Monsters birthed in cracks lacked reproductive organs so they couldn’t reproduce.
The reason was simple. Their existence was solely for destruction.
This made sense given their origin from negative emotions.
Born of negative energy, they grew by consuming it.
Once strong enough, they used the energy and the strength of their fellow monsters to break out of the crack, causing a crack break and preying on creatures outside.
That was their entire purpose—nothing about them required reproduction.
So why now?
“Did my talent fix them during evolution?” Michael couldn’t help but suspect.
But if that were the case, why didn’t Beginning show any signs of this when it evolved into a three-star creature?
Did the change only happen during a major evolution stage, like increasing in rank rather than stars?
Michael felt this might be the case but decided to confirm it.
Spending a small amount of mana, he summoned Prince.
Without a word or even a greeting—not that it was necessary—Michael casually raised one of the Verdant Wolf’s back legs.
And there it was.
A reproductive organ.
Michael quickly lowered Prince’s leg, dismissing the bewildered wolf as he fell into deep thought.
“Undead can’t give birth.”
This was a known fact.
So the question wasn’t why his undead had reproductive organs, but rather how they now possessed them when they hadn’t before, especially since they were created from crack monsters—creatures that never had such features to begin with.
All his suspicions pointed to one thing. His talent.
This realization also brought something else to light.
After every evolution, his undead always appeared… clean.
If not for their hollow eyes and the eerie energy they radiated, one wouldn’t even know they were undead.
There were no signs of injuries, scars, or damage on their bodies.
This sparked another thought.
“If I were to contract a monster with an incomplete body one day—maybe a one-armed goblin—would it recover after evolution?”
Michael felt a thrill of excitement at the idea.
Typically, to create an effective undead, the corpse needed to be relatively intact.
A severely damaged corpse—such as one missing a leg or other critical parts—was often deemed useless or only partially useful by most Necromancers.
In such cases, the corpse would either be discarded or repurposed, particularly if it possessed other redeeming features.
But if his talent truly perfected an undead’s body during evolution, then even a dismembered head could potentially grow an entirely new body—provided he had enough Evolution Points.
This thought sent a shiver through him.
If this were true, his talent wasn’t just extraordinary—it was revolutionary.
“Is this even a talent?” Michael murmured, his excitement giving way to awe.
There was no way for Michael to know for certain, as the forum denied him access to such advanced information.
As always, he could only take things step by step.
However, if his assumption was correct and his talent could regenerate body parts to improve a corpse’s condition, it meant he now had far more options when it came to materials for creating undead.
Yet, there had to be a price for everything.
Perhaps the Evolution Points required would double, or there might be another cost he hadn’t considered.
As for testing this theory with one of his current unevolved undead, Michael wasn’t desperate enough for an answer to take that risk just yet.
He could always experiment after advancing further and gaining more contract slots.
“My talent is truly amazing. There’s still so much to understand about it.”
Despite its usefulness, Michael hadn’t lost sight of his main focus.
From the start, he’d suspected that his talent might not be exclusively tied to undead. Surely, there had to be a way to use it on other things.
His talent only became active after filling a contract slot, and the key to filling a slot was the connection of souls.
With each new connection to his soul, not only did his talent activate, but his daily Evolution Points also increased.
Perhaps, if he could extend this soul connection to other beings—like beasts, as Beast Tamers did—he could evolve a living creature rather than just undead.
After all, if others could create undead-like creatures without being Necromancers, why shouldn’t he be able to tame beasts?
However, the method for connecting his soul to a living beast was entirely out of Michael’s reach for now.
Perhaps the academy would offer some guidance in this area, especially since they seemed to possess knowledge about rituals.
“Three months. Soon, I’ll finally be able to explore the Land of Origin properly. I hope it surprises me.”
Suppressing his thoughts, Michael redirected his focus to the task at hand.
With a thought, Michael summoned Lily, the female hobgoblin, from the Netherworld.
Subconsciously, his eyes trailed over her body—but don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t for anything questionable.
Michael was purely observing her physical condition.
“She currently looks like a teenage girl, but considering how Beginning grew… those… things, would she grow as well?”
He already knew the answer to that, but thinking about it still made him feel like a pervert.
“Seems like not only does the master need clothes, but even his undead do as well. Hmmm, considering Beginning’s body is so large, using his fists would be a waste. I’ll probably need to get him a weapon—and clothes, most importantly.”
Michael sighed, trying to focus on practicalities instead of awkward thoughts.
He planned it out in his head, though part of him wished he could just go blind for convenience’s sake.
Aside from the Forest Wolves, whose organs were neatly concealed underneath their bodies, his other undead were all humanoid.
That fact was becoming increasingly troublesome.
While feeling mildly disturbed by the situation, Michael resolved to evolve Lily.
As he confirmed the evolution, he took a quick glance at his quest progress, trying to distract himself from his spiraling thoughts.
—
[Advancement Quest: Have 10 Rank 1 Undead – Progress: 4/10]
—
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“Just six more, and I’ll be able to advance. But I’m aiming for more. I wonder what you can offer me,” Michael muttered, his voice tinged with anticipation.
His gaze remained fixed on Lily as her body began to shift and transform before him, the evolution process taking hold.
[Your Common★★★ Undead Hobgoblin has evolved to Rare★ Orc Shaman.]
[Your undead Orc Shaman has advanced to Rank 1, Level 1 (Level 11).]
[Your undead Orc Shaman has gained the skill {Fire Manipulation}.]
[You have received feedback from your undead Orc Rank Advancement.]
[Your Strength stat has increased!]
[Your Agility stat has increased moderately!]
[Your Constitution stat has increased!]
[Your Intelligence stat has increased Significantly!]
“Wait, what?”