CHAPTER 28- BLACKGUARD

As night befell the earth and consumed the city, Alaster cooked and ate some meat as he worked on the Undead that would hopefully serve as his shield.

Sure, he currently had Astrid, who could be his shield, but after he had thought about it some more, he did not want anyone with him. She had saved him while they were escaping from the Goblin Lord. But he was currently fixing that issue, so it would not be needed again.

From the little time she had been with him, Alaster could tell that while she was tough, she wasn't as motivated as he was. She would push herself, but when they both reached their limits, Alaster would be the first to reach beyond, and would reach further. He understood that having allies would be beneficial in the long run. But right now, in the short term, keeping Astrid around would hinder his growth.

He could not allow that to happen, not when his sister was possibly being beaten and starved. So, he would leave her. He would not do it now. As he was still in new territory; territory she knew. As he grew accustomed to his new surroundings, he would prepare both himself and Astrid to go their separate ways.

Astrid's buff, potentially multiple, could be a game changer in future battles. But Alaster had tested it before they had been chased by the Goblin Lord. It did not affect the Undead. While a buff on something living could be difficult to see due to the body's constant changing. Undead didn't change. When Alaster tells his Undead to jump, they jump as high as they can.

So, he had them jump as high as they could and cut a mark into a nearby tree at that height before they fell back down. Just to be safe, he had them do the same thing three times while unbuffed and three times while buffed. As he had expected, the height did not change at all. The only thing that did change was that the cut became deeper and deeper.

If Astrid's buffs could not work on the Undead, then its value dropped tremendously. But, while Alaster learned the area, he would also help Astrid level her Buff until it was noticeable on himself. Then he would hand her over to any of the numerous parties that would miraculously show up, begging her to join them. After that, she would no longer be his concern.

Alaster continued to add Goblin bone. Making the bone as pure as he could, while also making it as strong as he could. He changed the Skeleton itself. Making it stand nearly two meters tall and wide. Each bone was thick enough that Alaster nearly couldn't wrap his hand around one and touch fingers, nearly.

Of course, Alaster had to leave some of the bones a normal thickness, such as the feet and hands. If he made them thicker, it would mess with the functionality. Instead, Alaster pushed even harder to make them stronger, giving him a headache and nearly causing a hand to explode.

As a final, artistic, touch, Alaster made the head match the size of the body and widened the eyes. But for the mouth, He gave the Skeleton sharp tusks. While the Night Child had sharp teeth meant for cutting into the enemy, this new Skeleton had tusks roughly two inches long that were designed to rip chunks of the enemy away.

Alaster genuinely had no intention for the Skeleton to use them, he was planning on armoring the Skeleton in so much bone armor that it would be very difficult for anyone to identify it as an Undead. But then again, he also had not been planning on the Night Children to actually use their teeth either, but they had.

[Skeleton Creation Level up]

[Evolution Available]

[Skeleton Creation

Level 4<5: 57%<30%< p>

Create what none have created.

Mana Cost 50/min]

[Skeleton Creation Evolutions:

1. Blueprint. Save the customization of a Skeleton to copy.

2. Legion. Doubles the limit of Skeleton based Minions.

3. Null. Created Skeletons become minutely resistant to hostile Mana.]

Alaster was stunned. Each one was amazing, but he immediately set his eyes on Legion and Null. Alaster had a sense that if he chose Null, it could upgrade into a higher resistance. He could just imagine his Undead being bathed in Magic Fire and walking through it unscathed. However, he had yet to encounter any hostile Mages.

While he knew for a fact that he eventually would, he had to focus on the here and now. And Legion was just too good to pass up. He did not know that Ability Evolutions could affect other Abilities.

And yet, that wasn't the only Ability waiting to Evolve. So, as much as it pained him to put it off, Alaster did not make his choice, and instead brought up the Evolutions for [Raise Undead].

