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Thump.

Thump.

The Grave Guard’s footsteps rumbled the forest floor. A roving band of well-armored skeletons trailed behind it, treading with their skulls held up high, not a trace of exhaustion visible on their dead-pan expressions. Its aura imparted a layer of translucent air around all his skeletons—the skill description said it provided a 20% all-damage barrier—a tremendous boon for his army of skeletons and their new allies, the draugrs.

His Grave lich exuded another aura, but its effects only applied to his foes.

Collectively, the elites brandished an imposing sight. The view came with a steep price, however; the unlock and constructing cost for both set him back another 12,000 essences. Their unlocks allowed him a glimpse at their upgrades. The list shown within cost an arm and a leg, but he deemed the price… well worth the effort.

Grave Lich upgrades - Tier 2 - Current level: 10

Attribute increase: Increases 1 attribute by 5. Costs: 1000 essences. Raises level by 1.

Ability upgrade - Cold Rain - 2 - Cold rain deals an additional (0.3x magic) damage, with increased slow(20%). Costs: 3500 essences. Raises level by 3.

Ability upgrade - Grave Chill Aura - Increases Area of Effect from 40 meters to 50 meters. Further lowers elemental defenses by 10%. The Lich’s basic attacks now splinters, splitting into two, each dealing 25% damage. +10 Magic attribute. Costs: 5500 essences. Raises level by 4.

Ability upgrade - Frost shield - Resilience and Resistance bonus is increased by (0.5 x magic). Increased explosion damage by (1x magic). +5 resilience, +5 Resistance. Costs: 5500 essences. Raises level by 5. Unlocks access a new skill—Frost Thorn. The new skill must be purchased.

Upgraded equipments - Strengthens the construct’s weapons. Next level; provides + 20 Magic. Costs: 2500 essences. Does not raise level. Cannot be upgraded more than once.

Upgraded armors - Strengthens the construct’s armor. Next level; provides + 10 resilience, +10 resistance. Costs: 2500 essences. Does not raise construct level. Cannot be upgraded more than once.

Grave Guard upgrades - Tier 2 - Current level: 10

Attribute increase: Increases 1 attribute by 5. Costs: 1000 essences. Raises level by 1.

Ability upgrade - Shield Ward - 2 - Improves damage reduction by 10%. Grave Guard now takes -5 damage from all sources. Costs: 3500 essences. Raises level by 3.

Ability upgrade - Grave Barrier - Adds Shield health(4x Resilence.). Grants 20% physical damage reduction when shield breaks for 5 seconds. +10 Resilience. Costs: 5500 essences. Raises level by 5.

Ability upgrade - Shield Bash - Now emboldens all friendly in a 20 meter radius around Grave Guard, granting (0.3 x Resilience) to their resistance and resilience. Passively grants +10 resilience. Costs: 5500 essences. Raises level by 5. Unlocks access a new skill—Shield slam. The new skill must be purchased.

Upgraded equipments - Strengthens the construct’s weapons. Next level; provides + 20 Resistance. Costs: 3500 essences. Does not raise level. Cannot be upgraded more than once.

Upgraded armors - Strengthens the construct’s armor. Next level; provides + 20 resilience. Costs: 3500 essences. Does not raise construct level. Cannot be upgraded more than once.

Grave Lancer upgrades - Tier 2 - Current level: 10

Attribute increase: Increases 1 attribute by 3. Costs: 700 essences. Raises level by 1.

Ability upgrade - Lance rush - 2 - Lance rush has two charges. Costs: 3500 essences. Raises level by 3.

Ability upgrade - Gravely Evasion - Lowers cooldown to 3 seconds. +10 dexterity. Costs: 5500 essences. Raises level by 5.

Ability upgrade - Gravely Thrust - Damage bonus increased to 4x. Resets the cooldown of Gravely evasion after skill activation. +10 strength. Costs: 5500 essences. Raises level by 5. Unlocks access a new skill—Rapid thrust. The new skill must be purchased.

