With the monster release coming in just a day I made the tour of the clearing and frontier quick for Lysander, only covering the essentials. It was made quicker by his astute mind and sharp eye, pointing out things I hadn't bothered to consider. I was so focused on guarding the frontier that I hadn't considered pulling back closer to the village during this first monster release.

  While I contemplated this new information I was given more by my hounds, they had arrived at the mysterious settlement and spent the night scouting. What they had to report was, well it changed a lot if not everything. The settlement was home to Goblins, yes the very same we had come into conflict with so many times. Unfortunately they couldn't get much more information other than that the settlement was built into a cliffside and housed hundreds if not thousands of goblins.

  "Goblins are tricky beings," Elden was explaining, "By their nature they are chaotic and unruly, but at their core they are survivalists."

  "Does that mean some form of alliance is possible?" I asked.

  "Why are you considering such an approach?" Elden inquired.

  "Safety in numbers really, having an ally rather than another enemy would help us out in the long run," I explained, "Even if they are chaotic, it would be another arrow in the quiver of Riverrun."

  Elden nodded in agreement, "After the monster's release we'll need to send a diplomatic envoy, and learn the language."

  I nodded, "In the meantime I need to summon more Specters. What should I focus on getting do you think?"

  "I know we wanted to fill out general archetypes," Elden thought aloud, "We have our General, and I fill the scholar role," I nodded along with his statements, "We need something for stealth operations, but I personally think we should wait for Shades to do that."

  I nodded, "You're probably right, let's see about just filling out the rest of my minion slots then for the time being and give Myer an army."

  "I'd say that's a sound choice," Elden agreed, "Let us discuss this with Myer."

  Lysander watched Elden and I interact at the edge of the clearing where he was busy examining my zombies.

  "I'd like to meet this Myer too," He called out and then hastily added, "If you don't mind that is."

  I shrugged, "Sure."

  Myer materialized much like Elden had and gave Lysander a curt nod.

  "You wanted to discuss the rest of the summoning, my lord," He said.

  I raised an eyebrow, "No need to be formal, General."

  "Allow me this to repent on my hasty judgments out in the field," He replied.

  "Yeah all right," I glanced at Elden, "What type of troops do you need, General, in order to effectively do the task I've given you? I have roughly fourteen more slots to work with."

  Myer thought for a moment, gazing at the horizon before turning his attention back towards me, "With fourteen I'd want five men at arms with sword and shield, five with spears, and four archers, ideally."

  "Let's see what we can make happen then," I said, stretching my arms above my head.

  "Excuse me," Lysander interrupted, "But what exactly are you?"

  Myer looked over at Lysander and eyed him, "The man that's going to be getting you into fighting shape after this ritual."

  "Huh?" Lysander's mouth opened.

  "Look at you, you could barely fend off a chicken with that frame," Myer continued, "Fetch some gear from the discarded equipment and ready yourself."

  "What?"

  Myer stared at Lysander before he turned his attention back to me, "Shall we proceed, my lord?"

  "Let's," I stifled a grin, "Oh and Lysander, he's being perfectly serious."

  I stood before the ritual circle, still preserved by whatever magic Elden had done to it, and held out my hands, "Let's get started."

  Mana and death energy coursed through my body, falling from my hands in liquid spectral fire droplets. I repeated the incantation from earlier and felt something new rub against my consciousness, something primal. The trees whispered into my ears, the grass blowing indistinct words from their tips. On instinct I allowed whatever it was in, and the flames grew more teal as something else was added. A low horn call echoed through the clearing as my crest ignited in the center of the circle.

  System Notice:

  Quest; Trial of the Wight has been added.

  Quest; Trial of the Wight will become available at level 10.

  Survive the trial and prove that you have accepted who you are in this new world or forever be left in the analogs of history, forgotten and abandoned.

  Magic snapped into place with an audible pop as my soul sight activated, revealing far more souls than last time, waiting at the edges of the circle.

  Elden looked over at me, his shrouded hood looking me up and down with pride?

  "All who wish to serve me, come forth and bend a knee." I said, my voice a whisper on the breeze.

  My crest flamed in the center of the circle and the power flooded outwards, calling to any and all Wandering Souls. But then I felt it, a snap in the tether.

  Warning: Due to [Error] summoning ritual has failed.