[Raise Undead Evolutions:

1. Mindful. Grants an Undead Intellect, equal to the Mana offered.

2. Numerous. Increase maximum minions by one.

3. Twin. Be able to raise two undead with one cast.]

Not nearly as staggering as [Skeleton Creation]'s Evolutions had been, but perhaps even more useful. Mindful could allow Alaster's Undead to actually be able to think for themselves. This would allow them to operate independently of him. It would no longer require him to detail his orders so vividly. And it would also increase their capacity to fight. Currently, his Undead simply used what was available to them, like babies.

The Night Children were extremely clumsy. The only reason the raid on the Goblin Tribe had been successful, besides the Goblin Lord being away, was due to the storm blocking out any sound they made. They were light enough that they barely made any tracks. Alaster had briefly instructed them on how he wanted them to fight the Goblins.

Simply run right past them. And even then, they had resorted to clawing and biting their foes. Luckily, they were small and agile, or Alaster would have either lost one or even both or had to repair them.

He had already decided to choose the Legion option from the [Skeleton Creation] Evolutions. That alone would increase his available minions from two to four. If he selected Numerous as well, that would go up to six. At that point, the minions under Alaster's control would number the same as the average Novice Adventure Party.

Alaster still chuckled about how the Guards of his home Village would call these groups NAPs, because if even a single Adept went with the Novices, all he would do would be to nap.

Despite the obvious number advantage, Alaster decided that he would rather have intelligent minions over mindless ones. Satisfied with his choices, he selected them, and felt things change from within, the effects taking hold.

Alaster immediately looked at [Raise Undead]

[Raise Undead

Level 10: 41%

Raise a small corpse to serve as your servant.

Max Minions: 0/2

Max Skeletons: 2/2

Mana Cost: 30]

'Interesting. It listed both the Night Child and my new Skeleton differently, leaving the Minion section completely open.'

On a hunch, Alaster took some more bones out of his Ring and summoned another Goblin Skeleton.

[Raise Undead

Level 10: 43%

Raise a small corpse to serve as your servant.

Max Minions: 1/2

Max Skeletons: 2/2

Mana Cost: 30]

'Ha! I can! It worked, and I can even raise a fourth!' Alaster chuckled to himself, envisioning himself leading an army.

However, while he had effectively doubled his minions, he could have increased the number even more. He had chosen not to in favor of Intelligence. Alaster briefly panicked upon not seeing the Mindful option under [Raise Undead]. But he then realized that it would most likely be individualized to the minion themselves.

Alaster turned to his new Skeleton and brought up its stats.

[Custom Skeleton

Health: 200/200

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 13

Constitution: 20]

[Mindful Y/N]

Alaster was very impressed with himself. Despite making it as durable as he could, it had still ended up nearly as fast as the Night Child, only being two points down. However, it was vastly superior in both STR and CON. It had even more health than Alaster did.

'Good.'

However, Alaster also noticed that the system had simply been given a generic name. He assumed it had done the same to the Night Child, but he had mentally named it before he had brought up its stats.

'What should I call you, the one made to protect me?'

Alaster thought for several minutes, allowing his Mana to regenerate after the intensive use. Eventually, however, Alaster reached a name that did not make him negatively react.

"You are my guardian. My Blackguard." Alaster declared, briefly forgetting that Astrid was asleep.

She turned but remained sleeping.

'Evelyn can criticize my naming sense later.'

The system recognized the name and changed its Status to reflect that. Despite the fact that the Skeleton was not in fact black. It was at most a moderate gray that tilted slightly more on the darker side. And he was not done.

Alaster focused on the Mindful option and selected yes.

[Offered Mana: 0]

Alaster looked at his Mana.

[Health: 160/160

Health Regeneration: 6/min

Mana: 34/150

Mana Regeneration: 2/min]

It was very low. Alaster offered everything, and he could feel his headache increasing ever so slightly. But Alaster pushed through it and began to meditate. He had first worried about there being a time limit, but Alaster didn't see nor felt any sort of timer. So, he was content to add every bit of Mana he could.

After all, the more Mana offered, the smarter the Skeleton would be.