Chapter 34: Killing Elite Monsters and Cleaning Up the Battlefield [Please add to collection and recommend]

"Bang!"

A loud crash rang out.

The Necrotic Arrow slammed heavily into the kite shield.

Zong Shen, who was bracing the shield from behind, felt a massive impact surge through his arm.

His stance momentarily faltered.

Fortunately, he managed to withstand the attack of the Necrotic Arrow in the end.

Equipped with the [Junior Heart of Strength], Zong Shen's Strength attribute had reached 18 points; with just 3 more points, he would nearly catch up to Colby, which was why he could endure the impact of the Necrotic Arrow.

This was also one of the advantages of choosing a Strength-based build at the start.

Compared to those lords who chose their backgrounds based on personal preference, Zong Shen possessed much greater combat effectiveness in the early stages.

【-52】

【Block】

Two notifications popped up above his head one after another.

This single strike left the already dented shield even more battered.

Although he took no damage, the shield's durability dropped by two-thirds directly.

This made Zong Shen feel a pang of heartache.

"My Lord..."

Behind him, Tie Zhu took the opportunity to stand up. Looking at the Lord who stood before him, holding a shield to block the attack on his behalf, Tie Zhu couldn't help but be moved to tears.

He was utterly overwhelmed with emotion.

【Due to your selfless rescue】

【Tie Zhu's loyalty to you has increased by 2 points. Current loyalty: 100】

【Loyalty has reached the maximum value. Tie Zhu will execute any of your orders unconditionally, even at the cost of his life】

Tie Zhu's favorability was maxed out.

He had become the first subordinate under Zong Shen to reach maximum favorability!

However, the situation on the battlefield left no room for idle chatter.

Zong Shen leaped up, raising his shield and charging.

"Tie Zhu, don't just stand there! Charge with me!"

With that, he took the lead and rushed toward the Neccerer.

The longsword in his hand was like a bolt of silvery-white lightning, slashing forward.

【-3】

【-20】

【-23】

The remaining two bone plates shattered one after another.

Zong Shen's longsword struck its head, carving out a notch.

It revealed shriveled, dark-gray flesh.

At the same time, it dealt 23 points of overflow damage.

By this time, Tie Zhu had also arrived.

His daggers worked in tandem, leaving two slashes on the Necromancer's head.

【-37】

【-37】

Having lost the protection of its bone armor, the Necromancer could no longer cast spells with composure.

Being besieged from both sides by Zong Shen and Tie Zhu, it found it even harder to fight back.

During this brief delay, the three Wolf Cavalry had also finished off the two Skeleton Warriors and the Shortsword Dead.

They swarmed over, entering a group-fight mode.

After one man and one blade had had their turn, the Necromancer was left with only a sliver of health.

Then, Zong Shen delivered a powerful final slash.

【-46】

Following a flash of green light, the Necromancer vanished, leaving behind several white and green orbs of light.

【Killed Lv.11 Grudge-filled Necromancer (Green)】

【Gained 380 Experience Points】

【Your soldiers will receive half the experience】

With a flash of white light, Tie Zhu leveled up again, becoming Lv.3.

As an Assassin, Tie Zhu had put his attribute points into Agility.

Since he was not a Hero-grade unit, these soldiers did not possess twenty-four passive skills like Zong Shen; they only had the four main attributes and class skills.

However, as their levels increased, their four attributes would also rise, and their class skills would gradually grow stronger.

Unfortunately, despite killing so many undead, the three Wolf Cavalry still showed no sign of leveling up.

Zong Shen was currently Level 5 and needed 900 experience to level up; reaching Level 10 would likely require several thousand experience points.

Thinking about it, it was indeed something that couldn't be rushed.

Because Tie Zhu had leveled up, his health was fully restored.

Every level-up acted as a status reset.

As for the three Wolf Cavalry, their overall condition was decent.

Each had only lost twenty to thirty health points.

Furthermore, now that they were out of combat, their health was slowly regenerating.

This was because Zong Shen's [Heal] skill had reached Level 2, which could increase the team's health regeneration speed by 40%.

"Stay on alert!"

Zong Shen issued the command.

As for himself, he began to gather the rewards dropped by the undead, starting to clear the battlefield.

Zong Shen's [Item Management] had reached Level 2, giving him 32 personal storage slots.

Combined with 24 slots from his [Kodo Hide Backpack], he had essentially become a mobile warehouse.

He stowed everything away.

With a cursory sweep, Zong Shen found that most of what the undead dropped were white-tier weapons and leather armor.

Aside from that, there weren't many good items.

The attributes of these weapons and leather armors were only slightly better than the ragged starting equipment.

They were similar to the gear he had obtained from killing bandits earlier.

Zong Shen planned to return to the territory to process them all—keeping a few pieces with decent attributes as spare armor for his soldiers, while putting the rest up for sale or decomposing them directly once the [Blacksmith] was built.

Only a few items could be called "good stuff."

Zong Shen began to inspect them one by one.

【Soldier Strengthening Orb (White) ×3】 【Can be used on any soldier to randomly strengthen 1 basic attribute】 (Soldier strengthening items—good for you, good for them)

【Soldier Strengthening Orb (Green) ×1】 【Can be used on any soldier to randomly strengthen 3 basic attributes】 (Use the best steel for the sharpest edge; powerful soldiers can even hold their own—think about it, really think about it)

【Pet Contract (Green) ×1】 【Can be used to form a contract with any non-humanoid unclaimed creature. The success rate fluctuates based on the target's status, with a base success rate of 20%】 (Become a Pet Master, starting today)

【Bone Scepter (Green) ×1】 【One-handed】 【Quality: Fine】 【Magic Damage: 30–33】 【Blunt Damage: 17–19】 【Chanting Speed: +8%】 【Durability: 150】 【Skills: Summon Skeleton Lv.1, Bone Armor Lv.1】 【Intelligence Required: 16】 (That's right, this was the Necromancer's weapon. It's not bad; keep it)

【Tier 1 Infantry Training Book ×3】 【After constructing a Tier 1 Barracks, you can consume certain resources and training books to train your Farmers into Tier 1 Infantry】 (An essential item for turning farmers into soldiers)

Next was a wave of resources.

【Junior Elemental Crystal ×4】 【Iron ×9】 【Mithril ×3】 【Copper ×3】

However, what truly caught Zong Shen's eye was the final item.

【Necromancer Recruitment Scroll】 【Communicate with a great mysterious power to immediately recruit a powerful Tier 3 mage-type warrior: a Necromancer】 【Occupies 2 Command Points】 【Default aptitude is Excellent, Level 10; can be promoted or strengthened later】 【Click to use】 (A powerful Necromancer, a warrior who manipulates life and death)

A Necromancer Recruitment Scroll!

Zong Shen had just experienced its prowess.

As a mage class, as long as they had companions for protection, they could provide continuous damage output.

This could further increase the strength of his combat unit.

However, as soon as he thought of that Necromancer's shriveled face, Zong Shen felt a bit hesitant while holding the scroll.

If he actually recruited such an ugly thing, wouldn't he have nightmares every single day?

(End of Chapter)