"Hey are you, ok? I know that wolf got a bite out of you before I managed to tag it." Rob asked as I looked up from the fire.

It was getting late, after Ruby and I logged back in we set about grinding for Level twenty and I just hit the mark. "Sorry, just thinking about what Specialization I am going to unlock. I can go with the Warlock or Necromancer would be best, but...both have their advantages." I told the Ranger.

He nodded his head as he glanced over at his sister, "Penny went with the Sword Warden Specialization when she hit twenty, I went with the Sentinel Specialization when I dinged. So, we both understand it is a big choice, but you got to make it." I nodded my head absently.

The Sword Spec added a branch of buffs and melee talents that would allow Penny to grab and hold aggro. The Sentinel Spec would unlock some melee Talents and traps for the ranger. I focused on the prompt in front of me and started reading again.

I went back and forth, while I had the cloak and every indication I should take the Necromancer Spec, the Warlock Spec looked easier by far. The question was, what was the endgame for a Necromancer? It hinted at the capability of creating sentient Undead, but that didn't assure loyalty like a Minion. Not to mention a Necro lost 25% of their experience to any Minions. Command armies or command a small group, what did I want to do?

"What does your instinct tell you to do?" Ruby prompted me.

I glared at her earning a chuckle from her and Penny and made my choice.

"Finally!" I looked over at Ruby, slightly confused as she rolled her eyes. She produced an elaborate belt, "This is for you, the Seer had it made for you when she first saw you mucking around with everything." she explained as she pushed it into my hands. It was ornate, with black runes inscribed into it, with the symbol of Hades sewn into it. I concentrated and pulled up its stats and nearly dropped it.

"Seer?" Rob asked and I looked at the Ranger before shaking my head.

"Don't ask, that's just another rabbit hole you don't want to go digging into," I told the Ranger as I donned the belt and felt a slight jolt like I just chugged a coffee. No wonder the capsules were expensive if it increased the feelings of all your senses, then again, I was sure that the pain would be amplified as well. I pulled up the list of my current unlocked Talents, of them, only a few had been changed and they were all the Passive Talents such as Dark Adept and Shadow's Strength. I dismissed the information and opened up my Talent Tree's, with Level twenty came a new tier of Talents not to mention a new Talent Tree.

Pestilence was an odd spell, it was a single target DoT but like any good disease, it could be transferred to nearby enemies while the primary target was suffering the Debuff. Grasp of the Damned was a single target root spell, Bog of Darkness was better overall but Grasp of the Damned stopped a single target it didn't slow them like the other spell.

Blink through Darkness was a short-range teleport spell allowing the caster to move almost anywhere. Aura of Darkness, like Dark Adept, was both a passive and active talent. It caused mindless Undead to ignore the Necromancer, so if I ran across any skeletons or zombies, they wouldn't attack me on sight. More importantly, it would help any companions to avoid conflict with them as well. The active component would increase my Minions Armor and Damage while they were within range. I flipped to my new Tree to see what I could do there.

I frowned at what I could see, it wasn't much but I was sure that at higher Levels the tree would expand greatly. Raise Skeletal Minions allowed me to raise simple Skelton's to fight for me and as my Level increased the number and type would as well. Skeletal Mastery increased my Minions Armor, Damage, and the Experience they gained. I had seven Talent Points and six new Talents that had been unlocked.

Pestilence was a no-brainer, as were Blink through Darkness and Aura of Darkness. I quickly unlocked all three and concentrated on the two Talents from the Grave Lords Talent Tree. Each Minion required five points into Intelligence, between my natural Attribute and my equipment, I had 159 Intelligence, which meant I could Raise up to 31 Skeletal Minions. Yet the Talent also required me to bank 25 Spirit per Minion which would eat about half of my Spirit Pool to maintain all of them. I closed my eyes and gave myself a mental shake, and invested two points into each Talent before closing out the Talent Tree's to review my new spells.

I finished reading, the limitations of the Raise Skeletal Minion made sense, Paramount didn't want a powerful Necromancer to go off and conquer the world one village at a time. There had to be checks and the degradation effect on Undead Minions was it. I quickly donned my new belt and pulled out the Cloak of Darkest Night I had found back in the Lost Dark Conclave and pulled up the hood. "Holy shit, batman. You got the whole evil overlord thing going for you." Rob quipped.

I chuckled and noticed Ruby blush as she looked at me, "We got a shrine to raid, I can raise thirty-one Minions, so who wants to help me find some bodies?" I asked as Penny's mouth dropped open when she heard how many Undead, I could command. I shook my head at her reaction, she had no idea what I was capable of. This was just the beginning not to mention I was sitting on twenty-five Free Attribute Points.