After creating the crimson skeleton, there wasn't much light left in the day. He decided to call it quits and retreated to camp after collecting the goblins ears. They were needed to claim his bounty and as proof of the goblins threat to the village.

Roland was way stronger than a normal skeleton and had slightly more strength than when he was alive. He learned at a faster pace than the other skeletons and was more creative when fulfilling an order, his potential as a fighter was exciting. Thorin had vision of his fighting force where the basic foot soldiers would be normal skeletons and the crimson skeletons would be his elite force. Normally a semi trained skeleton would be easily disposed of by a lower level human guard, Roland on the other hand could probably contend or even beat a guard one on one. If nurtured, Roland could grow into a stronger fighter capable of besting opponents in battle.

One thing Thorin found disappointing is that Roland couldn’t command the other skeletons, like Cynar said a death knight would be able to. Thorin’s new skill thrilled him though, it provided him with a higher tier soldier that could gain strength and skill as time passed.

After tinkering with Roland for a while, Thorin decided it was time to rest. He sat down in the middle of the clearing, empting his mind of everything. The sound of the skeleton’s weapons clashing against each other in the background faded until, he was in a trance that provided peace and quiet.

He had avoided falling asleep the past few weeks because of the persistent nightmares. He found that entering a state of meditation relaxed his mind, and he would be just as refreshed as if he slept a full night.

He slowly merged with the world as his mana pool slowly filled back up to full. Losing himself in the sensation of the world’s pulsing mana. All his worries and problems couldn’t pull at him in this state. He found contentment in just existing.

Eventually, Thorin was woken from his meditation feeling the morning sunlight heat his body. He was refreshed and calm, slowly standing up and looking around to see his skeletons still diligently training.

Thorin noticed Cynar had returned and in his spectral form was observing Roland. Cynar was so absorbed in studying Thorin's new creation that he did not notice him walking up from behind.

“Hello Cynar, did you discover another group while you were gone?” He asked making the shade jump.

“Yes, yes of course, but first what is this skeleton? I have never seen such an undead in all my years!” Cynar said with excitement gleaming in his dead eyes.

“I created Roland here, attempting to cast a skeletal refinement. The spell was altered due to my dual attributes and I ended up creating him.” Thorin said shrugging his shoulders.

“Honestly, Thorin you continue to catch me off guard. Wait you said his name is Roland? Do you mean he is sentient?” Cynar said while peering even closer at the crimson skeleton.

“Yea, after I summoned him he spoke and asked for a name so I named him Roland the First. Isn’t that right Roland?” Thorin asked.

“Yes, my Lord, you provided me with not only a name but a title as well.” Roland spoke abruptly and to the point.

“Fascinating! I must study him to see how the spell works! Normally you have to evolve the skeleton into a death night before it gains intellect.” Cynar was quaking in excitement.

“Not right now maybe later, we don't have time for that. Did you locate another scouting group?” Thorin asked trying to refocus Cynar who was lost in the land of magical discovery.

“Yes of course. I found three each about equal size.” He boasted.

“Good job lead me to one.” Thorin commanded with a serious look on his face.

Cynar nodded and began to head out into the forest. Thorin put his skeletons back into his dimensional storage and followed.

After jogging through the forest for half a day, Cynar stopped at a rock.

“Stay here I'll check to see if they moved or not.” Cynar said as he glided past the rock in his most transparent state.

While Cynar was out scouting the goblin’s positions. Thorin brought his skeletons back out and equipped each with their weapon of choice. Most were collected from goblin corpses, so they preferred smaller weapons. He went down the line inspecting them individually to make sure everything was set for battle.

As Thorin finished preparing, Cynar came gliding back.

“They are in a grove of trees five minutes that way. Only nine this time. It seems they haven't noticed the other groups disappearance yet as they are just lounging around.” Cynar reported pointing stiffly.

“Good this will be easy then. Go make sure the main camp hasn’t noticed our attacks and keep tabs on the other scouting group.” Thorin said to Cynar as he commanded his skeletons to advance.

“Roland make sure no one escapes, the main goblin army can't learn of us yet.”

“It will be done.” Roland replied.

Knowing his forces were stronger and more able; Thorin boldly led his skeletons through a bunch of trees. The goblins were occupied roasting a deer over an open fire pit, without having taken any precautions against an attack.

Using the unexpected shock of the attack, Thorin slashed a goblin waking from a nap in the mid-section. It wasn't a killing blow but would keep the maimed goblin from being a threat.

