Through the days of playing escort for the Ioratal army, Danzel had lots of time to think of what skills to upgrade.

He prioritized the usefulness of the skill while also making sure that he had enough XP, in the end, to upgrade [Soul of Death Essence] and make it a tier 4 skill.

One of the requirements that needed to be done for him to evolve as a [Death Knight]

He would have loved to increase it more, but as his body reached its limit, he couldn't do as such since it gave him attribute points.

Although he doubted he would explode if he passed the limit by a bit, it surely would bring him some complication.

So he decided to save a whole of 3 690 000 XP for now.

So in total, he had 10 328 300 XP to work with.

Although the number was quite big, such an amount of XP was worth 10 [Epic] runes.

When he thought of that, he felt quite bitter from inside.

Alas, he had to do with his given allowance.

At first, he upgrades his movement skills, them being [Swift Movements] and [High Jump]. The former is level 3 with the latter being level 9.

In his early years, he aimed for the [Swift Movements] skill to be a constant buff that made him faster that lasted quite a while. After all, using one focus to use a skill time and time again to move faster was inconvenient.

While he didn't regret it, what he needed now was something that closed the distance at an extremely fast pace.

Making him pick [Death Mana Affinity], [Soul Affinity], and [Speed Increase].

Using his tempering point on the [Speed Increase] option.

While he could pick other options such as reducing his weight, making it a buff to be used on others, and so on.

He chose the two affinities in order to get the bonus.

In the end, the skill became [Phantom Phase].

[Phantom Phase]: Moving like a phantom and phase through reality at incredible speed. Allow the user to be engulfed with dead mana to become an immaterial mist. While in that state, you receive physical damage immunity, increase 80% magic resistance, and move 4 times faster than you are capable. If the user moves further than 5 meters upon activations of this skill, the mana usage increases per 0,5 meters for thrice the amount. Can't physically affect the physical world while in that state of being.

Though Danzel found the range quite lacking, the power of the spells was something else.

The next upgrade was his second movement skill, [High Jump]

Just leveling it once brought the skill into the modification stage.

And for it, he chose only [Dead Mana Affinity] and ignored the [Soul Affinity]. Instead for the second option, he went for [Power Increase].

He could also go for the overall improvement, but he decided to make the skill stronger by [Power Increase] and with the [Dead Mana Affinity] to hopefully bring out some kind of effect into the skill other than making you better at jumping.

Turning the skill into [Death Descent].

[Death Descent]: A modified skill of a warrior who learned to use dead mana for his usage. Increase your jumping strength by 7 times while surrounding yourself with dead mana. Once the warrior of death descends to the ground, the dead mana will be released and create a shock wave of death.

Danzel wasn't sure if he liked the skill or not.

While it increased how far he could jump, it could prove to be awkward if every time he jumped he spread shockwaves of death.

At times like this, he was thankful for the fact that the knowledge of the previous version of the skill remained in his head.

He let that skill remain in tier 3 before moving on to the next candidate.

And that was his defensive skill, [Armor of Vengeances].

Which was at level 8.

Being one of his best skills and one of the most expensive ones, it cost as much as [Soul of Death Essence] and [Mortal Reminder].

And since [Armor of Vengeances] was categorized as Death Magic, the discount was only 25%.

Making the 2 levels cost a total of 1 500 040

And as the skill proved to be useful in multiple situations, was worthwhile the investment.

The option he picked was the following...

[Dead Mana Affinity], [Mana Resistance], and [Overall Improvement].

His Tempering point going towards [Mana Resistance] to make himself the bane of all magic casters.

While he was choosing [Overall Improvement] and [Tougher], he chose the former so that he further improves the magic resistance and [Dead Mana Affinity] in the hopes to add something to the skill.

And it truly did.

The skill turning [Armor of Undying Protection]

[Armor of Undying Protection]: The user learned how to make one's own dead mana to reject all other forms of mana and to use the rejected mana to gather to be used as a shockwave that puts the [Curse Siping Mana] to all nearby enemies. Increase resistance of all magic at 40%, with Holy, Death, and Light magic increasing by 50% Instead. Increase the toughness and durability of armor by 60%. If the user is undead, the stored damage can be used to either heal, recover one's mana, or extend the duration of the [Curse of Siping Mana].

