Duoge Actually Has a Mount

It was not that a Totem Spirit was the best possible sacrifice, but that the one Dean had offered was still in its infancy, giving it immense potential to be shaped—even if it was a Goblin's Totem Spirit.

Thus, Dean received a gift from the Undead Realm, and this Goblin Lich would also receive its special protection. At the very least, it would not let this Lich meet an untimely end in the Undead Realm.

"I have answered your summons, my master. Doge, the Goblin Lich, greets you!" As he spoke, Doge performed a Lich's salute, signifying his submission to Dean. His voice, however, was so terribly hoarse that his words were barely intelligible.

Doge the Lich was not tall, standing at about the same height as the little Goblin he had once been. Now, however, he wore a tattered black cloak, ragged and riddled with holes and tears. Yet despite all those openings, nothing beneath the cloak was visible.

Dense deathly energy shrouded Doge, and his once-green body had turned entirely gray. Normally, Liches were not undead but living creatures. Doge, however, was different. He had already died once, reincarnating as a Lich from a dead little Goblin, which had left him in this half-dead state.

"It worked! Hahaha, I did it! Look, look! This is the undead I summoned!" Dean was so excited that he wanted to leap up, but his nearly depleted mana forced him to sit on the ground.

"A Lich... wait, isn't that the little Goblin?" Kana covered her mouth and said in surprise, "When did you learn Undead Magic? Oh, I almost forgot. You have some Undead Affinity too."

Yanxi poked Doge twice with a little twig, but without Dean's orders, Doge did not dare move a muscle.

"It's just the most basic Undead Summoning, an introductory spell. What's so strange about me knowing it?" Dean averted his eyes and looked elsewhere as he spoke. "I just happened to have everything I needed, so I was able to complete the spell. Is there a problem?"

Lamore moved a little farther away. With his Half-Elf blood, he naturally felt a particular revulsion toward the undead. Of course, that was directed only at Doge.

"Hey, Dean, Dean! I heard Healing Magic does a lot of damage to undead creatures. But, you know, there aren't any undead around our Blue Town..." Lamore gave Dean a rather wicked grin.

"Can you let me try? Just once. I definitely won't break your little Lich." As he spoke, Lamore began chanting!

Doge shuddered. Before, the little Goblin would not have understood a word they were saying. Now that he had reincarnated as a Lich, however, he had virtually no trouble communicating.

So he understood what Lamore, this Half-Elf, intended to do. But without Dean's orders, how could he dare resist? No, he could not resist at all. After all, he was only a little Lich who had just reincarnated.

"Don't you go messing around. This Lich is a little special. If you want to play, I'll get you some Skeleton Warriors another time. As for Doge, forget it!" Dean rolled his eyes. Still, he wanted to try Lamore's suggestion too, to find out whether undead creatures really feared an ordinary Healing Technique.

Doge breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, his master was normal and protected him as a normal master should, unlike some masters who subjected their Undead Servants to endless experiments, leaving them to suffer in silence!

Undead can feel pain too, damn it!

Doge still had plenty of room to grow, so Dean did not want to risk experimenting on him. After all, Doge had only just taken shape. If a single Healing Technique caused permanent damage, that would be disastrous.

"Doge, how long can you remain active?" This was Dean's greatest concern at the moment. He had fewer than five mana points left, and if he returned to Blue Town in this state, he would be little more than a burden. He urgently needed to know just how useful Doge could be.

Perhaps because he had reincarnated as a Lich, Doge was still the same little Goblin, but his personality, intelligence, and magical aptitude were completely different.

"My master, with the mana you expended, I can remain in this world for approximately another half hour!" Doge hurried to answer, afraid that any delay might displease Dean. If that happened, Dean might let the Half-Elf beside him hit Doge with a Healing Technique. That would be no fun at all!

"Oh, half an hour." Dean sounded a little disappointed. Still, he had spent only twenty mana points summoning Doge. Bringing an undead being over from the Undead Realm for half an hour was already an excellent result, and even that had required the Demon Horn's help.

Compared with keeping an undead being here, the summoning itself was what consumed the bulk of the mana.

Under normal circumstances, a Magic Apprentice with Undead Affinity would have to spend around forty or fifty mana points to achieve this much.

"Hey, Dean, ask him this. Isn't he a Lich? If he uses his own mana too, how long can he stay?" Kana reminded him!

"Right! Why didn't I think of that? Liches are different from Skeleton Warriors. They're undead with mana of their own. Tell me, Doge!" Dean remembered too and gave Kana a thumbs-up.

"Er... well, master, Doge doesn't have much mana, only fifty points. If I don't fight, I can remain for another five hours!" Doge was clearly reluctant to answer. After all, no summoned being enjoyed spending their own mana to remain in another world while serving someone else as a slave.

Still, Doge had no choice but to tell him. Dean was his master, after all!

An hour later, Kana and the other three reached the outskirts of the Magic Beast Forest. Kana, Yanxi, and Lamore were somewhat exhausted from running so fast. All four wanted to leave the Magic Beast Forest as soon as possible and help Blue Town weather its crisis!

As for Dean, it had to be said that Doge was a truly perfect Lich servant—so perfect that Kana and the other two were glaring daggers at Dean!

"You can't blame me! Doge can only summon one Mount, and there's only enough room for me!" Dean said a little sheepishly. "I'm a Mage. How could I possibly be as strong as you lot? You really can't blame me!" As he spoke, Dean shifted comfortably in his seat.

Dean was currently riding a large Undead Magic Beast. Large as it was called, it was actually only about four meters long and two meters tall. Excluding its head and tail, its body was less than two meters long. With Doge driving the Undead Magic Beast, there was room for only one passenger behind him.

This Undead Magic Beast Mount was also part of the gift: Doge's exclusive Mount. It possessed strength at the peak of level one, making it stronger than anyone present individually. Its movements, however, were not particularly nimble.

Dean had learned about the Mount after asking Doge what spells he knew. Like Dean, Doge had spent only twenty mana points to summon his Mount, since both he and the Mount belonged to the Undead Realm.

And this was Doge's first time riding his own Mount—with his master along for the ride!

(End of chapter)