Dave scrolled through the items in the undead shopkeeper’s inventory. He skimmed through the items, examined, dismissed and compared many. Finally, he chose his selections and made his purchases.

Category:Heavy Armor

Gauntlets of the order of the Black Knights [gauntlet, armor, plate]

Description

A piece of an armor set forged for an order of knights that was corrupted and cast down long ago.

Sworn to fight against the vile and abhorrent undead the order brought their own doom upon themselves in the form of the full might and wrath of the Undead King, ruler of the Dead-Realm.

The order’s end was tragically ironic, the Undead King cursed the order to rise as Undead, thus they became the very thing they hated most.

Requirements

Level 60

200 strength. 100 agility 100 DEX

Attributes

+400 to VIT

+2% Immunity damage

200 Damage Nullification

100 Magic Absorption

Class

Rare

Category: Heavy Armor

Helmet of the order of the Black Knights [armor, Helmet]

Description

A piece of an armor set forged for an order of knights that was corrupted and cast down long ago.

Sworn to fight against the vile and abhorrent undead the order brought their own doom upon themselves in the form of the full might and wrath of the Undead King, ruler of the Dead-Realm.

The order’s end was tragically ironic, the Undead King cursed the order to rise as Undead, thus they became the very thing they hated most.

Requirements

Level 60

200 strength. 100 agility 100 DEX

Attributes

+400 to VIT

+2% Immunity damage

200 Damage Nullification

100 Magic Absorption

Class

Rare

Category: Heavy Armor

Cape of the order of the Fallen Black Knights [armor, Cape]

Description

A piece of an armor set forged for an order of knights that was corrupted and cast down long ago.

Sworn to fight against the vile and abhorrent undead the order brought their own doom upon themselves in the form of the full might and wrath of the Undead King, ruler of the Dead-Realm.

The order’s end was tragically ironic, the Undead King cursed the order to rise as Undead, thus they became the very thing they hated most.

Requirements

Level 60

200 strength. 100 agility 100 DEX

Attributes

+200 to VIT

+4% Immunity damage

300 Damage Nullification

300 Magic Absorption

Class

Rare

With the three new pieces Dave finally had a complete set of the Black Knights armor.

“Status-Screen!”

Level

100

Class

Death’s Apostle

Name

Death Stroke

Race

Human (Undead)

Health

27 000+(1350)

Mana

3000 +(150)

Stamina

Unlimited

Rage/Focus

100

Intelligence

260 +(13)

Wisdom

310+(15.5)

Dexterity

260 (+13)

Agility

260 +(13)

Vitality

2700

Strength

260 +(13)

Magic Absorption

1000

Damage Nullification

2000

Immunity

20% +(1)%

-

-

HP Regen

0.1/sec +(0)

Mana Regen

1.1/sec +(0)

Stamina Regen

+∞

Rage/Focus

Regen

1/sec

Title

I know it all!

“Niiice!”

Normally, equipping the Black Knights damascened-steel armor transformed the person who donned it into a heroic and noble figure. But the Ring of the Death God cast an illusion over its wearer, ageing and decaying the appearance of every equipped item.

“A wise choice, oh most favored of customers.” zombie the shopkeeper bowed repeatedly.

Dave ignored the obsequious shopkeeper and summoned his Undead platoon and looked them over. The boyz had leveled up immensely since the gate to the Underworld. Now, the lowest member was level 81, and Bud was the highest at level of 92.

It was time to spend some Contribution points on the Boyz, pimp them and their gear.

Bud was a good guy. Ghoul, whatever. He was always there for Dave in a pinch or just to lend an ear.

Flipping over to the minion management tab he purchased a complete set of Black Knight armor for Bud.

“Hey, Bud, this one’s for you. Go ahead, put it on,” he told the ghoul.

Bud blinked, then accepted the armor. It took a few moments for him to equip it. The armor appeared on the ghoul and transformed the emaciated Undead. He grew, becoming taller, shoulders broader. The black mask and visor on the helmet presented a sinister, menacing, visage.

Turning back to the other Boyz, he called one of the casters over.

This was the caster that evolved into a skeleton fire-mage during the fight with the werewolves in the Dark-Threading dungeon.

“I’m going to call you Sparky from now on,”

He went through the store inventory again, looking for items that fit the skeleton’s build and stats.

He purchased a set, long red robes, a pointed wizard hat, and a staff crowned with a red gem.

Even though the wizzy set was only three pieces of gear it cost more than the Black Knight armor. Gear for wizards and magic-user classes simply cost more than melee gear, it was just a fact of the game.

He equipped the rest of the platoon with class-appropriate sets.

He spent a total of 12,000 contribution points but was satisfied with the results. His platoon looked like a badass hit-squad now.

Lone Arrow, with nothing to do, had been loitering around the temple. She stood up as Dave and the Boyz trooped out of the shop door.

When she saw the squad she did a double take and shot Dave an inquisitive look.

“You can equip your Undead now?”

“Yea, I just found the option now.”

