Alaster reappeared in the world with twenty Mana Cores in his Ring. Enough to purchase a small house in most Cities. His Undead appeared scattered around him. They quickly moved to stand before their master in formation. In the end, Alaster decided on two Minotaurs, two Night Children, and eight Black Guard. He had taken the bills and wooden shields away from the first two Black Guards. Simply put, after running through the Dungeon so many times, they were becoming worn. Too worn for Alaster to repair.
Instead, for each of the Black Guards he made Bone Spears, strengthened to his new limit. For the Minotaurs, Alaster made two Halberds made of Bone. Typically, a Halberd was a heavy polearm used by two hands for powerful downward swings or thrusts. But the Minotaurs were strong enough to do the same with one hand. The Night Children had also been strengthened, and now they could easily blend into the shadows of the trees they hid in.
After making all the Undead and strengthening the already existing ones, Alaster ran through the Dungeon twice more, much more slowly. During which he had them all stick together and move as a unit. He wanted experience in commanding them in such numbers. Surprisingly to Alaster, the Dungeon reacted. Instead of coming at them a few at a time as Alaster had grown used to, the Apes attacked them in equal numbers. Which Alaster was happy about as it meant a better experience in commanding his Undead.
While the rest of the Dungeon wasn’t very difficult, as each one of his Undead could comfortably handle two or even three Apes at a time, the Boss Fight was much harder than it normally was. Instead of one Ghost Ape, there were three. And they attacked together. It was challenging, and tested Alaster’s ability to control his Undead.
He had increased all of their Minds to the new thousand Mana max, which made it much easier to control them. But they still didn’t register the slightly more concentrated mist as the enemy. So Alaster had to not only notice three different slight differences in the surrounding mist from three different directions, but also control his Undead to attack and defend from them. What really irked Alaster, was that when he did manage to kill all three, the reward was the same as if he had killed only one.
The second time he ran through the Dungeon with all his Undead was similar to the second. The Apes came at them in larger numbers, and there were three bosses. Alaster found it much easier this time around, and the Undead didn’t take nearly as much damage.
After emerging from the Dungeon, Alaster was content with his progress. Taking one last look around the Dungeon entrance, Alaster turned south-west, back towards Sicon. However, he was not intending to go to Sicon. A little to the north of the city, there was a village. There, Alaster was intending to gather supplies, as well as sell the Ape furs, of which he had plenty.
As it was, each of the Black Guards had a Snow Ape fur draped over their shoulders in a way that wouldn’t hinder them in combat. Same with the Minotaurs, but they needed the Ghost Ape Furs. It didn’t really provide anything, but when they reached the village it would help conceal them. Plus, Alaster thought it looked cool. The contrast between the black armor of the Black Guards and the white fur worked well together.
Most monsters struggled to determine the actual strength of a human, which led to them attacking people well out of their league. But one thing even monsters could identify was superior numbers. Alaster wasn’t expecting any monsters to attack him. That might not be the case when the sun set.
However, he was expecting to be at the village before then. He knew the general location of it and didn’t think he was too far away. But the real reason he was confident was because he had fashioned a chair lift. He did not know what it was actually called. He had this idea for a while. But now, he had enough Undead to carry it while still leaving a sizeable enough force that could defend him. The Undead didn’t get tired, and they could move quicker than their living counterparts of the same general power.
The lift was basically just a large board, the size of a door with four handles built into it, so the sides of the board were still smooth. The bone chair he had made previously was simply melded onto the board. It was very simple, and he doubted that it would be very comfortable. But it would allow him to travel faster without exhausting himself.
Alaster got on and sat down, giving a tentative glance to the four Black Guards that stepped forward. Their increased intelligence didn’t require him to command them in every little thing, and they seemed to better understand his intent. As one, they bent down and grabbed the handles through the thick snow.
“Phew, ok. Let's give this a try. Please don’t drop me.”
As one, they lifted, bringing Alaster up with them.
“Woah! Ok, next time, bring me up slower.”
