To an extent, I felt proud of Char's quick evolution just like a father would be proud of their son. However, the other side of me was concerned that if he was evolving and ranking up this fast, he would probably pass me quickly. 

Now, he wasn't really doing anything. He was just lounging around on one of the chairs looking like he was just chilling out, which believe me, looks very weird when he's a skeleton in purple and golden robes. 

Who would have thought skeletons could have such a character. Wait, let's use analyze and see what's going on.

I hadn't used the skill yet, all but forgetting about it after my near-death experience with those damn lizards. 

[Analyse]

 

"....Char, you won't try and kill me right?"

The skeleton just shook it's head nonchalantly, I saw the red orbs which were his eyes glance towards me.

"No reason to, also, I don't think I could even hurt you anyways. You are a good person, the last demon lord would've been happy"

Now I could definitely see a depressed look in his eyes as he glanced down at the floor. I hadn't pried before, but I had no idea who the previous demon lord even was, I just knew a name. 

Though, if Char was an indication, he would've been the exact opposite of what a classic "demon lord" would've been. From the start, Char had constantly held his previous master in high regard. I felt like I would find out how he was eventually, but I needed to worry about my own problems before then.

"Char, how long was I out for?"

"2 weeks"

"...............WHAT!?"

Now don't get me wrong, it wasn't like I had anything important to do here. Ever since I came here, the burdens from my previous life didn't come along for the ride. I was literally given the objective of surviving, which I almost butchered on the first day. It was just a surprise to me, I never slept past 12 hours in my life, though I also haven't had the living daylights stomped out of me before either.

Char turned to the side and hauled my bag, which we were using to store the food and goblin bodies, out and handed it to me. I accepted it halfheartedly, already imagining what fresh fish would look like after two weeks.

"Thanks Char, but I think everything would be rotted by now."

At this, Char shook his head.

"It has spatial magic, nothing will change when you put things in there as time is frozen."

"Oh."

If I had known this, I probably would've picked up the plants and other types of food along the way since they wouldn't go bad in the first few days, this was better than a refrigerator!

I took out the fish from the bag as well as, apprehensively, the goblin corpses. Though Char said they wouldn't rot, the goblins stank to high heaven, and I kind of just wanted to burn them. 

Burn them....Wait, I have a Magma Lich now!

"Hey Char, can you-"

But before I could finish my sentence and ask him to just destroy the corpses, a message popped out right in front of me.

[Detecting materials: Would you like to turn them into raw materials for the dungeon?]

A box popped up alongside it, which showed the fish and goblin corpses. I put my finger on it and discovered it was click and drag, which prompted me to immediately drag the icon with the goblin bodies into the [Break down] area.

[+ 60 weak bones]

[+ 35 goblin hide]

[+ 40 goblin ears]

"Thank god! I can breathe!"

The moment I dropped the goblin icons, the goblins were immediately removed from my sight, and instead, the dungeon inventory got filled with goblin materials. The stench instantly disappeared, which doesn't make much sense but I wasn't going to question the science, especially in a world with magic.

[Used 5 SP]

"What?"

Ohhhhh no. It didn't tell me that it needed SP!  I still need more SP to actually have more troops, at least to defend myself!

Even though I was extremely strong, that didn't mean I could solo every single fight. If there were multiple fights going on, I needed an army to support me, especially since there were probably a million bounties for my head.

Panicking, I opened my shop page and checked my SP balance

SP: 445

Oh

Now there were three possibilities that I could think of.

1. I get SP when I level up
2. I get SP over time
3. And I get SP from killing monsters.

Personally, I thought that it was definitely from killing the lava lizard. That thing was worth at least 400 SP in and of itself, so now I kind of had a grasp of how to get more SP and could finally summon my own troops.

Though this was all speculation, I still had no idea what was going on but it's working so I'm not going to argue with it.

"So, Char. What do you think I should summon?"

Char sat up from his previous lounging position. He really looked like he was vibing, can skeletons vibe? Let's just say they can.

"Personally, I think more skeletons will help us. A standing army is much better than a single, high-level soldier."

And this is why I keep him around

If I had gone off of instinct, I would have bought a higher level summons, however, Char was already a high-level skeleton and would be sufficient for now. He was right, I did indeed need at least a defending force to deal with the monster infestation and bring order around here.

So without any regret, I put my finger on the summon skeleton button that require 10 SP each and put 20x skeletons in.

[Confirmation: Summoning 20 skeletons?]

I clicked yes, which made my SP drain halfway and the room started to shake as blue pentagrams started to appear on the ground. They started spinning rapidly, which made both me and Char get out of the way. 

"I am so glad this room has so much space!"

This was a lord's office after all, which meant that there were probably guests in here all the time It made sense that the place would be extremely large, at least, this was my assumption.

Papers of old books started to break off and fly everywhere as the circles started to spin more rapidly.

[Summoning: Area has a mass amount of skeletons. Lowering SP cost]

I saw around half the SP go back, making the SP count a bit over 300. Although I wasn't paying much attention because the multiple small circles had morphed into a giant one, basically the size of a rug in a presidential building's office. 

"OW!" 

A head-splitting pain assaulted me, making me hunch over and clutch my head.

As I closed my eyes from the pain, I suddenly felt myself drifting again. 

