Undead

Since hunting his first prey—two Horned Deer—and selling the fresh game for three Silver Moons, Donald had thrown himself into the grand endeavor of hunting magical beasts with great enthusiasm.

After hurriedly giving the steward his instructions, Donald rushed outside town to meet up with his Jackal, then entered the dangerous forest once more.

This time, with his summoned creatures leading the way, they could anticipate many dangers in advance. Moving through the woods was much easier for Donald now; he no longer had to watch every direction, and his pace had increased considerably.

Before long, they had reached an area on the outskirts of the forest where low-level magical beasts roamed. Donald and his summoned creatures encountered their first magical beast attack.

A deep-brown shadow suddenly flashed through the bushes. The alert Jackal, walking in front, abruptly stiffened, then let out a pained howl and began fighting the creature that had attacked it.

Donald took a closer look. A deep-brown, snake-like creature, resembling deadwood and dirt-covered stone, had bitten down on the Jackal's foreleg and was clinging to it without letting go.

"Is that a Level Two magical beast, a Stone Snake?" The discovery startled Donald, and he couldn't help feeling both shaken and relieved. If he had been walking in front, he would probably have been ambushed by now and would have been close to death.

The Stone Snake's attack power was not much greater than that of an ordinary grass snake, but its natural camouflage made it an expert ambusher. For hunters who traveled through the mountains and forests, what they feared wasn't facing a large magical beast head-on, but being ambushed by little creatures like Stone Snakes.

If the Stone Snake could rank as a Level Two magical beast despite its relatively weak abilities, it had to possess some special strengths: its hard outer skin and its venom, which might not kill prey instantly but could paralyze it in an instant.

Fortunately, he had a summoned creature walking in front. If he had been on his own, he wouldn't have noticed the Stone Snake's camouflage at all, and he would have ended up waiting to die in the forest.

Wiping away a bead of cold sweat, Donald set his jaw, pulled an arrow from his back, and stepped forward.

Ordinary beasts and even physically powerful magical beasts would become stiff and paralyzed within seconds of being bitten by a Stone Snake. But his Jackal was a living creature manifested from an energy body, rather than a permanent summon with a physical form. The paralyzing venom was potent, but its effect on summoned creatures was greatly weakened. That was why the Jackal could still move.

"This Stone Snake's defense is incredible!"

The Jackal had been tearing at it for quite some time, yet the snake showed no wounds. It still clung stubbornly to its prey's foreleg, refusing to let go. Donald couldn't help marveling at its tenacious vitality.

But Donald knew the Stone Snake's weakness, as did everyone else, and he had a way to deal with the creature easily. Thinking that a Level Two Magic Core would soon be his—and that it had come so easily—Donald couldn't help wanting to laugh.

Once he reached the Jackal, he ordered it to pin the Stone Snake's body down with its mouth and paws. Donald stepped on the snake's tail, gripped the neck that was clamped tightly around the Jackal's leg, and thrust his sharp arrow through the gap in the snake's mouth, where it had bitten the Jackal's foreleg.

"Die!"

With several wet hisses, the Stone Snake—pierced through the belly by the arrow—fell off the Jackal's foreleg. It rolled across the ground a few times, struggled for a while, then went rigid and still.

Many people had died in the forest over the years at the Stone Snake's fangs. These little creatures excelled at ambushes and were far more dangerous than many higher-level magical beasts. But they had one major weakness: though their outer skin was tough, the inside of their bodies was relatively fragile. As long as one avoided their ambush, they could be dealt with easily. Hadn't Donald just killed one with nothing more than a wooden arrow tipped with iron?

After briefly processing his prey, Donald looked at the Jackal's injured foreleg and frowned. Since it was a temporary summon, an energy body rather than a permanent summon with a physical form, its wound had already healed on its own after a short while. The Jackal merely looked a little listless, and its body seemed slightly smaller than before.

"Fine! I can't get magical beasts without spending Magic Cores, and another summoned creature will make hunting much safer!"

Reluctantly taking out the remaining Level One Magic Core he had only just acquired, Donald summoned another creature.

This time, he summoned a Spike Beast, one of the common Level One monsters found in the wild. It was the same level as the Jackal, but the spikes on its back, much like a porcupine's, gave it a ranged attack. Its defense was also better than the Jackal's. With their complementary strengths, their combat power would rise sharply, and they would have a chance against even some Level Two magical beasts known for their physical strength.

With a second helper summoned, Donald continued deeper into the forest.

Before long, Donald reached an unfamiliar area.

