I heaved a breath, letting the, albeit lightish, tent drop to the ground, throwing dust in a small arc. I rubbed my side, the wound from a gnoll not fully healed quite yet.

  Eustace approached me with a broad smile, "We did it," He said happily, "I can't believe we actually managed to survive and get you back into the village."

  I chuckled and coughed a little, dust refusing to unlodge from my throat, "I'm not sure how well this will go but it will be better than living out in the forest."

  "I can't imagine how isolating that was," Eustace replied, "But now you're here with the rest of us. We need to stick together, especially if the next release is anything like this one."

  I nodded my agreement, "We also need some more hands, we can't expect those barricades to work a second time. I'm surprised it even worked the first time."

  Eustace agreed with a nod and grinned, "I'm looking forward to it honestly, the System even gave me a path with the latest update for construction."

  "That's great," I smiled, "My paths are about what I expected honestly. Oh when's that meeting going to happen?"

  "In a couple hours," Eustace answered, "I'll let you get settled and see you then, yea?"

  "Yea," I nodded.

  I watched him walk away, the uncertain stares from Aaron and Bianca drilling holes into me. Lysander's excitement about not having to go back and forth through the forest was evident as well. Poor guy, he really didn't know what to do when the monsters came. I don't think he has much to offer to a combat endeavor. Hopefully he picks up enchantment and helps Eustace.

  I set up the tent slowly but surely, taking my time to make sure each peg and strap was placed properly before crawling into it and laying on my bedroll. Pulling up the fabled box of text to read over everything again. I had been ignoring it during the last bits of the fight and for the last couple of days.

  Class: Necromancer 12

  Skills Available.

  Trial of the Wight available.

  Attributes:

  Strength 17

  Agility 20

  Constitution 34

  Endurance 16

  Spirit 61

  Intelligence 20

  Perception 20

  Willpower 63.

  Current Minions: 15 of 63.

  Path of the Cryptkeeper

  Skills: Animate Tier 3, Create Ghoul Tier 2

  Path of the Grave

  Skills: Death Bolt Tier 3, Mark of the Grave Tier 2

  Path of the Reaper

  Skills: Bind Specter Tier 2

  Path of the Wight

  Skills: Soul Sight Tier 3, Harbinger Tier 1

  Path of the Horned King

  Skills: Whispers of the Hunt Tier 2

  Unsorted Skills: Basic Swordsmanship Tier 1, Basic Archery Tier 1, Basic Riding Tier 1, Basic Sorcery Tier 3.

  Passives: Death energy Reservoir Tier 3, [Error] Locked behind prerequisite.

  I stared at the box of text for what felt like an eternity, all of my paths made sense except for that last one, Path of the Horned King. What does that mean? I'm no use as a king, not as I am at least. And do I even want to be a king?

  I shook my head, there was time to think about that later, for now I needed to choose my new skills and get over to the meeting. It wasn't due for another hour or so but I hadn't really been in the village all that much. I would also have to address the incompatibility of my Bounding Hounds and Animate skill.

  I shook my head again, stop thinking and choose a damn skill.

  I initially grabbed Create Shade, as I said I had been going to for the last several levels, and watched it get sorted under the Path of the Reaper. But now I had a list before me and a new skill to choose.

  Skill: Call of the Blighted Beast

  Manifesting from disturbed earth, tangled blighted vines, or a sudden chill in the air, the Blighted Beast takes shape. Its appearance is that of a predator warped by death: perhaps a wolf with bone-like protrusions and glowing spectral teal eyes, a bear whose fur is matted with necrotic moss, or a stag with antlers of petrified wood entwined with thorny decay. These are intelligent undead, moving with a predatory grace and driven by an instinctual hunt fueled by death energy.

  Called forth to serve in your Legion, the Blighted Beast is a formidable addition, utilizing its gnashing maw and natural weaponry augmented by decay to close with your foes. Yet, heed the warning echoed in its very nature: while your call can bind it to your will, it remains tethered to the true call of the hunt, a wilder, more ancient instinct that perhaps even you cannot fully command, hinting at the untamed forces within the Path of the Horned King.

