[Author’s Note]
It’s been brought to my attention that the story’s progress might feel a bit too slow, even for a slow-paced novel for some of you. I’d love to know if that’s generally the case or if I just need to pick up the pace slightly. Either way, our boy Michael is about to be on some demon time soon, hehe.
If the story does feel too slow, I apologize. I’m just a bit too used to setting down solid foundations for my novels (I’m a bit of an old author, haha). The advantage, though, is that once the groundwork is set, that’s it. I also pride myself on being a good planner, so rest assured, everything has a purpose.
A lot of novels like this lose their integrity too quickly due to rushed power-ups, and that’s something I want to avoid. That doesn’t mean our boy won’t have his power-up moments—he absolutely will, and plenty of them, and soon at that. However, he’ll have to earn them.
I’m not making him overpowered just because he’s the MC. He’ll be overpowered because he’s a deserving MC.
Thanks for bearing with the slower pace, and thank you for reading! Two more chapters are on the way!
Also the story switches to a good level of fast pace after chapter 44. Readers there can confirm this. No more info drops and just pure story since everything that needs to be currently stated already is.
*****
Michael stared at Lucky in front of him, a faint smile playing on his lips, tinged with a hint of resentment.
He steadied his heavy breathing before speaking.
“Lucky, we might have to change your name soon. You’re a scam, buddy.”
With 30 points in Intelligence—30 times the amount of an average human—Michael had expected far better results.
Yet, it had taken all his mana to barely send Lucky to the Netherworld.
The Lucky before him now was the one he had just summoned back after some rest.
Michael had to admit, the effects of {Undead Summoning} were impressive.
Once the contract was set, he could summon any number of undead instantly, as long as his mana could sustain it.
However, the cost of activating the skill weighed heavily on him.
Thirty points in Intelligence weren’t a simple linear boost. The qualitative change was immense, yet it had taken more than two attempts to send Lucky to the Netherworld, depleting his mana reserves.
It sounded little but it wasn’t.
Lucky was indeed stronger than Prince.
The first attempt to send him to the Netherworld consumed 20% of Michael’s total mana reserve, assuming it had been full.
The next attempt drained 30%, and the one after that took a staggering 45%. This was on top of the 15% consumed by his initial attempt with Prince.
If Michael hadn’t rested for nearly an hour—a forced sleep brought on by sheer exhaustion—he wouldn’t have had enough mana to make the final attempt.
Michael had really gone all out.
Through some quick calculations, Michael realized that, under ideal conditions, his current mana could allow him to revive close to twenty undead successfully—if he succeeded on the first attempt every time.
However, the repeated casting of {Undead Summoning} was far more exhausting than {Undead Revival} due to its steep mana consumption.
Even so, the benefits of the skill couldn’t be ignored.
With his current storage space, Michael could barely fit four undead the size of Lucky, while the rest would have to remain in the Land of Origin. This limitation significantly weakened his combat strength in the real world.
If only {Undead Summoning} weren’t such a scam.
With his undead connected to the Netherworld, Michael could theoretically summon all of them simultaneously in both the Land of Origin and Aurora—if his mana reserves allowed it.
Though dissatisfied, Michael was still happy he had succeeded in the end.
As long as his undead could enter and leave the Netherworld at will, the situation wouldn’t change, even if he continued to evolve them. This was because the contract with the Netherworld was tied to the souls of the undead, not their race or physical bodies.
Perhaps evolution also strengthen their souls, but the foundation remained the same—and that was what truly mattered.
If Michael could summon and dismiss at least ten monsters from the Netherworld, even if his forces were divided, it wouldn’t be a bad situation.
Those ten undead, capable of traversing the Netherworld, would become the focus of his efforts to evolve them.
Even with just ten, a force of ten rare-rank undead would be formidable, wouldn’t it?
And if rare rank wasn’t enough, then what about ten extraordinary-rank undead?
If even that failed, what about ten epic-rank undead?
Moreover, it wasn’t as if he wouldn’t try {Undead Summoning} on his other undead. If he managed to expand his roster beyond ten, so much the better.
Even if he couldn’t, he’d still have divided undead from his forces in Aurora he could also evolve to serve as his back up.
“I’ll need to check the forums later to see if there’s anything useful for this,” Michael muttered.
He paused, deep in thought.
“It looks like I’ll need to revise the naming system as well. Only special undead should be given names to distinguish them, with priority for those that have access to the Netherworld.”
Several plans began to form in his mind as he dismissed Lucky back to the Netherworld.
He placed Prince in his storage space while leaving the last undead, his still-unevolved undead to guard him.
After consuming another energy supplement, Michael disconnected his consciousness from the Land of Origin.
“I’m back.”
Michael sank into the soft embrace of his bed, the lingering headache from mana exhaustion easing slightly as if melting away.
“Let me rest for a bit,” Michael murmured, closing his eyes.
But he didn’t fully realize just how drained he was.
While his body had grown much stronger than before, mental exhaustion couldn’t be soothed as easily, even with an increase in his stats.
Ever since he first entered the Land of Origin at noon, he had been on the move, from one task to another.
Even after returning to Aurora, he barely had time to catch his breath before heading to the Association to buy corpses and returning to the Land of Origin to revive undead.
In between, he had undertaken taxing tasks, so it wasn’t surprising that exhaustion had caught up with him.
Michael was so worn out that barely a minute after closing his eyes, he slipped into sleep. Soon, soft snores filled the room.
Today marked the second day since Michael had become an Awakener.
While it hadn’t been what he’d imagined—obstacles seeming to rise wherever he looked—deep down, Michael felt a sense of happiness.
Whether it was his past life on Earth or the original owner of this body, this was the first time in both lives that Michael felt truly alive.
And it was all thanks to his awakening.
He was, truly, lucky.
