Lifting an exercise

Athos nodded, satisfied seeing the wolf's skeleton rolling on the ground. He wanted to test whether monsters with different physiologies could become undead. As far as he knew, undead like vampires could only turn humans into other vampires, so this was an important test for his future plans. He had already tested with other monsters, but each species of monster was unique, so it was important to test with as many monsters as possible.

After succeeding in turning the alpha into a skeleton he cast the spell to raise undead en masse on the other wolves. A great mass of darkness gathered in his palm before spreading out like a wave lifting all the wolves at once. The spell used not only mana, it also used a large amount of life force corrupted, but that wasn't a problem for Athos.

The spark of life force consumed when raising an undead mingled with the undead's core, making their energy signature similar to his and forming a bond between the two. After the undead was successfully created, a part of the life force that forms its core would naturally flow to Athos, recovering spent life force and strengthening it further.

It was as if he spent 1% of his total life force and got 2% back. The amount of life force received was fixed and did not increase regardless of the strength of the raised skeleton, but it was certain that Athos would grow stronger the more undead he created.

Athos had created the spell to raise undead en masse with ease, despite having no experience with dark magic. Using corrupted non-elemental magic was easy for Athos, as he could use his experience with non-elemental magic as a crutch. Although they had different effects, the base of the spells was the same, so it was just a matter of getting used to the effects.

When Athos confirmed that the last of the wolves had turned into an undead, he nodded in satisfaction and stood up. "Let's go. I'll introduce you to the rest of the gang." Athos spoke, patting the alpha on the head as he exited the tunnels.

"Open it." Athos ordered and the wall of mud opened revealing the night sky and dozens of black skeletons of beasts.

"Sorry for the delay. Did you wait too long?" Athos asked, looking at the 4 human skeletons in front of the horde. They were the mages that Athos had successfully turned into the undead and were using the same equipment they had in life. Athos was a little worried that they would be able to use magic now that they were undead, but luckily, the wands that mages use don't need to be mana powered, quite the contrary, they draw the energy of the world to mages, feeding your spells.

Behind them, black skeletons of rock bears, two-faced monkeys, bladed birds, raging wild boars, and the newly added gray wolves, all monsters common to the forest of Faltra, were gathered here.

It had only been a day since Athos became undead and he made the most of his infinite stamina to hunt monsters, quickly amassing a small army. Athos was gathering his strength with a certain urgency, because he knew he didn't have much time. Things should have calmed down in Faltra by now, and messengers would be sent to nearby major cities such as Clastro and Shiima, so reinforcements from the country would be sent to Faltra, making it difficult for Athos to attack it.

It was likely that the order of magic and the adventurer's guild would get involved, adding to the difficulty even more. The mercantile town of Shiima was the closest and was a two-week carriage ride away. It would take at most a week to gather troops and resources to help the city, and another two weeks before they returned. In short, Athos had just over a month to muster enough strength to destroy Faltra and its neighboring villages, then cross the border and flee.

Athos knew that the country would not allow the existence of an undead like him and would muster all its resources to eliminate him while he was still weak, just as he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against an entire nation. He would need time, resources and especially soldiers if he was to have a chance.

There was also the option of simply running away without attacking Faltra, but Athos didn't even consider that possibility. The city's main forces were probably dead and order in the city in tatters, and the idea of leaving the city without finishing destroying it left a bitter taste on his tongue, even though he didn't have any.

"Um...most of the monsters are either hibernating or migrating at this time of year, so even after killing for one full day, I was barely able to gather seventy beast skeletons. I'll need to speed up from now on. It's better to attack villages. and gather as many soldiers as possible quickly and then attack the city." Athos talked to himself, deciding to change his plan. Although beast skeletons are strong individually, human villages would give him more than enough numbers to make up for it.

There were 5 villages close to Faltra and all were to the east of the city, the smallest of them having about two hundred people, while the largest four hundred. Even at a low estimate, he could get at least a thousand undead, apart from cattle and whatever else he could hunt between villages.

Encouraged by this thought, Athos mentally ordered the skeletons to move towards the nearest village. "Come on guys, it's time to spill some human blood!" Athos yelled, jumping on top of a rock bear skeleton and leaving with his small army.

A few minutes after Athos left, a nearby tree began to shake and bark split to reveal a wooden face. The left eye was green, while the right had an amber glow. He looked with disgust and revulsion in the direction Athos had fled before saying, "Did that filthy undead go away? He dared to contaminate my forest with his miasma and even killed many of the monsters that dwell there.

I intended to destroy him if he kept destroying my forest, but as long as he leaves in peace, he's the humans' problem, not mine. Those other white-suited humans are a lot more troublesome than he is. Their attempts to enter the forest are irritating and it takes a lot of mana to stop them." The wooden face spoke in a voice that sounded like a creak, before sinking back into the tree. The bark of the tree grew again, the grass that withered because of the undead regained its vitality and all traces of it were erased.

"But if he dares to go back to my forest, I will definitely kill him." The wooden face whispered before disappearing completely.

*******

On the outskirts of the rock village, a day ago.

After trying and failing to contact the leader of the mage team, Finn had to make a difficult decision. He couldn't leave the unit alone to go after the mages, but even if he told Emilia the truth, it wasn't clear if she would listen. He had broken her trust in a horrible way and it was quite possible that she would kill him, even if he explained that he had no choice.

He agonized for some time over what to do, until the decision was taken out of his hands. Emilia made a few sounds before slowly opening her eyes and looking around. Finn quickly rushed to her side to explain himself, but that was a serious mistake. Emilia had hidden a universal antidote in her lower molar and exploded it when she fell from the watchtower, but because it was a universal antidote, it took a while to take effect. Emilia had been awake for a few minutes, but continued to pretend she was unconscious until the numb feeling had completely passed.

With an agile movement of her hands, she hurled a dagger right between his eyes, before abruptly standing up and running towards him. Despite their close proximity, Finn managed to move his head to the side at the last second, but it proved to be a futile effort. The dagger was imbued with the weapon break ability, as well as a telekinesis enchantment, allowing its wielder to remotely control it.

The dagger swung around just as it passed Finn and exploded against his back. Finn was able to activate the enchantment on the magic-resistant suit, but the metal shards still hit his back, knocking him forward.

"Wait Emilia, listen to me!" Finn screamed desperately feeling the pain in his back and the bloodlust emanating from Emilia, but she didn't hear. Emilia conjured two daggers of light in both hands and activated the lightning step boots enchantment, disappearing from Finn's sight.

Finn knew this attack all too well and raised his guard, ready to fend off the telegraphed attacks. Unfortunately for him, Emilia was much more powerful than he was and could react even at such speed, changing the direction of her attacks and catching Finn off guard. An X-shaped gash appeared on his throat, causing Finn to drop to his knees, choking on his own blood.