Level 2 Building

Building: Undead Necropolis (Purple)

Level: 25

Fortitude: C

Durability: B

Magic: A

Description: Death-attribute “Undead Path”

Level 2 building. Can resurrect more undead units (50/100) and can construct Level 2 building “Undead Soldier Station.”

Once construction was complete, its function was quite similar to the “Plague Graveyard: Undead.”

It was still able to control skeletons and other low-level undead. The controllable number increased from the original 50 to 100, although the energy consumption for control remained the same.

So that meant…

“Uh… System, are you kidding me? You said it could enhance skeletons, so why did it just increase the number of skeletons I can control?”

System: Please consume 100 Death Crystals to unlock the “Undead Soldier Station.”

The Undead Soldier Station can transform your skeletons into more powerful soldiers and allows them to master more complex combat skills.

“You mean I have to build an ‘Undead Soldier Station’ separately? Then what’s the point of the ‘Undead Necropolis’?”

System: Please open the construction management panel and explore on your own.

Hearing the System’s prompt, Serea opened the construction management panel.

System: You have obtained the “Undead Necropolis” basic unit blueprints: “Raven” and “Carrion Beast.”

“New unit types!”

Seeing the two new icons besides the usual “transform skeleton,”

Serea’s eyes lit up.

Raven: Requires the corpse of an avian creature, flying unit, possesses powerful scouting and information transmission skills, and has some inherent psychic interference capability. Consumes 3 Death Crystals to convert, requires control from the Undead Necropolis or the host.

Carrion Beast: Requires the corpse of a beast, ground unit. Different carrion beasts can adapt to various combat environments, and each inherits a portion of the abilities from its original species. Consumes 5 Death Crystals to convert, requires control from the Undead Necropolis or the host.

“Little Black, Little White, bury all the corpses from previous hunts into the Necropolis!”

“Yes.” x2

The two responded in unison, and then the Skeletons and Skeleton Warriors quickly moved into action. Numerous wild beasts and monster corpses were soon buried in the Necropolis, after which Serea looked at the Necropolis management panel again.

“Convert ten Ravens and ten Carrion Beasts!”

System: Converting, please wait…

A total of 80 Death Crystals were consumed, but Serea felt no heartache at all—she needed to test the abilities of these new unit types. If they proved useful, she could resurrect them in large numbers, greatly strengthening her undead main army by doing so.

Because these are Level 2 units, conversion required some time.

Since that would take a while, Serea turned her attention to the “Skeleton Soldier Station.”

She still had some savings, so she might as well construct it too.

Originally, Serea had planned to expand the Necropolis and then build a “Skeleton Drudge Station” to increase her labor force; the base structures were already completed. The current “station” happened to meet the requirements for the “Skeleton Soldier Station,” so she decided to use it for this unlock.

“Unlock Skeleton Soldier Station!”

System: Unlocking, please wait…

Yet another anomaly appeared. Everyone looked at the completed station, only to see the power of death envelop it and transform it into pure black. Even at a glance, it exuded a chilly and murderous aura.

Building: Skeleton Soldier Station (Blue)

Level: 20

Fortitude: C

Durability: D

Magic: B

Description: Death Altar “Undead Path”

Level 2 building. Consumes Death Crystals (5 per minute) to activate “Skeleton Soldier” and “Slaughter Will” enhancement skills. Maximum of 100 units can be enhanced.

Skeleton Soldier (Tier 3): Enhanced units gain a 10% attribute boost. If the unit is a Skeleton, it gains the “Skeleton Soldier” effect, granting an extra 5% attribute boost and the ability to master various combat skills.

Slaughter Will (Tier 4): With the “Skeleton Soldier Station” as the center, all friendly undead units within a 2km diameter gain a +1 Level effect. The effect does not stack.

“Amazing!”

Serea was at a loss for words. If the Skeleton Drudge Station greatly enhanced skeletons’ productivity, then the Skeleton Soldier Station allowed previously hopeless-in-battle skeletons to completely turn the tables.

In particular, this building had a buff specifically for “Skeletons”—the Skeleton Soldier effect.

As a result, while the empowered skeletons might not rival Skeleton Warriors, at the very least they could go one-on-one with a human soldier without losing. If the battle took place within the “Slaughter Will” area of effect…

Sorry, but who’s the lesser one now was up for debate.

