We spent the next two days grinding and managed to hit level 16. Although the rate of EXP gain had slowed considerably, with an added skeleton and also adding a second reanimated dead to my summoned squad, our kill speed improved significantly.

I had begun the grind by reanimating two of the demi-humans, and they were absolutely killing it in terms of damage. During the first day Reanimate Dead reached level 2, and Summon Skeletons reached level 7; the following day Bone Armor reached level two, and a completely new skill was granted to me as a Necromancer skill at 15. It seemed to me that Summon Skeletons was staying at a little under half my level, maybe falling behind slightly.

Summon Skeleton LV. 7

Cast time: Instant

MP Cost: 18

Distance: 4 Meters

Summons 4 skeleton warriors and two skeleton generals to fight for you. Skeletons can now be summoned without a corpse. If skill is cast with no corpse available, two skeletons are summoned.

The Skeletons summoned are chosen at random.

Another change to Summon Skeletons at level 7 was that summoning two instead of one without a corpse, not that I used it in such a way very often.

Reanimate Dead LV. 2: Allows the user to reanimate the corpse of a recently defeated enemy. User can only have one reanimated corpse. User cannot reanimate an enemy killed by another User. Cannot reanimate Elite and boss type enemies.

Cast Time: 2 seconds

MP Cost: 30 MP

Distance: 1 Meters

Corpse Efficiency +15%

I was disappointed that levelling up Reanimate Dead didn’t grant me the ability to summon another monster to our side. What was new was something called Corpse Efficiency. I thought about this for a while and came up with a working theory for what Corpse Efficiency 15% might mean. Probably, it referred to the extent to which the powers of the corpse matched those of the slain mob. Given that the already reanimated dead were at least half as efficient as when they had been alive, it didn’t mean that the undead version was only 15% as powerful as the living version. This was some other scale of progress and I hoped that I’d be able to see the difference in the strength of the newly raised undead. If I kept levelling up the skill, what would happen? Would it cap when the undead mob reached the same strength as the living version or would I able to go beyond the original?

It was a long way off, but I looked forward to finding out.

Bone Armor LV. 2: Covers the user in an armor of bone that greatly reduces damage from physical and magical attacks.

Armor value is based upon thirty-five percent of the Users maximum HP value. Eighty percent of damage taken is absorbed by Bone Armor before reaching the User.

My Bone Armor upgrade had lead to me gaining a bit more absorption based upon my HP and the efficiency went to 80:20, shield:life.

Then there was my new Necromancer skill, which I felt was incredibly useful.

Vast Shadows: Allows the User to hide his minions within his shadow. When cast, minions enter into a state of suspension and cannot attack or defend until Vast Shadows is cast again. Users and enemies cannot see or detect minions hidden within your shadow. Skill can only be used while you have a shadow.

At first I didn’t quite understand the skill, if I needed a shadow, then it was only useful during the day. And what was the point of hiding the undead squad besides when I needed stealth? It was only after having cast the skill and I slept did I understand. Even when I did not have a shadow, for example, when I was sleeping, the minions remained trapped in Vast Shadow.

My fear had been that using the skill in this way could be a double-edged sword. If someone attacked during the night and I had no shadow, I might not be able to find my previously summoned undead warriors if I’d placed them in Vast Shadow. Fortunately, that proved not to be the case. When I cast Summon Skeletons I got new ones and those in the Vast Shadow simply vanished. The real bonus though, was that casting Reanimate Dead was different: it brought the minions back from the Vast Shadow.

This aspect of the skill made it incredibly nice for getting going quickly in the morning. It cost 30 MP to cast each time for a total of 60 MP, but casting two reanimates would have been the same. The difference was we didn’t have to kill anything to get me a corpse. Now I could park them at night and bring them out of Vast Shadow in the morning, I realized just how tedious it was having to start the day by finding two new corpses each morning.

It wasn’t just Jessica and I who had made big progress over the two days. Lucas and the trio had reached level 10, and because Alan proved himself an very effective tank, they had even risked and successfully downed two of the elite enemies on their own. Both had been ogres, so tank types. Our friends hadn’t dared to try a banshee, because of our warning about the fear effect.

That meant that all three Class Changing Stones that we needed had been discovered. I had kept the third so far, not for any particular reason besides thinking that maybe they would obtain a third on their own and mine would then be spare. It was when listening to Alan talk about the battles that I realized there was something else I had neglected.

The wording of Reanimate Dead clearly said the skill couldn’t raise the corpses of Elite enemies. I had taken for granted this meant that I could only use the skill on common monsters. The talk of elites reminded me of the large abomination that was described as an Exceptional enemy. Maybe I could raise Exceptionals.

The fact I hadn’t thought to try this was an oversight by me, totally, because if it was possible to reanimate an Exceptional snake-headed monster or even an abomination… Well, when paired with Vast Shadows, this would allow me to save really powerful summoned monsters indefinitely: it would definitely be worth the investment of time to find and defeat one and then summon it as my minion.

