Level-Up Requirements

After returning from the goblin tribe, Karen poured all the system energy he’d acquired straight into his territory, first turning all the second-tier corpses into undead. Counting carefully, Karen had twenty-one second-tier corpses in his possession—three from the goblin cemetery, three freshly slain in the goblin tribe, and the remaining fifteen found in the secret chamber. Of these twenty-one bodies, five were of “second-tier trash” quality, eleven were “second-tier ordinary,” and five were “second-tier elite.” Transforming all twenty-one cost Karen 4,200 territorial energy.

With this wave, the number of second-tier undead in Karen’s territory soared to thirty-three, and the experience for the “ordinary graveyard” shot up to thirty-two—just eighteen more ordinary graveyards needed for another advancement. With the hope of upgrading within reach, Karen couldn’t afford to be stingy with his territorial energy. He immediately spent another 6,060, merging and converting ten “Goblin Skeleton Warriors” and eight “Goblin Skeleton Mages.” After that hefty expenditure, only nine hundred territorial energy remained in his pocket.

Of course, the eleven thousand-plus territorial energy Karen had spent was well worth it; not only did his second-tier undead jump to fifty-one, but most importantly, the experience for the “ordinary graveyard” was now full. At that moment, a system notification rang out.

“Is this the third level already?” For a moment, Karen felt as if he were dreaming, but he quickly realized something was amiss. “The content of this system notification doesn’t seem quite right…”

“Ding! Your territory building ‘ordinary graveyard’ has reached full experience. Territory upgrade conditions unlocked!”

“What’s going on? Isn’t it that when the graveyard upgrades, the territory’s level rises automatically?” Karen was stunned, then opened his territory interface, only to find that a set of upgrade conditions had appeared next to his territory level:

- Name your territory!
- The number of undead in your territory must exceed one thousand!
- Centered on the ‘ordinary graveyard,’ expand your territory to encompass a radius of three miles!

Upon seeing these three upgrade conditions, Karen was first taken aback, then his expression darkened. “Isn’t this a bit ridiculous?” The first condition was trivial—naming the territory was just a matter of opening his mouth. But the latter two were each more troublesome than the last.

The second condition needed no explanation; the undead under Karen’s command were mostly low-tier. Even Green had to reside in a tomb during the day; otherwise, while not harmed, he’d be uncomfortable. In other words, if Karen increased his undead to one thousand, not to mention where he would find so many corpses to convert, just maintaining them each month would cost him ten thousand territorial energy—a sum far beyond his current means.

As for the third condition, expanding the territory wasn’t difficult for Karen; he could simply build more “small tombs.” But once his territory expanded, the villagers of Dole would surely notice, and Karen was in no position to reveal himself yet.

So, for the time being, Karen simply couldn’t meet these requirements.

A look of helplessness crossed Karen’s face. He had hoped to seize this opportunity and upgrade his territory to level three, but now it seemed impossible in the short term.

In truth, what truly troubled Karen was not those two upgrade conditions. If he set his mind to it, gritted his teeth, he could still make it happen. After all, he now wielded considerable power; with fifty second-tier undead at his disposal, he could easily wipe out several goblin tribes without needing any elaborate strategy.

With the spoils from eradicating those goblin tribes, he could first raise his territory’s level, then further strengthen himself, and finally sweep the goblins aside to become the master of the Goblin Forest.

This wasn’t mere fantasy; with his current strength and the power of his territory, Karen was confident he could achieve this—provided his only opponents were goblins. But that was almost impossible.

Karen’s choice of territory location was, in a sense, quite clever: within goblin lands, at the border between the Bourbon Kingdom and the Silver Hand, a chaotic no-man’s-land—just the sort of place ideal for Karen’s development.

Yet, once Karen truly began to grow and wield real power, he realized this territory had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was that, as a no-man’s-land, he could develop rapidly. The downside, however, was precisely because of its location. Wedged between two kingdoms, Karen dared not assume what reaction either side would have if he revealed himself.

Ideally, Karen would drive the goblins out of the forest, take their place as its ruler, and have both Bourbon Kingdom and Silver Hand accept his presence. That would be the best possible outcome—but also the most improbable.

Karen hadn’t yet made his move, so he didn’t know what attitude Bourbon Kingdom would take toward him. But as for Silver Hand, Karen had a pretty good sense of what to expect.

After all, the goblins in the forest were essentially Silver Hand’s vassals, even more directly—goblins were Silver Hand’s miners.

Under such circumstances, Karen’s emergence was absolutely against Silver Hand’s interests.

Therefore, Karen was sure that once he revealed himself, he would almost certainly have to contend with Silver Hand’s power behind the goblins.

If it were only goblins, Karen was confident he could surpass them quickly with his territory. But if Silver Hand joined the fray, his situation would become perilous.

And if, while Karen was dealing with the Goblin Forest and Silver Hand, Bourbon Kingdom stabbed him in the back, his predicament would be dire indeed.

Thus, the real difficulty in upgrading Karen’s territory was not the two conditions, but how he handled the environment he now faced.

If Karen failed to manage this issue, even if he managed to raise his territory’s level, it would only make his situation more dangerous.