Necromancer: Kingdom Building with My Legion of Undead Knights

Chapter 182: Good Corpses

Darion commanded the giant undead and Edric Vorne’s corpse to unearth the other good commanders’ and good fighters’ graves he spotted.

The two powerful undead moved immediately, shovels in hand, their massive frames making the work look effortless. Edric Vorne was strong, but the giant, Ghet Ulg, was something else entirely.

Each swing of his shovel moved twice as much earth as the other. Darion watched them work for a moment, then turned to scan the rest of the graveyard.

He was getting tired now. The sun had dipped lower, and the shadows had grown longer. His back ached from standing, and his throat was dry from saying "Arise" over and over. But he pushed through. He had come this far; he wasn’t leaving now.

He managed to find decent graves. Not all of them were commanders, but they were solid fighters, men who had earned their place in this section of the graveyard. He had his undead dig them up, one by one, and each time he placed his hand on the corpse and spoke the word.

"Arise."

Green light. Glowing eyes. Another soldier added to his growing army.

Their stats appeared before him as they rose:

1.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Infantry

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 85

Endurance: 88

Loyalty: 92

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

2.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Battle Commander

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 82

Endurance: 79

Loyalty: 89

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

3.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Infantry

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 87

Endurance: 84

Loyalty: 95

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

4.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Battle Commander

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 81

Endurance: 92

Loyalty: 86

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

5.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Infantry

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 88

Endurance: 76

Loyalty: 91

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

6.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Infantry

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 83

Endurance: 86

Loyalty: 84

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

7.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Infantry

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 86

Endurance: 81

Loyalty: 88

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

8.

[Undead Knight – Rust Tier]

Former Rank: Percvale Battle Commander

Combat Instinct: Preserved (Fragmented)

Strength: 84

Endurance: 90

Loyalty: 93

Pain Response: None

Morale: Irrelevant

Special Trait: Tireless (Does not fatigue)

Weakness: Core Destruction (Skull / Spine)

---

Darion studied the stats. Yeah, they were pretty decent. Not all of them were exceptional like Ghet Ulg, but they didn’t need to be.

They were solid, reliable, the kind of undead that would hold the line and follow orders and do a good job. Strength in the eighties across the board. Loyalty high enough that he didn’t have to worry about hesitation or some glitch.

He summoned them all into his inventory. One by one, the green light swallowed them, their forms dissolving into nothing until only the disturbed graves remained.

The system notifications appeared before him:

[Congratulations on unearthing and reviving 130 corpses]

[Congratulations on a successful graveyard session]

[Congratulations on reviving good corpses!]

Then his status screen:

[STATUS]

Name: Darion

Title: Baron of Percvale

Class: Necromancer

Rank: Acolyte

Territory: Percvale (Border Domain)

Territorial Resonance: Low (Starving-aligned — Improving)

[ATTRIBUTES]

Strength: 72 [+3]

Agility: 62 [+4]

Endurance: 74 [+6]

Vitality: 64 [+3]

Perception: 66 [+2]

Intelligence: 98 [+4]

Willpower: 76 [+3]

[Knight Undead Inventory: 150/150]

[Animal Undead Inventory: 10/70]

[Skills: Death Perception, Distant Command]

Darion studied his stats. Again, the usual increases, small bumps across the board, nothing dramatic. Intelligence was creeping toward 100, which was interesting. He wondered what happened when a stat hit triple digits.

His knight undead inventory was full now. One hundred and fifty slots, all occupied. Likely it would expand very soon, the system seemed to expand his caps whenever he hit the limit. So now, after restocking his knight inventory, he would focus on his animal inventory.

Hopefully when he had the time. That would be its own project, hunting through forests, finding usable animal remains, raising them one by one.

But that was for another day.

Now Darion went to where his horse was tied at the gate. The animal stood exactly where he had left it hours ago, its reins looped around the rusted iron post, its head drooping slightly. It looked bored. Tired of waiting. He untied the knot, patted the horse’s neck once, and mounted up.

As soon as Darion’s weight settled in the saddle, the animal surged forward. It moved very quickly, as if it had been waiting for this moment for a long time, building up energy all day, storing it in those powerful legs, just waiting for the signal to release. Tied at the gate since morning must have been boring. Standing there, swishing its tail, watching the graveyard from a distance while its owner dug up corpses and raised the dead. No stimulation and no movement. Just standing and waiting and standing some more.

It must have been bored out of its mind, just standing there, doing nothing, watching the hours pass.

Now it was releasing all that adrenaline. Its hooves pounded against the dirt road, kicking up small clouds of dust with every stride. The wind rushed past Darion’s face, cold and sharp, pulling at his hair and drying the sweat on his forehead. The graveyard shrank behind him, disappearing into the growing shadows as the horse carried him away.

The ride back felt shorter than the ride there. Percvale appeared on the horizon sooner than he expected.

He arrived as the sun was setting. The guards at the gate greeted him as he rode through, their voices tired but respectful.

"Welcome back, my lord."

"Evening, Baron."

Darion nodded at them, too tired for words. He swung down from the horse, his legs slightly unsteady after hours in the saddle. One of the stable workers hurried over and took the reins, leading the animal away to be fed and watered and rubbed down after its long day of waiting and running.

Darion stood in the courtyard for a moment, looking around. The castle was quiet. Most of the day’s activity had ended. The archers had gone home with their meat. The knights had finished their training. The servants had completed their chores.

He walked inside.

The great hall was dim, lit only by the fireplace at the far end. The fire had died down, still burning, but low now, the flames small and lazy, casting long shadows across the stone floor. The faint smell of smoke hung in the air, mixed with the faint scent of whatever Maret had cooked for dinner.

Darion stood in the middle of the hall, alone, and let out a long breath. His shoulders sagged. The tension he hadn’t realized he was carrying began to drain away.

Then he saw Garren.

Oh, he was back.