Time was against us. Every second we waited behind the barn's doors was costly. Out the windows, I saw the undead marching in rows a hundred each. Whether it was zombies, ghosts, or skeletons they each had their own squads, companies, and battalions. Something in the grotto wasn't a fool, he wasn't moving in haste, and time was on his side.

Hertha hadn't activated the flying machine yet. It was a good thing she didn't. Every battalion had at least one company of archers. One company had common arrows, another had crossbows, the most dangerous had arrows akin to lances. They radiated their own battle power in the 100k. I was confident they were beyond what we could flee from.

"We can't stay here much longer." Lazarus said.

Zarina had continued suckling on the diary cow until it withered. Something was happening, Zarina was glowing brightly and the large dairy cow was rapidly losing weight. Soon it was just flesh and bone and its utter dried up. The cow collapsed and turned to dust.

"One of the reasons why golden cows abandon their calves. They wish to avoid a similar fate as that one." I nodded and rolled my shoulders. Muscles popped and I began to think. We had to move from the barn to the farmhouse without making a sound, difficult but not impossible. Then we had to regroup with Hertha and escape. With the number of archers around us, not possible. It was possible I overlooked flying monsters as well. For all I knew there could be a skeletal dragon above us.

I heard a terrifying gasping roar from high above the barn. Lazarus's face fell and the will to fight seemed to leave him. "Don't give up there must be a way out of this." I said and leapt up on one of the stall doors and placed a hand on my collar.

"Don't try to take it off, it will explode. It takes qi from the master and uses it against the wearer. The only way to remove it is to be strong enough to withstand an attack at point blank from a core formation at your neck." Lazarus said. I had thought the collar was dangerous but not that dangerous. Fortunately, I wasn't trying to take it off.

I used my skills analyze, focus, and detect on the collar. My eyes closed and I entered meditation using my mana to investigate the collar. Hours passed as the undead continued to march in their never-ending horde. My mind was busily deciphering the secrets behind the slave collar. After half a day passed, I opened my eyes and took out a pipe. Tossing some spirit herbs in the pipe and smoked restoring my mana and stamina for another round of deciphering.

The sky had turned dark and locusts beat against the windows. Lazarus had long since boarded up the windows and I noticed something off about him. Lazarus BP 398m, he was losing battle power it was his qi, he couldn't replenish it. I opened my bag and offered him some spirit stones. He grunted his thanks and went back to fortifying the barn.

I went back to meditation feeling the secrets of the collar they were there but just out of reach. Od's qi obscured them. It wasn't the power supply of the collar that I was after. Removing it was deadly and while my understanding of the collar increased, the explosion was a dead man's switch. If I damaged the collar it would explode. I couldn't stop that from happening unless, I was stronger than the collar's power supply. Lazarus had told the truth.

Another day passed and I fed Zarina the last of the herb paste. Her stomachs gurgled with intensity. It seemed she needed far more milk than one cow's life could provide. "There are a few cows under the farmhouse. They aren't natural but a few should still produce milk." Lazarus said.

"One more day and I should be ready to alter the collar."

"What are you going to do?" Lazarus asked.

I thought about it for a moment. Just trying to decipher such a complicated item had increased by skills by leaps and bounds. This was the proper path if I wanted to become a mage. My skills at deciphering would soon be unmatched. I let out a chuckle and Lazarus looked at me strangely.

Set Course lv10

Analyze lv24

Focus lv15

Detect lv20

"I plan to alter the collar to allow me to cultivate and hide my cultivation using the collars own battery." What better way to get revenge on those who enslaved you than to turn their own tool against them?