Chapter 82

Chapter 7: Revenant (5)

If I could make the resonance lines clearer, the control range would also expand significantly, I think.

I felt I needed to give this some more thought.

Apart from that, my magical abilities were not outstanding, but the physical limitations were better than I had expected.

Thud!

When the voodoo shaman's soul punched the tree a few times, it tilted to the side.

At the same time, it glanced at Yeonwoo, and even though the soul had no expression, it seemed like a dog hoping for praise.

When Yeonwoo nodded in approval, the dark, murky black mist that followed the soul surged violently.

It seemed to be delighted by the owner's praise.

Yeonwoo smiled slightly at the sight and began to organize his thoughts.

'In the end, the revenant's ability is only a little better than a wraith. However, if it can deal physical damage, it could be useful if I have enough of them.'

Yeonwoo recalled the group of revenants that had attacked Build.

Individually, they were insignificant, but when there were many, they were enough to make him flinch.

Moreover, as a characteristic of ghosts, the deeper the grudge they held in life, the higher their rank, and the more they gathered, the more their energies resonated, making them stronger.

'I have learned a bit about the revenants, but I need to learn more. With just one sample, there are limits. I need to understand the limits of organized movement and the maximum number of revenants I can control.'

Most importantly,

Yeonwoo had the expectation that he could use the revenants to aim for something greater in the future.

'Undead become more qualified to evolve into higher forms the more they are strengthened. Perhaps this one... could be hatched into something like a lich.'

An undead army.

If he could obtain an army of the undead that never dies, he needed to delve deeper into this.

Yeonwoo began to search through the list of wraiths in his collection to conduct more specific experiments.

Two stood out.

'Giant Noll and Bulka, perhaps?'

Giant Noll was the guardian of the laurel leaves used to create Artemis's laurel crown on the 6th floor, and Bulka was a formidable enemy he had defeated along with the Pant siblings on the 9th floor.

The best enemies that could be encountered in the beginner area.

He had captured their souls just in case they might be useful someday, never imagining they would be used like this.

Yeonwoo decided to extract these two and infuse them with black qi.

As a result, he had to use up all the wraiths left in his collection, but the outcome was quite satisfying.

"Khh, khkh."

"Kuuu!"

Unlike the voodoo shaman's soul, Giant Noll and Bulka roared as soon as they became revenants.

Giant Noll was about three meters long, and Bulka had a massive build that could embrace several people at once.

Their distinct features made it easy to tell them apart.

Yeonwoo touched the resonance lines connected to the two and began to give them separate commands.

* * *

Yeonwoo named the voodoo shaman's soul 'Bu,' Giant Noll 'Noll,' and Bulka 'Ka.'

It was difficult to specify each one when giving commands.

The names were given without much thought, but the revenants seemed to like them, even jumping around in place.

[Names have been assigned to the revenants.]

[The identities of the revenants are established. The morale of the revenants has increased.]

[A new attribute, 'Affinity with Subordinates,' has been added.]

[Affinity with Subordinates]

* Revenants

Bu (voodoo shaman's soul): 15/30

Noll (Giant Noll): 8/41

Ka (Bulka): 10/55

[Improve your affinity with your subordinates. The higher the affinity, the better the bond and solidarity, which will enhance the abilities of the revenants. They will also follow your commands more faithfully.]

Yeonwoo chuckled.

Just giving them names made them this happy?

Moreover, a new attribute called 'affinity' had also been added.

'Establishing identity, huh.'

Ghosts are beings with a scattered sense of self. Even though revenants are a step above wraiths, they still do not recognize who they are. Giving them names seemed to give them some meaning.

The results were not bad.

The resonance with the revenants felt clearer.

As the attribute stated, the higher the affinity, the clearer the resonance lines seemed to be.

Thanks to this, Yeonwoo was able to conduct several interesting experiments.

Fortunately, most of his expectations were met.

The abilities of the revenants seemed to follow the abilities and ranks they had in life to some extent.

Noll, who was agile, boasted speed, and Ka, who was tough, was slow but incredibly strong.

If Bu's strength, agility, and stamina were each set to 1, Noll would be 1, 3, 2, and Ka would be 5, 1, 3.

