Michael knew his main priority now was creating more undead within the next two hours, but Lucky’s actions of killing goblins sparked an idea.
He had almost forgotten that when an undead killed a target, a portion of the gained experience points was transferred to the Necromancer.
At first glance, this might seem like a loss, as the Necromancer would have earned more experience points by killing the target personally.
However, necromancers were never meant to be front-line warriors. Their strength lay in commanding their undead minions to do the fighting for them.
Moreover, the strength of an undead was directly tied to the strength of its master. Investing in the growth of his minions wasn’t a waste—it was a strategic move.
With his undead gaining experience and growing stronger, Michael could avoid putting himself in unnecessary danger while still gradually accumulating experience points to level up.
This indirect approach to combat was the essence of a Necromancer’s playstyle, and it suited Michael perfectly.
As someone who was particularly cautious about his safety, especially in the real world, Michael found this method of fighting to be both efficient and reassuring.
“Should I just wait until I fill my contract slots, or have Lucky kill monsters for me while Prince guards me?” Michael muttered to himself.
However , he soon shook his head at the thought.
“If someone’s going to guard me, I’d rather it be Lucky. Weird as it is, Lucky is far more flexible and should be able to protect me better than Prince, whose intelligence is still… lacking.”
“…”
Prince, who stood loyally by his master’s side, couldn’t help but feel that his master was thinking poorly of him.
No! His master must be thinking ill of him—why else would he look at him with that faint expression of disdain?
“It’s something to think about,” Michael continued, oblivious to Prince’s thoughts. “But for now, having more undead is the priority. Anyway, I have ten hours here, so I can always level up later… if there are enough goblins, that is.”
“Still, I could try killing a few goblins myself to level up faster and unlock more undead slots. Evolution points are crucial. I don’t see myself being strong enough to personally face that gargoyle anytime soon, but with enough evolution points, my undead might.”
Michael doubted evolving Lucky to a three-star undead would make it rank up to Rank Two—it might only gain a few levels at most. However, evolving it to an Extraordinary rank might do the trick, though the evolution points required would be significant.
It had been barely three days since his awakening, and while he hadn’t gained much from the Land of Origin to obsess over it, the restriction on exploring still frustrated him. Yet, given the opportunity presented by the suspected ruins at his initial location, he didn’t want to risk rushing in and dying before reaping any benefits.
Aside from not wanting to lose potential rewards in the ruins, Michael was already at the point where the 10% permanent loss of all stats upon death felt painful—especially for his Intelligence stat.
With that, Michael stopped mulling over the issue and hopped onto Prince’s back.
“Head in this direction, boy! Let’s go meet that wastrel called your older brother!”
(●__●)
For a brief moment, Prince wondered what his purpose in life was.
*****
The ride was incredibly short.
It felt like only a second passed before Michael found himself standing in front of his first named undead, Lucky.
It was thrilling, nonetheless.
The gust of wind from the run had almost thrown Michael off Prince’s back. For some reason, Michael felt as though the action had been deliberate.
However, thinking about how his undead only had love for him, Michael dismissed the thought.
How could they not love him? After all, he was their evolution plug!
Prince: (╥﹏╥)
Surprisingly, despite the blood splattered everywhere from the goblins Lucky had slain, Michael wasn’t disgusted by the sight or smell.
Perhaps it was because goblins had green blood, and their form, while humanoid, was so far removed from humans that it didn’t bother him, aside from the initial disgust.
However, it could also be that nothing could disgust him more than the acid slime from the Land of Origin. Experience new stories on empire
The smell of those things was so vile it could make even a fresh corpse gag in disgust.
“These are heavy losses,” Michael muttered in pain, gazing at the mutilated remains of the goblins scattered around. He no longer blamed Lucky.
He had, after all, ordered Lucky to kill whatever moved in the crack but hadn’t specified how. Lucky, while not acting in line with Michael’s unspoken expectations, had followed the order to the letter.
“Whatever. This should still fetch something at the Trade Centre, but it’s better to have intact corpses like the ones I brought to maximize profits.”
Michael dismounted Prince and began gathering the goblins’ corpses and scattered body parts, placing them into his storage space. Once done, he made his way to Lucky and hopped onto his back.
“Sure enough, riding you feels more majestic,” Michael said with a pleased smile. Lucky’s taller, more imposing appearance compared to Prince satisfied his vanity.
Prince: (°ロ°)
“Let’s move. The smell might attract more goblins,” Michael ordered. Within moments, he and his undead left the area, searching for a more secluded spot.
Killing monsters and gaining experience was great, but collecting Evolution Points? That was the real priority. Michael had his goals straight.
Unfortunately, all Michael found was an endless expanse of forest and more goblins along the way, which Prince attended to with ease. This time, the method of killing was straightforward.
A swipe of Prince’s tail sent the goblins sprawling, and Michael finished them off with his gun, earning a steady stream of experience points. Afterward, Prince carefully lifted the goblin corpses with his mouth so Michael could place them into his storage space.
Michael hadn’t bothered to restock his limited bullets, knowing they would soon become useless. He had originally brought them for self-protection as part of his preparation for entering the Land of Origin. However, with Prince and Lucky by his side, his reliance on them had diminished and would only continue to do so. For now, though, the few rounds he had left were sufficient.
Lucky also joined the fight, utilizing his racial skill, {Plant Control}, instead.
It was Michael’s first time seeing the skill in action, and it proved highly effective. The skill’s binding effect was exceptional, preventing many of the goblins from escaping.
Unfortunately, Lucky wasn’t fully accustomed to the ability yet. If he were, he could have trapped the entire goblin group from the start, leaving Michael free to finish them all with his gun using {Basic Shot}.
As time ticked away, Michael grew frustrated and decided to start creating undead on the spot.
He reasoned that if a goblin interrupted his skill, the worst outcome would be some mana loss. Also, he reflected on his earlier hesitation, he realized he had been overly cautious. Before any goblin could even reach him, they would likely be dead.
With this thought in mind, Michael finally set aside his worries.
He took out a relatively intact corpse he had obtained from the trade center and used {Undead Revival} on it.