Alaster had thrown out his arms in legs in a panic, but surprisingly, or perhaps not once he thought about it, the chair was perfectly level. The rest of the Black Guards took position around him, with the two Minotaurs in front and behind him. Meanwhile, the Night Children continued to hide themselves in the tall trees. They would follow them through the branches.
“Alright, let's go. Only as fast as everyone can keep up.”
The Minotaurs were surprisingly fast for their size and weight. They were now much heavier than a normal person, but still a little lighter than if that person was in full plate. But they were still not as fast as the Black Guards. After all, the Undead, not weighed down by all the organs or blood, were much faster than the living of their general power.
The Black Guard carriers started out at a slow jog, when they saw that the Minotaurs were keeping up, they gradually increased the speed until their larger brethren were beginning to lag behind, then slowed down slightly. This speed, was still a vast improvement over what Alaster could have achieved on foot, at least in the thick snow or for a lengthy enough time. But the Undead didn’t grow tired, they had no issue forcing their feet through the snow time after time. The Minotaurs were more like plows, sending up large blooms of snow with each step.
Alaster held up his hand to cover his face from the snow and looked behind them.
‘Damn, even a blind man could track us.’
The snow was over two foot thick, but with all the Black Guards and Minotaurs running through it, they were leaving a fairly wide path with maybe only six inches of compressed snow with all the displaced snow piled up on the edges of the path.
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Alaster didn’t really care. They weren’t deep in the forest. Deeper than a Novice should have been, especially a lone Novice. But for an Adept with a sizeable force of Undead, they could have gone much further into the woods and still be fine. Of course, there were still limits, as well as the outliers, such as much stronger monsters wondering into the more shallow woods.
Turning back to the front, Alaster grimaced. The snow really was flying right into his face, and it was cold. Alaster hated the cold, despite being born in one of the coldest winters the Village knew. The ride started out extremely bumpy, almost throwing him off several times, but as the Black Guards figured it out, they all stepped forward as one and adjusted their arms to provide suspension for Alaster. It was still bumpy, but not too much.
Nonetheless, Alaster carefully pulled out two of the condensed Bone cubes and created a sloped wall in front of him. He had to stretch out the material, making it much weaker, but it only had to hold up against snow and wind. He also made the wall touch the sides up about a third of the way, creating a type of pocket, like a shoe, where it would hopefully be dry. Alaster was extremely tempted to build a fire there, but despite the ride being comfortable enough for Alaster, it was still too bumpy for exposed flames.
How pathetic would that be? For the only Death Knight in the world to burn to death because he was cold, and the flames ignited his fur coats.
Instead, Alaster just stretched out his legs there where they were protected from the snow. However, he promised himself that he would eventually find an Enchantment for heating. If he could make his Bone Crafts heat themselves, Alaster would be in bliss.
For now, though, Alaster was forced to bear the cold wind. The slope he built, while it blocked his vision in front, also blocked the snow the Minotaur kicked up. And while it helped slightly with the wind, it didn’t entirely protect him. Alaster could have made the entire lift enclosed, but he was already uncomfortable with being unable to see in front of him.
Eventually, the ground became more even and the trees more spaced. They were getting closer to the Village, Alaster hoped. Or they could be getting closer to a road, but if that was the case, Alaster would have thought that they would have found it already. Roads tended to only have a few meters around them cleared.
Gradually, the trees ended, so Alaster ordered the group to stop and set him down. He didn’t want to go into the Village on a chair. It would make the Villagers think he is some type of Noble. That could cause issues in its own right. After disassembling the lift back into cubes, Alaster turned to the Night Children, who silently watched him from the tree branches. They refused to leave the forest of their own will, but would obey Alaster without hesitation if he ordered them. However, he wasn’t going to.
He intended to pretend that his group of Undead were a group of Mercenaries that had just finished a training exercise in a nearby Dungeon and were returning to sell their gains. Such a thing was uncommon, but easily passed off and believed. However, while he could have his Undead pretend to be very disciplined mercenaries, he wouldn’t be able to have his Night Children pretend to be anything other than the Undead.
