Chapter 23: New Skill

Cassian’s eyes lit up when he saw the rewards.

​Five thousand experience. Ten thousand Lord Coins. And a Common ★★★ Territory Treasure Chest.

​The Lord Coins were useful, and the treasure chest was even better, but what truly caught his attention was the raw experience points.

​Normally, Lords didn’t gain direct experience from the kills made by their troops; that experience belonged entirely to the summon that earned it.

What the Lord gained was something subtle, their baseline personal strength naturally adjusted over time to reflect the average power of their forces, heavily influenced by their strongest units.

​Because of that, a Lord’s personal growth was inseparable from the growth of their army.

​Yet conquest completion rewards were different. Those system rewards could be directly allocated, and Cassian already knew exactly where this experience belonged.

​He turned toward the girl resting on his back.

​Nyxara.

​She had fought the hardest and stood at death’s door to protect him. Giving the reward to her wasn’t even a decision; it was simple common sense.

​By his calculations, five thousand experience would push her nearly halfway toward her next rank advancement. Thinking of how terrifying she would become once she evolved made him eager for the future.

​As for the treasure chest, he intended to open it once they returned to Lord’s Hollow. There was no rush.

​For now, Cassian simply kept walking, carrying Nyxara through the dark woods.

​The Champion remained silent throughout the trek, yet her grip around his shoulders never loosened. Cassian pretended not to notice.

​It wasn’t long before the translucent boundary of the novice protection barrier came into view, shimmering beneath the purple sky.

Cassian stepped through without resistance, and the wild, chaotic death energy of the untamed wilderness immediately smoothed into something calmer, more orderly, and deeply familiar.

​He headed directly toward the Cemetery.

​Reaching one of the freshly constructed graves, he descended the stone steps into the rectangular burial pit. Despite its appearance, the interior wasn’t filled with loose dirt; instead, a soft, dense, foam-like soil covered the bottom, created specifically for the rapid recovery of undead entities.

​Cassian carefully lowered Nyxara onto the surface.

​The moment she touched the ground, wisps of pale necrotic mist emerged from the surrounding tombstones, flowing directly into her broken frame. The exposed white muscle began slowly knitting itself back together, while the tiny cracks along her skin gradually dissolved.

​The Cemetery infrastructure was already doing its job.

​Seeing that her recovery was underway, Cassian prepared to stand. He still had plenty to handle: opening the territory chest, checking on the squad in the Bonefang Wastes, and reviewing his revenue from the listings on the Trade Market.

​Yet before he could rise—

​"My Lord."

​Cassian paused, turning his head back.

​Nyxara was looking up at him, her violet eyes soft and vulnerable. "Please... can you keep me company?"

​Cassian froze.

​For a brief, fleeting instant, a distant memory surfaced, of a woman with long black hair, a gentle smile, and the face of Ruby’s mother. His ex-wife.

​The ghost of the past vanished as quickly as it had appeared, but the bitter, lingering emotion remained anchored in his chest.

​Noticing his sudden silence, Nyxara’s expression faltered slightly, and she lowered her gaze. "My Lord, if you find the request inappropriate—"

​"Don’t worry," Cassian interrupted softly, his voice calm and steady. "It’s fine. I’ll stay."

​Nyxara blinked, then gave a quiet, subtle nod.

​Cassian didn’t want his Champion overthinking things, especially after the trauma of nearly dying in the Umbralwood.

He shifted around in the pit until he found a relatively comfortable position, though ’comfortable’ was a generous description for a cramped stone grave.

​Looking at his surroundings, Cassian couldn’t help but feel a sudden wave of dark amusement. If someone in his previous life had told him he would one day be sitting inside a dug grave, cuddling up while keeping an undead elf company, he would have questioned their sanity.

​Yet here he was. Life truly was unpredictable.

​After settling in, Cassian materialized the Lord’s Ledger in the air before him, eager to check their total gains.

​Beside him, Nyxara watched the glowing screen for a few quiet moments. A faint, peaceful smile touched her lips, and she slowly closed her eyes.

​For the first time since her summoning from the Nether World, she allowed herself to relax completely, surrounded by the Cemetery’s soothing death energy and resting beside the sovereign she had sworn her soul to serve.

....

Cassian opened his Lord Ledger and selected the Status tab.

​A familiar panel materialized before his eyes:

​[Lord: Cassian Voss]

[Rank: Novice Lord]

[Lord Seed: D Grade]

[Anchor: Astral Dominion]

[Troop Type: Undead]

[Territory: Graveshade Expanse]

​[Champions: 1]

​[Soldiers: 5]

​[Support: 0]

​[Workers: 0]

​[Special: 0]

​[Mana: Infinite]

[Blessings: Infinite Mana | Fusion | Regression]

[Skills: Aura Slash]

​Cassian’s gaze paused on the final line.

​A faint, satisfied smile touched his lips. This was a pleasant surprise.

​Normally, Lords relied entirely upon borrowing the Skills and Authorities possessed by their active summons. If a summon died, access to those abilities vanished along with them.

​Self-created skills, however, were fundamentally different. They belonged to the Lord permanently, regardless of how many summons fell in battle.

​Which meant Aura Slash was now his, and his alone.

​Satisfied, Cassian navigated to the Soldier roster:

​[Elite Skeleton Knight]

Grade: Common

Potential: S Grade

Experience Progress: 47%

​[Elite Skeleton Tank]

Grade: Common

Potential: S Grade

Experience Progress: 39%

​[Elite Skeleton Assassin]

Grade: Common

Potential: S Grade

Experience Progress: 44%

​[Elite Skeleton Archer]

Grade: Common

Potential: S Grade

Experience Progress: 42%

​The progress bars looked healthy. The ongoing campaign in the Bonefang Wastes was clearly proceeding smoothly, at this rate, at least one of them might rank up before the day ended.

​Just as he was about to dismiss the Ledger, a sudden system alert flashed across the top of his vision.

​[System Notification]

Your summon, Elite Skeleton Archer, has learned a new skill.

Skill Acquired: Deathmark Sight

​[Deathmark Sight]

Grade: Standard

​The undead archer’s perception sharpens beyond ordinary limits, allowing it to instinctively identify structural flaws, vulnerable joints, and weak points in targets.

​Effects:

​Increases critical hit chance.

​Reveals enemy weak points.

​Improves accuracy against moving targets.

​Slightly increases long-range combat effectiveness.

​"Every creature has a place where death waits. Some simply see it better than others."

​Cassian blinked in surprise, his smile widening.

​"A new skill?"

​Summons acquiring skills independently wasn’t completely unheard of in the Lord’s Domain; it typically occurred through repeated combat, unique battlefield conditions, or moments of intense martial insight.

Yet seeing an S-Grade potential elite unlock a new ability this early was remarkable.

​Cassian leaned back against the cool stone of the grave wall, his curiosity thoroughly stroked.

​"Now I’m really wondering what those four are getting up to."

​Somewhere deep within the Bonefang Wastes, his elite soldiers were evidently doing far more than just mindlessly hunting monsters.