That would be the best result, the worst of course would be if the maker can turn that thing. While that would allow me to see what it actually is, I am not that curious! I would much rather never see the thing or find out what it is, then see it as an undead.

It is probably the kind of thing that would be able to destroy a city all on its own. The maker is already dangerous enough without that kind of thing as her servant. However, all I can do is hope, there is no way I am going to fight that thing.

I push these thoughts aside as I continue searching, trying to pay more attention. The reason is that all I have left to search now is the southern end of the mountains. If the undead are moving into the mountains, this is where I am likely to see them.

As I had hoped I soon see small groups of undead that have entered the mountains. To my delight I see that they are ancient undead, so I quickly head down. As soon as I land I shapeshift and take out the warhammer to collect energy with.

The first group is only nine undead and they are easy enough for me to wipe out. As soon as I am done with them I quickly return to the air to look for another group. I try to destroy as many groups as I can before the maker catches on and calls them back.

Since my soul is fully healed, this is my chance to get some energy to experiment with. The more energy I can get to experiment with the better, I want to test my ideas. However, I don't just go after the closest groups, instead I go after the furthest.

The groups closest to the edge of the mountains are the ones I target first. These groups will be able to retreat faster so I want to get them before they can. The groups further into the mountains will have a harder time retreating so I will get them last.

About the time I am finishing off the second group the other groups start retreating. Because of that I am only able to get two more of the outside groups before they flee. However, this means that I am now inbetween the other groups and their escape route.

As I hunt down more groups I find out that I can now hold a hundred energy without it hurting. It must be because my soul is healed, that is the only thing that has changed. Since this means I can keep collecting more energy it is a good thing.

Unfortunately, I am not fast enough to get all of the groups before they escape. However, I do get a good majority of them and in the end I collect just over a hundred and fifty energy. Not only is that plenty for me to experiment with, but that is a lot for the maker to lose.

She must be furious right now, which is an entertaining thought, but I don't want to see for myself. She is scary enough without me seeing her angry, I probably wouldn't like her when she is angry. However, this should slow down her advance towards the north and buy the elves more time.

Speaking of the elves, it is probably about time I send Silverstream back and let Brightfire come hunt. Brightfire may not need the exp, but her team definitely does and I need to be fair. First though, I want to do some experimenting and it is better to do it with no one around.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Before I let myself play I spend another two hours flying around the southern end of the mountains. Not only do I want to look for any undead I might have missed, but I also want to check for beasts. Originally I was expecting to find more old beasts, but now that I know something is eating them I am not sure.

There might still be some around, there may even be some hidden away sleeping. Unfortunately, the range that I can use my mana to sense things is too small. I can't even scan caves properly without entering them, let alone find hidden underground chambers.

Although, if I am right about the big beast, hiding underground doesn't seem very safe. Then again, since the wyverns have a way to hide from the thing maybe it is safe for them. Either way, I should have reduced their numbers enough that the maker won't be able to use them.

Any that I missed and end up as undead, the humans will just have to deal with them for me. After all, this entire hunt has been about keeping the humans from losing too quickly. However, I also don't want them to win too quickly either, I want them both kept busy.

After flying back and forth a dozen times I find a nice mountain top to land on. Hopefully, I am far enough away from the mountain the beast is in that I should be safe. When the mountain beneath me doesn't turn into a mouth and eat me I have some food and then meditate.

Then I start playing with the Origin Energy to see what else I can figure out about it. First I experiment using normal items, like branches and rocks, trying to understand the energy better. When adding energy to a dead branch it treats it as a material and just makes more.

However, when adding it to a living branch it enhances the lifeforce of the branch and makes it grow. The same happens when the energy meets with an insect, it enhances it. Meaning, I could easily use this energy to make monsters out of ordinary things.

Of course, I am not going to do that, I was only curious about how the energy works. On the other hand, I am sort of curious as to what would happen to an elf. If I add enough energy would an elf evolve into a higher or more powerful life form?

However, despite my curiosity, I don't plan to try it, mainly because it would probably take a lot of energy. Not to mention that it would be hard to explain if something were to go wrong. I doubt Stillwater would be very forgiving if I accidentally turn one of his elves into a monster.

Besides, if I were going to do that kind of experimentation I would be more likely to do it to myself. That is actually my next experiment anyway, seeing what the energy will do to different parts of me. I already know what it will do if it touches my brain or my eyes, but what about other parts?

The first thing I try is putting the energy into my throat, hoping to improve my new breath weapon. However, that is not what happens, it is something else that gets improved.

*DING*

Lion's Rage has evolved!

Lion's Rage level 8 ---> Dragon's Roar level 1!

Dragon's Roar

Level 1

Damage 100 Range 150 Feet

Taunts enemies within range. 10% chance to stun!

'Another ability that I had forgotten about! This must be an upgrade since it has dragon in the name!'

While I am tempted to rush off and test it out, I decide it can wait until I am done experimenting. So, I continue moving the energy to make contact with different parts of my body. Most of the time it just enhances something with no other effect, but there are some exceptions.

Bones = Toughness +20

Heart = Endurance +100, Regen +20

Hands = Agility +50

Mouth = Devour increases a level.