Rewards

After landing, Rhode himself wasn't feeling great either.

Given Rhode's current constitution attribute value, jumping from a height of five or six meters was already pushing it. On top of that, because he had to assassinate the Necromancer Apprentice, he couldn't use a roll to absorb the impact and had to fully endure the shock of landing.

Rhode only felt his legs go numb instantly—possibly fractured—while a sharp pain shot through his waist.

Taking advantage of the moment the surrounding Undead Creatures lost control, Rhode glanced at the system log.

"..."

"You have slain a second-tier hero."

"Glorious victory! You have gained 400 Experience Points!"

"You have obtained the Speed Achievement [Brave One]."

"[Brave One]: Slay a creature one tier higher than yourself alone. Base reward: 1 Skill Point. When equipped, increases damage dealt to creatures of a higher tier than you by 10%."

"You have obtained the Speed Achievement [Blood of the Hero]."

"[Blood of the Hero]: Slay a hero. Base reward: All attributes +1. When equipped, increases damage dealt to heroes by 20%."

"After slaying a hero, your Hero Specialty has been partially activated. (1/3)"

The flood of rewards displayed in the system log caught Rhode off guard. He hadn't expected that this Necromancer Apprentice was actually a hero.

Indeed, thinking back carefully, Rhode noticed the things about this apprentice that set him apart from ordinary people.

The sheer number of Undead Creatures this Necromancer Apprentice controlled was far too massive. Whether it was the considerable amount of Walking Corpses and Skeleton Soldiers, or these Skeleton Warriors, based on Rhode's understanding of necromancers, an apprentice-level necromancer had no business controlling so many Undead Creatures.

When a necromancer controls Undead Creatures, they need to expend a portion of their Spirit attribute. When an Undead Creature dies, the Spirit attribute it occupied is returned.

When a necromancer controls too many Undead Creatures at once, their Spirit attribute becomes extremely low, and the effects of their spells are weakened to a certain degree. This is a balance measure to prevent necromancers from becoming too powerful.

Through meditation, necromancers can obtain a dedicated Control Spirit attribute, which replaces the Spirit attribute for controlling Undead Creatures, compensating for the deficiency in Spirit.

Even with that extra Control Spirit attribute, the number of Undead Creatures this apprentice controlled was beyond Rhode's expectations. When he observed earlier, Rhode hadn't thought anything was off, but now that he knew the apprentice was a hero, looking back made it easy to spot these issues.

Without examining the achievements he'd gained in detail, Rhode confirmed he'd received a large amount of Experience Points and, without a second thought, directly chose to level up.

"Consumed 300 Experience Points, remaining 125 Experience Points. Class Level raised from 1st-tier Militiaman Level 6 to 1st-tier Militiaman Level 10..."

"Obtained 4 Free Attribute Points, obtained 4 Skill Points..."

Rhode quickly allocated 2 Free Attribute Points to Constitution to heal the injuries in his legs, then put 1 Attribute Point into Strength and 1 into Speed. At the same time, he spent 2 Skill Points to learn Advanced Swordsmanship.

(Advanced Swordsmanship: Long-term honing of swordsmanship has allowed you to master various sword techniques and lethal moves. You have integrated the swordsmanship you've learned into your instincts. Relying solely on the instincts brought by swordsmanship, you can unleash the most appropriate moves in suitable situations. You can easily wield any type of sword. Damage dealt by sword-type weapons increased by 30%.)

Assigning points with his mind happened in an instant. By the time Rhode finished all this, the remaining Undead Creatures had already raised their weapons and charged at him.

After the Necromancer Apprentice died, the Undead Creatures he controlled in life reverted to their nature: to destroy living beings. Rhode hadn't yet mastered the techniques to control undead, or he could have directly taken command of these low-tier undead now that their necromancer was gone.

The healing effect from allocating Free Attribute Points to Constitution was immediate. The pain in Rhode's legs had completely vanished. He gave his legs a slight test push and found no major issues.

Two Skeleton Warriors not far away had already rushed to Rhode's side. Rhode drew his sword, ready to engage.

Just then, Rhode suddenly felt a chill of dread from behind. Without time to think, he quickly rolled in one direction, narrowly avoiding the attack from an unknown source.

The Skeleton Warrior that had just charged to Rhode's previous position wasn't so lucky. It took the full brunt of the attack, its Iron Armor dented inward, and who knew how many of its ribs were broken.

After finishing his roll, Rhode quickly got up and looked toward the direction of the attack. To his surprise, the Necromancer Apprentice he had killed earlier was standing up again, though its head hung low and its body was poised in an attacking stance.

This caught Rhode off guard. For a moment, he watched as the risen apprentice launched another attack at the nearby Skeleton Warrior. With a single punch, it deformed the shield the Skeleton Warrior used to block. The spot where the Skeleton Warrior struck it produced a sound of clashing metal, as if nothing had happened, and it continued attacking.

"Is this... an Undead Mutation? Or Magic Energy Modification?" Rhode pondered inwardly.

Since the system log showed the Experience Points he'd gained, Rhode was certain he had successfully killed the Necromancer Apprentice. Now that the apprentice's corpse had risen again and was attacking indiscriminately, Rhode began guessing at the reason for the change in its body.

Drawing on some knowledge from his past life, Rhode started to recall.

The first thing that came to mind was Undead Mutation. In the game from his past life, many powerful necromancers Rhode killed would pull this trick after death.

Because powerful necromancers' bodies contained a vast amount of Death Energy, when the necromancer died, this Death Energy would lose control and transform the necromancer's corpse into a Lich in a short time—that was Undead Mutation.

But for a Necromancer Apprentice, the Death Energy required for Undead Mutation was far too great and generally unlikely to occur. Besides, a Lich's fighting style didn't match what Rhode was seeing. With that in mind, Rhode ruled out Undead Mutation.

Rhode observed the reanimated apprentice. Its torso hung in an unnatural, drooping posture, but its limbs were extremely agile. It parried the attacks of two Skeleton Warriors simultaneously, and in the clash of fists and swords, it held its ground, even chipping the blades slightly.

Based on the apprentice's current fighting style and the abnormal changes possible at the apprentice level, Rhode quickly deduced the reason for the corpse's transformation.

"Magic Energy Modification, huh..." Rhode concluded, watching the apprentice's corpse now locked in combat with the Skeleton Warriors.

Because magic-class professionals have mana within their bodies, when a caster dies, this mana dissipates. Magic Energy Modification uses certain methods of controlling the undead to bind the mana that would otherwise dissipate within the body, allowing the caster's corpse to expend the mana through physical combat.

Compared to Undead Mutation, the requirements for Magic Energy Modification were much lower. Any caster with mana could undergo this modification. However, the success rate was extremely low, and it only took effect after death, so generally, not many people actively sought it out.

Rhode recalled that in the game from his past life, this modification was mostly used for suicide soldiers on the battlefield.

By now, the Undead Creatures around Rhode had closed in. The closest to him were some Skeleton Soldiers, while the Walking Corpses were still lumbering toward him due to their slower speed. Rhode had no choice but to deal with these undead first.

Since the reanimated apprentice's corpse didn't belong to the undead race, it was also being attacked by the Undead Creatures. The two Skeleton Warriors Rhode feared most were currently engaged with the apprentice's corpse, and neither side could finish the other off for the time being.

With the threat of the Skeleton Warriors gone, Rhode, relying on his newly boosted strength, could easily handle the remaining undead. Without waiting for the surrounding Undead Creatures to get any closer, Rhode charged at the Skeleton Soldier beside him.