  Skill: Summon Winter Bound

  Drawing upon the chilling convergence of death and the wild, you call forth a creature born of winter's still grip and the grave's cold embrace. This is not a shambling corpse reanimated, nor a soul bound to servitude, but an intelligent echo of nature's final, frozen breath, given unnatural life through your connection to the Path of the Horned King.

  Manifesting from frost-laden air, a swirl of blighted snow, or the decay of frozen earth, the Winter Bound takes shape – perhaps a skeletal form wreathed in hoarfrost, a beast of ice and bone with eyes glowing spectral teal, or a figure composed of tightly packed, death-infused snow and bare, thorny branches. These are beings of the frozen cycle, possessing a chilling intelligence that shines in their movements and their silent, unnerving obedience.

  I blinked, these were some stellar choices and the System was describing them differently than before. It made me excited for the last couple of new choices.

  Skill: Soul Echo

  You reach out with your senses, not through sight or sound, but through the veil that separates the living from the spiritual, attuning yourself to the faint energies left behind by transient souls or impactful events. By focusing your will, you can coax these spiritual residues to momentarily coalesce, creating a fleeting echo of what once was. This echo is not a solid form, nor a conscious entity, but a translucent, shimmering impression – a spectral flicker that might resemble a figure from the past, replay a brief, silent scene of intense emotion or action, or manifest as a sudden, chilling aura of dread or sorrow. These echoes are ephemeral, lasting only for a few moments before dissipating back into the ambient spiritual energy.

  Skill: Crypt Purge

  Reaching out with a will attuned to the inevitable process of decay, you can accelerate the return of physical forms to dust. By focusing your death energy upon a corpse or a patch of organic matter, you trigger unnaturally rapid decomposition. The targeted material quickly withers, blackens, and collapses inward, sometimes accompanied by a brief, unsettling hiss or a puff of noxious, death-infused vapor.

  This swift decay serves a dual purpose: it effectively clears the area of unwanted remains, reducing them to inert components, and more importantly, it forces the rapid release of latent death energy contained within. This energy is then drawn back to you, replenishing your reserves. In its most potent manifestations, the burst of decay can briefly harm or sicken nearby living creatures, turning the process of decomposition into a localized, hazardous event. Crypt Purge is the mastery of turning physical remnants into fuel, a fundamental principle for any true keeper of the grave.

  I bit my lip in thought, these were some pretty good choices and ultimately my decisions were tied to three categories, more minions, almost an upgrade to my soul sight, or another decay curse type thing. What did I really need right now? The System was encouraging skill usage now with the tiers so if I get another minion skill I'll need to make sure I don't neglect my other ones.

  Animate could probably upgrade into something good, I had already received bonuses to mana usage and amount of undead per cast. So better intelligence couldn't be too far off. From the sounds of Call of the Blighted Beast it was a temporary minion and probably didn't count towards my minion cap.

  Winter Bound sounded pretty interesting and could probably round out my ranks a bit. Though I did just grab Create Shade. Do I really want to pick two minion skills back to back?

  Then there was being able to see visions of the past briefly with Soul Echo, not exceptionally useful right now but I could see some future usage.

  I think Crypt Purge is the least enticing right now, with my passive collection of Death Energy and the fact I'm typically reanimating the corpses left behind.

  I guess I was picking another minion skill then, but which one? Ultimately it comes down to whether I want more permanent minions or a temporary one. And how intelligent are the Winter Bound? Maybe they could help Eustace with Construction if they're smart enough.

  "Hey Elden, do you have a moment?" I asked.

  Elden's spectral hood poked through the side of the tent, "I can spare some time."

  "What is Winter Bound?"

  Elden seemed to frown, "Winter Bound, I'm afraid I don't know. Is it a skill the System is offering?"

  I nodded, "They seem to be a type of undead according to the description, and slightly intelligent."

  Elden nodded along with my words, "My apologies Crowley, but I'm not familiar with that type of undead. I've met plenty throughout my life and undeath, but nothing that carried that name."

  I frowned, "Do you think I should take it?"

  "What are your other options?" He asked.

  I explained to him the other three new skills available to me.

  "I agree with your assessment on the Soul Echo and Crypt Purge skills, while nice they wouldn't prove to be useful in the near future. I suppose it comes down to how much you want to focus on building an army."