Looking around the square, the Undead bustling to and from various buildings, Dave’s attention was caught by a contrast, an area of marked inactivity to the side of the temple.

At the center of that serene stillness, a scruffy, unassuming figure leaned against one of the temple’s fluted columns.

Intrigued, Dave walked over to see what the deal was. As he crossed into the shaded temple portico, the character stirred and pushed away from the column. Disheveled clothes hung on a scarecrow thin frame, and skin stretched tight over bone and muscle created a nightmare face. Deeply set lambent-yellow eyes focused on Dave like rapiers. A draugr, like Dave.

A glowing green exclamation mark appeared over the scruffy looking draugr’s head, blinking.

An instructor!

Just as Dave was about to ask, politely, for training the instructor snorted derisively.

“You have so many holes in your Defence and Attacks it’s a wonder you reached level 50, let alone 100.”

What a rude little fuck! But I can’t offend him, this is my only chance to get my skills.

“Yeah, I don’t have many class skills. I couldn’t find anyone to teach me.”

“I can teach you some of the skills you need.” said the draugr.

He waved a dessicated hand. A notification popped open in front of Dave.

You have learned the skill:

[Bulwark] (Level 20)

[Charge] (Level 30)

[Heroic leap] (Level 40)

[Jeopardy] (Level 50)

[Ground Breaker] (Level 60)

[Warrior’s Will] (Level 70)

[Lunge] (Level 80)

[Bastion] (Level 90)

[Concussive Blow](Ultimate Skill)

Dave cursed at the list, “Crap...!”

A list of basic skills every tank class had access to as they leveled up. Having the skills earlier would have made his game-life much, much, easier.

Before he could open his mouth to bemoan his difficulties, the system chimed and a new notification appeared.

Due to your class (Death’s Apostle), the following Skills were changed:

[Bulwark] changed to [Death’s Blessing]

[Charge] Changed to [Immortal Apparition]

[Heroic Leap] Changed to [Death’s Descent]

[Ground Breaker] Changed to [Death Surge]

[Warrior’s Will] changed to [Undying Will]

Dave inspected his newly acquired skills one by one. Paying particular attention to the ‘upgraded’ ones, since he’d never even heard of them.

[Death’s Blessing]:

Passively Reduces All incoming Magic Damage by 10% Activating the skill grants 100% Magic Immunity for 2 seconds. 5 Minute Cooldown.

[Immortal Apparition]:

Instantly teleports oneself to the target’s Location, and bursting with deathly magic, pushing the enemies away from the target and inducing a Fear effect on enemies for 2 seconds.

2-minute Cooldown

[Death’s Descent]:

Jump to a target’s location, Ignoring all incoming Crowd Control effect and dealing 200%Weapon Damage on successful hits. 5-minute cooldown.

[Jeopardy]:

For every 10% HP loss, passively increases user’s Magic absorption and Damage Nullification by 1%

Once the target is under 50% Hp, Increased Crit Chances By 5%

[Death Surge]:

Powerfully stomping the ground results in a wave of death energy surging outward from the caster’s location. Slows target in a 5*5 radius from the caster. If the target was under a Fear Effect, the target receives 300% weapon, Damage. 30-second Cooldown

[Undying Will]:

Removes all Crowd Control effect from the caster. And gains +5 % Immunity for the following 2 seconds.

2-minute cooldown

[Sword Lung] :

Sends a sword projection in a straight line of 20 meters, piercing enemies and dealing 250% weapon Damage to enemies, Damage reduced by 20% for all subsequent enemies hit.

30-second cooldown.

[Bastion]:

Gain 100% immunity and Crowd control Immunity for 3 seconds, Unable to cast skills or move during the channel duration.

3 Minutes cooldown.

[Concussive Blow]:

The next successful weapon strike deals 500% Weapon Damage to a target, If a target is below 20% Hp, Damage increased to 750% with a 10% chance to stun a target for 5 seconds.

20 Minute cooldown.

“Better, Young Undead, better. Now you have fewer holes in your Attacks and Defense. But you must train hard to increase the power of your skills.”

The exclamation mark over the instructor’s head vanished.

Dave rubbed his temples as if trying to soothe a headache.

“Why didn’t I have to do quests, or train, like the time when I got [Destructive Smash]? That guy just jammed the skills into my skill-bar without warning.”

“Instructors no longer give quests related to skills or require you to grind for them after the patch,” Lone Arrow answered his muttering.

“Heh, I got lucky then, training to learn these skills and doing quests would have taken a lot of time I just don’t have,” said Dave

Dave looked at his Battalion window and smiled. He’d been waiting for this for a long time.

The last time he used this option, was when he challenged an Elite Skeleton for his military position.

For one thousand Contribution points he purchased the right to challenge his Battalion leader for the top spot.

Undead Ascension

You have purchased the Right and sent a challenge to the Leader of Battalion Number 2705,

Rioushak (Rogue).

Dave was transported in flash of light. He appeared on a platform. A skeleton stood at the center of the platform, twirling daggers around his hands and eying Dave.