While reading the Akashic Records notifications, particularly since he was gaining about 1,000 Records Points from the Akashic Records, he took a close look at Ashimer, the first Death Knight in the series of Death Knights he had created. His name Ashimer, an intimidating name that will instill fear and despair in his enemies, it was an extremely intimidating name.
At least Samiel hoped for that.
Samiel then proceeded to open the Record or the Status of the Ahsimer; as the Necromancer and the creator of the Undead, he could freely view the record of his Undeads. Normally, he didn't do that because, typically, there was nothing to see there.
There was nothing really worth mentioning about undeads, aside from a few average Skills in the category of Weapon Mastery, and aside from a few average Skills in the category of weapons; there was nothing really worthwhile about them, other than a few average Skills in the category of weapons.
[Name: Ashimer
Race: Higher Undead (Frost Death Knight)
Class: Death Knight (0%)
Sub-Class: N/A
Magician Level: Basic (Necromancy Arts)
***
Tier: Silver
Level: 51
***
Abilities:
Frost Aura (50%) - Rare Ability
***
Skills:
Swordsmanship (24%)
Dual Swords (15%)]
There was one very striking feature that immediately came to Samiel's attention as soon as he saw them: The Undead was of the higher species.
Like everything, Undead Species were divided into several categories based on how advanced forms of Undead "Life" they were, just like everything in the world.
It was at the bottom of the ladder where the Lesser Undead were located; they were nothing special; they were your average and friendly Undeads that could be found in a place where there was a great concentration of Death Energy or those raised by novice necromancers. Basically, ordinary Skeleton, Zombies and so on...
Immediately after the Lesser Undeads, we came to the Advanced Undeads, which had already acquired some skills, but were also more dangerous and powerful; they were usually larger and stronger than the Lesser Undeads, and they were usually made from corpses of stronger races. Besides this, the Advanced Undead started to show some evolutionary potential for intellectual growth and rudimentary intelligence, as compared to the Lesser Undead.
The Unholy Trinity of the most commonly seen Undead closed out the Higher Undeads, which were some of the most spectacular examples of the Undead Life, and which one might consider to be the best of those who were born out of the Cosmos' abominations or those who mad Necromancers formed.
Exactly in the same case right now, when Samiel created his first Higher Undead Species, the Frost Death Knight, Ashimer. In general, Higher Undeads were something that could be created by only the most experienced and skilled Necromancers, but Samiel seemed to be one of the rare exceptions to that rule.
It should be mentioned that Ashimer was created with Level Ability, with the creation of a Level 1 Ability - Frost Aura. And not to mention, Samiel's first Death Knight was the Frost Death Knight, with the added element of Frost provided by the addition of the mini fake Heart of Winter.
In spite of him trying it for the very first time, the results were even better than anyone had ever imagined, and he was all the more delighted about it.
In spite of the fact that to someone, the Level 1 Ability may seem weak, in fact, it was a very valuable thing, as only one in 1,000 Class Bears will have the Level 1 Ability. In addition, Ashimer had been proficient with the Frost Aura for a very long time, as he had been proficient with it from the moment he was created. Not talking about the fact that Ashimer already had around 50% proficiency with the Frost Aura from the moment he was created.
[Frost Aura - The User is the bearer of the Frost Aura, which deals continuous ice damage to everyone in the vicinity. With enough high proficiency, the User can use the Frost Aura actively to freeze his opponents.]
As Samiel read the description of the Level 1 Rare Ability Ability Frost Aura, he had to admit he was mildly surprised by what he had read, and at the same time, he was delighted to know that the first special Undead he created had already obtained a Leveled Ability.
While it may seem like a very ordinary ability, it still had very powerful potential, and when used by something like the Higher Undead Frost Death Knight, it would be able to unleash its full potential.
Additionally, Ashimer possessed two skills that were relatively high in proficiency, namely Swordsmanship and Dual Wield, both of which were at a much higher level than Samiel's own. Especially with The Swordsmanship Skill, Ashimer's proficiency far exceeds his own, but Samiel was not a swordsman or even close combatant at the core of his very own being, while the Death Knights were.