Before him lay a small patch of woodland where the grass and trees had withered and turned yellow. Compared with the lush forest he had come through, with its towering trees and flourishing greenery, this place seemed like a sickly patch of skin on the body of the great forest. The moment he stepped into it, he felt an unsettling aura.

Donald would later learn that Adventurers commonly called such areas Withered Lands. Most were places where negative energy gathered. Ordinary plants and living creatures could scarcely grow there, leaving the land barren. And if a wild beast, magical beast, hunter, or Adventurer died there, its remains could be gradually corrupted by negative energy and transformed into undead.

Two figures wandered over in the distance. The withered thickets obscured them, making them hard to see. Donald thought they were other Adventurers or hunters, but once they came closer, he realized—those weren't people at all. They were two sinister, terrifying skeletons!

"Gods above, even skeletons exist in this world? Could this world's creator have played some single-player games and online games from Earth?"

Even after all he had been through—crossing worlds, reincarnating, and gaining the ability to summon with the Book of Truth—he was still deeply shocked by the skeletons' appearance. He was practically at a loss for words.

In truth, in this high-magic world, the elements were abundant, and so was negative energy. Undead easily arose in places such as sunless valleys, forests, and dark graveyards. It was perfectly normal to encounter undead in the wild.

These undead had no souls, only Soul Fire with a simple awareness. Compared with magical beasts, which were valuable from head to toe, they had no value at all. And Donald wasn't a necromancer who controlled corpses, so he hadn't planned to bother with them.

But the two skeletons sensed the presence of the living. Two points of red light flickered in their hollow eye sockets, and they raised their rusty swords, which were practically useless, letting out a silent cry as they charged at Donald.

If Donald left the wasteland as quickly as possible, the skeletons would stop once they could no longer sense the living. Undead generally didn't leave their lairs. They instinctively felt comfortable only in places rich in negative energy.

So, if he left the area, he could quickly shake off the undead.

Most Adventurers who encountered undead in the wild went around them. They wouldn't provoke the dead unless they had no choice. Killing them usually brought no reward, and some undead carried negative energy tainted with plague. It was extremely dangerous to humans, and most warrior-class fighters couldn't purge it on their own. They needed a Priest or mage to cleanse them with divine or arcane magic.

If someone was tainted by those toxins in the wilderness and couldn't reach the nearest Temple or Shrine in time, they could very well die.

Therefore, unless the undead had been powerful Adventurers in life and might still have valuable possessions or equipment on them, Adventurers had little incentive to deal with them.

But Donald reconsidered. He might encounter undead again in the future, and as a living person, he would inevitably be their enemy. He might as well test their strength now so he would know how to fight them later.

So Donald loudly ordered his two summoned creatures to attack.

"Get them! Tear those piles of bones apart!"

The Jackal, as strong as a Black Iron-ranked Warrior in the early stage, bravely pounced on the two skeletons and tore into them. Before long, it had broken one of their thigh bones. The newly summoned Spike Beast, however, could do little damage to the drafty skeleton, and could only cheer from the sidelines.

From what Donald observed, the human skeleton was about as strong as an ordinary adult man. But without flesh and blood, its mobility was far worse than that of a living person. Its slow, stiff movements were obvious.

The skeletons' advantage was that they didn't fear death. Even if their bones were smashed apart, they would reassemble after a night of nourishment from negative energy.

So after the Jackal had dismantled the two pitiful skeletons, Donald immediately picked up his iron sword and prepared to destroy the Soul Fire inside their skulls, putting an end to them for good.

But as he approached the skulls, he heard a notification from the Book of Truth in his mind.

"Absorbable soul energy detected. Absorb?"

Donald was startled, then overjoyed.

"So the Book of Truth only absorbs soul energy after I defeat an enemy. These undead are a source of soul energy! Then if I kill a person, will the same thing happen?"

At the thought, Donald shook his head sharply and dismissed the idea at once. Killing undead was basically ridding the world of a menace, so he had no moral qualms about it. Killing people was different! Having spent nearly thirty years in a civilized society, he couldn't go around killing people for no reason just to obtain soul energy.

"I'd better go kill a few more skeletons. They're all undead anyway. Once I have enough soul energy, I'll be able to create servants of my own!"

If there was one undead creature, there would certainly be another. As he recalled, undead usually appeared in groups. Donald ordered the Jackal to lead and the Spike Beast to follow, then headed deeper into the wasteland with them guarding him.

The cost of a permanent summon depended on the level of the creature being created.

Besides the energy required to create a body, humanoid intelligent creatures below Level Two required fifty units of soul energy, while non-humanoid creatures needed only ten.