Off in the distance, he could see smoke rising, though he couldn’t see the source. To Alaster, it looked like the normal amount of smoke he would expect from a Village trying to keep warm in Winter. Alaster hesitated for a moment. It had been a long while since he had talked to another living, breathing person. How long had it been? A few weeks? A few months? Alaster was not sure, the Dungeons tended to disrupt the person’s sense of time, especially when they didn’t have anyone outside the Dungeon to verify how long they had spent within.
Alaster shook himself and steeled himself. He wasn’t nervous about talking to other people. He wanted to keep a low profile and remain anonymous. He was worried that he would say something strange that would bring unwanted attention, worse if it was attention from the people who had taken his sister.
He still did not know who they were, but he was certain that he was nowhere near ready to face them yet. The best case scenario would be if they assumed he was dead and lowered their guard against any other threats they might have. That way he could eliminate them all easier.
Thinking about his sister, Alaster’s emotions became numb, less drastic. All that mattered was that he succeed and save his sister. He only brought his Undead, despite the attention they would bring even if they were masquerading as mercenaries, because if the Villagers knew he had a Ring of holding, it would draw far more attention.
He pulled out all the Furs and Hides, basically emptying his Ring, and divided them among the Undead he was bringing into town with him. Each of them had a large stack in their arms. The Minotaurs carried the most, and were the reason Alaster was able to empty his ring. He could have made a sled, but it would have been made of bone. He didn’t want to take the risk of the Villagers discovering it. It would lead them to conclusions a little too close to the truth than Alaster liked.
Walking on his own two feet once more, Alaster led his group of Undead to the Village. Alaster suspected that it would take them an hour or two to reach it. Which he found different. In his Village, the Forest had only been a two hundred meters away from the palisades. Luckily, the snow on these plains weren’t nearly as thick as it was in the forest.
As Alaster expected, the Village soon came into view. At least the wooden palisades of the Village did. He also spotted a few groups of Novices hunting what appeared to be large snow hares in the plains. The Novices were obviously brand new and didn’t know how to use their weapons. Most of them were using wooden spears they had likely sharpened themselves, but a few were using metal weapons. Such as one who used a large iron club that was clearly too heavy for him. But Alaster did see one or two who appeared to know who to use their weapons.
Alaster couldn’t help but see them as children, despite being less than a year older than them. He was the outlier who managed to reach level twenty and become an Adept within one year of becoming an Adept.
Come to think of it, His birthday had likely already passed. He would have to ask someone what the date it, but if he was right, Winter should be almost over and receding. If that was the case, it was yet another year gone where his sister was at the mercy of her captors. And yet he was not ready. It drove him made. Stirred him to speed up, to grow stronger.
Most of the nearby Novices spotted them, and some ran off to the Village, likely to warn their elders. Regardless, Alaster had his Undead continue. To reinforce the story that they were Mercenaries, Alaster ordered them to stay close but disorganized. Something that the Minotaurs didn’t like.
One thing that Alaster discovered, after increasing the Minds to one thousand Mana, was that the Undead began to have their preferences. They had always seemed to have their peculiarity. Like the Night Children preferring to stay on all fours, or the Black Guards preferring to work in at least one other Black Guard. But now that their minds were more expanded and complex, there were more.
The Night Children hated being exposed, preferring to stay hidden. They also preferred to have a height advantage in any situation. The Black Guards preferred to work together and preferred to gang up on the enemy with each other to quickly kill it. The Minotaurs, they were brutes, but they preferred order, they preferred being the ones who kept the order, even in battle. They enjoyed formations and being given orders and left to work do it. They didn’t like being ordered about for every little thing, but if given a general order, they would go about doing it in the best way they knew how.
Alaster grinned at, thinking how while they were each still very simple-minded, they were gradually forming their own personalities. Especially the Minotaurs. Even after being ordered to remain in a small unorganized group, they still kept to either side of the Undead, corralling them.
Soon they were at the gates of the Village, but they weren’t alone. Before them stood what must have been the entirety of the Village Guard. And it wasn’t a kind welcome. Each of the men and women were equipped in their armor and had their weapons raised or sheathed, but ready. They came for a fight.