Chapter 30: [Arc 1] Chapter 23: A Demonic Necromancer! (Trainee)

"You beat it!? The King of Ghosts!?!?" - Gust

"...Yup." - Garami

The V-sign was enough for the bird to jump around like a superball of happiness. Or fly-hopping? He's a bird... and he crashed in the roof. Saw that coming.

After I escaped from the castle, I saw that I made the correct choice of using the window route. The Dread Spirits had flocked to the castle, probably due to the King's orders, and the result was that the fire had obtained more fuel in the form of Dread Spirit aether. I think that's the reason. I mean, I only used a few barrels of the booze I found. It's not enough to generate flames with enough heat to melt rocks. Damn, that was a scary sight.

The moles must have noticed the fire before I came, as they had stuffed the self-made backdoor with earth and dirt due to their [Digging] skill. Speaking of moles, it seems they also obtained 7 Skill Points from the Quest. But I was the one who cleared it?!

Oh, so just participating is enough for the rewards sometimes? But items are usually no good unless it mentions "for each participant"? That sounds fair enough.

Thing is, Gust got a whooping 14 Points. How!? Oh, you got a message telling you something about "Champion of Alvatria" doubled it? Sorry, but that's due to me. You're still just your everyday bird.

But Leadership Skills that make you the boss of a group allow you to share the Champion effect? That's an important piece of information to know. Maybe I can use this as bait to get some companions... or a one-way ticket to the mafia. *Shiver*

Anyway, through this Quest, I've obtained tons of Skill Points, all the various skills from the Challenges plus [Sunlight Resistance] (already used it on my way back to the caves), the Steel Swords plus the Blackiron Rapier, which is unfortunately on its last legs due to the rough fight against the King, and finally, the Deathcaliber set of sword and scabbard from the mentioned King.

Oh, and the books and those maid clothes. And all the other junk I stole.

Then there is that King of Ghost... rather, the Wild Hunt Lord-related Legacy Quest. Let's have a look at that before I decide what to do with the rest. 

Opening the Quest Log... there's a "!"-mark shining next to the "Completed Quest" tab. 

Oh? Oooohh!! You serious!? Godly timing, the rapier's Durability is below 50 due to the battle with the King. It felt nice to use, fast and light, the whole package, but the length was bothering me a little. 

And this is...? Let me check the Kigal-Note. Ehm, it was called "Hunt the Wild Hunt"...

Wo-hoo!! The Quest clearer gets to design your own personal Ex-rarity weapon! Oh man, is there a reward out there better than this? Well, it may just be me who loves making their own stuff so much. That's what got me to this world after all.

What more did it say... the first one selects what type of weapon one wants from the six categories, then one can further specify what weapon one wants.

For example, if one chooses the Mace weapon, one can then select the Morning Star weapon, or the Flail even. Bow weapons include crossbows, longbows, even slingshots! Guns only have handhelds like pistoles, no assault rifles. A curved sword can result in sabers and scimitars amongst others. One can also obtain a curved, one-handed sword with either category, so the only difference is the special ability for that category.

The design of the weapons changes based on the owner. Or rather, they get designed to match the owner's style as much as possible. I kinda wanted to design that part myself, but I'll refrain this time.

And all these are can be used as Magic Catalysts. It's basically the same as a magic wand or a grimoire. It becomes easier to use magic when using one. So, there's no way I'm gonna let this chance go!

As for the special abilities for each category:

The Mana-types store the owner's excessive magic power into special units and uses them at a later date. You can even choose what effects these units have, but it's limited to the abilities that you have... can't I add the effects of captured monsters from the Kigal-Note?

Anyway, the Blade ability covers the sword with a magic coating, drastically increasing the power. The unit here's a gem created by an accessory obtained with the weapon. Staff is basically the same, but one can alter the range as well as the power. More versatile, but less power when compared to Blade. The Ammo ability is just generating the type of ammo for the weapon in question. Throwing Weapon can be either to generate copies of your weapon or enhance them like with Blade and Staff.

The Amp (Amplify) abilities are basically certain-kill moves that use MP the moment they are used. The plus side is that you don't need to wait for the ability like the Mana abilities, but it also means you have to pay up when using them. As for what each version does, I think the names tell it all.

They're all good, but the Heavy Weapons aren't me. Too slow-hitting. The weapon I want is...

---

And we're on Floor 7!

