[Congratulations, you have successfully raised your first undead!]
[Quest complete]
[First Undead: Blue-Tongue Tiger]
Raiven smiled, his eyes scanning the Tiger.
Its appearance didn't change. It was still the same size, and its tongue was still blue.
The Tiger looked at Raiven with the same sharpness in its eyes, though this time, Raiven could feel a certain connection with it.
'I feel like I can order it,' he thought.
But before he could try it, the system screen appeared in front of him again.
[A single rule has been given]
[Rule: You must not sacrifice your undead]
Raiven read the rule with furrowed brows. "Must not sacrifice undead... why?"
As expected, the system didn't reply.
"I feel like the system told me this for a reason," Raiven muttered. "Is it trying to tell me that I'll get to a point where I'll have to sacrifice my undead?"
Raiven didn't know for now, but he made sure to keep this rule in mind.
He quickly turned his attention back to the Tiger, who was still looking at him.
And then...
'Sit.'
Raiven ordered the Tiger telepathically, using the connection he could feel with it.
Instantly, the Tiger sat.
Raiven smirked. "Good. I can order it mentally."
'Stand.'
The Tiger stood on all fours, obeying Raiven's command.
Raiven tried a few more commands like 'turn around', 'walk', 'run'.
The Tiger obeyed every command instantly without delay.
With that, he finally decided to continue walking.
Raiven continued marking the trees as he walked, the Tiger following beside him.
After a few minutes, the system screen appeared in front of him.
[Your Soul Energy is depleting. Unsummon your undead to stop it]
[Soul Energy: 60/120]
"Oh," Raiven muttered, "my Soul Energy stat has unlocked."
Everyone could see their Soul Energy stat the moment they awakened, but since Raiven had not raised an undead yet, he couldn't see his own. But now, he could finally see it.
"I don't remember how much Soul Energy Avin had at the start of the novel, but I know that some others who also awakened had about 50 Soul Energy at the start," Raiven muttered. "So mine isn't bad at all for a start."
Though, he had a question for the system. But before he could even say it out loud, the system suddenly replied.
[Once you summon your undead, one Soul Energy is depleted every five seconds]
[If two undeads are summoned, two Soul Energy is depleted every five seconds]
"I see..." Raiven murmured.
He looked at the Tiger again. "I can't keep calling it Tiger. I should probably give it a name."
He began thinking of a name, but he couldn't come up with anything.
"Arghhh, I'll just name it Tongue, then," Raiven muttered, slightly frustrated.
In that instant...
[Your Undead, the Blue-Tongue Tiger, has been named Tongue]
The Tiger turned its head to look at Raiven. Raiven looked back at it.
The Tiger didn't make any sound, but Raiven could feel it. The Tiger didn't like the name.
Raiven smiled wryly, unsummoning the Tiger with a single thought.
Then, he began monitoring his Soul Energy stat.
After a few minutes, he finally made an observation.
'As long as my undead is unsummoned, I recover one Soul Energy per minute... not bad.'
Raiven was instantly snapped out of his thoughts as soon as he saw something moving ahead.
It was another Blue-Tongue Tiger.
Without wasting time, Raiven summoned Tongue.
It was time to test its fighting prowess.
The Blue-Tongue Tiger spotted Raiven and Tongue.
Instantly, it began dashing towards them.
Seeing this, Raiven smirked and gave a single command.
"Attack."
Tongue instantly dashed towards the Tiger, its eyes focused.
Both Tigers looked like two meteors heading towards each other at full speed.
Raiven stared at Tongue, watching to see how it would fight against another Tiger.
The Tiger's information appeared in front of Raiven.
[Blue-Tongue Tiger]
[Rank: Normal Rank]
[Tier: Tier 2]
It was exactly the same rank as Tongue.
Both Tigers reached each other, claws already raised.
CLANG
Sparks flew as their claws connected.
Both Tigers were pushed back, but Tongue rushed towards the Tiger again.
The Tiger moved to the right, dodging Tongue's claws, and instantly swung its own claws.
Its claws grazed the side of Tongue's stomach, drawing blood.
But to the Tiger's and Raiven's surprise, the wound began closing and disappeared like it was never there.
'Healing...?'
Raiven smirked, but he knew that it would definitely come at a cost.
