"There were souls," Jack corrected, his red eyes studying his newest acquisitions with satisfaction. "And as long as the soul exists, the body can be reconstructed. It just requires power, ti, and the proper bindings."
"How long?" Loryn asked, his analytical mind already working through the implications. "How long did that reconstruction take?"
Jack checked his internal sense of ti. "Fifty-three minutes from initial binding to full physical restoration."
"Less than an hour," Loryn gasped. "To rebuild fifteen creatures from nothing but their souls. Young master, do you understand what this ans? You can recover any bound creature that dies, as long as you're able to bind their soul before it dissipates completely."
{That's terrifying,} Oscar comnted. {An army that can be killed and just... cos back. As long as you have tokens to bind their souls and ti to let them regenerate. That's not an army. You'll have created a plague.}
'An army that never dies,' Jack thought back. 'Why waste good soldiers just because they died once?'
The fifteen panthers moved as one, forming a loose semicircle around Jack. They were weak right now, freshly reconstructed bodies, muscles that hadn't been adequately tested, instincts still learning to function.
But they were bound and absolutely loyal.
Kaedor finally found his voice, though it ca out higher than usual. "Master, why would you want such weak creatures? Even fifteen of them together wouldn't be a significant threat to anything actually dangerous on this floor."
Jack smiled behind his visor, and even Kaedor took a step back from the expression.
"Because they won't be weak for long."
He opened his system interface and navigated to the Soul Managent section.
The fifteen panthers appeared in his list of bound creatures, each one showing its current stats and level.
And next to each entry was an option he'd discovered during his experints with the system:
[Creature Enhancent Available]
[Cost scales with target level and rank]
Jack selected all fifteen panthers and accessed the enhancent nu. The system imdiately provided calculations:
[Enhancent Target: Level 49]
[Current Level: 20]
[Levels to Gain: 29]
[Cost per creature: 133,500 Death Tokens]
[Total cost for 15 creatures: 2,002,500 Death Tokens]
[Confirm enhancent?]
[YES] or [NO]
"Two million tokens," Jack said aloud, watching Kaedor's face cycle through several expressions.
Shock, disbelief, horror, and finally resignation. "To bring all fifteen from weak to capable."
"Master, that's insane," Kaedor protested weakly. "That's nearly three million tokens total when you include the binding cost. You could buy legendary equipnt for that price. You could purchase unique-rank artifacts. You could..."
"I could have fifteen Dread-rank creatures at near their maximum potential," Jack interrupted. "Creatures that are bound to
absolutely, that can be reconstructed if killed, and that will serve as the foundation for a larger army. Equipnt breaks. Artifacts can be lost or stolen. But bound creatures? Those are permanent assets that only get stronger over ti."
He confird the enhancent, and his token count dropped significantly once again.
[Purchase confird: 2,002,500 Death Tokens spent]
[Enhancing 15 Shadowfang Panthers to Level 49]
The fifteen panthers convulsed as power flooded into them, their bodies glowing with red light as the system forcibly accelerated their growth.
It wasn't the slow, natural process of leveling through combat and experience.
Their bodies grew larger, muscles swelling with newfound strength. The reflective scales developed a faint luminescence, making them even harder to track in low light.
Claws extended another inch, becoming weapons capable of tearing through steel.
The transformation took perhaps thirty seconds, but when it finished, the fifteen creatures before Jack were different from what they'd been monts before.
[Enhancent Complete]
[15 Shadowfang Panthers upgraded to Level 49]
[New Stats Available]
Jack examined one of the panthers with his Flawed Sight:
[Shadowfang Panther]
[Rank: Dread]
[Level: 49]
[Strength: 112]
[Stamina: 101]
[Agility: 149]
[Vitality: 150]
[Endurance: 170]
[Magic: 75]
[HP: 37,500]
[Mana: 794]
[Abilities: Camouflage, Shadow Step, Acknowledges Enhancent]
Kaedor stared at the transford panthers, his skeletal jaw hanging open in a way that would have been comical if his shock wasn't so genuine.
"They just... they got stronger. In seconds. I watched them grow more powerful than creatures that have fought for decades to reach similar levels." His voice carried disbelief that bordered on existential crisis.
"Master, what you just did... that's not normal, even by Soul Warden standards. The legends speak of binding and commanding, but this? Forcibly leveling bound creatures through raw power investnt? I've never heard of such a thing."
Loryn moved closer to examine the panthers, his purple eyes analytical as always. "Young master, if I may ask... What are your plans for these creatures? Fifteen panthers are certainly useful, but they represent a significant investnt. Surely you have a specific purpose in mind?"
Jack looked out across the jungle, his enhanced perception tracking through the mist and foliage toward other presences he could feel in the distance.
"These fifteen are just the beginning," he said. "Floor Twenty-Three has potential I intend to fully exploit. Kaedor, tell
about the creatures on this floor. Everything you know about the populations, the territories, the hierarchy."
Kaedor's rings clicked together as his mind shifted from shock to his natural role as information broker. "The floor is divided into three main zones, as you've seen. Each zone has its own dominant species and ecosystem. The panthers you just bound are from the jungle zone. Ambush predators that hunt in packs, masters of stealth and coordinated attacks."
He gestured toward the swamp in the distance. "The swamp zone is ho to creatures adapted for aquatic environnts. The most notable are the entities that can dissolve into mist and reform elsewhere. They're difficult to kill because you have to destroy their core, which is usually hidden in the mist itself."
"And the wasteland?" Jack prompted.
"Minotaurs," Kaedor replied, his voice carrying sothing approaching respect. "Not the mindless beasts from legend, but intelligent creatures that have adapted to survive constant lightning bombardnt. They're tough, aggressive, and territorial. They organize into small clans, each one controlling a specific section of the wasteland."
Jack's mind processed this information, categorizing and prioritizing. "What about the apex predators? The ones at the top of the food chain?"
"Three Disaster-class entities," Kaedor said, his tone becoming more serious. "Stormfang, which you've already encountered. It rules the floor from that massive tree in the center, claiming the right to hunt anywhere it pleases and killing anything that challenges its authority."
"The second is a creature locals call the Voidweaver. A massive spider has made its nest in the deepest parts of the swamp. It doesn't hunt actively, but anything that enters its territory becos prey. The webs it creates are nearly indestructible, and its venom can dissolve flesh in seconds."
"And the third?" Jack asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
"The Hydra of the Scorched Reaches," Kaedor replied, his voice dropping slightly. "It lives in the wasteland, in a section where the lightning strikes are so constant that the ground is permanently molten. Nine heads, each one capable of independent thought and action. Regeneration that makes it nearly impossible to kill. Cut off one head, two grow back. It's the only creature on this floor that Stormfang actively avoids."
Jack absorbed this information, his mind already forming a plan. Three Disaster-class entities, three distinct populations of useful creatures, and an entire floor of resources waiting to be claid.
"We'll handle the populations first," Jack decided. "Build up numbers and tactical variety before challenging the apex predators. Loryn, which group should we target first?"
Loryn considered for a mont, his purple eyes distant as he calculated. "The Panthers were a good start. I'd recomnd the satisfied creatures next. If you can bind creatures that can beco intangible, you'll have infiltration specialists that are nearly impossible to stop. After that, the minotaurs are for raw strength and durability."
"Solid reasoning," Jack agreed. "The three subspecies will give us tactical flexibility. Stealth from the panthers, infiltration from the mist, and brute force from the minotaurs. After we've secured those populations, we'll move on to the Disaster-class entities."
"Which one first?" Loryn asked. "Stormfang, the Voidweaver, or the Hydra?"
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