'In the end, it means I need to consistently collect high-quality ghosts.'

After that, he also tried releasing the three revenants.

Fortunately, they still retained their instincts for hunting, so he didn't need to give them separate commands.

He simply gave them the simple command, 'Hunt that one.'

With that, the three revenants divided roles and formed a formation on their own.

Ka stood at the front, taking the brunt of the attack, while Noll struck and retreated, acting as the damage dealer. Bu provided buffs from the back to keep the other two from tiring out.

At first, their coordination was poor, but after about a dozen attempts, they formed a decent formation.

'They have a learning ability.'

Yeonwoo observed the movements of the revenants with interest.

This was a world of difference from the wraiths, which, if left alone, could only scream and do nothing else.

By the time the day was nearly over, his collection was full.

[Number of collected wraiths: 500]

'The size of the collection has increased to about three times its previous size.'

The previous capacity was 150, and now it was 500, so it had tripled.

Yeonwoo decided to use up all the wraiths to create as many revenants as possible and check the limit of the number of revenants he could control.

In total, 7 more were created, making the limit 10 in total.

'That's fewer than I expected.'

Yeonwoo frowned slightly as he looked at the revenants standing with Bu, Noll, and Ka.

Wraiths, no matter how many there are, have no real use except for black qi.

And with only ten revenants, it wasn't much.

Moreover, the additional ones he created in a hurry had a much lower rank and were not very useful.

Yeonwoo stroked the black bracelet of the King of Darkness with his hand.

The black chains that covered his arm up to his elbow.

The cold, alien texture was felt.

[Collector of the Dead]

The owner can collect the souls of those they kill. In this case, the souls degenerate into wraiths, losing all their power from life and retaining only deep grudges.

The collected wraiths are bound in the collection and cannot escape. The size of the collection can also increase significantly with the owner's proficiency.

'As the proficiency increases, the size of the collection also increases... For now, I can only hope for this.'

The functions provided by the black bracelet seemed impressive, but upon closer inspection, there were many limitations.

Especially for an artifact of a ruler.

Just looking at Bator's vampire sword, which, as an artifact and skill of a ruler, had the ability to steal all of an opponent's abilities and even skills, was a game-changing ability.

However, the black bracelet did not seem to match this yet.

Was it because the proficiency was still lacking, as stated in the description, or were the two unopened options something great?

Or perhaps it still had many hidden secrets.

'I hope it shows its worth, considering I consumed Astra.'

Yeonwoo narrowed his eyes and suddenly thought of something.

'First, I need to accurately determine what this artifact is. Perhaps I should ask Edora.'

Edora's skill, Insight, intuitively perceives the phenomena of objects and penetrates to the hidden truths.

Yeonwoo's Dragon Eye also penetrates the truth, so the two have similar but slightly different characteristics.

Perhaps Edora could bring information that Yeonwoo couldn't see.

Yeonwoo decided to put his curiosity about the black bracelet on hold until Edora came up.

Moreover,

He still had another piece of equipment he had obtained instead of Astra.

"You have something interesting."

As Yeonwoo reached for the nine-petaled shield on his back, a voice suddenly echoed in his head.

The familiar voice of Phoenix.

'Is it observing through a skill or power?'

He couldn't sense any presence from anywhere.

Phoenix seemed to be closely watching what he was doing.

"Didn't you say you were resting?"

"Just a while ago, things were restless, but now they are a bit calmer. I was also bored, and your possessions are stimulating my curiosity."

Yeonwoo realized that Phoenix was interested in the black bracelet and Aegis he possessed. As a divine beast, it seemed to have a keen sense for 'divine items.'

Especially, Phoenix's invisible gaze was firmly fixed on the black bracelet.

"What is the true nature of the bracelet you are wearing?"

* * *

"Damn, damn...!"

Thud. Thud.

Through the dense forest, Leont limped slowly, muttering curses.

His entire body was covered in burns. His face was half-melted, and his voice was hoarse.

But his eyes were more ferocious than ever.

The attack by Bahal and the Red Dragon had taken too much from him.

He managed to escape using all the artifacts and skills he had, but the foundation and subordinates he had built in the Blue Flower Island were mostly destroyed.

If only he had the 'stone.' If only he still had the heart, he wouldn't have suffered this humiliation.

