Alex stood in front of the ancient stone temple, a surge of energy coursing through him after contracting with the Undead King.
It was time to test out his newfound power—the ability to summon skeletons under his command.
He raised his staff, focusing his mind on the summoning process.
The air around him shimmered as arcane runes began to glow, their light expanding outward in a circle beneath his feet.
With a swift motion, Alex thrust his staff forward, calling forth the undead from beneath the ground.
"Rise," he commanded, his voice echoing.
From the earth, five skeletons burst forth, their bones clattering together as they formed into solid, humanoid shapes.
Each one held a bone sword, ready for battle.
The skeletal warriors stood at attention, their eyeless sockets locked onto Alex, awaiting his next command.
These skeletons had 20 percent of his attributes points (Strength, Agility and Spirit), except for their vitality, which still left them with 3,000 HP each.
...
[Skeleton Warrior]
[Master:] FateBreaker
[Cost:] 100 Mana
[Attributes:] Vitality 300; Strength 449; Agility 289; Spirit 747
[Skills:] Strike.
...
Their strength, agility, and spirit stats were lower than his, but even at a fraction of his power, they were formidable.
The fact that he could summon five at a time made them a significant force.
Do note though, that when talking about the skeleton's stats, the increase in strength and agility he gets from the [Advanced Awakener's Set] is indeed considered.
This also works with the [Elysian Staff of The Silver Mage] by the way.
[Attributes: Vitality 485; Strength 744 + 1500; Agility 447 + 1000; Spirit 2737 + 1000]
So 744 + 1500, which is then divided by 5, and so on.
"Let's see how you do," Alex muttered as he stepped inside the [Undead Temple] to test out his abilities.
The temple was a dark, eerie place, filled with monsters of the [Undead] type, it was the perfect place to test out his new summons.
His footsteps echoed as he led the skeletons deeper into the temple, some of the many players inside pointing at them.
Right now, most people could already enter the second floor, but only a very small fraction could access the third!
In no time, monsters began to appear, [Temple Zombies], [Undead Ghouls] and [Temple Skeletons]!
"Go fight them," he commanded his little army, and they immediately marched toward their kin.
Alex stopped and watched as his skeletons charged forward.
Their bone swords flashed through the air as they engaged the enemy, using their basic [Strike] ability.
The first monster, a decayed zombie, lunged at one of Alex's skeletons.
But the skeleton was fast.
It parried the attack with its sword, then countered with a heavy slash that cut deep into the zombie's torso.
The other skeletons joined the fight, moving in unison as they overwhelmed the monsters with sheer numbers and coordinated strikes.
"They're strong," Alex thought, impressed by how well the skeletons handled the creatures.
Despite only having a fraction of his stats, they were performing exceptionally well.
One of them even managed to slice through two monsters at once, its blade cutting through the decayed flesh with ease.
As they advanced, more monsters fell before them.
Alex didn't even need to lift a finger, the summons did all the work!
Plus.
[Extract from "Undead Ghoul"]
[Extract from "Temple Zombie"]
The other four who hadn't been hit also rushed at it, landing blow after blow on the revenant.
Despite being weaker than the boss, the skeletons were relentless.
They dodged and parried the revenant's attacks as best they could, their bone swords chipping away at its health.
Over the course of ten minutes, each of Alex's skeletons fell, their bones scattered across the floor.
But not before dealing a solid 30,000 damage to the boss—half of its total health.
"Incredible," Alex thought.
He hadn't expected his skeletons to do so much damage.
Despite only having 20 percent of his stats, they had managed to wear down the boss significantly.
Satisfied with the results, Alex decided to finish the fight himself.
He raised his staff and unleashed a powerful series of spells, bombarding the [Death Revenant] with blasts of magic.
The revenant howled in pain as its health quickly dropped to zero.
Ding!
The [Death Revenant] crumbled into dust.
[You have slain 'Death Revenant', gained 1372 experience points!]
He was level 32 though, which meant he needed 23000 experience points to level up!
"Extraction," regardless, he touched the boss's body for the third time, extracting something from it.
Ding!
[You have acquired 'Undead Land Secret Area Token' (Mythical)]
[Find it on the map, and you will be granted access to undead land, it is also where the "Undead Lord Trial" will take place as a necromancer/undead lord.]
...
"Amazing," Alex muttered, storing the token in his system inventory since it wasn't considered a physical item either.
The possibilities it offered were endless, but that would be a quest for another time.
Even better, just minutes after the battle, Alex was able to summon his skeletons again.
Their bones rose from the ground, ready for another fight.
He smiled, knowing these undead soldiers would be a valuable asset moving forward.
"Now, there's one more thing," Alex said to himself, remembering the extra perk he had gained from the [Undead King].
In addition to binding the king's essence and becoming his master, Alex had inherited a powerful ability: [Death Call].
[Death Call: Once a day, you can summon the Undead King to aid you in battle.]
It was a game-changer, something that could turn the tide of any difficult fight.
And also, it could be used for the attack, at least, Alex hoped.
Ding!
A message suddenly appeared in his interface. It was from Alice, asking where he was.
Alex quickly sent her his location, and soon they met up.
Alice's eyes widened when she saw the skeletons marching beside him.
"Wow," she said, stepping closer to inspect them. "These are incredible." She wasn't scared at all.
In fact, she seemed more fascinated by the skeletons than anything else.
The skeletons stood still as she touched their bones.
They didn't react, of course—they had no feelings, no emotions.
But they didn't mind her presence as long as Alex didn't.
"Come on," Alex said. "Let's head back inside the [Undead Temple]. I'll help you level up."
Together, they ventured back into the dark halls of the temple, Alex's skeletons leading the way.
The attack was happening in less than 12 hours based on the time from his past life, so Alex needed to be careful.
If his plan doesn't work, then he would surely die too.