Awaken

"It's done?" Breathing heavily, Liam looked around, his voice filled with exhaustion. Everything around him seemed to echo his weariness. The once chaotic battlefield now lay in stillness, the remnants of the battle scattered across the scorched earth.

Liam's gaze shifted from the desolate landscape that bore the scars of their conflict to the defeated guardian beasts. There was barely anything left of their once imposing forms.

The serpent had disintegrated into shadows, the frog lay in a decaying heap, and the crocodile's body was splattered here and there, devoid of the life force that once coursed through it.

A profound silence enveloped the battlefield, broken only by Liam's labored breathing. He was the sole survivor of the fight and even looked like he was teetering on the brink of sanity, his entire being wanting to collapse.

However, Liam did not give in just yet. He immediately looked toward the three guardians or whatever was the remnant of them and spotted the familiar translucent bead of energy, their souls!

At his current level, it was not possible for him to forge their souls even if he was not injured but he did not want to let them go to waste. He had already made preparations for this exact moment.

Liam coughed up some blood and took out three pearl white marbles. He had purchased these earlier in the magic shop. Apparently, soul energy was one of the more popular currencies in the myriad realms so these were not that hard to obtain. They were also not that expensive.

However, there was a catch.

Unlike the black beads back in the tutorial, these white marbles did not easily absorb the souls. They were efficient in containing the souls and preserving them once they were inside but it still was up to the user whether they were able to chuck them in or not.

Liam groaned in pain as the process was a bit more difficult than usual. Unlike the ison queen's soul, these beasts' souls were rather resilient.

action They still held a residual power, a faint echo of their former strength, and it made them resist Liam's attempts to seal them within the white marbles.

For a normal person, this would probably not be possible, but in the end, Liam was still able to get all three souls before they dissipated. Slowly and painstakingly he coaxed the three souls into the three marbles.

And he did not stop with that.

Liam still had the world seed fragment in his possession. These beasts were probably not the last ones that he had to confront.

He did not know how many of such guardian beasts existed and when they would step out to claim the seed fragment, but he needed to make more preparations.

Steeling himself, he shook off his exhaustion. As he shoved the last of the souls into the white marble, he split apart a sliver from each of the three souls and sent it to their dead remains.

He then finally used a skill that was basic to anyone who chose his class, a necromancer.

[Awaken]

With the lick of soul and the dense rich nether swirling all around him, Liam commanded the three dead guardian beasts to arise once again. The next second, a dark aura enveloped the remains of the guardian beasts, making them convulse and twitch.

As the dense nether swirled around him, the guardian beasts' dismembered bodies underwent a horrifying transformation. Their limbs twisted at unnatural angles, flesh, and bones rearranging themselves into grotesque shapes.

At first, these lifeless structures collapsed but Liam again and again sent in waves of nether to forcefully make them stick together. Soon the transformation was complete.

The dark aura that enveloped them seemed to seep into every fiber of their being, imbuing them with an eerie, otherworldly presence. Once the convulsions ceased, the resurrected guardian beasts stood before Liam in their new forms.

The serpent's bony and scaly figure, devoid of any flesh, was coiled and slithered with a sinister grace, its eyes glowing with malevolence.

The frog's decayed body now emanated a sickly green aura, its bloated form pulsating with an unholy vitality.

The crocodile, reassembled from its scattered remains, exuded an aura of primal strength, its razor-sharp teeth glistening with predatory hunger.

These resurrected creatures were far from their former majestic selves, yet their newfound power was undeniable. More importantly, they were all now under Liam's command.

"Not bad." Liam chuckled, coughing up some more mouthfuls of blood. The next instant, he clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain.

A wave of excruciating pain coursed through his body, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The toll of the intense battle had finally caught up with him, and his injuries demanded attention.

Blood continued to trickle from his mouth, staining his lips crimson. Liam knew he couldn't afford to ignore his wounds any longer.

Gritting his teeth, he reached into his bag and retrieved a small vial containing a healing potion. With trembling hands, he uncorked it and drank the contents in one swift motion.

The healing potion surged through Liam's veins, mending the numerous injuries peppered on his body. He felt a surge of vitality as his body responded to the potent concoction, knitting together torn flesh and soothing strained muscles.

However, it did not alleviate the worst of the pain. Liam then drank some of the world seed fragment water. The water had potent healing properties, but that too could only help him to a certain extent.

"You know nothing is going to work." A voice reminded Liam from behind. The draconian princess walked over, inspecting the scene of battle, a strange glint flickering in her eyes.

Liam turned his head to face the draconian princess. Despite his injuries and exhaustion, he managed to muster a weak smile. "I suppose you're right," he replied, his voice tinged with weariness.

The princess crossed her arms, her gaze fixed on Liam. "I never thought that you were the self-sacrificing kind."