  I nodded, "I guess I'll take Winter Bound then and we'll have to run some experiments later."

  "I'll add them to the list," Elden noted, "Don't forget that I want you to dissect some of those Gnolls before and after animation."

  "Another theory on the System evolution?" I inquired curiously.

  Elden nodded, "We'll speak about it more when we actually have a workspace available. I took the liberty of placing a few in preservation runes like I did with the ritual circle."

  I nodded and crawled out of my tent, "Good thinking," I stretched my arms above my head and twisted a bit, "I'm going to look around the village and get a general read on where I want to set up shop."

  Elden nodded and walked back towards Myer, where the pair resumed a discussion. I'm sure I would get the details about it later.

  In the meantime I wandered what little land had been cleared and wondered about where I wanted to live. Simply out of courtesy, or at least that'll be what everyone thinks, I wanted to live slightly away from the village center.

  Elden had plans for continuing to teach me and we needed some isolation and privacy. Can't have anybody just wandering in while I'm elbow deep in Gnoll or whatever creature's guts. Not to mention I'll need somewhere to converge a decent number of my minions, so there'll need to be some room. Shouldn't be hard to accomplish. I doubted many people, well besides Lysander, wanted to live next door to a Necromancer.

  Before I knew it Robin was walking up behind me to retrieve me for the village meeting. It seemed every member was going to be joining not just the usual four of us. Made sense, we had all survived the First Monster Release together, they'd most certainly earned a place on the council. I took a breath to center myself and walked over to the center of the village where some basic log benches had been placed around a small fire.

  "Now that everyone is here," Harald began, "I'd like to say first and foremost, congratulations to you all for surviving and fighting as hard as you did. It's because of our collective effort that we fought back the Monster Release."

  There was some light applause as everyone looked around.

  Harald cleared his throat, "Now then, there are some issues and developments that need to be discussed so we have a clear path on moving forward," He held up his hand and started ticking them off on his fingers, "First, we've fended off just the first Monster Release, there will be another in a month and we need to fortify our little settlement. Second, there's the matter of the settlement itself, we need to start construction on actual houses, we can't keep living in tents. Third, Crowley has reported that a Goblin Settlement is nearby," He looked over at me, "How long did it take your hounds to get there?"

  I thought for a moment before answering, "A few days, but they were more naturally able to bypass most physical obstacles. If I had to guess on how long it would take one of us to get there I'd say a week at minimum."

  Harald nodded, "Would you be able to send those hounds again to keep an eye on them?"

  I shook my head, "No, I lost them in the battle. It will take some time before I'm able to summon more."

  Harald nodded again but before he could speak Tyriel interrupted him, "There's also a fourth matter we need to talk about," She pointed at me, "Why the hell did he move into the village?" Bianca and Erica nodded their agreement, looking at me uncomfortably. Just what the hell had Tyriel said to them.

  "Because a united front proved to be most effective," Harald explained with a grimace, "We wouldn't have survived without him and vice versa."

  "Should've just left him to die out there," Bianca muttered. Aaron slightly nodded his agreement.

  "Give it some time and before you know it, you'll be used to how Crowley operates," Robin consoled, "He's not a bad person."

  Erica scowled, "Really? He's not a bad person? Do you hear yourself Robin? He casually raised those abhorrent things at the barricades and just kept doing it. That's a desecration of the natural order, a mockery of life and all that is sacred. What about those poor souls? Being forced to fight for the man that killed them and then dying at the hands of their brethren and preventing their natural crossing to the other side."

  "I didn't touch their souls." I half growled.

  "What?" She looked over at me in surprise.

  "I didn't touch their souls." I said again, but calmer, "Only their bodies were targeted by my spells."

  "Anyway," Harald interrupted, "First we need to talk about fortifying the village and its general construction efforts. Eustace, have you gotten a handle on how to do that?"

  Eustace nodded, "The only thing preventing me from doing anything in a timely manner is lack of manpower."

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  Harald nodded and looked over at me, "Do you think you could help him with that?"

  I nodded, "Maybe."

