The morning fog was still very thick, almost obscuring half of the cemetery. In the vast white mist, the boundary between sky and earth was indistinguishable, and gravestones and trees were blurred.
Standing deep within the cemetery, Durin could only see within three meters. Fallen gravestones were everywhere at his feet, the entire area looked as if it had been ploughed by grave robbers, large quantities of white bones were scattered on the ground, and the tombs were like tunnels.
Not far away, there was also a small tomb chamber built with stone bricks. Although its entrance was guarded by goat spirit statues, their doors were made of wood and showed obvious claw marks.
Durin was somewhat stunned. Why was this cemetery such a mess? Had grave robbers entered?
But… didn't Santanbi, the gravekeeper, say that no one had entered Piltover's public grand cemetery recently?
Moreover, when he arrived, the large iron gate was indeed locked, wasn't it?!
Most importantly, Durin believed that even if grave robbers did climb over the wall, he shouldn't waste his time here.
These were all commoners' graves; what valuable burial items could there be? Nothing more than some clothes and items they liked in life.
Grave robbers in Piltover should go to the exclusive cemeteries of the large families in the council; that's where countless treasures would be.
At the very least, they should go to Farrington Cemetery, which is specifically for important members of Piltover's medium and small families to be buried after death.
What valuable things could a public cemetery possibly have? Even if there were any, they would have long been taken by the gravekeeper Santanbi as a perk. Would it still be the turn of grave robbers to come in and open coffins to steal?
Moreover, aren't there zombies in the cemetery?
Durin frowned, feeling a chill in his heart, vaguely sensing that things were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.
But for 12 silver lun coins, to have money to continue studying magic, and to be able to continue studying at Piltover University, he had to complete this mission.
—At the very least, he had to figure out what was going on.
Having understood this, Durin continued to explore deeper into the cemetery, looking for the remaining two zombies.
Suddenly, a "clatter" sound came from nearby.
Upon hearing this strange sound, Durin immediately became alert. He instantly cast Light, and a bright orb of light shot out from his fingertips, then floated above his head.
As the light orb illuminated, Durin clearly saw a burly zombie emerge from a tomb chamber in the soil. It was wearing a linen tunic, its burly physique bulging the clothes, and its exposed skin showed dark purplish-red patches of corpse spots. A pair of grayish-white, cloudy eyes scanned the surroundings blankly, with only slight signs of decomposition on its body.
Durin judged from its death symptoms that its burial time would not exceed one week.
This made Durin frown. Generally speaking, only long-dead corpses would reanimate. It was rare for corpses that had died less than a week ago to reanimate.
However, Durin thought for a moment and decided to deal with the zombie in front of him first. After all, rare situations don't mean they don't exist. He needed to complete the task as soon as possible, get the money, and rush back to Piltover University for his first class!
So, his left hand began to surge with magic, mobilizing arcane energy.
Quick battle, quick resolution!
What lit up next was the rune model for the cantrip—Flame Splash, a very simple basic rune. The stagnant magic within his body was rapidly consumed, then transformed into arcane energy, beginning to capture the free-floating fire elemental particles in the air.
Then, an apple-sized, flaming orb aimed at the head of this seemingly burly zombie, and at Durin's thought, it shot out.
Boom!
The rapidly spinning fireball instantly hit the burly zombie, exploding on its body. Specks of flame wantonly corroded the linen tunic it wore.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The scorching flames burned the zombie's already stiff body, and the burly zombie, ignited by the flames, finally noticed Durin. It let out a series of low growls: "Roar!"
Then, an astonishing scene occurred. Its rigid body, as if its controlling ropes had been removed, lunged forward, baring its fangs and claws.
Durin looked at the burly zombie's face, which showed signs of decay and scorching charring, and couldn't help but swallow. This zombie gave him the illusion that it was like a zombie from a Korean drama, the kind that moves extremely fast.
He saw the burly zombie swing its right claw at him. Durin quickly dodged, and the claw carried a current of air as it swept past his face.
Seeing this, Durin decisively raised the spiked mace in his hand, ignoring the flames burning on the opponent's body, then rotated the grip from left to right, bringing the spiked iron ball smashing towards the burly zombie's arm.
But this recently deceased burly zombie, perhaps due to its superior physique in life, or for some other special reason, was, in any case, no less agile than Durin, who had 67 points in Running, rapidly swinging its sharp claws.
Bang!
When the two collided, some of the zombie's unique immense strength transferred from the spiked mace to Durin's right wrist bone, and a tearing pain spread through his right hand.
The spiked mace was shaken high, almost flying out of Durin's hand. The muscles in his palm felt as if they were torn, burning hot.
Durin could only quickly roll to the side. Fine sand under the grass scattered everywhere, and countless grains of sand fell on his head and into his collar.
Can't be reckless.
Durin immediately changed his strategy and began to maneuver. Although this burly zombie was strong, its body was extremely stiff. In just a few moves, Durin set it up perfectly, and it crashed headfirst into the wall of the small tomb chamber he had seen earlier, losing its balance and falling backward onto the ground on the spot.
Durin seized the opportunity, stomping firmly on its chest to prevent it from getting up immediately, then exerted force with his arm, striking the burly zombie's ankle bone with his maximum strength, incapacitating it from standing up.
Crack!
The sound of the ankle bone shattering echoed deep within the cemetery, lingering for a long time.
Durin then raised the spiked mace and struck the back of the burly zombie's neck with all his might, blow after blow, letting the dark black corpse blood flow out from the hole-sized wound, and bits of flesh splattered outwards with each strike.
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