"Ash! Get your spider to join the fight against them!" shouted Milo, while slicing off one of the legs of the abomination swordsman they were battling.
"Okay!" Ash plunged his sword into a gap between one of the abominations and ducked to avoid the swing of another abomination's sword.
He then pushed his body forward, ramming into the abomination that had just attacked him, causing the creature to stumble backward.
Afterward, he jumped away from the battlefield.
Earlier this morning, the entire team had entered the remnants of a battlefield where swordsmen and mages had fought in the past.
The game had created this battlefield as a location for players to find items.
Unfortunately, it had also generated abominations from the corpses of the swordsmen, which were now swarming them.
The number of abominations was overwhelming since they were made from the bodies of the dead swordsmen in the area.
Everyone was putting up a tough fight against the abominations, including Jagu.
The area was previously just an open courtyard of a small castle, covered with decaying leaves that emitted a strong compost smell.
There was no sign of life in the place, and the team thought they might be relatively safe as they walked across the courtyard toward the castle.
Suddenly, Jagu let out a loud growl, causing the entire team to stop in the middle of the courtyard.
Then, one by one, undead corpses began to rise from beneath the rotting leaves that had started merging with the ground.
These corpses were still wearing their metal armor and carried their swords.
Their eyes glowed bright red, and beneath the armor, their bodies were made up of bones and some unidentifiable decaying matter.
Initially, the team managed to knock down the abominations, but they kept rising again, even after their heads were severed.
The sheer number of abominations, combined with their inability to stay dead, overwhelmed the entire team.
Finally, Milo ordered Ash to summon his creatures.
Ash looked over the battlefield, where his team was desperately fighting the relentless abominations.
Hank and Mia, who were skilled at using bows and arrows for long-range combat, were struggling to adapt with their short swords. Their lack of skills outside archery made them the weakest members of the team.
And sure enough, moments later, a scream erupted from Hank as one of the abominations managed to stab its sword into his side.
"Ash! Hurry!" Milo's shout rang out again as she rushed toward Hank, just in time to block an abomination from swinging its sword at Hank's head.
She quickly lashed her spiked whip, wrapping it around the abomination's neck and yanking it off, tearing the head clean off its body.
Hank rolled away from the headless abomination's sword swing, causing dirt to scatter across the ground in front of him.
Hearing Milo's shout snapped Ash out of his thoughts, and he focused on summoning Spidy, along with one Centaurion and one Minotaur.
The three summoned creatures immediately joined the battle, rampaging through the abominations and creating space for the team to catch their breath.
Ash hesitated to rejoin the battle.
He remembered a passage in The Supreme Magus Grimoire that claimed he could command creatures within the world of Finding Objects. His lips moved quickly as he attempted to order the abominations to obey his commands.
But it didn't work.
He tried again, with no success.
Frustrated, he dove back into the fight.
Moments later, Dwayne shouted to Milo, "We should retreat! They just won't die."
"Alright! Fall back!" shouted Milo.
The entire team began retreating, with Ash's creatures holding off the abominations.
They ran back, Dwayne carrying the injured Hank on his back.
Once they reached the trees, Ash recalled all his creatures, including Jagu.
As Jagu's legs touched the forested area and all the creatures disappeared back into the grimoire, the abominations seemed to be sucked back into the ground filled with rotting leaves.
Moments later, the area returned to its dead, eerie silence.
The entire team stared at the strange occurrence, their faces blank with confusion.
Luca quickly handed a Healing Potion to Hank, who drank it immediately.
Hank's wounds healed rapidly, allowing him to stand once more.
"We should retreat for now and figure out how to deal with them," said Milo as she stepped back toward the small temple where they had rested earlier.
***
The entire team sat slumped inside the shrine, exhausted.
Their bodies felt sticky and uncomfortable, having gone several days without a proper bath.
Feeling utterly uneasy, Ash instructed Spidy to search for the nearest water source, riding on its back.
Jagu joyfully trotted around Spidy's long legs, and Spidy, happy to play with Jagu again, let out strange, purring sounds toward him.
Ash smiled as he watched them. 'It's true what they say—sometimes just watching your pets can really help relieve stress.'
It didn't take long before they found a water source, and the team immediately went to bathe.
Spidy and Jagu kept watch over them while also playing together.
Then they returned to the small shrine and made themselves a bit more comfortable by drinking the beer that the male members had brought along.
Now that Ash was 18, he joined in and felt his body relax slightly with each sip.
After they had finished dinner, Milo addressed everyone, "Now, I want all of you to open your inventories and look for any items you have that could help defeat those abominations."
They all opened their inventories and carefully checked all the items they owned, including Ash.
He went through his collection of items again, which had grown significantly in size.
'Damn. If leveling up requires items, how long will my list get when I reach levels 99 or even 100?'
But then, he suddenly remembered the book he had read and later destroyed, The Magic of The Forbidden.
Inside, there was knowledge about Necromancy.
He closed his Inventory screen and tried to recall the contents of the Necromancy page he had read before, all while poking at the campfire and adding more wood to keep it burning.