As I opened my mouth to explain to Alessia what happened, Nyx walked over to her. “So, you don’t smell like mother, nor look like her. What are you?” I could breathe a sigh of relief since I had dodged that shit storm for now, but as one goes, another replaces it.

However, just as I tried to rein her in, Alessia tilted her head. “My name is Alessia. I am the Empress’s chosen.”

Nyx glanced at me and then back at Alessia. “Empress? Mother, does that make me a princess?”

“Yes, I suppose that is the case,” I murmured to myself as I thought about it.

“Good, good. Alessia, as the princess, I demand affection!” Nyx stood proudly with her head held high, and Alessia shot me a glance with uncertainty etched into it.

“Nyx! That is highly inappropriate. Come here right now.” I hissed through my teeth and pointed at the spot at my feet.

The little girl’s eyes went wide as she spun at me, the fear evident in her face. “But..”

“Now.” I reiterated and pointed at my feet. This damn child! She is so uppity and bossy. There could be no way that she was my child.

She pouted and hung her head as she ambled over to me and sat down. “Please don’t send me back to the soul realm. I don’t want to go.”

“Then stop making demands of people, especially those that you don’t know.” I glared down at her, hoping to get my point across. Silence, however, was the only response that came from her. There was a reason I didn’t have kids. I shook my head and glanced over at Alessia. “Well, anyway, she is the aspect of the dragon soul within me.”

She looked at me and then the child once more before she bobbed her head. “I understand, Empress.”

“I’m glad you are here, though. As much as I hate to dump Nyx on you, I was hoping you could take her for a little while. I need to plan the expansion and start refitting the troops.” I stood up and pulled the chair I was sitting on back to the desk. No, I wasn’t trying to get Nyx off of my hands, but there was still so much that I had to do, and trying to entertain Nyx would be far too distracting.

Alessia sat there for a few seconds, almost thoughtfully, before standing up. A faint smile quickly appeared on her face before it vanished. “Of course, my lady.” A flicker of emotion lined her words as she bowed.

“Nyx, tag along with Alessia for a little while. However, if I even hear that you were misbehaving. I will send you back to my soul realm for a while. Do you understand?” I laced my words with sternness as I stared at her.

The little girl stood up, and she nodded her head. “Of course, mother, I won’t disappoint you.”

“Good, now, go. Alessia, take care of her, please. Let me know if she acts up.” I sat down and interlaced my fingers as I brought my gaze upon Alessia. I trust her, so I know nothing will happen to Nyx, but this was also something that I knew I couldn’t pawn her off all the time. A childhood of neglect really hammered home that I refused to be like my parents.

Alessia gave me one last bow before she gestured for Nyx to follow. Instantly, her shame seemed to have melted away as she skipped out of the room, right behind Alessia. Please, god, don’t make me regret this. As they vanished from view, I glanced down at my notebook and pinched the bridge of my nose. This was going to be so very stressful.

I glanced through my menus and saw that a plethora of notifications had built up. Though I was much too busy to even pay them attention when I woke up. Let’s take a look and see what has happened.

Congratulations! You have unlocked t3 mobs!

Dark Wraiths: The darkness that they once wielded in life now permeates these beings and drips from their very souls, giving them new flesh. They lurk in the shadows, hunting their prey with uncanny ease.

Poltergeist: An angry spirit that is tethered to a location. They are invisible to the naked eye and can only interact with the living through the environment.

Skeletal Abominations: These skeletons have learned how to manipulate their bodies into various shapes.

Wights: A zombie that has lived for a sufficient amount of time evolves into a far more intelligent being. Its body reacts faster, and its body is more dexterous than its counterparts. Its presence is fear instilling, and any slain by it are turned into zombies. It no longer requires flesh, instead, it saps the soul from its foes.

+1000 essence for unlocking at least three T3s

I bobbed my head as I read over the list. Dark Wraiths seemed to be interesting. From what I read, undead that uses dark magic can turn into them. Poltergeists felt a little underwhelming, but I think that might be because of how they are portrayed on Earth, though I’m sure I could find a good use for them within the domain. Skeletal Abominations seemed like a much-evolved version of the Reaver, and the Horror variants. The last one is the Wights. I don’t think I know anything about them as I thought about it. The bit about them requiring souls instead of flesh seemed a little scary, but they would be a powerful addition to the domain.

I sat back and started looking through my menu, trying to sort through everything before spawning in any of the new undead. It’s been a while, and I really have neglected to do this. As I sorted through everything, I came across a few things that I had missed. The first thing was the experience bank. Apparently, if I don’t have a hand in killing adventures directly, any experience they give off when they die gets stored here. Well, at least part of it; the rest becomes essence that flows back into the domain after splitting the victors.

There was also a tab for stored magic variants that I didn’t know how I missed but did. So far, there was dark, fire, and wind magic that I could grant to mobs. Which was a bit irritating to me. Even the zombies could use magic, but here I was, sitting here, only able to manipulate my soul. I couldn't help but feel jealous at that. Perhaps I should pester that adventurer a bit more, see what information he can scrounge up for me, and see if I can fix this condition.

With a sigh, I dismissed the screens. I didn’t want to consume the banked experience just yet, since I still wanted to bring up all my proficiencies and get a new batch of titles. I still wanted to get stronger, and if cashing in all this banked experience screwed that up, then I didn’t want it. My headache thankfully seemed to be fading away slightly, though I had a feeling that it would be back soon enough. But since I could finally think straight, let’s see what this new undead are!

I glanced over at my essence bar and saw that I was sitting on just under ten thousand essence, though the required amount to hit the third level had doubled. I now needed fifty thousand. If that was the way it would be, then the next level would be one hundred thousand. This was going to be a pain. Otherwise, it would take me an eternity to get where I needed to go. Thank god I decided to set up a trade deal with that adventurer.

Now then, onto the summoning! First, let’s see what the Dark Wraith was. I opened up my menu and quickly selected the mob. I felt my heart drop a bit when I saw it cost well over three hundred and fifty essence points. That was far more than any mob at my disposal so far!

The summoning rune appeared on the floor and filled my room with a deep red ominous light. The rune quickly spun as a dark figure rose from the ground like a vengeful spirit. Its entire body was shrouded in darkness that seemed to pulse and flicker in the lighting of my office. On both of its hands were a set of five claws that seemed to glitter evilly in the light. Thick globules of shadow dripped from its claws as if they were freshly spilled pen ink. A veil of shadows obscured its face that was so dense that even light couldn’t seem to pierce it.

The Dark Wraith hovered in my office; darkness seemed to run off the rest of its body in an endless tide as it stared at me. I could feel goosebumps rising on my skin as I stared at its monstrous form. I knew it wouldn’t hurt me, but I didn’t make this any less scary. “Kneel.” I issued my order as I stared at it from behind my desk.

Without putting any of my will into it, the creature took a rough semblance of a knee. Seeing it kneel before I did wonders for how I felt, and gave me a sense of power. Overall, though, I was happy with it. Now, all that I needed to do was see how capable it was. Perhaps I could pit it against a few zombies, or the praetorians at least. After all, there is no better way to see how good they are than to place them against the best. I gestured for it to stand to the side with my choice made. Now it was time for me to check out the others and see what they looked like.