Now, let's start the experiments with the ghost in the room, shall we? I stood up and positioned my chair to face the ghost before I sat back down. I brought the menu up and selected the ghost. Now the question is, do I directly promote it to a boss, or do I inject it with essence and see what happens? After thinking it over for a moment, I decided that I was feeling a bit like a mad scientist right now. Besides, this way, the boss could be a bit stronger than the rest of the mobs. I selected the add essence option, and a slider appeared.

With this, I could theoretically add in however much I wanted, though I really don't want to strain my budget like that. It was a nonrenewable resource at the moment. Granted, I had a lot to spare, but I didn't want to risk it. I slid the button up till the counter read one hundred. I confirmed the choice. The ghost lit up for a moment and became more defined and solid before growing dim again. I slid it to a hundred once more, and the ghost started to visibly react. The ethereal tail that extended it behind it began to condense down and become more tangible and form the faint outline of a pair of legs.

I dumped another hundred points into it, internally balking at the fact that I just spent three hundred essence points on a basic mob. The ghost absorbed it like a sponge, and the tail finished forming into a set of ethereal legs. I felt like I was really close to something tremendous, yet a part of me felt that if I put too much into it, the ghost wouldn't be able to handle it. I decided to cut down the amount of essence I was giving the ghost in half, and I confirmed it. I really hope that nothing would happen. The ghost grew solid, and its feet touched the floor, yet not a noise was to be heard from it, and a notification blinked on my menu

You have unlocked a T2 mob:

Spirit: A possible evolution of a ghost. A spirit can better interact with the world of the living and can potentially use physical weapons instead of just siphoning life away from its target. The spirit also has more control over the surrounding environment than a basic ghost does.

That wasn't a bad upgrade. Though it cost me a grand total of three hundred and fifty essence to hit the evolution point. It was widely inefficient but, it was better than nothing. I guess with that out of the way, I should make this guy a boss; since, at the moment, it was just a test dummy. On top of it becoming a boss, I would need a bodyguard or at least someone to keep close, so Kharon can do other tasks for the time being. I selected it and confirmed the upgrade to the boss option, and a warning appeared in my vision.

You are attempting to upgrade this mob to a boss. Doing so will change it from its evolutionary route. Evolutionary upgrades from this point on from this mob will be twice as costly.

Current promotion cost: five hundred

The screen blinked as it awaited my answer. Of course, this was too easy the first time. The price essentially doubled, and that's not counting the base cost. Plus it would cost me five hundred essence points as well to drag it to boss status. With a sigh, I confirmed the choice. I couldn't spend anything more at the moment on you. The spirit lit up in a brilliant display, and another notification appeared on my screen.

Would you like to name your boss?

I stared at it for a moment as I tried to settle on a good name. I very much wanted this one to be a female. I looked at the spirit for a while as I thought it over. This boss would play a significant role in the future, so maybe I would name her around that. The question is, what exactly? If I wanted her to be a bodyguard and someone close to me.

I strummed my fingers along my legs and thought about it. I think I want to create a specialized group, one whose job was to protect the empire at all cost, and above all else, the Empress. So with that being said, I shall appoint this one a high rank.

Her name shall start with an A. Because she is the first boss amongst many. I think her name shall be Alessia, as for her last name, I want to go with Veers. It seemed simple and nice. I confirmed the choice, and the screen blinked again.

Would you like to change the boss's appearance? The cost to change is included in the original price.

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Of course, I would, Why wouldn't I? I clicked on it, and a new screen appeared. This one was a three-dimensional editor and had the spirit locked in a T-pose. I looked over the spirit and immediately switched the gender to female. After looking her over for a moment, I decided that she should have long flowing hair tied up in a high ponytail. I adjusted the length until it reached the middle of her back. Now the next step was eyes.

I shaped her eyebrows to a high arch with a tempered edge and then shifted her eyes from being round to that of a thin almond. I tampered with it for a few minutes until they perfectly complimented each other. Satisfied with my work thus far I decided to work on the rest of her face.

I straightened out the nose a bit and shifted her facial shape slightly since it was previously rounded, to something more pronounced and feminine. After working on it for a bit, I sat back to look her over. Currently, she looks sophisticated and like a beautiful badass, if I do say so myself.

