The Beast Forest was not a forest. It was a grave with trees growing on top of it.
The trees were black, their branches twisted like skeletal fingers clawing at the sky. A thick, green mist clung to the ground, smelling of sulfur and rotting meat.
"Alright, brats!" Professor Sylas kicked a rotting log. "The Goblin Nest is underground. The entrance is that hole that looks like a giant mouth. Your job is to go in, kill the King, and bring me his crown. I'll be here drinking wine."
"You aren't coming with us?" Bo asked, shivering.
"If I help, you don't learn," Sylas popped a cork. "Also, I'm lazy. Go."
Dante stepped forward, his hands ignited with flames. He looked at Kaelen with a sneer.
"Hey, Chair-Thief. Let's make a bet. Whoever kills the Goblin King gets the other person's spatial ring. All of it."
It was a greedy bet. Spatial rings contained a cultivator's entire fortune.
Kaelen looked at Dante. "You don't have enough in your ring to match mine."
"Scared?" Dante laughed. "I knew it. You're just a talker."
Dante turned and jumped into the dark hole. "Follow me, Class S! Let's show the teacher how it's done!"
The other students—the Orc, the Demon Girl, the Bandaged Boy—followed Dante. They were eager for violence.
Kaelen sighed. "Magnus, Bo. Stay close. This isn't a normal nest."
"Why?" Bo asked, checking his crossbow.
"Because," Kaelen pointed to the ground. "There are no footprints. Goblins are messy. If there are no tracks... it means they don't walk. They drag."
...
The Underground Cavern.
The tunnel opened up into a massive underground cavern lit by glowing green mushrooms.
And it was crawling with them.
Goblins. Hundreds of them.
But they were wrong. Their skin was pale grey. Their eyes glowed neon green. Some were missing arms; others had their heads twisted backward. They didn't chatter or scream. They stood perfectly still, like statues.
"Easy xp!" Dante shouted. "Burn!"
He launched a massive Fire Wave.
WHOOSH!
The fire engulfed the front line of fifty goblins. They burned, their flesh turning to ash.
"See?" Dante gloated. "I told you. Easy."
But then, the ash moved.
The bones didn't break. The skeletons stood up, still burning with Dante's fire, and kept walking.
Click. Clack.
"What the..." Dante stepped back. "Why aren't they dying?!"
"Because they are already dead," Kaelen's voice echoed from the back.
Kaelen walked into the light. His Dragon Eyes were scanning the flow of mana.
"This is a Necromancy Array," Kaelen analyzed. "Someone is controlling them. Fire won't work. You have to destroy the head."
"Shut up!" Dante panicked. He fired more fireballs. "I don't need advice from a Scholar! DIE!"
The fireballs hit the zombies, but only made them angry. The burning skeletons charged. They were fast.
One goblin leaped at Dante. Dante blocked, but the goblin exploded.
BOOM!
"Exploding Corpses?!" The Demon Girl screamed, slicing a goblin in half with her scythe. But the two halves kept crawling toward her.
"We are overrun!" The Orc shouted as a pile of zombies buried him.
Class S was strong, but they were unorganized. They were fighting individual battles against a horde that felt no pain.
Dante was in the worst spot. He had drawn the most aggro.
"Get away!" Dante screamed, his mana running low. A massive Hobgoblin Zombie grabbed Dante's leg. It opened its rotting jaw to bite.
Dante closed his eyes. 'I'm dead.'
SHING.
A black blur cut through the air.
The Hobgoblin's head flew off.
Kaelen stood over Dante. He didn't look at the boy. He looked at the horde.
"You possess a powerful flame," Kaelen said to Dante. "But you use it like a child throwing tantrums. Fire is not just for burning. It is for Purifying."
Kaelen sheathed his sword.
"Magnus. Wall."
Magnus slammed his shield (a massive stone slab he found) into the ground.
"Wall... built."
"Bo. Light."
Bo fired a Flash Bolt into the ceiling.
FLASH.
The blinding light disoriented the zombies for a second.
In that second, Kaelen closed his eyes.