All those previous complaints aside, Serea had to admit that the Death Altar’s Undead Path Level 2 buildings were seriously powerful! Truly excellent!

Then Serea glanced toward the next unlockable Level 3 building…

Ancient Tomb: Unlock requires “Death Altar Level 3 Building Unlock Token” *1 and Death Crystal *1000.

It was hard for her to imagine just how terrifyingly powerful the Undead Necropolis would become after its next upgrade.

As Serea was immersed in her own fantasies, a sudden scream broke the silence in the distance.

“Ah!!!”

Hearing the noise, Serea and the others quickly drew their weapons and looked back, only to see the source was an elven maiden who had been passing by. The reason for her scream…

“Caw-caw-caw.”

It was a raven—or to be precise, a super-sized raven. It beat its wings, attempting to alight on the elf maiden’s shoulder. But the maiden was having none of it; she tossed a freshly-picked wild berry at the bird.

Pa!

The berry found its mark, and the raven was knocked down. A flurry of black feathers scattered everywhere.

The elf maiden then hurried to hide behind Lola, while Lola looked at the raven with hostility.

“A monster?”

“Don’t be nervous. It’s one of ours.”

Serea stopped the others before they could swarm forward. Upon seeing Serea appear, the raven began calling out cheerfully.

“Caw-caw-caw.”

Role: Raven (Undead, bronze elite)

Level: 16

Status: Good

Spirit: A

Strength: D

Agility: A

Endurance: B

Physique: C

Charm: C

Luck: B

Skills: ……, eye of Appraise (Tier 1), spiritual Link (Tier 2), screech of Ravens (Tier 2), lightning (Tier 2)

Description: An outstanding scout—nothing escapes its eyes.

Success!

As the Raven appeared, a patch of ground that had just been buried suddenly pushed up, and a black mass emerged—a paw, sharp and powerful. Using it for leverage, the beast’s owner broke free from beneath the earth.

“Howl!”

With jet-black, hairless, gelatinous skin, sharp teeth, and claw blades, the ebony beast’s eyes glinted fiercely from the darkness.

Role: Carrion Beast (Undead, silver elite)

Level: 18

Status: Good

Spirit: B

Strength: B+

Agility: B

Endurance: C

Physique: C

Charm: B

Luck: C

Skills: ……, deadly Bite (Tier 1), Phantom Veil (Tier 2), dark Assault (Tier 3)

Description: Whether as an assassin lurking in the shadows or as a mount for cavalry, it’s a top-tier choice.

The Carrion Beast suddenly appeared at the feet of the Raven, and the Raven perched on the beast’s head.

With the arrival of the first Raven and Carrion Beast, more of the same kind crawled out of the burial ground. However, none of the subsequent Ravens were as lively as the first, nor were the later Carrion Beasts as powerful.

It seemed the first revived pair were somewhat special, hence their “bronze elite” and “silver elite” ratings. The others were regular individuals averaging Level 14.

“Howl!”

“Caw-caw-caw!”

One by one, the Ravens and Carrion Beasts appeared, calling out joyously to Serea. The previously empty Necropolis came alive.

“What a group of cute little fellows. My lord, are these your latest research results in undead biology?”

Leklis inquired, and Serea nodded in response.

“In a way, yes.”

As she spoke, Serea swept her gaze over the Ravens and Carrion Beasts. The Ravens’ skillsets were fairly straightforward—reconnaissance and sensory abilities, plus some psychic or elemental magic for offense.

By contrast, the Carrion Beasts had more variety to their talents—mostly physical combat abilities, but a few of the special ones, like the very first, even manifested death-attribute curse abilities.

These new unit types were under the control of the Undead Necropolis, and their control cost was the same as the Level 1 building, the “Plague Graveyard: Undead.”

“Let’s start by testing their ability to follow commands.”

Serea muttered to herself, then used spiritual connection to transmit a command to the Undead Necropolis.

The Carrion Beasts receiving the command dashed out, lining up and sitting in rows before Serea, while the Ravens landed on their heads.

Looking at the rows of “big cats,”

“big dogs,” and “ravens,”

Serea was very satisfied so far. After she dismissed the formation, they started to stretch and laze around—but the first raven and carrion beast were different.

That Raven stood on the leopard-shaped Carrion Beast, who padded over toward Serea.

Even though they were undead, these creatures were astonishingly clean.

