Sylas's attention was pulled from his attempts to manipulate mana by Sam and Swain both readjusting in their bean bags. From sleeping in the same room or bed with both of them for years, he knew that meant they were fighting to stay asleep even as their bodies tried to wake up.
'What a weird thought,' Sylas chuckled as he lightly shook his head. 'I probably don't have time to do anything meaningful with mana so let's check out these guys.'
His attention fell on the five undead surrounding the room. In the low light of the early morning sunrise, their skin looked a mixture of green and grey. Each of their eyes were etched with shadows. Black smoke-like wisps could be seen fluttering across their irises.
He noticed each one stood perfectly still with their weapons grasped in their hands and heads straight forward. 'The shaman boss and four melee grunts, huh.'
Sylas used [Analyze] on a melee goblin, but instead of receiving stats he had another screen pop up.
[Insert name for level 5 [Undead Goblin].]
There wasn't a way for him to close the window and using [Analyze] again gave no results so Sylas sighed and relented.
'I never liked it when characters did this in the novels I read, but there's no way I'll be able to come up with names for everything I raise in the future.'
[Gob 1 is accepted.]
Sylas was able to successfully use [Analyze] on Gob 1 now. His stats weren't impressive for a level 5, barely breaching 10 in each stat except for Intelligence, which was a 3.
The part that drew Sylas's attention the most was the [Rename] button in the stat screen. At least if Gob 1 through 4 became important to him, he could give them real names.
He named the other three melee goblins with the same scheme and saw that Gob 1 and 2 had slightly higher strength stats while Gob 3 and 4 had slightly higher agility focused stats.
Sylas nodded, 'So they already have a specific build they're heading towards based on if they have clubs like Gob 1 or a crappy dagger like Gob 3. I see…'
His gaze fell on the goblin shaman. The shaman was also standing still like the others, but Sylas could see hints of sentience flash in its dull eyes from time to time.
'Well, you are a boss monster from a dungeon and Tier 1 so it makes sense you're better than the rest. I guess I should give you a real name.'
[Shammy Sosa is accepted.]
Sylas chuckled at his chosen name and looked through Shammy's stats. Shammy's physical stats were very low at 8 across the board, but his Int was at 42, which made up for the low physical stats.
The most interesting part of Shammy's stat page was the (Weakened) tag directly behind his name. Sylas focused on the tag and a new screen popped up with a description.
[Weakened is shown when the target's stats have been reduced. Weakening can be caused by curses, poison, injuries, and more. Weakened status is removed when the target is back to full capacity. Regaining stats is easier than initially gaining stats.]
'Hmm, is he injured?' Sylas thought as he looked over Shammy Sosa. Shammy's robe was torn, but the skin Sylas could see under the robe looked to be in pristine greyish-green health.
'Wait, when we kill monsters, we get a portion of their mana and the rest goes back into the environment. Is he weakened because the System won't take the mana back that we absorbed from him?'
[Congratulations! You've understood your class and the skill [Raise Dead] more thoroughly. [Raise Dead]'s minion cap +1. [05/07]]
'I guess that answers that.' Sylas chuckled as he read through the notification. 'But 7? It was at 5 last night.'
Intrigued, Sylas scrolled through his Message Log until he found one that mentioned [Raise Dead].
[Mana Control has increased allowing you to have more precise control over your skills. [Raise Dead]'s minion cap +1. [05/06]]
'Okay, okay. So understanding how a skill functions and increasing my mana control both allow me to have more minions. Will improving my mana capacity do the same?' Sylas pondered.
Sylas glanced around at his minions again. 'Five extra combatants. How hard is it going to be to control them while we're fighting?'
With that thought, Sylas focused on Shammy and whispered "Take two steps forward." He was slightly surprised as he watched Shammy immediately follow his command and then stay standing in that spot, staring ahead.
"Take two steps back."
"Turn 90 degrees to your right."
"Turn 180 degrees to your left."
"270 degrees to your right."
Sylas watched as Shammy perfectly followed his directions and was able to understand the last command even without being specifically told to turn. 'Now if only Shammy would turn around and face inside the room again without me having to tell him.'
