Ronan looked at Lysandra uncertainly, "How can I give you a name when you already have one?"
The night wind blew again, gently caressing Lysandra's long black hair. Lysandra blinked her eyes uncertainly as she tilted her head slightly when she blinked at Ronan.
Ronan realized that Lysandra was much better now than before, when she had been screaming angrily, venting her pent-up resentment. At least now, Lysandra seemed more approachable.
"How about I call you Lys from now on?" Ronan couldn't ignore the innocent, kitten-like face Lysandra gave him. At least giving her a nickname was better than rejecting her completely.
"Lys..." Lysandra murmured softly, enjoying her new nickname.
Ronan refocused his attention on Cain, who was standing there patiently. "I need you to find the remaining graves around here, get the others to help you look for them, and clean them up once you find them. I'll dig them later," Ronan explained, giving his orders to Cain.
"I'll do it right away, Master." Cain bowed his head obediently, then immediately turned around to carry out Ronan's orders.
Ronan picked up his shovel again and searched for a grave in the vicinity. He hurriedly dug up the grave when he found it.
Lysandra, who didn't want to follow Cain, chose to follow Ronan wherever he went. When she saw Ronan start to use his small shovel to dig up the grave, she decided to walk forward.
At first, Ronan thought Lysandra wanted to disturb him, but his assumption was wrong when he saw Lysandra's fingernails start to grow longer and sharper. Not stopping there, Lysandra also started to help Ronan dig up the abandoned grave.
"That's good! This way, we can finish this job faster." Ronan's smile widened when he realized what Lysandra's real intention was.
Without realizing it, Ronan reached out to stroke Lysandra's hair, unaware that Lysandra's enthusiasm was further ignited when she felt the affection Ronan showed her.
[Host has gained 50 EXP]
Ronan heard a notification sound from the System when he and Lysandra finished digging the grave. Ronan's eyes immediately lit up, realizing that the System's words were not a lie at all.
"It seems like I can indeed level up if I continue to dig the graves like this," Ronan muttered excitedly, feeling that his efforts were not in vain.
Ronan then told Lysandra to remove the corpse from the grave, while he himself headed straight for another tomb that Cain and the others had found.
With that speed, Ronan easily completed the other tombs with Lysandra's help, which made their work more efficient.
[Congratulations! The host has leveled up!]
[Level 2 -> Level 3]
[Undead Slot: 9 -> 11]
Seeing the series of notifications, Ronan grinned happily and continued their work. Ronan immediately ordered some of Cain's subordinates to collect the corpses from the graves he had dug up, so that their work could proceed efficiently and neatly..
. . .
In total, Ronan managed to dig up about 11 other graves around the swamp. Ronan gained a total of 550 EXP, and he had risen another level.
So now Ronan was at level 4 with a total of 13 undead slots that he could resurrect. Of the eleven corpses that had been collected, Ronan could only resurrect 6 of them.
"It's a shame I can't resurrect all of them," said Ronan, sighing slightly, unwilling to give up on the corpses that were currently in front of him.
Because his undead army slots are currently limited, Ronan selects the 6 corpses that are in the best condition. Among the six corpses he chooses, Ronan gets 3 male undead and 3 new female undead.
With the new female undead, Ronan orders Lysandra to lead them, considering that Lysandra's rank is higher than the three female undead that Ronan has just resurrected.
"If that is what you wish, Master, then Lys will do so." Lysandra remained the same, staring at Ronan with an unusual look of adoration.
"Very good!" Ronan nodded his head with satisfaction, "Then now we have to find a way out of this mountain. It would be better if we could see a village. I think I need a bath," continued Ronan, feeling very uncomfortable with his current condition, covered in mud and dirt.
"Do you remember anything about this mountain area?" Ronan asked his undead.
From what Ronan understood, the undead he had resurrected had consciousness because they had been resurrected with their strongest potential. Even so, Ronan wasn't sure if they could remember anything from when they were alive.
Sure enough, most of them shook their heads, knowing nothing about this mountain or the area around it.
"You don't have that information either, Lys?" As the strongest undead among those he had resurrected, Ronan hoped Lysandra could tell him a little information.
"I don't remember anything about this mountain. It feels completely unfamiliar to me," Lysandra replied flatly, not feeling the slightest bit familiar with this mountain.
"Then there is no other choice but to find out in our own way." Ronan shrugged indifferently and began to turn away from the creepy swamp.
In addition, Ronan felt that bringing 13 undead with him was very scary, as he was still not used to their presence. Moreover, their numbers had now increased significantly.
Ronan whispered to the System to ask something, "System, can I store these undead somewhere and summon them only when I need them?"
[The Host can turn them into soul fragments and merge them with the Host's soul. The Host only needs to say 'Release the Soul' while thinking of whoever you want to keep with your soul. Then, use 'Summon the Soul' when you want to call them back]
"Thank goodness I can do that." Ronan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the System's explanation.
Ronan immediately put into practice what the System had explained to him.
'Release the Soul,' Ronan muttered the spell, closed his eyes, and concentrated on merging all of his undead, except Lysandra and Cain, into his own soul.
As he slowly opened his eyes, Ronan could see each of his undead vanish into black balls of light. And those balls of light began to fly towards his body and slowly enter Ronan's body.
Ronan could feel a strange power surging within his body, even though there were no undead around him to protect him. Ronan could still think that he was much stronger now.
After that, Ronan continued his journey with Lysandra and Cain. The sun was about to rise when they managed to descend to the foot of the mountain.
That was when Ronan saw an old man who intended to climb this mountain. On the narrow slope, Ronan decided to approach the old man.
"Sir, can you help me?" Ronan enthusiastically walked towards the old man.
However, before Ronan could get an answer from the old man, he screamed in fear and ran away when he saw Ronan, Lysandra, and Cain.