Numb. That’s how the void felt. I drifted there, gazing at the vast emptiness before me. Throbbing tension kept my eyes unfocused but eventually it was bearable to witness the void. To witness the thousands, millions of stars twinkle to life. Providing depth to the darkness. And a part of me knew, these stars were all people. People affected by the System, people accepting their new futures.

  It was surreal.

  Notice: Class evolution available.

  I gazed listlessly at the System notification before nodding my head.

  Notice: Evolution commencing.

  Closing my eyes, I waited.

  The void filled, not with space but power. Raw power rushed into my body, flooding every nerve and muscle. My body twitched uncontrollably through the process.

  Notice: Choose your path.

  I looked at the list before me, large panels with decorative, and imaginative, murals across them. And they were all me, in one way or another. Was that really how I looked now?

  Blood Steward:

  You have shown ample potential in the ways of Blood Magic. Pursue this path further to not only dominate your enemies but to achieve complete mastery of your physical self.

  Blood Steward, I frowned at the option. I hadn’t used blood magic that often, in fact after I received Ghostfire I hadn’t used it at all. A definite pass.

  Pale Knight:

  Harbinger is your will and you have guided it deftly. Embrace the Pale and sunder your foes.

  I’ll admit that one sounds both amazing and terrifying. But I hesitated, moving on to the next option.

  Ossuary Scholar:

  Master the physical forms of the Aria and bring forth the bone behemoths. Carve the flesh from your foes to create your masterpiece.

  Now this sounds more like it, if I could further improve the Aria then eventually I would have the army I would need to not only survive but thrive. Before I could impulse pick I moved to the last option.

  Spectral Binder:

  You have shown great will in the creation of your horde, binding the souls of the dead and dying to further both your will and their own. Step further into the Veil and bring light to the lost.

  I nodded along with the description, that one sounded interesting too.

  I could safely discard Blood Steward and Pale Knight, blood magic was not my priority and I wasn’t inclined to prolonged bouts in the front line. But I’ll admit, I was in the front lines more often than not. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad pick.

  It came down to what I wanted to specialize in, what would be the most useful in the long term. Ossuary Scholar would be a great choice to continue working on the Aria. But Spectral Binder would enhance my specters and shades.

  I floated in the void weighing the pros and cons of each, each one had merit and that only made the decision harder the more I thought on it. So I turned my attention to the murals in the meantime.

  The one painted onto Ossuary Scholar was intimidating. There I was, clad in writhing bone armor standing behind an army of the damned. Harbinger raised over my head as a sword.

  Spectral Binder painted a different picture. Specters floated beside me, and hooded variations of them in layered tattered clothing stood at the front. And I stood there, layered cloth strewn around me in a shroud. But what caught my eye the most, was the gauntleted left arm. Teal flame and dark smoke leaking from the joints.

  If I chose Spectral Binder, I could get my arm back.

  I looked at all the other murals to make sure, Spectral Binder was the only one that had my left arm.

  Evolution Confirmed: Class - Spectral Binder

  You have taken the first step into the Veil. [Error]

  I blinked, the murals shattering while the one I had picked glowed brilliantly before condensing into teal flame that flowed into my chest. Searing my soul.

  [Error]

  The Masters from beyond are pleased with your actions. The path has been followed, the trails passed, maintain your diligence.

  [Error]

  The Veil beckons Nascent, witness it.

  [Error]

  Notice: Skills [Soul Sight] and [Spectral Sight] have been forcibly evolved.

  Notice: Skill [Pierce the Veil] has been obtained.

  Soul Refinement: [Error] initializing…

  The Void squeezed in around me, compressing my body and soul. Until finally it released me, gasping and coughing heartily. My body ached, my soul throbbed, and I felt stronger.

  Notice: Evolution finalizing.

  I gazed at the void again before my sight was once again filled with a dark sky and the branches of trees.

  Blinking I laid still, my body sore and an aching pain filled my torso. I grunted in response to the new sensation.

  Notice: Evolution finalized.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Profession available: Order of Bones Initiate.