Level Two units required at least two hundred units of soul energy because of their superior nature. Level Three units required at least five hundred, while Level Four units required as many as a thousand.

As for creating heroes or rare units and monsters at Level Five or above, at least five thousand units were needed to form a perfect soul and meet the requirements.

A low-level skeleton provided about thirty units of soul energy. In other words, after absorbing the two Soul Fires earlier, he now had enough to create a permanent human Peasant, plus a non-humanoid creature.

But he didn't plan to create a Peasant. Peasants were useful for little besides working on a farm, and even if they could be converted into Militia, their fighting power was very low.

By comparison, creatures below Level Two were quite cheap, but were practically useless. So he planned to save up enough soul energy first, then create powerful combat units.

This patch of barren woodland wasn't very large, but it didn't produce many undead. Donald quickly swept through the area, finding and destroying only three humanoid skeletons and five skeletal beasts before running out of targets.

The Soul Fire of low-level undead provided too little soul energy. Altogether, they had given him only a little under three hundred units, but that was just enough to let him permanently summon his first Level Two unit.

He also had a Level Two Magic Core on hand to use as an energy source. So Donald didn't hesitate. He opened the Book of Truth and browsed all the available Level Two units, including wild units.

"Undead and other creatures of the Undead faction are taboo among human powers. The Beast faction has been at war with humans for a thousand years, so it can't be an option either. In this world, Night Elves are said to be evil creatures, so that leaves only humans, Dwarves, and High Elves!"

At last, Donald settled on one of the options. A Dwarf or High Elf appearing now would attract too much attention. It was said that after the great Elven migration, Elves rarely came to the northern part of the continent, let alone the frigid Northern Kingdom. If an Elf suddenly appeared, it would surely draw a huge crowd.

So Donald chose the Human Footman, an early Human unit produced by the Barracks.

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

Holy light flashed. Unlike the summoning circle that appeared when he used a temporary summon, a humanoid creature appeared before Donald. He had a prominent nose and broad eyes, with brown hair and eyes, and looked no different from a native human man of this world.

With his sturdy steel armor, greatsword, and shield, he was clearly a fully equipped early Human unit: a heavy infantryman whose strength was equivalent to that of a mid-stage Black Iron-ranked Warrior in this world.

"Master!"

Seeing the strong warrior kneel on one knee before him, expressing his loyalty and respect, Donald felt a surge of satisfaction. "Good! Get up. Do you have a name?"

"Master, I have no name. Everything I am was bestowed upon me by you. Please give me a name!"

After thinking it over, Donald saw that the Footman resembled someone from his memories when he was young. With a mischievous grin, he said:

"Very well. From today onward, your name is Clinton! You'll be my Footman Captain, and one day, the commander-in-chief of my Footmen!"

"As you command, my great Master! Clinton will follow in your footsteps, faithful unto death!"

With his first permanent summoned creature, Donald finally had a measure of security in this world. He had also taken a playful jab at the former president from his previous life. A smile he couldn't hide spread across Donald's face as he set off in high spirits, protected by his two summoned creatures and the Footman Clinton, to search the forest beyond the wasteland.

With a heavily armored Footman protecting him, this trip into the forest would surely prove fruitful!

Character Attributes

Human Footman:

The constant wars of recent years had greatly depleted the Alliance's army. The arrival of many new recruits had replenished its ranks in time. Trained in formal swordsmanship, Footmen served as the Alliance's vanguard and defensive forces. Armed with broad-bladed swords and heavy shields, they could effectively break the enemy's attack.

Soul Level LV2-1. Growth: 35 points

Growth Paths: Guardian, Swordsman, Shield Guard

Equipment: Steel Longsword (a 1.1–1.2-meter Standardized Longsword, depending on the user's height), Standard Swordsman Armor, Steel Shield.

Energy cost to summon unit: 130 points, including 70 points to summon the unit; required soul energy: 200 units.

Abilities:

Swordsmanship Proficiency: Can skillfully wield a longsword in close combat.

--A sturdy Lordaeron man can become a Lordaeron Footman skilled in longsword combat after three years of national guard training.

When Soul Level grows to LV2-2 (promoted to Veteran), gains the ability:

Shield Block: You are proficient in using a shield. You can now deftly use it to parry weapons, deflect force, and perform other techniques.

When Soul Level grows to LV2-3 (promoted to Sergeant Major), unlocks the profession:

Ki Sense: You have now gained an initial mastery of the use of ki. You can use some Warrior techniques.