Along with our gains in levels and skills, we had found three possible vehicles in good shape for exploring the countryside. There were a lot of abandoned vehicles in reasonable condition, but most of them didn’t fit the requirements we wanted. We specifically wanted trucks, or SUVs: vehicles which had good storage capacity and space for people, so as to maximize our gas usage.

The plan for Jessica and I today was to attempt an Exceptional abomination and then head to the west city entrance and use my minions to try and move the debris and destroyed vehicles from the street.

We chose the west highway because there were two steel-mill factories in that direction as well as a food production plant. Not only that, there was a large farm nearby as well, which would make an amazing base if fortified properly. I could see from studying the map that there was no doubt it could hold space for several hundred people.

Name: Mike Reynolds (27) Class: Necromancer Level: 16 EXP: 2%

HP: 620/620 MP: 270/270

STR: 5 Fear Resistance: 5

AGI: 2

DEX: 1

VIT: 15 +2

WIS: 15 +8

Available: 15

Skills: [A]Summon Skeleton LV. 7 |[A] Decay LV. 1| [A] Reanimate Dead LV. 2 | [A] Bone Armor LV. 2 | [A] Vast Shadows [P]Sixth Sense | [P] Bravery LV. 2 | [P] Mutated | [P] Pain Resistance LV. 2 | [P] Skeletal Mastery LV. 2 | [P] Intimidate Living

I had so many extra points still banked and decided it was time to use some. Four points went into DEX, five each into both VIT and WIS and the remaining stat would sit there for now. I wanted some cast speed to start leveling Decay which is why I brought DEX up to 5.

We made our way towards the Exceptional abomination, and before we had fought our first enemy, a nervous excitement covered my entire body. Despite the risk, I couldn’t remember a time in my life when I had looked forward to something so much as this.

The sheer amount of power I would have if I could gain an Exceptional abomination and an Exceptional demi-human as reanimated servants. I couldn’t even fathom it, honestly.

We found our target at record pace thanks to Jessica’s tracking.

“How should we go about this?” I asked. Looking at the huge monster didn’t produce any feelings of uneasiness beyond those you’d expect when confronted by a dinosaur-headed giant wielding six massive cleavers. Since Sixth Sense was not warning me of any unpleasant surprises, I was confident we could defeat him, the question was, at what cost? I would probably lose most of my summoned undead, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

From what we knew of Exceptional enemies from experience, it seemed they always had an additional ability. The Exceptional ogre had the ability to use his meat hook as a projectile, the Exceptional banshee had an AoE fear.

What would this abomination do? “I think we just throw your skeletons at him till he goes down,” Jessica said. And somehow, that seemed to be the best option. “I’ll set a quagmire trap here and leave an ankle snare for a possible retreat. We run if it turns out to be more than we can deal with.”

I nodded my head and sent forward both my reanimated demi-humans as well as both skeleton generals. They were going to hold the front, and the rest of my warriors would remain behind the abomination to avoid any collateral damage from its six cleavers.

A tree-lined square in front of a ruined library served as our target area in which we would tank the mob. It had an alley on the opposite side of the direction of the pull, so that if my generals couldn’t cope we could runup the alley for quick escape.

Watching the mob thump a heavy path back and forth in the distance, Jessica nocked an arrow and looked at me. Heart beating fast, I gave her a nod. The arrow flew out with incredible force and caused the air to whistle.

It was a direct hit into one of the abomination’s eyes, which no doubt would help us greatly in this encounter. Her marksmanship had become stellar, more so than it was before and I felt a flow of warmth towards her. If someone told me to put an apple on my head and stand 50 meters away, I had complete confidence in Jessica that she would hit it properly.

The abomination came stomping in our direction, its pus and fatty tissue oozing while chains dragged along the floor. My minions were waiting just beyond the quagmire trap, and as soon as it triggered, swarmed him.

The monster’s six cleavers did not swing independently, but instead came two-together for each of its opponents. Strong blows began to rain down against a zweihander-wielding skeleton general and the other target was one of the two reanimated snake-headed demi-humans, holding shield and trident. This was good news actually, as it wouldn’t randomly one-shot one of my weaker skeleton warriors.

Putrid and rotten flesh continued to slough off the abomination with each blow from my minions’ attacks. Jessica put all of her focus into damaging the face of the monster and had successfully taken out both eyes. Still, the abomination held its ground and thunderous attack after thunderous attack slammed down.

With such heavy blows, those in front of the monster had to commit to full defense and only one of my snake-headed minions could freely attack. His trident constantly stabbed into the thick but rubbery flesh. Putrid pus and noxious gas would occasionally explode outward in a disgusting mist: perhaps that effect would be poisonous to a human tank, but whether it was or not, the spray had no effect on the undead.

We knew we were making steady progress when the abomination suddenly secreted a noxious bile that filled the air. We’d reached this point of the battle with none of my tankier minions having perished. I could hear the constant crashing of cleaver attacks though and was in no doubts that my minion’s bones were being splintered.

