Chương 16: New Skill Uprade

Alex quickly made his choice and allowed his Summon Undead Skill to be upgraded to +1, gaining a brand-new ability. [You have chosen the Summon Undead Upgrade +1: More Undead.] [Your Skill: Summon Undead – Tier 1 has automatically ranked up to Tier 2.] [Summon Undead – Tier 2 (+1)] Use your mana and chant the necessary words to create a Summoning Circle and summon a Lesser Undead bound to you. The amount of Undead you can bind depends on Skill Tier and your Soul Capacity. Chant:"Rise, servant of bone/rot/phantom.

Answer the call of your new Master." Limit: 1/2. At Tier 2, your ability to control and summon Undead has increased. Summoned Undead now receive a passive boost of 30% to their stats and can learn and improve skills three times faster.

Upgrades: {Summon Undead Upgrade +1: More Undead}: You can summon one additional Undead under your control, increasing your slots by 1.

"So increasing the Tier doesn't increase the number of Undead I can summon or keep bound?" Alex wondered.

"Or perhaps my Necromancer Class is very limiting. Unlike most Necromancers, shouldn't I already have an army of Undead by now? Yet I am barely allowed to summon two. Well, that won't be the case for long." Even though he could not keep more bound Undead, he could still create his own and control them with his Soul Threads. Perhaps this limit existed because a Soul Weaving Necromancer would simply be too powerful if allowed unlimited minions. After all, they could build their own Undead with their bare hands.

Especially someone like Alex, who was highly adept at manipulating bones. Once he gained enough knowledge in Alchemy, Necromancy, and related fields, he would likely be more than capable of building his own army.

"What did you get?" Gryg asked.

"I can now summon an additional Undead," Alex replied.

"So sit down for now. I need some time."

"Huh." Gryg squinted at him with interest and smiled.

"Sure, whatever you say." Alex stepped into an empty area and activated Summon Undead. Just like before, a large magic circle appeared before him, glistening with violet and blue light as runes of death and phantoms took shape.

"Rise, servant of death. Answer the call of your new Master." RUMBLE! The ground trembled and cracked as a powerful, sinister force crawled up from the depths of the dark abyss. Alex watched in confusion as a large, tall figure began to manifest, only for it to suddenly crawl onto his own body.

"... What?!" For the first time, true terror gripped him. Countless rotten hands surged from the magic circle and grabbed him, melding with his bone frame. Muscle, flesh, and skin—rotten and decaying—gathered around him and latched onto his very being like a parasite. It was not truly part of him, and yet it was. It was a separate being, but it was also him. He could not fully understand it. Yet he felt a deep connection within his soul to this mass of rotten flesh and countless hands. Until they became one.

"..." His eyes widened. He now had proper eyes—eyeballs that were rotten and numb. He could barely perceive colors through them, but by relying on his original senses, he could see everything clearly again.

"What is this?" A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. He looked down at himself. His bare bones were now covered in muscle, flesh, and cartilage, though everything was rotting and frail, falling apart with strong movements. The rotting mass had fully integrated with Alex's skeletal frame. Layers of decaying muscle wrapped around his bones like living armor, while patches of pale, torn skin stretched across his chest and limbs.

Multiple grotesque hands protruded from his back and shoulders, twitching with unnatural life. His new eyeballs, cloudy and bloodshot, sat in hollow sockets, though his glowing violet soul-light still burned brightly behind them. The creature was not truly separate. It was an extension of his will, a parasitic undead construct bound directly to his core. Alex flexed his fingers. The new flesh felt weak and clumsy, but it gave him something he had lacked: weight, presence, and raw physical mass.

"Fascinating. If I understand this correctly, I have summoned a separate Undead that merged with me because of my Necromancy," Alex thought.