  Note that prolonged absence of a profession can result in negative effects.

  I mentally commanded the System to show me my other options but it seemed that the Order of Bones Initiate was the only one I had access to. Might as well.

  Profession selected. Stand by for initialization.

  In the meantime I glanced at another blaring symbol and a skill list appeared in front of me.

  Skills available:

  Shroud of the Reaper:

  Bathe yourself in energy from beyond and within. Allow death to become manifest.

  Wraith Walk:

  You have pierced the veil once, do so again. The veil is your shield and the path your own.

  Banshee’s Lament:

  Call forth the echoes of grief and rage, give it shape, and let your enemies feel the same.

  Three new skills, and each of them was tempting. But there was one I was certainly lacking. I had no credible defense. So I picked Shroud of the Reaper.

  Skill [Shroud of the Reaper] has been obtained.

  I felt the intrinsic knowledge of the skill enter my mind and I knew I had made the right choice. It would only provide basic protection but it would stop something like the clearing from happening again.

  Notice: Profession [Order of Bones Initiate] has initialized.

  I felt more power, a trickle compared to what I had just experienced. Akin to my early levels.

  “My lord,” Castien knelt beside me, “Are you well?”

  My eyes moved over to gaze at him, “For the time being yes,” I replied, my voice hoarse.

  He nodded and opened his mouth but Myer spoke over whatever he was going to say.

  “Crowley, the Aria have returned with the Gnoll corpses.”

  I turned my gaze towards Myer and frowned, “Already?”

  He stepped forward and held out a hand, “You’ve been out for a day and a half.”

  I took the offered hand and he raised me to my feet, “Really?”

  He nodded and gestured towards the mountains of corpses, “And without any other orders they’ve just kept hunting.”

  I blinked at the sheer amount of corpses, this would fuel my horde for weeks, it might even be enough to have most of them make it through the upcoming Monster Release. I mentally acknowledged the kills. And I nearly fell to the ground again.

  The sheer amount of notifications the System rang into my ears made me want to rip them off and forget about hearing ever again. Blessed silence was all I could think of.

  After the seemingly endless chimes I was finally met with silence.

  Class: Spectral Binder has reached level 30.

  Skills available.

  It was enough corpses to hit a whole new threshold. Perfect. I was effectively double the level from the last Monster Release. This was perfect. Now all I had to do was figure out this new class and profession.

  I focused on the new skill, Pierce the Veil and activated it.

  My sight was torn from me momentarily before it returned in razor sharp flowing colors. I wasn’t seeing the physical world with souls added in. I was seeing their world. And if there had been thousands of souls before, there were millions now.

  I squinted, no, not all of these were souls. The majority appeared to be, impressions? Echoes of the dead? They were fragments of what was and what could be. I reached a hand out to touch an impression.

  My vision and mind were flooded with the panicked last moments of a Gnoll before they were cut down by an unseen foe. I took an involuntary step back and let out a breath.

  This, this was potential. What could I make using these echoes as a base?

  I shook my head, I needed to finish the System notifications and get everything cleared away before I did anything else.

  Name: Crowley

  Race: Wight

  Class: Spectral Binder 30

  Profession: Order of Bones Initiate 1

  First the stats, then I would look at the profession and a new skill.

  Strength 30

  Agility 30

  Constitution 64

  Endurance 45

  Spirit 168

  Intelligence 45

  Perception 50

  Dominion 156

  Current Minion Cap: 312

  Free Points remaining: 60

  I blinked, this was an insane increase in power. The room I had for minions alone made the fights over the last few days worth it. And sixty free points, that was icing on the cake.

  I could push my physical stats to sixty each or push my Dominion and minion cap even further. I let out a long breath, this would be an important decision. And they would stay wherever I put them. Should I round out my physical capabilities or enhance my minion capacity.

  As it stood I had more capacity than I did minion potential unless I started animating everything I saw. I groaned in frustration and put thirty and thirty in strength and agility. I needed it.

