Chapter 66: Chapter 64: My Senior Is Too Crazy
...
「Half an hour later.」
In a hidden clearing in the woods.
Lynch was inspecting his Undead Army.
Around him, a vast Skeleton Army stood as still as a forest of bone. Their numbers had broken the four-hundred mark, and the deathly aura they exuded coalesced into an invisible, sinister field that had frightened away every insect, bird, and beast in the area.
Looking at this formidable force, Lynch felt a mix of joy and concern.
The joy came from his army’s renewed strength.
His gaze swept over the "elite units" clustered around him.
There were four goblin Warrior Skeletons in total. Their bones were thick, and they wielded the steel scimitars or bone clubs they had used in life. Their stances were steady, and they radiated an aura far superior to that of ordinary grunts.
There were also three goblin Shaman Skeletons. They were hunched over, holding Magic Staffs. Though their eye sockets were empty, the faint elemental fluctuations lingering around their bodies indicated they could still cast Magic.
Of course, the most conspicuous Skeleton was the one standing before him.
It was over two meters tall, its bones gleaming with a steely luster. Just by standing there, its savage and domineering presence exerted immense pressure on him.
This Skeleton had been created from the corpse of the camp leader named "Steel-tooth," a Tier Two elite goblin Warrior.
In addition, he now had over ten powerfully built Bear Goblin Skeletons, and twenty goblin wolf-rider Skeletons mounted on skeletal dire wolves, armed with short spears or scimitars.
These new troops undoubtedly raised the overall quality of his army significantly.
But his concern was... Soul Fire.
Lynch looked at this large group of elite Skeletons, who looked quite impressive on the surface, and the corner of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch violently.
Among this huge batch of new Skeletons,
only a single goblin wolf-rider Skeleton had been lucky enough to awaken a faint Soul Fire.
All the rest, including his old pal Steel-tooth, for whom he’d had such high hopes... were all mindless, blank-slate Skeletons.
Especially Steel-tooth.
In life, this guy had been a big-shot Tier Two goblin Warrior. If he could have awakened a Soul Fire, even with a massive reduction in strength compared to when he was alive, he would have started at a Tier One level at the very least.
Then, whether in terms of individual combat power or command ability, he would have been at least on par with the current Bone Jade, if not stronger.
But in the end, he was just a Tier One blank-slate Skeleton, possessing only strength, with dull, empty eye sockets.
He could only serve as a high-level bruiser and a meat shield.
Of course, there was still a sliver of hope. Like the Fish Priest, he might be on the cusp of awakening and could develop a Soul Fire on his own later.
But when Lynch saw his block-headed, dopey appearance, he couldn’t help but shake his head. ’This thing... doesn’t look like it can awaken on its own at all.’
’The chances are too low!’
"Sigh..." Lynch sighed and rubbed his temples. "Is my luck just that bad? Or did I use up all my good fortune by consecutively creating Soul Fire Skeletons like the Bone Mage, Bone Shadow, and Red Rabbit, and now I’ve entered my unlucky phase?"
He muttered to himself, his gaze unconsciously shifting to the Bone Mage standing quietly at his side.
Lynch shifted the blame with a dark look. "Heh, now I get it. It was you, wasn’t it, you little jinx? You got too close to me just now. Did your bad luck rub off on me?"
The Bone Mage silently lowered its skull, its Soul Fire flickering slightly, as if admitting fault. "Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say, Master."
Lynch felt like it was being sarcastic.
However, after shifting the blame, Lynch felt much better.
At least, his army was strong and numerous now. Even if he were to face a medium or large goblin or Fishman camp head-on, he would definitely be able to put up a fight, and his chances of victory were not small.
More importantly,
his Personal Guard Team had just undergone a major overhaul.
The so-called "elite goblin Skeletons" from before, while much stronger than the grunts, were clearly no longer up to snuff.
They had all been kicked out of the guard and sent to Bone Jade’s elite battalion to serve as low-level leaders or to reinforce his companies.
The Personal Guard Team now surrounding Lynch boasted a luxurious lineup.