Eh? Too sudden? A girl needs to be allowed to keep her cards a secret for a little while. Relax, I'll show you my current favorite momentarily. 

"Hey, why did you take the moles with you?" - Gust

I looked behind me to Gust and the moles, still inside the tunnel leading to Floor 6.

Oh, and as for why the moles managed to climb up the abyss, they dug a tunnel in the wall and created their own spiral staircase in the Dungeon wall. The Dread Spirits had left the Dungeon completely after the Wild Hunt Lord got defeated. 

"...Because why not?" - Garami

"That's not a reason for dragging them to the battlefield of the centuries!!" - Gust

Seems like someone hasn't experienced the terror of war yet... but I'm the same. I only know about the stuff from textbooks and fiction.

Floor 7 was that of a massive plain without vegetation, a stark contrast from the abyss-like Floor 6, the waterway-like Floor 5, or even the miniature Grand Canyon that's Floor 9. If the tunnel leading to Floor 6 is the north, then the entrance to Floor 8 is south. And in east and west respectively are the bases for the Sahuagins and the Glavras monsters.

The middle of the floor is being used as a warzone for the two factions. From where I stand, I can see a giant tortoise with several heads like a hydra spew blasts of water from its mouth towards something on the ground. Heck, how big is that thing? 100 meters? If I'm right here, it should be the evolution of the two-headed tortoise, meaning it should only be a C-Rank monster, not the heir to the king cobra on Floor 9.

"...Relax. You guys are in support. And tell the moles to get [Identification]. There are Crackerberries on this floor." - Garami

"Don't try to dodge the subject! But those sounds painful, so I'll relay the message." - Gust

"Good...... Try to find, or build, a lair somewhere on the edge of the floor... Those guys aren't interested in what's not in front of them." - Garami

I pointed towards the battling forces, to prove my point. These guys fight throughout the entire day, for then take a rest during the night. The "night and day" I mentioned refers to the light crystals on the Dungeon roof. They turn dim, creating a "night"-scenery on this floor. I guess that no sides have [Night Vision] or similar skills. A fact that allowed me to bypass the battling parties during my first visit on this floor.

The moles started to dig around the wall to answer my request. Better leave them to Gust's capable wings. I'll go and test out the new powers I've obtained. 

---

And there. The poor Greycave Rats doesn't stand a chance against the current me. Just a Pierce Thread here and there, and they all fall like flies... or is there something like Beelzebub in this world? That fly won't go down without a fight.

Flies aside, now I've gotten the materials, as in "rat corpses", needed for my tests. What types of tests? Necromancy tests, stupid!

 Attack Skills: Magic Skills: Crafting Skills: Active Skills: Passive Skills: Resistance Skills: Perception Skills: Leadership Skills: Elements: Monster Skills:

Mwa-hahahaha! It's the dawn of the demonic necromancer!!

...And I splurged again!! Why didn't I save some points for Light attribute spells? I mean, [Acrobatics] is perfect for me, and [Sky Jump] is the real-life double-jump! [Shooting] is something I've been looking forward to since I maxed [Throwing], and I was in a bad mood due to the STR and VIT Ability Skills only got 2 levels with the addition of the (Small) versions of the skills.

I've got enough Skill Points for a skill or two that I need, and I got a new title by having 100 skills that also gave me more points, so who could blame me for wanting even more? Even if there's someone like that, I'm still going with my necro-experiments! 

The main actors are the two skills obtained from the Spectermancer class, meaning [Create Undead] and [Control Undead]. The first explains itself with its name, and the second is a limited taming skill for the undeads you make.

It's by combining this maxed skill with [Tame] that you can obtain [Undead Servant] by the way.

The difference is that Control only lets you use the undeads as will-less dolls, while the other allows them to think for themselves. Take the classic rolling boulder trap from adventure movies. An undead under Control would get steamrolled by the boulder, while the one under Servant would use what it had left of brains to escape it. Also, Servant gives me EXP as [Tame] does, but Control lacks that function.

Also, it seems that the Royal-skills don't work on Controlled monsters. You need to have them as Servants. I've got no clue as to why.

Back to Create. I used the skill... or rather, the magic on the Greycave Rat corpse in front of me. A dark, shadowy magic circle appeared underneath the corpse and seemed to inject the darkness (?) into the corpse. Is it-

*Splat*

-...working not. It didn't work at all. The rat corpse imploded into tons of black, rotten sludge. I think I got something in my mouth. Bleargh!