Once Danzel saw the new chance of the skill, he was imminently surprised by it. While it wasn't without disadvantages, the improvements that it brought were of what he would expect from a tier 4 skill.

But even that disadvantage could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

The kills before were like casting a layer of protection on top of his armor, which if the attack was weak enough, could completely negate the damage to his armor.

But now the skill turned more of a buff on top of his armor. Meaning that all damage will be inflicted on his armor with no exception.

The removal of the extra layer of protection though, skill would make his armor 60% tougher and more durable. Making it a blessing as it influenced the [Rune of Iron Fortress],

And that was half of the whole skill.

What made the skill truly terrifying was the [Curse of Siping Mana], which if inflected would draw his enemy mana and store it inside his chest to be used for multiple things.

Next on his list of upgrades was [Shield Charge], a tier 2 skill that had all kinds of usage.

And since it was level 9, it didn't take him a lot to improve it.

And for it, he simply went with both affinities in hopes of becoming a powerful skill like [Mortal Reminder].

The end result of it was [Shield of Tremble].

[Shield of Tremble]: The user is able to accelerate towards the pointed direction of the shield. If the shield manages to hit something that has a soul, the target's soul essence will be shaken for a brief moment. Duration depends on the level of the skill, the foe's strength, and equipment.

The [Shield of Tremble] was quite the surprise to Danzel.

While it didn't much improve the acceleration part of the skill, the original intent of the skill remained. It wasn't all that often in him hitting someone purely by his shield, but now once he did, it will be much more effective.

At least that's what he believed. Since he didn't test the effects on anyone and was stuck to a crappy carriage, all he could do was wait.

Following the list, next was one of his most important skills.

[Death Guarding Swordsmanship]

Currently, at level 7, all the skills needed 3 upgrades for the tempering process to begin.

Of all of them though, this was the hardest to choose.

Previously in the modification phase, he made the skill focus on being only sword-focused and adding the [Dead Mana Affinity].

But now there was no point choosing [User Weapon Focus].

And from the previous tempering process, [Death Guarding Swordsmanship] had by far the most option, a total of 11. Be it [Technique], [Shield Focus], [Sword Focus], and all the others.

For it, he decided to go with the safest.

[Dead Mana Affinity], [Soul Affinity], and [Overall improvement].

The tempering point going towards [Overall improvement].

Till now he was satisfied with what the skill brought.

A 20% increase in effectiveness on all death-attuned skills that used a sword or a shield while also giving him knowledge of swordsmanship.

All he wanted from the skill was to be simply better.

And maybe because he put the tempering point towards [Overall improvement], his wishes were mostly met.

[Death Warden Swordmanship]: Your learned how to masterfully use the combination of a sword and a shield. Additionally, by putting your inherited affinities into your swordsmanship, all skills that are Death and Soul attuned together with all other skills that use a shield and sword will be increased by a total of 30%. If the user is undead, you will passively surround the edge of your sword with dead mana, making every wound inflicted by that sword leave dead mana in the wound. Making it 5% harder to regenerate the wound. This passive effect is close to invisible, but not completely.

Once he upgraded the skill, a vast amount of information flooded his mind, so much that it was nothing compared to the other skills.

He realized how flawed his swordsmanship was before and the ways to fix them, while also learning how to influence better his ability with the sword.

That was when he decided to take a break and digest all the information that he just gained.

While he still had leftover XP, it wasn't necessary to be used as currency.

He stepped out of the carriage and decided to speak with Agares about his swordsmanship.

Though he couldn't start having a spar with him with all the soldiers of Ioratal, the old man with exotic clothes proved to be rather wise in the ways of the sword.

And so several days passed.

Soon enough, the high walls of the capital of the Dynasty of Ioratal came into sight.

Once the army entered the walls, they were many thousands of people cheering them and calling them heroes or whatnot.