  I felt it immediately, my body tensed and loosened. My feet planted themselves more firmly to the ground, more aware of the terrain beneath my worn boots. I smiled, I felt stronger, faster, more confident. I didn’t need to fear close combat anymore.

  My left side ached subtly, reminding me that I was not yet whole. I looked down at it and frowned, there was a dark mist slowly coalescing. Flowing down in the rough shape of an arm. Was this the new arm I had seen in the mural? What use would a spectral arm be? Could I even do anything with it?

  I attempted to move it but it didn’t budge. Did I need to wait for it to be fully complete?

  Shaking my head I turned my attention back to the Skill Selection only to find that there were no new skills. Only the ones that had previously been offered.

  I thought about it for a moment and decided on Banshee’s Lament. It would allow me to see what this new class entailed.

  Next was the Profession, I closed my eyes and let my mind rest for a moment. I was getting tired of looking at these screens. Just one more to go through.

  Profession: Order of Bones Initiate 1

  Skills:

  Spirit Weave:

  Weave the souls of the dead and their echoes into something befitting your will.

  Passive Skills:

  Resonance Tuning:

  With training you’ve become more aware of the natural frequencies emitted by the incorporeal dead. Allows you to better understand and weave the echoes of the dead.

  Bone-Script:

  With exposure and teaching you’ve learned to read and understand the lost language of the Order of Bones. Allows further exploration into their archives.

  Skill Choice Available:

  Tome of the Dead

  A Necromancer in tune with the dead and their natural states of decomposition. Details how to work with the flesh of the dead.

  Tome of the Ossuary

  A Necromancer in tune with the remains after the flesh has fled. Details how to work with the bones of the dead.

  Tome of the Wraith

  A Necromancer in tune with the souls of the dead and the impression left behind. Details how to work with the incorporeal.

  I nodded, simple enough. I chose Tome of the Wraith, it aligned with the class and the new path I was walking.

  Sighing I closed all of the System boxes and stared out at the forest, it was finally over. Now I just had mountains of work to do and hours of learning to complete. It wouldn’t do to just sit down and pull out a book in the wilderness. It was time to return to Riverrun.

  But first, I raised a hand towards the Gnoll corpses and hesitated. I hadn’t done that before. But there were easily a hundred corpses gathered around me and I took a moment to consider my minion count.

  Current Minion Count: 50 of 312

  So I had lost twenty-two undead during their raids. I stepped up to the corpses, it would probably take the rest of the night but I would raise each and every one of them. And then, well then I’d make a Banshee. Or several.

  I began the work seamlessly, ghostfire jumping from my hand and enveloping small piles of corpses. The endless march of animation that I was long familiar with at this point.

  The Aria Undead stood creakily, muscles spasming and spectral essence filling the gaps of their missing tissue. Sweat dripped from the tip of my nose and I blinked at it. That’s right, I was still recovering. The euphoria from the level ups had made my pain and injuries a distant thrum.

  The pain sharpened once my mind acknowledged it. Gritting my teeth I forced myself to cease my work. My eyes flicked towards the piles remaining but if I had to rest there’s no helping it. But then again…

  “Alicia,” I barked, searching out the maimed torso of our resident healer.

  A groan, with a hint of annoyance came from the trees and the tearing of leaves replied back to me.

  I watched the torso with its half formed spectral lower body drag itself towards me. Frowning, I waited, contemplating how exactly I could fix it. Maybe one of the tomes would reveal the answer.

  My annoyance grew over the several long moments it took for her to reach the halfway mark. My shadow grew of its own accord, large hands gripping the undead and pulling her the rest of the way. Holding her up like a child in front of me.

  I looked down at my shadow and at the large hands encompassing the torso.

  “What?” I said intelligently.

  Skill [Umbral Sovereign]

  You have accepted the pact presented.

  “That’s it? That’s all I get?”

  The System did not answer. Simply flashing the notification at me.

  I shook my head and gave the order to heal my wounds. Alicia went to work immediately, death energy coalescing and knitting together my torn flesh.

  “We’ll be speaking about this at length,” I said to my shadow, like a sane person, “At length.”