The skeleton stood before Ethan, a pathetic mockery of the bone-chilling dread the word "Necromancer" was supposed to inspire. It rattled faintly with every nervous twitch of Ethan's own leg, its ribcage looking like a badly strung xylophone. He poked it gingerly with a stick. It didn't react. It just… stood there, swaying slightly.

Dejected didn't even begin to cover it. He'd pictured towering skeletal behemoths, armies of the risen, a tide of undead washing over the monstrous threats now plaguing their world. Instead, he got this… this bony scarecrow.

Ethan slumped onto the overturned picnic table in his backyard, the wood splintering slightly under his weight. The Shatter had changed everything. The familiar comfort of his small-town Vermont life – early morning classes, late-night video games, awkward glances at Sarah Miller across the hallway – was gone, replaced by a nightmare he barely understood. And his "gift," the very thing that was supposed to give him an edge, felt like a cruel joke.

He looked back at the skeleton, a wave of frustration washing over him. He’d spent the entire day since his Awakening trying to command it, coax it, even *beg* it to do something, *anything*. All it did was stand there, rattling its bones like a morbid wind chime.

"Okay, new plan," he muttered to himself, pushing himself off the table. "If brute force isn't working, maybe… subtlety?"

He remembered snippets of information from the System messages that had flooded his mind during his Awakening – vague guidelines, rules of engagement, and a basic understanding of how to use his Necromantic powers. He closed his eyes, focusing on the connection he felt to the skeleton, a faint, almost ethereal thread.

He willed it to move a hand. Nothing.

He willed it to clench its fist. Still nothing.

He imagined the feeling of his own muscles contracting, translating that sensation into the link with the skeleton. *Clench… fist… NOW.*

This time, something flickered. A single bone in the skeleton's left hand twitched. Ethan's eyes snapped open, his heart pounding. He tried again, concentrating harder, pushing more of his will into the connection.

The fingers on the skeleton's left hand slowly, jerkily, curled into a loose fist. Ethan held his breath, afraid to break the tenuous link. He repeated the process, over and over, until the skeleton was clumsily opening and closing its skeletal hand.

"Okay… progress," he said, a small smile creeping onto his face. "Slow, agonizing progress, but progress nonetheless."

He spent the next few hours pushing the skeleton to its limited capacity. He managed to get it to take a few wobbly steps, raise its arms (again, jerkily), and even clumsily swing a broken branch he'd found lying nearby. It was exhausting, both mentally and physically. Ethan felt drained, his head pounding with the effort of maintaining the connection and forcing the skeleton to obey.

As dusk began to settle, casting long shadows across the ravaged landscape of his backyard, Ethan decided to call it a night. He dismissed the skeleton, severing the link, and watched as it collapsed into a pile of bones on the ground.

He was about to head inside when a thought struck him. The System messages had mentioned something about resources – that the world itself now contained elements that could be used to enhance and strengthen Awakened powers. He glanced around his backyard, his gaze landing on the overgrown patch of weeds that had taken over since the Shatter.

He remembered seeing a faint shimmering aura around some of the plants, a sign of… what was it called? "Residual Energy." He hesitantly walked over to the patch and knelt down, carefully examining the weeds.

He touched one of the plants, a thorny vine with strangely vibrant purple leaves. As his fingers brushed against the leaves, he felt a jolt of energy, a tingling sensation that ran up his arm and into his chest. The System chimed in his mind:

**[Residual Energy Absorption: Minor]**

**[Acquired: 1 x Thornvine Essence]**

"Thornvine Essence?" he muttered, confused. He looked back at the pile of bones that was once his skeleton. An idea, a wild, desperate hope, bloomed in his mind.

What if he could use this… essence… to improve his skeleton? To make it stronger, faster, more… useful? It was a long shot, but he had nothing to lose.

He re-summoned the skeleton, its bones reassembling themselves with the same unsettling rattle. He held the Thornvine Essence, a faint purple glow emanating from his palm, and focused his will. He tried to infuse the energy into the skeleton, to merge the essence with its very being.

The skeleton trembled, its bones vibrating violently. A sickly green light flickered around it. Then, with a sharp CRACK, one of its ribs snapped.

"Damn it!" Ethan exclaimed, pulling back his hand. "Too much? Wrong kind of energy?"

He spent the next hour experimenting, carefully regulating the flow of energy, trying different approaches. He learned that directly infusing the essence was too volatile, too much for the fragile skeleton to handle. He needed a more gradual approach.

He decided to try focusing the essence on specific bones, one at a time. He started with the legs, carefully channeling the energy into the femur. The bone glowed faintly purple, then faded back to its original ivory hue.

He repeated the process with the other leg, then moved on to the arms, the ribcage, the skull. It was painstaking work, requiring intense concentration and precise control. He felt the energy draining from him, leaving him weak and shaky.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he was done. The skeleton stood before him, unchanged in appearance, but… different. Ethan could feel it, a subtle shift in its energy, a newfound resilience.

He commanded it to move.

This time, the movements were smoother, more fluid. The skeleton took a step forward, its bones no longer rattling quite so loudly. It raised its arm, the motion surprisingly swift.

Ethan grinned. It was working.

He directed the skeleton to swing the broken branch. The branch connected with a nearby tree stump with a resounding *thwack*. The skeleton didn't falter.

Ethan pushed it further, commanding it to run, to jump, to fight imaginary enemies. The skeleton, still clumsy, still awkward, but demonstrably stronger and more capable, obeyed.

Then, something remarkable happened.

As the skeleton swung the branch again, a surge of energy erupted from its body. The purple glow intensified, enveloping the skeleton in a shimmering aura. The bones began to shift, to reshape themselves.

Ethan watched in stunned silence as the skeleton grew taller, its bones thickening, its form becoming more defined. The ribcage expanded, providing greater protection. The arms lengthened, and the hands developed sharp, bony claws. The skull hardened, its eye sockets deepening, creating an impression of grim determination.

When the glow finally faded, the skeleton was gone. In its place stood a figure of grim purpose: a **Skeleton Warrior**. It stood taller, broader, more imposing. Its movements were fluid, powerful, radiating an aura of silent menace.

Ethan stared in awe. He hadn't just strengthened his skeleton. He had… evolved it.

**[Undead Evolution: Skeleton -> Skeleton Warrior]**

**[Stats Increased: Strength, Endurance, Defense]**

The System message confirmed what he already knew. His undead could… evolve. He possessed a power that no other Necromancer, as far as he knew, had ever wielded.

A wave of exhilaration washed over him, followed by a surge of determination. He was no longer just a cursed Necromancer, doomed to be feared and reviled. He was something more. Something unique. Something powerful.

He looked at his Skeleton Warrior, its bony gaze fixed on the horizon. He had a long way to go, a dangerous path to tread. But for the first time since the Shatter, Ethan Blackwood felt a glimmer of hope. He might not have chosen this life, but he was damn well going to make the most of it. The reign of the Evolved Dead had just begun.