Chapter 95: Underground Project (3/5)

After collecting the stones, Mia returned to her small bed to rest.

She seemed close to fully digesting the necromancer’s soul fragments. It remained to be seen whether she could learn any spells from them.

Mia’s magical talent was exceptionally high – she was precisely the kind of legendary spellcasting prodigy one hears about.

To date, she hadn’t received any formal instruction.

Yet the magic she instinctively unleashed could freeze entire rivers, and she’d even learned to create ice puppets from the souls she’d consumed. Such ice puppet creation magic would definitely not be classified as simple low-tier spells in any mage’s categorization system.

The ice puppets inherited Sven’s combat habits, as if imbued with actual souls. Human mages would need to reach who-knows-what tier before being capable of such spells.

Wade speculated that within human mage systems, such spells might not even exist – this was likely Mia’s unique ability.

Teaching a phantom remained exceedingly difficult.

Though Mia possessed extraordinary magical aptitude, Wade couldn’t provide much guidance along her magical path – she’d have to comprehend things herself.

Mia certainly wouldn’t enjoy the tedious life of daily spellcasting drills either. Her nature was that of an immature child who could hardly sit still.

While Wade could force her to study, that would only make her depressed and unhappy.

Let things take their natural course. No need to pressure a little ghost who hadn’t even existed for a full month into shouldering heavy responsibilities.

Wade sat in the cave, gently stroking the little ghost’s forehead as she blinked sleepily, curled up on her small bed before slowly closing her eyes.

Once she’d fallen asleep, Wade looked up at the luminous scales hanging overhead.

Today he hadn’t blocked the cave entrance with stones. Looking outside, he could see the skeletons processing stone materials, sorting them into different piles by size and shape.

Wade didn’t feel tired – after his recent advancement, his active hours had increased again.

Stepping outside the cave, he noticed some of the soul-operated bodies had suffered wear during stone transportation, with several bones cracked. Wade had to use replacement bones to help them swap out arms or lower legs.

That concluded today’s work. With tasks completed, Wade let the souls rest.

Respecting Wade’s wishes, they lined up and sat at the clearing’s edge.

There wasn’t enough space in the cave for them to lie down, so they had to sit in the open.

Fortunately, recent weather had been decent, eliminating worries about being blown away by strong winds.

However, due to changes in the Skeletal Sands, Wade remained more vigilant. He assigned a ten-skeleton team for night watch rotations.

The squad would take turns standing guard at intervals, monitoring the wasteland for other changes.

To ensure better condition tomorrow, Wade also lay down to rest, replenishing his mental energy.

Upon waking the next day, Wade left twenty-three homebound skeletons to continue processing stones while taking Mia and thirty skeletons to the thorn forest.

Soon, his group arrived before the massive rift valley, where crisscrossing thorn woods blocked their path.

The accompanying skeletons lacked strength to break those thorns – Wade would have to handle this personally.

This was precisely why he’d come. Finding the thickest vines, he bent his knees, gathering strength.

A faint glow concentrated on his mace – an enchantment-like reinforcing power originating from his soul fire. He could imbue weapons with his essence to strengthen them.

Facing a thorn thicker and taller than himself, Wade swung his round-headed mace in a full arc.

A crisp “clang” rang out like metal striking metal, leaving cracks on the vine.

Focusing his strikes on one spot, Wade repeatedly hammered the same area. The cracks expanded under his assault until, after a dozen blows, the massive thorn collapsed into the sand with a heavy thud.

Dust clouds rose as skeletons rushed to stabilize the vine, preventing it from rolling downhill.

This thorn was as thick as ancient mountain pines from Creek Forest, its interior showing growth rings similar to trees.

Examining the fractured end (rough from smashing), Wade noted its overall gray-black coloration – pitch black and dried on the outside, gradually lightening toward the center which resembled ordinary wood.

Pressing the center even released slight moisture – unlike the dry hardness outside.

The gray-black portions resembled charred charcoal, with blackness slowly creeping inward. Even the center showed faint black streaks, suggesting that when fully saturated, even the soft core would harden into lifelessness.

While Wade studied the cross-section, skeletons lifted the massive log – requiring three skeletons to encircle its girth, and ten to barely carry its weight.

Wade directed them to roll the logs for transportation. Though covered in thorns, the sandy wasteland terrain allowed careful rolling without snagging.

Using this method, five skeletons could move one log.

After considerable effort, Wade broke six large logs. Twenty-five skeletons pushed logs forward while five carried slender cuttings.

Wade personally pulled one log as the group returned to camp.

With materials mostly gathered, skeleton carpenters used thorny branches to craft tools.

The large thorns’ outer shells were iron-hard. Wade smashed them apart by brute force while skeletons selected sharp fragments, binding or wedging them onto short branches to make crude axes.

The clearing echoed with rhythmic chopping sounds.

Logs were continuously cut and shaped. When encountering hardened sections, Wade applied overwhelming force – the carbonized shells shattered to reveal wood-like cores.

Skeletons rapidly improved their tools. By next day, they’d crafted shovels.

Fifty-three skeletons excavated soil according to plan.

By third day, they’d made simple sand sleds (wheel-less carts) for transporting loads.

Basket after basket of earth was hauled beyond the slope. By sixth day, the clearing had become a rectangular pit – roughly ten meters long/wide and five meters deep.

Cut logs framed the pit as skeletons hauled stones to weigh down corners and build walls, planning doorways on all sides.

Skeletons tunneled inward through doorways, expanding underground space.

But on the eighth day, trouble arose.

While helping process stones on the hill, Wade suddenly received reports.

Three souls had returned to his mental space – their bodies destroyed.

Not from cave-ins or accidents, but enemies.

The souls conveyed information: while excavating the basement, they’d dug into something strange. Enemies had emerged from deeper below to attack them.

Wade immediately ordered all skeletons to halt construction and surface immediately.

During retreat, five more souls returned to Wade – all apparently having encountered enemies.