As the leader of the Wolf Pack, the Wolf King was physically stronger than ordinary wolves. Its higher rank set it apart from them, allowing it to cast spells and use Leadership Technique to command the Wolf Pack.
Besides these abilities, its higher rank had also granted the Wolf King wisdom unlike that of other beasts.
When facing a powerful enemy, the Wolf King should have charged at the very front of its pack, being the strongest of them all. But after gaining intelligence, it was hard to say how much courage it had left. In its place was a deep fear of death.
Perhaps it was this trait that made the Wolf King so sensitive to danger. When it spotted prey, it could charge at the front. But when it came to a real fight to the death, it chose to command its wolves to charge while it stayed behind and cast spells.
Unwilling to get hurt or charge into battle, the Wolf King only wanted to rely on Leadership Technique and magic to fight. Rhode couldn't help but sigh at its behavior. That's just human nature!
That was why the Wolf Pack had ultimately lost. If the Wolf King had relied on its physical strength to lead its underlings at the front of the passage, while also using its magic, Rhode couldn't have defeated the pack so easily.
At that moment, the Wolf King was dodging the Walking Corpses' attacks. To Rhode, despite its still-massive build, it was nothing more than a stray dog.
The Wolf King was intent on escaping and paid no attention to the Walking Corpses' attacks, simply charging toward gaps between them. But with all the Walking Corpses closing in, it couldn't get past them.
Rhode spotted an opening and used Mental Mark to control a Walking Corpse, making it grab at one of the Wolf King's legs. The Wolf King couldn't dodge in time, and the Walking Corpse caught one of its hind legs.
The Wolf King immediately turned and bit down on the Walking Corpse's rotten arm. Then it twisted its body sharply and tore off a large chunk of Flesh and Blood.
Only half the skin still connected the Walking Corpse's arm, and its exposed bone could be seen from the side.
Even so, the Walking Corpse didn't let go. Instead, it seized the opportunity to grab the Wolf King's leg with its other hand. The nature of an Undead Creature was on full display.
The Walking Corpse had managed to grab the Wolf King's leg like this because Rhode was controlling it. Without his control, it would only have attacked the Wolf King with its claws on instinct instead of holding on so tightly.
While the Wolf King kept dodging, it was difficult for the Walking Corpses to inflict enough damage. But grabbing it was another matter.
This was often how things went. Undead Creatures fought purely on instinct, and even with their tenacious bodies, they didn't know how to make the most of them. Only under a Necromancer's control could they reach their full potential.
The Wolf King had let its guard down and been grabbed by a Walking Corpse. Its bite as it turned around had failed. Before it could do anything else, the Walking Corpses around it closed in.
Under Rhode's control, the Walking Corpses all reached for the Wolf King, trying to grab it.
With one leg caught, the Wolf King couldn't move freely. Unable to dodge, it was grabbed by the surrounding Walking Corpses. As it struggled, it lost its balance and fell to the ground.
Once it was down, the Walking Corpses pressed their hands against its body. There were so many of them that no matter how fiercely the Wolf King struggled, it couldn't break free. With them all pushing together, it could only be pinned to the ground.
If the Walking Corpses had been a group of people, even with Rhode directing them, they couldn't have coordinated so well. Nor could they have overcome their biological fear and pinned the Wolf King to the ground with their bare hands like this.
Only a Necromancer could use such a tactic while controlling Undead Creatures.
The Wolf King tried to struggle, but some Walking Corpses held its legs while others pinned it down. Its efforts were futile.
Suddenly, the pressure on the Wolf King's body eased. It was just about to roll over with all its might when a flash of cold light came down from above. Then it felt a pain in its body, and afterward, it couldn't feel anything at all...
"You have earned the Speed Achievement [Undead Controller]." "[Undead Controller]: Control an Undead Creature to kill an ordinary creature. Basic reward: Control Spirit +1." "..." "Glorious victory! You gained a total of 210 experience points in this battle!" ...
Rhode sheathed his sword. With the Wolf King dead, he had the Walking Corpses around it release their grip.
Rhode checked the system log. He had gained a total of 210 experience points in his battle against the Wolf Pack.
Of those 210 experience points, only 60 came from the Wolf King. Ordinary wolves provided the same amount of experience as Walking Corpses: 15 points each.
Rhode remembered that when he had killed the apprentice Alot, he had earned a full 400 experience points. Killing this pack of wolves had only earned him half as much.
It was no wonder Rhode sighed. Killing heroes still gave the most experience. Compared to creatures of the same rank, heroes provided about five times as much experience, and the stronger the hero, the higher the multiplier.
This was also meant to encourage players to challenge powerful heroes.
Among creatures of the same rank, spellcasters provided the most experience. Combined with the hero bonus, that was why the hero Alot had been worth 400 experience points.
"Spent 200 experience points. Remaining experience: 145. Class Level increased to Swordsman Level 3, Rank 2..."
"Received 1 Free Attribute Point. Received 1 Skill Point..."
After leveling up, Rhode assigned his 1 Free Attribute Point to Knowledge, since he was currently short on mana.
As he checked the system log, Rhode also saw the notification that he had earned an achievement.
Rhode looked at his character attributes. A new attribute had appeared after the original five: Control Spirit. It was currently at 1 point.
Control Spirit was an attribute exclusive to Necromancers. It could be gained through meditation or by earning various Necromancer achievements.
Meditation alone rarely granted Control Spirit unless it was deep meditation. Most ordinary players raised their Control Spirit by earning Necromancer achievements.
Rhode currently controlled 10 Walking Corpses, and each one's Mental Mark took up 0.15 points of his spirit attribute. Even if a Walking Corpse had its leg bitten off or suffered severe injuries, the amount of spirit it occupied didn't decrease.
After gaining 1 point of Control Spirit, the 1 point of spirit attribute that had previously been occupied was returned to him.
After killing the Wolf Pack, Rhode didn't stop there. He controlled the nearby Walking Corpses and had them carry the wolves' bodies into the hall where he had laid out the corpses earlier, placing them alongside the Walking Corpses whose Soul Fires hadn't been activated.
Rhode inspected the wolves' corpses on the ground. Most had sizable wounds from his sword, and a few had been decapitated outright.
The decapitated wolf corpses couldn't be transformed into Undead Creatures, since they were missing the part that generated Soul Fire.
Of all the wolf corpses scattered across the ground, the Wolf King had the fewest wounds, with only one fatal injury. Rhode had made sure not to damage it too badly, piercing its heart with a single thrust.
Rhode tried changing his title to [Necromancer]. After gaining +1 to his Soul Summoning skill level, he used Soul Summoning on one of the wolf corpses on the ground. The system told him that he needed 30 mana to transform it into an Undead Creature immediately. Rhode clearly didn't have enough mana.
Looking at the corpses scattered across the ground, Rhode decided to leave them here to transform. The Death Energy provided by the tomb would save him the mana he would otherwise need to modify their bodies.
All Rhode had to do now was wait for the tomb to finish modifying them.
A bloody stench filled the tomb. The Death Energy, as if stirred by it, grew ever more concentrated. It nourished the wolf corpses laid out on the ground, and Rhode couldn't tell whether that was a good thing or not...
Rhode left the tomb. Even after such a battle, it was still the middle of the night outside.
The tomb was full of the stench of blood, and there were other reasons as well. Rhode chose not to meditate inside it. Instead, he returned to the spot where he had meditated earlier and sat cross-legged.
The moonlight remained calm. If not for the Walking Corpses lying about, half-eaten, no one would have known that a pack of wolves had ever been here.
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