Finally, with a sharp intake of breath, Liam completed the ritual. The soul bead flared with a brilliant, dark light, then dimmed, settling into a new, stable form. The chicken stirred, lifting his head. The beast flashed his eyes open, his eyes now completely pitch black with a faint red dot in the center for a pupil.
This was slightly different from how Shayen's eyes looked but the result was still acceptable. "It worked," Liam grinned, patting Kouske on his back. "I was correct. You helped me achieve a breakthrough."
Kouske's face turned unsightly but he could no longer open his mouth. His eyes were still on the chicken. Liam had indeed succeeded in something he couldn't even fathom.
Slowly, the chicken rose to its feet, its movements now fluid and assured, a stark contrast to its previous erratic spasms. It tilted its head staring at Liam and stretched its wings wide. It then unexpectedly knelt on the floor.
Liam nodded in satisfaction. He could feel the soul pulsing strongly within the beast, except that it was of a different flavor. It had something more now. It couldn't be life force but it was something similar, perhaps a will. He needed to understand more and for that he now needed to forge something that was more intelligent with a much stronger soul.
Liam's attention turned to the soul minion who was standing right beside him. It was time for Kouske to become more useful. He could currently feel it. The soul he forged had submitted to him and yet it hadn't submitted to him. Kouske's performance always left something lacking. He even underperformed when compared to the vampire grunts he had forged. This was a travesty because in his last life this same person shone brighter than many others with his talent shining in the spotlight.
But all of this problem would now be solved with the reforging.
Liam couldn't help but wonder how Kouske would be when he was born anew just like the chicken. Would he finally have another strong general for his army?
With a grin Liam approached the dumbfounded soul minion who clearly was unwilling and hesitant. His eyes hadn't given up hope on revenge and overthrowing Liam just yet.
However, without giving him any chance for any kind of mutiny Liam grabbed the soul in one swift motion and started working on it from the beginning. This time around his movements flowed more easily and his rune formed without a glitch.
Though the difficulty was a lot higher with a more evolved soul with its own nuances, in a little over an hour, Liam was finally done.
Standing in front of him was a human being in an elven corpse. Liam could already sense that there would be some difficulties down the road because of this mis-match but he would leave it to Kouske to deal with his own problems.
As a talented necromancer, if the man couldn't deal with even this small thing then there was no point in forging him into a 'Risen'.
Liam waited patiently and a few minutes later Kouske flashed his eyes open. Coincidentally, his eyes were also similar to that of the chicken, pitch black except for the red dot at the center.
The new Kouske stared silently into the distance for a few seconds before he suddenly bowed to Liam, his pitch-black eyes gazing at him for a moment as he submitted to him.
"Master. Your wish is my command." Kouske mumbled.
Liam hummed and inspected the guy for a moment. He was beyond thrilled with the results but he first needed to confirm some things. "Do you know who you are?" Liam asked.
"I am your soldier." Kouske's reply immediately arrived.
"My soldier? Then how are you different from this bird?" Liam pointed to the chicken, purposefully taking a demeaning tone.
However, unlike the Kouske before this one did not show any emotions. He remained calm and submissive as he answered without any ego. "At the moment there is indeed not much difference between me and the bird but if my master wills it, I can become a lot stronger. I am confident in being able to serve my master a lot better than that bird."
The chicken immediately swiveled its head to give the guy a look as if it was saying the race is on. Kouske also did not back down and gave a hard stare to the chicken.
Liam cleared his throat snapping the two out of their private staring contest. "What about love? Do you think you will fall in love with another woman? Would you betray me or your orders for that woman?"
Kouske shook his head. "If Master wills it, I will be happy to take a woman but she will always be second to my master. My master is my will, my god and everything to me."
Liam nodded. He continued asking all sorts of questions but the answers only ended up making him feel a little awkward. While he freely commanded his soul minions without any remorse or conscience, doing the same with these 'Risen' was a little difficult.
But at the same time, he was not chilling and passing his time here playing God. His purpose was to create soldiers, strong and powerful soldiers who will stand in the front lines and fight for him and his family without hesitation.
Liam looked at the man in front of him who was familiar and unfamiliar to him at the same time. "Go. Live freely. Become stronger. Become very powerful. Strive to become even more powerful than me. Go and conquer this half of our world. Build your empire. Expand into the myriad realms. Make a name for yourself in this vast cosmos. The sky is the limit. Fight to your heart's content."
"But remember. Always be ready to serve me and my family at a moment's notice. You will answer me when I call for you no matter what. Go. The next time we meet you should become strong enough to serve as my right hand."