His mouth fell to the floor as Shammy spun around at his thought. 'I don't have to talk to them? Is it some kind of mana transmission?'
Sylas had Shammy walk all the way around the room, giving more complex commands as time went on. 'I should test the Gobs too.'
He thought 'Gobs, walk forward.' and watched as the undead goblins who were positioned directly across from each other each started taking steps forward.
Sylas watched in interest as the Gobs continued to walk until a soft thud was heard as they rammed into each other. He was able to stifle his laugh until the next second when each one of the Gobs attempted to take the next step again, once again ramming each other.
****
A few moments later, Sylas sheepishly tried to sink into his bean bag bed as Swain and Sam both shot death glares in his direction. His outburst had woken them up from their early morning rest and they were not happy about it.
The mood lightened as Sylas showed them his newfound control over the undead. With a bit more experimentation, the trio learned the gobs followed directions very literally and would continue with the last command until told otherwise, but they were able to receive multiple commands at a time and Sylas could set a simple priority system for the commands.
Shammy was able to complete his commands in a more liberal fashion. If told to go across the room, but an object or person was in the way, Shammy would move around the obstacle to complete his goal. If the command was simply to walk forward, Shammy would stop moving at the obstacle rather than running into it.
"So Shammy is more intelligent than the Gobs." Sylas thought out loud as Sam shook her head at his naming sense. 'At least Swain appreciated Shammy's name.'
"Shammy, follow Sam's commands too." Sylas said as he looked over to Sam. "I want to test this too. It'd be nice if you guys could ask for their help while I'm not right next to them."
Sam nodded at Sylas. "Good point. Shammy, please stand next to me."
The trio were thrilled as Shammy walked over to Sam, but then Sylas and Swain burst out in laughter as Sam cringed a little. Shammy had walked over to Sam and stood perpendicular to her, but he remained facing the same direction, so he had resumed his vacant stare while staring at Sam. The funniest part to the guys was that the height difference between the two was roughly a foot so Shammy was staring directly at her chest.
"Turn around!" Sam squealed, eliciting another laughing fest from the guys, but Shammy immediately complied.
They were interrupted as a knock was heard on the glass door to the study room the trio was in. Diana and Jackie were standing in the hallway looking in. Sylas decided to surprise them and mentally commanded Shammy to open the door for them.
The party watched as Shammy walked over to the door, twisted the locking mechanism, pulled the door open, and immediately let go of the door handle allowing the door to close as the girls were about to step in.
There was a confused look on everyone's faces until Sylas spoke out, "Oh, Shammy, hold the door open for them until they're in the room."
This time Diana and Jackie were able to enter the room before Shammy let go of the handle and resumed his statue cosplay.
Sylas first asked the group about the end of the fight and any injuries they obtained, but there wasn't really anything he missed and Sam's passive skill had healed them all throughout the night. Even Sylas wasn't feeling any soreness anymore.
He went on to show the new duo how to control his undead minions, but told them he'd likely be controlling them during fights anyway.
"I learned a lot about mana, but we can talk about that when we're traveling. No need to sit here longer than needed. Speaking of which, where are the wagons?"
Jackie was the one to respond to his question telling him they were in the room next door where her and Diana slept.
They ate a quick meal from the [Mana Slow Cooker] which the group realized had some kind of food preservation aspect as the cooked rabbit Sylas threw in last night was still hot and fresh even after being eaten once and being in the cooker all night.
The party finished their meal, packed the rest of their items into the wagons, and then brought them outside. They took a last look at the wagons to see if there was anything else they could think of grabbing before they left, but couldn't think of anything so they each grabbed a wagon handle.
"Wait a minute. Drop the wagons for a second." Sylas spoke up and the party complied even though they didn't understand why. Well, they didn't understand until the next second when his five minions walked over and scooped the handles off the ground.
Sylas grinned "Why should we pull them when we have helpers that can?" Swain was ecstatic he didn't have to lug the wagon around and started to run, skip, and jog back and forth across the pathway as the group started their journey.