  "We'll leave the primary construction efforts to Eustace and Crowley then, if you need anything specific talk to them," Harald took a breath, the tension between most of the village and I was pretty evident, "Next we'll talk about the Goblin threat. I don't believe we'll be able to straight out eliminate them but we'll need to dedicate some resources to keeping them at bay."

  Most of the people there nodded their agreement but I spoke up, "Actually Harald, I was wondering if diplomacy could be possible. Goblins are naturals at mining and going underground, if we could establish some sort of trade, we could get all kinds of ore and gems in return and we wouldn't have to worry about them raiding us."

  Harald frowned, "Diplomacy with Goblins?"

  I nodded, "It could be more beneficial to have them as allies rather than enemies."

  "Of course you would think that," Tyriel scoffed, "The monster befriending other monsters."

  That statement got everyone but Robin, Eustace, and Harald immediately against my idea.

  "It has merit," Eustace considered, "In my homeworld there were plenty of friendly Goblin settlements."

  Harald's frown deepened, "We'll take it into consideration but I'll be advocating for a military response rather than sending an envoy to talk to those things."

  That wouldn't do, if we're all working towards different goals then nothing will work out well. But before I could continue the topic Harald spoke again.

  "Now then, let's talk about the next Monster Release and how we should plan accordingly. We'll need stronger defenses and better gear than what we have more than likely. So we should try to recruit more villagers. I want scouts out for half the day everyday keeping an eye out for any wanderers. If we want to live we'll need to grow." The group nodded at his statement, "I'll handle the organization of said scouting forces. Crowley you do the same for your minions but report to me at the end of the day everyday so we have an accurate read on the land."

  I nodded.

  "All right, with that this meeting is finished, attend to your tasks. Tyriel come with me and we'll see about getting some scouts organized." Harald stood and walked away from the fire and the rest of the village.

  Everyone but Eustace left as well, some more quickly than others and I couldn't help but shake my head and sigh.

  "They'll come around eventually," Eustace said consolingly, "I hate to get right to business but what type of minions are you planning on using to help me with construction?"

  I looked at the Winter Bound skill and the Create Shade skill, two new minion types to experiment with and find the limits of. Eustace stood beside me eagerly waiting for his new workforce. We had stepped away from the village, not too far but enough into the forest that no one would accidentally see what we were up to.

  "All right, they may look a little weird to you but they're supposed to be more intelligent forms of undead. Hopefully they'll either know how to do basic construction or you'll be able to teach them," I said, holding my hand out, palm facing forward, "We'll start with one and see what it's able to do."

  Eustace nodded and took a step back.

  I focused on the skill and felt my mana, death energy, that strange primal force again, though this time it bit like winter, flowing through me. The temperature around me dropped considerably, ice forming on the grass and the wind gaining a sharpened edge. The ice swirled up from the ground and slowly took form. I watched in awe as a humanoid stood before me, pale skin and icy patches covering its body. The primal force continued to flow and covered the being in front of me in a dark robe, a hood drawn over its face.

  It looked up at me, teal glowing eyes burning into my core, before kneeling in front of me.

  "My lord," It said with a chilly voice, "What is your command?"

  Intelligent enough to speak like the Specters, physical like zombies, I noted those details in the back of my mind. What are your drawbacks? If it was anything like the hunger from the Ghouls then I would regret picking it.

  As if sensing my internal monologue the being spoke again, "My kind simply wish to serve and exist in your domain. We are Winter Bound and as such, Winter follows us wherever we go."

  I nodded, noting that the ice that had formed on the ground was not abating. So it wasn't fully magical, magical ice would've disappeared when the spell was finished.

  "How long does it take for Winter to come for you?" I asked.

  "Winter will surround us in places we inhabit consistently. If this bothers you, my lord, simply assign us somewhere out of the way." The Being responded.

  I nodded and gestured for Eustace to come forward, "How well do you know construction?" I asked the Being.

  It shook its head, "We grow our homes from trees and ice, my lord. I am not familiar with your methods."

  "But could you learn?" I asked again.

  The being considered for a moment, "If that is what you wish then yes."

  "Good. You'll be working with Eustace here, I want you to learn from him and then teach your brethren when I summon them."

  The being nodded his understanding and stood, looking towards Eustace.