Upgraded equipments - Strengthens the construct’s weapons. Next level; provides + 10 strength, + 10 dexterity. Costs: 3500 essences. Does not raise level. Cannot be upgraded more than once.

Upgraded armors - Strengthens the construct’s armor. Next level; provides + 10 resilience, +10 resistance. Costs: 3500 essences. Does not raise construct level. Cannot be upgraded more than once.

Frail only had 9,670 essences left after the unlocks. He didn’t have much time to ponder—his mind darted between the lancer’s Gravely Thrust and the Grave guard’s Grave barrier—the first doubling the lancer’s skill damage, and the other provided an additional layer of safety, with additional attributes that came with the upgrades.

The lich’s aura, while useful, wasn’t as effective as the rest. His constructs mostly dealt with physical damage.

So… Defense or offense?

In the end, he settled with the Grave barrier. 4x its resilience as damage nullification and adding another layer of defense when broken safeguarded his chosen constructs against most things. Most. Their numerous numbers further emphasized the value of all friendy aura effects, and Frail had just enough to take advantage of that fact.

2 charges of lance rush were neat… but its damage buff already lasted the same duration as the cooldown, meaning, he’d always have the buff active even with one charge. With its already great maneuverability, Frail wouldn’t find much use for it unless he was facing two opponents at two distinct locations at once.

Grave thrust upgrade’s secondary effect—resetting gravely evasion—came next. However, the guard’s barrier was… better; it could be given to other constructs, and it worked against all types of attacks—the lancer’s evasion only worked for melee attacks.

If he played his cards right, the lancer should never have to use the secondary effect to survive an encounter.

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He spent both upgrades on his Grave Guard: Its barrier and shield ward upgrades, specifically.

[You spent 9000 essences.]

[You now have 670 essences remaining.]

Construct - Grave Guard (Shielded) | Combatant | Tier - 2

Construct Level: 18

Integrity: 100%

Type: Undead

Attributes

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 5

Resilience: 45

Resistance: 35

Magic: -

Traits / Skills

skeletal Body

Undead Veil

Shield Ward - 2

Grave Barrier - 2

Shield Bash

45 resilience… a barrier now grants 180 extra health. Integrity came in percentages, so Frail didn’t know what 180 barrier exactly meant, but a two hundred extra health would come in clutch when the situation required it.

“Shield ward,” Grimright slid beside his Grave Guard. “I trust it’s your aura?”

The grave guard performed a slow, lumbering head nod.

“That will be most beneficial.” The draugr smiled. “Have you been to a dungeon before? The one we found followed a rather simple rule; to defeat the dungeon Lord at the end of its path. Treasure chests were few and far between, but the contents inside definitely made it worth our while.”

Sounds simple. It’s not too different compared to his domain.

“We need numbers-” Grimright said, “-else we risk getting swarmed by them. The one we cleared took the might of our entire combined force… and we barely managed to scrape by without losses.” Frail spotted the tightness in his gaze, “If Thorgrim wasn’t there… We might have never met.”

“Taught us a lot.” Yrsa said, “We’re aware of our formation and role since.”

“What of our reserves?” Grimright turned around.

“We have enough potions to last until the invasion’s over… hopefully,” Yrsa said, looking at an invisible object in front of her eyes.

“We’re getting close.” Thrain said, “There’s the pit…”

A sinking hole drowned the noise of the forest. No matter how far he peered into it, Frail could only spot darkness.

“Could barely see it.” Grimright grinned, “The name doesn’t appear until I looked at it closely. The Dark pit… average level is around fifteen, we’re all a few levels ahead. I wonder what other monsters existed down there.”

Name? Frail saw nothing of that sort.

“T’was luck. I happened to look in that direction,” Thrain said. “What do we do?”

We enter, of course. Their forces numbered north of twenty—six from the Draugrs, fourteen from Frail’s force—and had the balance of offense, defenses, and ranged options.

