A dead, cold silence spread throughout the cavern as the dead of the now dead millipede queen rolled for a couple of meters. Her offspring were frozen to the bone as their central pinnacle of power was cut down by the black skeleton that she had been fretting over for the past week!
The millipedes that were still alive suddenly went into a raging frenzy as the reality of their queen and mother being dead kicked in. Their screeches rang out through the entire underground cavern as they began to lash out at the killers of their queen, but it was all for naught.
Leon’s undead army completely suppressed the still living millipedes, and with the help of Nedra and Kaladin, they were able to completely wipe out what was left of the millipedes that were in the cavern.
“Finally, she is dead.” Nedra sighed when she approached the large, dead body of the millipede queen. She used one of her front legs to poke and prod the corpse before turning away to look at the remaining corpses that were littered around.
Kaladin also came to a stop beside Nedra. When Leon looked at him, he dipped his head slightly “The strength you showed off was awe inspiring, master.” He said reverently.
“Thanks.” Leon nodded and turned to face the breeding chamber. No more millipedes had emerged form within, so he guessed that all the millipedes were now dead. He took a step forward, but the sound of many sets of legs scrapping over the ground reached his ears, and he stopped mid-step. Turning around slowly, Leon noted the many, many pitch black millipedes that stared at him with their compound eyes. Even though they could technically be looking at anywhere in their field of vision right now, Leon was very certain that they were all looking at him, their new master.
The first thing Leon did was call up his status.
[Status]
Name: Leon Cromwell
Race: Obsidian Skeleton Noble
Level: 32
Health Points: 7465
Mana: 2230/3810
<Strength: 120>
<Agility: 110>
<Durability: 151>
<Intelligence: 130>
<Dexterity: 110>
Skills:
<Apprentice Weapon Mastery level 3>, <Spell Weaver level 11>, <Spirit Summoning level 30>, <Spirit Storage Level 30>, <Beginner Fire Magic level 25>, <Beginner Weapon Enhancement level 22>, <Beginner Curse Eyes level 10>
Titles:
<Slayer of Ghosts>
Title Perks:
<Slayer of Ghosts>: You have stood tall against adversities, both living, dead, and those in between! This title is your reward!
+10% Intelligence.
—
[Skill Information]
<Spirit Storage>
Level: 30
Capacity: 100
Race Bonus: +50
—
‘A hundred and fifty summons can be stored… And this race bonus. It seems that my current race comes with more benefits than I thought.’ Leon rubbed his chin in thought. We he looked around at the mass of millipedes once more, he came to the conclusion that they were way more than a hundred and fifty.
‘Erm, whatever, I’ll just go along with all of them.’ He shrugged and turned back to the breeding chamber. When he stepped into it, he was greeted to the sight of hundreds of creamy white eggs. Nedra’s eyes sparkled when she saw the multitude of unhatched eggs.
“Eggs! Lots of eggs!” She exclaimed and scurried forward, fretting over the unhatched eggs. Leon watched her with surprise from a distance. He had not expected Nedra to be so interested in the eggs, but after a moment of thinking, he realized that it was actually not surprising. She was a millipede queen, so it was only normal for her to fret over unhatched millipede eggs like a worried and doting mother.
In a flash, Nedra returned to him, but her antennae bobbed up and down excitedly.
“Leon, can we keep the eggs?” She asked excitedly.
“Mm, sure. But can you control them?” Leon asked. If she could not, then he would be a lot more hesitant about keeping the little critters. Who knew if they would suddenly turn against him some day?!
“Yes, yes. Well, not now; I would need to perform a few procedures before I will automatically gin control and authority over them upon their birth. But I will be able to control them after that the moment they are born.” She replied.
Leon thought for a moment, before finally agreeing to her request. If she was able to control them, then he would have a living army at his disposal. They could guard the underground nest against any incursions from hostile monsters whenever he was not available.
“Great!” Nedra cheered, her bobbing antennae stilling for a moment before she turned around. Leon could feel her excitement through their bond as she focused. A light, almost transparent purple wave spread out from the space between her two antennae. Another wave followed it, and behind that one was another wave.
Like that, wave after wave of purple energy spread outward with Nedra as the center node. Before long, the waves of mental energy had reached every corner of the room. The Undead Millipede Queen stopped what she was doing at that point in time and looked around. She was happy when she noted the difference between the eggs of a couple minutes ago, and the current eggs.
Leon curiously approached one of the eggs and ran his bony finger over the light purple pattern that had appeared over the egg shell.
“What is this?” He turned to the white shelled culprit who was excitedly checking out some eggs.
“Ah!” Nedra snapped out of her daze again and turned to Leon, “I have imprinted them with my authority. As I was not the one who ruled the Ghost Millipedes when these batch of eggs were laid, I did not have the authority to control them, but now I do. There is also a good chance that they will be born as Undead Millipedes, instead of Ghost Millipedes.” Nedra explained.
Leon nodded along with her as she listed out various quirks about her imprinting her authority on these eggs. The details were a bit out there, but he had gotten used to it, as physics, biology and conventional logic could not be applied to a magical world. He had no choice but to accept it!