Episode 230
Episode 230
Lee Han returned to the tower while imagining himself becoming the Emperor's right-hand man and throwing the Skeleton Principal into the underground prison.
'Hmm.'
An ordinary student would have rather said, "I'd rather die than study this! Just send me to the punishment room!" But unfortunately, Lee Han was the type to at least try doing whatever absurd assignment he was given—as far as he could manage.
A personality trait of digging his own grave without even realizing it.
'Ugh...'
Lee Han entered his private room and flipped through the book <Ancient Basic Necromancy—On True Undead Summoning>.
Though it started with ancient scripts and was filled with various languages and codes, the book's structure was surprisingly standard. Thanks to that, he could vaguely grasp what it was about.
'...No. Two-thirds of this book is useless to me.'
Thud!
Lee Han closed the book in surprise.
The Ancient Basic Necromancy textbook specialized in the third method of undead summoning that Professor Mortum had mentioned—covering it from the basics.
Instead of simply summoning undead, it detailed a method of raising them by casting powerful magic on corpses.
True to its outdated nature, the method was both difficult and consumed an enormous amount of mana.
Accordingly, one-third of the book was dedicated to methods of amplifying the mana required for Black Magic, while another third focused on ways to conserve mana when casting spells.
In other words...
Combined, two-thirds of the book's content was unnecessary.
'Well, at least the workload's reduced.'
For Lee Han, this was a relief.
He already had enough to study as it was—he certainly didn't want more piled on top.
Moreover, a quick glance showed that the methods weren't exactly pleasant.
Mix soil from a 17-year-old grave with powdered bones aged 11 years, dissolve it in a cranthen solution, and drink it three times a day to increase mana...
'No wonder Black Magic is unpopular,' he thought, looking at such training methods.
Lee Han felt grateful for the first time in a while that he had abundant mana.
Not having to do any of that was a blessing!
The remaining third of the book contained practical information.
Various types of corpses, the characteristics of necromancy performed on them, and precautions to take when raising them.
A knight's corpse, for instance, contained highly refined mana in its bones, making it ideal for raising. Since knights were stingy about handing over their comrades' bodies, one should aim for nights of the new moon when security was lax...
Unconsciously, Lee Han glanced around his private room.
...No one was watching, right?
'No wonder it's an old book—the methods are downright extreme.'
Still, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible.
Even the summoning-based necromancy from the Otherworld was heavily influenced by the reagents and materials used.
The stronger and more spiritually potent the bones or corpses used, the more powerful the entities summoned from the Otherworld would be.
Let alone necromancy that fully utilized corpses to raise them—naturally, the influence of the corpse itself would be far greater.
Thus, the book advised mages to carry at least a few bone fragments in their coat pockets, belt pouches, sleeve pockets, or even inside their boots. One should always be prepared for unexpected situations—after all, finding oneself without a corpse happened more often than one might think...
'It has more advantages than I expected.'
Old-school necromancy—classical necromancy—had surprisingly solid merits.
Summoning-based necromancy had inherent limitations when it came to strengthening the undead.
Since it involved calling forth beings from the Otherworld, there was only so much a mage could do to enhance them.
Unless, of course, one summoned an even stronger entity to begin with.
But classical necromancy, the kind that created undead directly, had no such limits—if one had the skill, they could strengthen them endlessly.
For example, if one enchanted a pile of bones to fight in the form of a Skeleton Warrior, they could enhance it in countless ways—from the type of bones used to various enchantment spells.
Moreover, they were far more durable.
With summoning-based necromancy, if the undead took a hit and were forcibly sent back to the Otherworld, they couldn't return until they recovered.
However, with traditional necromancy, as long as the mage had enough mana, they could simply swing their staff again to repair and resurrect their undead.
'Now I understand why the Skeleton Principal insisted I learn this...'
Seeing all these advantages, Lee Han could understand why he'd been told to study it.
Of course, that didn't mean his anger had dissipated.
'...But everything else is just drawbacks.'
Massive mana consumption.
The complicated magical structure requiring manual assembly for each individual undead (essentially equivalent to creating an artifact for every single undead).
The tactical operation requiring the mage to concentrate and issue individual commands.
Sure, as one's magical proficiency increased, there were ways to reduce mana consumption, make spellcasting somewhat easier, and streamline command-giving...
But no matter how he looked at it, the entry barrier was absurdly high.
'And the <Skeleton Warrior Summoning> that this book properly introduces... is a 4th-circle spell.'
Calling it a 4th-circle spell was an understatement—outside the academy, a mage capable of 4th-circle magic would be showered with flattery like "Oh, Great Archmage!"
It was only because Einrogard had so many exceptional mages that phrases like "Go learn a 4th-circle spell" could be tossed around so casually.
Lee Han found himself freshly enraged all over again.
'Professor Voladi was bad enough, but the Skeleton Principal is truly crossing the line, isn't he?'
If it had been around 2nd or 3rd-circle spells, he might have pretended to struggle through some preliminary study. But being bombarded with 4th-circle spells left him speechless.
With a sigh, Lee Han took out the bone fragments he'd received from Professor Mortum.
"The spells applicable to the left arm are as follows... Levitation, Rotation, Binding, Striking..."
What could he do?
It was an assignment—he had to do it!
"Why isn't Wardanaz coming out?"
Despite it being the weekend, the students of the Blue Dragon Tower grew uneasy when Wardanaz didn't emerge from his private room even after a simple breakfast had been laid out.
