Quantity could lead to a qualitative change

"Are you humans?" Alex asked uncertainly.

"Your Majesty, we have offered our souls to the queen and joined as members of the undead race," the Acolytes replied respectfully.

Since they were human, this was good news. Not only dwarves could mine and forge equipment—humans could too. If they could forge equipment, then mining was certainly within their capabilities. 

Right now, Alex was short on iron ingots, but mining posed a significant challenge. She had neither the ore nor a furnace. What was she going to do, bake them with her laser eyes?

The Acolytes' Shadow Form skill could be used not only for scouting but also for escaping when gathering resources became dangerous. It seemed that the skeletons could be relieved from resource gathering duties, as their efficiency was quite low. However, for now, that wasn't feasible due to the limited number of Acolytes.