Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Essence Shards
Then Alex pulled up the deets on the mysterious critter.

[Moon Silver Wolf]

[Race: Moon Wolf Clan]

[Life Tier: Standard]

[Level: lv5]

[Health Points: 150]

[Mana Points: None]

[Strength: 18]

[Stamina: 25]

[Agility: 20]

[Skills: None]

Alex finally got what that white shadow was—it was a wolf, probably out hunting at night.

“A lv5 wolf, huh? Its Strength’s the same as a lv4 Skeleton Warrior, but its Agility’s a whole 8 points higher.”

But Alex only had two lv4 Skeleton Warriors. She wasn’t sure if they could take on this lv5 Moon Silver Wolf.

The rest of her Skeleton Soldiers were too low-level; the huge gap in attributes meant they couldn’t even touch the high-Agility Moon Silver Wolf.

Wolves usually roll deep, but it was odd seeing this lone wolf. Still, Alex sent her two lv4 Skeleton Warriors and ten lv3 Skeleton Warriors to attack the lv5 Moon Silver Wolf.

The Moon Silver Wolf, not the sharpest tool in the shed, didn’t get what these moving skeletons were all about. It was just chilling, gnawing on a wild boar carcass, enjoying its meal.

It ain’t no dog, and had zero interest in bone-only Skeletons.

As the Skeleton Warriors approached, the Moon Silver Wolf’s white ears twitched, clearly hearing them coming.

The lv4 Skeleton Warrior, still a ways off, hurled its massive bone blade, aiming to take the enemy down in one hit.

The Moon Silver Wolf nimbly dodged the sneak attack, spun around, and snarled at the Skeleton Warrior, as if it thought they were after its food.

Seizing the moment, the Moon Silver Wolf lunged and bit. Without his bone blade, the Skeleton Warrior could only swing its arm, which the Moon Silver Wolf promptly bit off.

The Moon Silver Wolf tried to crunch the bone but spit it out because it was too hard.

Guess it really isn’t a dog.

“Man, my lv4 Skeleton Warriors just can’t handle that lv5 Moon Silver Wolf!”

But lucky for Alex, she’s got numbers on her side. Soon enough, the Moon Silver Wolf was wounded, while her Skeleton Warriors kept fighting even without their heads.

The Moon Silver Wolf, bloodied and surrounded by Skeleton Warriors, still glared fiercely at its enemies.

Suddenly, it threw back its white head and let out a howl that echoed through the silent night.

The crows perched on distant dead trees scattered, spooked by the wolf’s cry.

That’s when Alex figured out where this Moon Silver Wolf came from—it had come down from the nearby snowy mountain!

Turns out, there were about seven or eight more Moon Silver Wolves on that mountain, and hearing their buddy’s howl, they all started sprinting down towards Alex’s expanding territory.

As Alex’s castle and land grew, it got closer to that snowy mountain, home not just to frost dragons but to Moon Silver Wolves too.

Soon, those seven or eight Moon Silver Wolves joined the fray, each one lv5, and with their night-time double stats, they could scatter the bodies of even lv4 Skeleton Warriors with a single strike.

Alex quickly had all her Skeleton Soldiers swarm them. Despite the Moon Silver Wolves’ high attack and low defense, even a lv1 Skeleton Soldier could land a hit.

These wolves showed some serious pack smarts, each knowing their role. Surrounded by a skeleton army, they rarely got ambushed. Sometimes, they wouldn’t even dodge the lv1 Skeleton Soldiers, focusing instead on avoiding hits from the tougher Skeleton Warriors.

As the battle dragged on, the pack of Moon Silver Wolves realized they couldn’t kill these undead foes and started to retreat, protecting their own.

The first Moon Silver Wolf, badly injured, didn’t make it out. Another wolf tried to go back and save it but ended up getting caught too.

In the end, only two Moon Silver Wolves were killed.

“Boom! Your troops just bagged a lv5 Moon Silver Wolf and scored thirty XP points.”

“Boom! Another lv5 Moon Silver Wolf down for another thirty XP.”

The system chimed in with the kill alerts.

