Undead Creatures

(Thanks for everyone's support!!)

Ever since he hunted his first prey—two Horned Deer—and sold the fresh carcasses for three Silver Moon coins, Donald had thrown himself into the grand cause of hunting magical beasts with great excitement.

After giving brief instructions to his Steward, Donald rushed outside the town to rendezvous with his Jackal, stepping once again into the dangerous forest.

This time, with his summoned creature leading the way to scout ahead, many situations were anticipated in advance. Donald found moving through the woods much easier; no longer needing to look over his shoulder, his pace increased significantly.

Before long, having ventured deep into the outer forest zone where low-level magical beasts roamed, Donald and his summoned creature encountered their first ambush.

A dark brown shadow suddenly flashed through the bushes. The alert Jackal in the lead faltered, let out a miserable howl, and began to grapple with the creature that had attacked it.

Donald looked closely and saw a dark brown, snake-like creature, resembling a piece of withered wood or stone, biting down on the Jackal's front leg and refusing to let go.

Is this a Rank 2 Stone Snake? This discovery gave Donald a jolt, leaving him feeling a mix of lingering fear and relief. If he had been the one in the lead, he likely would have been successfully ambushed and would be near death by now.

The Stone Snake's attack power was not much higher than that of a common grass snake, but its natural camouflage made it an expert at ambushing. For a hunter walking the mountains and forests, the fear was not facing large magical beasts head-on, but rather the sneak attacks of small things like the Stone Snake.

To hold a Rank 2 status with relatively weak abilities, the Stone Snake must have its unique traits: a tough exterior and a venom that, while not instantly fatal, could paralyze prey in an instant.

It was fortunate that he had a summoned creature in front; had it been himself, he would never have detected the Stone Snake's camouflage and would have been left waiting for death in this forest.

Wiping away cold sweat, Donald tightened his face, pulled an arrow from his quiver, and stepped forward.

Once bitten by a Stone Snake, ordinary beasts or even magical beasts with strong physiques would stiffen and fall into a state of paralysis within seconds. However, his Jackal was a lifeform manifested from energy; although the paralytic venom was potent, its effect on a summoned creature was greatly diminished, which was why the Jackal could maintain its mobility.

"This Stone Snake's defensive power is truly formidable!"

Seeing that the snake's body showed no wounds despite being mauled by the Jackal for so long, still biting the prey's leg firmly, Donald marveled at its tenacious vitality.

However, knowing the well-known weakness of the Stone Snake, Donald had a way to easily resolve this. Thinking that a Rank 2 Magic Core was about to be in his hands, and that it had come so easily, Donald couldn't help but want to laugh.

After reaching the Jackal, he ordered it to pin the Stone Snake's body with its mouth and claws. Donald stepped on the snake's tail, pinched the snake's neck—which was clamped firmly onto the Jackal's leg—with one hand, and thrust his sharp arrow into the gap between the snake's jaws.

"Die!"

With a few chi-chi sounds, the Stone Snake, now pierced through the belly, fell off the Jackal's leg. It rolled on the ground, struggled for a moment, and then went stiff and still.

As it turned out, many people had died to Stone Snakes over the years. These small creatures were adept at stealthy ambushes and were more dangerous than many higher-ranked magical beasts. Yet, they had one major weakness: despite their strong external defense, their internal bodies were relatively fragile. As long as one avoided the initial ambush, they could be easily dealt with. After all, hadn't Donald just ended its life with a single wooden arrow tipped with iron?

After simply processing the prey, Donald frowned as he looked at the Jackal's injured front leg. Because it was a temporarily summoned creature—an energy construct rather than a permanent physical entity—the wound began to heal automatically after a short while. However, the Jackal's demeanor seemed slightly lethargic, and its size appeared to have shrunk a little compared to before.

"Forget it! You can't catch a magical beast without sacrificing a Magic Core. Having an extra summoned creature makes hunting much safer!"

With some reluctance, he took out the remaining Rank 1 Magic Core he had just obtained, which he hadn't even had time to warm up, and summoned another creature.

This time, he summoned a Spike Beast, one of the common Rank 1 wild monsters. It was the same rank as the Jackal, but this creature's porcupine-like back spikes gave it a ranged attack capability, and its own defense was superior to the Jackal's. With the two complementing each other, their combat effectiveness rose sharply, giving him some confidence in dealing with certain Rank 2 magical beasts known for their physical prowess.

Having summoned his second helper, Donald continued toward the depths of the forest.

Before long, Donald arrived at an unfamiliar area.

Before him lay a small patch of forest where the grass and trees were withered and yellow. Compared to the lush, towering forest he had come through, this place looked like a diseased patch of skin on a great forest. Furthermore, the moment he stepped inside, he felt an inexplicably uncomfortable aura.

