Thick snowflakes fell around Elinor in the windless blizzard, hazing much of her environment; her black boots made crunching noises in the still background as her gaze wandered between the shapes that bled through the veil, revealing shadows of sounds within.

  Alicia quaked from the plummeting temperature, fingers wrapped around her blanket. The freezing atmosphere was a blessing for Elinor, yet it certainly did have its negatives for the jungle town’s inhabitants, who had only seen a storm like this through online or movie sources.

  Their pace was brisk, with the young woman’s jerky movements leaving a reasonably obvious trail in their passing. Butter and Mika were busy using the tracks left by the toads to replenish their stock of Death Orbs, Eduardo moving practically invisible in his ghostly mist-like form, guiding the hunt.

  Elinor’s mind was drawn to the positives and negatives she’d discovered about her new lich-based abilities. For one, her undead stood out like a sore thumb, given their burning emerald flames, which did have a sort of fear factor she could employ, yet was a detriment when trying to keep a low profile.

  The fact those she brought back were partially subservient and retained their previous personalities was also a double-edged sword. Sure, it meant they’d have all the experience and information she may need, but it also made for a rather poor minion that needed to be broken into their new role.

  Eduardo and Mika did show her that resistance may have been there, yet they did obey whatever order she gave due to the chains binding their spirits. The Nexus also provided a degree of understanding into their developing mental state, which fascinated her.

  Everyone had their own thoughts on death and what lay beyond it, deep in their souls, and these toads were no different when comparing the human and alien’s emotions. They were conforming to their new roles, and that could have also been a gradual influence of her power; time would tell.

  Her focus went to the two skeletal young bloods escorting them, the other four with Mika and Butter. Even this early on, she’d run into another shortcoming of this empire-like system she’d been thrust into: a strict order of command.

  Mika had advanced to the S-tier of the Poor Grade; clearly, there were defined rules for how she could ascend to the Common Grade, but they weren’t entirely clear as of yet. Her army depended on her soldiers’ quality since the unintelligent minions only followed a certain level of commander, or she hadn’t unlocked more perks to allow a more intricate command structure.

  There were exceptions or leniencies since Butter could bind Mika and her pet together, allowing her to make shot calls for the beast. However, it meant everything was currently tied between Butter and her when, ideally, she wanted to split into smaller groups to be more efficient.

  The structure also told her that it likely had something to do with her progression; her abilities might expand faster the more units she had in play, going about different tasks for her growing empire, and another necromantic type that could bring back others would undoubtedly speed up the process.

  She figured there was some kind of limitation, such as they could only make unintelligent undead, yet that was perfectly acceptable. Still, that was something to consider for the future since there were other things to do in the limited time she’d been given.

  Right now, Uncommon-Grade was her highest command structure besides Butter and herself, who could command every minion of the Empire unconditionally. An Uncommon undead was labeled as a Lieutenant with forty units under their care, broken into four squads of ten, guided by Staff Sergeants in the Common Grade.

  Mika could act as a sort of officer to take minor leadership roles, such as with her pet, since she was brought back in the A-tier, and that number had increased to a maximum of three after her S-tier upgrade. It showed the number increased when going to a higher tier; an F-tier Common minion, thereby, might not have the ability to boss around the full ten units the Grade allowed. There was so much to consider with these new functions.

  Eduardo’s jump to Poor-E snatched her attention; they had been making decent strides for twelve hours since the start of this fiasco. Her current maximum was twenty unintelligent and four intelligent. Her continual progress brought on a wistful as she welcomed her increased minion pool. Going over her present force, she felt a satisfying heat well up within her core that all her hard work was paying off:

  3x toads - Unintelligent Poor-E Skeletal-type - None

  Eduardo - Intelligent Poor-E Ghost-type - Curse [Chill II]

  2x toads - Unintelligent Poor-D Skeletal-type - None

  1x toad - Unintelligent Poor-C Skeletal-type - None

  Mika - Intelligent Poor-S Skeletal-type - Minor Stat Increase

  1x Crocodile-toad - Unintelligent Common-D Skeletal-type - Minor Perception Increase

  A total of nine minions to her name of the twenty-four she could control. She’d lost six young bloods to their previous orange toad encounter and quite a few resources, but it also showed they’d managed to take on a stronger opponent—risks had to be made.