  My crest looked at me accusingly before fizzling out and the ritual went dead.

  Notice: No Wandering Souls have answered your call.

  "Yea, I noticed," I muttered.

  Elden looked at me and looked back at the ritual, "I see."

  "Let's try it again," I said, reaching my hand out to a corpse nearby but stopped as the muscles in my arm cramped and splintered, I hissed out an exclamation.

  Notice: Due to [Error] the ritual cannot be attempted again for 48 hours.

  I frowned at the notice and glanced at Elden, "The System won't let me attempt it again for another couple days."

  "That's," Elden looked over at Myer, "Inconvenient."

  I nodded my agreement, holding the wrist of my cramped arm.

  "You summoned me just fine," Myer wondered aloud, "Why not now?"

  I shrugged, "Can you make due with Zombies, General?"

  "I suppose I'll have to," Myer sighed, "Do you need more corpses?"

  I shook my head, "I should be able to do something with what we have."

  "Don't beat yourself up too much Crowley," Lysander consoled, "Not many Necromancers can get even two Specters under their control willingly."

  I frowned, "Hey Lysander, remember what I said about the Goblin village?"

  He nodded.

  "Do me a favor and go report that to Harald, yea?" I said.

  "Oh I can stay and help," Lysander smiled.

  "No I'm all right," I forced a smile.

  Lysander frowned but didn't press after Myer stared at him for several silent seconds. He departed, his legs moving swiftly.

  "What's wrong my lord?" Myer asked.

  "I don't know Myer," I sighed, "I really don't know."

  "It seemed like an incompatibility with your crest," Elden mused aloud.

  Myer frowned and looked at me.

  "It probably was," I half growled, "It's only been barely more than a week since I arrived here. How was I supposed to come to terms with what I am now in that time?"

  I shuffled towards a corpse and raised my hand above it, spectral energy flowing from my fingertips and wrapping around the corpse of the deor, "I wasn't a Necromancer before, I wasn't an undead before," The corpse morphed and squished into a general humanoid shape, "And suddenly I'm here mutilating a corpse to make a fucking zombie and you know how I feel about it?" I looked at my specters accusingly, "I don't feel a damn thing."

  Notice: Zombie raised.

  A low guttural groan echoed from the zombie in front of me as I pointed it towards the goblin zombies before walking to the next corpse.

  I raised my hand above the next corpse, "Shouldn't I be disgusted with myself? Shouldn't you be?"

  Notice: Zombie raised.

  It followed after the other zombie before I moved on.

  "I brought you back from the void Myer, took you from whatever peace you were enjoying. Shouldn't you hate me for that?" I motioned towards the zombies, "Shouldn't they?"

  Notice: Zombie raised.

  I moved on. "Shouldn't I hate myself? Tyriel sure does. You saw the way Robin looked at me when she came to the clearing the other day. You see the way the rest of them look at me."

  Notice: Zombie raised.

  "I know that look, that look has followed me around since I was fourteen," I took a breath, "This was supposed to be a second chance but then that damn fey gave me this class, did something to my race, and now here I am. In the same situation I was in before, clawing for some recognition, some courtesy."

  Notice: Zombie raised.

  "I'd settle for a look that says I smell bad, it'd be better than the disgust or disdain," I could feel the energy rising within me, crushing my chest and making my throat constrict.

  Notice: Zombie raised.

  "I didn't want this." I muttered.

  Elden took a step forward but Myer held out his arm, stopping him.

  "Crowley," Myer said, "You're looking to the wrong people if you want recognition or courtesy. You won't find decency in that village, not right now."

  "How do I find it, Myer?" I turned to face him.

  "Show that you deserve it. All you are right now is some Necromancer living in the woods. Stand against the Monster Release, show them what you are. What you really are." Myer appeared in front of me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "Show yourself."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "That's all it takes?" I asked.

  "It's the beginning," Myer smiled, "You remind me of a friend I had a long time ago. He tried and tried to become a Paladin but could never quite make it. In the end, he was instrumental in ending a war and everyone saw that he was always worthy of the title."

  "Did he get it?"

  "No. He let his conflict consume him in the end, learn from that Crowley. Will you let yours consume you? To be left in the analogues of history as a footnote?"

  I shook my head.

  "Now get back to it, you have five more zombies to raise and then we need to figure out how we're going to fight these monsters."

