[Your Rare★★★ Undead Redthorn Wolf has evolved to Extraordinary★ Undead Venomthorn Ravager.]
[Your Undead Venomthorn Ravager {Plant Control} skill has advanced to {Advanced Mastery}]
[Your Undead Venomthorn Ravager {Poison} skill has advanced to {Advanced Mastery}]
[Your Undead Venomthorn Ravager has gained the skill {Viral Growth}.]
[Your Undead Venomthorn Ravager has gained the skill {Toxic Resurgence}.]
Advanced Mastery.
Michael wondered what kind of power it held.
To be honest, a part of him felt like he was gaining strength too quickly as a Necromancer.
Aside from the gargoyle, there hadn’t been anything else in the past few days capable of challenging him if he marked them as an opponent.
But Michael loved this kind of progress.
Though the ratio of effort to reward seemed skewed due to his talent, he believed he had worked hard for it too.
And that wasn’t entirely wrong.
He was a drug addict now because of everything.
While instructing his dangerous-looking undead to remain still, Michael pulled up Lucky’s status panel:
[Venomthorn Ravager Lv. 25 (MAX)]
[Name: Lucky.]
[EXP: 798,789 / 1,021,752]
[Rank: Extraordinary★]
[Skills: Bite, Plant Control (Advanced Mastery), Poison (Advanced Mastery), Viral Growth (Basic Mastery) {NEW!}, Toxic Resurgence (Basic Mastery) {NEW!}]
[Master: Michael Norman]
Just like its master, Lucky’s status panel was beginning to look luxurious.
Michael’s eyes immediately went to Lucky’s level.
Seeing Level 25 written in bold brought a grin to his face.
“The peak of Rank 1,” he muttered.
This was Lucky’s strength on paper, but Michael firmly believed his undead was stronger than most Rank 2 monsters. Otherwise, the concept of ranks would be a joke.
How strong exactly?
Michael had no clue.
Neither he nor his undead had been pushed far enough to go all out, leaving his sense of power levels somewhat distorted.
What he did know, however, was simple.
“That gargoyle is so screwed!”
At this point, Michael wasn’t worried about facing the gargoyle anymore. Instead, he began to wonder what challenges might await him after defeating it.
Unfortunately, evolving Lucky hadn’t pushed him to Rank 2, but he was close.
The gap between Rank 1 and Rank 2 was massive, and the sheer amount of experience points required made that clear.
Thinking about how much grinding he’d need to do in the future to ascend to Rank 2 almost ruined his mood.
However, when his eyes shifted to Lucky’s skill section, his excitement returned.
[Skills: Bite, Plant Control (Advanced Mastery), Poison (Advanced Mastery), Viral Growth (Basic Mastery) {NEW!}, Toxic Resurgence (Basic Mastery) {NEW!}]
Lucky’s two previous skills had directly advanced to {Advanced Mastery}, and two new skills had been unlocked.
Michael didn’t yet know how powerful these new or upgraded skills were, but their appearance alone brought him joy.
After all, the more skills, the better, right?
Without wasting time, Michael eagerly began inspecting each skill, starting with the new ones.
He moved quickly, though, as there was still another undead he was eager to evolve—Prince—to test if his theory was correct.
—
[{Viral Growth} (Basic Mastery) | Proficiency: 0.5%]
Viral Growth enables the summoning of venomous plants to serve as environmental hazards.
Current Effects at Basic Mastery: Your next read awaits at empire
Summon Radius: Plants emerge within a 20-meter radius of the user.
Spore Effect: Summoned plants release toxic spores into the air, dealing damage over time to enemies within range.
[{Toxic Resurgence} (Basic Mastery) | Proficiency: 0.8%]
Toxic Resurgence activates when the user is injured, releasing venomous spores to harm enemies and enhance the user’s regeneration.
Current Effects at Basic Mastery:
Spore Burst Radius: 10 meters around the user.
Regeneration Boost: Regenerates minor wounds more quickly while the ability is active.
—
Then the previous skills that advanced in mastery level.
[{Poison} (Advanced Mastery) | Proficiency: 26.2%]
At Advanced Mastery, Poison becomes significantly more potent, enhancing both offensive and debilitating capabilities.
Current Effects at Advanced Mastery:
Potency Increase: Toxin deals moderate damage per second and heavily weakens the target’s physical abilities (strength, agility, and mobility reduced by up to 30%, depending on the target’s strength).
Effect Duration: Persists as long as the toxin is active. Potency increases over time as more poison accumulates in the target’s system.
Fatal Potential: Can outright kill weaker opponents or severely cripple stronger ones if left unchecked.
[{Plant Control} (Advanced Mastery) | Proficiency: 42.5%]
At Advanced Mastery, Plant Control evolves into a highly versatile ability, granting enhanced range, precision, and manipulation.
Current Effects at Advanced Mastery:
Extended Range: The ability’s range increases to 300 meters, enabling control over plant life across a much larger area.
Growth Acceleration: Plants can grow to full maturity within seconds, allowing the user to summon massive vines, trees, or thorny barricades for combat or defense.
Complex Manipulation: Allows for intricate movements such as forming weapons (e.g., vine whips or spear-like branches) or creating traps (e.g., snaring enemies with roots).
Life Force Drain: Certain controlled plants can drain the vitality of enemies, restoring a small portion of the user’s mana or stamina with each successful attack.
—
Lucky’s skillset was becoming ridiculously strong.
Michael could only mutter, “As expected of an extraordinary-rank creature.”
Looking at Lucky, Michael realized he didn’t want to see another in the same rank anytime soon.
The power that came from evolving Lucky made Michael crave more evolution points, though.
However, his mind soon cleared.
If evolving Lucky again required five times the previous amount, he would need 625 evolution points.
With his current daily rate, it would take about a month to save up enough for Lucky’s next evolution, not considering his other undead—especially not Prince.
Though high combat prowess was tempting, having multiple strong undead was even more attractive to a Necromancer like him if not most if they could afford it.
“For now, there’s no need to evolve Lucky,” Michael decided. “His experience points are close to advancing to rank two, so we can accumulate them slowly.”
Michael’s priority now was to strengthen his undead and increase his level.
Of course, there was still another undead to evolve before the others could compete for a piece of the cake.
With that in mind, Michael dismissed Lucky to the Netherworld and summoned Prince, whom he had put away during the commotion of Lucky’s evolution.