  Making a snap decision upon realizing Mika’s increased faculties, she addressed the pair as they drew closer to what appeared to be a more storage-focused part of the town, considering the more prominent buildings, where the tracks in the snow showed hundreds had likely gathered.

  Butter, you wanted to retrieve my body?

  “Uh, yes! I’m still gathering what we lost, though; don’t you need more Death Energy to raise an intelligent Common-Grade unit? What about your security, as well? I don’t need to remind you that if you die, I die, and I’d rather not die.”

  Heh. I’m sure. This blizzard is only worsening; it will limit almost everyone’s movements.

  “Ooh! Except for us, since the temperature doesn’t affect the undead that much,” Butter hummed. “Are you thinking of putting a small unit in Mika’s hands since her advancement to S-tier?”

  A small smile lifted Elinor’s mouth as Alicia motioned ahead, hurrying toward the front office of a warehouse. “It’s, brrr… It’s up ahead… You’re not freezing?”

  “Not at all,” she whispered, following the short trail of carbon dioxide with her eyes until it vanished before eyeing the two E-tier young bloods acting as her escort.

  Yes. Eduardo’s curse enhancement will make it trigger the effect more often, and I assume there is a buff to it in this environment; luck is on our side. Mika will take control of the C-tier young blood and her pet while Eduardo scouts things out for her to kill.

  “She needs experience, and we need more soldiers,” Butter agreed. “The girls and the remaining three E-tier toads will be with me to retrieve your body and find more Death Orbs.

  “Right! Oh, this is starting to sound like a plan! I’ll set things in motion. She’ll get us the corpses, and I’ll find us some energy to raise them while protecting my precious, potential future body replacement.”

  Figuring she was calling her two butterfly minions ‘girls,’ Elinor chuckled to herself. I leave it in your care.

  Butter paused for a moment and cleared her voice, though Elinor knew what didn’t need to be said. Her twin was thankful she wasn’t being blamed for their last battle’s losses and was still trusted.

  “Leave it to me, Priss.”

  Letting her golden twin direct Eduardo and Mika, she proceeded into the building, seeing the lights were out and realizing it had been the same throughout the rest of the town; the electrical grid was down. Of course, it would be if the crystal’s dome had cut them off from wherever the power plant was in this region.

  Alicia hissed upon approaching the door, cursing under her breath while pounding on the closed door. “C’mon! Open up… It’s freezing out here! Hey! It’s fine; they’re not alive, obviou—”

  The door cracked open, showing a thin, dark-skinned man holding a rifle. “Who’s the weird girl, and… are those skeletal alien toads?”

  “They’re obviously frogs,” Alicia shot back, sliding her fingers through the crack and forcing it open; the man allowed it, letting them by, but kept his eye on the unusual party.

  “No. The toads stay outside,” he stated, and Elinor sent a wordless command for them to hide. The man seemed to like the power she had over them even less, growling as he swiftly shut the door and barred it. “Okay, talk, Alicia! What’s going on?”

  The expel of heated air from within the building pressed against her skin as she moved off to the side. Studying the dark interior, lit by only a small glow near the floor that allowed just enough for those inside the office to see, Elinor marveled at the potency of [Darkness Vision]; she’d taken it for granted thus far, and that wasn’t the only luxury her Feats provided that she’d shoved aside.

  It was odd, understanding the temperature yet not experiencing it the same way she had when alive, but the more perplexing thing was how these people had power. She expected it to be some kind of generator, yet she hadn’t heard any loud noises indicating something was on.

  The Colombian woman swiftly explained she’d been granted necromancer power from all the lights and was looking for someone named Gwen, who may know what happened to her mother.