Eleven tall and mighty Bear Goblin Skeletons, four goblin Warrior Skeletons like four unsheathed blades, the very tough-looking Steel-toothed Skeleton, twenty wolf-rider Skeletons, and three ranged Shaman Skeletons.
The wolf-rider Skeletons were divided into two squads. One squad of nine was placed under Red Rabbit’s command, while the other ten were commanded by the newly awakened Soul Fire wolf-rider Skeleton. Lynch had casually given the latter a name: [Bone Wolf].
In short, surrounded by such a luxurious Personal Guard Team, Lynch felt an overwhelming sense of security wash over him.
Of course, while Lynch had taken these troops for himself, he left all the ears for Senior Amadis.
As for the unconscious Leon Hollis, Lynch had casually assigned a Bear Goblin Skeleton to carry him.
After reorganizing his army,
Lynch climbed onto Red Rabbit’s back and set off again.
He glanced at the unconscious figure with a particularly gentle and friendly look. "My dear brother Leon, it’s time for us to cooperate nicely."
With that said, Lynch didn’t continue deeper into the red zone. Instead, he returned to the yellow zone, and even headed straight for the green zone.
****
「Meanwhile.」
Inside the academy’s temporary command center.
Compared to a few hours ago, the atmosphere in the tent had undergone a subtle change.
The masters from the Holy Light System no longer had their previous breezy and carefree expressions as they made casual comments. Their eyes swept over the massive Magic Light Curtain from time to time, paying particular attention to the top three on the overall leaderboard.
For some time now, the top three on the leaderboard hadn’t budged, and there had been little to no fluctuation even in the top ten.
As time went on, they inevitably grew restless.
Suddenly, Master Gwen said with pleasant surprise, "Huh? Look, my student Lorenzo has climbed to third place."
Everyone’s eyes focused.
Sure enough, the overall rankings had changed.
Lorenzo Biler (Elemental Mage - Wind) - Points: 398.
He had surged into third, pushing Lynch down to fourth.
"Congratulations, Master Gwen," a master from the Warrior Series said with a smile.
"It’s nothing special," Master Gwen said modestly, but she couldn’t hide the smile on her face. "He’s still far behind Amadis and Catherine. Those two girls’ points haven’t moved in a while. They must be preparing for something big, aiming for some astonishing result."
At this moment, Master Lianna couldn’t help but make another sarcastic remark. "That kid named Lynch’s points haven’t moved in a long time either. It looks like he really did just get lucky, or he used some underhanded methods to scrape them together."
"The Undead System... in the end, it’s just Amadis single-handedly holding up its reputation."
She sighed with regret. "Sigh. Back when Amadis was choosing her specialization, if I had just been a bit more persistent and tried harder to persuade her... with her talent and family background, if she had come to our Holy Light System, her achievements and future prospects would surely be far greater than they are now. What a pity, a pearl cast into darkness."
Hearing this, Master Annabella’s brow twitched slightly, but she couldn’t be bothered to argue with her.
And just then, Old Harvey, who was at the side, suddenly widened his eyes and cried out in astonishment, "It’s moving! The top three... no, it’s Amadis’s points! They’re moving!!"
In an instant, the attention of all the masters in the tent was once again drawn to the large screen.
Sure enough, behind Amadis Hayes’s name, the point value was skyrocketing at a dumbfounding speed.
In just over ten seconds, Amadis’s points had soared all the way to 2,219.
This score was more than seventeen hundred points higher than Catherine, who had just been knocked down to second place.
For a moment, the entire main tent fell into a strange silence.
All the masters—including Lianna, who had just been lamenting the "pearl cast into darkness"; Gwen, who had been delighted by her student’s progress; and the composed Knight Casper—
Even Annabella, who had been mentally prepared, was staring dumbfounded at the glaring "2,219 points" on the light curtain, as if they had all been petrified.
’This... How is this possible?!’
’A sudden jump of nearly eighteen hundred points?!’
’Amadis, what did she do?’
...
