'Leader looks pretty interesting, but I mean, I've read enough novels and manhuas/manhwas to know that the best choice is clearly Necromancer. I mean, it's a no-brainer. Just look at Sung Jin-Woo.'
With that thought, Zaid picked the best option in front of him: the Necromancer class.
The job screen disappeared, and a series of notifications appeared in its place.
[You have chosen Necromancer as your First Order job.]
[Necromancers are existences who walk the path of death, commanding the dead and turning fallen corpses into weapons. They are beings who do not fear the countless bodies left behind by battle, for to a Necromancer, every corpse is another soldier waiting to rise. The path of the Necromancer is a path where death is not an ending, but a beginning; where the strength of one's enemies can be turned against those who remain alive. This is a job that has only been given to you, who has embraced the power of death and raised the dead to fight in your name. To advance to First Order and prove that you possess the necessary qualifications to become a true Necromancer, you must meet the following requirements.]
[Kill Unranked enemies using 1 Skeleton Summon without interfering. 0/100.]
[Kill First Order enemies using Skeleton Summons without taking part yourself. 0/3.]
[Kill Unranked enemies from a distance using only the Skeleton Summon skill. 0/50.]
Looking at the description, Zaid almost started to salivate at the thought of standing in the back and using an army of the dead to fight for him. The idea of his army growing larger with every battle was incredibly appealing to him.
Then he looked at the requirements and immediately frowned at the unreasonable demands.
The others watched awkwardly as Zaid's face went through a multitude of different emotions. However, they didn't say anything, assuming he was simply reading some notifications from the Soul Record.
As Zaid tried to regain his composure, Bai Zemin was having a quiet conversation with the resident succubus.
"Are you interested in being the leader of this group?" Lilith questioned Bai Zemin.
From what she could see, he seemed determined to stick with them, even though he had been so cold and emotionless yesterday.
"No, I don't think being the leader would suit me," Zemin whispered back. He turned his head slightly so the others wouldn't see his mouth moving. He didn't want them to think he was crazy for talking to himself.
"Then why are you helping them and moving with them? From what I understood of your personality yesterday, you seemed very antisocial. Plus, I don't think you suddenly started caring about strangers, and you even got a skill because of it?" Lilith asked again, pressing him for an answer.
"Okay, first, I'm not antisocial. I just prefer to keep to myself. Second, sticking with the group is the surest way out of the university. Plus, with Zaid there, I can be more certain of that."
As Bai Zemin explained his thought process, he remembered how he and Zaid had first met all those months ago.
------------------------------ Flashback ------------------------------
Bai Zemin was sitting in one of his classes, listening to the professor lecture about something or other. Honestly, he really wanted to pay attention and focus more, but he'd worked overtime at the smithy the previous day and was extremely tired. Right now, all he wanted to do was go back to his room and sleep.
As he sat there trying to keep his eyes open, he heard some of the students near him whispering to each other.
"I heard there was a foreign transfer student in our department who can't speak a lick of Chinese," one student said.
"You don't know the half of it. I watched him try to talk to one of the girls yesterday. I think he was trying to ask her out or something, and it failed spectacularly. I swear, man, it was like watching a car wreck right in front of you," the other student answered, trying to stop himself from laughing.
"Get this. He tried to act like some smooth Casanova. He was trying to say, 'Hey there, I've seen you walking around, and I just gotta say, I think you're as beautiful as the sun at dawn. Would you go out on a date with me?' And instead, he said, 'Hey there, date lady. You sun as ugly at dawn.' I couldn't stop myself from laughing. I've never seen someone run away that fast, and all he did was stand there gawking."
The student started choking up as he tried to hold back his laughter while remembering the incident.
As he listened to the story, Bai Zemin also found it pretty funny, but he decided to ignore the rest and tried to focus on the professor again.
After class, he walked through the university without paying much attention to what was going on around him. He was tired and only wanted to get back to his room so he could finally crash.
Unfortunately, because he wasn't paying attention, he accidentally stumbled into a dip in the walkway.
Just as he was about to fall, a hand grabbed his shoulder and steadied him.
"Whoa there, you alright, man?" a somewhat deep voice asked in English.
Bai Zemin turned his head to get a proper look at the guy who had helped him.
It was the foreigner everyone had been talking about.
"I'm good, thank you," Bai Zemin replied in English.
"No problem. Just be careful next time. By the way, I'm Zaid. Nice to meet you."
Zaid introduced himself while stretching out his hand.
"Bai Zemin," Zemin replied as he took Zaid's hand and shook it.
And that was their first meeting.
------------------------------ End of Flashback ------------------------------
Bai Zemin had finished his conversation with Lilith, and Zaid had finally finished acting like a crazy man, just in time. They were getting closer to their first destination: the on-campus clinic.
They planned on grabbing some of the medicines and taking them back for the rest of the survivors. The clinic also usually had some easily transportable beds, which they could bring back so they wouldn't have to sleep on the ground tonight.
Zaid decided to wait outside while the others went in. He trusted them to grab everything they would need, and he was more interested in seeing whether he could really fight using only one skeleton.
So far, his fighting style had consisted of summoning as many soldiers as he could and ordering them to attack the enemy. The closest he'd come to using any real strategy was during the battle against the horde surrounding the gym yesterday.
As he waited outside with Ying Jue, he decided to walk a little farther away to see if he could find a single zombie to test his new requirements on.
Just as he was about to leave, Ying Jue noticed that he was planning to do something.
"Where are you going?" she asked curiously.
"I just want to test something. Don't worry, I'll leave my skeletons here. I'm only taking a few of them with me," he replied nonchalantly.
With that out of the way, he started walking in a different direction from the one they had come from.
Even then, it took him six or seven minutes before he finally spotted something.
A rat the size of a car was wandering around nearby, blood dripping from its mouth and staining its fur. Even from this distance, Zaid could smell the stench coming from it.
"Alright, time to try this out. I choose you. Go and fight."
Zaid pointed toward one of the five skeleton soldiers he had brought with him.
The skeleton immediately marched toward the rat.
The moment the rat noticed it, it let out a loud screech before charging at its new enemy.
With its four powerful legs, the mutated rat reached the skeleton in an instant. One of its claws swung toward the undead soldier.
The skeleton raised its sword and swung at the rat as well, completely ignoring its own defense.
The rat's claw crushed the skeleton's skull, but the sword still managed to slice through its belly, causing blood and entrails to spill out.
However, the rat didn't die from the attack.
Instead, it turned its attention toward Zaid's group and charged at them with an enraged—
"SCREEECH!"
"Damn it. You four, cut it down!"
The four remaining skeletons immediately stepped forward and killed the rat.
Zaid watched the scene carefully, thinking about what had just happened.
'If the skeleton had blocked or dodged, it could've managed to win that fight without sacrificing itself. So why did it only focus on attacking? Is it because I ordered it to attack?'
His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the implications.
'Interesting. This just got so much more fun.'
Zaid looked at the remaining skeletons.
'That means I need to focus even more on the commands I give them. They aren't intelligent enough to decide how to accomplish an order on their own. If my command is too broad, they'll interpret it too literally. But if I give them too many specific instructions, they'll probably become even less efficient.'
A small smile appeared on Zaid's face.
'Looks like being a Necromancer isn't just about having a big army. I need to learn how to command them properly.'
He glanced down at the remains of the mutated rat.
'If I can figure out how to give them better commands, then eventually... I won't just have an army; I'll have a proper elite force.'