  In the meantime, Elinor’s focus settled on what looked to be a fifteen-year-old boy manning what appeared to be a drone with his tablet; it wasn’t the most sophisticated thing, but it seemed to be following her undead to see what they were up to—it wasn’t hard, given they were literally on fire. A lot had happened to these people through the night.

  People will find a way.

  The man in charge of this area gave her a critical look, squinting in the darkness. “You can raise the dead?”

  “Yes,” she evenly replied, showing him what she hoped was a charming smile; granted, her artificial body did have some unnerving aspects to it, and the wicked crown on her head didn’t help—plus, she was a goth, so, there was that look that came from her clothes. “Who is leading this little resistance?”

  “Pfft! Resistance?” a new man chuckled, entering through a door further in and swiftly closing it behind him. Laughably, he was holding what appeared to be a fantasy-style dagger, probably purchased from some online store. “I guess you could say I am, but that’s not saying much… Your Spanish isn’t native; you’re one of the US tourists?”

  “Tourists is not the word I would use,” Elinor said, moving away from Alicia and the door guard to stand before the squinting man that appeared to be in his thirties; he had a bit of a belly but was well-groomed. “If you want to live, I suggest you do as I say, which, given the circumstances, I’m sure is challenging. Can you give him the cliff notes, Alicia?”

  A few words passed between the men, obviously, the guard not trusting her, which was smart, but wasted her time; however, Virgil’s ears pricked up upon hearing she was a necromancer that had raised the ‘frogs’ from the dead to fight for her.

  “What kind of power are we talking here?” he pressed, sounding far too eager for Elinor’s liking; the man was likely a fantasy lover and had his own opinions of her. “Can you create a zombie horde to go after them—that you can control, of course?”

  “First,” Elinor promptly replied, “let me say I am not here to be your savior, so let me clip that bud off from the start. Second, my goals primarily revolve around finding my parents and keeping them safe. Perhaps, if the stars align, we can help each other, but I am going to need some trust since we are on a clock. The snow outside will not keep them away forever, and I have a lot I need to do to get stronger in that time.”

  The boy in the corner observed them with wide eyes, mumbling, “So cool…”

  Virgil cleared his voice before the other man could interject, motioning for her to follow him inside with Alicia. “We’ll take all the help we can get. After they put Yesenia to sleep and captured her, I didn’t think we’d have anyone else to offer them a fight. If you’re keeping them distracted, that’s good for us, too.”

  “That’s an intelligent outlook,” Ellinor whispered, scanning the heated office space they’d entered in the records-keeping part of the facility; they still seemed to be using a lot of paper in this part of the world. “I’m also interested in this old man that turned into a bull.”

  Mouth drawing in, he pulled her to the side as several other men eyed them, keeping guard before getting to where the women and children were, no doubt.

  “You want to bring Old Man Carlos back?”

  Elinor could understand the reluctance to raise someone people knew. “If it makes you feel any better, if he passes my minimum expectations, I’ll offer him the opportunity to fight back against the creatures that killed him. If not, I can just send him back to wherever we go when we die.”

  “Mmgm… I guess we can’t really be picky, can we?” he hissed, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing over at the curious men; a small, chubby black-haired woman bustled past the hesitant group.

  “Virgil, what’s going on out there? We need more diapers, and can we use the facilities now?”

  Seeing an opportunity, Elinor smiled. “Why don’t I have my guard outside escort you to wherever you need to go to get the supplies you need since the snow has forced the aliens to retreat for now, and my other soldiers are handling the spies they left to observe our reactions?”

  “You’d do that?” Virgil asked, crossing his arms as the woman gave him a look that said she had no clue what was happening. “What if they suddenly attack; would they abandon Gloria and those she took to race back here?”

  “What are we talking about here? Does this girl have Colombian military or police with her or something?”

