Once I have checked my gear I leave the castle easily enough, but as I move through town I keep getting stopped. A lot of people want to talk to me, mainly they want someone to reassure them that everything will be fine. Since doing so will make things easier for Zimmy and the warden I take the time to talk to everyone who approaches me.

In the end it takes me almost two hours to get out of town just from how many people approach me. Not all of them were looking for reassurance, some wanted to complain while others just wanted to be able to say they talked to me. I really hope that when I become the beast king I don't have to deal with this sort of thing constantly.

Once free of the town I move away quickly so no one can chase after me to talk to me. I already miss when everyone was too afraid of me to try talking to me. It makes me glad that this test is almost over, my patience couldn't handle dealing with this sort of thing for long.

It only takes me about twenty minutes to get to the area where I plan to attack the undead. They are not in sight yet, but I don't plan to attack them until Nived springs his trap. While I can't see the woods from here I should be able to see the fire when it starts.

So I find a comfy spot and settle in to wait for the undead to show up, which takes a while. The peace and quiet is really nice after dealing with all the people in town. When I finally spot the undead I just sit and watch them, it seems to be mostly skeletons.

From how yellow the skeletons are I am guessing that the enemy ran around gathering them from cemeteries. If I hadn't ordered the evacuation I am fairly sure all those people would be part of this undead mob. If I had known from the beginning that I was dealing with a necromancer I would have ordered all bodies burned.

Finally off to my left I see smoke and the glow of a big fire, I know it is big because I can see the glow even though it is daytime. So I get up and walk down towards the undead, since it is mostly skeletons I don't bother drawing my sword. When I get close the skeletons turn and start heading towards me, which tells me they aren't being controlled.

They were probably just ordered to march to a specific location, this tells me the enemy doesn't have a lot of controllers to spare. As the undead reach me I start punching away, each swing destroys a skeleton or two. Honestly, skeletons are just too easy, this isn't even a workout for me.

I find myself hoping the necromancer was able to summon something interesting to fight. As soon as I realize what I just thought I feel like kicking myself. Thinking something like that means I am almost guaranteed to regret it.

Since I already had the thought there is not much I can do about it, it's not like I can take it back. When I look around I realize I have run out of skeletons, there is nothing but piles of bones all around me. Since that is taken care of I go looking for the army, the path is now open for them to retreat.

The army isn't hard to find, they are camped right where I told Zimmy to have them stop. As soon as the sentries spot me they start cheering, which is a little surprising. Soon all the troops are cheering, I had no idea I was this popular with the other captain's troops.

Shard says "Ash! Good to see you!"

"Hi, Shard. What's all this?"

Shard says "Ah, word has spread that you saved the town while we were gone. Come on, I will take you to the others."

As Shard turns to lead me deeper into the camp the soldiers form a corridor, still cheering. Feeling fairly stupid I start waving as I walk past, but the soldiers seem to like it. It is a relief when Shard leads me into a tent where Roland and the others are waiting.

Roland says "You sure have learned how to make an entrance!"

"Hey, that was none of my doing!"

Selona says "The troops have heard a lot of rumors about you. Not to mention your troop has saved us a couple of times now."

Zikal says "Yeah, the way your troops fight has inspired everyone. If we make it through this our entire training program is going to have to change."

Shard says "Don't worry, we already have all that figured out!"

Roland says "So, Ash, what do we do now?"

"We retreat to the town. Hopefully, before the enemy can attack you."

Alan says "Good! The troops are tired and could use a decent rest before fighting again."

Roland says "Alright, spread the word to prepare to march!"

The rest of the captains quickly leave to get the troops ready leaving just me and Roland. Before he can say anything the tent flap opens and Raindrop comes in. I am surprised because I expected her to already be here when I got here.

Raindrop says "The enemy is on the move."

Roland says "How long until they reach us?"

Raindrop says "Maybe thirty minutes."

"Can you be ready to move before then?"

Roland says "Barely!"

"What is the enemy throwing at us?"

Raindrop says "Around twenty thousand undead. A mix of orcs and goblins, but the main problem is the death knights!"

"Death knights? How many?"

Raindrop says "Three that I saw!"

"Okay, Roland, get your people moving. Raindrop and I will buy you some time."

Roland says "Yes, sir!"

Raindrop says "We will?"

"I can do it alone if you're not up for it."

Raindrop says "I'm up for it. I'm just not sure how the two of us can slow down twenty thousand undead!"

"By attacking them of course!"

As I walk out of the tent I can hear Raindrop muttering something behind me. It is in elvish so I don't understand the words but from the tone I can tell that it isn't flattering. As soon as I leave the tent my troop surrounds me, they all look excited.

Their looks quickly shift to disappointment when I order them to be ready to march with the others. They perk up a bit when I tell them they can take the rearguard just in case I can't slow down the enemy. Once they move off to get ready I walk out of the camp and head towards the enemy.

Raindrop says "You know this is crazy right?"

"Relax, I do this kind of thing all the time."