"Hahahahahaha!" My wicked laugh echoed throughout the cavern, "My immortal army of undead has come to manifestation!"

Although I managed to indeed put together 8 skeletons after a few hours, it sure was anticlimactic. Their movements were sloppy: constantly falling when stumbling over a rock, unable to properly wield swords and some wouldn't even move due to mana string traffic jam. What quite exactly was the jam? Well, it was when orders got mixed up between the strings that connected myself to them.

The skeletons could still function on their own without the strings if they are given orders beforehand, but sustaining a link allowed me to constantly keep them supplied with mana so they would last long. Essentially, what keeps the skeletons moving is energy ,and with every movement made, big or small, it is transferred to the bones. I could easily keep up my skeletons that numbered 8 without losing mana at all. Once again my mana absorption rate is higher than the consumption. If I were to match my consumption rate to my absorption I would be able to maintain about 40 skeletons.

I already set tasks for the first capable skeletons who have adapted to my mana. Their job was to dig out the cavern with their bone claws enhanced with dense magic so that they wouldn't break easily. I was in a rush to make a base of operations for all my minions, not only that, a proper living space as well. I couldn't keep myself confined in a small room near a pond, even if it was a place that I had experience with.

While the skeletons were clearing out the erupted stone spikes and other rubble, I was investigating the suspicious foundation and it's half-walls. There were as many handles as there could be fit into the walls, although some were missing and had a long tight hole instead. I tugged on one of the handles and pulled out a tablet. It had strange incriptions on it, almost like a pattern with circles and lines, which I wasn't able to comprehend at all. I could have tried inserting mana into the tablet like the elite skeleton did, but I wasn't going to put curiosity over my safety for now. What if I turned into a giant flesh monster? I shivered at the thought as I carefully placed it back. It would be better to come back to those when I have enough knowledge about them or knew how to decrypt the runes.

I had some free time while the skeletons were digging and the rest were adjusting my mana, so I scouted out the cavern with my own eyes. As expected, nothing much of interest except for one detail... A large hole in the far corner. I examined its properties and theorized that the hole came to be through corrosion. Scarcely, some ooze would slide down from the hole's walls. No doubt it was the mother slime's doing seeing as the size was quite perfect for her. I thought of it no longer and decided to seal the hole with lots of stone pillars all mashed together in the corner, all done using my large thick mana hands. Carrying around that much heavy weight actually managed to drain me beyond my mana absorption rate.

'I guess the skeletons were chased away by the slimes.' I thought.

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After I was done scouting and 'fixing' I turned to the big skeletal construct. I relocated it to a more flattened area that was just cleared by the skeletons tasked with cleaning. Looking at the large, spikey chunk of bones, I witnessed its appearance once again. Now that I was able to take a closer look at it, it seemed more terrifying, not to mention its size was actually huge. I was mesmerized by the elite's former body, but snapped out of it soon once a working skeleton passed me. I shook my head and thought of an use for the colossus.

'Definitely battle. Maybe working as well? It's size is comparable to a mecha, should be quite good.' I thought and got to work on fixing it.

The head was most compatible with my mana strings, so I quickly got myself into repairing it. It wasn't hard to fix it since its skull was quite durable when I broke it, only large chunks of it remained. The hard part was melding it back together; it wasn't like the skeleton's build was skinny, it was thick like thousands of bones stacked together. I took my time healing the skull, meanwhile the working skeletons managed to clear out half of the cavern before I was done.

Once I was done, I placed the scary-looking skull ontop of its fitting body. A perfect match thanks to my experienced repairing skill.

'I doubt there is a single person who can match my skull repairment expertise!' I thought arrogantly. After a few seconds I stopped praising myself and got back to work.

Pouring my mana into the colossus, I felt its need for high amounts of energy. Now I understood clearly why it drained so much mana from the elite one's soul, what a needy body. After I was done feeding it full of energy, I began matching the strings. I had to use a lot more strings when compared to the amount I linked with the smaller skeletons. Overall it took me an hour or two to get the colossus moving, since most of the process of necromancy was alike to the smaller skeleton's one, just a bit more weight added.

I witnessed its great form rise up from the ground, the aura it gave off would intimidate any mortal. I wasn't affected by its frightening features anymore, because I actually controlled it. The mysterious might be scary at first, but once it is revealed it loses its magic.

The working skeletons were done cleaning and so I summoned all of my minions around me. As they surrounded me, I looked at all of them one by one. The feeling of pride swelled up in me as I stared at my strong army consisting of 8 skeletons and one colossal skeleton. Not only was I proud of my army, I was also looking at a beautiful scenery of a large clean stone room cleared out by the skeletons I tasked. Realising that I might have got too excited, I calmed myself down with long breaths.

Now that my base was ready for reconstruction, I commanded my troops to enlarge the tunnel that first lead me here. The reason for that is transportation and mana. I realised after a while that the density of the mana is much higher in larger areas than in smaller. As for transportation, I needed my colossus to fit through so that heavier objects could be carried in here. Those two reasons were good for my base, even if it costs me concealment.

I began cultivating my soul ontop of the foundation after my minions got to work. The other tunnel, which the hostile skeletons crawled out from, was no danger at the moment. It had little to almost no mana sources towards that direction, but I still set a skeleton armed with a rusty sword on that side to protect me.

After some amount of time passed, I fell deep into my soul refining, unaware of my surroundings.