  “Just give me a second, Gloria,” he mumbled, focus shifting to the men further down the hall as two came to check on them. “I want to ensure they’re okay if anything bad happens. We’ve seen the damage the giant reptile monsters they use as dogs can do, as well.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Elinor shrugged. “I have one in my clean-up group right now; they’re cleansing the town of the toads as we speak, and this is the best time while visibility is low. You know the town, so you know where to go, while they do not. Also, unless I give them explicit orders to return, these undead can only follow simple instructions, such as protecting the group that exits the building.”

  Virgil puffed out a long stream of air. “Alright, I’ll get all of that ready and get back to you. Thank you…”

  “Elinor,” she replied, illuminated emerald irises appraising the two men listening nearby, trying to get the gist of the conversation.

  “Weather has a major effect on their biology; the storm will keep them bunkered near the Hub-Crystals they use to transport things to their own world. Best believe they will strip this town of anything they think is valuable during their next invasion, so I would get what supplies you can. Right now is the best chance you will get; I expect they’ll devise a plan to deal with the snow by the end of the day at the latest.”

  Hmm. When did I start speaking so formally, at times? she internally pondered, focus returning to the man as he thought on her words.

  “Noted… Alexander, can you take her back to see Gwen? I’ll be over once organizing a scavenging group to deal with the other thing, Elinor.”

  “I look forward to it. Also, the first people that leave the facility will have my soldiers’ protection, so make sure there are no stragglers because they will attack anything that gets close to them, so warn them not to pick up strays—they will kill any human that is not in that party without me there to direct them.”

  “Oof. Yeah, that’s a bit rough, but nothing we can do about it, I guess,” he growled, rubbing between his eyes. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit… Again, thank you, Elinor.”

  “I’m not doing it out of the kindness of my heart,” she said, motioning for Alexander to take her to the woman that could tell her more about her mother. “I don’t have time to waste, so be quick.”

  She left Virgil to sort things out with the others, following Alexander past the guards, who couldn’t help but stare at her crown and white hair. Elinor was a little surprised with how many people were crammed into the space when entering one of the offices, figuring the others were also full of kids or women.

  I suppose everyone wants to be where it’s warm, and the extra bodies help; that’s a lot of mouths to feed, though.

  “Gwen?” Alexander called out in English to the whispering women—most elderly, teenage girls, or babies. “Has anyone seen…”

  “I’m here!” a red-haired woman replied, and Elinor recognized her from their bus venture into South America. “Umm. What do you need?”

  Elinor took over. “Let’s go to a less crowded place. I need to ask you a few questions regarding my mother.”

  Gwen’s light green eyes lit up. “Wait, you’re Tiffany’s goth daughter, right? Umm… Elinor—that’s your name?”

  She does know my mom!

  Recalling her mother had chatted with several women on the long ride, hope bloomed in her undead heart. “That’s right. Follow me.”

  Alexander was forced to stay behind as the crowd swarmed him for answers he was ill-equipped to handle, but it did provide a means for her to escape without getting tied into any extended discussion.

  Shutting the door behind them, Elinor pointed at one of the men in the hall, speaking Spanish; there were shockingly few amounts of males present in the area, yet that had likely been due to most acting as a distraction, or so she imagined.

  “Where’s somewhere we can talk in private?”

  “Uh… the warehouse is the clearest, I guess? Some guys are sorting through the inventory to see what we have, but that’s your best bet.”

  “It will work.”

  Gwen hugged herself, proceeding into the chilly place, yet didn’t complain. “So… you got powers? Heh. Your mom said if anyone would, it would be you… She was so worried when she returned to your room, and you were missing; panicking, more like it, blaming herself for taking you on the trip… and, heh, you don’t want to hear that.”

  It did actually help a bit to ease Elinor’s mind, and she drew the woman into a corner to chat, using scattered boxes as seats. “I want to know everything about my mother’s condition, and can you run through a few of my questions really fast?”

  “Mhm! I’ll do everything I can to help… Tiffany—well, your mother helped so many of us escape; it was actually her idea to make a distraction. They were trying to make us use the buses and a rig to transport all the stuff they stole around the hotel. She, umm, she made us promise to take care of you if we found you…” she trailed off, forcing a smile while examining her in the weak light overhead.

