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The sun had begun to set when their party finished their laborious task of pulling dead carcasses. Before his entrance, corpses numbered south of fifty lay bare; most were gargantuan basilisks with rock-like scales, with the exception of the scarred venom.
A lizard, they said. Frail felt it resembled a dragon more than any lizard he’d seen.
The basilisks weren’t all that they hauled over. They also brought with them slain sable beasts, further bolstering Frail’s gains for the day.
“That’s all for now.” Arthur stretched and groaned. “There is more out there, my group is out there farming for experience as we speak. You’re free to take the corpses back with you if you wish, but we just don’t have the time to drag them here again.” He glued his eyes to a nearby skeleton, “We need levels.”
Understandable. His skeleton nodded.
Everyone except for Frail’s army deflated once their tasks ended. The draugrs pulled double duty, but their eyes shone with glee upon the prospect of obtaining another strong ally. A dragon-like beast, nonetheless.
Who doesn’t like dragons?
“How long do we have, Damon?” Arthur asked. “The invasion…”
“Twelve—eighteen hours, give or take.”
“Entity-“ Arthur faced his construct, “-About your… help.“
Frail’s lancer raised its hand. Wait.
Frail’s skeletons burst from the entrance and hauled every corpse into his domain. Even Arthur and the prominent humans began to understand his small gestures and attempts at speech… as silly as it might look.
The draugrs kept watch outside.
[Drain essence]
[You gained 500 essences.] x 38
[You gained 600 essences] x 24
[You gained 6000 essences.]
[You gained 39,400 essences.]
[You now have 52,870 essences.]
As he expected, the scarred venom didn’t net him as much essence as the watcher.
[Corpse extraction]
[You gain 21,600 essences.]
[You now have 74,470 essences.]
[Extraction summary]
[38x Basilisks. Total essence: 11,400]
[24x sable furred beast. Total essence: 7200]
[1x The Scarred Venom. Total essences: 3000]
The same sensations filled Frail’s mind with images of the scarred venom—the beast that took ownership of its cavernous domain. A verdant-tinted, scaled lizard with a penchant for deadly poison. Its spear-like tail imposed a threatening sigh upon its foes, drooping oozes of green, acidic sludge beneath where the tail hung.
They faced this thing… and lived.
Its pride, like the watcher’s, attempted to wrestle free from Frail’s control. But a quick peek at Frail’s mighty forces and his domain silenced what was left of the creature’s will.
Pages of the Scarred Venom’s details surged into Frail’s invisible mind; its undead counterpart lost all of its scaly goodness—which boasted a tremendous resistance to slashing and blunt damage, then shrugging off cold and heat. A great boon to have… But Frail’s reconstruction could not recreate it.
Instead… it’d be stuck with what all of his skeletons had. A marked downgrade, but not enough to remove its utility. It retained the poison, the agility, and the power of its deadly lash.
[Lashing scourge]
[Perform a wide-area enhanced attack with the Scarred Venom’s tail. It deals extra(2x Dexterity) damage and pierces through physical barriers. Cooldown: 5 seconds.]
[Cold-blooded]
[Regenerates 1% of construct’s integrity per second. Regeneration stops when it takes fire damage.]
[Acid splash]
[Scatters pools of acid in the targeted area. Enemies within take increased physical damage and are inflicted with Deadly poison.]
[The Scarred Venom]
[All attacks with its tails, fangs, and claws, inflict deadly poison. Deadly poison deals 1% health per second if their resistance is lower than this construct’s dexterity. Half effect on Boss or elite units. Lasts for 10 seconds and cannot be stacked.]
It even had a skill with its name.
Frail reconsidered the space of his domain. Despite being weaker, the scarred venom rivaled the watcher in size; and the two could not operate freely inside the same room together. Its agility and bulk combined with its role meant it would inevitably clash with his skeletons in melee—that meant its large area attacks would be limited, lest he risked it hurting his units.
Frankly, the scarred venom worked best alone, supported by non-harmful spells. Its agility, speed, and size necessitated a tremendous area to be utilized properly…
A size his crypt simply didn’t accommodate.
12,00o. Steep… but still worth it.
[You spent 12,000 essences.]
[You now have 62,470 essences.]
His skeletons scurried away from the center of the pedestal room, turning their heads toward the newly formed Scarred Venom. A chorus of cackles echoed as the reptilian skeleton stood proud, its admittedly small bone wings spread wide as it lifted its head.
