Thanks for the insight, System. At least now he understood the first real limitation of the Chain the Dead skill.
Ethan could only claim the fallen whose level was equal to or lower than his own.
Which… complicated things.
Because so far, every monster he'd encountered in this area had been well above level 10. He hadn't seen a single one lower. That meant he'd need to keep hunting, keep grinding, until he leveled up enough to finally use the skill in the field.
And to make matters worse, the experience gains weren't exactly generous.
[You have killed Wild Boar Lv. 13]
[You received 37 Exp]
[Exp: 81/125]
He remembered that first undead lizard he killed back when he was still level 1, he'd gotten 67 EXP from it, which had instantly launched him to level 2.
But now? A level 13 monster was barely giving him half that.
So the system wasn't just scaling the difficulty. It was throttling EXP based on relative level. A narrower gap between his level and the monster's, a smaller reward. But the reverse was probably true as well. If he managed to slay something significantly above his own level, there'd likely be a bonus. Maybe even a large one.
And on the other end of the spectrum, if he ever fought something below his level, the EXP could drop to near zero. Possibly none at all.
That could explain why Leon, the man he'd encountered that day, was still stuck at level 25. The higher your level, the more EXP it took to progress, and the more monsters you needed to kill.
Doing some quick math in his head… if he needed 125 EXP to hit level 11, and he was only getting 37 per kill at this rate, that meant he'd need at least three, maybe four more of these high-level monsters.
It was going to be a grind. But now at least, he had direction.
Ethan continued his night hunt as he had on countless nights before.
On average, he could take down at least five monsters per night, sometimes more. But he always avoided densely packed monster zones. He wasn't about to repeat past mistakes and get himself swarmed again. That kind of recklessness costs lives…
Patience had become part of the routine now. This slow, deliberate method of hunting might stretch out the process, but it also kept him alive. And every step brought him closer to the strength he needed.
Another lizard monster crossed his path, the same type he'd fought before. This time, though, it didn't even pose a threat. He dispatched it quickly.
Next, he ran into something new.
A centipede-like monster crawled across the shattered face of a building, eyes gleaming in the dark. It spit a glob of venom his way, the liquid hissing as it struck him, melting through the outer layer of his bandages.
He really didn't like that.
The venom didn't burn his bones, but it corroded his disguise. And that was worse. The longer he walked around with exposed skeleton features, the higher the risk of being spotted.
Still, there was one advantage he had that monsters like this didn't.
He couldn't feel pain. No searing nerves, no twisted joints, no bleeding wounds. He fought like a man possessed, more than that, like something inhuman. Hah!
That could be thrilling… or dangerous. Because without pain to warn him, he wouldn't know if his body was failing. Not until his limbs cracked or shattered under pressure.
There were pros and cons. And he was starting to understand both sides.
Ever since he acquired the Magic stat, Ethan had been trying to understand the deeper mechanics behind his stats. Especially the distinction between Magic and Animus.
To make sense of it all, he split the two into simpler categories: Mana and Soul.
Soul, as he now saw it, was the essence that kept his skeletal body functional. It was the force that let him move, fight, stay standing.
He noticed it most when he spent too long hunting without landing a kill. Even though he couldn't feel physical exhaustion, there was a heaviness in his limbs, a sluggishness. A dull fatigue deep within the core of his being.
It was the same when he used skills. Every activation drained a bit of that Soul. And while he wasn't bound by pain or muscle fatigue like a living human, overuse still took its toll. Which meant he couldn't spam skills recklessly. He needed to find balance, when to fight smart, when to swing the blade, and when to let the magic fly.
Magic, on the other hand, was clearly linked to Mana. This was the force that powered his spells. The Magic stat influenced not only how much damage his spells could deal, but also how much Mana he had to begin with.
He'd already encountered the limit. At one point, he tried to chain several skill uses back-to-back, and hit a wall. He hadn't been tired, but the spell simply wouldn't activate. He was out of Mana, even though his Soul felt fine.
So they came from different wells.
Mana regenerated slowly over time, passively. And he had a hunch that as his Magic stat increased, so would his efficiency. Faster recovery, maybe a larger pool.
Soul, on the other hand, required rest. Or more interestingly, it could be replenished by killing enemies.
He'd felt it firsthand: the surge that returned to him after a successful kill, the restoration of energy, the way fractured bones began to pull back into place. A real, visible regeneration. A broken limb realigned. A cracked rib sealed back together.
Beyond the mechanics of Mana and Soul, Ethan had noticed something else.
Killing monsters, especially those far above his level, seemed to increase his chances of obtaining item drops. He'd only experienced it once so far, but that one time had been enough to spark hope.
The glove he'd picked up had granted him an additional skill. That was no small thing. And yet, ever since then… nothing. No new gear, no pieces of armor. He'd hoped to start assembling a proper set by now, something to enhance both his power and disguise. But the drops had been sparse. Frustratingly so.
Maybe the solution was simple: Target monsters with a level gap. Push the risk. The greater the danger, the greater the reward, at least, that's how the world seemed to work.
Two more days of careful, methodical hunting. Avoiding swarms. Striking fast. Moving through the ruins like a shadow with purpose.
And finally, it happened.
Ethan reached Level 13.
[You have killed Wild Boar Lv. 13]
[You received 37 Exp]
[You have leveled up]
[Level 13]
[Exp: 36/168]
[Your skeletal frame has grown stronger.]
The system notification pinged quietly in his mind, but it might as well have been a roar.
He was ready. At last, he could use Chain the Dead on a monster that didn't exceed his level.
And this time, he couldn't wait to see what would rise from the corpse.
[Chain the Dead activated]
Ethan grinned to himself. Summoning a wild boar as his first undead thrall wasn't exactly glamorous. But, it was his only option for now. The monsters in this area were mostly just twisted versions of wildlife.
[Target qualifies: Eligible for resurrection as a Lesser Undead]
Lesser Undead?
That made him pause.
If there was such a thing as a Lesser Undead, then surely there had to be something greater. Stronger forms he could eventually raise. That was a promising thought.
Dark and crimson energy surged from Ethan's palm, wrapping around the corpse of the boar like a veil of smoke and embers. The ground around the creature trembling faintly as the magic set in.
[Lesser Undead - Wild Boar Lv. 13 successfully raised]
[2 Animus Soul Point slots consumed]
Animus Soul Points?
Ethan blinked and immediately pulled up his status window.
His Animus stat was still intact.
Which meant the Animus Soul Points were something else entirely. A separate resource? A cap, maybe? If so, then this was his limit. He likely had a set number of slots, and each undead consumed a portion of that capacity.
He'd have to experiment further to know how many he could control at once… and how Animus stat growth might affect that number.
[Lesser Undead: A mindless creature. It will obey commands without question, and cannot act on its own unless ordered.]
[Your undead thrall is ready to receive orders.]
The wild boar rose, slow and silent.
It stood upright. But its stance was steady. A faint red glow shimmered over its form. Its eyes burned with the same crimson light that now pulsed faintly from Ethan's own sockets.
Well then… time for a proper field test.
"Let's see just how strong this thing is now compared to when it was alive."