Grinding his teeth in anger at the thief who stole the stone and Bahal.

"I will take it back somehow. Somehow..."

* * *

The news that the Red Dragon had declared war on Blue Flower Island hit the tower.

The content was that Bahal and the Flame Beast had attacked Leont, and Leont had barely escaped with his life.

And proclamations containing the Red Dragon's declaration were posted in the major cities of each floor.

Many clans, rankers, and players moved to understand the exact situation.

They prepared for the impending storm.

The Red Dragon and Blue Flower Island were giant clans symbolizing the tower.

Their clash would inevitably cause a massive upheaval.

And,

The Unicorns were also busy.

"Everywhere, it's just this noise. What happened while we were undergoing the trial?"

Pant and Edora strolled through the busy streets.

Pant was thoroughly annoyed.

They had barely finished the complex and difficult trial on the 10th floor, and were about to move to the 11th floor in peace.

But when they met with the administrator Evilke, a bird quietly landed in front of them.

A red crow, a spirit used by the clan as a messenger, capable of freely moving between floors.

The message it brought was simple.

'Return to the clan immediately upon receiving this letter.'

It was a summons.

The reason was not stated, but it seemed urgent, so they hurriedly left the tower.

Only then did they realize that a war had broken out.

Pant was irritated that their trial had been interrupted, and Edora, tightly hugging her Demon Sword, had not said a word.

The two eventually arrived at a small village on the outskirts.

It looked like an ordinary village.

But the overall atmosphere was different from the various cities in the tower.

As they entered, the people plowing the fields noticed Pant and Edora.

"Oh?"

"Pant-sama and Edora-sama? What brings you here suddenly?"

"Isn't the tower quite noisy these days? It seems you've come because of that, right? Miss! How's your search for a husband going?"

The news of Pant and Edora's arrival quickly spread, and the village entrance became noisy.

The two chatted with the villagers they hadn't seen in a while.

They were only called royalty in name; the villagers didn't seem to care about such things.

Then,

"Ah! Son and daughter! You're here?"

A man walked out from inside the village.

He was much bulkier than Pant, wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, and carrying a pickaxe on one shoulder.

He looked like a strong farmer.

Edora slightly frowned, disliking the sight.

"You said it was an emergency in the letter. Do you have time to work the fields?"

"It's what we do to eat and live. Still, a person needs some leisure, right? But why are you so sharp today, daughter? Is it that time of the month...?"

"I'll draw my sword if you say any more."

Edora's cold tone made the middle-aged man's eyes widen. He looked at Pant, who was standing next to him, with a questioning gaze.

Pant chuckled.

"Why are you like that? You were all excited about walking around again with your husband, but then your father ruined it, so you're annoyed... Gack!"

"Shut up!"

Pant was cut off mid-sentence and was kicked hard in the side by Edora, sending him flying.

Edora tried to stop unnecessary talk, but the middle-aged man and the other villagers had already heard.

"What? A husband?"

"Oh! Our lady is finally!"

"Wow. So we can all eat noodles soon? Maybe we can have a party? Huh?"

The surroundings became noisy.

Edora covered her face with her hand.

This is why she didn't want to come back to the village.

The clan was good in many ways, but their nosy personalities were a problem.

The middle-aged man chuckled and put his arm around his daughter's shoulder.

"Hehe. Who has captured our proud daughter's heart? I'm very curious."

"Take your arm off."

"What kind of person is it? Someone like us? Or a human? What is he doing now?"

The middle-aged man continued to tease Edora, regardless of what she said.

Each time, Edora had to press her temples, which were throbbing. Eventually, she even reached for her Demon Sword.

"Alright, alright. I get it. I wonder who you take after with that sharp tongue. How can you ruin my jokes like that?"

The middle-aged man exaggeratedly sighed and made a fuss.

Edora glared at him with a sharp eye, but the corners of his mouth still curled up in a smile.

Then he clapped his hands to change the mood.

"Well, that's enough joking around."

Suddenly, the middle-aged man's eyes became deeply serious, unlike the playful ones he had shown before. The air of a king was palpable.

"I couldn't state the reason in the letter, but you must have figured out what's happening on your way here, right?"