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  The skills and the upgrades weren’t half bad at all, in fact… a combination of their offensive ailments and buffs could overshine the elites’ value in battle. Granted, these units required a significant investment to shine, but that applied to every construct types under his wing.

  One more.

  [Your construct, Skeleton Rogue has reached Level 10. Evolution is possible.]

  [Evolution: Skeleton Assassin.]

  [Skeleton Assassin gains +9 Dexterity, +3 strength, +3 resilience upon evolution]

  [Skill evolution(s):]

  [Concealed strikes > Unseen strikes]

  [Unseen strikes: Attacks on unwary targets deal an extra 50>100% damage and stun them. Assassins are invisible at a distance if they are clad with darkness, doubling their speed while hidden. The distance before reveal is reduced. 20>40% Dexterity is added to the total damage while concealed. Deals bonus 20% dexterity damage to all attacks.]

  [Dark rush(2)> Dark runway]

  [Dark Runway: Rushes toward a location, temporarily activating concealed strikes. Lasts for 2 seconds. Grants shroud, reducing the next physical damage taken by 60%, as long as concealed strikes are active. Generates a path of darkness along the path. All assassins that are within this path are considered cloaked in darkness, even when revealed. Cooldown: 25 seconds.]

  The same growth spurt applied to the rogues, too, though they didn’t grow nearly as much as the warriors. Their armors grew slicker, their hoods less riddled with holes and stains, and their arms hung a little lower down their thighs. The changes in their physique made them even lankier than before. Their figures faded and shimmered into the air when a hint of darkness painted their frames.

  Three tier two variants replaced all the basic constructs in Frail’s army.

  His current essences sat at a comfortable 46,170.

  There was one unit in his roster Frail wished to spend all his hard-earned essences on. The one unit whose auras and skills affected all constructs—while they remained in his domain. Unlocking the wights could be a decent choice, but Frail preferred damage negation and better offenses over healing. With the magic barrier provided by his Domain lord, plus the defenses from his Grave Guard and lich, then considering his domain’s effects—healing constructs for 1% health per second—healing seemed… underwhelming. For now.

  Eldritch aura, Magic Blade, and Spellblade’s standard were incredible choices. It’d be unwise to proceed without it. They did cost him a lot, however—20,000 essences in total.

  [You spent 20,000 essences.]

  Next, he spent another 3,000 to upgrade both tier-1 armor and weapons. The next tier cost him double; Tier 2 upgraded weapons granted the domain lord +15 in magic, +7 strength and +3 dexterity. The armor bonuses merely doubled.

  [You spent 9,000 essences.]

  [You now have 17,170 essences remaining.]

  More than 60,000 essences vanished in the blink of an eye.

  His domain lord stood taller after all the upgrades he’d purchased; a change he missed initially when he was too deep into the menus and the upgrade windows. He noted the marked change in its presence, its aura condensed into an almost perceptible form, where its eldritchness—whatever that entailed—could be felt across the walls and the air present within his domain.

  Much better.

  His domain lord had eclipsed the Watcher in terms of raw attributes and general power. He’d love to upgrade this unit further… but... His other units required his attention.

  Before that…

  Ten slots, 8000 in total. He’d decided to lend these ten to Arthur’s group. A mix of 6 warriors and 4 archers should work… Assassins lost access to their best tool when the battle was set to happen in the afternoon, so he opted to skip it.

  [You now have 9,170 essences remaining.]

  Next, he bolstered the ranger’s weapons and the warrior’s armors. Each cost him another solid 2000, totaling 4000 essences.

  [You now have 5,170 essences remaining.]

  His final 5000…

  The draugrs went through the goblin generals’ roles in their army before; their roles mirrored Arthur’s current composition: A strong vanguard, a powerful threat in the shadows, and a mage with access to necrotic spells.

  But the goblin chieftain itself never revealed its true strength. If he must guess… it must at least match the strength of his Domain Lord—and even more likely, stronger than it—while performing a similar role; a robust warrior whose skills prioritized buffing its own army, content with staying back and watching the battle unless it was forced to participate.

  Frail had confidence in handling their entire force without the human’s help inside his domain, even without the scarred venom and a quarter of his common force. Perhaps he’d gotten complacent since his consistent victories… but he could not foresee himself failing, not when they fought under his domain.

  Outside, the odds could skew the other way.

  He turned his attention to his elites. Out of the three, the sole unit that had the best odds against a general both within his domain and outside was…

  The Grave Lancer. Its skill, Gravely evasion, granted it complete protection against all melee attacks every four seconds. No other skill had the sheer utility it posed. If used right… it could survive perils no other constructs had any business dipping their toes into.

  The best upgrades cost him more essence than what he had. Purchasing both Gravely Evasion and Thrust, plus both armor and weapon upgrades would be perfect.

  But he didn’t have enough. It never was enough.

  No. There’s still time. Don’t rush. Every essence counts.

  The blanket of night had begun to spread over the skies. When night came… so would the sable-furred beasts. They’d gotten sparse since he’d hunted their numbers close to extinction, but he didn’t need too much to cover his immediate needs.

  Satisfied, Frail sent forth the scarred venom and ten of his new soldiers outside.

  There were more deals to be done with them... more corpses to bargain from.