The group split in two. Four Black Guard and one Minotaur for each human. Owen assumed they split to locate Dungeons faster, as he had been told the day before. In truth, Alaster simply wanted to get rid of the boy while he experimented with the Summoner’s Ring.
Enchanted Items with Abilities of their own were actually not that rare, among Enchanted items. But Enchanted Items were still very rare. All it took to create was for the Enchanter to know the Ability already, therefore allowing them to copy that Ability into the item. The better the Enchanter knew the Ability, the better the copy would be. If they didn’t know it well enough, or didn’t have it at a high enough level, then it would either fail to copy over, or more likely, have limited uses before the Item broke.
Colius actually had one such item, capable of generating a personal Mana Shield around him capable of withstanding over a thousand points of damage. At least that's what he claimed, at the time, Alaster did not have assess to the System, so even when he held the bracer, nothing showed up to verify the Old Wizard’s claim. However, Colius did say that the item only had three uses, and he had already used one before.
Which reminded Alaster. Now that he was an Adept Mage. He should strive to get [Mana Manipulation] to level twenty so he could at least safely attempt to create [Mana Shield].
[Mana Manipulation
Level 9: <74%
Control better, what builds and destroys]
He wasn’t even level ten, where he would get the first Evolution for the Ability. It wasn’t that much of a surprise. [Mana Manipulation] required the user to change the flow of Mana. Using Spells would provide EXP for the Ability, but not nearly as much as it would for the user to change the Spell in some way or just manipulate raw Mana, outside of a Spell. Spells didn’t really require any action on the Caster’s part. All they had to do was cast the spell, and it would automatically manipulate the Mana to achieve the Spell.
Alaster had not done much Spell casting, much less Spell editing. His Spells were varied enough and broad enough that he didn’t really need to do anything outside of the Spells’ normal purview. However, [Mana Shield] was just too valuable a Spell to ignore. And Alaster had a sneaking suspicion that as his [Mana Manipulation] Improved, so to would his capability to improve the Minds of his Undead. Though he did not know for certain.
Creating [Death Touch] had provided a sizable amount of EXP to [Mana Manipulation]. Alaster wondered what other Abilities he could create. He was already learning how to use Fire Magic. Once he was able to, he should once again receive a sizable boost, perhaps even a massive one since it was a completely different School of Magic.
However, none of that was what he was out in the wilds for. He had divided the group so he would have the privacy to experiment with the Summoner’s Ring. He needed to know how the Ring stored his Minions, if there were any effects on the Minions themselves, how quickly they could be stored as well as return, and how quickly they could act after returning. It would not do to have Alaster summon his Undead only for them to require several minutes before they could react.
Holding up his hand, Alaster saw the Summoner’s Ring, next to the Ring that his Sister had given him for his birthday the year she was taken. He only spared a glance at his Sister’s Ring, knowing that if he spent more, he would spend much longer than he wanted staring at it.
With a thought, Alaster activated the Summoner’s Ring. In front of him, a small vortex of Sickly Green appeared, quickly growing into a large portal as large as a grown man within moments.
‘Quick to appear.’ Alaster noted.
On his order, one of the Black Guards stepped forward and attempted to enter, mimicking Alaster when he entered the Dungeon by holding up its hand. Had it been a Dungeon, the Undead’s hand would have stopped like it had hit a wall, while Alaster’s would have slipped through like a mist. But the Undead passed right through, quickly disappearing completely. Alaster immediately called up the Status of the Summoner’s Ring.
[Summoner’s Ring:
Capable of Storing Minions bound to the User’s soul
1/50]
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It now showed one out of fifty. Alaster would be able to store the Dozen Undead he could raise, as well as the all the [Horde] Skeletons he could raise while meditating, and still have room for more. It would be a long time before Alaster could create enough lasting Undead to fill all fifty slots.
Seeing no issue, Alaster ordered the rest of his Undead, he currently had with him, in. One after another, his Undead marched through the portal. As quickly as they walked through, the Portal accepted them, quickly growing in size to accommodate the larger Minotaur. The counter rising with each one.
‘They can enter quickly enough, but how quickly can they appear again, ready for combat?’
Alaster closed the portal with a thought, not wanting it to effect the timing. Taking a moment to scratch his shoulder, Alaster ordered the Undead to come out. The portal appeared again, yet before it was even large enough for the Minotaur, the large armored skeleton tossed its shield through and crawled through.
‘Impatient much?’