  "The robe and hood were a good idea Crowley," Eustace said, "I'd say these guys are even more off putting than your typical undead."

  The being chuckled at that before walking off with Eustace.

  With that handled it was time to create my first shade. Elden appeared at my side and Myer walked out of the surrounding forest with the body of a Gnoll on his shoulder.

  "Not my preferred corpse but we do seem to have an abundance of them," I joked, and then stopped, did I really just joke about that? What the hell is wrong with me?

  Myer tossed the corpse unceremoniously on the ground.

  "Your Winter Bound are intriguing creatures," Elden observed, "They are most certainly undead but there's something strange about them."

  "There's some kind of primal energy interacting with the summoning," I said, kicking the corpse over to see its grisly face, "I'm not sure about the specifics yet but it's something to do with my Path of the Horned King. I'm not raising them from corpses either which is strange. It was just a summoning."

  "So they already exist somewhere?" Elden questioned, "Or were they created by the summoning? So many questions," He mused.

  "Focus, Elden," Myer chastised, "Our Lord will need your assistance with this Shade business."

  Elden shook his head to clear it. "Right, so there are wrong ways and right ways to create a shade, ultimately it might not matter with your skills assistance but I'll walk you through it regardless."

  I nodded and prepared myself, focusing on Create Shade and feeling the familiar mana and death energy mixture.

  "Firstly, what kind of shade is directly tied to the corpse you use," He gestured towards the Gnoll corpse, "In this instance we'll be creating a Gnoll Shade, overtime it could transform in a different form but that will take an immense amount of time."

  I held out my hand and focused on the corpse.

  "Next, creating a shade will entail a little extra work if you want them to be usable immediately rather than just shadows that follow you around. You'll want to combine aspects from the bind specter skill you've been using to instill some channel flows, or runes to simplify it," I nodded and began the process like I was preparing the ritual circle for summoning specters, he continued, "Once you've established the channel flows the soul of the Gnoll will be drawn back towards you, you can choose to either use it or replicate it using your death energy. Creating an artificial copy that will grow alongside you."

  I nodded, my soul sight picking up on the disembodied orb floating from the trees and hovering above the corpse. I stared at the soul, it would be difficult to create a copy of but I'd rather have an artificial replica if it might grow alongside me. I focused more of my attention and let my intuition take over. The results were less than stellar but not a total failure.

  "That'll do," Elden said after observing my handiwork, "It doesn't need to be perfect, you can always come back later and make adjustments to the Shade. What matters is that you keep practicing."

  The soul was nudged out of the way as my glowing teal replica was placed inside of the body.

  "Now we wait for the energy to flow and raise the corpse," Elden said, clapping his hands together.

  "So will it be corporeal or is it going to end up being more like the two of you?" I asked, the skill gave me some insight but it was better to ask the expert.

  "It will be more of a mixture," Elden began to explain, "It's body will be corporeal but it can become incorporeal when it enters a shadow, allowing it to hide or travel almost effortlessly."

  "They'd make good scouts then," I mused.

  "Or assassins," Myer added, his brain already turning at the strategic possibilities.

  Eustace looked over the strange undead Crowley had summoned, it was unsettling to say the least but the clothes helped in that regard, if only a little.

  "All right, so you said your people grow their homes from trees and ice?" Eustace asked curiously.

  The Winter Bound nodded.

  "Well here we're going to be using these materials," He gestured over at a pile of lumber, stone, and other materials, "And these tools over here to make it all work."

  The Winter Bound nodded.

  "What's going to be the best way to teach you," Eustace mused aloud, "Can you read?"

  The Winter Bound tilted its head to the side and Eustace handed it the construction manual he had been reading. The Undead took the book and opened it, rifling through its pages and nodding along.

  "This is very intriguing, Sir Eustace," The being said, "Might I borrow this to study?"

  Eustace nodded, "How long do you think it'll take to read it?"

  "I should be done by the morning, in the meantime, I'd like to see how you do things."

  Eustace nodded and began laying the foundation of a building. It was back breaking labour but he had invested heavily into his strength and endurance attributes.

