The first trial was intense, and the Undead King, pleased with Greo’s performance, granted him as much rest as he needed before the next trial.

Greo himself didn’t realize that he had fallen asleep. At first, he only meant to lie down for a minute before getting back up, but fatigue caught up to him, pulling him into a deep slumber.

The skeletons watched as Greo slowly succumbed to sleep. Some curious ones even approached him, observing his resting face—an eerie, almost unbelievable sight.

To an onlooker, the scene might resemble a ritual. The skeleton mages had drawn a glowing green magic circle around Greo. While the spell had a soothing and revitalizing effect on humans, it was an instant ‘death’ to the undead. That’s why they watched from a safe distance.

A few hours passed. One of the skeleton mages signaled that Greo was about to wake up. At once, the skeletal army returned to their original formation, and the skeleton mages swiftly erased the magic circle.

Greo gasped as he woke up. He had a weird dream—a dream where he was playing with the skeleton army—the very same skeleton army before him. He shook his head, dismissing it as an absurd dream, and stood up, facing his reality.

“Huh? Why do I feel like…”

Greo felt something—the same sensation he had when he defeated the infected kobold in Helva forest. He took out his adventurer card from his magic bag, checking his level.

“Ten…,” he muttered. “Those skeletons gave me four levels—Agh!”

A sudden headache struck him.

Two words flashed in his mind—[Undead Affinity].

The headache vanished as quickly as it came, fading along with the words.

Greo instantly knew what it meant—level ten, a sudden headache, and words appearing in his mind.

“Unique skill!”

It was true that the unique skills were heavily affected by an adventurer’s situation and environment. Even so, he still found it weird. Why would he, someone with no prior connection to the undead, acquire a skill related to them? How would he even use such skill?

Ignoring Greo’s apparent confusion, the skeleton mage spoke.

“Greo Astral unlocked his first unique skill. The skill he has obtained will be of great assistance in the upcoming trial.”

“What?”

Before he could process it further, the skeleton mage announced the second trial.

Calling this a mere coincidence would be an understatement. They clearly knew about the skill he obtained—the next trial was built around it and his ability as a summoner.

A giant hourglass was placed in front of him. Strangely enough, none of the sand at the top were dropping.

“Greo Astral. Your second trial is to summon one skeleton from the army before you. Should all of the sand reached the bottom and you fail to summon a skeleton, you are to be executed right where you stand!”

This seems simple, he thought.

“You may now begin,” the skeleton mage declared the start of the second trial. The sands inside the hourglass quickly fell to the bottom.

“Giving me too much time.”

He’s one confident summoner, the Undead King thought.

Without any magic circle that has the formula to summon a skeleton, Greo could only use the “Aimless” summoning method. He took his dagger and etched a small circle into the ground. Below it, he added two more circles of the same size. Then, he connected them with two parallel lines on each side, forming a triangle with three circular points.

Afterwards, he enclosed the triangle with three circular points inside a larger circle. Outside this, he drew four medium-sized circles—one at the top right, top left, bottom right, and bottom left. Finally, he surrounded the entire diagram with another large circle, reinforced with two layers.

As a last touch, Greo etched stone graves inside the four outer circles. He then drew a figure of a man in the upper circle of the triangle, representing himself. In the bottom left, he drew a tree, representing ‘life’, and a skull at the bottom right, representing ‘death’.

When he was satisfied with the result, he stood up and reached out both hands, pouring ninety-nine percent of his mana into the summoning circle.

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Sorry, but I’m taking one of those guys!

Thanks to his previous battle, Greo’s level increased, boosting his mana capacity. He had set his sights on summoning one of the Undead King’s liches. Based on his current mana capacity, he has a chance. That being said, he wasn’t entirely sure it would work. But since this was an “Aimless” summoning, even if he wasn’t able to summon the one he desires, something of the same value would still appear. Infected monster or not.

The summoning circle glowed with a bright red light. Slowly, the color shifted—from red to green, then blue, and finally black.

The Undead King’s gaze sharpened as he noticed one of the liches behind him beginning to fade.

The audacity to try and summon one of my generals… he thought.

Even though the Undead King thought that, he did not attempt to interfere with Greo’s summoning. He simply watched, curious to see how things would unfold.

It didn’t take long for the lich behind his right shoulder to completely fade—only to reappear above Greo’s summoning circle.

The four-meter-tall lich loomed over him, its hollow gaze fixed on him. Its tattered robe and a necklace of black pearls gave it a forbidding presence, with black miasma seeping from every inch of its body.

