-Hey bro, fellow undead user here, haha. Funny thing is, I ended up in a situation just like yours—stuck in a location where I couldn't even get an undead. It was near the outskirts of a kingdom's capital, right where the headquarters of a massive religion and their pope reside. I'd have been deader than dead if I tried summoning an undead there.
Honestly, your situation isn't that bad. Just head to the Supers Association and buy a monster corpse. It's not even that expensive—the cheapest ones go for about 3,000 at least, so it's pretty affordable. Since I had the funds, I bought several Level 10 monster corpses, haha. You can also check out the monster breeding centers in your area, but they usually sell corpses for way more than the Supers Association does.
Michael checked the name of the commenter.
Leovanni Lorenzio.
'Hmm…'
The name was quite fancy.
Leovanni was also a Level 1 member, just like Michael.
From the tone and first sentence of Leovanni's comment, Michael deduced this "bro" was likely a peer—a fellow new Awakener.
Whether this "bro" was 16, 17, or perhaps even his exact age was unknown to Michael, though he couldn't care less.
What mattered most was the comment's helpfulness.
"Why didn't I think of this?" Michael muttered, tapping his forehead. "Of course, the Supers Association would be a good solution for getting an undead!" He shook his head, feeling helpless that such an obvious solution hadn't occurred to him before.
While Michael didn't know that the Supers Association sold corpses—as it wasn't something listed in their forum store—they could undoubtedly grant him access to places where acquiring a monster corpse wouldn't be an issue, such as Dimensional Cracks.
With their access to Dimensional cracks, It also made sense that the Association would have access to monster corpses.
As for breeding centers, though unfamiliar with them, Michael wasn't surprised by their existence.
Almost every teenager under 18 aspired to either become an Awakener or a Cultivator. However, most were realistic enough to understand that Awakening was left to fate, making Cultivation the hot choice. As a result, nearly all students practiced some form of Cultivation.
Though the Federation suppressed information about Awakeners and Cultivators, a few videos still leaked.
While they didn't reveal the full extent of their powers, the fact that the strongest unofficial Cultivation apprentices were twice as strong as the average human was enough to inspire young people.
'Maybe if they knew there were strong Cultivators who could crush monsters a hundred feet tall, they'd take Cultivation more seriously,' Michael thought.
But with the Federation now releasing more information about supernaturals, perhaps more students would grow interested in Cultivation and take it seriously under the allure of supreme power.
Returning to the topic of breeding centers, Michael wasn't shocked by their existence.
In city malls, beast meat—a cultivation resource for apprentices—was openly sold, clearly sourced from monsters.
If such products were available, it stood to reason that breeding centers for monsters existed too.
Still, Michael was more familiar with the Supers Association than breeding centers.
Until now, he hadn't even been aware breeding centers existed.
Like most people, he had assumed beast meat came from dead monsters, not ones bred like livestock.
After all, to the general public, monsters were nothing more than enemies.
"Are monster corpses really this expensive?" Michael muttered, his eyes twitching slightly.
At $3000 per corpse, he questioned whether the $15,000 monthly benefit he received would even be enough to buy five.
Worse still, with {Intermediate Mastery} of {Undead Revival} only offering a 50% success rate, there was a significant chance that a large chunk of his money could be wasted.
"This is a bit too rich for me," he sighed.
For someone born and raised in poverty, Leovanni was wealthy in Michael's eyes.
A Level 10 monster corpse wasn't going to be cheap, yet this "rich guy" had bought ten at once and called it "affordable."
It was clear that this "bro" was some sort of young master.
Even so, Michael was grateful for Leovanni's advice.
The comment had helped him clear his thoughts significantly.
Leovanni was also the only person, aside from the senior who had advised him about the ruins, to offer practical help.
After sending his thanks to Leovanni, Michael logged out of the Supers Association forum and leaned back in his chair.
'Somehow, I feel like I forgot something,' Michael thought, though he dismissed the feeling after a few seconds.
If it was important, it would come back to him later.
His head was still buzzing from everything he had learned on the forum, leaving no room for minor distractions.
Michael rested for about ten minutes before getting up. It was close to 4:00 PM, a perfect time to still head out.
Now that he knew how to solve his undead summoning issue, he felt impatient.
Deciding to freshen up to wash away some of the mental exhaustion from the Land of Origin, Michael prepared to visit the local Supers Association branch.
"I should sell some of my loot while I'm there. I'm broke."
"So broke."
After leaving his apartment, Michael was fortunate to find a cab quickly to take him to the Supers Association.
While waiting briefly for transportation, he had an impulsive thought: to run to the Association at full speed and play superhero, recreating The Flash in this world.
However, laziness won out in the end.
That, and the very real possibility of injuring someone along the way.
Michael didn't want the Federation breathing down his neck. Perhaps that was why other Awakeners also kept a low profile—as there were no reports of anyone openly showing off their powers in public.
Still, he wondered if things might change once the Federation released more information about Awakeners and Cultivators. Perhaps they might have their rights improved, and maybe he could even use a mount-type undead in broad daylight one day.
*****
A/N: First VIP chapter! Quick question: do y'all prefer longer chapters?