Chapter 628: A lone Walk in the Trench

Thoren sat with his back against the trench wall.

His breathing was shallow. Each inhale was a battle, each exhale a small surrender. He grimaced in pain; his face twisted with the effort of simply staying upright.

Blood still dripped from his nose, his ears, the corners of his mouth.

His ribs screamed with every breath. His spine felt like it had been shattered into a dozen pieces. His legs were numb. His arms trembled.

Without hesitation, he opened the Abyssal Market.

The familiar interface flickered to life before his eyes, a translucent panel of shifting runes and symbols.

He navigated to the potion section, his fingers moving with desperate speed. He did not have time to browse, and he did not have time to compare prices or read descriptions.

Quickly, he bought a Peak Grade Bronze Healing Potion. Apart from that, he also bought a rejuvenation potion.

The items materialized in his hands, cool and solid. The Healing Potion was a small vial filled with liquid that glowed with a soft, golden light.

The rejuvenation potion was darker, a deep blue that seemed to shimmer with inner energy.

With so much difficulty, he opened the Healing Potion and poured everything into his mouth.

The liquid was warm.

It tasted of herbs and honey and something else, something potent and powerful. It slid down his throat and into his stomach, and the moment it entered his body, it began to work.

The effect was immediate.

Heat spread from his core outward, rushing through his veins like a second heartbeat. He felt his bones begin to knit. The cracks in his ribs sealed.

The compression in his spine released. His joints, which had been grinding against each other, suddenly moved smoothly again.

Torn muscles rewove themselves.

Bruised organs healed. The pain did not vanish but faded. Under the effect of the potion, Thoren lost consciousness.

He was too tired to even maintain his awareness. His eyes closed and his head slumped forward.

His body went limp against the trench wall and in the darkness of his mind, he drifted.

After what seemed like forever, Thoren woke from his slumber.

His eyes fluttered open, and for a long moment, he simply stared at the darkness above him. The pain was gone. All his injuries had vanished, healed by the Peak Grade Bronze Healing Potion.

He tested his fingers, then his arms, then his legs. Everything moved. Everything worked.

But he still felt exhausted, as though his body had been drained of every ounce of energy it possessed. The healing potion had repaired the damage, but it had not restored his vitality.

Without hesitation, he took the Rejuvenation Potion and drank it in one motion.

The liquid was cool, almost cold, and it spread through his body like a wave of fresh water through parched earth. Strength returned to his limbs. Vitality flooded his muscles.

His heartbeat stronger, steadier, pumping new life through his veins. The exhaustion that had weighed on him like a mountain lifted, and he felt himself again.

He rose to his feet and stretched his body.

His joints popped and cracked, a symphony of small sounds that echoed in the quiet trench. His spine realigned with a series of sharp snaps.

His shoulders rolled back into place. His knees bent and straightened without protest.

He flexed his fingers, his wrists, his elbows. Everything was in working order. Everything was as it should be.

With his body back in shape, he could finally look at the corpse of the Skybreaker Roc.

He walked closer to the massive corpse and stared at it in shock.

Even in death, its body still gave off an oppressive aura. The dark feathers seemed to drink in the light, and the talons, each one longer than ten inches, gleamed with a terrible sharpness.

The orb-like eyes, now glassy and still, had lost none of their menace.

Thoren felt a chill run down his spine. Without his two Level 40 undead servants, combined with the arrogance of the Skybreaker Roc, it would have been impossible to take it down. The creature had underestimated him. It had paid for that mistake with its life.

Taking a deep breath, he cast his undead summoning skill.

[Undead Summoning]

Undead energy emanated from the ground, dark tendrils of power that snaked toward the dead body of the Skybreaker Roc.

They wrapped around the massive corpse, sinking into its flesh, its bones, its feathers. The creature twitched. Then it moved. Then it rose.

The Skybreaker Roc stood again, its body now animated by dark energy. Its movements were jerky at first, then smoother.

[Soul Fire]

Thoren bestowed it Soul Fire.

The eerily yellowish flame ignited in the hollow eye sockets of the undead Skybreaker Roc, burning bright against the darkness. It was not life, but it was close enough.

Looking at the undead Skybreaker Roc, a pleased smile appeared on his lips.

"With this," he said, "it should not be difficult to escape that thing if it appears again."

Now that the threat was gone, he finally had the chance to check his surroundings.

It was then he realized the trench was far bigger than he had thought. The walls stretched upward on both sides, disappearing into darkness.

The ground beneath his feet was not flat but uneven, littered with rocks and debris and the scattered remains of creatures that had died here long ago.

He raised his head, trying to see if he could see how far he had fallen. He craned his neck back, searching for any hint of light, any sign of the surface he had left behind.

But what welcomed him was nothing but darkness as though the world above had never existed.

He held that position for a long moment and then he lowered his head.

Shaking his head, he turned and picked a direction.

"Since the surface is not safe..." he muttered to himself, "I should see where this leads."

It was not that he could not return to the surface, but the threat of the ash tide was something he had no way of defending. He had almost died many times, and he would be a fool to return there.

He returns the undead Skybreaker Roc into his undead space, leaving only the undead Horn Lizard King and the undead Scorpion King for his protection.

The trench stretched ahead of him, winding and twisting like the intestines of some vast, buried beast.

Without hesitation, he began to walk.