He tapped into the Soul Energy he had absorbed from the Pirate King Drakon. Drakon was a master of ghostly arts. Kaelen had digested his knowledge.
Kaelen's aura changed. It wasn't the golden Dragon aura. It was a cold, grey, deathly aura.
He opened his eyes. They were pitch black.
Ghost King Art: Soul Command.
"KNEEL."
It wasn't a shout. It was a whisper that traveled through the spirit realm.
The hundreds of zombie goblins froze. The green fire in their eyes flickered.
They sensed a higher authority. The Necromancer controlling them was strong, but Kaelen... Kaelen felt like the King of Hell.
Clatter.
One goblin dropped its club.
Then another.
Then ten.
The entire horde fell to their knees.
Dante stared, his mouth hanging open. The Demon Girl stopped swinging her scythe.
"He..." Bo whispered, hiding behind Magnus. "He just told the zombies to sit? Is he a dog trainer?"
Kaelen walked through the path of kneeling monsters. He walked toward the back of the cavern, where a massive throne made of bones stood.
Sitting on the throne was the Goblin King.
It was a monstrosity. It was ten feet tall, stitched together from the parts of ogres, humans, and beasts. A Flesh Golem.
And standing behind the throne was a robed figure holding a staff. A Cultivator from the Eclipse.
"Who are you?!" The Eclipse Necromancer shrieked. "How did you break my control?!"
"Your control is weak," Kaelen said, walking up the steps. The zombie goblins didn't attack him; they parted ways like the Red Sea.
"Kill him, my King!" The Necromancer tapped his staff.
The Goblin King roared and stood up. It raised a massive bone axe.
Kaelen didn't draw his sword.
He looked at the Goblin King.
"I said... KNEEL."
He unleashed the full weight of his Emperor's Soul.
CRACK.
The Goblin King's knees shattered. The massive monster collapsed under the invisible weight, its head slamming into the floor in a forced bow.
The Necromancer trembled. "Impossible... Spirit Ocean Level 3... how can you have the soul pressure of a Level 9?!"
Kaelen walked up to the Necromancer.
"Because," Kaelen grabbed the Necromancer's staff and snapped it in half. "I have walked through death more times than you have breathed."
Kaelen grabbed the Necromancer by the throat.
"Who sent you?"
"The... The Principal..." the Necromancer choked out before his eyes rolled back and he foamed at the mouth. Suicide Poison.
Kaelen dropped the body.
He looked at the kneeling Goblin King.
"Die."
Kaelen snapped his fingers.
The Goblin King's head exploded.
[System: Void Cauldron absorbed Death Energy. Progress: 35%]
Kaelen turned around.
The entire Class S was staring at him. Fear, awe, and confusion were written on their faces.
Dante stood up, his legs shaking. He looked at the kneeling army of dead goblins, then at Kaelen.
"You..." Dante swallowed hard. "You win the bet."
He took off his spatial ring and threw it to Kaelen.
Kaelen caught it. He didn't look inside. He tossed it back.
"Keep it," Kaelen said, his eyes returning to normal. "I don't need your money. I need your loyalty."
Dante caught the ring. He looked at Kaelen. For the first time, the arrogance was gone.
"Loyalty?" Dante asked.
"The Eclipse is inside the Academy," Kaelen said, pointing to the dead Necromancer. "A war is coming. Class S needs a leader. Not a bully."
Kaelen walked past him toward the exit.
"Are you coming? Or do you want to stay and rot with them?"
Dante hesitated. Then, he ran after Kaelen.
"Wait up... Boss."
The Demon Girl shrugged and followed. The Orc followed.
One by one, Class S fell in line behind the white-haired boy.
Outside the cave, Professor Sylas woke up from his nap. He saw his students marching out in perfect formation, unharmed, with the Goblin King's head in a sack.
And leading them was Kaelen.
Sylas smirked, taking a sip of wine.
"Well, damn. The Wolf has tamed the pack."
Author Note: "If you like the story, please vote with Power Stones! It helps me write faster."