The Minotaur truly detested being away from his Master. The Black Guards were just as annoyed, but were willing to wait until the portal opened large enough for them to walk through, which only took a few more seconds. In all, the Undead were capable of coming out as soon as they could fit, and the portal grew quickly enough for them to walk out within five seconds. Alaster tried a few more experiments and found that they also came out with an understanding of the situation outside, likely seeing through the eyes and ears of Alaster himself.
Alaster did not really know. What he did know was that while the Undead were in the Summoner’s Ring, any orders Alaster gave were still received and would be carried out when they came out of the Ring. When he ordered them to come out ready for a fight, they did. This Ring would certainly form the foundation of many of Alaster’s future plans. The ability to summon a veritable army in only a few moments was simply too great a weapon for many to overcome.
Of course, his Undead were weak, even compared to other Minions and Summons. He could raise a lot of them, but they were weak. None of them had any Abilities of their own. And while they were physically powerful, they were predicable and against others with Abilities, that was a weakness easy to take advantage of. If he managed to raise an Undead Mage, that would change.
However, the fact that the Undead Mage required the remains of a Mage severely limited his opportunities to raise them. Those who could use spells were fairly common, Magic was difficult to learn for those without the System aiding them, but most Adepts learned one or two spells. The versatility of Magic was simply too much of a lure. But for the System to require a Mage’s remains, the person would have to possess a Mage Type Class. But if he could figure out a way to give his normal Undead Abilities. Undead where he could use any bone? His forces would receive a massive power boost, even if it was only one Ability.
After he finished experimenting with the Ring, he stored the four Black Guards, keeping only the Minotaur out. Alaster wanted some action. He wanted some Monsters to attack him so he could farm EXP, however minor. He had been stuck at under twenty percent for too long. Sure, most Adepts went several days before achieving even ten percent progress, but Alaster would not be able to rescue his sister if he was just like any other Adept.
No, the stronger Alaster became, the most people he met, and the more he learned, the more he realized that he was out of his league. A smart Adept with enough preparation and skill could accomplish a lot, but Alaster was now certain that the people he were going after had more Experts than he had fingers and toes. If he wanted to burn their organization to the ground, he would need to be able to at least handle two of their Experts at a time, in addition to preparation, skill, and no small amount of luck.
As Alaster had expected, with only two traveling around, Monsters saw them more as a meal, than a threat, and began to attack. None of them were as powerful as the Minotaur, however. In fact, most of them were easy prey for even ordinary Novices such as Owen. The Minotaur tore through them with ease and glee, leaving a trail of blood and body parts. Taking from Alaster’s knowledge, the massive Skeleton used its spear to impale its prey, and began to chop them into pieces when Alaster adjusted its spear into more of a glaive. Despite that, it seemed to prefer using its shield to rip the monsters into pieces. The snow was dyed dark red behind them.
Eventually, Alaster found exactly what he was searching for. A Dungeon. He had sensed a few, but none of them were strong enough to possibly be an Adept Level Dungeon. So Alaster had simply ignored them. However, now, he felt a Dungeon that would easily be considered Adept Level. With a thought, he ordered the Undead with Owen to lead him to Alaster’s location. As an afterthought, he reminded them to do so gently. He could easily imagine the Minotaur throwing the boy over its shoulder and sprinting over.
However, Alaster could sense that the group was fairly distant. It would take them some time to arrive, so Alaster decided to find the Dungeon Entrance. As before, as they neared it, the number of weaker Monsters grew, however, since the Dungeon itself was stronger, it attracted stronger monsters. Alaster eventually had to call out the Undead in the Summoner’s Ring. But there wasn’t really an issue. They carved their way through. Luckily, Alaster didn’t believe himself to be followed by anyone else besides Owen. Otherwise, even a blind man could have followed.
It was not much longer before Alaster found the entrance to the Dungeon. Just as with the Everfrost Dungeon, the entrance wasn’t anything special. It was the same black void, but this time in the back of a shallow cave, only ten feet deep.
Alaster was very excited, when Owen and the rest of his Undead arrived, they would enter, and if all went to plan, they would not leave until Alaster was at least level forty. But the sun was already beginning to set, and Alaster was beginning to feel tired. And if Alaster, who had not actively participated in the fights against the Monsters, was feeling tired. Owen, the novice desperate to prove himself, would be feeling exhausted.
They would enter the Dungeon in the morning, when both were rested. And once they did, blood would flow.