  I returned to raising the zombies, one after another in silence. Weight building in my mind for what I had said, it seemed pathetic in hindsight. I looked at my new zombies and walked over to start formulating a plan. It wouldn't do to dwell right now, things needed to be done. My mind could torture itself when I laid down on my bedroll.

  The sun rose through tinted lenses as every villager gathered behind hastily thrown together barricades. Their system screens giving the sun a lime tint, the numbers counting down steadily adding weight to each breath. Harald stood proudly in the frontmost barricade, his sword and shield drawn, Robin in the back stringing her bow, Eustace taking practice swings with a war pick next to her. Tyriel unseen crouching in the shadows behind a tree, the rest of the new arrivals holding scavenged weapons delivered by Crowley and his zombies.

  Notice: Monster Release imminent, please prepare.

  5

  Everyone drew their weapons up into ready positions.

  4

  Crowley stood in the forest, a dagger in one hand and a death bolt building in the other.

  3

  Myer readied his blade, gripping the hilt in both hands.

  2

  Lysander glanced nervously between Crowley and his zombies before running back towards the village.

  1

  "So it begins," Elden intoned.

  Howls broke the deathly silence, the roars of beasts and the shaking of the earth beneath my feet. It was time, the day I had been preparing for. Did I prepare enough?

  "Get ready," I shouted.

  The first monster burst through the bushes, a hound with four eyes foam dripping from its maw while it crunched down on the shoulder of a zombie. The zombie bit it in turn and ripped flesh from bone causing the hound to yip and attempt to pull back. But my zombie had it gripped in its arms as it bit and bit and bit, ripping it apart.

  Grey Hyena, level 7, defeated, experience points earned. Due to defeating an enemy above your level additional experience has been earned.

  More hounds burst through the bushes joined by furry bipeds.

  "Gnolls," Elden noted.

  I narrowed my eyes and threw my first death bolt, followed by another, and another. They were coming from the bushes at an increasing pace. Overwhelming my zombies.

  A sharp pull alerted me to my own hounds engaging with the enemy and I nodded my acknowledgment of their message. They'd be here soon. A spear sprouted in the ground to my left and I jumped to the side in startlement.

  "Focus Crowley," Elden admonished and threw a death bolt of his own.

  Blood sprayed in the air and coated the ground, my zombies holding the line causing the hyenas and Gnolls to part around us in their pursuit of the village. I gritted my teeth and fired another death bolt. Spears pelted my general area and pierced through the zombies.

  I moved forward to assist one such victim but Myer beat me to it, swinging his massive sword in an arc, decapitating one of the Gnolls and pulling a spear from the chest of a pinned zombie. I kept firing death bolts, sheathing my dagger and throwing them with both hands. Not all of them hit their mark but I was casting with such frequency that eventually I was hitting my target most of the time. Elden on the other hand was striking with expert precision, death bolts, lightning, and fire. He seemed to be a one man artillery unit.

  If the goal was to protect the clearing or just ourselves we'd be succeeding, but too many of them were getting past us. I kept casting, absorbing the death energy from the area to empower my spells. We weren't going to be able to hold the line for much longer.

  "Here they come!" Harald bellowed, taking a fighting stance.

  Arrows whistled past him, sprouting from the chests and torsos of the Hyenas and their bipedal counterparts. The wave of monsters crashed into their barricades, scarlet arcs trailing blades of the villages defenders.

  "Hold the line," Harald shouted, "If we hold them here with the river at our backs we can do this!" His blade slamming down into the back of a Hyena.

  Radiant light shone at his right. A spear had emerged from Aaron's back but he was already swinging his woodcutting axe once more. Eustace tracked the movements of each person and he frowned.

  "Crowley's not going to make it on his own out there," He shouted to Robin.

  "What are we supposed to do about it?" Robin yelled back, "It's not like we can cut our way through these things without getting devoured."

  "I'm going to feel real guilty if he dies because of their prejudice," Eustace replied, throwing another radiant bolt towards Harald and planting his war pick into the skull of a Gnoll.

  "If we live, let's do more to get him back," Robin said.

  Eustace nodded his agreement, swinging his weapon at another target, imbuing it with radiant light.