All around him skeletons were clashing with the startled goblins. It wasn't fair to call it a battle, as many of the goblins didn't even have a chance to grab a weapon before the skeletons where upon them. Most were killed within the first ten seconds of the fight, with only a couple able to start fight back, but by then were significantly outnumbered.

Two of the goblins towards the rear of the group tried to run back to the main army, but Roland noticed and moved to intercept them. He swiftly made his way past the individual fights and swung his battle axe, splitting one of the goblins from its shoulder down to its hip. Blood spewed from the wound and soaked the crimson skeleton’s body, seeming to be greedily sucked into the bones, making them a hint darker than previously.

Roland paused to dislodge his weapon before chasing down the second goblin. This time Roland was kill was much cleaner, taking the poor goblin’s head right off his neck.

‘That was much easier’ Thorin as his minions gathered the bodies. Once again, he raised all of them besides the one he cut at the beginning of the fight. He knew it was a bit inhuman, but he need to test out the life siphon spell before using it in combat. He needed to learn its capabilities and drawbacks.

As he began casting the spell, the chant words flowed out from his mouth and he moved his hand to form the correct position. It was cupped like he was catching rain falling from the sky. It only took a second before the short chant ended and mana streamed from his fingers entering the injured goblin. The goblin writhed on the ground for a second or two before blood came pouring out of its open wound. As the blood finished seeping from its body a deep red energy traveled back to Thorin and pooling in his palm. He clenched his palm and absorbed the energy.

Normally this would heal Thorin, but as he felt perfectly fine in the moment, it simply washed through his body soothing his aches and energizing him.

He looked back down in time to see the slight glint of life left in the goblin’s eyes fade as it bled out.

‘Fantastic the spell is relatively easy to use and quick. All I need is a small amount of space in battle and I can use it before jumping back into the melee.’ Thorin thought happy with the spell.

Grabbing two of the bodies and placing them in the middle of where the battle took place Thorin called out to two of the oldest skeletons in his forces. His very first summon the goblin and the human skeleton created from the bandit Tim. He quickly checked his mana pool to ensure that he had enough mana to cast the spell twice.

He also noticed that he leveled up again and put three points into intelect and two points into willpower. That along with his classes bonus he gained another nine stat points whenever he leveled up.

He began the incantation, starting with his first summon, and repeating the same process as he had with Roland.

This time when glow diminished, the skeleton looked significantly different. Instead of increasing in size it had become smaller. It looked like the skeleton of an eight-year-old child. The skeleton’s red bones looked sharper and solid. Its hands were morphed into extremely sharp points that could easily be considered weapons in their own rights. It too gained intelligence in the form of flaming eyes, walking directly in front of Thorin before bowing its head.

“Master, thank you for my existence.” It said in a jovial high pitched voice.

“Yes, I am sure you will be a great asset to my force. Your name will be Lauros the Swift.” Thorin said remembering this skeletons preference to fight using speed.

Thorin tested by Lauros having him run as fast as it could around the grove of trees to see if it had improved. It was quite fast, but more importantly it was eloquent, moving more fluidly and was quiet, almost silent. He had it stop and assemble with the other skeletons.

‘Alright let's do this again’ Thorin thought as he began to cast the spell, this time focusing on the human skeleton. As the spell progressed Thorin's mana pool drained significantly, and he began to feel a dull ache spread in his head. He endured while watching the bones and blood rise-up and fuse with the skeleton. There was a significantly less blood left for this spell and was reflected when the light created by the fusion was dimmer. He suddenly felt a stronger pull on his mana pool, draining it to close to empty. He soon felt like his hand was on fire as and looked down to see a gash forming in his vein with a large amount of blood flowing to the skeleton. He could feel part of his life force being sucked out of him by the spell, it was excruciatingly painful. The light created by the spell started to brighten to the blinding light that was expected.

The blood leaving Thorin slowed and then stopped completely, as Thorin saw the light created by the spell dim, he crumpled to the floor losing consciousness.

Name: Thorin Black Class: Necromancer Lv 8 25/80 XP Health 168/250 Mana 0/1550 Stats: Strength: 27 Vitality: 25 Stamina: 16 Endurance: 9 Intelligence: 55 Willpower: 67 Agility: 12 Dexterity: 11 Skills Summon Familar Rank S Skeletal Fusion Rank C Life Siphon Rank D Summon Skeleton Rank D Blood Lust Rank D Talents Affinity with Death Dimensional Storage Head Start Magic Reserves Strong Soul Blood Lord Thorin's Forces Skeleton 14 Crimson Skeleton 3