Ethan sat atop a crumbled stone slab at the edge of the ruined building, quietly observing his newly claimed undead thrall.
The wild boar simply stood there, utterly motionless. Its jaws hung slightly open, a strand of drool still trailing from its maw, clinging lazily to its discolored tusks.
What drew his attention most, though, was the wound.
The gaping gash he had carved into the creature during their fight was… healing. Not fully, but the signs were there. The flesh was reweaving in thin strands, slowly stitching itself back together like a living thing, except this thing was dead.
"Is the thrall drawing on Animus Soul energy to repair itself?"
That would explain the cost. And if healing came directly from his own Animus Soul capacity, then this undead would be an investment. One that would drain him over time if left unchecked.
Which meant he had to be smart.
Once he committed to raising a creature, he needed to be certain it was worth it. Strong, useful, and reliable. He couldn't afford to waste resources on weak or inefficient thralls.
Several questions lingered in his mind.
First, could he dismiss a thrall? Was there a way to cancel the summoning altogether? Or would he have to destroy the creature manually? And if he did destroy it, would the consumed Animus Soul slots be freed up again?
He assumed so. But until he reached his limit, the system wouldn't show him what that cap really was.
Second, could he store a thrall inside his Dimensional Storage?
Now that was a fascinating idea.
Ethan's unique, glitch-blessed system had allowed his Dimensional Storage to grow each time he resurrected. At present, it boasted a total of 3 cubic meters. And from earlier testing, he'd confirmed something strange and incredibly useful: the shape of stored items didn't matter. Only the total volume.
A long coil of rope, a broken wooden door, if the item fit within the space by volume, it would go in. No issue.
Even more interesting, each object inside was isolated. A noxious-smelling item wouldn't affect a clean bundle of bandages. Blood-soaked carcasses didn't contaminate other contents. It was like each item was vacuum-sealed in its own invisible compartment.
So hypothetically… could he store a corpse?
He'd already tried that, and it worked.
But now that the corpse was an undead, animated and aware, even if mindless… would that make a difference?
Could an undead creature be frozen and stored the same way? Or would the system reject it due to its semi-living state?
Judging by its sheer bulk, this wild boar easily took up 0.8 to maybe even a full cubic meter of volume.
Damn… this thing's massive.
Ethan rose to his feet, stepping toward the undead creature. Without hesitation, he gripped the boar by the upper neck and issued a mental command to his Dimensional Storage:
Suddenly, a vortex of energy swirled around his arm, like a vacuum forming in thin air. The energy spiral expanded outward, engulfing the undead beast in seconds.
Then, whoosh!
The entire body was pulled inward, swallowed whole by the rift, and vanished without a trace.
Ethan blinked, then smiled faintly.
Oh… now that's interesting.
The system didn't seem to treat the undead as a living being. That made sense, after all, this wasn't a creature with its own soul or independent will. It was an extension of his ability. More like an object than a lifeform.
Which meant he could store them.
But given this one's size, he figured he could only carry three at most before hitting his storage cap. Not ideal, but workable, for now. He'd need to find smaller, more compact undead with higher utility, or expand his storage even further.
Still… the experiment had been a complete success.
Good.
One step closer to becoming the necromancer he envisioned.
Ethan summoned the undead wild boar once more.
With a low thump, the massive creature dropped back onto the cracked pavement. Its glowing red eyes blinked once.
He gave it a simple command: "Follow me."
The boar twitched, then began moving. Its hooves thudded against the ground as it trailed behind him. And then… something curious happened.
As soon as Ethan turned his back and started walking, the undead seemed to slip into old patterns. Maybe muscle memory from its previous life. It moved with a lumbering gait, twitching like a restless beast. A trail of drool dangled from its jaw again, and it let out the occasional low grunt.
But it never disobeyed. No unexpected lunges. No stray aggression. Just a walking corpse mimicking its old instincts.
Good.
That meant it could move freely, act naturally, even appear alive to the untrained eye, so long as it didn't step out of line.
Perfect for hunting.
Let's see what this beast can do in a real fight.Let's hunt.
Ethan pressed deeper into the city's shadows, the ruins dimly lit under the pale moonlight.