[Create Undead] has some nasty restrictions. The success rate for creating an undead with an E-Rank corpse is equal to 10% + the skill's level. For each rank down, the probability increases by 10%, and vice versa for higher ranks. "+"-Ranks has a 5% less chance of success, and "-"-Ranks 5% up for me.

Even so, I failed when I had a 31% chance with the G-rank Greycave Rat? This skill's gonna be more difficult to master than I imagined.

*Splat*

And another fail. I learned my lesson and used some goggles I stole from the castle, along with a self-made scarf to cover my mouth and nose. It's still not a pleasant feeling. Fails do give proficiency with the skill, so it's not a wasted investment in MP or corpses, even if it's less than half of what one gets from a success.

*Splat*

As for the undead created, I've got no clue. The result will be a type of corporal undead of the same genus and rank as the material, but I won't know if it will be a Greycave Zombie Rat or a Zombie Rat. Ghosts are also impossible, as I'm using a corpse as material, rather than a soul, or spirit, or whatever.

*Splat* *Splat*

And another two failures. It wasn't that [Create Undead] could be used multiple times in a row. I combined it with [Chaotic Concurrence]. 

The skill's effect is simple: Turns one action from a skill into multiple. 

Kinda wicked, right? But it doesn't work on Passive Skills and skills that grant a passive effect after being used such as the thread skills or the bite skills. It works wonderfully with Attack Skills such as [Guard] and [Parry], meaning skills that have special moves. Not to forget about Magic Skills, which is the best stage for the skill to shine.

And for some reason, the skill's Chaos attribute. Wasn't that attribute supposed to have no skills? I bet it's limited to Champions only. Wonder what the Order skill is? Not to mention the other skills those Champions got.  

Another thing about [Chaotic Concurrence], you don't need to pay anything to use it. No MP, SP, or special items. NOTHING! For how many moves you can use at once is decided by the skill level, so I wanna train this one alongside my Magic Skills.

There is the weakness in the nasty cooldown period that's based on what you're multiplying, and how many you throw out at once. So while I'm waiting for the next use, I'll continue training [Create Undead]...oh?

The corpse has started to change. And no splat! Then could this be...

The black magic circle started to emit more dark light (?) as the corpse started to turn darker and darker. And at the end of it stood... the skeleton of a rat. 

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Leadership Skills: Elements:

It worked! It freaking worked! The skeletal rat was standing before me like a sculpture, but when I wanted it to lift its forepaw, it did so. 

Its stats are pretty low, but it still feels stronger than the original Greycave Rat. My first undead! It's probably not gonna last for long, but hey, it's the memorial first success. 

Still, I was expecting something like a Zombie, but I got a Skeleton instead? [Create Undead] feels more like a gacha than a creation-type skill. If that's the case, I need more ticketsCorpses. to ensure I get some jackpots then.

I hurriedly used up the remaining corpses and got 1 more Bone Rat and 1 Rotten Rat. The bad news is that [Control Undead] only works on as many undeads as the skill level. It had risen to Lv.2 before I noticed, but the Rotten Rat had to go. Heck, it was scary when it tried to attack me.

I sent the two Bone Rats to scout for some more undead candidates, so it may be a good thing that the Zombie had to go? It stinks and all that. No good for scout-work.

My nose has adapted to the stench from the failed attempts, which is something like the stench of a graveyard plus rotten meat, and for some reason, bad gasoline. Oh, that's as good as over-rotten corpses. I'm convinced.

---

Sometime later, enough for the floor to reach its "night-phase", and I had created enough undeads to reach Lv.9 with my Spectermancer class. The two Undead-skills have passed Lv.10 already.

What the heck? Was it that easy to grind skills? And the "materials" are G- and F-Rank thrash, so that's not the solution...

Is it my race? Even Rogue's gotten easier to level up, even if it was used in the way it was supposed to by ransacking the castle. 

...Is it because of my current body? Do humanoids have it easier in gaining proficiency with classes than non-humanoids?

Now that I think about it, I kinda remember reading something like that when going over my choices back in that... "limbo"? Let's call that place the "limbo" for now. 

But hey, I can't imagine humanoids having as much raw power as monsters and animals. Having some kind of EXP-cheat for classes to compensate would be something the Gods would do.

