-----

As the morning of the next day approached, the celebrations stopped and the people gathered in the Raccoon tribe of the north went to rest… however, a little Half-Demon Boy and a Living Armor were still wandering awake at this hour.

​​

Ervas, accompanied by Veronica, glanced at Nick, the Live-Dead whose body originated from one of the bandits that assaulted Ervas' village. His body was being parasitized by Gwendolyn, which gave it the ability to be recognized by the system as an individual monster, even with the ability to Rank up and become stronger, separately yet together with Gwendolyn.

However, it was a hollow husk, if it were not because it had large amounts of Life Attribute Mana flowing through its body alongside Gwendolyn, it would be a soulless corpse.

Ervas was about to change this fact now, as he and Veronica decided to practice their undead raising once more with Nick while trying to make him stronger in the act.

Ervas and Veronica glanced at the dozens of spirits floating around them, some of them seemed insane, others were wild and savage, some were melancholic and others silent.

"I wonder who could be ideal for Nick… well, humanoid spirits should be ideal…" said Ervas, glancing at many spirits of adventurers that had once died in the Devil Forest, some of them had terrible wounds in their appearances as dead spirits, showing the large traumas that their deaths left into their minds, which made them stick as wandering dead spirits in the Devil Forest, to begin with.

"I think that any dead spirits would do… but yeah, those that already had an experience in club technique or were humans previously could help," said Veronica.

Ervas and Veronica needed the dead spirits of humans or intelligent races, or at most those of humanoids who had some experience wielding heavy weapons. A wild monster that used its claws and fangs to attack wouldn't be able to quickly get used to its new body and it might even end up forgetting the techniques that the body of Nick, even without a soul, acquired.

Gwendolyn who was inhabiting Nick could not speak, but it moaned through Nick's throat.

"Graaa… graa…" she said.

"Oh? Gwendolyn says that she would also appreciate some of the dead spirits of plants" said Ervas.

"I suppose that would make her feel more closer to the new soul inhabiting the corpse," said Veronica.

A group of spirits appeared around Ervas and Veronica.

"Me! Select me! I was once a famed adventurer! I don't remember anything, but I know that I was famed!"

"No, me! I was an exceptional elf priest! I liked to beat to death heretics with my staff! Gyahahaha!"

"Please, select me, Prince of Death! I was a bodybuilder, look at my muscles!"

"GRAAAAAA! ME! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Alongside some of the intelligent dead spirits, there were those of orcs, goblins, kobolds, lizardmen and, behind all of them, there were formless spirits, those of animals or living beings that didn't understand how their existence looked like, so they were similar to small masses of ethereal blue dust, with a little yellow core inside which was their soul.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"These are the plants of normal non-monster plants… monster plants, aside from the ones I create, are very rare, so we'll have to use just plants I guess…" said Ervas.

"Alright you guys, you're all invited to join…!" said Veronica, calling the intelligent dead spirits that talked first, such as the bodybuilder, the elf priest, and the yelling one.

Ervas and Veronica moved them with their mana as the dead spirits were comprised into a single dead spirit with many souls.

"OOOOHH TOGETHER!"

"Haaahh~ Yes! Yes! Let's become one so we can punish all the heretics!"

"I'm going to train my muscles!"

"At last! My time to once again become a famed adventurer!"

"…"

Then, Ervas and Veronica carefully guided the large dead spirit inside Nick's body and then used 'Soul Binding' at the same time to bind it into the corpse.

Flash!

Nick's body began to tremble, as phantasmal energy began to be exuded from its eyes and mouth.

"OOOOOOOOOHH"

"Didn't we put too many dead spirits into it, Ervas?" asked Veronica worried.

"Maybe, but it should be fine," said Ervas, infusing a few millions of Mana to stabilize the dead spirits.

Then, Nick fell to the ground motionless…

"Gwendolyn is it done?" asked Ervas. Gwendolyn was the one that would know the best if the soul binding was a success or not, as she was residing in the body.

Gwendolyn then responded with the voice of the elven priestess.

"Yes, Lord Ervas, it worked wonderfully!" she said.

"Hm? You can talk now?" asked Ervas.

"That's right! After the merge, not only Nick acquired a soul of his own, but my own was merged with this new one! I can now use this voice… or well the others, whichever you prefer, my lord" said Gwendolyn, saving her vines over Nick's shoulder as she slowly shaped herself as a humanoid torso, similar to the image of the elven priest.

"That's a welcomed surprise!" said Veronica.