The Gobs struggled with the wagons at first. They were randomly moving the wagon handle which caused the front wheels to shake back and forth with each movement which, in turn, caused the items in the wagon to vibrate causing a raucous.
The noise attracted a pack of zombies which Swain dealt with single handedly. "I can feel I'm close to level 10 and Tier 1! Let me kill everything we come across!" Swain shouted as he dashed into the pack before the others even started to wield their weapons.
After a minute, Swain stomped back over to the party mumbling "I'm so close, ugh!". The others laughed at his antics, but weren't surprised at Swain's lack of level up. The highest level zombie in the pack was only level 5. Sylas had noticed the returns from wiping out weaker monsters were incredibly low in comparison with same or higher level monsters.
While Shammy never had a problem, the Gobs eventually were able to master wagon pulling. After five minutes, they were able to keep the handle still and most of the noise was quelled.
The party stopped in front of the cafeteria on their way out of the university. "I want to grab some pots to use in the [Mana Slow Cooker]." Sylas had planned for this after breakfast this morning. "Might as well get all our meat in and be prepared for more since there are 20 slots."
Swain grabbed the [Mana Slow Cooker] and brought it into the kitchen so they had shorter trips to make. The party all went in, leaving the undead out with the wagons.
After a few minutes, the party had filled each slot in the cooker with all the meat in their inventories. Jackie had brought the backpack of canned food and she used that and the not yet rotten vegetables in the cafeteria to make a couple of stews.
The party was walking out the doors of the cafeteria when they heard a whistling sound followed by a thump. Gob 3 was sent to the ground by an arrow that landed in Gob 3's shoulder.
"Enemies!" Swain shouted as he ran fully out of the door to face the threat. Standing 20 feet away from the undead goblins was a group of ten humans. They were young adults, certainly students at the university when the Integration began.
Six of them were armed, some with makeshift weapons, while two had real weapons that were likely rewards from the System, a bow and a sword. The six with weapons were standing in front of four others. Two of the four were leaning onto the two companions next to them, apparently injured.
The two groups paused for a moment upon seeing other humans. Sylas took the opportunity to speak up during the silence.
"Hey there, we're survivors too. These goblins," Sylas gestured behind him, "are under our control. They're no threat to you, but I certainly don't blame you for shooting first and asking questions later."
Both sides were quiet after Sylas's words. The group of ten were looking between each other. Some showed looks of hesitation, others fear, but Sylas was paying attention to the two with real weapons.
The holder of the bow was a woman with dark red hair down to her upper back. Her clothing was torn in places, but still wasn't revealing anything it shouldn't. Her face was one of slight fear as she looked at the undead goblins.
The one who Sylas was wary of was the swordsman. His grip was constantly adjusting on the hilt of his sword as he looked between Sylas's party and his own. His expressions kept changing between fear, anger, hesitation, resentment, greed, and resolve until, with a final look at the bowwoman, he stepped forward and broke the silence.
"Give us the wagons." He didn't yell, he just stated his demand.
Sylas watched as the swordsman's face crumbled into a mask of rage as Swain started to laugh out loud. He placed his hand on Swain's shoulder to calm him down.
"You can't have our wagons. There were a few more behind the agriculture building yesterday. You can go get your own." Sylas said while quieting Swain.
The swordsman's rage turned into greed and arrogance as he spoke "We want your wagons and everything in them. You're outnumbered. Leave!" He started speaking steadily but was yelling by the end.
Sylas shook his head as he pulled out his wand, causing both groups to pull out their weapons. "We aren't outnumbered." Sylas saw the swordsman smirk as he spoke. "You have at least two injured at the back of your group. While we," Sylas paused for a moment while giving a mental command, "have ten fully abled combatants."
The five goblins dropped their wagon handles and stepped up to Sylas's side as he finished his sentence. The other group's faces twisted into fear as they watched the goblins get closer.
The swordsman started grasping at anything he could to turn the tide back to his favor. "You control the monsters so you're probably a monster too! We should kill him!" He spoke towards Sylas and then his own group.
Sylas locked eyes with the red headed bowwoman, "Does he speak for your group?"