His biggest elite trudged forward. I’ll take Vanguard.

“Let’s not waste time,” Grimright spoke, unsheathing his blade of frost. The others followed their steps, maintaining their formation as darkness clouded the harsh sunlight. Their footsteps interrupted the eerie silence thick within the black entrance.

Nothing so far.

Frail’s Grave Guard raised its shield, anticipating a sudden attack.

“[Mage light]” He heard one of the draugr chant. A bubble of light illuminated their surroundings, revealing the glimmering rocks and stone surrounding them.

Their trek went on for another minute before they reached the base of the pit.

“I don’t see anything.” One of the draugrs spoke, “Wait-“

Shudder.

“Something’s moving,” Grimright warned. “No… Not something-“

An army of somethings.

The rocks trembled. At a distance, suffocated by the darkness and the color of stone, a group of hunched-back creatures peered into view. They stood above the average man’s height, with a bulky set of shoulders and limbs, armored with a layer of spiky, rock-like, calcareous horns serving as the creature’s natural armor. None of those features drew his attention like the singular, bulbous, spherical eye resting on their skulls. They had the hue of the forest—amber and verdant-like, with a slit iris in its center.

[Lvl. 15 Rock-skinned Gorgheist]

Gorgheist… What are these?

“Enemies!” Grimright raised his blade. “I’ve never fought these before-”

The grave guard raised its shield.

Their foes rumbled and blitzed toward their formation. Their movements slowed when they entered his Grave lich’s circle of aura.

Arrows.

A hail of arrows struck their tough skin. Thin mist evaporated as their skins sizzled.

“ATTACK!” Grimright led the draugrs onward. He muttered something under his breath and unleashed a horizontal wave of ice, pushing their foes behind.

All buffs on the lancer. Frail commanded. Two of his elite constructs channeled all their buffing spells on the other.

[Shield ward] [Frost shield] [Lance rush]

Two shell layers coated his cadaverous knight. Its figure blurred as its spear drew a line between it and its target.

Fast… Frail surmised. To see something of its height move that way…

The draugrs’ spellcasters lit the cavernous space with a variegated set of bright colors as the rest caught up to his grave lancer.

Lich. Follow up.

[Ice rain]

Frail also had access to his spells.

Their collective firepower bombarded the Gorgheists. His lancer’s spear tore through their staunch exoskeleton, with the rest of his skeletons aiming exclusively for their eyes. Their initial assault pushed the wave of Gorgheists back, but it came at the cost of draining their stamina and supplies.

“None of our spells and attacks are effective,” Yrsa remarked. “Their skins are tough.”

The Gorgheists were resilient, even after being struck by his archer’s arrows. Normal weapons barely dented their tough skin. The draugr’s blades didn’t fare much better. If Frail must guess… they should be weak to blunt damage. That, or they must only aim the eye—a task easier said than done. They were nimble despite their cumbersome impression.

But the Gorgheists had more things up their rocky sleeves. Their eyes flashed and pulsated a hue of rotten moss. It seemed to inflict a debuff on the Draugrs.

“This… [petrification]?” Grimright yelled amid the chaos of the battle, “Don’t stare into their eyes!”

Frail saw it; the mantle of cracked stone forming on the Draugr’s skin. They dissipated after a while, precisely when they averted their eyes from the Gorgheists.

They can’t stare for too long.

The petrifying effect did not affect his constructs. Perhaps they only affected creatures with eyes, or…

It doesn’t matter. He shrugged that inquiry away. Focus.

He ordered his skeletons to take the lead, drawing the gorgheists’ eyes away from the draugrs. They followed up with another barrage of spells and attacks, chipping away at the gorgheists as Frail barricaded their foes with shields and brute strength. His lancer, in particular, was instrumental as its spears always found the right angle to strike, downright killing the gorgheists with its lance rush and grave thrust.

The combination of grave evasion and grave barrier, in particular, ensured the lancer’s safety.

What other monstrosities lied within?