On the other hand, I noticed that my racial level takes more EXP than before. After all this material-hunting and I've only reached Lv.2. Damn...

The Kigal-Note doesn't have any info about the EXP difference between monsters and humanoids, but that book ain't foolproof either. The information about the Dread Spirits did get blocked after all, and I had Gust tell me about the weapons of the other Champions.

They are a secretive bunch, so not much is known to the general public, but I got to know that the Metal Champion has a hammer that can help to create any items of metal through smithing, while the Wind Champion has boots that let them travel anywhere they want without losing stamina.

The important common point between these two items is that both of them have a single ability while the Kigal-Note has two: the capture ability and the encyclopedia ability. And considering the Darkness attribute, I would say that the capture ability is the book's real power.

Due to that, I think the encyclopedia part is an additional ability that wasn't supposed to be part of the Darkness Champion's weapon. It must have been added due to its owner being someone new to this world, meaning me. 

Did forcing a second ability making it turn buggy, or was it that a buggy ability was all that they could force into an already completed work? Or more likely, that goddess probably forced the buggy version of another encyclopedia item into the Darkness Champion item just to mess with me if she needed to. 

Thinking about it, the reason why I decided to challenge the castle-Quest was more because I was curious about the Dread Spirits than about the [Sunlight Resistance] skill itself. I could have bought the skill with some Skill Points if I had saved some, as I get double the Points compared to others and all.

The whole thing about their page in the Note being blocked got my attention more than I could have known on a subconscious level. 

The Kigal-Note's been looking funny lately as well. Like, seriously. A jet-black, pearl-like bead has appeared on the front's right side. Is it related to the Chaos god's approval?

Even so, it's always better to have multiple sources of information. Trusting that sketchy book's bound to make me being unable to decide something on my own. I'll be no better than all these undeads I've made! Good thing I have my own personal library in my 4-D pocket! Just kiddin'!

Speaking of undeads, the final result of my gacha-fever with [Create Undead] gave me three Skeleton Rats (the two originals got crushed in the first fight), 1 Skeleton Frog, 2 Zombie Frogs, and 1 Snake Zombie. The last one came from a Scavenger Snake that came out thinking the Zombie Frog was some prey. So nostalgic~.

Since I have a good shot at F-Ranks now, it's a good time to aim for E-Ranks. The higher ranks give more proficiency after all. That's for tomorrow though. And I need some information about the boss I'm targeting.

Joining the "resistance" would be a good move. They conflict with the boss-monsters after all. If things go right, maybe I could ride on their coattails through all the remaining Quests. As for how to join... let's have Gust help me with that. 

I then started to travel to the area where I could sense Gust's presence. A side-effect from the [Tame] skill. The undeads followed me like some cursed variant of a hero party from an RPG. 

While walking through the plains, I noticed something with [Presence Perception]. A group of monsters in battle. Didn't they have a ceasefire during the night? Let's have a look.

I had the zombies keep a distance due to the smell and sneaked closer to the presence. In a gap in the ground, kinda like a trench, I saw a group of fish-humans, better known as Sahuagins, in battle with three raptors and seven spiders. Hey, aren't the monster-ratio a little strange!? That many spiders? It's more than all the spiders I've seen in my life till now, myself included!

A great chance fell into my lap! Saving the Sahuagins will put me in a good light with the rebelling monsters, and I'll get 10 corpses for [Create Undead]!

I made sure not to get caught by the monsters, then I jumped down on the Glavras spiders. Hai-Yaa!!

Three spiders were done in with the surprise-Impact Thread from above, leaving 7 monsters remaining. The spiders have long-range capabilities such as [Water Blast], so I'll take care of them first with a good punch in the face.

Threads? They're too close for that, and I have [Close Quarters Combat] and [Mana Burst (Darkness)] to help me.

I crushed the face of a spider with a good kick (don't be technical here) before the other monsters started to catch on to what was happening. The three remaining spiders tried to make some distance between me and them while the three dinos charged at me.

I ignored the dinos and leaped to the closest spider with [Blink]. And bang! I shouldn't probably be so excited to crush spiders, but it's too fun!

[Blink]'s not usable yet, so I used Dark Grasp again on one of the remaining spiders. The last guy tried to use [Water Blast] on me, but too bad! You're right below a bunch of Skeletons! The poor guy now has to struggle with the undeads while I can focus on the dinos. 

