This Fifth Rank mage skeleton wouldn't be a one-off. As long as Sindasa the Blue Dragon kept donating blood, more Fifth Rank skeletons could be cultivated.
Of course, Fifth Rank skeletons weren't cabbages. Carefully cultivating one was extremely costly, requiring a great deal of time and Blue Dragon blood.
To lower the cost, the Red Bone skeletons needed to start at a higher level.
That required Medivn's mage rank to rise. Each minor advancement he made would reduce the cost of cultivating a Fifth Rank skeleton by one tier.
If he advanced by one full rank, Fifth Rank skeletons could be directly smelted and revived.
But advancing as a mage wasn't easy. The higher one progressed, the harder it became to rise another rank.
It had been over two years since Medivh advanced to Fourth Rank low-level Necromancer, and he hadn't even touched the threshold of Fourth Rank intermediate. His next advancement was still a long way off.
Amid this quiet development, February of the following year arrived in the blink of an eye.
The native forces of the Gamma Plane had recognized the situation and chosen to yield, handing over vast tracts of land.
The Odyssey Expeditionary Legion seized the opportunity, annexing the territories the native forces had strategically abandoned.
As the Odyssey Expeditionary Legion reaped the spoils, another native force entered the fray to grab a share. In the end, the front lines settled into a tripartite standoff.
If the Odyssey Expeditionary Legion continued to expand, it would face attacks from two native kingdoms, doubling the pressure.
The Odyssey City-State knew when to stop. It avoided clashing with the newly arrived Gnoll Kingdom and didn't keep pursuing the retreating Porcupine Kingdom.
The Second War of Expansion drew to a close. The Odyssey City-State Council honored its promise and