The process of finding the System’s Mana amongst the world’s natural stream was surprisingly easy. Alaster amounted that to his mental hitchhikers. Sedall knew the System very well, while Belgroth knew the world without the System.

Despite its ease, it was a struggle to actually use it. When Alaster mentally touched the System’s Mana, his mind was flooded with information, very little of it legible. Most of it was just random letters and numbers.

Alaster found the Mana in just a few minutes, but actually becoming proficient enough to use it took nearly twenty minutes, and a headache. Even then, he couldn’t use it for very long.

The first thing Alaster did with it was look at the napping man across from him. Alaster was underwhelmed.

Azameer was still much stronger than Alaster in every way possible, but not to such an impossible degree. If Alaster properly planned and prepared, he suspected he could defeat the man. Unfortunately, Azameer was the one that was supposed to teach Alaster how to do that. So, Alaster doubted he could create a plan that Azameer hadn’t already considered and defended against.

The next use for this new technique was studying his own Magic, or more specifically, his options for Undead Berserker.

He had three options. Chieftain, Blood Warrior, and War Master. Closing his eyes and using the technique he decided to simply call Identify, Alaster was able to ‘see’ what the options would look like as well as their capabilities.

The Chieftain was a little smaller than the Berserker, but as Belgroth had thought, it was capable of providing Buffs, but only to other Undead from the Berserker Line. The Chieftain could make them faster, stronger, or more durable, but only one at a time. They wore a loose thin cloth shirt in addition to what the Berserker wore and used a single battleaxe.

Blood Warrior was very simple. It was pretty much a more frenzied Berserker. The only visual difference between the two was that the Blood Warrior wore a leather chest piece. But it was much wilder. Stronger and faster than the Berserker, but he had a feeling it was more of a shock unit. He would use it to quickly get into battle and cause a lot of damage in a short among of time, but they would be felled quickly.

However, War Master was interesting to Alaster. It was a head taller than even the already tall Berserker. It wore a pristine white leather chest piece and a matching helm that obscured its skull. But instead of an axe, it used a large two-handed sword. It was no stronger or faster than the Berserker, though it was slightly more durable, even without its armor. Instead of might, it instead used technique in battle.

At least, those were the impressions each of the options gave Alaster.

‘Chieftain would be useful when you have a lot of Undead stemming from the Berserker, but right now, its now so useful.’ Sedall commented, to which Belgroth agreed.

‘And Blood Warrior is more for short fights. In a prolonged battle, I would have to constantly resummon them.’ Alaster continued.

‘Agreed. War Master seems like the best fit for now. At least with the types of battles you have been fighting.’ Belgroth finished.

Alaster made his choice. And it was a good thing too. They had reached their destination.

Azameer opened his eyes and looked to Alaster, “We are here.”

Alaster looked out the window and saw a city he knew. Onigas. Even though he was seeing it from the air for the first time, and from hundreds of meters in the air, Alaster could still see the different districts.

But it was very different from how Alaster remembered it.

It was in flames.

At least portions of the city. There was a large thick wall around the city that hadn’t been there the last time Alaster had seen the city. There was an army camped outside the East Gate, though Alaster could see much smaller camps stationed at the other three gates, preventing any escape from the city.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The carriage slowly descended, and as it did so, Alaster could see the outer walls dense in people fighting. Magic flew through the air, against the wall, at the city, and at the attackers.

“What’s going on here?” Alaster asked the man, struggling to look away.

“I’m sure you’ve heard rumors all of the tension rising.”

“Yeah, everyone has been talking about several wars that will soon begin. Is this one of them?”

“Not quite. Though they aren’t far from it. Tarvia has decided to use this time of tension, where none of the Kingdoms are yet ready to declare open war and fortify their borders. They decided that included capturing the Independent City of Onigas.”

“Why? How?”

“Lissura would be less inclined to attack Tarvia if Tarvia could move an army to counterattack from several days to the south. Objectively, it’s a smart move if it succeeds.”