  The monsters were ceaseless, throwing themselves at the barricades with abandon. The piles of corpses made it difficult for them to keep coming and for the defenders to continue holding the line.

  "Harald," Tyriel panted, appearing next to him covered in blood, "There's too many of them, we need to fall back to the next barricade."

  Harald looked around and noting how the monsters struggled to climb over the corpses of their brethren nodded his agreement. "There's a lull in the battle coming," Harald said, "Pull back!" He shouted his next words to the others.

  Class Necromancer has reached level 7.

  Skills available.

  Crowley panted, blood dripping down his right arm and from a cut along his chest. A spear held wobbly in his hands as he pulled it from the leg of a Gnoll.

  "Assign all points to Willpower," He said breathlessly, ducking behind Myer as more Gnolls pierced their thin barrier of zombies.

  The System Box flew in front of his eyes granting him a look at his minion cap.

  Current Minions: 17 of 47.

  "I don't think zombies are going to cut it anymore but what can you do," I muttered under my breath, pulling more of the surrounding death around me and expelling it in a large radius. Causing all the gore and parts to morph and melt into several new humanoid zombies.

  Current Minions: 32 of 47.

  "Let's start pulling back," I said to Myer who nodded his agreement.

  "We need somewhere more defensible," Myer said, "Let's pull towards the village."

  I nodded, their dislike of me couldn't matter less right now.

  We slowly pulled back from the clearing, struggling to keep any sort of formation as we hit the trees. I mentally commanded the zombies to forgo the formation we had gotten them in and to just start attacking around us. Elden and Myer ran at my sides protecting me personally. It wasn't long before we had to stop yet again to fend off the monsters encroaching through the horde I was steadily building. I jabbed the spear through the chest of another Gnoll and felt the core of the wood give and shatter when I pulled back. Instead of stepping back I immediately planted the glorified sharpened stick into the neck of an encroaching hyena.

  "We're running out of options," I shouted, "Elden do you have any more area spells you can throw out to carve a path?"

  "I can throw one more major one out," Elden replied, a death bolt launching itself into the horde.

  "Do it and let's make a run for it," Myer commanded.

  Elden nodded and let loose a blast of deathly energy, knocking back the monsters and inflicting Necrosis on more than a few.

  "Let's move!" Myer bellowed.

  Robin fired another arrow, watching it disappear into the endless horde before them.

  "This isn't going to work for much longer," She glanced down at her dwindling supply of arrows, the arrows she had were primitive but easy to produce in a large quantity. But she didn't expect to have already fired what felt like a few hundred. Her right arm burned from the strain.

  Sweat dripped down Eustace's forehead as he threw another radiant bolt out to the frontline. "It was nice while it lasted I suppose," He chuckled, "Too bad I never got to take you out for a meal."

  Robin looked over at him, "Really? You say that right now?"

  "Bad timing?" He asked sheepishly.

  She narrowed her eyes and looked around, raising an eyebrow when her gaze returned to him.

  "Fair enough." He sighed, throwing another bolt.

  "I'd have taken you up on the offer," She admitted before firing another arrow.

  Eustace grinned, "I'll hold you up to that," He pointed towards the encroaching horde where a bloody figure was hauling through the horde, "Cause we might just live through this."

  I leapt and dove over the small mountain of corpses in front of the first barricade, rolling and sputtering before setting a foot on the second barricade and being grabbed by the wrist and thrown forward by Eustace. Landing on my back I exhaled a long breath, glancing over at where Elden and Myer were still fighting through the horde to reach me. I hadn't like leaving them behind but one doesn't say no to a man wielding a sword the size of a person.

  "Are you all right?" Eustace asked hurriedly, radiant light emitting from his palm, "Don't worry I'll patch you up real quick."

  I knew on some level that that bolt was going to hurt like hell, "No no no no," I waved my hands in front of me, "I'm all right, no need for that. Save it for Harald or someone on the line."

  "But," Eustace hesitated, "You were on the line."

  I nodded and forced myself back to my feet, "And I'll be going back, just give me a moment to sort through some things."

  Class Necromancer has reached Level 8.

  Skills Available.

  I mentally allocated the free points to Willpower once again before I even opened the box of text to see what new skills I could get. I scanned through the list hurriedly and picked two immediately. I probably should've thought more about it but I didn't feel like I had the time.

