Carefully.

I had already killed seven of the able bodied men in the village. Eight, including the Dwarven adventurer. The men I saw gathering outside were a motley assortment numbering around twelve. That was a tall order but I was itching to try. The lure of that angelic looking priest was too much. I was prepared to die in the attempt to have her. Well, I was prepared to risk dying. If it really came down to it, I'd probably flee.

Probably.

In any event, I had to work quickly. And the very first thing I had to do was commit my accumulated Class experience to a Class.

-Priest Level 3-
Health 56/58
Mana 88/100

Can create and destroy level 3 undead.
Gain access to Tier 2 Priest spells.

Three Class Upgrades Remaining.

A whole new list of spells flooded my awareness. More than I cared to review in the moment.

I reached for one of the brand new points of Light even as it materialized within my Core. I knew the entire town was going to come at me in mob form. Even a single ally would be a significant help. That point went straight into my still-untested Necromancy skill.

New Undead Trait: As In Life, So too in ****
Rather than creating undead from a corpse, Create Undead can be used to animate a corpse instead.
Animated Undead retain some of the skills, traits, and characteristics they had in life.

Two Class Upgrades Remaining.

My mind worked overtime as I calculated how the encounter could play out. I knew the priest would have access to—as well as the tendency to use—heaps of defensive magic. I'd experienced that, myself not long before and I was converted. So I needed a way to overcome that.

With that in mind, I wrangled the second point of Light and pressed it towards my set of Assassin skills.

New Assassin Skill: Adapt and Overcome
If this attack injures the beneficiary of enchantments that protect against magic or supernatural beings, those enchantments are broken.

One Class Upgrade Remaining.

I returned to the fresh corpse of the adventurer and took a deep breath. Raising Undead wasn't something I'd had in mind when I'd chosen Priest, but if necromancy could help me achieve my ends, I would use it. That's all there was to it. Melanoche was rubbing off on me. Power was the means to any end I could want.

Priest Skill: Create Undead - Level 3 - Animate Undead
Mana 65/100

One Class Upgrade Remaining.

The process of animating a corpse was fascinating to watch. Dark energies flowed from me into the corpse, engulfing and cocooning it in my power. It rose magically into the air and when it settled on its feet, it stood of its own power. Dead eyes glowed with a dark magic. Even more intimately than through my Mark spell, I felt it bound to me. It was almost a part of me. It waited for instruction, and I had much to tell it.

I returned its shield amulet and sword, as well as a single crossbow. I commanded it to kill anyone who entered the building, but otherwise wait for my command to carry out the plan. I stretched out my hand and wrapped my undead soldier in defensive magics. I needed him to play a very important role in the upcoming engagement, and that meant not getting burned off the field by the priest's magic too quickly.

Priest Skill: Tier 2 Light Magic - Antimagic Shell
Mana 49/100

One Class Upgrade Remaining.

I couldn't see the timer for his buff, but I knew it would last an hour. More than I needed.

Confident that the undead dwarf would play his part, I checked the window again. Another woman was among the men, dressed in a nightgown. She was arguing emphatically with the priestess and pointing at the building I was in. Several men stood around to watch. There were fifteen of them now. I needed to hurry.

I rummaged through a small chest of potions I'd found, but there wasn't much of use. Most of the useful things had likely been used to fight me when I'd first broken in. I did find a small potion of mana restoration. That was worth its weight in gold. More, probably.

I looked down at my body, still without a scrap of actual clothing or armor. My hide was very strong; likely as good as some armor by itself. And, except for my belly, my fur was coarse and stiff, offering further protection. Still, some armor wouldn't be amiss. And pockets would have been nice.

I peeked again through the window. Fifteen men and a Priest of unknown level. It was odd to think about things in terms of levels, but that was my reality now. I had five Class levels, myself, and was a Monster, besides. Melanoche had said there were no Monsters with Class levels. Anywhere. There never had been. First of my kind in more ways than one, I was quickly becoming something truly formidable but I wanted more. So much more.

I could do this.

If I played my cards right and leveraged my advantages, it could even be easy. I knew my best option was to **** the priest to burn mana defensively, protecting her men. Her magic could hurt me a lot more than anything those villagers could throw at me as long as I didn't show them my belly. She would likely figure that out quickly: I would need to **** her into a reactionary state.

I knew I had to let her operate in relative safety while her men faced certain ****... but not overwhelming odds. If she was worth a damn as a Priest, she'd be able to keep most of them fit for a good while. I needed to measure my aggression, however. These were not soldiers. Push too hard too quickly, and they would fall back or scatter. I'd never be able to catch all of them, and the whole region would be on high alert for me, ruining my ambitions.

But if I didn't press hard enough, the Priest would be freed up to attack me herself. I couldn't afford to let that happen. I was going to need to take a lot of hits from those villagers, as well. They might not have been armed with swords and spears but their hammers and shovels were still weapons.

I made up my mind. I quaffed the minor mana restoration potion and cast one of my new spells on myself.

Priest Skill: Tier 2 Light Magic - Mending
Health 57/58
Mana 79/100

Minor Health Regeneration: 00:59:59
Damage Resistance: 00:16:37

One Class Upgrade Remaining.

That would have to do. I didn't have time or mana to spend on further preparation. I took the other crossbow from the bed and collected both of my knives into my other hand.

My undead minion took position by the door closest to the gathering crowd and I steeled myself.

I took a deep breath and darted out the door, firing a crossbow bolt directly at the surprised priestess's lovely chest.