Donald would later learn that such areas were called the Withered Land by many Adventurers. They were mostly places where negative energy gathered, making it difficult for normal plants and living things to grow, hence the desolate appearance. Once wild beasts or magical beasts died here, or if the souls of deceased hunters or Adventurers found no rest, their corpses would, over time, easily become corrupted by negative energy and mutate into undead creatures.

Two figures wandered over from the distance. Because the withered bushes obstructed his view, his sight was blurry. Donald initially thought they were other Adventurers or hunters, but as they drew closer, he realized—these weren't people at all! They were clearly two eerie, terrifying Skeletons!

Gods above, why does this world even have Skeletons? Could it be that the Creator of this world also played single-player and online games from Earth?

Even with his string of bizarre experiences—transmigration, rebirth, and the summoning ability of the Book of Truth—he couldn't help but be greatly shocked by the appearance of these Skeletons, leaving him essentially speechless.

In reality, in this high-magic world, because elemental energy was abundant, negative energy was naturally the same. Especially in sunless canyons, jungles, or gloomy graveyards, it was very easy for undead creatures to breed. Encountering undead in the wild was perfectly normal.

Such undead creatures had no souls; they only possessed soul-fire with simple consciousness. Compared to magical beasts, which were treasures from head to toe, they were completely worthless. And since he wasn't a Necromancer who could control corpses, Donald hadn't intended to bother with them at first.

However, the two Skeletons sensed the aura of the living. Two red lights in their hollow eye sockets flickered violently, and they raised their nearly useless rusted swords, let out a silent cry, and charged toward Donald.

If Donald had retreated from this wasteland quickly, the Skeletons, unable to sense the aura of the living, would have stopped. Undead creatures generally would not leave their nests; they only felt instinctively comfortable in places rich with negative energy.

Therefore, as long as he left this area, he could quickly shake off the entanglement of the undead.

Most Adventurers in the wild would take a detour when encountering undead; unless absolutely necessary, they would not actively provoke these spirits. This was because there was basically no harvest to be had from destroying them, and the negative energy carried by undead creatures sometimes contained plague viruses, which were extremely harmful to the human body. Except for spellcasters, it was difficult for warrior-class individuals to purge this themselves, unless they had a Priest or Mage to cast divine or arcane spells for purification.

Contracting those negative toxins in the wilderness could be fatal if one couldn't reach the nearest temple or altar in time.

Thus, unless the undead creature had been a powerful Adventurer in life and might still have some valuable wealth or equipment on its person, Adventurers would rarely be willing to deal with the undead, driven by profit.

However, Donald had a change of thought. He might encounter undead in the future, and as a living being, his stance would inevitably be hostile toward them. It would be better to test their strength now so he would be better prepared to deal with them later.

Consequently, Donald loudly ordered his two summoned creatures to attack.

"Go! Tear these bone-bags apart for me!"

The Jackal, possessing the strength of a Black Iron-rank warrior, pounced fiercely and began to maul the two Skeletons. Before long, it had torn off the leg bone of one of them. The newly summoned Spike Beast's attacks, however, had basically no effect on the hollow-boned Skeletons, so it could only cheer from the sidelines.

Through Donald's observation, he discovered that this human Skeleton had roughly the same strength as an ordinary, healthy adult man. However, having lost its flesh and blood, the Skeleton's mobility was far inferior to a living person; its sluggishness and stiffness were clearly visible in its movements.

The Skeleton's advantage lay in its lack of fear of death; even if its bones were scattered, it would reassemble after a night of nourishment from negative energy.

Therefore, after the Jackal dismantled the two poor Skeletons, Donald immediately picked up his iron sword, preparing to destroy the soul-fire within their skulls to finish them off completely.

However, as he approached the skulls, a prompt from the Book of Truth echoed in his mind.

"Absorbable soul power detected. Do you wish to absorb it?"

Donald was startled, then overjoyed.

So, soul power is only absorbed by the Book of Truth when I destroy enemies. These undead creatures are actually a source of soul power! If I kill a human, would it be the same?

Thinking of this, Donald shook his head violently, immediately dismissing the thought. Killing undead creatures was essentially ridding the people of a scourge, carrying no psychological burden, but killing humans was different! Having lived in a civilized society for nearly thirty years, he could not bring himself to kill people without cause simply for soul power.

"Better to go kill a few more skeletons. They're undead anyway; once I have enough soul power, I can create my own exclusive subordinates!"

Where there is one undead creature, there is bound to be a second; in his memory, undead usually appeared in clusters. Donald ordered the Jackal to take the lead and the Spike Beast to follow, guarding him as he walked deeper into the wasteland.

