Not only had his undead soldiers acquired new skills, but they had also undergone physical changes, with their attributes increasing even further than before.
Just like the four classes each summon belonged to, their attributes were finely attuned to maximize the effectiveness of their respective roles in dungeon raids, especially when compared to raid teams of Awakeners.
The Undead Knight's strongest attributes were Stamina and Dexterity, with Strength as a secondary focus.
The Undead Tank, on the other hand, excelled in Strength and Vitality, while Stamina and Dexterity were minor attributes.
Both the Undead Mage and the Undead Healer shared the same major attributes, Sense and Spiritual Energy, while the remaining attributes saw only minor growth.
The Undead Spirits had also undergone noticeable changes.
Their three individual skills, [Summon Undead Holy Spirit], [Summon Undead Dark Spirit], and [Summon Undead Shadow Spirit], had merged into a single skill called [Summon Undead Spirits], now encompassing all the unlocked spirit summons.
As a result, the spirits' attributes had increased significantly, and the effectiveness of their skills had improved as well.
Even after the [Undead Soldiers] became much stronger due to skill fusions, the undead spirit summons remained Ethan's most powerful summons.
Among all these improvements, the enhancement of the Undead Mirror Spirit delighted Ethan the most.
The overall effectiveness of its [Reflection] skill had increased dramatically.
It appeared that the skill's duration depended both on its level and the difference in attributes between the Mirror Spirit and its target.
While the Mirror Spirit's level had not changed, its attributes had grown significantly through several skill fusions, greatly extending the skill's duration.
"Huh, now that I think about it… I can inherit the [Reflection] skill for myself, right?"
Ethan's eyes widened as a new possibility flashed through his mind.
If he could inherit [Reflection] during the state of [The Undead Harold], he would be able to reflect an opponent's skills and use them against them.
Not to mention, he could summon so many different spirits and inherit their skills as well.
"But I can only inherit the skills of summons that are active on the battlefield or those stored within my summoning storage skills… I know what skill I want next: a skill that lets me store my undead spirits."
Ethan dismissed his current summons and summoned the three newly acquired spirits.
Three glowing summoning circles appeared on the ground, and from each emerged a distinct spirit, each radiating its own unique energy and presence.
The Undead Holy Spirit stood apart from ordinary elemental spirits.
Its form was humanoid, with pale, corpse-like skin and long silvery-white hair that shimmered with a radiant, ethereal glow.
Its slender body was draped in flowing white cloth, appearing as if woven from pure energy.
Sprouting from its back were a pair of pigeon-like wings that gleamed with holy brilliance, a clear mark of its ability to fly.
In stark contrast, the Undead Dark Spirit shared the same shape and size as the Holy Spirit but exuded a completely opposite aura.
Its hair was purplish-black, its eyes jet-black, and from its back extended a pair of dark wings resembling those of a crow.
The Undead Shadow Spirit, however, defied the humanoid form altogether.
It resembled a Komodo dragon, with a dragon-like head, glossy midnight-black scales, pitch-black eyes, and a long, sinuous tail.
The strangest thing about it was that it cast no shadow.
---
[Undead Holy Spirit]
[Level: 12]
[Skills]
-Holy Burst: Generates multiple forms of holy-energy projectiles that strike targets with high destructive power.
-Sacred Field: Creates a sustained field of concentrated holy energy that continuously restores the healing rate and stamina of designated allies while inflicting minor damage on enemies within its range.
-Holy Fire Creation: Allows it to create and manipulate silvery-white flames formed from pure holy energy.
---
[Undead Dark Spirit]
[Level: 12]
[Skills]
-Dark Burst: Generates multiple forms of Dark-energy projectiles that strike targets with high destructive power.
-Profane Field: Creates a sustained field of concentrated dark energy that continuously restores the healing rate and stamina of designated allies while inflicting minor damage on enemies within its range.
-Dark Fire Creation: Allows the user to create and manipulate purplish-black flames formed from pure dark energy.
---
[Undead Shadow Spirit]
[Level: 12]
[Skills]
-Shadow Creation: Manifests and shapes shadows into any form of physical objects. These creations can be wielded by allies. The strength, density, and durability of the shadow construct depend on the amount of energy invested during creation.
-Shadow Walk: Allows the user to immediately traverse between shadows or any location where light is absent. The destination shadow must be within the user's line of sight to initiate a shadow walk.
---
"All these skills are mine now… I can fight on the front lines. I no longer have to hide behind my summons."
Ethan's excitement soared, but then a thought struck him about the [Herald of the Fallen] skill.
"Oh, right… there's that too. I can't use the inherited skills right away. I have to master them first."
His excitement dimmed slightly.
When he entered the [The Undead Herald] state, he would inherit all the abilities of his summons as if they were his own, but he could not activate them immediately.
Although he would receive the skills with their full power, attunement, and the knowledge of how to manifest and use them, they were not originally his.
To wield them as fully as his own, he would need to master them first.
That meant going back to good old-fashioned training, practice that would naturally take time.
Ethan wondered if he could just spend a few weeks in close dungeon training to master all the skills of his summons that he would inherit.
The more complex a skill, the longer it would take to learn.
If he possessed enough talent, he could drastically shorten the time required to master a skill.
Even mastering a single skill could take days, and mastering every single skill he would inherit could take a whole month.
It was like starting a new type of physical exercise, something his body had never done before.
A few days of repetition would be required before the muscle aches faded and his body adapted.
The more he trained, the more his body would grow accustomed to using the inherited skills as if they were naturally his own.
"I guess I'll ask Sir Shawn about the best way to train these skills."
Sir Shawn's teachings were structured in sessions.
In the morning, he assigned specific tasks to each student.
In the afternoon, he trained combat-class and controller-class professionals, mostly those specializing in melee combat with swords, since that was his expertise.
Afterward, he focused on magic-class professionals, mainly through sparring.
He did not only teach his personal disciples; he trained common students from all four academies as well.
Now that Ethan could potentially fight like a combat-class professional, he could finally join the other students during combat training.
Just as he was about to go back to sleep, his phone began buzzing relentlessly.
A notification popped up that immediately caught his attention.
He picked up the phone, tapped the alert, and the QuickGram app opened.
A short video from one of the few famous people he followed, a popular social media figure, played automatically, showing an ongoing incident.
The person filming then turned the camera around, revealing a scene slightly farther away.
Ethan could not make out much, except for large fires burning in the distance, groups of officials hovering above, flashing lights scattered across the road, and officials blocking the area, causing a long line of halted traffic.
Ethan scrolled down, and another short video appeared, this time from a different person showing the same incident from another angle.
He continued scrolling for a few minutes.
Social media was flooded with discussions about the event.
From the comments, he discovered why everyone was so invested.
People were speculating about a possible perpetrator, an alleged evil organization known as the High Imperium.
"The High Imperium?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
He kept reading through multiple comment sections, and without exception, every one of them suggested the organization was behind the incident.
Of course, these were just online discussions.
People were already jumping to conclusions, largely because several incidents over the past two years were believed to be their doing.
Naturally, many assumed this event was no different.
As for their motive, the comments offered nothing but theories and baseless speculation.
Curious, Ethan searched for the organization on TrueSearch, finding reports on past incidents, articles, interviews, and podcasts discussing the High Imperium.
The more he read, the graver his expression became.
...
[A/N: If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider adding it to your library and supporting it with some Power Stones. Arigato!]