Chapter 15

I bounced the idea around in my head for a bit, trying to find a proper spelling for Asteria to fit my name, but nothing worked for me. It just sounded off the more I thought about it. I mean, let's be real, Calixa Asteria didn't feel right. I mean, I can always delete my last name; it won't affect who I am; I will still know my last name, I can always just go by Calixa or Empress, for that matter, or whatever my title will be.

I sat on the thought for a moment before I decided that's what I wanted to do. It would be a lot easier than deciding on the last name. I erased Wright from the screen and confirmed my choice. The screen blinked its confirmation and vanished; now I was just Calixa. I took a moment to check on the zombies and see how they were doing. Again the scene looked much like it did before. Zombies were bisected and cut apart. Most of them were dead, while only two were still standing going at it. Their movements were far more refined than before, but they were still swinging the swords widely as far as I could tell, but I was no expert on the matter.

I watched them as they both slashed one another for quite sometime before one dropped to the floor, leaving only one standing. A filament of grey energy rushed into the zombie and a dull light pulsed from its body. Wounds it received during the fight began to stitch its self together. Fingers quickly grew back, and even a leg that looked like it was almost 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 on that yet. They didn't feel pain after all. I glanced at the notification on my screen.

Elite T1 Template unlocked:

Zombie Swordsman

Congratulations, you have unlocked an elite variant! You have gained four hundred essences as your reward.

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 glance over to my companion.

"Yes. The template will also evolve based on the further evolutions of the class as well." That was interesting, and it raised more questions.

"How does the class system work?" I activated the consume function and began to clean up the mess as I motioned for the zombie to come over here and wait.

"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.

"I see; when I gave Alessia her title, it seemed like it would only allow one." I shifted my menus around and began to summon a small group of skeletons to begin the next round of testing.

"You can designate a public title, but they will earn them through actions they take." He leaned forward as he spoke, seemingly interested in the action that would be coming due to the skeletons fighting. Hopefully, this would be a little cleaner than the zombies.

"I understand, thank you Kharon." I really did appreciate 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, however, 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. "Fight."

The skeletons were much more agile than the zombies, and it showed. They all moved much more nimbly though they still lacked any sort of skill. Swords swung around the area 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.

Surprisingly the skeleton without a blade was doing well. It was dodging the blades as best it could and delivering punches to the other skeletons' body. I didn't expect this 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 great job.

Finally, only two remained standing. The unarmed one, who was missing some rib bones and half of its jaw and other small bones 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 the same condition. Many of its bones were cracked, and part of its head was 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, filling the room with a sicking crack as few bones shattered from the impact. Instead of backing away, the other skeleton pushed forward and began raining down giant haymakers. It looked like a bunch of 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, you will be promoted for your efforts.

Elite T1 Template unlocked

Skeletal Pugilist

There was no small amount of disappointment at seeing that I wasn't awarded essence for it. Oh well, let's get these two upgraded and move on. I would give the ghast an upgrade, but it scares me to look at and deal with. I'll find more suitable upgrades later, but 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. Lets start with a name.

I stared at the zombie for a moment as I tried to mentally 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. You look kind of like a Rikard, so it fits. Now for your last name, sir. 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.

I took away a lot of the blemishes that covered his flesh. I broke an arm, left it dangling to the side, and covered his chest in bite marks of various depths. I cleaned up his face a bit, gave him a close cut shave, and changed his flesh's tone to a light grey. There, as pretty as a zombie captain will 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 see if I can force-feed it to you, so you can one day become intelligent. With that finished, all that was left was the class selection part.

Class has been detected, due to the upgrade from an elite mob to a boss, the class can be evolved.. Analyzing title, skills, gender, race, and affinity.

Undead Warrior: This class focuses on dealing moderate sustained damage with some sustain and moderate defensive capabilities. There is no magical affinity present.

The Undead Blade: This class focuses heavily on blade usage and agility to keep itself alive. There is no magical affinity present.

Zombie Marauder: A perversion of the marauder class. This class heavily focuses on defense but uses heavy disabling attacks to harm its foe. There is no magical affinity present.

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 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 fend off my foes, 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 is already a good enough tank, so let's give it the overwhelming DPS 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 began to change 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 decided to go 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 with only your fist, so maybe something relating to that feat.

I tried to think it over, but nothing seemed to come to mind. But maybe, I was overthinking it. Something simple, for a lower-tier boss, should do. Let's make it something relating to your fist, then. Did your first have magical properties in life? Where you a monk who specialized in a particular path? The possibilities here were almost endless. How about, does fist of flames suit you? No, that sounded a little cringy. How about The undying fist? It was still cringy, but it would fit you now. I typed it in and waited for the class menu to show up.

The Undying Fist: This class is classified as a drain tank and can restore health with each attack. This class gets access to Ki and loses access to mana in turn.

Ten fisted: This class is a heavily damaging class that focuses on overwhelming damage in combat. This class lacks defensive capabilities. This class gets access to Ki and loses access to mana in turn.

Advanced Pugilist: This class has a blended focus between taking hits and dealing damage. It has decent utility and is very mobile in a fight. It has some magical affinity tailored to it.

I found myself salivating at the choices. This skeleton was really rocking some excellent choices. However, I went with the Undying Fist class. I mean, it would fit the situation at hand reasonably well. 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.