Michael felt his vision blur as he entered the crack.
For a moment, all he saw was chaotic darkness.
The next instant, he found himself in the middle of a vast forest.
“Lucky!” he called out.
Without taking time to observe his surroundings, Michael gripped his gun tightly and summoned Lucky from the Netherworld.
A greenish-black circle materialized on the ground in front of him, and the silhouette of a massive wolf leapt out—it was Lucky.
At the same time, Michael retrieved Prince from his storage space to guard his back.
While Prince’s mind remained frozen in time, unable to develop consciousness, Lucky was already alert.
Sensing his master’s unease through their link, Lucky immediately assumed a combat stance upon arrival.
Fortunately, after a tense few seconds, nothing attacked.
Michael finally let out a sigh of relief.
While keeping the two on high alert, Michael finally took the time to survey his surroundings.
Tall trees stretched high into the sky. Wide crowns formed a leafy canopy, allowing golden rays of sunlight to filter through. The forest floor, carpeted in moss and scattered leaves, glowed softly under the shifting light. The air was alive with the faint rustle of leaves.
The sight was breathtaking.
“Though I’ve read about cracks containing entire worlds, seeing it in person is amazing.”
There was even a sun!
As for wondering how many cracks might have their own individual sun like Aurora, he quickly brushed the thought aside.
Still, something about this world unsettled him.
“The mana in this space feels scattered… no… it feels incomplete?”
It was hard to describe, but there was an odd sensation—a fragility, a weakness he hadn’t felt in Aurora or the Land of Origin.
He couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, but there was no time to dwell on it.
“Prince, stay here with me and guard. Lucky, scout the surroundings and kill anything that moves!”
The moment he gave the command, Lucky vanished in a blur, leaving behind a gust of wind and a cloud of dirt.
“Cough, cough! That stupid wolf! Do you think feeding your master dirt is funny? I’ll start feeding you grass!”
Michael paused, remembering the time Lucky had tried to eat moss off a wall in the Land of Origin.
“…Actually, he might enjoy that,” Michael muttered, shaking his head to dismiss the ridiculous thought.
Michael was genuinely surprised by the movement caused by Lucky’s incredible speed.
The speed itself was astonishing, leaving behind an afterimage as Lucky vanished from sight.
Since rare-rank creatures were said to rival Awakeners who used attribute points, Lucky’s stats had to far exceed 20 points for a human. Being a wolf, its speed should be even more terrifying.
The strength of his undead truly satisfied Michael, but it also left him suspicious.
Although he hadn’t tested Lucky’s speed in the real world or the Land of Origin yet, he doubted it would be strong enough to generate such a massive gust of wind.
Michael suspected it might have something to do with the “nature” of this world, but he couldn’t confirm it without running tests in the other worlds.
Just as he was about to continue inspecting his surroundings, several notification panels appeared before his eyes:
[Your Undead {Lucky} has killed a Level 3 Goblin and gained 35 EXP.]
[You’ve received feedback from your Undead {Lucky} and gained 10 EXP.]
[Your Undead {Lucky} has killed a Level 1 Goblin and gained 14 EXP.]
[You’ve received feedback from your Undead {Lucky} and gained 4 EXP.]
Enjoy new chapters from empire
[Your Undead {Lucky} has killed a Level 5 Goblin and gained 48 EXP.]
[You’ve received feedback from your Undead {Lucky} and gained 14 EXP.]
…..
…..
…
..
The notifications continued four more times before finally stopping.
“Did Lucky just wipe out an entire goblin group?”
Michael was both alarmed and stunned.
He quickly focused on their link to sense Lucky’s rough location. Noticing he could still pinpoint it, Michael deduced Lucky was within 100 meters.
Unranked Awakeners, whose souls don’t undergo significant upgrades until they advance in rank, could only command and sense their undead within roughly 100 meters. This range varied slightly depending on talent but generally stayed consistent at this distance.
Coincidentally, this also matched the current range of {Share Senses}, a skill Michael gained when his Intelligence stat hit 20 points.
“{Share Senses},” Michael muttered as he activated the skill and stepped closer to Prince.
He didn’t bother recalling Lucky—there was no need.
Goblins posed no threat to Lucky, though Michael himself couldn’t afford to be careless. Deciding to stay cautious, he used the skill to check on Lucky’s situation.
Immediately, his vision shifted.
From a vibrant world of colors, it turned to stark black and white.
“Is this how the world looks to the undead?” Michael murmured, momentarily intrigued.
Lucky was standing amidst the mangled corpses of the goblins he had just slain. Even with the monochrome view, Michael easily recognized the grotesque forms of the creatures.
He had a few in his storage space after all.
The sight, however, caused Michael’s heart to ache.
“Lucky, you idiot! Stop wasting money—those corpses could feed you and your siblings!”
Panicking, Michael sent a mental command for Lucky to stay put, fearing the wolf would kill more goblins and “waste” precious resources.
As for feeding his undead, Michael wasn’t exaggerating. While undead didn’t need to eat and had infinite stamina, there were indeed substances they could “digest” that provided benefits or simply appealed to their preferences.
Michael was about to run to Lucky’s location with Prince when he suddenly stopped and glanced at his other undead.
“Prince… what do you think about letting Daddy ride you?”
(;一_一)
Prince stared at Michael, confusion evident in his newly awakened consciousness.
As Michael addressed his undead, he turned to check how many experience points he had left to level up.
‘Status’
—
[Name: Michael Norman]
[Class: Necromancer Apprentice]
[Level: 5]
[EXP: 208/800]
[Strength: 6.1]
[Agility: 11.1]
[Constitution: 7.7]
[Intelligence: 30.3]
[Attribute Points: 0]
[Skills: Undead Summoning, Undead Revival, Detect, Basic Shot, Share Senses]
[Talent: Infinite Evolution]
[Class Skill: Contract Slot{3/10}]
[Gift: Mark Of Origin]
—