Chapter 32: New Rank, New Skill

Lila looked at Ethan with a curious expression. "What’s wrong?"

Ethan looked at her "I ranked up."

She blinked. "What?"

"I ranked up. I’m E Rank now..." He leaned back against the counter, still processing what had happened. "Keeping Bef out probably helped push the last of the experience over the edge."

Lila smiled, suddenly feeling smug. "You’re welcome..."

He opened the system and checked his updated stats...

```

[Name: Ethan Shaw]

[Age: 19]

[Awakened Class: Necromancer]

[Rank: E]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0 / 200]

[Death Energy: 300/300]

[Control Capacity: 45]

[Undead Legion: 45]

[Undead Storage: Available]

[Stored Undead:]

- Basic Undead (Beowolf) — Rank E

- Basic Undead (Iron Golem) — Rank D ℴℴ𝘮

[Skills:]

-Raise Undead

-Death Sense

-Command Undead

-Death Link (New)

```

Seeing the new stats, he realised that the level had reset which made him deduce that everytime he ranked up, he would start at level one...

Then he focused on the new skill as he opened it.

```

[Death Link]

[Description: Establish a sensory connection with a controlled undead. While active, the host can see through the undead’s perception.]

[Warning: Continuous Death Energy drain while active.]

[Limitation: Clarity and range dependent on undead quality and user’s control.]

```

Ethan read it twice, before he spoke again. "I’ve got a new skill," he said. "It lets me see what my undead see."

Lila stepped closer and asked with curiosity. "Like sharing their vision?"

"Looks like it" He closed the screen. "I’m going to test it."

She didn’t hesitate. Wait up."

***

Ethan walked towards the East grounds again and stopped near the center. He looked around then reached for the second presence in his shadow.

The shadow at his feet darkened and thickened. Instead of the clean emergence the Beowolf usually made, the Iron Golem clawed its way out like something dragging itself up from a grave.

First a metal hand reached out from the ground and clawed at the air, then the broad forearm followed as it pulled itself out until its full body stood in front of them, its dull iron plates catching the sun.

Lila watched it silence. "Okay, that’s creepy..."

Ethan stepped forward and activated the skill.

```

[Skill: Death Link has been activated]

```

Lila noticed immediately. "Your eyes."

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "What about them?"

"They’re glowing."

Before Ethan was able to answer, the skill kicked in.

The world split...

For a moment he was looking at himself from the golem’s height, Lila standing a few steps away, the empty training field stretching outward while still remaining aware of his own body.

The double perspective threatened to tilt his balance before he forced it into something usable. The drain The on Death Energy was present.

"It’s working," he said.

He ran the golem through basic commands first. Walk. Stop. Turn. The responses were cleaner than before the rank-up.

Then he layered in Death Link properly, using the golem’s line of sight to track a distant while issuing movement orders from his own position.

The connection held, though it was not perfect since there was lag here and there, and the visual clarity was a bit blurred.

Lila watched with her arms crossed, her eyes watching him.

"How bad’s the strain?"

"Noticeable, not dangerous." Ethan pushed the link a little further, then released it. The green tint faded from his vision and the golem stood idle, waiting. "Quality of the undead matters. But I still need a bit more practice."

He spent another few minutes testing the limits — range of the shared vision, how complex a command he could maintain while looking through the golem’s eyes and how quickly the Death Energy dropped.

When he finally dismissed the corpse, it sank back into his shadow leaving behind a cloud of dark smoke.

Ethan sat down on the floor and opened the system again.

```

[EXP: 12 / 200]

[Death Energy: 214/300]

[Control Capacity: 45]

```

The test had burned off a meaningful chunk of energy, but the new baseline was still far higher than anything he had worked so far.

Lila dropped down beside him and spoke.

"So," she said. "Rank E, new skill. Bigger.... energy pool right? Anything else I should know?"

Ethan stayed silent for a moment then answered evenly. "Control capacity went up. The overall stability feels better. And Death Link does exactly what the description says—it gives sensory connection and continuous drain."

"So far, all I can say is that it’s strong but it’s not free."

She studied his face. "You’re way too calm."

"It’s information. I need to understand it before I can use it properly." He replied.

"That’s not what I meant." Lila’s voice shifted to a lighter tone. "You’re acting way too calm for someone who had sex with me last night."

Ethan turned his head to look at her. "Do you want me to talk about it?"

"No."

The answer came fast. She looked away across the grounds, her cheeks burning.

"Stupid."

He leaned back on his hands and let everything that had happened within the last several hours settle.

New rank, level reset, new skill.

A conditional arrangement with a Blood Craft user who developed an interest in him on the spot, a relationship with Lila that had jumped several steps in less than twenty four hours.

Everything had changed so fast...

For the first time since waking up in the auditorium, he genuinely thought that staying in his world doesn’t sound so bad after all.

Lila shifted beside him, and after a moment she leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder as they sat like that for a while in complete silence and Ethan laying out what next he wanted to do with this new development...