  “Although, I guess you’ve done pretty well taking care of yourself thus far, and your hair…”

  “We can skip past all of the unnecessaries,” Elinor crisply said, feeling a bit annoyed her mother was such a helpful and sacrificing person.

  All you needed to do was keep your head down, Mom! Why are you always making trouble by being the caring woman involved in all the local drama? It’s an addiction, I swear.

  “What color of toads took her?”

  Gwen shifted, breathing a long sigh; it wasn’t quite as cold in the warehouse as outside, but it was still far below the heated offices. “Umm. It was the orange ones, mainly, but the blue ones were with us, too. I think they’re pretty close.”

  “Mhm… She wasn’t killed?”

  “Oh, goodness, no!” Gwen swiftly protested. “She made it clear she would do anything to stay alive to find and protect you, and she was also fretting over your dad since…”

  “He’s an idiot who would probably get himself killed?” Elinor snarled, letting some frustration show before reigning it in with her passive Feat. “Last I heard, he was with the pure green toads, which tend to be the most hospitable. My mother was taken, though?”

  “Unfortunately… She was supposed to be in our group that got away, but things just didn’t work out in our favor, and she was put in the other group due to them, I suspect, seeing she was acting in a leadership role. These aliens are a lot smarter than some people give them credit for.”

  “Quite intelligent,” Elinor whispered, glaring at the floor. “She wasn’t hurt?”

  “Not the last time I saw her. Gah! I’m sorry I’m not being that helpful. This is all just—right, no unnecessary chatter—umm, yeah, she was perfectly healthy the last time I saw her. I don’t know what she’d do if they tried to take her onto a ship or something.”

  That is a concern, Elinor internally thought, stomach knotting at the prospect. She could have gone willingly, believing I was taken by them, which means I absolutely have to go to their world to rescue her, complicating everything. I’m not going to lose her, though.

  “That’s all I needed to know…”

  “Oh!” Gwen held up her hand as Elinor rose to leave, shifting to the side to dig around in her tight pants. “Your mother asked me to give you this—I don’t know, as proof, I think?”

  Elinor accepted a black hair tie, which could have been from anyone. Stupid, Mom… I don’t know every accessory you have, and what woman traveling in South America doesn’t have one of these?

  “Thanks…”

  “Mhm. I really hope you find her and your dad, too.”

  She nodded, playing with the item between her fingers and letting Gwen return to the warmth of the offices. She couldn’t see her mother escaping a prisoner transport, and she was probably panicking on the other side when she noticed Elinor wasn’t there. It looked like she’d entered hard mode now.

  It did make sense why her mother would conclude Elinor had been kidnapped by them since they attacked shortly after she’d disappeared.

  Well, Butter… We’re going to war, I suppose, she whispered to the butterfly, almost beyond her range at the abandoned house. She sensed her unintelligent undead outside move out at the same time, indicating Virgil would be finding her soon. My mom was taken to their world.

  “A rescue operation, more than a war, I’d say,” Butter mused. “Also, I have the goods, and on the way, I managed to pick up another four Death Orbs from all the sheltered critters in the attic, trying to escape the snow.”

  We’ll need them. Elinor reached back to bundle her hair and slip the tie around her locks to fashion a low ponytail, fingers slipping through the ethereal veil. If I’m being honest, I can’t see us going to the other side as conquerors; their numbers are too great.

  “The reason I said more of a rescue operation. If we are to rescue your mother, we’ll need to get a bit creative… See if our thoughts align; we get much stronger, max out your Death Pool and our reserves, get some solid Common soldiers, and do whatever we can to willingly get captured without them being destroyed. Thoughts?”

  They don’t know our capabilities, Elinor hummed, vision rising to the door as Virgil exited, whispering to the dark-skinned man that didn’t seem to trust her. I can grow in the meantime, and maybe when I reach level five, options will open with a new Feat.