What was the difference between a dragon and a lizard, he wondered? Without scales and flesh, with its skeleton exposed, it looked exactly like what the insides of a four-limbed dragon should be. Its pine-hued spear-like tail contrasted its ivory body, pronouncing its primary threat more than before—another small downgrade to consider.
But… no sane being would hate having this beast in his/her/its ranks.
The high price aside, Frail still sat on a mound of essences.
His essences used to be his most pressing limit. Now… it was his upgrade slots. That left…
...Construct fabricator upgrade and construct slot upgrade. Combined, they cost him 10,000 essences and 2 upgrade slots—not a bad price to pay.
[You spent 10,000 essences.]
[You now have 52,470 essences.]
Ten more units to play with. Next.
Upgrading his basic constructs to tier two was well within reach. It’d come with the cost of fewer upgrades for his elite constructs and domain lord… but considering the feat he wanted to achieve, this path might serve him the best in the short run. He didn’t want to split his elites—the grave guard + Lancer + Lich combination worked too well. An almost impenetrable defense paired with incredible offense.
So both were good ideas. He couldn’t have both, unfortunately.
Frail shifted through all the possible upgrades. Both choices had their merits. A stronger bulk of his force reduced the strain on his elites and domain lords, and vice versa. He noted the lesser price for his domain lord upgrades—the elites’ came at a premium in comparison.
A brief glance at the denizens of his force shifted his focus away.
They’re still at tier 1. He’d neglected the bread and butter of his army for too long. And… well, they weren’t pricey. Plus, they’d be more useful outside his domain—Frail wished to at least try and help Arthur’s men, after all. The elites must stay within his domain; Frail’s domain benefited greatly from their presence.
So he began from the top:
First, the warriors.
Can’t upgrade the attributes anymore. That option disappeared after he upgraded it twice. A total of 1800 essences propelled it to level 10.
[You spent 1,600 essences.]
[You now have 50,870 essences.]
[Your construct, Skeleton Warrior(Shielded) has reached Level 10. Evolution is possible.]
[Evolution: Skeleton Guard]
[Skeleton Guard gains + 5 resilience, +5 resistance, + 5 strength upon evolution]
[Skill evolution(s):]
[Bone’s Bulwark(2) > Bone Guard’s Bulwark]
[Bone Guard’s Bulwark: Passively provides +15>20% physical damage resistance. Reduces blunt damage penalty by +15>20%. Skeleton Guards gain +5 resilience when standing within a 2-meter vicinity of another guard. This effect does not stack.]
[Wrath(2)> Guard’s wrath]
[Guard’s wrath: Buffs strength and dexterity by 40>50% for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Passively gains +3 strength, +3 resilience.]
Skeleton Guards.
All of his warriors let go of their current actions and shuddered. Their skeletal frames grew as their heads bobbled and their arms flailed. They seemed to cry out in pain as their bodies expanded, filling out the spaces in their armor with larger bones and joints. He noted the marked change in their equipment; their rounded shields morphing into a tower shield, their armors followed that same trend, trailing last were the blades in their hands.
Their shudder vanished after their transformations ended.
Barricade. A pricey, yet… effective skill. 5000 essences were a bit too steep at this moment. Perhaps later, after he considered his other options.
He did the same with the other constructs: Strength attribute upgrade for the archers, The Rogues, he focused on dexterity. Then he completed the upgrades for their respective skills.
[You spent 4,700 essences.]
[You now have 46,170 essences.]
[Your construct, Skeleton Archer has reached Level 10. Evolution is possible.]
[Evolution: Skeleton Ranger]
[Skeleton Ranger gains +8 Dexterity, +5 strength, +2 resilience upon evolution]
[Skill evolution(s):]
[Acid arrow(2) > Corroding arrows]
[Coats their projectiles with corrosion. Corrodes armor, reducing armor effectiveness by 20% and inflicts a debilitating effect on enemies hit, dealing 3 damage per second and causing them to take 5% bonus physical damage. This skill does not stack. Skill activates on every fourth arrow fired.]
[Speed draw(2)> Rapid draw]
[Rapid draw: Increases attack rate by 40>60%, arrows deal extra 20% damage for 15 seconds. Cooldown: 25 seconds. Passively gains +4 Dexterity, +2 Strength.]
The Rangers didn’t change nearly as much as their warrior brothers. Sure, they seemed taller, their bows were longer, but they seemed almost identical to their archer counterparts.
Next… the rogues…