  The Winter Bound stood off to the side and observed, checking the open book every now and then to clarify something. Eustace saw a smile beneath the hood that

  creeped him out but he couldn't help but smile in return, these latest undead may be disturbing but at their core they may just be people too.

  I stood up from where I was sitting and watched as the corpse finally began to raise itself, it had taken a couple hours and I had taken the chance to look at Animate again. While the Bounding Hounds affix was intriguing and useful for scouting, I wasn't sure of the long term gains anymore. It was tempting to let the system take control of it and fix it for me. I already had so much on my plate.

  But there was a piece of me that was too stubborn to let go of the idea of fixing it myself. So far my only theory was adding more death energy to give my zombies and skeletons more of a half and half function like the hounds, but while it was working slightly, it would take more time than I was willing to commit in a single sitting. It would have to become a nightly thing. I drew my attention back to the Shade picking itself off the ground and standing before me, the bloodied mess of the Gnoll slowly being replaced by blacks and greys, a hint of teal poking through every now and then before settling on the eyes and giving them a glowing appearance, much like the Winter Bound.

  It looked around sniffing the air before settling its attention on me, I could feel its intelligence but knew it was only a step above zombies. It would perform any task I set it to better than them though, the trade off was going to be the casting time. I thought about it hiding in my shadow and watched it melt into a puddle and slip into it. No one would know it was there, I barely knew it was there.

  "We'll need to equip it with some of the gear left behind by the other Gnolls," I said to Myer, "Once that's done you can get to training it up and seeing what it's able to do."

  Myer nodded, "I'll dispatch some of the remaining ghouls to see to it."

  "How many do we have left now?" I asked.

  "Grigori and two others," Myer replied, "We only lost two to the Monster Release."

  I nodded, "They're exceedingly helpful but I don't think we should raise any more until we can get something to keep their hunger in check."

  Myer frowned but nodded.

  "You disagree?" I raised an eyebrow.

  "There's plenty of monsters roaming the wilderness now," He explained, "I don't think their hunger will be a problem for a little while."

  I frowned, I wasn't sure about it but if Myer said it should be fine then, "All right, I'll allow Grigori to keep a detachment of say twenty ghouls."

  I gave the mental command to Grigori, allowing him to infect and raise eighteen additional ghouls. There was a lot of gratitude on the other side and then nothing as he set to his job.

  Myer nodded, "That should be enough for a roaming force of skirmishers."

  "I'll leave it to you then," I waved as I walked back towards the village, "I have a few things to discuss with Elden and a Trial to take."

  Myer did a salute by slamming his right hand against his chest and set off towards the Ghouls.

  Meanwhile Elden and I made our way back towards the village in comfortable silence before I spoke up.

  "The System prompt for the Trial is a bit weird," I began, "It says something about traveling back to a major event called the Closing of the Gate."

  Elden frowned, "It's sending you back in time?"

  "Or at the very least a simulation, that's what it called it at least."

  "Did it say what the reward would be or how long you'll be gone?" He asked.

  "Something about better understanding of myself and the need to accept my new nature if I want to survive and I won't be able to leave until I either gain that understanding or die. The reward is a unique skill at least." I answered.

  Elden shook his head, "That's most concerning, but it seems necessary for your advancement."

  "It does, doesn't it?" I chuckled, "It's going to throw me into a whole new nest of problems when I've barely gotten a handle on the ones here."

  Elden chuckled in response, "Perhaps it'll give you a new perspective."

  "Hopefully it does, I don't see much of a way forward besides just surviving."

  We arrived back in the village to see Robin waiting by my tent, she waved happily at me, unable to see Elden in his incorporeal form.

  "Crowley," She greeted cheerfully, "Sorry this took so long but it's finally finished."

  "What is?" I frowned in confusion.

  She held out a bundle of cloth and shoved it towards me. I took it from her and I smiled, it was a fresh set of clothes, and, I hesitated when I looked at it in a little burlap sack, the deor skull with the ram horns.

  "I fashioned the skull into a mask," She explained, "And the coat from some wolf hide, hence the dark coloration of it. The scarf was actually the most tricky thing about it for some reason, but it's just some simple cloth. The belt, gloves, and boots were all made from some deor hide," She continued to explain the crafting process but I was lost for words, staring at the skull that had taken over my life since I had seen it in that dream. Its angry gaze when I didn't believe in it enough for the specter ritual to work a second time.

