Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 10: My respected master

"My respected master, your loyal servant greets you." A level 3 Undead Skeleton knelt before Alex. Alex nodded, gesturing for it to rise.

"Is Skeleton Squad 1 back?"

"Yes, master. All 337 Undead Skeletons have returned."

337 skeletons. Over a hundred summoned in the morning, and another hundred-plus in the afternoon. 12 were level 3, 57 level 2, and the remaining 268 level 1. Mostly level 1 because roosters were mostly level 1. The summoned skeletons' levels matched the corpses' levels.

Alex would have summoned more, but **[Undead Summoning]** cost 2 MP, and she only regenerated 1 MP per minute. Her army-building ambitions were being throttled by her MP regeneration rate.

"I need a solution," she muttered. "The Undying Legion's biggest advantage is rapid, unlimited growth. A million skeletons in minutes! I'm way too slow."

To increase her summoning speed, she needed to increase her MP regeneration. Or...

"Summon two Liches!" Her summoning skill came from the Lich King inheritance. Liches should have summoning abilities too!

"Tomorrow, I'll summon another Skeletal Dragon. One more day of cooked meat profits. Then, on day three, Liches. Time for explosive growth!"

She couldn't miss out on another day of selling cooked meat at exorbitant prices. 20 wood or stone for 1 cooked meat was too good to pass up.

...

After instructing Arthur and the skeletons to stay inside until dawn, Alex went to the third floor of her castle. When she'd upgraded to level 5, she'd unlocked the master bedroom: a two-meter bed, luxurious carpet, fancy decorations, and a huge private bathroom.

After a relaxing hot bath, Alex lay in bed with her notebook.

"Level 5 castle unlocks the master bedroom. Maybe every 5 levels unlocks something new? I wonder what level unlocks the kitchen?" The level 1 castle had been barebones.

She shared her discovery with Sophie.

**[Alex]:** Sophie, focus on gathering wood and stone. Upgrade your castle to level 5. You'll unlock the master bedroom with a bathroom and hot water.

**[Sophie]:** Really?

**[Alex]:** Of course. Would I lie to you?

**[Sophie]:** Yay! Hot baths, here I come! I'll make my Golden Retriever Kings chop trees tomorrow!

Alex cringed. Golden Retriever Kings chopping trees? With their paws? Their teeth? How efficient would *that* be? And wasn't Sophie's castle on a grassland? Not exactly a lumberjack's paradise. Without help, Sophie would be gathering resources for years.

**[Alex]:** No! Have your Golden Retriever Kings hunt low-level monsters tomorrow. Focus on efficiency, get as much raw meat as possible, and send it to me. I can cook it for you, and you can sell it on the Free Market. They'll work hard, but you should have enough resources for the level 5 upgrade by tomorrow night.

**[Sophie]:** Thanks, Alex! You're the best! Mwah!

Alex smiled. *Of course I'm the best. I'm your big sister.* As the youngest, Sophie was the family princess, spoiled by everyone. The youngest child always got the most love.

...

The night passed uneventfully. Day two of Universal Lords. Dawn broke.

**[WORLD ANNOUNCEMENT]**

**[Night ends, the Blood Moon retreats.]**

**[Monster boost deactivated. Returning to normal strength.]**

**[World Channel 9872 (10,000 players)]**

"Finally, morning!"

"9x boost was brutal!"

"My troops all died protecting me last night!"

"A few of my friends are gone..."

"Gone means dead. No one expected the night boost."

"A lot of lords must have died last night..."

...

"Forget the depressing stuff. I'm starving after that terrifying night. Alex, you got any more cooked meat?"

"Me too! I tried raw meat. Couldn't swallow it."

"Alex, please, we need cooked meat!"

"Please!"

Alex glanced at World Chat.

**[Alex]:** One sec, gotta restock.

Ignoring the rest of the chat, Alex got up and got ready. Having a bedroom and bathroom was pure bliss.

She went outside to the Undead Altar.

**[Undead Altar (Summon Available)]**

**[Summon the Undying Legion?]**

"Yes!"

**(Summon options, same as before)**

"Option 5, Skeletal Dragon!"

The purplish-black light appeared, and another Skeletal Dragon, identical to Arthur, materialized on the altar.

**(Stats same as Arthur's level 1 stats)**

"So new summons always start at level 1," Alex noted in her notebook.

"You," she said to the new dragon, "shall be called John."

"John thanks master for the name," John replied respectfully.

Alex called Arthur and the 337 skeletons over. Time to assign tasks. Today's to-do list was long.