Chapter 43

Nathan and Sophie ran after the two Lackeys who were ignorant of their boss' demise. As Nathan sensed that they were getting closer, he whispered to Sophie, "Make sure to keep the damage to minimum. These two are just small fries."

Sophie nodded in understanding, and the two reached the Sleeping Quarters, where the two Lackeys were searching around frantically!

"Hey! Did you find anyone?!" Lackey number 1 called out loudly.

"No, not a single trace! The goods have just disappeared! We're screwed!" Lackey number 2 answered, as he felt his heart shudder. The masters aren't well known for their mercy!

He shook his head vigorously, "Keep searching! We must find something! anything!"

He waited for an answer, but all he received… was silence.

"Hey!" Lackey number 2 turned around to search for his friend, yet he saw nothing.

Suddenly, he felt fear from the deepest depths of his heart! He felt as if he had already died!

'Run! I… I must run!'

*Puchi!*

But it was all to late. The next moment, he dropped to the ground, with a dagger in his heart!

'No…no!' 

'Not like this! Not like this!'

'I don't want to die!… spare me-' 

The next moment however, he died all the same… no matter how unwilling or regretful he may have been…

Nathan and Sophie reappeared in the room.

"Really, Assassination is so much easier than fighting head-on. Can you believe it, Nate? These idiots were shouting here! So much for being low key…" Sophie immediately reverted back to her cheerful self. Killing Second Stage Cultivators really boosted their confidence!

Nathan retrieved his dagger, and looked around, his eyes glowing with a cyan light, "Well, although they were idiots, they can still be of use…"

[Reaper's Gaze]

Nathan looked at the corpses on the ground, and the Souls who had just detached from them, "Your nightmare is far from over…"

The Souls looked terrified as they was stared down by Nathan, but no matter how much they willed it, they couldn't move!

Nathan used a strand of his Soul Force, and bound the Souls with it,

[Soul Absorption!]

His Soul Force changed shape, and turned into a terrifying vortex as it devoured the Souls, grinding and crushing them into pieces that were then absorbed by Melian in his Soul!

[Ding!]

[You have received: Soul Essence Droplets 2x]

Nathan shook his head, 'They were only mortal, but it is still too little! Just how extreme was my Soul Awakening that it used seventy Droplets?!'

He was truly in awe!

Nathan turned to Sophie, "Burn them to nothingness. I will deal with the Boss' Soul."

"Okay~" She summoned two wisps of Golden Flame and set the two corpses on fire!

Nathan was not worried. Sophie had trained her flames so much. Burning the corpses without damaging anything else was as easy as drinking for her!

'I do not want to know how Aunty managed to push her so far…' Nathan was aware of Aunty Solina's training regime, as he was informed of it by Nitis, and it was as far from pleasant as possible…

He reached the boss, and absorbed his Soul as well,

[Ding!]

[You have received: Soul Essence Droplets 3x]

'So five in total… not bad.' Nathan was satisfied with the effects of the skill, 'It is only level 1 at the moment. It can get much better!'

Nathan searched the body, and he found a Spatial Ring on it!

A Spatial Ring is an Artifact that has certain amount of space in it, and items could be placed or taken out of it by utilizing Energy.

Nathan used his Soul Force, and scanned the contents inside.

'Only a few bottles of pills… a few Low-Grade Spirit Stones and the rest are just trash… what a poor guy. I expected more from a Second Stage Cultivator.'

Spirit Stones, were condensed form of Spiritual Energy that could be found naturally. Different grades vary in the amount of Energy, and its purity, but it was considered valuable nonetheless. It was also a currency of the Cultivators!

Nathan wore the ring, as he returned to the problem at hand, 'Should I just have Sophie burn it?'

[Ding!]

[Mark of Inheritance has been activated!]

[Conditions have been met!]

[Congratulations! You have acquired a new Divine Ability: (Arise)!]

"What!" Nathan was surprised! Not even in his dreams did he expect to just get a Divine Ability out of nowhere! A Divine Ability!

