Alaster ordered his Undead to move through the battlefield, finishing off any surviving Monsters. He had been tasked to eliminate the Monster Army, and he would make sure he did it right.
From atop a cliff, he watched his Undead glance at each corpse, occasionally driving their weapon into a body, and move on to the next.
A shadow passed over him, and he looked up, watching the flying carriage float down. Alaster turned around and dismounted, sending his Stallion into his soul. The carriage came to a stop, hovering over a bloody corpse covered mud. The door opened revealing Azameer, but he didn’t step into the bloody mud.
“Get in. Clean off your boots.” He said, before turning around and sitting down.
Alaster walked in, flicking off the mud from his boots beforehand. He sat down across from the man, dismissing his Pact Armor as he did. He leaned back against the soft couch with a tired sigh.
“So, I’ve survived the Dungeon. I’ve destroyed an entire army of Monsters. What’s the final test?”
Azameer stared at the boy, pondering, “Recall your minions and we shall be on our way.”
Alaster immediately made the order, using the Ring to open a portal outside the carriage. Only a few minutes passed before all his Undead were stored away, his Legion dropping where they stood and the Summoned Undead fading away.
Azameer knew when Alaster was ready, and the carriage lifted off.
“So, what’s the test?” Alaster asked shortly afterward.
“You will figure it out when we get there.”
“And that will be?” Alaster really wanted to take a nap.
“Roughly an hour. Consolidate whatever you received from that last battle and recover whatever power you used.”
Alaster sighed but did as suggested.
[Class: Lord of the Dead
Level: 65<67
EXP: 36%<72%
Health: 1,930/1,930<1,960/1,960
Health Regeneration: 82/min<84/min
Mana: 1,850/1,850<1,880/1,880
Mana Regeneration: 92/min<96/min
Bloodline: Demonic Blood
Abilities: Striker Type, AOE Type, Minion Type, General Type
Passives: Pain Tolerance, Blunt Resistance, Regeneration, Magic Resistance
Bonuses: Horde, Death Pact, Soul Domain, Split Mind, Swap, Soul Seal, Blood Price, Dead Embrace, Last Stand, Imbuement, Blood Aura, Reaper, Fine Control, Dark Sight, Seeker Sight
Stats:
Strength: 267<271 Wisdom*: 468<474
Dexterity: 263<267 Intelligence*: 350<356
Constitution*: 366<372 Free Points: 0<20]
‘Two levels? Despite all those kills? Guess it’s because of my already high level. Wait a minute, Belgroth, killing you only gave me eight levels. That’s a lot, but these low-level Monsters, despite being so many, gave me two levels.’
‘Your point?’ Belgroth’s mountainous voice resounded in Alaster’s head.
‘Well, doesn’t that kinda diminish your own power? I mean, you claim to have killed Gods before. Sedall confirmed that to the best of his own ability. If all those Monsters gave me two levels, I would have thought that killing you would have earned me several dozen levels.’
Sedall spoke up, ‘There is a good reason for that. Every living thing understands some part of the secret to existence, no matter how small. The System analyses that and when a System User kills the creature, it copies that and implants it into the User.
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However, the System is, as Belgroth has put it, only a crutch. It begins to lose effect after what the System designates as Level one hundred. As such, it is only able to analyze up to Level one hundred. Belgroth is so powerful that there simply isn’t a lot under Level one hundred for the System to glean from.’
‘So, once I reach Level one hundred, it will stop working?’ Alaster asked.
‘Pretty much, but not quite. The System will grow more and more unreliable the stronger you become.’
‘When should I expect that to happen?’
‘Don’t know. It’s all fairly relative. After all, you are insanely strong for an Expert, you could realistically kill one of the weaker beings over Level one hundred.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, but keep in mind that you certainly aren’t the only one like that. There are plenty of powerful beings. And I can count on one hand the number of them that reached that strength without knowing exactly how to use it.’ Sedall confirmed.
‘…You don’t have hands.’ Alaster said, struggling to keep the grin off his face.
‘I’ll have you know that I do have hands. And you know what I meant.’
Alaster put all twenty Free Points into Wisdom, bringing it up to four hundred ninety four points, just six points shy of the five hundred mark, where he would receive another Bonus. It also brought up his Mana Regeneration to one hundred.
‘Wow. One hundred Mana per minute.’
‘That is impressive. That Bloodline is quite powerful.’
‘The strongest!’ Belgroth boasted.
‘I’ve seen stronger.’ Sedall said, unimpressed.
‘What? Where?’
‘…I’d rather not talk about it.’
Alaster scowled; he could tell there was a story there. A serious one. However, he doubted he could get Sedall to tell it. So, he simply let it rest.
‘Come to think of it. The Bloodline says I should be immune to Fire Magic, yet I took serious damage from the Hob King’s Fire Ball.’ Alaster complained.