  "Thank you Robin," I mumbled, "I really appreciate the new gear, mine was pretty torn up in that battle."

  She chuckled, "You look like you wandered through a bramble patch that lasted for miles. And you're welcome, you're one of us, you need the gear just like everybody else. Though I did lean into the spook factor a bit."

  "Yea I see that," I laughed.

  She smiled, "Well I have a couple more deliveries to make and some orders to take, I've been put in charge of hunting and armoring for the time being, until we can get someone else to take some of the load off my shoulders." She waved at me as she walked away, disappearing from sight.

  "Well I guess I'll go put these on," I said to Elden who nodded as I walked behind a tree and began to undress.

  The pants were nice, a little rough on the skin but not too rough, she had even made me some socks, must've been thinking about winter. The pants were a dark grey, almost black, matching the shirt and coat. So they must've been made from the same material. I pulled on the shirt next, rough like the pants. I was suddenly worried about chafing.

  Next I pulled up the coat and looked at it, the sleeves were cut short at the elbow and I frowned until I saw the leather gloves and bracers. I slid into the coat and felt it really added to the spook factor as Robin called it immediately, especially with the deep hood and large collar to accommodate it. Next was the belt around my pants and then another one to pull the coat across my torso and keep it bundled.

  I sighed and undid the belt across the coat and took it off, forgetting the shoulder belt. I redid the process afterwards. After fiddling with the double belt situation across my stomach and getting it just right I slid on the socks and boots, the socks were softer than the rest of my clothing and guessed it must've been from a different material, the boots fit snuggly enough and gave my feet some much needed comfort after walking in those awful shoes I arrived in this world with. Next were the gloves and bracers, they fit snuggly as well, breaking up the dark coloring with some deep brown. Made from deor like the belts and boots. Next was the scarf, which I wrapped loosely around my neck, it bundled up nicely.

  I took a look at myself and couldn't help but smile, it was a nice outfit, snug but loose enough to allow all kinds of movement, and it was protective. I thought back to my old world and how long it would've taken for something like this to be made. Robin must've picked up a skill or three to make this even possible in just seven or so days. I picked up the deor skull and stared it, it was more of a helm but visually it would look like a mask if I put the hood up. Instead of putting it on though, I clipped it to my side on one of the belts. I wasn't ready to wear it just yet.

  I stepped out from behind the tree holding the bundle of cloth that was once my clothes and looked at Elden, who appraised me with a curious eye.

  "It suits you," He said finally, "And it will certainly cut an imposing figure in the wilderness." His eyes drifted down towards the skull on my hip but didn't say anything further.

  "Well since I was going to put off the trial until I got better gear, guess I better get settled and pull it up," I sighed.

  Elden nodded his agreement and we returned to my tent, where I sat down inside and pulled up the box of text.

  Notice: Trial of the Wight is available. It is recommended you commence the trial as soon as possible to prevent stagnation of growth.

  I looked at Elden and took a breath, accepting the Trial of the Wight.

  Trial commencing. Please be aware that time will slow to a crawl for a moment and at the end of the Trial you will appear back at the rough time and place of your entrance.

  That's convenient I thought while closing my eyes. The world shifted around me, time and space warping. It felt similar, like when I was taken to see Sirus for the first time. Is this going to be something similar?

  Trial Information.

  The System broke my thoughts and wrested my attention.

  You will be transported to a time of great upheaval, in the final months of the First Abyssal War and the closing of the Gate. Your objective is to survive and gain a better understanding of who you are now, not as the human you once were but as the Wight and Necromancer you are. You will be given objectives to complete as the Trial progresses.

  With that the world changed suddenly and seamlessly, I was no longer sitting in my tent in the comfortable temperate forest. I was standing in a blackened field, a village that had been scorched looming in front of me. A cold brisk wind blowing through the area. I tightened the scarf around my neck and pulled my hood up and looked at the latest box of text.

  Welcome to the Hanastin of the past and the beginning of the end of the First Abyssal War.

  Current Objective: Regroup with the party led by Alaric Abernathy.