Chapter 43: She Left Me With Poor Quality Corpses

Ethan’s head snapped towards the three corpses behind them. He couldn’t believe what he just did...

He had walked away from free materials.

This was unlike him...

"Back," he said, already turning. "Now."

Nora’s eyebrow lifted. "We have a timer."

"I know. Just give me thirty seconds." He was already moving. "I didn’t raise them."

Lila blinked, then her expression shifted into something between disbelief and a smile. "Wait. You’re serious."

Ethan didn’t waste breath answering. He crossed the chamber floor almost jogging, and knelt down beside the first corpse.

The corpse was the one the golem had punched through. He narrowed his eyes... the structural damage severe, but the frame was mostly intact.

The second had scorch along one side from Lila’s lance, still whole enough.

The third....

The third was a blackened ruin. Fire had taken it way past the point of use. What remained was ash and soot and a pile of regret.

Ethan knelt by the first intact body and forced Death Energy into it.

```

[Raise Undead (Basic) activated]

[Corpse Quality: Poor]

[Energy Cost: 18]

[Warning: Unstable Undead. Control strain elevated]

```

The corpse twitched and for a moment it tried to rise — then the chest cavity where the Iron Golem’s fist had exited simply folded inward, and the whole frame collapsed into a useless heap.

"Tch..."

Ethan cut the connection before it could drain further and moved to the second.

```

[Raise Undead (Basic) activated]

[Corpse Quality: Poor]

[Energy Cost: 16]

[Warning: Unstable Undead. Mobility critical failure]

```

This one made it to one knee but the scorched side came away under its own weight with a dull crack.

The next moment, it toppled and went still.

Silence settled over the chamber.

Ethan stared at the two failed raises, then at the ash pile that had been the third golem, and let out a long breath.

"Fuck."

He raised his head. "Poor quality, both of them."

Lila covered her mouth with her fingers, trying and failing to hold a laugh...

"You’re telling me," she said between breaths, "that you ran back here in the middle of the test... for this?"

"They were Rank D monsters." Ethan said in a flat tone

"They were *wrecked* Rank D monsters." She corrected

"They were still monsters."

Nora stood a few paces away with her arms folded and expression dry. "You burned Energy on corpses the fight had already ruined. That is not smart."

He gritted his teeth. "I know that."

Lila’s snickered. "You should see your face right now."

Ethan gave her a flat look. "You reduced one of them to ash."

"You told me to finish it off."

"I told you to finish it. I did not tell you to cremate it."

She kicked the ash pile with the toe of her boot, still clearly enjoying herself. " You’re going to write this down in a little efficiency journal, aren’t you?"

"Tch..."

She laughed again. " For someone who lectures about resource management, this is the dumbest thing you’ve done."

Nora’s mouth twitched, and Ethan shot her a look. "Don’t you dare laugh."

She chuckled and raised her hands up, then turned around.

Ethan closed the system screen still hanging at the edge of his vision and stood.

The frustration was real... three potential undead gone because he had prioritized moving quickly.

He sighed. They were running out of time. Dwelling on this cost more than the failed raises already had.

"New rule," he said, turning back toward the exit tunnel. "From this point on, don’t completely destroy the corpses if you can. You can do anything you want with it as long as it can still walk..."

Lila waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah. Message received."

"I’m serious."

"I know." She said as her smile softened "I’ll leave you something to play with next time."

Nora was already moving toward the tunnel. "Let’s get moving. Time is ticking."

Ethan gave the failed corpses one last glance and followed.

Bef ran ahead, and the Iron Golem fell into step behind them as Ethan made a mental note to never make this mistake again.

***

The corridor beyond the first chamber was narrower than the entrance path. The walls were closer, and the blue veins were thicker along the stone.

The air stayed dense and every few meters the rock showed the same cracking they had seen before the collapse branch before caving in again.

Ethan kept Death Link on Bef periodically as full continuous feed would eat at the pool for little gain. The failed raises had cost him thirty-four Death Energy he would not get back but the remainder was still comfortable. It would stay that way only if he stopped paying for mistakes.

"You’re quiet," Lila said after a while.

"I’m thinking for the next fight." He adjusted a command to the golem. "If the second chamber runs the same way as the first, we clear it clean and take back usable bodies."

Nora replied. "Previous groups did not mention active layout change. If the dungeon is still shifting, the second chamber may not match the first in size or the monsters may not spawn the same way. Consider that too."

"I woll."

Lila glanced at him. "As long as we don’t stop in the middle of a fight so you can scold me about overcooking the loot, I’m fine."

"That depends on whether you overcook the loot."

"Tyrant."

Soon, they made it towards the second chamber. The entrance opened ahead in a broader arch of cracked stone.

The light inside was weaker and the space felt larger than the first chamber with a higher ceiling. Ethan took a short Death Link reading through Bef as the wolf came close to the threshold. There were four signatures this time, possibly five as one of them bigger than the Stone Golems they had already fight

He cut the link and let the information settle.

"Four, maybe five," he said under his breath. "One bigger than the rest."

Lila flexed her arm. "Ready?"

The iron golem stepped forward and took a stance. "Just don’t burn the loot."