* * *
A flood of information rushed through my vision when I finally decided to check what the system had to say. The pile of information was made worse by square brackets which made everything a lot more painful to read. Not to mention the ear-piercing beeps.
Beep. [ Victory! ]
Beep. [ Rewards:
- x20 soul stones
- Passive Skill Lv.1 Mending Obtained
- Soul Leveled Up
- Health & Mana increased
- Promotion to Rank 2 ]
-------
[ System Host: Arius Scerriton ]
[ Race: Skeletal Undead ]
[ Rank 2: Trainee Soldier ]
[ Soul Stones: 20 ]
[ Authority Level: 1 >> 2 ]
[ Soul Level: 100 >> 101 ]
[ Soul Health: 7/20 >> 7/30 ]
[ Soul Mana: 21/25 >> 21/40 ]
[ Skills: Enlist Undead, Mending ]
[ Troops under command: None ]
-------
'Huh, that's different from what I remember.' I thought, scrolling around. 'Normally, this would run on experience points or money. Or at least something to upgrade my stats.'
The other think that caught my attention was my soul mana increasing. As far as I knew, I was told I never had a speck of mana in me since birth. Why did I have mana now?
I still had no idea what the ranks meant, only that it was probably a good thing if they were increasing. Not to mention the way the sentences were written sounded a bit odd. Well, odd in a way that it didn't quite feel like before. The only thing I recognized now was the skill I just acquired.
'I remember mending was an enchantment skill to repair objects.' I thought. 'So why is it passive?'
[ Mending Lv 1: Restores objects to their full state. Only works on non-living objects. Regeneration is always in effect due to the passive buff. ]
'So it's become some kind of a healing skill that works on undead. I don't know if being called a non-living object is an insult or not.' I thought. 'Also, is it just me or did this system just read my thoughts?'
[ System has been fully integrated into Host's soul. As such, thoughts containing valid commands will be registered as queries. ]
'Great. Even in death, I can't be alone.' I thought, annoyed at the thought that something other than me was able to hear the stuff that goes on in my head. 'Just don't ever try to access my private memories.'
[ There is no need. I have already compiled a database of all your lives. ]
'Shut the hell up- Just how long have you been spying on me?'
* * *
Despite my annoyance at the system, the skill was definitely working. My health slowly rose by tiny fractions, and I could vaguely feel the cracks in my bones sealing up with mana.
A new thought also occurred to me, I had survived what was definitely a lethal blow even to undead monsters. A normal skeleton would've stopped moving instantly after being decapitated. Would that mean I was somewhat unkillable now?
Still, I had died so many times that I knew better than to get my hopes up. But now, what was my purpose? Normally, I would have reincarnated and started a new life. Now, I was the only one who had survived in my town. And with being an undead monster, there was no way I could start my life over even if I wanted to.
'The only opportunity I get, but I can't do anything with it.' I thought, wandering through the ruins aimlessly. The run-down buildings seemed just as dreary as my thoughts.
There were still some signs of a battle left in some areas, though it was surprising that the small town of Wruens had any people to face the Lwich. The guardsmen of the Wruens had definitely put up a decent resistance against the invaders, thought it ended as nothing but a wasted effort.
Bodies in the blue attire of the Felagan soldiers lay on one of the side streets from the town square. They were so scorched by the fire from the houses that their uniforms were almost pitch black. Some of them had been completely burnt to a skeleton and all that was left were their blackened uniforms on them.
Their fallen swords were bloodstained and I could see several bullet marks around the ground and on the crumbling walls. I suspected that the Lwich invaders had taken their guns since there were no firearms on the ground. I could see one or two Lwich soldiers, but their casualties were almost little to none compared to the massacre they had done to the town.
They had done their duty to the end, facing the Lwich to protect the town they grew up in, even though they knew there was never a chance for them.
'Humanity is such a cruel place. It is the ones who commit the most atrocities that leave triumphant while those who don't deserve it are on the receiving end.' I thought, saluting them to respect their deaths.
However, I had barely lowered my hand when there was a rustle among the corpses.
From the ashes, the skeleton of one of the guards rose slowly. Burnt debris and ashes swirled around him and something like invisible mana seemed to leave my soul and flow into him. A spark of mana gleamed through his eye sockets as he rose to his full height after picking up his burnt hat and returned the salute.
Beep. [ Skeletal Undead has been enlisted ]
I stumbled backward a few steps in a panic before remembering I too, was an undead. 'Enlisted?' I thought. 'Is that something like joining my parting or something?'
[ The unit has joined your ranks and will serve you loyally from now on. You are able to control skeletal units with no limits, but in return, it will drain your soul mana to be kept animate ]
"I can control it?" I asked, warily tip-toeing up to the skeleton and poking one of his arms lightly. He was so tall that I wasn't even at eye level with him. The undead guard gave no reaction and kept staring ahead at where I had previously been.
"Hey, look at me." I said, the incredible height difference annoying me a bit. I poked him once more went he bent down, this time in the face. Again, it solicited no reaction from him except for staring at me with his cold dead eyes. "Wow, that's cool. Am I some sort of necromancer now?"
"What's your name?" I asked, but there was no reply. "Huh, so they can't talk like me."
I got up and saluted another nearby corpse. Just like that, another skeleton pulled himself up from the ground and saluted with his sabre. This time, the impact on my mana was more noticeable and made me feel somewhat woozy. I tried to salute one more, but this time there were no results.
Beep. [ Enlist failed ]
[ You have reached the limit of your Authority ]
[ Current troops under command: 2 ]
'So that's what that's for.' I thought, pulling up my status to check. 'Figures.'
I instantly noticed a new tab in the status panels named "Combat". The moment my mind focused on it, the panels warped into a 3d map overview of my surroundings. The ruins, the surroundings, and even the corpses were remade down to the smallest detail, but the view only covered a small area around me and the skeleton guards, which were indicated on the map with a black flag.
At the same time, my vision split into several blurry parts, which I realized was what the skeleton town guards were seeing. From one, I could see myself, and though it was horrifyingly disorientating, I could see the end of the street from the other. It was like watching several low-quality movies at once on a small-screen laptop.
That was when something finally clicked in my mind. Something I had been wrong about the entire time. This was no longer a leveling system for an RPG. The military terms, the different functions, the ability to control the dead and whatnot...
It was an entirely different system. A strategy system.
"Does that mean I'm going to become a demon lord with an army of skeletons? Seems cliched." I thought poking the undead in the face again because honestly, I had no idea what I was supposed to do with skeletons.
"Take over the world? For what? I've seen everything the universe has to offer. I've got nothing... Nobody to lose. I guess the same goes for you guys." I said to the skeletons, though I knew they didn't understand me. Well, silence is golden.
There were several sudden beeps as I suddenly spotted something moving on the map. Three new indicators appeared quite near ours, and this time they were colored red. One didn't need to play games a lot to understand what that mean.
'More corpse robbers, huh?' I thought. I could vaguely see three people walking around in the town center through one of the undead's eyes. 'Well, I don't know what I'll do later, but I know what we'll do now.'
The skeletons as usual, gave no reply, but I felt that they could tell what I had in mind. I would at least clean up the place of unwanted visitors before I leave.
"Well, town guards. Here's another chance to do your duty."