Whispers of a Dead Empire

Hey, sorry for the late upload! I went on vacation and forgot to transfer files over. Anyways! I am doing a competition. 

The basis is to create a mob, using the template from the previous chapter or a boss character. Since the world is slowly becoming more fleshed out, there is ample room for creative freedom. Alessia's order is the Order of the Blue Rose if anyone wants to write about that. The duration will be about two weeks. You can drop them in the comments, or my discord, or pm on. I'll host a vote here and on my discord to find the winner :)

https://discord.gg/JNYCY6U6e2

As a reward, I'll give the winner access to the current most written chapter! :D

I bounced the idea around in my head for a bit, trying to find a proper spelling for Asteria to fit my name. But it wasn't easy to settle on a good spelling of it. After fiddling with it for a while, I finally just settled on using Asteria as it was. It sounded weird saying it in my head, but it was something that I would grow into.

I erased Wright from the screen and typed in my new last name. I stared at it for a moment and felt a strange sense of heaviness weight on my heart. Once I confirmed this choice, there was no going back. It really hammered home just how far away from Earth and my family I was. But one day, I would make it back, I swear it. I would go home and see my parents again.

The screen blinked its confirmation once I selected it and vanished. Now I was Calixa Asteria, Empress to an empire filled with the undead. I dismissed the screen and took a moment to check on the zombies and see how they were doing. The scene looked much like it did on the first trial run. A vast majority of zombies lay dead on the floor, carved into roughly chopped pieces and without mercy. Now only two were still standing going at it. Their movements were far more refined than before, but they were still swinging the swords widely and with no form of skill, though I knew I was also severely lacking in that department.

I watched them as they both slashed one another for quite sometime before one dropped to the floor. A filament of grey energy rushed into the surviving one, and a dull light pulsed from its body—wounds it received during the fight stitched themselves together. Fingers quickly grew back, and even a leg that looked like it was close to being completely dismembered swiftly healed. So, you heal back to full health when you level up from the looks of it. It looked painful, but I had no clue if that was true or not. They didn’t feel pain, after all, so they couldn’t tell me. I glanced at the notification on my screen since they were annoying me a bit.

At least I made money back from this endeavor. “Kharon, does the elite mob get its name from the class it unlocks?” I dismissed the notification and cast a questioning glance over to my companion.

“Yes. The template will also evolve based on the further evolutions of the class well, which will affect the mob's future evolution.” That was interesting, and it raised more questions on the matter.

“How does the class system work?” I activated the consume function and cleaned up the mess as I motioned for the zombie to come over and wait, though at a distance that I didn't have to smell it.

“The class system is incredibly customizable. It functions off of choice, skills, titles, and whatever else you may earn.” He explained to me as I finished cleaning up the mess. At least I make essence back from doing this. I hated being a penny pincher, but it was a necessary evil at the current time.

Apparently, I can also unlock stuff like this. However, I had no use for zombie blood at the moment. Maybe the Adventurers would once they arrived. “I see; when I gave Alessia her title, it seemed like it would only allow one.” I shifted my menus around and summoned a small group of skeletons to begin the next round of testing.

“You can designate a public title, but they will earn more through actions they take.” He leaned forward as he spoke, interested in the action that would come because of the skeletons fighting. Hopefully, this would be a little cleaner than the zombies.

“I understand; thank you, Kharon.” I really appreciated his help. It means that I wouldn’t be so far behind on the curve. I commanded the skeletons to pick up the discarded blades; sadly, one was left without a blade. Sorry friend, but budget cuts, I hope you understand. I stared at them for a moment, and some clattered their teeth in a rhythmic pattern as they waited. The tension slowly filled the room, and I was still feeling somewhat hesitant to issue my command. “Fight.”

The skeletons were much more agile than the zombies, and it showed. They all moved much more nimbly, though they still lacked any skill. Swords swung around the air and impacted bones. Metal rang as it impacted the concrete or sank into bones. This was definitely much more bearable than watching zombies tear into each other like a pack of feral animals. A little less messy and not as scar-inducing.

The skeleton without a blade was doing well. It was dodging the blades as best it could and delivering punches to the other skeletons’ bodies. I didn’t expect it to happen; I figured that it would have been one of the first ones to go. I watched, enthralled, as the skeletons took each other down one by one, which was quite tricky from the looks of it. The skeletons had to be bludgeoned for them to stay down; otherwise, they would keep moving, which would help explain why the one that wasn’t armed was doing such a superb job.

Finally, after twenty minutes of fighting, only two remained standing. The unarmed one who was missing some rib bones and half of its jaw and various other small bones throughout its body stood with one of its fists bared. Its other hand was missing and came out to a sharp point. The other skeleton looked to be in just as bad a condition. Many of its bones were cracked, and it had part of its head caved in. It chattered its teeth as it charged the unarmed skeleton. It swung its sword in a wide arc and slammed the flat of the blade against the ribs of its opponent, filling the room with a sickening crack as few bones shattered from the impact. Instead of backing away, the other skeleton pushed forward and began raining down giant haymakers with its sole good hand. It looked like many toddlers fighting, if I was going to be honest, though it didn’t make it any less enjoyable.

