CH 22

Chapter 22: House of Skeletons

[Undead Structure Leveling Scroll]. Costs itself, undeath gems x8, gold x2000. Only usable on level 1 undead structures. Can raise the level of an undead type structure.

[Blueprint: Tower of Grudges]. Costs undeath gem x1, stone x100, wood x50, gold x500. You can construct the Tower of Grudges. Blueprint uses: 5.

As expected of a Lord level area.

The higher the difficulty, the greater the rewards.

Both of those two items are very useful indeed.

The former can be used to level up an undead type structure within his territory. The latter seems to be a type of defensive structure's blueprint. Unlike normal blueprints, this one can be used five times.

Besides those two items, he also managed to get over 5000 gold in this trip.

During this early period, that much money is a huge fortune no matter how one looks at it.

Zhang Nu didn't immediately leave. He instead called in his subordinates and had the draconians dig up the area where the Grudge Tree was, creating a hole over ten meters deep.

"Master!"

"We discovered something!"

Under the roots of the Millennium Grudge Tree, there was a mass of gems, numbering 15 in total. They were all undeath gems.

Zhang Nu had completely expected that.

He of course learned this ahead of time thanks to the notification from his cheat.

The Grudge Tree can absorb necromantic energy. Over long periods of time, vast amounts of it will then concentrate into undeath gems. Then, when it's needed, those gems can be consumed by the Grudge Tree as batteries.

Unfortunately for the Tree though, it ended up encountering Zhang Nu and was killed before it even got the chance to use those gems.

This particular Grudge Tree is extremely ancient, having stored up 15 undeath gems. That number is more than expected, making it another unexpected surprise.

And those undeath gems just so happen to have a great use waiting for them.

After a day of clearing out the mine, the draconians had dealt with all the zombies and dragged the bodies out to be burnt. They've also started fixing up all the tunnels, so they should be able to start up operations here soon.

Mining requires a lot of labor.

Goblins and skeleton soldiers are all weak, unsuitable for the work, so Zhang Nu is going to have to summon up a new batch of draconian laborers.

When Zhang Nu returned to his territory.

[Notice: Spend leveling scroll x1, undeath gem x6, and gold x1000 to level up the House of Bones?]

"Yes!"

Zhang Nu made his selection.

[Notice: Your "House of Bones" has leveled up into the "House of Skeletons"!]

The level up succeeded.

Zhang Nu hurriedly checked the changes.

First of all, the outer appearance had changed quite a bit.

The House of Bones is a disorganized burial mound, whereas the House of Skeletons is an enormous skeletal tomb. It's at least several times more amazing when it comes to just looks.

Of course, Zhang Nu isn't so shallow as to only care about that.

He's more interested in the changes in functionality.

For the House of Skeletons.

Undead recovery speed +50%.

Skeleton soldiers population limit increased by ten times.

Besides that, there's also two new units available.

Skeleton mage. Level 1 Elite. Costs 150 gold per summoned. Population limit of 50.

Skeleton commander. Level 2 Normal. Costs 100 gold per summoned. Population limit of 100.

Very good.

He didn't level this up in vain.

There's just way too big a gap between the abilities of the House of Bones and House of Skeletons.

After gaining the House of Skeletons, Zhang Nu can now summon 1000 skeleton soldiers + 100 skeleton commanders + 50 skeleton mages. This will greatly increase the might of his territory.

As for why the level 1 skeleton mage is more expensive than that level 2 skeleton commander.

That's completely normal.

Skeleton mages are Elite monsters, whereas skeleton commanders are only level 2 Normal monsters.

Even putting aside the fact that magic units are more valuable, the fact is that skeleton mages are a bit stronger than the skeleton commanders.

It's not like skeleton commanders are useless though.

Level 2 skeletons are several times stronger than level 1 skeletons. They're way more powerful be it in attack, defense or strength, making them far better be it in battle or as labor.

It can be said that, now that he has gained the House of Skeletons, his territory's power has unquestionably increased by quite a bit.

Zhang Nu had no intentions of resting on his laurels though. He intends on strengthening the defenses of his territory, which is where the "Tower of Grudges" blueprint comes in.

The Tower of Grudges is a defensive type undead structure.

Its ability is kind of similar to that of the Grudge Tree. The moment an enemy enters its sensory range, it will automatically summon up self-destructing grudge ghosts to go after those enemies.

There are two locations suitable for setting them up at: In the Darkness Canyon or near the Demon King Castle.

The former has a narrow geography. It's the only passageway into the valley, so the Towers will be very effective in that kind of environment. The latter is his main base, where his core construct, the Demon King Altar is, so it does also need extra defenses.

After some thought, Zhang Nu decided to place them in the canyon.

If enemies managed to get all the way into his main base, then the various constructs in his territory will likely be heavily damaged.

In that case, it's better to just keep his enemies from getting through in the first place.

After about half a day, five towers made of bone rose from the ground in the Darkness Canyon.

They're filled with terrifying skulls from top to bottom, making them terribly scary just looking at them. Any Hero who sees them as they enter the Canyon will likely tense up in apprehension.

Zhang Nu gazed upon his handiwork with great satisfaction.

At this moment though, a draconian hurriedly ran to him with a report.

"Master!"

"There are minotaurs outside!"

"They're trying to enter the territory!"

Zhang Nu's first thought is that those are Heroes attacking again.

What luck.

Won't they make great lab rats for testing his new setup!

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