"So in other terms, her soul 'upgraded'… I don't think I would be able to achieve this with the other plants, but Gwendolyn is a unique case," said Ervas.

"Yeah… and what about Nick?" asked Veronica.

"OOOOOOOOOOOH- Ahem! Ah, my throat was all dry… does someone have water?" asked Nick with the juvenile voice of the 'famed adventurer' man.

"I have, guu!" said Aqua, emerging from within Veronica's body. Veronica created a cup with her body and then filled it with the water produced by Aqua's Water Attribute Magic, which was pure but had a small bitterness due to having been created through magic.

Nick jugged the whole cup and released sick of relief.

"I can talk better now… Haaah, it was a bit painful at the start, but it seems that it managed to get through. When I didn't have a soul, I felt very hollow, and I had almost no consciousness or emotions… but thanks to Gwendolyn, I was capable of, more or less, learn skills and techniques… now with a soul, I feel like my potential can grow even further, so I can serve lord Ervas and lady Veronica better" said Nick, his appearance was that of a young man on his early thirties with short brown hair and emerald eyes… he looked like a completely normal human being, but was indeed an Undead now.

"It seems that you developed your own consciousness through the thoughts produced in your brain, but because there wasn't a soul, the mind was very primitive. The soul and consciousness of the previous user of that body were crushed when Veronica destroyed the soul, so it could be said that you're a completely new person" said Ervas.

"Well, I am… and at the same time I am not, I've acquired a bit of the mind of everyone in my soul, and now with Gwendolyn, I don't think I would ever feel alone in my lifetime" laughed Nick.

"Did you retain your techniques?" asked Veronica.

Nick checked his status for a moment as he nodded.

"Yes, Lady Veronica… and I acquired a few skills as well, perhaps those of the people that made up my soul… Oh? It seems that I have an affinity with Wind Attribute and Life Attribute Magic, how wonderful" said Nick.

Through Nick's 'awakening' he not only acquired a clearer and more intelligent mind, but was also able to awaken some of his skills, acquire skills from the souls that made his own soul, and also awaken his magic affinity.

"That is interesting… perhaps I should try to create more undead by combining various dead spirits… well, cannot mass produce them, it exhausted my Mana by over eighty million, so I will try another day… I'm quite tired, so I will go to sleep," said Ervas, floating back to the house that the Raccoon-kin lends to him to pass on the night, he was greeted by Nyarlathotep in the form of Ismene alongside Cthulhu, Ivy, and the other plants. Ervas was growing accustomed to sleeping over Nyarlathotep shapeshifted as Ismene, over her squishy and soft chest.

Meanwhile, Nick and Veronica kept awake through the night as they were undead, deciding to go out hunt while making Nick get used to his new capabilities.

-----

[Name: Nick

[Race: High Parasitized Live-Dead Magic Club Juggernaut > Parasitized Live-Undead Magic Club Juggernaut (Race Change!)

[Age: 0 (after being converted into a Life-Dead)

[Titles: Soulless Warrior.

[Type: Human/Undead

[Rank: 6

[Level: 001/100

[Health Points: 531/531 > 2621/2621

[Mana Points: 160/160 > 744/744

[Strength: 349 > 1254

[Defense: 241 > 826

[Magic: 159 > 764

[Resistance: 208 > 803

[Agility: 281 > 1126

[Passive Skills]

[Special Five Senses; Level 5]

[Self-Enhancement; Following (Ervas); Level 5]

[Self-Enhancement; Parasitized (Gwendolyn); Level 5]

[Health Points Enlargement; Level 4]

[Physical Damage Resistance; Level 4]

[Superhuman Strength; Level 4]

[Rapid Healing; Level 3]

[Enhanced Body Parts; Parasitized Body; Level 3]

[Form Alteration; Level 3]

[Composite Soul; Level 1]

[Active Skills]

[Charge; Level 4]

[Armor Technique; Level 4]

[Shield Technique; Level 3]

[Club Technique; Level 5]

[Throwing; Level 4]

[Archery; Level 3]

[Magic Fighting Technique; Level 3]

[Strengthened Regeneration; Parasitized Body; Level 4]

[No-Attribute Magic; Level 1]

[Wind Attribute Magic; Level 1]

[Life Attribute Magic; Level 1]

[Whip Technique; Level 1]

[Surpass Limits; Level 1]

[Masonry; Level 1]

[Unique Skills]

[Parasitized Live-Dead; Level 5]