In its shadowy grip, it held a white wooden staff, adorned with four intricately twisted sculptures resembling tormented souls, each facing one of the cardinal directions. Within the gaping mouths of these sculptures rested four elemental magic stones—fire, water, earth, and wind. Atop the staff, above the four sculptures, sat a glowing green orb.

“I-It actually worked… Hahaha…”

As the last sand falls, the skeleton mage announced the end of the second trial.

Hold up… They said a skeleton, but what I summoned instead… was a lich…

Liches are made up of pure darkness and contaminated mana, hence it does not have anything that you could call a skeleton.

Greo sweats, anxious about their judgement.

“The second trial has ended,” the skeleton mage announced. “Although not a ‘skeleton’, Greo Astral has successfully summoned one of the Undead King’s general. Greo Astral passes.”

When Greo heard the skeleton mage’s announcement, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth.

The Undead King’s voiced echoed, “You’ve done well summoning my general, Greo Astral. It is a being much more powerful than a skeleton. Use it well and with utmost care,” the Undead King warned. “You may rest before the third trial begins.”

With that, the Undead King was engulfed by darkness and disappeared.

Greo sat down, looking up to the lich he just summoned.

What do I even name this guy…? He asked himself.

He stared intently at the lich, crossing his legs, leaned forwards, clasped his hands and rested his head on his hands, thoroughly thinking of a name.

“Hmmm…”

Until Greo gives his summon a name, neither he nor the lich would be able to obtain their skill, nor will they be able to communicate.

After a long and thoughtful deliberation, a name stuck him.

It was a name that he had heard from his father’s adventuring days’ stories back when Greo was a kid. It was a very powerful lich that could communicate with humans, but also bears a deep grudge against them. Greo’s father told him that he fought this monster for three days to no end. It was only when an unexpected outside help that he was able to defeat the powerful lich.

With such name in his mind, he quickly stood up and reached his right hand in front of the lich.

“You, a being that rules over the dead, filling hearts with fear and dread. I grant thee the name… Zaed.”

As the final word left his mouth, the lich’s body shone with a brilliant white light, blinding Greo for a moment before vanishing.

When Greo regained his sight, he saw the lich kneeling in front of him.

I gratefully accept the name my master has bestowed upon me, the lich’s voice echoed in his mind, offering its gratitude filled with reverence.

“Mhm. It’s the name of a powerful lich that my father fought on his adventuring days. I thought I might as well give you the same name.”

I shall spare no effort to meet master’s expectation! The lich swore.

“Ahaha! You’re too stiff,” Greo said, patting the Zaed’s shoulder. “Still, I can’t believe you answered my call. I was so sure you wouldn’t since you’re the Undead King’s general,” he wondered.

I… also wondered the same. It was strange, but when I felt master’s mana, the Undead King severed his connection with me.

Despite being under someone else’s authority, a monster who still has their own ‘will’ can ‘consent’ to being summoned by another summoner. The only question is whether their current master would allow it or not.

“He… what?”

He was dumbfounded, questions filled his head.

Wat is the point of this trial?

Why did he sever his connection with Zaed?

What are the Undead King’s intentions?

He called these trials and yet he’s letting Greo rest.

He sat back down and sighed, “I’ll just save these questions for later.”

Looking at the lich, Greo now realized he indeed summoned a powerful monster. Whatever reason the Undead King has, it is clear that there’s an ulterior motive behind it.

Cab I… actually control this kind of monster? He questioned himself, but he quickly dismissed it and talked to Zaed.

“For now… let’s test the skills we got, shall we?”

As you wish.

After Greo named the lich, he immediately obtained a skill called, [Undead Advent]. A powerful skill that allows Greo to barely survive all fatal attacks that would otherwise kill him. Greo would then enter a state where his physical and magical attack will be greatly enhanced. The only downside to it is that, after it activates, it will unusable for a month.

“Absurd. Never mind, I am not testing this,” Greo turned to the lich. “Zaed, what about you?”

[Soul Taker].

Greo went silent, trying to understand what he meant.

“…. Say what?”

A skill that allows me to gather the souls of living enemies I vanquished.

Greo breathed deeply.

“If I ever get out of this place alive and we get to the surface, I want you to avoid using it unless I say so.”

As you wish.

Greo nods upon hearing its answer.

“Zaed, I’ll rest for a bit. Wake me up when before the third trial starts.”

Understood. Rest well, master.

Greo’s mind is still filled with uneasiness, he’s still thinking about his friends and clients, worried about what might have happened to them. But for now, he cannot do anything to help, he can’t even summon nor talk to Hollo. Clearing this trial comes first, the remaining three trials will definitely be harder than the first. Although the trials are touch, he’s also getting unexpected gains like his first unique skill and his lich summon.

He decided to let his body and mind rest.

I’m gonna sleep.