Experimentation was a joy, even for a lich.

Ever since his self-destruction, Ambrose had wanted to rebuild his body.

Even with Black Rose's help, this set of bones was still a downgrade from before.

But he had simply been too busy ever since then. Now that he finally had the time to do so, it was time to make proper preparations.

Creating ordinary undead required corpses because dark mana flowed far more smoothly through such materials. With other materials, the loss would be enormous and the storage efficiency abysmal.

Take the simplest of skeletons, for example: channel the same amount of dark mana into a skeleton for three minutes, and it could clatter around for ten years. Use that same mana on a metal body, and two hundred years of charging would get you three seconds of movement.

That was why undead could only reinforce their bodies with mana. They couldn't simply swap their bones out for steel.

This material disparity was not something that could not be overcome. Otherwise, death knights would not bother wearing armor, and their swords would be carved from bone instead of metal.

But though this would have been a problem for any other undead, Ambrose had no such limitations.

His new legendary boon, Attribute Bestowal, as astounding. It could add additional properties to any material.

In theory, one could even grant an object attributes like indestructibility or divinity...

...as long as he could cough up enough gold.

Ambrose had secretly attempted to grant a fingernail-sized fragment of bone indestructibility.

The boon was vicious in its design. You selected a target, chose an attribute, and then started paying. There was no progress bar, no indication of how much would be enough. Only when the cost was fully paid would the ability become usable.

He poured tens of thousands of gold coins into that tiny scrap of bone, to no avail. Ambrose chose to cut his losses right then and there.

Either the God of Alchemy was skimming an outrageous middleman's fee, or that attribute was simply too overpowered to be affordable.

And though he could cancel the attribute bestowal midway, the gold was gone for good.

Tens of thousands of gold, gone just like that. Ambrose ground his teeth and gave up on the fantasy of leaping straight to godhood.

It seemed that gods weren't that easy to cheat. He couldn't just swipe his credit card and turn himself into a deity.

But reinforcing a body was another matter entirely.

Clutching a handful of gold, Ambrose began to spend in earnest. He granted all the metal components before him the "corpse" attribute, then assembled them according to his blueprints.

The papers in his hand were the most basic schematics for magical automata. Even with Ambrose's half-baked understanding, assembling it was effortless.

The mechanical construct stood about two meters tall, composed entirely of metal. Ambrose had chosen to retain its original mana reactor. If he could house an undead soul inside as well, it would become a dual-powered system. He was hopeful that the result would surprise him.

Then, he summoned Bear and Husky from his extradimensional space.

Husky was cradling Bear's soul jar as he approached Ambrose, visibly excited. "My lord, you finally remembered about us."

To Ambrose, the brothers had only been dead for a few months. But under the accelerated time of his extradimensional space, they had endured for decades, even centuries.

Husky was fine. He already had a skeleton body and could move freely. Bear, however, had been trapped inside the jar the entire time like a prisoner. If Husky had not kept him company, Bear's tormented soul would have been valuable currency in Hell.

Ambrose felt a little embarrassed. He tended to forget about everything else once he got busy.

Patting Husky on the shoulder, he said, "Relax. I'll let you out more often from now on."

Husky: "..."

Weren't he and his brother subordinates of this lich? Why did it sound like they were prisoners on parole?

"Alright. Today shall be the day of your reunion," Ambrose said. "Let me see how this new undead body performs."

He took Bear's soul out of the jar and inserted it into the automaton.

Bear was a centuries-old ghost by now, and his soul had been fortified by time. He had been waiting for this day far too long. The fusion went smoothly, with no sign of rejection at all.

The automaton's energy core roared to life. Mana conduits glowed. Gears in its joints began to turn. Everything was working. Under Ambrose's commands, Bear sat up from the workbench and moved according to his commands, disbelief written all over his face.

"Seems smooth enough. How does it feel?" Ambrose asked.

The newly mechanized Bear let out muffled noises, unable to speak. He waved his fingers and pointed at where his ears should be, as if indicating that he could hear nothing.

"Don't let your body distract you," Ambrose said, transmitting his words directly into Bear's soul. "An automaton has no voice or hearing, but undead don't need those. Think back to how you communicated when you were still in the jar."

Bear twisted his head nervously. After a long while, he finally produced a strange, distorted tone.

"Whew. That was suffocating. My lord, I feel... off. I might be able to move, but every time I do so, it feels as if someone's tugging at my body, trying to help me exert force but also interfering with me at the same time. It's hard to control."

He complained that the mechanical body felt inferior to his brother's skeleton form. It was both clumsy and overly responsive at the same time. He quickly grew dizzy after moving rapidly as his consciousness failed to synchronize with his body.

"That's because the golem already has its own power system," Ambrose explained. "Your dark mana is also acting on it, so you're essentially applying all forces twice. You'll adapt in a few days. Aside from that, any other discomfort?"