  "I'm going back out there," I told Eustace, "I just needed a moment where I wasn't going to immediately get stabbed."

  "Wait, Crowley" Eustace held out his hand to stop me but I had already made my way to the forward most barricade.

  "Couldn't hold the line out there?" Tyriel mocked with a snide grin.

  "Shut it," Harald growled, "Crowley, what are you able to do right now? We can't keep falling back to the barricades."

  I nodded my agreement, eventually we'd run out of room to retreat with the river at our backs. "I can start cursing them and hopefully thin their numbers."

  Harald nodded, cutting down another gnoll attempting to cross the barricade.

  I took a steadying breath and held out my hand casting one of my new skills and watched the initial contact jolt a hyena as its legs began to rot with Necrosis before suddenly growing rabid and attacking its fellows around it. Black spores floating from its body and sinking into other nearby monsters.

  Skill: Mark of the Grave; Focusing a chilling intent, you can brand a single enemy with the inescapable touch of death's wasting embrace. This skill applies a potent curse, Mark of the Grave, inflicting Necrosis, causing the target's very being to decay over time. But the grave is a hungry master, and upon the target's demise, the Mark does not simply fade. Instead, it leeches onto other nearby foes, continuing its corrosive work. As a final flourish, an enemy that succumbs while bearing the Mark briefly reanimates as a frenzied corpse. These temporary, shambling forms are driven by a final, aggressive burst of necrotic energy, lashing out at their former allies before inevitably collapsing back into inert remains. This skill turns your enemies' final moments into a weapon against their own ranks, ensuring that even in death, they serve the [Error] will.

  I grinned, hopefully this would be enough to start pushing them back, in the meantime I should raise some more zombies and sow some chaos in their ranks. I raised my hands and began to cast Animate, wishing I could target more than one corpse. The closest I could get was animating gore like in the forest, which in itself was an interesting loophole for the skill.

  Current minions: 40 of 55.

  My eight new zombies pushed against the gnolls and hyenas in front of the barricades, not exactly giving any breathing room but enough to where Harald and the others weren't constantly swinging their weapons.

  Myer and Elden phased through the gnolls and barricades, remaining incorporeal by my side.

  "This is what we should've been doing from the beginning," Myer grumbled, "It was ridiculous of them to think Crowley could just hold the frontier."

  Elden nodded his agreement, taking the time to recover some of his mana. I fed them both strings of death energy from my reserves to aid the effort, there was plenty of death going around so my reserves were full for once and didn't dip far before refilling.

  I watched my curse spread from monster to monster, it wasn't killing them outright immediately, and I honestly wasn't expecting it to, but the weakening effect it was having was stupendous. Any of the affected monsters approaching the barricades were easily dispatched and my zombies were slowly but surely pushing back their front line.

  I sent a mental command to the zombies remaining in the forest to push through to join me at the barricade. They were unfortunately dropping like flies out there and I doubted I'd actually see any of them make it to me.

  Harald grinned fiercely, the zombies and whatever curse Crowley had put on the monsters was working wonders on their defensive strategy. It made him want to push out and retake the second barricade. But he would bide, a little longer and he could carve through them personally. And he would prove why he was the one in charge of military matters, why it would be so much better for everyone to fall in line and listen to his sage wisdom.

  The moment came and he jumped over the barricade with a warcry, scarlet flames erupting along his sword and searing the flesh of all who dared to oppose him.

  The others on the barricade followed his lead, though Crowley hesitated for a moment. Allowing Eustace and Robin to catch up with him.

  "Long time no see," Robin panted, "I was wondering how it was going out there."

  "Terribly," Crowley replied, spectral teal energy leaving his fingertips and flowing into the various corpses. The mounds shambled to their feet and hobbled after the front line.

  "It wasn't going much better over here, as you can see," Eustace added.

  "Hopefully our combined effort will win this," Robin said optimistically.

  "Hopefully," Crowley responded, "It was stupid of them to think I could hold the frontier against something like this." He sighed, echoing Myer's words from earlier.

  Robin and Eustace frowned, watching Crowley move up with the rest of the zombies he animated.

  Harald swung his blade through necks and arms, cutting through them with ease. A mad grin painted across his face, though no one could see it properly in the chaos.