'The more I receive from this Inheritance, the scarier it becomes… but it helps me grow stronger, then I will use it to face whatever comes!' Nathan knew the Mark of Inheritance cannot harm him, but the greed of others will, if it was ever discovered…

'Let's see what my new Divine Ability does…'

[Arise]

Raise the dead to do your bidding. The dead are bound to your will, and will follow your commands with absolute loyalty! 

Effect 1: You can store your Minions in a separate Dimension exclusive to you. The Dimension can Heal Undead beings, and with enough time, restore missing body parts!

Note: The Healing properties grow alongside the Divine Ability!

Effect 2: Your Minions can absorb other corpses to increase their own strength!

Note: There is chance to birth intelligence during the strengthening process. The higher the Quality of the corpse, The Better the odds.

Effect 3: The Minions can in no way, shape or form, defy you.

'…'

'…'

'… This is a lie, right? This is almost too good to be true! Absolute loyalty! And I can store them in another Dimension, walk into the middle of my enemies, and just summon an army of Undead!'

'Well… I have a perfect chance to test it out… but how can I make the minion stronger…'

Nathan pondered deeply, 'I want to strengthen the body… and the Soul as well, if possible…'

Suddenly, he came up with a brilliant idea!

'This should work!'

Nathan raised his hand in the direction of the corpse, using a bit of Soul Force to keep the decapitated head attached to the body.

[Arise!]

Purple-black Soul Force emerged from his palm, and flowed into the corpse, and Nathan instinctively knew what kind of Energy this was!

'Death Energy!'

He was already aware that his soul had some connection with Death, but he did not expect that he could actually control this Energy! Death Energy is a very berserk type of Energy, that no living being is capable of controlling it! Only the dead had some control!

The Death Energy viciously latched onto the body, corrupting the body of someone more than an entire Stage above his, within seconds!

Nathan, however, did not get distracted.

'Now… I will sacrifice the flesh and use it to nurture the body's skeleton… '

The flesh on the corpse started to melt bit by bit, and with Death Energy as a catalyst, merged into the bones, increasing the defensive and offensive properties of the skeleton by several times!

Nathan looked at the white skeleton before him, and steeled his heart, 'I hope this is worth it…'

Nathan summoned five Soul Essence Droplets, and fused them into the skeleton.

As the five Droplets fused with it, a storm of Energy picked up, pushing Nathan a few steps back, even with his Dragonborn body!

"What is happening here?!" Sophie came running, as she sensed the disturbance with her Soul.

"Nothing. Just testing the new Divine Ability that I just got." Nathan replied nonchalantly.

Sophie's panic instantly turned into anticipation, "Oooh! I wonder what it is then!"

They both waited patiently, as the storm died down slowly, and a pure white Skeleton appeared, standing before them.

The Skeleton kneeled down, as Nathan nodded in satisfaction,

"Excellent. Its physical strength is at the very peak of The Second Stage, while it has also inherited a trace of Death Energy!"

"WOW!!! This is insane! Did you just raise that boss, AND also increased his strength?!" Sophie was blown away.

"Indeed. It will of utmost use to us. Let's go and inform Headmaster Tallis that the danger has passed."

Before storing The Skeleton away, Nathan decided to hand over its Saber back to it. A proper weapon will go a long way, making The Skeleton far more lethal and deadly!

"Hmm… maybe I shouldn't have burned the corpses of those two…" Sophie wondered out loud, feeling that it was a pity.

Nathan, however, shook his head, "It doesn't make much difference. They were too weak anyway. And I believe we will meet much stronger enemies soon…"

Soon, Nathan and Sophie made their way to a secret hidden room beneath the orphanage.

Meanwhile, the disturbance caused by the birth of The Skeleton was not small, yet no one seemed to have noticed anything.

In the skies above The Capital City, an Almighty figure looked down at the orphanage,

"Sigh… the young are truly rash… your careless action could have caused many problems, young Prince… but I guess that is also part of your growth, is it not?"

The figure waved their hand, and the invisible veil surrounding the orphanage disappeared.

"Truly exceptional… not only The Skeleton did not lose its previous strength, it even surpassed it…" 

The figure looked at the distance, " Soon, he will shine too bright for me to protect him… but until then I will fulfill my duty… just as they did theirs…"

The figure disappeared into the darkness of the night, remaining undiscovered by any other Soul…