The mana reactor existed to reduce his dark mana consumption. Metal was heavy, and the cost of moving it remained high despite Ambrose's Attribute Bestowal. With the reactor, however, things changed. It could be charged in many ways, and the dual-power system allowed for far greater endurance.

That explanation reassured Bear. He took a few tentative steps. Aside from misjudging his strength and nearly falling over, there were no other issues.

Ambrose sent him back into his extradimensional space, waited half an hour, then brought him out again.

Time acceleration truly was wonderful. After hundreds of hours of training within, Bear emerged steady-footed and precise. He no longer lost control of his body.

"My lord, this body is incredible!" Bear said happily. "It's far stronger than when I was alive."

He had sparred against Husky quite a few times during his training, and could immediately sense how much stronger he had grown.

"If it weren't, something would be terribly wrong," Ambrose replied dryly. "Your entire net worth was only a few thousand gold. It wouldn't even be enough to buy the magical automaton I used as the basis for your body, let alone the enhancements I added."

Even conferring the "corpse" attribute on metal was expensive. Ambrose had spent roughly six hundred thousand gold on Bear's body alone even while trying to save as much as he could. If he had chosen a higher-grade automaton or rarer materials, the costs would have ballooned severalfold.

Bear: "..."

That was humiliating. If this were the old days, he would have snapped. But now? He was no longer human.

After the horrors of the sewers, many of his worldly desires had faded. He had learned one truth: strength was everything. If he had been a legend back then, he would never have been charmed by that hag and left with the most traumatic memory of his life. Whether undead or machine, at least now he was free of that miserable past.

In a way, he was even grateful to Ambrose.

Husky watched on with envy. "My lord, could I switch to a mechanical body too? Look at me. Half my bones are already cracked."

During their sparring, Husky had initially been able to bully Bear while the latter was still acclimating to his new body. Later, however, it became a one-sided beating.

Husky's magitech rifle lacked the firepower to seriously damage a metal body, leaving nothing but scratches in the paint. Meanwhile, Bear could shatter Husky's bones with a casual touch. The gap was brutal.

"I've already prepared something for you," Ambrose replied. "But it'll be different."

He produced a vat of mercury. "What do you think?"

Husky looked at it, puzzled. "My lord, I don't quite understand."

"You've seen living mercury before. Its combat performance is excellent, far superior to a simple skeletal body. This isn't living mercury, just ordinary mercury, but I think it's worth a try."

Living mercury only retained its extraordinary magic resistance and metal-devouring traits while alive. Once granted the "corpse" attribute, those qualities vanished. To create true mercury constructs, Ambrose would need to fabricate a "not-yet-dead soul" to bind to living matter.

That was not an option for Bear or Husky. Both were thoroughly dead. Ordinary mercury would have to do for testing purposes.

Husky had seen living mercury in battle, and its freeform transformations did look appealing.

After becoming an undead, the half-elf found himself caring less and less about his appearance. After being outclassed by Bear, all he wanted now was power.

With Husky's consent, Ambrose quickly placed his soul into the modified mercury.

A wail echoed from Husky's soul. "My body... it's so heavy!"

Husky tried to form into a humanoid shape, but gave up after a moment.

"That's normal," Ambrose said patiently. "Mercury isn't powered by a core. Everything depends on your own strength. Don't try to manifest a human form. A blob, like a slime, is the most efficient shape. And don't walk. Roll. Once you adapt, you'll find it doesn't take much effort at all."

He sent Husky back into his extradimensional space to practice.

By the time Husky re-emerged, he seemed resigned to his new fate as a slime.

"How does it feel?" Ambrose asked.

Husky made an odd sound. "It's... acceptable. Once you accept the look, it's not that bad."

Rolling was indeed efficient, and far easier than walking as a skeleton. Undead perceived the world through their souls, anyway; facial features hardly mattered.

But shapeshifting was still difficult. Drawing a bow was impossible, but pulling the trigger of a magitech rifle was manageable.

Ambrose was delighted. Both of his lieutenants had adapted to their new bodies.

He straightened and spoke solemnly. "Excellent. You two are the first modified undead in the world. You are undead of a new era. You will be written into the annals of history. You bear the responsibility of revitalizing the undead race. Today, I entrust you with an important mission."

The brothers' souls trembled. They had never imagined that changing bodies carried such historic significance. But the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. Who had ever heard of a mechanical undead? Or a mercury undead?

They were members of a new species, a deed worthy of the written record. They would, finally, be protagonists in their own lives. Compared to their past as con artists-cum-adventurers, this would be glory beyond their wildest imaginations.

In unison, they said, "My lord, give us an order. We will do our best."

Ambrose nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. You're both full of spirit. Your mission is simple: go find a paladin and see whether a Sacred Slash will kill you."

Husky: "..."

Bear: "..."

On second thought, maybe they'd pass up this opportunity.