"My Lord."
It was a ghastly voice that was emanating from Frost Death Knight Ashimer, and it was an audible tremor that would send shudders up and down even the spine of the strongest warrior. That ghastly voice filled with cold and dread was something that was created to broke mentality even from the elite soldiers, as fear was one of the greatest weapons on the battlefield.
"So, you can talk."
Samiel stated, not really answering the polite greeting of Ahsimer, just stating the obvious fact.
"Yes, My Lord."
As Ashimer stated indifferently during the one-on-one conversation that Samiel was having with his first Death Knight, aside from wanting to fight with him, Samiel was considering what he could discuss with him, aside from wanting to see how great of a fighter the first Death Knight was.
In addition to this, one must take into consideration the fact that this particular Frost Death Knight was to one day become General of his Undead Armies in the future and that it was the first Higher Undead that Samiel Zentaur was ever able to create.
"Come with me to the training yard; we will spar."
Then Samiel announced to Ashimer, who nodded silently and followed after him until they reached the training yard within the Citadel of Zephystrand City very soon. In the hallways of the Citadel, as they walked through the corridors, many people looked at him with a strange, fearful look, especially when looking at the menacing Ashimer, who looked like a monster.
'He really looks like a villain from anime... this is best; I can now say that I am proud of myself.'
As Samiel and Ahsimer arrived at the training yard, which was immediately emptied of its contents so that Samiel and Ahsimer could be left alone in the place, a thought struck Samiel. In the end, this made Samiel even happier.
"I am ready, my lord."
Upon hearing Ashimer's polite reply, Samiel nodded his head and summoned an Ice Trident with the help of the [Winter Ruler] as he got into his combat stance. It was going to be a sparring match with martial arts and weapons only, with the use of spells being limited to the minimum.
It is worth noting that Ashimer had some knowledge of the Necromancy Arts; Samiel imparted the Basic Level of theoretical knowledge of the Necromancy Arts. Although the Death Knights were not magicians and did not cast spells very often, they used some magic during their combat from time to time.
Ashimer readied his two blades which shined with blue freezing light, as he rushed at Samiel with lightning speed. Samiel was surprised at the speed Ashimer used, but soon enough, he calmed himself while he dodged into the side.
In response to Ashimer's incoming cross-slash, he counterattacked by slashing his trident at him, having avoided Ashimer's incoming cross-slash. Even though the Ashimer appears to be very bulky and not so agile, he managed to dodge the incoming attack by the Ice Trident in an effortless manner despite the fact that he looked very bulky and uninhibited.
"Is this your maximum?"
As Samiel questioned Ashimer, he found it evident that his combat prowess had skyrocketed, and the attacks that came from Ashimer were becoming more ferocious and stronger as time progressed, even though he could not see any change in the expression of the Frost Death Knight.
When Samiel kept on dodging the incoming attacks while the Ashimer began to combine his swordsmanship with various kicks, he started to overwhelm Samiel by slowly combining his swordsmanship with various kicks; since they were not using Magic, Samiel's combat prowess was approximately 70% lower without the use of it, since they were not using it.
Not only that, but also as a consequence of the extensive use of the [Winter Ruler] during the formation of Frost Death Knight Ashimer, his [Winter Ruler] Ultimate Ability wasn't that effective against him.
Death Knights were masters in close combat and often were even weapon masters. Most commonly, Death Knights were created from corpses of famous warriors, master swordsmen, or honorable knights, so the final Death Knights would have their Abilities because most of the Necromancers would impart the soul of the original body as a form of material during the creation process.
'Elite Silver-Tier Level, at least.'
Samiel thought to himself as he flipped backward and landed several meters away from Ashimer; while as soon as he landed, he threw the Ice Trident he had in his hand, as it was flying with tremendous speed toward the Frost Death Knight as he flipped backward.
