Chapter 30: Aftermath

The first battle of this war was intense.

Goblin, Troll, Ogre corpses, and a large number of skeletons are scattered around the battlefield.

I even lost my arms and legs. My constant movement and use of my bones made them damaged enough to disintegrate. Especially since my legs are bones that I got from way back, and I already fought multiple battles since then.

Bon got me a new pair of arms and legs from a normal skeleton.

It was okay, I can walk, but it felt a lot heavier than before. I think I can't even leap on enemies in this state.

Idmon: "(t) Bon, you think you can get a horse for me? I can't move around quickly as I used to."

Bon: "I haven't tried, Milord. You can try mounting the skeleton wolves, some of them are still intact. We haven't had a horse corpse, so I think I have to craft a skeleton horse from scratch."

Idmon: "(t) That would be fine; do your best."

Now we got that mobility concern settled. I felt strangely tired. Its as if my negative energy won't recover.

As long as I am still like this, I can't fight on the frontlines. I have to ride on a horse and issue commands instead.

By the way, I am currently in one of the forts that we took over in the south-east.

It is Horgen now. The south fort was called Jorg, and the southwest was called Warg.

I was put in charge of Horgen's defense in the meantime. The dwarves suffered severe casualties from the battle.

They lost the entire south fort group that made of at least 400 elite dwarves. They were able to recover the equipment, but their lives are forever lost.

Or that's what they thought.

I looked outside, and I saw my mages and Mag leading them in casting spells on the dwarven corpses.

It is repulsive to the dwarves, so only undead are here in Horgen. Even if King Wargh agreed on this, I could still feel his anger towards this.

I explained it to him that this is like multiplying our fighting force since even when his dwarves fall in battle, they can still fight another day when we raise them from the dead.

He got even angrier after that, but after a few deep breaths, he was able to see my point. And when he saw the eye sockets of the Skeleton Dwarves.

He could feel no anger, no hate for living things, but a determination to win this war.

He knew the feeling because it's the same feeling he gets from his dwarven warriors. After this event, I was able to continue without hindrance.

We were reduced to around 200 in the last battle, but with our recruits, the Skeleton Dwarves, we are now about 500.

The skeleton Behemoths was still being restored, though. I don't think they'll be able to get back in the war anytime soon.

The skeleton dwarves are a group that relies on strength. They can still wear their heavy armor without any issues, and when we tested them, they could swing as hard as they have when they were still alive.

I was checking each one of them, and after explaining things, none of the reanimated dwarves bear any hatred.

Then suddenly, a dwarven messenger came to my side.

Dwarven Messenger: "Lord Idmon, a letter for you from Master Urah."

Urah was at Jorg right now, and he was in charge of holding that fort.

The letter said.

Lord Idmon, I know that you are still weary and damaged from the last battle, but this war is still far from over. This letter has a map, and on the map, you could see the location of an ancient fort.

The fort is way back from the time that there were still humans in this region. I heard from Bon that you could strengthen yourself by getting bones from a stronger person or creature.

In this fort that I mentioned, there was a rumor that a Reaper once haunted the place. The good news is that some of our scouts tried to search the site before, and we only saw an abandoned fort with a skeleton sitting on a chair.

If that skeleton was indeed a Reaper's, then I believe this could be a huge help.

-Urah

Hmm?

Reaper. I looked at the monster registry. It was a 5th tier undead.

Its skills revolve around the use of dark mantle and using a scythe as its weapon. It does have a class skill of .

It is a skill that's also possessed by a Lich. This skill makes the skillholder's touch drain life and stats from a target.

The stats included Strength and Endurance. Even the maximum life of a creature.

The drain was slow, but if a Reaper can keep his touch on you for a long time, you're sure to die.

There is also an impressive skill that it has. Unique only to the Reaper.

The skill is .

Any weapon held by a Reaper has a chance of damaging the soul of an enemy and most likely killing it in one hit.

Okay, time to go. I put on some light armor instead of the full plate.

I called it Void Plate now because from time to time, it releases negative energies, and when you input some more N.E., it gets covered by the spell .

It must have gotten enchanted from the massive amounts of magic put into it.

Although it would be safer to wear it at all times, it's impractical, especially if we are going to do some scouting.

So, I just wore some leather armor, and I carried only one Claw Spear instead of my Void Lance.

I asked Ran and Mel to accompany a group of 5 Skeleton Dwarves and me. Lina was still recovering from the battle, and I put Bon in charge.