The Unique Skeleton Knight turned and knelt before Mike, planting its greatsword into the ground.

Boom.

The ground cracked slightly from the weight.

Lily swallowed.

"This thing alone could wipe a Rank 1 dungeon."

"Yeah," Mike nodded.

He then focused on his connection with the undead knight and severed it.

The moment the connection was cut, the Skeleton Knight stood up, turned, and knelt once again—this time in a proper knightly manner before Lily.

"As you wanted," Mike said calmly. "The first one is yours."

Lily smiled, clearly satisfied.

"Let's try the Skeleton Grand Mage next," she said.

Mike nodded, then added,

"And let it hunt for us."

Lily looked at him, surprised.

"Are you sure? I mean, that way you won't get any experience."

"Yeah, I almost forgot about that," Mike said. "I'll hunt too. Just keep it as backup."

Lily nodded.

"Alright."

The Unique Skeleton Knight rose and took position behind her, greatsword resting on its shoulder.

They moved deeper into the dungeon.

The air grew heavier, and the green glow on the trees became stronger. The sound of footsteps echoed faintly ahead.

"Orcs," Mike said quietly.

Two patrolling orcs came into view. They were tall, muscular, and carrying crude axes.

Mike stepped forward without hesitation.

Slash.

Slash.

Two clean strikes. Both orcs fell before they could react.

"Good," Mike said. "Skeleton Knight, secure the bodies."

The Unique Skeleton Knight moved instantly. It dragged the two corpses aside and placed them neatly in one spot.

They continued moving.

Another patrol. Three orcs this time.

Mike rushed in again, sword flashing. Black steel met green flesh. In seconds, all three were down.

"Five so far," Lily said.

"Not enough," Mike replied. "For safety, let's gather ten."

She nodded.

"A Skeleton Grand Mage might need more bodies than a knight."

They kept moving through the orc territory, avoiding camps and focusing on patrols. One by one, orcs fell. The Skeleton Knight followed behind, collecting bodies and stacking them together.

Six.

Eight.

Ten.

Mike stopped and looked at the pile.

"That should be enough."

Lily raised her staff.

"Good. Let's do it here."

The dungeon was quiet for the moment. No patrols in sight.

Lily took a deep breath and focused her mana.

"Skeleton Grand Mage Creation."

Dark mana spread out from her staff, covering the pile of orc corpses.

The flesh decayed rapidly. Bones cracked, twisted, and fused together. Mana gathered densely at the center, forming a tall figure.

A skeletal form rose slowly.

It was taller than the Skeleton Knight, holding a long staff made of condensed bone and mana. Runes glowed faintly along its ribs and skull. Purple-blue flames burned in its eye sockets.

Lily felt the connection snap into place.

"…It worked," she said softly.

Mike nodded.

"Nice. That pressure already feels different."

The Skeleton Grand Mage lifted its staff and struck the ground once.

A low hum spread through the area as mana rippled outward.

Lily smiled.

"Yeah. This one is definitely stronger."

"But let's make it even better," Mike said.

He walked toward the Skeleton Grand Mage and placed his hand on its skull.

"Midas Touch."

Golden light spread from his palm.

Crack.

The mana around the undead surged violently. The Skeleton Grand Mage's body began to change. Its bones darkened, becoming smooth and refined, like polished black stone. The crude bone staff shattered and reformed, turning into a proper arcane staff—straight, solid, and engraved with glowing runes.

Dark red and deep purple mana wrapped around its body.

A robe formed over its skeletal frame, long and flowing, woven entirely from condensed mana. The air grew heavy, cold, and oppressive.

When the light faded, the undead standing there was completely different.

A Skeleton Archmage.

Its eye flames burned brighter than before, mixing red, blue, and violet hues. Mana pulsed from it in steady waves, and the presence of death was clear and unmistakable.

Lily felt the change instantly.

"…This is on another level."

Mike nodded.

"Skeleton Archmage. Unique-grade undead."

The Archmage lifted its staff slightly, and the surrounding mana reacted, bending naturally to its will.

"This one is mine too," Lily said.

Mike shook his head at her childish behavior but didn't argue. He simply nodded.

"By the way," Mike said, "now that we have these undead, I think we can easily participate in the upcoming Academy entrance exam."

Lily nodded happily.

"Yes. With their help, we can grow much stronger."

"Right," Mike continued. "So let's gather more undead. Let's see how many we can make. But do you feel any drain from these two? They're way above your level."

Lily shook her head.

"No. My regeneration is much higher than their consumption."

Mike paused, then stared at her.

"…Wait. My mana regeneration is like one percent of my total mana per minute and you having a B rank Mage class means yours regeneration is much higher than mine. Plus with your absurd mana pool, it's basically nothing."

He sighed.

"And you were angry when our first poor test subject drained a tiny bit of your mana which you might have not even felt draining."

Lily blushed.

"I was just annoyed," she muttered.

"Oh, poor test subject," Mike said solemnly, clasping his hands together and looking up in sky. "May your souls rest in peace."

Lily smacked the back of his head.

Clang.

"Ow—!" she hissed in pain from the backlash instead.

Mike was wearing his knight helmet. The backlash made her fingers go numb.

"You bastard!" Lily shouted.

Angry, she formed a massive spear of water and hurled it at him.

"Hey! Lily, it was a joke!" Mike yelled, turning and running.

"Come back here, you bastard!" she shouted as she chased after him.

Behind them, the Unique Skeleton Knight and Skeleton Archmage followed calmly, clearly sensing no killing intent—just tagging along as their masters ran deeper into the dungeon.

Mike ran through the trees, laughing as he dodged roots and low branches.

"Hey, calm down!" he shouted. "You're wasting mana!"

"I have plenty!" Lily yelled back, forming another water spear in her hand.

She threw it.

Boom.

The spear hit the ground just behind Mike, blasting dirt and leaves into the air. Mike barely rolled away in time.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.