  Death bolts flew past him, Crowley's pitiful contribution to the actual combat. He sneered and the scarlet flames intensified. Sure Crowley was useful to have around, he had proven that. But now that he had become a crux in their survival Harald had mixed feelings about it. He took a breath and stepped back from the barricade, allowing Aaron to take his place while he snuffed the flames along his sword. It wouldn't do well to keep them out for long.

  Class: Hell Knight has reached level 11.

  Skills available.

  He scanned through his new options, picking his new skill and eyeing Crowley from the corner of his eye. It was simple, either Crowley became his soldier or they'd make do without a Necromancer in their ranks.

  I drew in more death energy and expelled it into the corpses at the barricade.

  Current Minions: 37 of 55.

  They were dropping like flies, but at least I could keep doing this for, well for as long as the battle went really. I had stopped using mana towards the beginning of the fight and had been strictly utilizing death energy. It had proven to be the right move and so far there were no adverse effects. A box of text appeared in my vision.

  Congratulations, you have survived the initial onslaught of the first monster release. The monsters have selected a champion who will challenge a member of your settlement in a one on one duel to the death. Should a member of your settlement succeed, the monsters will withdraw into the wilds and cease their onslaught.

  The crowd of monsters suddenly stopped their advance and pulled back, creating space in front of the first barricade. I drew my zombies back to line the barricade just in case the monsters decided they'd give their onslaught another go despite the promise of a duel.

  A Gnoll, standing at least seven feet tall and slightly hunched approached the barricade, a gnarled looking greataxe dragging along the ground. It huffed and sniffed the air, its beady eyes staring at all of us in turn. It let out a grotesque howl and slammed the axe down on one of my zombies, pointing its clawed finger at Harald.

  "Well that was rude," I muttered, silently mourning the wasted death energy used on that zombie.

  "As it should be," Harald remarked, walking forward to meet the challenge.

  The giant Gnoll backed up into the center of a makeshift arena, snarling and hefting its axe into a ready position. Harald took up a similar stance, sword and shield at the ready. The two eyed each other, likely looking for any weaknesses to exploit.

  The duel started harshly, both parties charging at the other and clanging their weapons together. The axe smashed down on the shield, causing Harald to bend his knees, nearly buckling at the ferocity. His sword lashed out like a snake, nicking the gnolls thigh. It growled and the pair broke apart, trading blows.

  There was something about it that bothered me, maybe the movements of both parties. I expected the Gnoll to be gangly and lumber more than walk, I was right about that part. But I was expecting more finesse and cunning from Harald, instead his movements were blocky and harsh. His blows were ferocious but poorly executed.

  "Myer," I whispered, "Do you see what I'm seeing?"

  Myer nodded, "It's likely that Harald talked up his skills. The training is there but it's poorly executed."

  I frowned, that didn't make much sense to me. I had seen how well he was performing on the barricades, nothing was making it past him. Why was he changing it up now?

  "I think he's purposely hiding how skilled he actually is," I replied, stepping away from the group and pretending to examine a zombie.

  "What's the purpose of that?" Myer questioned, "If anything it will only challenge the leadership role he desires so much."

  "That or he's luring the Gnoll into a false sense of security," I proposed.

  "You don't require such tactics with those beasts," Myer scoffed.

  I turned my attention back towards the duel.

  Harald was becoming faster, nimbly blocking and sidestepping. As if he had heard the conversation between Myer and I, he was increasing the amount of effort he was putting into the fight. The great axe was glancing off of his shield now and sinking into the ground, allowing deeper ripostes and time to avoid the return attacks.

  The sword slid along the torso of the monster and Harald bashed the rim of his shield into the monster's groin area. Causing it to drop to its knees before Harald finished it off quickly, plunging his blade into its face. Its arms fell limply to its sides, the axe clattering into the dirt.

  Congratulations, you have successfully fended off the first monster release. The remaining monsters will disperse into the wilds.

  Time until the next monster release, thirty days, twenty three hours, fifty nine minutes, and fifty nine seconds.

  I pushed the box of text out of my vision to see the Gnolls and hyenas bounding into the surrounding forest. Becoming a long term problem that I'd likely be the one dealing with.

  Remaining settlements: forty seven of one hundred and twelve.

  I blinked, more than half of the current settlements have been destroyed by the monster release. And this was just the first one. And we only had a month to prepare for the next one.