‘That’s because it wasn’t Fire Magic. At least not completely. That was of the Void School of Magic. Basically, creating portals to nowhere. Its typically used to create impossibly sharp blades that can cut through practically anything. But the Hob King didn’t have enough control over it to do so. Instead, it just bundled up all that Magic and hurled it towards you.’ Sedall explained.
‘Why don’t I exist anymore then?’
‘Because each living being generates an aura of Magic around themselves. This aura protects them, even if they don’t know it. The stronger the Mage, the stronger the aura. It’s also why stronger Magic Users seem to age slower, eat and sleep less, and don’t get sick from conventional illnesses. That aura was sufficient to blunt the practically uncontrolled Magic.’ Belgroth provided.
‘So, if the Hob King had more control over its Magic,’
‘You would have ceased to exist.’ Sedall said bluntly, ‘Void Magic is one of the least understood Magics. Its also one of the more difficult to use and master. Had the Hob been able to do either… Azameer was right to be worried about it.’
‘Enough for the Demigods to intervene?’
‘I doubt it, though I wouldn’t be surprised. Other nations and individuals would have acted first. Its unlikely that the Hob would have survived to draw the Demigods’ attention.’
‘You said that I drew the Demigods’ attention because I had drawn a God’s attention. Would there have been another reason?’ Alaster asked, hoping to remain as unknown to them as possible.
‘Unlikely. You are certainly unique and powerful enough to do so, but it is doubtful one of the Demigods would have noticed you among the millions of others they monitor.’
Turning back to his own Status, Alaster saw that several of his Abilities had leveled up. Some of them even evolving. However, there were only two Spells that he was interested in.
[Mana Tendril
Level 2<9: 23%<37%
Form Mana into a Physical Tendril
Max Tendril: 1
Max Length: 2 Meter
Mana Cost: 100/min]
[Summon Undead Berserker
Level 8<11: 81%<24%
Summon the Dead to fight for you.
Max Minions: 1/3
Mana Cost: 50]
Mana Tendril was now Level Nine. During the battle, Alaster had noticed when the Tendril was suddenly able to reach another meter away and believed that its range increased every five levels. If he was correct in his assumption, then he was only one level away from three meters. As Alaster had killed using it, he noticed the Tendril becoming stronger, faster, sharper, and thicker. He doubted he could still use it in actual combat, but he wasn’t far off.
Berserker had reached Level Ten, prompting Alaster to select another specialization.
[Summon Undead Berserker Evolutions]
[Level Ten Evolutions Available
1. Summon Undead Chieftain.
Soldier will move quicker.
2. Summon Undead Blood Warrior.
Soldier will be stronger.
3. Summon Undead War Master.
Soldier will be more durable.]
‘Interesting. Suggestions?’ Alaster asked the potentially two most knowledgeable people in the known world.
‘Chieftain sounds like a type of commander unit. But you already have access to those, so perhaps it’s a Undead capable of buffing others?’ Belgroth suggested.
‘Why guess? Just peer into the Mana of the System.’
‘You can do that?’ Alaster asked Sedall.
‘Yeah. Its very faint so you will have to really look for it, but its possible. Once you can identify the System’s Mana, you can track it and peer into what each option is. It’ll only be a rough feeling and an image of the new Undead, but that’ll be enough.’
‘Seriously? Why isn’t that common knowledge?’ Alaster asked, he could feel Belgroth agreeing.
‘Because it is so faint that only Experts have any real chance of finding it. Most people don’t even get that chance. Plus, most people treat the System as some sort of divine guidance. Being able to identify it, will prove it as just a tool.’ Sedall explained.
‘Just another power move.’ Belgroth surmised.
‘Unfortunately.’ The Demigod confirmed.
‘How long will it take for me?’
‘Ordinarily? A few days. With both of us guiding you? Maybe twenty minutes.’
‘Will the System register it?’ Alaster asked, wondering if he would get a special Ability.
‘Possibly, but unlikely. At least not one that will show up on your Status. But with practice you should be able to ‘scan’ people and items and get a general feeling of their strength and uses.’
‘That’s amazing!’
‘Not really,’ Belgroth countered, ‘Its only a rough feeling. Besides, that’s something we Argalon taught our children.’
Sedall sighed, ‘He is right. It’s a very basic technique. And this version will only work for people and items governed by the System.’
‘So, anyone under Master?’
‘Pretty much.’
‘So practically every single person on this continent?’
‘…Yes.’ Sedall relented.
‘Still amazing. Wait, is this the technique that Richter and Aila were using to see my status?’
‘Based on the same principles, but different. Their version is reliant on being much stronger than the person they are scanning. This version for you will be more general but will work on people stronger than you.’
‘Then let’s get to work. We have less than an hour before we are at the third test.’