“Argh!” Alex was about to lose it. All this effort for just two wolves? It’s not that the undead race isn’t tough, it’s just that the lowly Skeleton Soldiers are clearly the weak link.

“Man, don’t even think about giving me ten Skeleton Soldiers tomorrow!”

The Skeleton Soldiers hauled the two Moon Silver Wolf carcasses back, while the rest of the troops went off hunting again.

The local critters had all bolted thanks to the Moon Silver Wolves, so the Skeleton Soldiers had to hunt further from the castle. But hey, being undead, Alex wasn’t sweating their safety.

Though it was only two wolves, those were lv5 Moon Silver Wolves, no less.

Alex, pumped, used her Undead Summoning Magic on the wolf carcasses.

Underneath the wolves, a summoning circle appeared, and up crawled four Skeleton Warriors.

[Skeleton Warrior]

[Race: undead race]

[Loyalty: 100% (Never Betray)]

[Life Tier: Standard]

[Level: lv5 (Maxed Out)]

[Health Points: Undead trait, immortal as long as the soul fire burns]

[Mana Points: 0]

[Strength: 21]

[Stamina: ∞]

[Agility: 14]

[Growth Limit: Commanding level]

“Smashed through twenty points just like that!”

Alex seemed to have cracked the pattern: aside from the big jump from lv2 to lv3, each level up meant a fixed increase in stats—like for a Skeleton Warrior, each level meant +3 Strength and +2 Agility.

[Detected Moon Silver Wolf carcass, initiate Disassemble?]

“Disassemble!”

[Disassembly of Moon Silver Wolf carcass successful, yielded 80 wolf meat, 4 magic crystals, and 4 Essence Shards (Double Drop).]

“Score, Essence Shards!” Alex was over the moon.

Double stats meant double loot. High risk, high reward. If Alex wasn’t rolling with undead troops but some other kind, who knows how many would’ve been lost tonight.

Looks like the Barracks could be upgraded now!

Alex recalled that upgrading the Barracks needed 100 magic crystals and 1 Essence Shard.

She had the crystals covered for a while, but those elusive Essence Shards? Finally snagged not just one, but four!

Alex is guessing that maybe only creatures above level 5 have a shot at dropping Essence Shards, but with so little info, she’s just gonna put a pin in that for now.

“Let’s upgrade the Barracks first!”

[Undead Crystal: lv2 (Unique Barracks)]

[The Barracks can randomly summon skeletons, zombies, specters, death knights, liches, bone dragons, ghost dragons, zombie titans, and all sorts of undead troops.]

[At level 2, the Barracks can summon: skeletons, zombies, specters, and death knights—ten random troops with a 2% chance of snagging a high-tier troop, and a super slim chance of pulling a Race King.]

[Upgrade requirements for the Barracks: 1000 magic crystals, 10 Essence Shards]

“It’s still just ten random summons, only now there’s a death knight in the mix and a tiny bump in the chance for high-tier troops. And the materials for the next upgrade? They’ve gone up tenfold…”

Alex is kinda speechless, was hoping that upgrading the Barracks meant at least bumping the daily summons from ten to twenty, but nope, just the summon types changed.

As for that super slim chance of summoning a Race King, Alex figures it’s just hot air—probably a 0.01% chance, maybe even 0.001%.

What’s she gonna summon, a Skeleton King? Or a Lich King?

Every draw is like a ten-pull because each summon is separate; you won’t get lucky one day and pull all high-tier troops.

Despite the equal odds for the three major troops, Alex somehow managed to summon ten Skeleton Soldiers in a row.

“Who am I supposed to complain to about this?”

“Let the skeletons keep fighting; I’m off to bed!”

Back in his bedroom, Alex kicked off his shoes and tossed his socks aside, walking barefoot on the floor. With an auto-cleaning feature in her wardrobe, she didn’t have to worry about dirty clothes.

Stripping down, Alex headed to the bathroom for a cold shower.

Why a cold shower, you ask? Because there’s no hot water!

This old-school castle is pretty basic—just having water is a luxury, let alone a warm bath.

Dreaming of hot water? Keep dreaming.

Luckily, the bed is still clean, just a bit old-fashioned.

Alex made do and slipped naked into bed.