Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 1298: Gift

After Michael finished explaining the general idea, Lily finally had a clearer understanding of what he meant when he said the native Awakeners would work for the territory while the territory worked for them.

She only needed to establish a system that allowed both sides to benefit. Still, this didn’t free her completely from her worries.

Michael noticed her expression and comforted her. "You don’t have to worry so much. As long as the territory earns something from the arrangement, that’s enough for now."

"But what if I mess up real bad?"

Michael smiled.

"You’re acting as though everything has to be perfect on the first day."

This was never Michael’s expectation. Everything they were doing was new. The territory itself was new. The native Awakeners were new. Even Michael was still discovering functions of the Universal Cornerstone that he had not known existed days earlier.

Expecting Lily to somehow establish a flawless economic and administrative system immediately would be ridiculous.

"If you make a mistake, fix it. If something doesn’t work, replace it with something that does. As long as you’re earning a little from what they bring back and they’re satisfied with what they’re receiving, it’s fine."

Michael glanced toward Arianne.

"And you won’t be doing it alone anyway."

Michael was actually considerably more comfortable knowing Arianne would be there. When it came to pure management ability, he trusted Arianne more than Lily. It wasn’t an insult toward his cousin.

Lily had lived a relatively ordinary life in Aurora before Awakening, while Arianne’s circumstances had been different. She might only have been a princess and the daughter of a duke back in the Land of Origin, but she had at least grown up around more things.

Lily’s expression relaxed somewhat upon hearing Michael’s comforting words, and she tried her best to no longer bother him.

Michael nodded with a smile upon seeing this.

Profitability mattered, but efficiency could come later. At this stage, Michael cared more about creating the foundation for future mastery.

"By the way, I have something for you."

Michael reached into the empty air. A faint spatial ripple appeared around his hand before a thick book emerged from his storage. He handed it to Lily.

"Here."

Lily accepted it with both hands.

"What is it?"

Lily gave Michael a suspicious glance, but her curiosity quickly won. The book’s appearance did not look particularly extraordinary, but the aura around it was. Lily opened it to the first page. Her eyebrows immediately furrowed.

"What language is this?"

The characters covering the page were completely unfamiliar. They resembled nothing Lily had encountered on Aurora, but just before she could complain, the unfamiliar characters trembled and began shifting before her eyes.

Within only a few seconds, the completely incomprehensible writing had transformed into words Lily could easily understand.

"Oh."

Lily’s eyes widened as she quickly flipped through several more pages. Regardless of what strange language had originally been written within the book, the contents reorganized themselves into something familiar to her.

Curious about what Michael had actually given her, Lily closed the book again and examined its cover more carefully.

There was a title. This time, she could read it.

Spirit Taming.

Wait, isn’t this Arianne’s special ability?

A sense of excitement rose in Lily as she quickly opened it again.

[Spirit Taming Knowledge Skill Book]

[Description: A special book containing systematic knowledge concerning Spirit Taming.]

[Effect: Upon consumption, the user may choose to directly acquire the knowledge contained within the book or obtain a corresponding Skill derived from its contents.]

Lily’s head snapped toward Michael.

"Cousin!"

Lily’s excitement was almost impossible to hide. She already had a fairly good idea of what obtaining the Spirit Taming Skill could mean for her. Despite possessing the Druid Class, Lily had somehow ended up as a Druid without a tamed beast.

Given her strength, finding something worth taming that could actually help her at her stage was close to impossible. Because of this, Lily had gradually accepted that she might remain a Druid without a proper companion for a long time, until she met Arianne’s spirits, which showed her another possibility.

According to what Michael had previously explained to her, Awakeners possessed an enormous advantage when it came to learning abilities originating from different supernatural systems.

They were not completely unrestricted.

Abilities that fundamentally conflicted with their existing powers could still create problems, and certain Skills naturally possessed requirements that could not simply be ignored. However, compared to ordinary supernaturals, Awakeners could incorporate foreign Skills into themselves far more easily when the necessary conditions were met.

Lily felt that since a Druid was fundamentally a Class with an extremely high affinity toward nature, Spirit Taming might not have originated from the Druid system, but it certainly wouldn’t conflict with it. If anything, the compatibility should be exceptionally high, and with her cousin’s help she might be able to achieve something similar to Arianne.

Lily’s judgment was correct. Michael had naturally considered the same thing before purchasing the book. Among the Classes he knew, Druid was indeed one of those closest to nature.

Even without this Knowledge Skill Book, Michael suspected Lily could eventually acquire a similar ability through her own efforts, but he saw little reason to wait. Gaining the Skill now meant Lily could begin benefiting from it while she was still at a low Level.

Waiting until she was Rank Two or Rank Three would mean losing all the advantages that could have accumulated throughout her earlier growth. Michael did not want that.

With Lily’s dual class of Druid and Magic Knight, adding Spirit Taming would broaden her foundation even further. Arianne was already demonstrating how valuable powerful spirits could be.

Michael’s greatest advantage would likely always remain the overwhelming external force represented by his undead legion and everything connected to it. But if that overwhelming numerical advantage was removed from consideration and only their individual foundations were compared, Michael believed Lily would eventually reach a point where she was not inferior to him.

Of course, that future was still extremely distant. For now, Lily was merely a sixteen-year-old girl clutching her Spirit Taming book the way a certain ghost clutched his Evolution Essence Crystals.

Michael did not give Lily the opportunity to continue.

"Consume it as a Skill when you have time. Once you have the Skill, contract as many suitable spirits as you can."

Lily immediately quieted down, but the brightness in her eyes didn’t fade. She nodded several times, clutching the Spirit Taming Knowledge Skill Book tightly before hurrying toward Arianne. Michael watched her enthusiastically show Arianne the book and shook his head, smiling faintly before turning his attention away.

In truth, he had first discovered and obtained the Spirit Taming Knowledge Skill Book in the Universal Cornerstone’s Trade Hub several days ago.

Since he had been interested in the methods Spirit Tamers used to suppress the Grades of creatures far exceeding what should ordinarily be reasonable at their Rank, it was only now, once he no longer needed it himself, that he gave it to his cousin.