Blow after blow rained onto each skeleton, and I found myself on the edge of my seat, waiting to see who emerged victorious from the fierce fighting. Eventually, the armed skeleton fell, leaving the other standing tall. What an upset! I wasn’t expecting that. Good job, friend; I will promote you for your efforts to the kingdom.

There was no small amount of disappointment at seeing that it did not award me essence for it. Oh well, I can’t have my way with everything. But let’s get these two upgraded and move on to bigger and better things, shall we? I would give the ghast an upgrade since it was a t2 mob, but it was terrifying. Even more so than I thought possible. It was a primal fear, and I wanted to stay away from it. I didn’t want to waste any more essence trying to create t2s, so this will do for now. I selected the zombie first and clicked on the boss upgrade option. Now, it was time to go through the same thing as last time with Alessia. Let’s start with a name, and then I’ll start working on a back story to go with it.

I stared at the zombie for a moment as I tried to work on its back story’s foundation. I think I will leave you in charge of the outpost, as its former captain. Now I need a name for my honored warrior. How does Stryker sound? Captain Stryker Levian? No, that still didn’t seem all that right to me. How does Rikard sound? That sounds like a noble name and a fitting one for a soldier at that. You look kind of like a Rikard, so it fits. Now for your last name. I think I will go with Levent. Captain Rikard Levent. Yes, I like that. I typed it into the system and confirmed it, and moved onto the appearance tab. Let’s get you cleaned up and looking pretty. No commander of mine will get away with looking like a dead man.

I took away many of the blemishes that covered his flesh since I wanted him to be somewhat presentable. However, I broke its left arm and left it dangling to the side. I cleaned up his face a bit, gave him a close-cut shave, and changed his flesh’s tone to a light grey. There, you are as pretty as a zombie captain could be. I confirmed it and thought over the next portion of what this boss will be. You need a title, but what will fit you? What did you do in life that was notable? Did you defend this outpost with your life? Did you give your life for your men?

I stared at him for a while as I slowly pieced together his story. I think for you, I will give you the title of ‘The Stalwart,’ for you gave your life defending the lands of the empire when you had the chance to save your life. Now I’ll have to write your back story and force-feed it to you, so you can one day become intelligent. With that finished, all that was left was the class selection part.

Sadly, there wasn’t as much variety as Alessia had. But I can work with this. But at least he got a free class upgrade! That is money saved right there, so I can’t really complain about that. But what will suit you, my dearest captain? Shall you be a feared warrior in my empire? A stalwart blade to fend off the foes? A scalpel to cut down those who stand before me, or a marauder that debilitates its foe and lets its men kill its target? I thought through the options carefully as I figured out what I needed. So far, Alessia had the role of a warrior, so that was out of the question. So that left Zombie Marauder or The Undead Blade as potential classes. As it stands, the zombie was already a good enough tank, so let’s give it The Undead Blade class to see what happens. I confirmed my choice and paid my dues for the conversion.

Rikard shuddered as his body lit up and slowly changed according to what I designed for him. His milky white eyes unfogged a little, and sheen of intelligence glittered in them. He let out a strange moan that sounded somewhat intelligible. At least compared to the other mobs that roam the domain. I created two more chairs and motioned for the zombie to sit down. Now it was time to work on the skeleton here.

I went through the opening steps of upgrading it to a boss and looked at it as I tried to figure out its name. What were you in life, Mr. Skeleton? Perhaps you were a lieutenant to Rikard here, a close confidant and friend of the captain. I typed Lieutenant into the bar and thought over the name. I think I will name you Aaron, now for the last name. It was tough to name him based on his features since there wasn’t anything there but bone. I eventually went with the name Flint since it was easy enough and seemed to fit him. I confirmed it and left his appearance as a skeleton. There wasn’t much to change here. But now I had to think of a title. What made you special in life, Aaron? You used your fist and outmaneuvered a group of armed combatants, so maybe something relating to that feat.

I tried to think it over, but nothing seemed to come to mind. But maybe I was just overthinking it. Something simple, for a lower-tier boss, should do. Let’s make it related to your fist, then. Did your fist have magical properties in life? Were you a monk who specialized in a particular path? Does Fist of Flames suit you? No, that sounded a little clingy. How about the Undying Fist? It was still cringe, but it fit sadly. I typed it in and waited for the class menu to show up.

I salivated at the choices. This skeleton was really rocking some powerful classes. However, I went with the Undying Fist class. I mean, it would fit the situation at hand reasonably well and his title. Plus, I needed something that was a bit of a tank. I confirmed the choice and watched as the skeleton grew thicker bones and grew slightly taller than before. There, I had a full boss roster now, and now all that was left was working on me.