Gainando could sleep in or turn into an undead in his room for all they cared, but Lee Han's absence for just a few hours was enough to make them anxious.
The friends, munching on sandwiches stuffed with jam, cheese, smoked meat, and eggs between toasted bread, began to grow restless as Lee Han still failed to appear.
"Did you make Wardanaz angry yesterday?"
"N-no! I mean, sure, I did say I didn't want to join the undead faction when Lee Han suggested it. And yeah, I might have pestered him to play cards even though he had a lot to study! But that's normal, right?!"
"......"
"You absolute trash. It is your fault!"
"Go apologize right now!"
"I—I told you it's not!"
Gainando grumbled as he knocked on Lee Han's door.
After a moment, Lee Han's voice came through.
-It's open. Come in.
"Lee Han. These bastards are making ridiculous accusations... AHHHH! Lee Han's being attacked by the Headmaster!"
"!!!"
"Everyone, over here! Wardanaz is under attack!"
The students, who had trauma from being attacked by undead within the tower, came rushing over in a panic.
Just when things had seemed calm, the Skeleton Principal had apparently sent an undead infiltration squad into Lee Han's private room on the weekend.
It was truly a despicable trick.
"Let's go up ri—"
Thud!
The Princess raised her staff with a composed expression, stopping her friends.
"Why?!"
"Charging in blindly will only get you counterattacked! Stay low, use the stairs for cover, and fire your spells from there!"
Her follower relayed the Princess's instructions to the others.
It sounded reasonable enough, so the friends crouched low by the stairs and prepared their magic.
"Wardanaz! We're coming to help!"
"Now!"
The Princess took the lead, dashing forward and casting Magic Missile.
A blue flash erupted as a mass of mana shot forward.
Clang!
But the attack was blocked by a Water Shield. Lee Han, holding Gainando by the ear as he lay sprawled on the floor, spoke up.
"Everyone, stop. I'm not being attacked."
"W-Wardanaz!!"
"...No, you clearly are!!"
His friends were astonished.
Lee Han's private room was completely filled with Skeleton Warriors.
"These weren't sent by the Headmaster—I raised them myself. Though they can't move properly yet..."
Lee Han tapped his staff, but the Skeleton Warriors remained utterly still.
'I still have a long way to go.'
Having already learned spells like <Summon Bone Hand> and <Summon Bone Restraints>, and being thoroughly familiar with various forms of Elemental Conversion and control, Lee Han was no stranger to this.
"Bones. Shoot forth."
Thunk!
"Bones. Take the form of armor."
Clatter!
"Bones. Become a wall."
Crash!
These were basic necromancy spells suggested in textbooks for fundamental training—simple magic that manipulated bones in various ways, either transforming their shape or launching them as projectiles. Naturally, they felt familiar to Lee Han.
'...But this is too easy.'
Lee Han tilted his head in confusion.
Compared to the anxiety he'd felt while handling Fire Element, worrying if the flames might spread uncontrollably, bones were truly much simpler.
'Are bones normally this easy? Well, maybe it's because I've already practiced with other elements.'
If Professor Mortum had been present, he would've coughed and said, "Black magic is never easy—it's just that your talent is exceptional." But Lee Han was alone in his room.
Dark Element, negative energy, bones, poison—these elements used in black magic were far from easy. If someone claimed, "Bones are easier than Fire Element," they'd likely be met with, "Ah, typical of a black mage—half-mad already."
"Alright then... come forth."
Having passed the basic training, it was time to begin proper Skeleton summoning practice.
Before that, Lee Han called forth the Skeleton Warrior he had contracted from the undead realm.
-■■■...
The summoned Skeleton Warrior prostrated itself before Lee Han, showing deep respect—a natural reaction given the vast difference in their mana.
Sharkan, who had been summoned earlier, yawned and thumped the floor with his tail, as if questioning why such a low-tier summon had been called.
"Good. Nice to meet you. You'll need a name..."
-■■!
Despite its low intelligence, the Skeleton Warrior startled and refused, as if saying it was unworthy of receiving a name.
"No. You need something to be called by. You shall be... Gonadaltes."
-■■■■...!
The Skeleton Warrior shook its head in refusal, overwhelmed by the honor, but Lee Han was firm.
"Gonadaltes. The reason I called you is to practice classical necromancy. I need to create undead using bones and corpses, and having a reference would help."
Just as crafting artifacts was easier when studying completed ones, having a fully functional Skeleton Warrior as a model would aid in creating autonomous ones.
Gonadaltes—no, the Skeleton Warrior—straightened its posture.
"Thank you. Shall we begin?"
Three hours later.
Lee Han sat in his chair, frowning at the scattered piles of bones.
'This isn't as easy as I thought.'
Shaping a Skeleton Warrior wasn't too difficult—neither was crafting shields or armor, though they were slightly more challenging.
But making the warrior move fluidly? That was an entirely different matter.
Crash!
Another Skeleton Warrior shattered itself while attempting to automatically fire an arrow.
'Raising them again every time they break is no joke either.'
Then, Lee Han paused.
'Wait, why not summon multiple at once from the start?'
It made more sense to raise several at the beginning rather than summoning one, having it break, and then summoning another. Sure, it would consume a considerable amount of mana, but that wasn't an issue—nor was the mental and focus expenditure...
'If I could handle dozens of Water Orbs, I should be able to raise about a dozen Skeleton Warriors. If it doesn't work, I can always reduce the number later.'
"Understand? These are just failed attempts—nothing impressive."
"...Lee Han. You do know most mages don't casually walk around with fifteen summons, right?"