Ashimer barely managed to dodge to the side as the Ice Trident crashed into the wall behind him, creating a huge hole in it; Samiel started conjuring countless icicles with the usage of the [Winter Ruler] while Ashimer raised his dual swords, spinning them in a wheel like a pattern, and braking every icicle flying at him.
'The level of intellect that he possesses should be above the normal average IQ of countless of species, probably approaching the level of the genius. In addition, the level of decision making, awareness, and other aspects of his intelligence are all quite remarkable.'
Samiel thought as he watched how his Frost Death Knight Ashimer changed from one battle strategy to another one, employed countless tactics, and adjusted himself to the battlefield. Samiel knew that if he was not using Magic, and if this was just a pure thing of martial arts and weapon mastery, he would lose against Ashimer.
"Okey... that will be enough for today, Ashimer."
As Samiel ordered, Ashimer halted in an instant and gave a low bow to his master in response.
"How many Undeads can you control, Ashimer?"
Although it's true that Samiel was surprised by this, it is safe to say that he was not surprised by it, since he was expecting it to happen. Though Ashimer would have some restrictions when he created the Undeads, just as there were restrictions on all aspects of his work, the results were phenomenal.
Asked him Samiel because, in the end, this was the question of the day and something that divided ordinary Undeads from the unordinary ones. Mostly, the majority of the Higher Undeads and even some Advanced ones had an ability to control Lesser Undead.
That was the reason why Samiel wanted to manufacture some of them because this would greatly increase his Undead Army. For example, suppose he created a few Elder Liches. In that case, he could technically control the Undead Army of thousands despite being only at the Steel-Tier.
"10 per Level, but there is the restriction of on their Class; all must be created by me and be Undead Knights, and their Tier must be maximally Steel-Tier."
Although it's true that Samiel was surprised by this, it is safe to say that he was not surprised by it, since he was expecting it to happen. Though Ashimer would have some restrictions when he created the Undeads, just as there were restrictions on all aspects of his work, the results were phenomenal.
In many aspects, Samiel did not expect his proxy controllers to be able to reach the same standards that he had reached with Undead; that was the main reason behind the difference between them and him.
Now, if he counted the Undeads he could control, with the 510 of those Ashimer could control, that would mean an Undead Army of approximately 800 Undeads.
Now the only thing that remained was to create it.
But that would not be that much of a problem, fortunately.
"Skeleton Knights should not be a problem, right?"
Samiel asked to which the Frost Death Knight nodded. Skeleton Knights were one of the stronger types of the Lesser Undeads and were one of the most commonly seen Undeads among the Necromancers, be it novice or master ones.
"Okey, I will prepare for you 510 corpses of Orks that I managed to keep in my Dimensional Ring for you to create Skeleton Knights, and also, I will bring you some armors and weapons for them so that they could be armed properly."
Samiel instructed as he prepared to increase his power by a great leap this time. While to some it may be a waste of money, arming the Skeleton Knights with new armor and weapons, for Samiel, a few hundred thousand gold coins were nothing in the face of the great increasement of combat prowess of this Undead.
Normally Necromancers can't do what he was doing, having all of his Undead at the Bronze-Tier. Samiel didn't know if it was due to his Unique Class or his Eldritch Heritage, which allowed him to forcibly increase the Levels of his Undeads and still control them with little to no effort.
Now he needed to visit the Merchant District here in the Zephystrand and buy over 500 sets of armor and weapons from Dwarves. Fortunately for him, there existed something called automated factories, which spew out weapons and armor by hundreds each hour in some Forge Cities of Dwarves.
With some advancements in the Magetech, it was not a problem for Dwarves to build factories that could mass-produce some standardized armors and weapons en masse, and of course, even though these weapons were mass-produced, they were still of very good quality.
"Come, from now on, you will act as my bodyguard outside of the fight."
Samiel said to Ashimer, as now he would have intimidating guard following him everywhere. Also, he didn't want to send him into storage space because he could probably be bored there as a sentient being... probably?