He quickly checked his Soul Energy, and just as he thought, Tongue's healing took a bit of his Soul Energy.
'So, my undead can heal as long as I have Soul Energy,' Raiven thought.
Tongue took advantage of the Tiger's stunned expression and lunged forward, its fangs gleaming.
The Tiger couldn't dodge in time, and Tongue's fangs sank into the Tiger's neck, killing it instantly.
"Good," Raiven muttered as he walked towards Tongue.
He rubbed Tongue's head as he looked at the dead Tiger.
He quickly removed the Tiger's Soul Shard and Heart, staining his hands once again with the black blood of the Beast.
He put the Soul Shard and the Heart inside a bag, then put the bag inside his inventory.
This way, only the bag would occupy a slot in the inventory.
Raiven looked at the Tiger once again.
'Get up.'
The Tiger's eyes snapped open, and the wound on its neck instantly healed.
'So, it takes three Soul Energy to raise an undead, huh?' Raiven thought, staring at his Soul Energy stat.
Now, he had two Blue-Tongue Tigers as his undeads.
"Perfect..."
He unsummoned the Tigers and continued moving forward.
After a few minutes, he encountered another Blue-Tongue Tiger.
He summoned his two Tigers, and they easily defeated the Blue-Tongue Tiger.
But as Raiven began walking towards the dead Tiger, Tongue suddenly bit the Tiger's chest, pulling out the Soul Shard.
Raiven raised a brow, and before he could say anything, Tongue swallowed the Soul Shard.
"Wha-" Raiven's words caught in his throat as he watched Tongue swallow the Soul Shard.
"What?" He finally muttered.
Tongue's body vibrated a bit, and the next instant, the system screen appeared in front of Raiven.
[Name: Tongue]
[Race: Blue-Tongue Tiger]
[Rank: Normal Rank]
[Tier: Tier 2]
[Progress: 2% into Tier 3]
Raiven didn't need any other explanation. He had already put the pieces together.
"So, my undeads can grow stronger by swallowing Soul Shards," Raiven muttered, "that's pretty convenient."
It was almost the same way humans grew stronger. The only difference was that humans absorbed the energy from the Soul Shard. They didn't swallow it.
"So by swallowing more Soul Shards, Tongue will be able to progress to Tier 3."
Raiven removed the heart of the dead Tiger and put it into the bag.
'Get up.'
He raised the Tiger, and its eyes opened. Its wound also began healing.
Now, he had three undeads.
The three Tigers were all the same, except Tongue, who looked more imposing and had sharper eyes.
From the way the other two Tigers followed Tongue from behind, it was as if they had seen him as their leader.
"Well... he's my first undead, after all."
One hour passed, and within this time, Raiven had already stored 20 Soul Shards. He only needed 10 Soul Shards to pass the exam, so he even had more than enough. The only thing that annoyed him was the fact that the 20 Soul Shards were all from Blue-Tongue Tigers.
Even after walking in the forest for this long, he didn't see any other Beast apart from the Blue-Tongue Tiger.
Another thing was that after he raised his third undead an hour ago, he couldn't raise any more undeads. Every time he tried, he was met with a single notification.
[You have reached your limit]
This meant that he could only raise three undeads for now.
'Maybe when I get to Tier 2, I'll be able to raise more undeads,' Raiven thought.
As for Tongue, he swallowed more Soul Shards within this time.
[Progress: 20% into Tier 3]
This progress showed in the way he fought. He became stronger, faster, and its claws and fangs dealt more damage than before.
'And this is just 20% into Tier 3,' Raiven thought, already imagining how strong Tongue would be when he finally got to Tier 3.
Apart from the fact that he didn't see any other Beast apart from the Blue-Tongue Tiger, Raiven was okay with today's gains.
With that, he decided to go back.
Using the marks he left on the trees, he was able to find his way back pretty easily.
He stood in front of the portal, ready to leave the Hole.
He took one last glance at his system screen.
[Number of Undeads: 3/3]
With a small smile, he walked into the portal, exiting the Hole.
Raiven felt delighted that he had finally begun getting stronger, but he was still oblivious to the problems that he had caused for himself by accepting the Necromancer's Legacy.
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[A/N: Please, your power stones will be greatly appreciated, because it'll help boost this novel. Thank you!!!]