Chapter 59: Simplicity Is Key With Infinite Mana

Cassian reached into his Vault and withdrew two bows.

​The moment they appeared, a faint, oppressive pressure spread through the clearing.

These were not ordinary armaments, they were two of the three Rare-Grade ★★★ weapons he had painstakingly crafted.

​The Bonepiercer Bows.

​Originally, Cassian had intended for one of them to belong exclusively to the Deathmark Commander, while remaining uncertain about the second. Now, however, the choice was obvious.

​The Soulpiercer Commander stood before him, and there was no more suitable master for the weapon.

​"Step forward."

​The Deathmark Commander and Soulpiercer Commander obeyed instantly.

​Cassian handed each of them a bow. The weapons were nearly identical in appearance, their frames forged from polished black bone that seemed to actively absorb the surrounding light.

Veins of violet death energy flowed through the limbs like living arteries, while the strings were woven from condensed essence that shimmered faintly whenever mana coursed through them.

Sharp bone protrusions extended along the grips like the fangs of a predatory beast.

​The weapons looked less like something forged by hands and more like the skeletal remains of an ancient monster reshaped for slaughter.

​The moment the two Commanders gripped their respective bows, the atmosphere shifted drastically.

​The blue soul flames within the Deathmark Commander’s sockets flared with sudden intensity.

Its aura sharpened into something far deadlier, like an apex hunter that had finally been handed the perfect instrument for the kill.

​The Soulpiercer Commander experienced an even greater transformation. Soul fire surged across the bow’s limbs as if the weapon had recognized its true master.

The commander stood completely motionless, yet the surrounding mana was drawn violently toward its frame, rendering its presence eerie, quiet, and deeply unsettling.

​Like a silent executioner waiting patiently for its next target.

​Cassian nodded in quiet satisfaction, the immediate spike in their combat rating was undeniable.

​The Bonepiercer Bows required no physical arrows, automatically generating high-grade ammunition directly through mana.

When paired with the infinite mana supplied through the Lord Seed, logistics effectively ceased to be a constraint.

​Furthermore, the Soulpiercer Commander possessed [Soul Arrows], meaning it could seamlessly alternate between the bow’s mana-generated projectiles and arrows forged from harvested enemy souls.

​The tactical implications on an open battlefield were horrifying.

​Archers had always been among the most dangerous troop classifications: distance provided safety, elevation provided field of vision, and precision provided absolute lethality.

A swordsman needed to close the gap to strike, whereas an archer merely needed sight.

​Now, Cassian possessed two Commander-Class archers equipped with Rare-Grade ★★★ weapons, one specialized in devastating single-target executions, and the other in harvesting souls directly through physical defenses.

​Together, they could lock down entire sectors of the battlefield. For them, the upcoming war would be nothing more than a vast hunting ground, and every enemy within line of sight would become prey.

​Cassian finally allowed himself a satisfied smile.

​The army was organized. The soldiers were geared. The support units were optimized. The Commanders held their extraordinary armaments, and Nyxara held her [Graveheart Sap].

​Every preparation for tomorrow’s grand campaign was complete.

​Yet Cassian had zero intention of resting. Undead required no sleep, and neither did a regressor Lord determined to scale his own strength.

​His gaze shifted toward the deep shadows at the edge of Lord’s Hollow.

​The army had been elevated to its limit. Now, it was time to refine himself.

​After all, no matter how terrifying an army became, its ultimate weapon would always be the sovereign who commanded it.

....

Cassian opened his Lord’s Ledger and immediately pulled up his status panel:

​[Lord: Cassian Voss]

​Rank: Novice Lord

​Lord Seed: D Grade

​Anchor: Astral Dominion

​Troop Type: Undead

​Territory: Graveshade Expanse

​Champions: 1

​Soldiers: 641

​Support: 92

​Workers: 2,008

​Special: 2,006

​Mana: Infinite

​Blessings:[Infinite Mana] | [Fusion] | [Regression]

​Skills:[Aura Slash]

​Cassian studied the panel silently.

​Compared to when he had first awakened, his growth could only be described as explosive: thousands of troops, multiple Commander-Class units, and a First-Order Champion.

If someone from his previous life saw this status, they would probably think he was cheating.

​Technically, they wouldn’t be wrong.

​His gaze paused on his current rank: Novice Lord [85%].

​He was close, extremely close. The collective growth and average strength of his forces had already elevated his own baseline combat capabilities tremendously.

​However, it still wasn’t quite enough to push him into the next realm: Established Lord.

​The primary bottleneck was obvious: Nyxara.

​She held the highest individual level and stats among all his summons. Once she advanced, the overall baseline average of his entire territory would skyrocket, and his own rank would naturally ascend alongside it.

​Fortunately, that bottleneck would solve itself tomorrow.

​The [Graveheart Sap], the Rare-Grade ★★★ item he had bestowed upon her, would exponentially boost her experience gains during the invasion.

Considering the massive scale of the upcoming war against the Orc horde, her rank-up was practically guaranteed.

​Once she advanced, the territory average would spike, and Cassian would cross the threshold into an Established Lord.

​But that was tomorrow’s milestone. For now, he had a far more pressing focus: his personal combat style.

​The giant shadow construct he had created through [Living Darkness] was powerful, unquestionably lethal, but it was still unrefined.

It was a weapon without proper technique: a giant sledgehammer swung with overwhelming force. Effective, yet lacking precision.

​Cassian needed more options, better versatility, and a broader tactical arsenal.

After all, not every battle could be solved simply by dropping giant geometric constructs on an enemy’s head.

​His eyes moved down to his skill tab: [Aura Slash].

​It was a reliable attack, simple, direct, and deadly.

He had originally created [Aura Slash] by fusing [Slash] and [Aura Blade], two fundamental techniques extracted from separate summons.

The resulting technique was straightforward enough that he could sustain it continuously with his infinite mana supply.

​But two abilities weren’t nearly enough, especially when preparing to face a battle-hardened hybrid like Chief Morghanna.

​Cassian folded his arms over his chest. "Let’s see..."

​The Lord Seed connected his soul directly to every summon under his command.

While he couldn’t instantly absorb their skills without training, he could dissect their structural blueprints, study the underlying principles, and analyze how mana flowed through their frames.

​The simpler abilities would be effortless to reproduce, while the complex ones could be decoded later.

​Instantly, dozens of skill profiles flooded his mental vision:

​[Charge]

​[Taunt]

​[Backstab]

​[Stealth]

​[Rapid Shot]

​[Power Shot]

​[Reflect]

​[Burst]

​[Shadow Step]

​[Shadow Clones]

​[Absence]

​[Death Touch]

​[Double Counter]

​[Soul Gaze]

​Cassian’s gaze quickly skimmed past most of them. Some required hyper-specific monstrous physiques, others demanded decades of physical muscle memory, and a few depended entirely on unique anatomical features.

​He wasn’t interested in those. Instead, he searched for one crucial trait: simplicity.

​The simpler the skill’s core execution, the easier it would be to replicate using brute force and limitless mana.

​A slow, sharp smile spread across his face.

​Unlike ordinary Lords, he didn’t need peak efficiency, nor did he require flawless micro-control.

He only needed a technique simple enough that an infinite supply of mana could forcefully compensate for any lack of finesse.

​And among the endless sea of abilities possessed by his legion... a select few immediately caught his attention.

​The exact kind of skills that could completely turn the tide of tomorrow’s war if executed correctly.