“And you don’t want it to. Why? You have made it clear that you don’t care about anything but Galmore.”

“If Onigas falls, it will give other Nations the idea that the Independent Cities are not as fortified as they had previously thought. They might just think that they can conquer Galmore. And Onigas is the only city that Galmore trades with, no matter how rarely.”

“So, whats the third test exactly?”

“The first test was about survival, if you knew what you could and couldn’t fight. The second test about might, how powerful you were. This third test is about War. You have already proven you know how to not just survival a battle, but how to fight it. Now, I want you to prove that you can fight a war.”

“What’s the objective?” Alaster asked, wanting to know the specifics.

“Keep Onigas from falling.”

“For how long?”

“You know, the Human mind is extremely adaptable. So long as there is a time limit, it can adapt to survive anything. That’s what makes war so horrific. You never know how long it will last. If the city falls, then you will have failed.”

Alaster peered down at the sieged city once more, it already looked like it was on its last legs, “What if I fail?”

“I would suggest otherwise, because if the city falls, and you happen to survive, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. Oh, before I forget, put this on.” Azameer said, as bored as ever, as he tossed the young man a plain wooden necklace.

Alaster only sighed as he put the necklace on; he knew Azameer was serious. And by now, the man knew more about his capabilities than Alaster knew about his. That was a very dangerous position.

“Where are you going to land?”

“I’m not.”

Alaster turned around to question the man but was instead kicked out the door, which had opened itself.

“Good luck kid!” Azameer called out as Alaster fell to the earth.

Alaster wasn’t even surprised, just annoyed. He Identified the wooden necklace with a glance, finding it was a single use enchantment that would slow his decent enough to not prove fatal. Such as thing would have been drastically expensive to purchase, but it came with a draw back.

It was single use, would activate once it reached the adequate speed, which even a fist could achieve, and it would only slow his descent enough to not kill him. It would still be very painful.

With the Dexterity Bonus [Fine Control], Alaster positioned himself midair to see where he was headed as he crossed his arms.

‘I like that guy!’ Belgroth chuckled.

‘Are you forgetting that if I die, so do you?’ Alaster said with annoyance.

‘Meh, still funny.’

‘I’m sure there were plenty of other ways to deploy you in the city.’ Sedall commented with a pondering tone.

Alaster would have thought Sedall was on his side, but he knew the spirit was just stating it objectively, not out of concern for the young man.

‘But none of them would have been as funny!’ Belgroth continued to joke, even as Alaster plummeted towards the burning city.

‘Moving on! Any suggestions for the fight?’ Alaster wanted to get back on track.

‘Its not a fight.’ Belgroth said, perfectly serious, ‘You have never been in a battle like this. All the Monsters you have killed were in battles of might. Where the only objective was killing the other before they killed you. It was vicious, violent, and quick.

In a war, the battles are long, constant, and repetitive. We do not know a lot of this siege, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this single battle had been going on for several hours already.

Even after you join the Defenders, the battle will continue to rage for several more hours. You will have to keep an eye on your resources. Not just to keep your Minions active, but also to protect against any sudden attacks.

Against the Hob Army, your Undead were outnumbered, but stronger. Here, your Undead will be weaker than the average soldier, as well as drastically outnumbered. The enemy will also make moves to counter you.

They will work together to cleave through your ranks of Undead and reach you. They will have the support of Mages. They will avoid what they can.

You have become as strong as you are from killing creatures you call Monsters. But you have no experience killing other thinking creatures like yourself.

You have no experience fighting alongside other thinking creatures. They do. They will know how to work together. They will protect each other, fight as one.

You will be much stronger than the majority of both armies, but there will be plenty stronger. And if you are not careful, you could find yourself surrounded and killed by those weaker than you.’

‘Got it, no arrogance.’ Alaster firmly nodded his head.

Sedall spoke up as they neared the city, ‘The System has named you Lord of the Dead, live up to that name.’

Alaster mentally nodded, summoning his Pact Armor and halberd. Both, soon to be painted red.