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“Incredible.” Athos muttered, looking around. Just as Sevenus had said, dozens of enchanted wood weapons were strewn across the floor, as if Treevor saw no value in them. There was no furniture except for a desk, so it’s likely that Treevor used this place only as a workshop rather than a home.

Broadswords, shortswords, scimitars, spears, axes, halberds, bows and arrows, etc. There were a few weapons taped to the wall, as if Treevor had separated his best work from the rest.

Athos took a white wooden sword from the wall to admire it, but his hands burned when he touched it and white smoke began to rise. Athos dropped his sword to the ground and frowned, realizing the weapons here would be useless.

“All of this is made with glowing willow wood and has light enchantments. It’s useless to us.” Athos said disappointed at having to leave so many weapons behind.

“Should we destroy them then? It’s better than leaving them here for someone else to find.” Sevenus suggested, but Athos shook his head, having a sudden idea.

“No, those things can still be useful. If I’ve managed to turn someone with a high affinity for light like Emilia into an undead, it should be possible to do the same with these weapons. These weapons aren’t made from plants like the arm from Treevor, after all. Bring skeletons to collect the weapons, but make sure they cover the weapons before touching them.” Athos ordered.

Athos used a wind spell to lightly float some swords and left Treevor’s workshop.

‘Hmm.. how do I corrupt these weapons? By the way, is it even possible to turn a tree into undead?’ Athos thought after he emerged from the hole.

.....

He walked to one of the surviving trees and tried to turn it into an undead just like he would a human or monster, but it was useless. The tree withered and shrank, all its vitality being drained away. Even if Athos tried to inject the vitality back along with a spark of his life force, the energy was just wasted.

Athos repeated the process on another tree, but the result was the same.

‘I tried using the center of the tree as a replacement for the skeleton in the first and the bark of the tree in the second, but it was useless. I knew that using the same spell I use on humans on trees had little chance of success, but I had to try.’ Athos thought.

‘Treevor’s right arm wasn’t made entirely of plant, so I shouldn’t take it into account. Also, Treevor had a core while trees didn’t, so-wait. The world energy is spread evenly throughout the tree instead of being concentrated in a core, while my spell affects cores. And unlike magical plants, trees and common plants do not have an energy signature of their own.

I need to corrupt the world energy flowing through the tree without killing it.’ Athos immediately began testing his hypothesis.

Athos touched a tree, using his ability to draw energy from the world beyond light, and flowed into the tree without absorbing it. The world’s corrupted energy slowly replaced the tree’s energy, Athos being careful not to overdo it and kill the tree by accident. The tree began to creak as it shrunk and twisted.

Its trunk twisted into a spiral and darkened, its leaves turned black.

“Success! I just hope the same trick works with enchanted weapons. I’m not sure how enchantments work, so I’d better wait for Treevor to make up his mind before trying weapons.” Athos spoke as he looked anxiously at the swords, but held back. He also burned the tree to ashes to leave no evidence of what he did.

“I should put conditions on teaching me about enchantments when he tries to trade. It can be very useful to create custom weapons instead of relying on others.” Athos spoke as he rejoined the other skeletons.

“My lord, I... gathered all the... hive hawk corpses... and turned them into... skeletons. We have a... total of 314 new... skeletons.” The skeleton mage reported as soon as he saw Athos approaching.

As if on cue, the queen flew above him and landed on his shoulders. She had grown 20 centimeters in the last 5 years, reaching 80 centimeters in length. She rubbed her beak affectionately over his face, causing Athos to bow his head as to why she was suddenly so docile.

The truth is, the queen instantly felt that she was being controlled, already accustomed to mental links. She instinctively felt that it would be impossible to resist and surrendered to her new master, acting docilely to ensure Athos’ goodwill.

The males also began to fly around him, but for a different reason than the intelligent queen. Their minds were broken and the queen’s residual will disappeared at the time of their deaths, so the black currents corrupted their minds without resistance and made them instantly loyal to Athos.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Let’s get back to town, folks.” Athos spoke to the hawks in the hive, but ordered the other skeletons to remain trapped. It wasn’t until Sevenus climbed out of the hole after accounting for the weapons and explaining that he needed hands, that they finally understood why they couldn’t move.

Athos tried to walk towards the city, but the hive hawks grabbed him after a few steps and carried him all the way. They left him in the town square, before Athos ordered them to disperse throughout the city. Having the hive hawks following him around all the time would have been irritating, to say the least.

“Apparently all went well, master.” Emilia spoke. Athos had left her behind, mainly because he felt it would be unnecessary to take someone as strong as she.

“It’s been an hour or so since Treevor was left alone. Do you think it’s been enough for him to surrender or is he still desperately looking for a way to escape?” Athos asked. All their preparations were ready and all that was left was for Sevenus to return with weapons and Treevor to make a decision.

“If he’s not ready, we can force him to the negotiating table. He’s in no position to refuse anyway.” Emilia shrugged.

“Okay, let’s go then.” Athos agreed with her and broke into the house where Treevor was. He left the wooden swords outside. Treevor might get annoyed to see his workshop violated and have another tantrum, so it was best avoided.

Treevor’s avatar rose the moment Athos entered, his gaze determined and slightly nervous.

“Ready to chat?” Athos sat down on the same sofa as before and leaned back arrogantly.

“I have some conditions to work for you.” Treevor spoke bluntly.

“Speak up, but know that you will work for me whether I accept your terms or not.” Athos spoke coldly and the chains weighed down on Treevor, forcing him to sit.

“First, no child deaths. Second, I want a fair share of the resources I earn. Third, I don’t accept being treated like your slave like you do with those other skeletons.” Treevor tried to look strong, but Athos only snorted at him.

“I refuse the first, I will kill whoever I want and you will have no say in it. As for the second, the resources obtained are mine and I distribute them among the soldiers, so you will receive a share anyway. And lastly, I I don’t care what you want to be called as long as you follow my orders.” Athos spoke, making Treevor grit his teeth in anger.

“That’s not a deal, it’s just a sentence!” Treevor yelled.

“Watch your tone, or I-.” Emilia said angrily, but she immediately fell to the ground while holding her head. Athos had given command of the entire army to Treevor and he was Emilia’s direct superior. Offending him caused Emilia agonizing pain.

“The first condition is non-negotiable and on top of the second, allowing you to accumulate resources is not only useless, it also hinders the performance of the entire army. If you’re really competent, I’ll give you the resources you need anyway. And as for the third condition, you are currently above the entire army, second only to me in authority. What I expect from you is your combat power and your knowledge of enchantments.

“As long as you fight when I tell you to and are willing to teach me about incantations, what you do in your spare time is up to you.” Athos subtly added his condition and trapped Treevor without the latter noticing.

‘This guy has spent most of his life alone and from what I saw in that workshop, he has no hobbies other than creating things and practicing magic. He is feeling his freedom in dangerous and is on alert, but in the end he will still need the resources I will get to enchant weapons and I will be able to obtain the final product and strengthen my army. I’m the one who wins in the end.’ Athos thought.

“You also don’t have to worry about getting your hands dirty with innocent blood. When I fight, I usually send the strongest like you against the strongest on the enemy side, while letting the weaker skeletons kill the fry.” Athos spoke and Treevor’s expression softened for a second before he forced himself to be serious again.

Treevor looked down at his ghostly hands and sighed in defeat. Seeing that Athos had slaughtered the entire city without mercy, he didn’t have much hope of convincing him to spare the innocent, but he had to try.

“I accept working for you boss, but I won’t call you master.” Treevor offered his hand to Athos, who promptly shook it.