Every so often, distant roars or the sharp sound of collapsing stone echoed in the air. Monsters clashing somewhere out of sight. Whenever he heard such chaos, he instinctively took alternate paths, slipping into quieter, emptier corridors of rubble and dust.
Still, even in silence, danger lingered. And often, the monsters he found in these calmer areas ended up being stronger than the ones he'd actively avoided.
After a while, Ethan came to a sudden halt. He pressed himself against the cracked wall of a half-collapsed building and held up a hand, a silent signal to his thrall.
The undead wild boar stopped immediately, freezing in place like a statue. Its drooling jaw hung slightly, but it made no sound.
Ethan peered around the corner, slow and cautious. There, just up ahead in the rubble-choked street, was a wolf.
It was a massive wolf. Easily twice the size of any normal wolf he'd ever seen in his past life. Its fur was a tangled mess of dark grey, its ribs still streaked with blood as it tore into the remains of something, probably another monster.
"This is strange. Why are forest-dwelling monsters like this showing up in the middle of the city?"
Wolves and boars, centipedes and lizards were beasts that should have belonged to wilderness zones. Were they migrating from a nearby forest? Maybe the city, once reclaimed by nature, had drawn them in like a new kind of hunting ground.
Either way… this was his first time facing a wolf-type monster.
Ethan summoned his sword with a flash of dark energy, gripping the hilt tightly.
Now let's see how you fight, my cute little piggy…
With no more hesitation, he stepped out from behind the ruined wall, boots striking the broken ground in bold, confident strides. The undead wild boar followed immediately, bursting forward with erratic, heavy movements.
The wolf froze mid-bite. Its muzzle lifted slowly, eyes narrowing into gleaming slits. It let out a low, warning growl, crouching as though ready to pounce.
But the wild boar didn't flinch. It let out a snarling grunt of its own before charging with brutal speed.
The wolf snapped into motion, its growl rising into a fierce roar, but before it could react.
[Soul Chain activated!]
The crimson tether whipped into place, linking the boar and the wolf with spectral chains that shimmered with violent heat. The wolf snarled louder now.
Too late.
The wild boar slammed into it like a battering ram, smashing it sideways into a chunk of broken concrete.
The wolf rolled to its feet, shaking its head violently. Then it threw back its head and let out a loud, echoing howl
No!
Ethan's eyes widened. If that thing was calling for others… It would be problematic.
The wolf lunged, faster this time. It clashed with the boar again, clawing, biting, trying to tear through undead flesh.
But the boar was relentless, slamming forward and forcing the wolf back toward a cracked wall. The wolf twisted, managing to slip free and lunge once more.
Ethan was already close now, sprinting into range.
[Black Cleave activated!]
A crescent-shaped wave of dark energy tore through the air, slamming into the wolf's side with a violent crack. The beast was thrown sideways.
No time to recover, the undead wild boar charged again, ramming into the creature with the weight of a sledgehammer.
The wolf tumbled once more, snarling in pain, clearly struggling to withstand the relentless assault.
Ethan surged forward.
He closed the distance in a blink and slashed down with his sword. But the wolf twisted away as it darted past the blade and lunged straight at him.
He ducked low.
At the last moment, he swung upward, his blade cutting clean across the wolf's exposed underside. The wolf yelped, staggering.
The boar didn't wait. It struck again, driving its tusks deep into the wolf's side and forcing it to the ground, pinning it under sheer mass and brute force. Blood sprayed from the wounds.
Ethan rushed in again.
He used his height, his heavier skeletal frame, to press down on the wolf, slamming his weight onto the creature. His knee dropped onto its side, locking it down as he raised his sword high and drove it straight into the wolf's neck.
The beast twisted violently, struggling. But Ethan didn't stop.
He hammered its jaw with bone-shattering punches, keeping it pinned beneath him.
The wild boar continued ramming into the wolf and in the chaos, it accidentally knocked Ethan's knee loose, freeing one of the wolf's legs.
"Damn it! Careful, you idiot!"
Ethan snarled, grabbing both halves of the wolf's blood-soaked jaw.
He wrenched them open.
Then, with a brutal snap, he tore them apart, ripping the jaw clean open, until the skull gave way.
The wolf went still. Completely still.
It was dead.