“You two little things are smarter than the rest.”

Serea said, as the Carrion Beast nuzzled against her leg, occasionally licking it. Evidently, this big cat had a fondness for the feel of stockings.

“Caw-caw-caw!”

“Since your abilities stand out, I’ll give you both names.”

After a moment’s pretend thought, a name slipped out:

“You’ll be Little Boo.”

“Caw-caw-caw!”

The Raven named Little Boo seemed to understand, flapping its wings a few times.

“You’ll be Snack.”

“Howl!”

Snack accepted the name with delight.

“Uh… wait, calling you ‘Snack’ just makes me think of snacks… Ah, since you’re both snacks anyway…”

A new idea struck Serea, and she addressed the Carrion Beast:

“I’ll call you Chips!”

“Howl!”

Chips again accepted the name—completely ignorant of what “Chips” meant, but so long as it was bestowed by the master, he was happy to accept.

“Great. After this, ravens can be in charge of camp watch, and as for the Carrion Beasts…”

Serea said, then turned to Lola. Lola was cautiously inching closer to a Carrion Beast that sat 1.5 meters high. It watched as Lola slowly reached out her hand, only for her to hesitate and withdraw. The Carrion Beast caught on, proactively pushing its head under her hand.

As Lola touched the leopard-shaped Carrion Beast’s head, she found it cool and smooth. Emboldened, she gave it a few pets.

“Wululu!”

The Carrion Beast closed its eyes, emitting a content “wululu” sound, making Lola break into a happy smile.

“It really does seem obedient.”

Vina also approached a dog-shaped Carrion Beast, and since she had a half-undead body, the beast was especially affectionate toward her.

“Such tame beasts are truly rare.”

Aruka commented, as he petted one of the Carrion Beasts. Hidden Fang, clearly jealous, nudged its way in, shoving the beast aside.

“That reminds me, chief Aruka, you’re the expert here—I wanted to ask a couple of questions about beast taming.”

“Oh? Beast taming, you’ve found the right person. Ask away.”

“I was wondering… do you think these big ones would be suitable as mounts?”

Serea asked. Aruka stroked his chin, considering for a bit.

“No problem at all. Judging by their builds, though, they’re probably more inclined towards agility than brute force, so they could serve as mounts for light cavalry or ranger units. As heavy cavalry… That might be asking a bit much of them.”

“That’s more than enough. I’ll give this a try!”

Serea patted Chips on the head.

“Good boy.”

“Howl.”

Chips called out softly, then, sensing Serea’s intent, stood upright, allowing Serea to easily mount him.

“Caw!”

With its spot occupied, little Boo had to settle for Serea’s shoulder.

“Let’s go, give me a test run.”

Serea instructed, already accustomed to riding direwolves previously.

Chips broke into an easy trot, carrying Serea without the slightest strain. After a few laps, chips returned, and Serea hopped off.

“Good job.”

Patting Chips at the base of the neck, Serea addressed the others.

“From now on, everyone should practice riding Carrion Beasts. That’ll make moving through the jungle much easier.”

“Yes, My Queen.”

Vina was the first to answer, while Lola still seemed nervous around the Carrion Beasts…

In summary, Serea was very pleased with the Death Altar’s Level 2 buildings. To that end, she converted another 10 Ravens and 20 Carrion Beasts, and, together with the original 50 Skeletons, filled the available minion slots in the expanded Undead Necropolis.

With camp matters handled, another concern now came to mind for Serea.

She turned to Aruka.

“By the way, I remember you mentioning wanting to visit the trading post, right?”

“Mm. My wife asked me to drop by, and I’d been planning to go anyway. Since we finished hunting early today, I’ll head over this afternoon.”

“Take me along then. I hear one of my ‘specialty shops’ is set up there, so this is a good opportunity to check it out myself.”

Serea said, and Aruka had no reason to refuse.

“Of course, let’s go together.”

Aruka agreed, and Serea turned to the others.

“This isn’t an official mission—just a casual outing. Anyone want to come along?”

Surprisingly, everyone declined, except the group of blood slaves who looked eager—their time cooped up in the forest had probably gotten to them.

“Alright, you all can come with me. I’ll be back tonight.”

“Yes, safe travels, My Queen.”

After farewells, Serea set off for the trading post with ten blood slaves, while Aruka took ten werewolves. Together, they departed for the market.

(To be continued….)

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