You're kidding me.

Before I started to curse at this whole world for subjecting me to all this torment, a voice started to ring through the darkness.

[I'm sorry I died before I could say my goodbyes.]

Okay, what the hell was going on? Who the heck was narrating this? Did this just turn into a drama instead of fantasy?

[If...if there is a heaven. I'm sure I'll see you again, my wife and daughter. For God will guide me forwards!]

[You have summoned Vilar, the holy skeleton warrior!]

"Wait, those are two words that shouldn't be together. OW!"

Before I had time to contemplate what in the world was going on, I was jolted awake once again. I didn't even know it was possible to feel pain in your sleep but I guess you learn something new every day.

I groaned on the ground before I was interrupted by the numerous sets of clacking footsteps that were approaching me. Still, a bit dazed, I got up to see the skeletons that I had summoned previously. Unlike when I first met Char, these skeletons were equipped with crude weapons such as spears and rough metal swords. Most of them looked like they were dressed in old clothes though some of them were also dressed in leather armor as well as a few dressed in steel, except the skeleton in front.

The skeleton in front had a white and golden helmet and chest plate, while their legs were partially exposed it also had metal boots as well. Though it looked quite good, there were a number of dents throughout the armor. In its hands, there was a similarly white and gold longsword that it was clutching with both hands. 

"Uh, Char...I thought I was only summoning normal skeletons."

Char knocked on the helmet of the skeleton in front, which didn't prompt a response.

"I believe that summoning skeletons that were already on a battlefield such as this one could cause one of the stronger soldiers to revive, just like in this case. Though it may not look like it, this man is wearing mass-produced mithril armor which was commonly worn by holy warriors of the church. Although it is quite low quality, it's better than anything a skeleton would usually wear."

Now I was kind of getting a bit disturbed by this whole thing. I didn't know if Char had a whole family or something before, but I had just heard the life story of the guy in front and now I was using his dead body as a tool. 

"Char, tell me, is summoning the dead wrong?"

"It depends, why don't you ask them instead?"

[Would you like to release mind lock of [Skeletons]?]

This message came up the moment Char had recommended me to ask them. I hadn't really thought about it, but was evolving into a Lich just giving the skeleton too much brainpower and automatically releasing the mind lock? 

Though it seemed dangerous, I doubted that I would have trouble with a few skeletons if they did decide to attack me. The biggest problem I would have would be my SP bank.

"Release the mind lock"

The skeletons shuddered on the spot, letting out even more clacking noises as they convulsed and, similar to Char, red orbs started to fill their eye sockets as they seemingly gained awareness.

They were quiet for a moment before a few of them started speaking in the chittering of skeletons. The skeletons in the room were looking around, completely confused on what was going on.

Char, to my relief, stepped up in front of me and started talking in the same chittering, making them calm down a bit. The one in the armor, Vilar, stepped forward.

I took this moment to do a quick scan of him.

[Analyse]

 

"Wow, that's actually pretty impressive."

"...who....are..you?"

Each word came out with a ragged breath as Vilard opened his mouth to speak. He was speaking almost identically to how Char was speaking before, but with less enthusiasm.

"Ah. I'm Damon, the 56th Demon Lord. I just summoned you all from the dead and removed the mind lock placed on you all."

At this, the skeletons chittered once again, talking to each other in a language that I couldn't understand.

"....why...?"

"because I wanted to give you all choices. If you want to go back into the earth and let your soul move on, then go ahead and tell me. If not, then join my army or work in other ways."

"...my....daughter..."

Yeah, this is definitely the man that I heard when I was out. I don't think he wants to go back into the earth just yet.

Vilard chittered with the other skeletons before they moved into two separate groups. Most of the skeletons that were wearing armor moved to one side, and the other's group was full of skeletons in civilian clothing.

"...will...you...do...no...harm..to...innocence?"

I interpreted that to mean will I not harm any innocent person, which I wasn't really planning on doing anytime soon if ever. Though, I still had to reassure him I wouldn't

"Trust me, I don't kill innocent people. I haven't even killed a person yet!"

 

Char chimed into our conversation.

"From what I can tell, the ones that had their minds released from the lock mostly don't remember their past lives but do remember being soldiers or whatever. They believe that they still have a lord to serve since you're here, though they don't remember anything they still know that you are not evil. The armored group will serve."

I looked at the group and nodded. Even though they had a mismatch of armor they all looked tough enough to stand their ground. Most of them were D ranks but some of them in steel armor were C ranks, with Vilard being the strongest out of them. 

The bad news was the there were only 12 standing in that group, which meant that 8 of them wanted to go back.

This sucks but I'm not going back on my word. 

[Cancel Summon?]

The system automatically targeted all of the newly summoned skeletons, so I corrected it and pointed at the ones that wanted to move on.

"Well, I wish you all luck in the afterlife."

Yes, I am well aware that sounded completely like an evil demon lord but I was being nice here!

The other skeletons saluted as the ones that I canceled crumbled to dust, effectively making it impossible to recall them ever again. I couldn't tell which was crueler since these people had died early, but life still goes on despite everything.

"Alright, everyone in the courtyard! We need to see what you guys can do."

---

And there's chapter 10, he's finally getting an army! 

The next chapter will probably be interesting, just trust me.