I pulled the height down a bit to something close to my size, which was an easy one hundred and sixty-seven centimeters. For the rest of her body, I just kept it in proportion—nothing overly crazy here. I wish I could go into more detail, but how her body was now would make it pointless. She was still partially ethereal so a lot of the finer details would go to waste. I would come back to her later once she evolves. I confirmed the choice, and yet another screen appeared before me.

Would you like to grant her a title? Please be aware that this title will be visible to any party that enters your domain.

Oooh, a title. It has to be something fancy to fit her and the role she will play. I typed in 'The Blade of The Empress.' and stared at it for a moment. Now that I read it, I'm not sure if I like it or not. I erased it and thought about another. Should I give her a title based on the life she lived or how she died? What are her goals?

I stared at her as I thought it over. Was she betrayed? Should I give her 'The Betrayed' title? No, that didn't seem right either now that I think about it. Maybe I should stick with a war-based title. That way, if or when she encounters the ones that took the time to read or uncovered the tidbits I left around will recognize who she is. The Champion of the Empress. I typed it in and looked at it for a moment—this one I like. I confirmed the choice, and the screen vanished. The newly created boss floated there for a moment before a new screen appeared.

Would you like to choose a class or randomize it? Classes selectable are based on the following: Race/Type/Title/Affinity/Auxillary skills

Classes evolve with the boss.

Ugh, why was this so much work? I guess it works out cause it lets me actively flesh her out to an extreme degree, but man was this a lot of work. I would not randomize the classes, though. Considering that I spent all the time designing her, I would stick with it this way to the end—all for this story's sake. I selected the choose class option, and a list appeared.

Spectral War Maiden: A perversion of the venerable War Maiden class available to human female knights. This class focuses heavily on having a potent offense as well as a solid defense. They are known for their mastery over multiple weapons.

Spectral Blade Dancer: A class focused on heavy, overwhelming offensive capabilities, with minimal defensive capabilities, and no magical talent. This class relies solely on its ability to deal overwhelming damage and absorb health back with its siphoning effects to protect its self. Its primary focus is on short swords and duel-wielding weapons.

Maiden of Death: A class that has a healthy blend of magical damage, along with physical damage. This class has moderate defensive capabilities and heavy sustain along with steady D.O.T output.

Undead Spear Maiden: A class that has a longer attack range and deals damage with pinpoint accuracy. This class has a solid blend of magic and qi capabilities.

I read through the list and nodded my head. These all seemed like such powerful classes. But what would fit her the best? I read over each carefully balanced the pros and cons.

The War Maiden would classify her as something close to an off-tank. Able to trade blow for blow and would be a decent tie-in with her lore. The Spectral Blade Dancer would give her an edge in some forms of combat since it would allow her to overwhelm her targets, but I think in something bigger than a duel it may come at a disadvantage.

The Maiden of Death seemed like a pretty solid choice too. It would grant her the ability to use magic, which could be handy in a fight. Especially if it is D.O.T. It should be able to help her hold her own in a large party. The last option was the Spear Maiden, which was pretty straightforward. The only issue I could think of with this class was that it would be harder to fight in a close-ranged environment.

I looked over the list carefully and crossed off the Undead Spear Maiden. It looked nice, but ultimately, it didn't seem like it would fit. I studied the list for a few moments longer and decided to remove Spectral Blade Dancer next. It looked like a fantastic class, but I needed her to have some kind of protection and utility other than just overwhelming damage.

Now I was down to just two classes, Maiden of Death, or the Spectral War Maiden. Both of them seemed like an excellent choice. I balanced them both and thought over what they could bring to the table. Both as a boss and as a character for my theme.

With that thought, I decided I would cut Maiden of Death. It was a bit sad to cut it out, but as a bodyguard and a boss, I think War Maiden won. I selected the class and confirmed my choice. The screen vanished, and the spirit dropped to the floor and stood up. Its eyes studied the room around us, but that was about it. Maybe I should build her some lore and see if I can transfer it to her and get her to awaken. It would be nice to talk to someone other than Kharon for a change, so I should work on that for a bit before I work on anything else.