And before I noticed, they had snuck onto me! Where did they get that speed from?

Stronk!? This guy's unnaturally strong! What's this, a hidden boss!? The other guys don't have such high stats, but they're not too far. Even the spiders and they're less than Lv.10!

What's up with this power inflation?! The monsters on Floor 9 weren't this strong, so why're these guys so rule-breaking?!

Once again I'm been showed that my firepower with the Darkness attribute is abnormal. While thinking about all this and dodging the onslaught of the raptors, I threw threads to trap them in their place. It worked on two of the raptors, but the last one, the "hidden boss", produced some aura of water around its body and flushed the threads away.

That's [Torrent]! The skill that's the reward for beating the hydra-tortoise! I thought it was something like those dragon breaths of water... and this ain't the time to be impressed!

The raptor charged at me, ignoring the traps and magics I flung at him. I couldn't do anything but dodge his charge while throwing more webbing on the remaining monsters. The Bone Rats were already dead by that point, leaving only the Skeleton Frog.

Damn, running away all the time won't work on this one. The Sahuagins are too wounded to give me a hand as well, and if they did do that, the raptor could go at them instead. That won't look good on my review.

...Fine. Fine! I get it. I stopped dodging the raptor's charges and used [Parry]'s Parry Art and Break Parry. The first is the original Art of the skill which shares the name and is used against physical blows. The second one activates the moment one successfully parries an opposing close-range blow, forcing the opponent to lose their balance.

The dino fell to the ground and I grappled it while it was laying down. While so, I used [Aura of Darkness] while bitting it with all my different Bite-skills active. If trapping doesn't work, I'll rely on ailments instead! The Evil Eye's been used during the whole fight, so it shouldn't have enough strength with the aura... added?

Oi, this guy suddenly fell. I didn't notice any special resistance skills, sure, but to be this weak to status ailments... I can make use of this. But first, Cutting Thread.

*Slash*

And then to finish the other four...

*slash*, *slash*,

*crush*, *crush*

And done. I should look after the Sahuagins now. They had the Bleeding condition when I sneaked a peek at their stats... where did the spider corpses go? The first four I killed. 

Don't tell me they survived!? Oh, the fifth spider started to glow... then disappear? Did they have that ability? 

Something's fishy here on several fronts, but saving the Sahuagins is the priority now. One Heal or two from [Magic Ability] should-? 

I lost contact with the zombies I had ordered to stay away. Did they turn rogue? Or...

"*Grrrr*" - Jurrasic-sounding voice

I turned around and found... a spinosaurus? It looks like one, but with real blades to make up that "sail" on its back. Are you the one who squashed my zombies?

Oi, ain't this guy one of the bosses of the resistance? Why're you looking at me like that? Is it because you found me surrounded by dino-corpses and some wounded Sahuagins? 

...Isn't this a little bad?

Description:

A Spectermancer is a rookie in the art of necromancy. Through their magic, they create artificial souls that inhabit the bodies of dead creatures and commands them to do their bidding. The necromantic spell awakens the memories of old skills and other abilities that are still retained in the body, resulting in a formidable servant.

Spectermancers cannot command Vengeful Spirits to do their bidding like real Necromancers but they can still purify the Vengeful Spirits, meaning that there is a slight chance for cooperation with the lost soul.

The skill [Create Undead] is the start of everything. The Magic Skill creates and grants an artificial soul to a corpse, for then recreating the body so it will match the soul as much as possible. If the body cannot endure the transformation, such as the body being too damaged or the artificial soul being too much of a mismatch with the body, it will lead to a misfire and destroy the corpse.

[Control Undead] is used to command the undeads created with [Create Undead], but additional effects obtainable through taming skills or the [Party] skill is not attainable. One needs the [Undead Servant] skill, a combination evolution skill of [Control Undead] at the highest level and [Tame], for that.

[Necromantic Rite] allows the Spectermancer to absorb corpses into a special Storage, obtaining materials to create new undeads through [Create Undead], along with blueprints for undeads of the same genus as the corpse absorbed. This bypasses the chances of the undead creation falling. One can also create original undeads with additional materials.

Gust's comment: The [Lesser Undead Attribute] can only be obtained through having this class as your main, or by being born as an undead. The "Undead Technique User" title is apparently impossible to obtain if you're not already an undead, so I've heard.

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