Building the Strongest Undead Empire from Scratch

Chapter 85: Don't worry, I won't chop you

Alex's guess was soon confirmed when she discovered a magic book inside the Frost Werewolf's cave. It was a book on intermediate frost magic.

During the battle, the Frost Werewolf's eyes had glowed red, and it drooled all over the place, looking every bit the mad creature.

Could such a creature really learn magic?

This proved that the Frost Werewolf originally possessed intelligence, and its frost magic wasn't an innate talent but acquired through learning.

The truth was clear. Initially, the Frost Werewolf must have been normal, but something later influenced its mind, making it appear mad. Could this be related to the mysterious item everyone was searching for?

Alex casually pocketed the magic book—a valuable find, as it was one of the few ways to enhance strength besides leveling up.

She then scoured the cave for anything useful. Having explored the area thoroughly, Alex prepared to leave.

This expedition had been quite fruitful. The magic crystals and Essence Shards were secondary; the real prizes were the Ring of Space and the frost magic book. These items would be incredibly helpful to Alex.

She retrieved the two pieces of equipment from the Frost Werewolf from the ring, careful to keep this precious ring hidden from others. Pretending to have found nothing else, she walked towards the cave entrance with the two pieces of equipment.

As Alex reached the entrance, Samson emerged, using magic to freeze a large pile of supplies behind him and controlling them to move forward.

Alex glanced over; nothing valuable, just some iron ingots, stones, a few magic crystals, and Essence Shards. However, Samson looked rather disheveled, with part of his hair burned off and his face scorched.

Alex couldn't help but laugh. "You're at Commanding level and you still got burned by a Standard Flame Demon Wolf? Look at you now."

Facing Alex, Samson was somewhat timid, and despite noticing that she had not obtained any loot, he dared not mock her.

He approached her with a charred face, managing a smile that showed his white teeth. "Hey, those two frost pieces you've got, you won't need them, right? You're probably going to trade them at the trading post. How about we swap?"

"Why can't I wear them myself?" Alex suddenly noticed the iron ingots behind Samson. He must have found the warehouse used by the general to build the fortress; it was normal to find iron ingots there.

Hearing Alex's response, Samson's smile widened, his eight teeth now appearing to be twelve. "You haven't checked the properties of the equipment, have you? They're not suitable for you."

Seeing that Alex hadn't even checked the properties, Samson assumed she didn't care about the equipment and that he could secure them with a satisfactory offer.

Curious about what made these items so desirable to this Lord, Alex decided to check the properties.

[Equipment Name: Frost Breastplate]

[Equipment Level: Commanding level]

[Set Effect (1/4): Amplifies own frost magic by 10%, reduces own fire magic by 15%, increases Mana Points by 20, adds six points to all attributes.]

The properties were indeed impressive, enhancing the wearer's magical power—no wonder Samson wanted them.

The set could be somewhat useful to her, now that she had an intermediate book on frost magic. However, the reduction in fire magic power was a drawback; in a world where even those without magical knowledge could produce flames, reducing fire magic power was a significant disadvantage.

This was a close-combat set, with weapons being two wolf claws, perfect for compensating for Samson's weak close-combat abilities and enhancing frost magic—it seemed tailor-made for him.

No wonder he was so eager to get it and claimed it was useless to Alex. Alex used fire magic, and wearing something that reduced fire magic power was out of the question for her.

"What do you want to trade?" Alex asked, though her gaze was fixed on the iron ingots behind Samson.

Even Samson could tell what she wanted. "How about I trade you these two pieces of equipment for a thousand iron ingots?"

A thousand iron ingots were worth two thousand magic crystals at base price. With the beast tide just ended, surviving Lords had plenty of magic crystals, but iron ingots were becoming rarer and had started to appreciate in value.

Thus, a thousand iron ingots were actually worth far more than two thousand magic crystals. Samson's offer was quite generous.

"No," Alex flatly refused. "One of the pieces is a weapon. I'll need two thousand."

Alex boldly doubled the price. She wasn't worried about Samson backing out; if he didn't agree, she could simply keep the equipment, and he would never complete the set.

Understanding this, Samson knew upgrading his town without strengthening his capabilities first would only increase the risk of exposure.

If he didn't upgrade his town, then the iron ingots were of no immediate use. Completing the set was worth it, especially since he had already traded with Lucian for other parts and only needed the two pieces Alex held to complete it.

Of course, all this was just Samson reassuring himself. He knew they were outside the castle, and what if this fierce young lady decided to kill him?

"Miss, why are you taking out the scythe...?"

Samson was genuinely frightened. He couldn't afford to disagree.

"Oh, it's nothing. We're about to leave the cave, right? What if there's danger outside? I'm just getting my weapon ready in advance. Don't worry, I won't chop you."

Alex added that last bit, making Samson even more nervous.

"Two thousand, then. It's a deal, no going back on it," Samson confirmed one last time.

"Don't worry, I'm very trustworthy," Alex assured him.

Samson thawed the ice block and counted out two thousand iron ingots.

"Could you freeze these for me and maybe compress them a bit with magic? Thanks."

Reluctantly, Samson froze the counted iron ingots into a sphere. Alex, her fingers ablaze, plunged her hand into the ice sphere like grabbing a bowling ball and lifted the frozen ball of two thousand iron ingots.

She tossed the two pieces of equipment to Samson and walked out of the cave. Samson quickly donned the completed set, perhaps feeling a bit safer in it.

Outside the cave, Alex found that the battle had long since ended.

With a level 6 Commanding level necromancer present, victory was assuredly in the hands of the undead.