The free snake-headed demi-human began secreting a venomous concoction of its own, and sprayed a thick spew of liquid that seared through the monster’s dead flesh like acid. So far, so good, but I was worried about what would happen next.

The Exceptional enemies we had encountered so far had used a skill once their HP were brought low enough to trigger it. Whatever hidden ability this abomination had, it was coming soon. And just a few seconds after that thought crossed my mind it happened.

The abomination’s dead flesh started to glow a reddish hue and its body became enlarged, raising it up another two or three feet. The blows that it launched now were many times faster and stronger before. The monster clearly had an enrage mechanic and it had significantly upped its damage and attack speed.

My two minions facing the blows of the Exceptional mob started to falter, and they quickly dropped to their knees. The zweihander minion was the first to fall, and then the demi-human. The shield-wielding skeleton general braced himself with bended knee as blow after blow rained down upon him.

Four cleavers collided with the shield of the skeleton general and slammed him into the concrete. I could see the bones of his arm shattering and fracturing until they exploded into a white mist.

The cleavers didn’t stop there and smashed the helmet upon his skull and then shattered his corpse. Now only my reanimated snake-head remained in front of us while the five skeleton warriors pummeled it from behind.

There was also my one ranged skeleton that stood near me and Jessica constantly nocking arrows, but I doubted he was dealing a significant amount of damage. My reanimated demi-human raised his trident and tried to block attack after attack from the six cleavers.

“We don’t flee,” Jessica said without taking her eyes off her target. It was clear that the monster’s buff had made him incredibly fast, and I was afraid it might well be able to outrun us on foot. Jessica was right. We had to stand and give it all we had. I drew heart from the incredibly battered appearance of the abomination: he had to be on desperately low hp.

My snake-head only lasted another three blows, which in reality was actually nine, before he collapsed and disappeared. The five skeleton warriors continued to fearlessly hack away only to be immediately clobbered to pieces.

Having readied myself for this, I cast Summon Skeleton and spawned two skeletons to slow the monster’s advance towards us as Jessica continued to put arrow after arrow into his skull. These new minions could only survive a single blow, but at least the monster stopped moving in order to swing all six blades to get rid of them. And so I cast my summoning ability again, and again.

I was at the point where my MP would run out in moments with this spamming, and the enemy was still not dead. I could only use the ability three more times. “Two casts left!” I shouted. “Last one!” Then I was out of MP.

Beginning to panic and furious at not having spawned a single skeleton general, I thought it was time to run. Jessica had already preplaced traps in the alleyway so we had a good chance of escape. “Run!” I cried and was relieved when Jessica gave a nod. I had been worried she was so carried away by the battle and how close we much be to winning it that she’d miscalculate and get herself killed.

As we ran, Jessica fitted a single final arrow to her bow and even though the sounds of its pounding feet were getting closer, looked back over her shoulder, released the arrow into its eye socket and downed it.

The Exceptional abomination collapsed to the floor, causing the ground to quake. I wanted to fall on my ass right then and there, but instead rushed over to the body and immediately cast Reanimate Dead. Everything that had happened so far, none of it mattered to me as much as this moment.

Except nothing happened. I needed 30 Mana. “I have to rest up,” I explained to Jessica.

“Lie down, close your eyes, do what you have to. I’ll take the drops and keep guard. And Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Good fight. We were at our limit there.”

“You too.”

It was hard, when my heart was pounding so much, to relax and encourage my natural mana regeneration to tick upwards. Were we going to lose this opportunity? How long did corpses last before they couldn’t be reanimated?

At least we had a decent chunk of EXP, nearly 70% of a level. And the information on the drops that Jessica shared with me was encouraging.

Meat Cleaver: A butcher’s cleaver used for dealing with large animals.

STR +7, VIT +3

Grants the user Overpowering Strike

Overpowering Strike: Strikes against enemies always inflict Bleeding.

Survival Medallion

Corpse Runners: A pair of boots made from the skin of a cadaver. They offer small protection but put you closer to death.

VIT +1, Movement Speed +10%

Grants the user Skeletal Mastery.

Now that was an interesting development. The boots granted an ability that I already owned myself. I wondered if that meant they would have no effect or perhaps they would add to my existing ability. “Mind if I try the boots on?”

“Go ahead.”

A moment later I equipped them and checked my character sheet. “Good news, they have leveled up my Skeletal Master.” I noticed that the color of the number showing the level of the skill had changed, presumably to indicate it came from an item.

“You keep them. I was almost disappointed because I’d like that movement boost. But extra hit points and strength for your skeletons is just great. At least I have that medallion. That’s one each now.”

“Any idea what they do?”

“Not a clue.” She laughed and I opened my eyes to look at her. “It’s probably just the game playing a joke with us, like giving us a collector’s item for after all this is over.”

At last my MP reached 30 and immediately I cast Reanimate Corpse. A beautiful and gigantic abomination appeared in place of my body. There was just a singular skeleton remaining, my archer, and then this wonderful creature. Seeing the strength of this undead monster firsthand, I honestly believed this minion alone was stronger than all of my skeletons combined.