tomb. My understanding was they in the real world, these places were used to inter the dead, anyone of noble birth, rich enough, or had a lot of political power were placed within, so how did this place turn into a madhouse.

"So you know what happened here? Why hasn't anyone done anything to end a threat so close to the city?" I asked the Spartan.

"I only know the rumors, but from what they said was that a Necromancer that was working here, did something either to gain more power or it was an accident, but the result was they all the dead were awakened and unleashed. Overnight a stronghold for Necromancers and Warlocks was turned into a tomb where the Wild Dead ruled and anything that entered was attacked on sight. Everyone within was killed and Hecate herself placed Wards on the Necropolis to make certain nothing escaped.' Danicus explained as we approached another open area. 'From what I understand, only an occasional adventurer and new Necromancers enter here and they only ever go through the first level of the Necropolis. The deeper levels are packed with stronger and more powerful Dead." the Spartan warned

I frowned, not worried but it didn't explain everything. "So why didn't Hecate just blast the whole thing, the Titan that is Patron of Magic, correct? She should be able to do that, right?" I asked the other man as we slowed as he looked within and frowned.

"I don't know, but you are correct she is the Patron of the various magical paths, including the Dark ones. I have no idea why she didn't deal with the dead. We have a couple of Skeletal Archers ahead of us, send your Minions to pin them down and deal with them. I will tank the four Skeletal Warriors and two Zombies, ok?" Danicus asked as I glanced around the entryway and studied the Wild Dead.

"Ok, I will send the skeletons and blast them with Death Bolts but keep the Zombie to back you up," I told the Spartan who tightened the straps of his shield before drawing his sword again. Danicus still had the two-handed sword, but with the small corridors and numbers, he was using a shield to keep our opponents at a distance.

I conjured a pitch-black Death Bolt and nodded to the other man, he smiled and charged the nearest Wild Dead, that happened to be a Zombie. It moaned as Danicus skewered it before kicking it off his sword as the other Wild Dead charged him as he let out a shout causing a pulse of energy to wash over the room. My Skeletal Warriors skirted the main fight and charged directly towards the Skeletal Archers, spears raised as my Death Bolt smacked one in the head and knocked off a quarter of its health.

With a thought, my Feral Zombie threw itself foreword and against two of the Skeletal Warriors that were stabbing at Danicus. How the Spartan was still on his feet and alive with so many opponents I have no idea, but he was slowly moving backward and putting his back to the nearby stone wall. I conjured and shot another Death Bolt at a Skeletal Archer as the first one was destroyed, I immediately commanded two to split off and support Danicus while the remaining two Charged the remaining archer.

I lobbed one more Death Bolt at the archer before concentrating on the two [Wild Ravenous Zombies] that were trying to tear the shield from Danicus's arm. I launched two Death Bolts at each one causing my Spirit to drop to critical levels, but the attacks had done what was needed. Weakened the Wild Dead and had bought the Spartan time to recover and lash out.

One of the Zombies went down and my Zombie was looking bad but was still swinging at its two opponents. I looked back at the finale archer to see it going down, but I lost one of me Skeletal Warrior in return. I immediately sent the remaining one into the main fight with a mental command as I launched another Death Bolt at the remaining Wild Zombie. It staggered and fell leaving one three wild Skeletal Warriors to oppose us as my Zombie finally was destroyed.

Within seconds the three remaining Wild Dead were destroyed leaving us alone once again, minus my new Zombie and one of my Skeletal Warriors. Danicus looked slightly worse for wear and was down to about thirty percent health, but the Spartan was alive. He sat down where he had fought as I started looting the dead and reviewing their bodies to see if I could replenish what I had lost.

As soon as my Spirit had recovered enough, I started chanting and raised a new Skeletal Warrior as I studied my remaining warriors and comparing them to our defeated enemies. I used Put to Rest one of them before I started Summoning new Skeletal Warriors to replace them. For some reason, once the bones had been used for a Summoning, they could not be used again for at least an hour.

I assumed it was to balance the Necromancer out so they couldn't just Summon a Minion that had been downed by others. If they could, a Necromancer could Summon a literal horde of Dead and never fear that they will be defeated. I Summoned a new Feral Zombie to join the group, the other two bodies were too damaged to use at this point. "So the guy who gave me this Quest was a Vampire, he was an Undead correct?" I asked Danicus and the Spartan nodded his head.

"Yes, but they are the only Undead that is considered civilized, the others like Lich's, Ghouls, Wight's, and a few others are not Civilized no matter how intelligent they are. Vampires are allowed within cities as long as they keep their hunger in check and don't go on a killing spree, if they do they are usually destroyed fairly quickly.' I frowned, confused why the Titans would care one way or the other. 'The Titans only keep them in check because they believe if they don't keep the Vampire's under their heels, they will rebel or cause the Humans to rebel for not keeping the Vampires under control. Now, where too next?" the Spartan asked and I pulled up the map and the Quest indicator indicated we only had one more hallway to clear before we reached our destination.

"Not too much further, one more hallway then we are clear, how many Health Potions do you have left?" I asked him as I closed the map.

Danicus frowned and brought up his interface, "I have five Healing Potions and two Stamina Potions left, but if its anything like we have been seeing we might have one more patrol of two Wild Dead but I am certain we will face something stronger then what we have been fighting once we get to the well." Danicus advised me as he stood as I reviewed my Potions and retrieved three Health Potions from my inventory and handed them over to the tank.

"I still have three Health Potion and four Spirit Potions, if I run out of either we are probably screwed anyways," I told him earning a chuckle from the warrior as we pressed on.

Less than five minutes later, we were both cursings as we studied the robed figure below. [Minor Lich-Khugrul] appeared over its head, and it was working between what I assumed was the Necrotic Well and a cauldron. From what I could see, the Minor Lich was harnessing the power of the well to brew something in the cauldron as I could see the faint outlines of magic billowing up out of the well before plunging into the boiling cauldron.

<<<>>>

Quest Alert: Breakout!

Description: The Lich, Khugrul the Vile, one of the five lords of the Tainted Necropolis is preparing to break the Wards the confine the Dead and Undead within the confines of the ancient Necropolis. If he succeeds in breaking the Wards, the Dead and Undead will invade Athens and any other nearby living settlement. Kill Khugrul the Vile before he accomplishes his goal.

Quest Class: Event

Quest Difficulty: Hard

Success: Destroy Khugrul the Vile and stop the Dead from breaking out of the Tainted Necropolis.

Failure: Die or allow Khugrul the Vile to break the Imprisonment Wards upon the Tainted Necropolis.

Rewards: 5,000 Experience, 100 Renown, Increased Reputation with the Citizens of Athens, Unknown

Accept? Yes or No

<<<>>>

I looked over at Danicus, "If it was only Monster Settlements I would consider leaving it alone but fifty thousand Humans live in Athens, that doesn't include all the nearby villages, let's do it." the Spartan responded to my unasked question and I accepted the Quest begrudgingly.