Permanent summoning costs vary depending on the level of the creature being created.

Aside from the energy required to construct the physical body, humanoid intelligent creatures below level two require fifty units of soul power, while non-humanoid creatures require only ten.

Official units reaching level two, due to their inherent strength, require at least two hundred units of soul power to create, level three requires at least five hundred, and level four as much as one thousand.

As for creating heroes and rare units or monsters above level five, one must possess up to five thousand units of soul power to achieve the perfect soul required for the condition.

A low-level skeleton provides about thirty units of soul power, meaning that after absorbing the two soul fires from before, he could now create a permanently existing Human Footman, plus one non-humanoid creature.

However, he did not intend to create a peasant, as they were of little use beyond tending to farms, and even if they could be converted into militia, their combat effectiveness was extremely low.

Relatively speaking, existences below level two were quite cheap, but essentially useless, so he planned to accumulate enough soul power first before creating powerful combat units.

This desolate jungle area was not large, and the number of undead that could spawn was too few. Donald quickly swept through the area, finding and eliminating only three humanoid skeletons and five skeleton beasts before he could no longer find any targets.

The soul fire of low-level undead provided too little soul power, totaling just under three hundred units, but it was just enough for him to permanently summon his first level-two unit.

Since he happened to have a level-two Magic Core on hand for energy, Donald did not hesitate. He immediately opened the Book of Truth and browsed through all the options for level-two units, including wild units.

"Undead creatures and spirits are taboo among human factions, and the Orcs have been at odds with humans for millennia, so they certainly won't do. In this world, Night Elves are rumored to be evil creatures, so that leaves only humans, dwarves, and high elves as choices!"

In the end, Donald settled on one of them. Dwarves and high elves appearing now would be too high-profile for him; it was said that after the Great Migration of the elves, they rarely came to the northern part of the continent, let alone the frigid Northern Kingdom. If an elf were to suddenly pop up, it would surely attract a large crowd of onlookers.

Therefore, Donald chose the Human Footman, produced by the primary unit building, the Barracks.

"It's you! Come forth, Human Footman!"

A sacred light flashed, completely different from the summoning circle of a temporary summon. A humanoid creature with a high nose, deep-set eyes, and brown hair and eyes—looking no different from the native human males of this world—appeared before Donald.

Seeing the sturdy steel armor covering his body, along with the heavy sword and shield in his hands, he was indeed a fully armed primary human unit, equivalent to a mid-level Black Iron warrior in this world.

"Master!"

Seeing this strong warrior kneel on one knee to express his loyalty and respect, a great sense of satisfaction welled up in Donald's heart. He asked, "Very good! Rise! Do you have a name?"

"Master, I have no name. Everything I am is bestowed by you; please grant me a name!"

After thinking for a moment, seeing that the footman resembled someone from his memories when he was young, Donald said with a bit of mischievous humor:

"Very well, from today on, you shall be called Clinton! From now on, you are my footman captain, and in the future, my Grand Marshal of Infantry!"

"As you command, great Master. Clinton shall follow your footsteps, loyal until death!"

Having obtained his first permanent summon, his safety in this world was finally somewhat guaranteed. Having also played a prank on the former president from his past life, Donald couldn't hide the smile on his lips. In high spirits, protected by his two summoned creatures and the footman Clinton, he headed toward the depths of the forest beyond this wasteland.

With the protection of this heavy infantryman, he expected this forest excursion to be highly rewarding!

Character Stats

Human Footman:

After years of constant warfare caused massive casualties in the Alliance army, the addition of many new recruits timely replenished the ranks. Footmen who have received formal swordsmanship training serve as the vanguard and defensive troops of the Alliance. Equipped with broadswords and heavy shields, footmen can effectively dismantle enemy offensives.

Soul Level: LV2-1. Growth: 35 points

Growth Path: Guardian, Swordsman, Shield Guard

Equipped Weapons: Steel Longsword (1.1-1.2 meter standard longsword, depending on height), Standard Swordsman Armor, Steel Shield.

Energy Cost to Summon: 130 points, of which 70 points are for the character, requiring 200 units of soul power.

Abilities:

Swordsmanship Mastery: Proficient in using longswords for close-quarters combat.

--A sturdy Lordaeron male can become a proficient Lordaeron infantryman after 3 years of national guard training.

When Soul Level reaches LV2-2 (Veteran promotion), gains ability:

Shield Block: You are proficient in the use of shields; you can now skillfully use your shield for parrying weapons, deflecting force, and other techniques.

When Soul Level reaches LV2-3 (Sergeant Major promotion), unlocks profession:

Qi Sense: You have now mastered the preliminary use of Qi. You can utilize certain warrior techniques.