Two days passed.
Inside the tomb, blue-black Wolf Corpses lay in a row, their bodies cold and stiff. Rhode stood beside them, checking how far their transformation had progressed.
Aside from the Wolf Corpses, Rhode controlled all the other Walking Corpses. They were now stationed in different places according to his arrangements.
Judging by appearance alone, Rhode couldn't tell how far the Wolf Corpses had transformed.
Rhode tried using Soul Summoning on one of them. The system informed him that it would take 4 Mana to awaken it.
The Wolf Corpses had been transforming in the tomb for only two days, so they weren't fully transformed yet. Still, compared to the 30 Mana required when he'd first used Soul Summoning, this was a vast improvement.
Rhode felt a surge of impatience. Even though he knew the Wolf Corpses were nearly done transforming, he couldn't afford to wait much longer.
With Soul Summoning and his increased Spirit attribute, Rhode could easily sense the Death Energy growing denser in the tomb.
Compared to when he'd first awakened, the Death Energy in the tomb had risen by more than one level.
In theory, the increase in Death Energy should have sped up the Wolf Corpses' transformation. Yet instead of looking pleased, Rhode's expression grew even more solemn.
As the Death Energy gathered, Rhode developed a growing sense of foreboding.
His experience from his previous life told him that any undead creature capable of radiating Death Energy and helping a necromancer transform undead creatures had to be at least Tier Three.
Now, the increasingly dense Death Energy was unmistakably warning Rhode that the undead creature sleeping in the coffin was about to advance.
At first, Alot had placed the corpses here to transform them into undead creatures with the help of the Death Energy in the tomb.
The corpses transformed by absorbing Death Energy. Its depletion had not slowed the undead creature's advancement; on the contrary, it had stimulated it, allowing it to advance faster.
Not long ago, Rhode had also killed a pack of wolves here. The Death Energy released when the wolves died, as well as the transformation that followed, had likewise accelerated the undead creature's advancement and helped it progress further.
Whether it was the increase in Death Energy or the warning from his senses, everything made it clear to Rhode that the undead creature deep in the tomb was on the verge of completing its advancement.
If he waited any longer, Rhode couldn't predict what might happen. The undead creature might advance before the Corpse Wolves had finished transforming.
Over the past few days, Rhode hadn't spent all his time meditating.
After one meditation session, Rhode searched the area around the tomb while recovering from his slight mental fatigue. He also made a series of preparations for battle.
Rhode gathered the various weapons and pieces of equipment left on the battlefield. Then, using the weapons he'd collected, he managed to chop down several trees.
The trees in the forest were huge, and after processing them, the wood from just a few trees was enough for Rhode's purposes. The price was that, due to their shoddy construction, several weapons had been nicked while chopping the trees, leaving them fit only for his undead minions to use.
Fortunately, Rhode had gathered more than enough wood. With the Space Ring, he could move it all into the tomb without much effort, though he had to make several trips.
Rhode's original plan was to cover every passage in the tomb with the wood, then set it alight and smoke out the undead creature sleeping inside.
As far as Rhode knew, few undead creatures could withstand being burned.
The awakened undead creature would have to travel through the entire tomb, whose passages would be filled with flames. Rhode would only need to wait at the tomb's exit and kill it after it had been gravely wounded.
Since he couldn't use fire spells, Rhode spent 1 Skill Point to learn Beginner Fire Magic.
(Beginner Fire Magic: Through meditation, you have successfully established a connection with the free-floating Fire Magic Elements. Thanks to this tenuous connection, you find it easier to cast any fire spell. You gain a greater advantage when using fire spells. The effects of your fire spells are slightly enhanced, and their damage increases by 10%.)
After learning Beginner Fire Magic, Rhode could spend Mana to create a small flame and use it to ignite the wood.
But with Rhode's plan, the tomb's environment posed a major problem. Flames needed good airflow to burn fiercely, since they depended on oxygen in the air.
Rhode felt it would be difficult to make the entire tomb burn using only the air already inside.
According to his original plan, he would need to spend 1 more Skill Point to learn Beginner Air Magic and circulate the air in the tomb. But with too few Skill Points and the large amount of Mana needed to control the airflow, Rhode could only change his plan.
Rhode didn't cover the entire passage with wood. Instead, he placed it in several different spots. In the main burial chamber, where the coffin stood, he piled a large amount of wood around it.
In the passage he'd originally used to hold back the Wolf Pack, Rhode used the Space Ring to stack a large number of logs, leaving only a narrow way in and out.
To carry the logs and make his other preparations, Rhode moved everything in the Space Ring to an open area outside the tomb.
Rhode had originally wanted to wait until the Corpse Wolves had fully transformed, then control them by spending only a little Mana. But the Death Energy wafting out of the burial chamber was growing denser and denser, and he knew he couldn't wait any longer.
Rhode used Soul Summoning to awaken the wolf corpses on the ground.
As his Mana dwindled, the wolves that had been dead began to rise. Pairs of green-glowing eyes fixed on Rhode as they waited for his orders.
Rhode spent 34 Mana to awaken the group of Corpse Wolves. The Wolf King took the most Mana to awaken and occupied the greatest amount of his Spirit attribute.
During these past few days of meditation, Rhode had applied a few techniques he'd learned in his previous life. Though he still hadn't entered deep meditation, he'd greatly improved his meditation efficiency.
After meditating, Rhode had raised his Mana to the highest level currently possible for him. Due to his Knowledge attribute, his maximum Mana was 50, and he had 16 remaining.
After awakening the Corpse Wolves, Rhode took special care to test the Wolf King's abilities and see what it had retained.
The result was just as Rhode had expected: it had retained no abilities. It could use neither Leadership Technique nor Magic Arrow; its only advantage over ordinary Corpse Wolves was its superior physical strength.
Rhode wasn't disappointed. Even the corpse of a great mage couldn't cast spells if it was turned into a Walking Corpse instead of a Lich.
Through his Mental Mark, Rhode gave the Corpse Wolves an order. At once, they ran through the passage and out of the tomb. All the preparations were complete.
Looking at the narrow passage ahead and the Walking Corpses wearing Iron Armor, Rhode raised a flame in his hand.
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