"Does this mean any Undead I summon will automatically merge with me and become part of my body? Because I am also them? This is very amusing. I should give it a name." Ding! [You have summoned [Fleshbound Horror – Meat (D): Level 1 – Bound to Host Necromancer.] [Due to Soulweaver Necromancer synergy, the Fleshbound Horror has merged as living armor. While in Fleshbound Horror Armor State, +35% Physical Strength. +20% Durability. Passive Skill: Rotting Grasp – Tier 2 unlocked.] [Warning: The Fleshbound Horror consumes minor amounts of Mana and Nether to maintain cohesion. Greater quantities of energy will enhance its regeneration, stretching capabilities, endurance, and cell multiplication ability.] Alex narrowed his new eyes and looked back at Gryg. She stared at him in horror, her face frozen in shock. Gryg's eyes widened, her earlier exhaustion completely forgotten." What the actual fuck, Alex?! You just… grew meat? That's disgusting. And kind of impressive. But damn, you're ugly! I preferred you as a skeleton…" Alex tilted his head. The extra hands on his back stretched experimentally. One of them reached out, picked up a loose stone from the floor, and crushed it into powder with surprising ease." It merged with me. This form should help in close combat. The golems rely on brute force. I can match them better now. And it is not fully merged. It is more like clothing." He took a step forward. The rotting flesh made wet, squelching sounds, but his movements remained stable. The added weight helped anchor him and reduced the chance of his bones shattering from overexertion. As he wished, the flesh quickly folded back, revealing his skeletal frame underneath." See?" he said, directing his gaze toward Gryg." Eeew! That's somehow even more disgusting," Gryg muttered." God damn it, and that's saying something because I am a Troll and we live in filth."" I can do this too," Alex replied, ignoring her remarks. The flesh around his body fully separated from him, though it remained connected by Soul Threads, and landed beside him." It is mostly boneless as you can see. Just a mass of rotten flesh." The Fleshbound Horror was a strange parasitic monster that seemed to have been summoned from the Netherworld. Alex wanted to see what else it could do, so he observed as Meat began moving around in silence. Its hands helped it grasp the ground, but it moved at a snail's pace without a host. ♢♢♢♢ [Name]: [Meat] [Titles]: [Horror of the Abyss] [Self-Bound Summon] [Race]: [Fleshbound Horror (D) – Level 1] [Cultivation]: Not found. (Create Nether Core?) /YES/NO/ [Health Points (HP)]: [250/250] [Mana Points (MP)]: [50/50] [Nether]: [100/100] {Stats} [Strength]: [40] [Agility]: [12] [Endurance]: [40] [Toughness]: [40] [Wisdom]: [8] [Intelligence]: [7] [Perception]: [27] [Willpower]: [14] [Spirit]: [17] {Racial Skills} [Self-Bound Undead (Master) – Tier 2] [Decaying Flesh Regeneration – Tier 2] [Abyssal Aberration – Tier 2] [Rotting Grasp – Tier 2] [Flesh Horror – Tier 2] [Parasitize – Tier 2] ♢♢♢♢ Alex was surprised by Meat's status. The creature specialized in durability and defense, while the rest of its stats were mostly mediocre except for physical strength. It was slow, but if it managed to catch something, it could likely tear it to shreds with its countless hands. It had no Class or Profession, and it did not seem able to obtain them. In the end, Meat was a wild monster with little intelligence, let alone sapience. The system likely did not grant it another path beyond its own race. Still, it possessed plenty of Racial Skills, all at Tier 2. Meat was strong. Incredibly so. As an F Rank Necromancer, Alex had managed to summon a D Rank Undead, something mostly unheard of." Meat, attack that large statue."" " Meat slowly moved toward the statue. Its giant fists surged forward, striking with such power that stones shattered and flew everywhere." It's strong?!" Gryg asked." Yeah," Alex nodded." It is very strong for a Level 1 monster. We need to keep it around and level it up as much as possible. For now, I will equip it and merge it with my bone armor like this. Is this more presentable?" Alex melded with the Fleshbound Horror once more, letting it complement his entire body before covering the exposed parts with his bone armor. This left the flesh almost completely hidden while keeping his skull face intact, aside from the countless fleshy hands behind him, which he reinforced with bones to make them tougher." Ooh…" Gryg muttered." I guess so. This is fine."" Good. Let's move then," Alex said with a nod." We are not too far from reaching the 30 kill count. Once we are done with that, we will receive rewards." Both quickly made their way deeper into the dungeon, unaware that in the depths of the mausoleum, an Ancient King's rest had been disturbed." Who dares… step into my tomb uninvited?"