  Right now, allowing ourselves to be captured is my only option, and who knows how long these gateways will remain open? I need to build this beast growing in my heart to contend with what we’re bound to face. How are Mika’s efforts?

  “None of her minions have died yet, so our undead leader is doing her job efficiently and using Eduardo as a scout. We may need to replace him soon, though. Unless you believe his curse is worth keeping, even at his low Grade and Tier?”

  I’m not sure yet, and until we find a better option, he’ll be helpful.

  “True enough. What are your thoughts on that orange elite scout that was only Poor-S-Grade? I expected more, to be honest.”

  As did I. It’s probably because most of their utility and strength comes from the ritual bond to those blood seeds. They’re strong on their own, but there’s a spiritual binding they do with the seed creatures, and when that’s broken, they’re just strong scouts.

  “That seems logical. Anyway, I’m about to go out hunting again. Good luck recruiting the bull-man. I’m excited!”

  I’d like to say we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket, but we don’t exactly have many options.

  “It’s so sad, and I’ll keep my eyes open for more candidates. May my ever-blooming fortunes smile upon you, Priss; the golden dew of the high heavens will christen your head with the luck of the gods!”

  Let’s not write fanfiction, my fatty butterfly roommate. We need to operate in the real world, not your delusional fantasies of divinity. After all, we can’t all be beautiful golden narcissists.

  “I am devastated by your lack of faith! You will see my radiance one of these days.”

  I won’t hold my breath, High Monarch of the Evening Star, she teased, wearing a light smile as Virgil broke away and approached her. Don’t lose your head out there again.

  “Twice! It happened twice! I believe you’ve been killed more than I, Priss. Humph.”

  Hehe. And what does that say about my faithful High Monarch?

  “Ugh. I can’t protect you from yourself, Priss; give me a little leniency in at least that.”

  Okay, that’s fair, I suppose. Good luck on the hunt.

  “As well to you, my depressing doppelganger!”

  “Everything set in order?” Elinor questioned, retaking a seat and crossing her legs.

  “For now. Mmgm. There are always problems, and everyone’s looking for someone to take charge or fix issues they made.”

  “Hmm-hmm. Welcome to the life of leadership,” she chuckled. “Is our visit to your morgue in order?”

  “About that… Uh-hmm. Some people are asking if you can…”

  “Truly bring back the dead—in short, return their loved ones?”

  “Yeah… I guess it’s inevitable that people would want to know.”

  “It is, and I can,” she stated, tapping her knee with her fingernail and drawing his gaze. “That being said, I am limited on the number of individuals I can return like that; the number is growing as I get stronger, but I must prioritize individuals that will offer me more options to deal with the threats surrounding us, not making people feel better.”

  “I completely understand,” Virgil nodded. “Uh. I guess that’s a good enough answer for now, and it’s sure to make a lot of people question… a lot of things.”

  Elinor sensed what he was building up to and rose to her feet. “Hehe. Yes, I get that raising Carlos—if he meets my expectations—will be a measuring stick they use to determine my abilities. Shall we not waste more time?”

  “Right this way,” he sighed, waving at several workers nearby that offered the same gesture, frowns following her passing as he took them into a back processing area for boxes. “We put all our dead here… We don’t know why, but they’ve also been taking all the corpses.”

  “Burial rights and to cut us open to better understand our anatomy, most likely,” Elinor absently replied, focus drifting between the various bodies of men, women, and children, covered by thin sheets that hardly hid who was below. “Perhaps I’ll find someone else here who can offer me something, too.”

  “Ahem… we should probably just stick with Carlos for now. Maybe if, uh, yeah…”

  “I can compromise for now, yet we need to let, I admit, well-placed prejudices against necromancers go and embrace what we must to survive. Hmm. Is this him?”

  “It is,” Virgil muttered, rubbing his left arm as goosebumps crawled up his skin. “He saved a lot of people… It would go a long way in giving people hope if he came back.”

  “Let’s see what we are dealing with then,” she said, emerald light filling the space. Several men peeked inside, curious about what they were doing in the off-limits area and fixating on her bright jade, ghostly fire as she bent down to touch the gutted, handsome man, matted with blood.

  “Well?” Virgil hissed, shuffling a bit away.

  The corner of Elinor’s mouth twisted, showing her gleaming teeth. Butter…

  “Hmm? Oh, I have six! I’m returning now with the spoils of my conquest, and Mika has two scouts for you; the young blood she took has a bit of damage. Wait, are you raising the bull-man? Don’t hold out on me, Priss! Tell me! Do we get our Staff Sergeant?” she asked, practically bouncing on her bed as she momentarily returned to her diamond to better grasp her emotional state.

  We have our first Staff Sergeant, Elinor confirmed, making Butter squeal with excitement. Common-C.

  “He will be such an asset we desperately need, and he’ll gain a Class from your System right from the start. He’ll be able to take charge of Mika’s group—I’m on my way! I’m on my way!”

  She had plenty of Death Orbs to raise him; it would take her from eight to four, but that was acceptable, and Butter’s delivery would jump it up to ten. Now, she only hoped he would be more accepting of his position than Mika and Eduardo.

  “He’s just what I need,” Elinor said, spreading the flames to call the chains that would pull his spirit back to his body.

  “Woah!”

  His flesh was burned away, replaced with sinew and green organs that pumped within, leaving him in an odd, awkward state of skeletal and muscle; it was certainly disconcerting to see him twitch and slowly lift himself up.

  “I-Is he—what the hell!?”

  “Bro, she just… Damn! Yo, what’s going on, Virgil?!”

  Virgil swallowed the lump in his throat. “Is he going to look like th-that forever?”

  “Hmm-hmm-hmm. No,” Elinor smoothly replied, getting to her feet as the dead man regained his bearings. “As time goes by, he’ll regain his former glory; in fact, all those I return will be at the peak of their youth, and most of their disabilities should be cured. How do you—”

  She cut off as a resonance passed between Carlos and her, and it felt like something within him was drawn out and devoured by the Seed within her.

  [Level Up - Level 5]

  [1 Stat Point Added: 2 Available]

  [1 Stat Modifier Point Added: 1 Available]

  [1 Refinement Point Added: 1 Available]

  [1 Branch Feat Point Added: 1 Available]

  It took her a moment to realize what had just happened. Did I just eat the Seed that changed him? I can gain the experience that they accumulated. Now that is broken!

  Sensing many things unlock with the level for her to go through, Elinor tried to temper her excitement as Carlos got to his feet and rubbed his skinless jaw. Although he couldn’t quite talk normally yet, due to not having a tongue or vocal cords, they would develop as he increased his tier.

  “I see I’ve returned as… an undead? Well, love—eh, Empress?” he questioned, processing the information her ability instilled inside him. “I can’t say I fully grasp the situation, but you are the one that is my master… Is that right?”

  It is. Can you write?

  “I sure hope so,” he chuckled, making a clicking sound from his snapping teeth that set the men around them on edge. “Oh. Yeah, I can see why they’re upset. Oof. Umm. Well, isn’t this somethin’? I can live again and fight those aliens, huh? I’m in!”

  “Excellent.”

  Turning to Virgil, showing a smile, she motioned to them. “Carlos will write to answer any questions or things you want to ask him; he’ll join you as I sort through a few pressing matters. Ask him whatever you like, and he will answer truthfully without my interference; you have my word.”

  She moved to a chair in the corner of the room, allowing them to work through the situation themselves. Elinor closed her eyes and entered her diamond; it was time to see what bonuses she’d unlocked. Hopefully, there would be something of worth for what was to come.

  There was one thing she did know; it was time to wish RIP to the girl she was because, at this point, she had already passed the point of no return—everyone would have to deal—she was a mythickin lich empress, for better or for worse, and now Elinor had to learn how to live with what she’d become.