Chapter 127
Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Spear and Shield (3)
Clatter clatter.
The jumbled bones, with no regard for order, began finding their proper places on their own, swiftly taking the shape of a human body.
In the process, damaged or missing parts started regenerating through the power of magic.
And just like that, a single completed skull emerged.
At first glance, it looked no different from the undead created with the Suspension of Death spell.
'Mana consumption is definitely heavy.'
The advanced personnel training magic constantly drained 80 mana.
Plus, 385 mana had to be allocated to Bertram.
On top of that, another 20 mana for enhancing the undead mage with the white mage's enemy buff magic.
Simply creating an undead mage meant a fixed expenditure of 485 mana.
And that wasn't the end of it.
From now on, whenever my total mana increased, a portion would flow to Bertram as well.
In other words, it guzzled an enormous amount of mana.
'The other spells held within the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire... It'd be great if one of them had an effect that reduces the mana transferred to the undead mage.'
As I pondered that, a good idea flashed into my mind.
In the current situation, creating one more undead would allow me to learn the next spell from the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire.
'Let's do it right away.'
I used the mana-absorbing Earth magic to retrieve one of the buried monster corpses.
Among them, I revived one with the Suspension of Death spell.
Unlike monsters, since freaks were recognized as human, I could cast Suspension of Death on their corpses.
I didn't care who the guy was or what his story was.
Anyway, after fulfilling the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire's requirement, I planned to immediately cancel the Suspension of Death.
With that, I brought my familiars up to ten, then checked the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire. Its voice rang out.
"As I said, you've increased your employees to ten? Well done! Though one of them seems like it won't last long... but that's not my concern."
The Underground Noblewoman Grimoire seemed to have noticed my trick, specifically pointing out the undead made from the freak's corpse.
But fortunately, it acknowledged that I'd met the requirement.
"Having more employees isn't always better. Even if you hire ten servants, if none of them do their jobs properly, you're just wasting money."
As I listened to the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire, I anticipated what spell I'd learn and how much my mana would increase.
"So after recruiting employees, you must go through the process of training them. Even if you hire experienced workers, a minimum level of training is essential."
The moment the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire finished speaking, its pages began turning on their own.
They stopped at the two-thirds mark.
Immediately after, information about the newly acquired spell flooded into my mind.
'Vocational Training?'
The Underground Noblewoman Grimoire's second spell.
Its name was Vocational Training.
It was a simple skill that boosted the power of spells used by the undead mage—a passive effect.
But I focused more on the additional function rather than the main one.
'I can directly set the amount of mana the undead mage takes from me?'
This was great news.
I'd already been feeling the burden.
Previously, I had no choice but to hand over 20% of my total mana unconditionally to the undead mage, forcing me to transfer 385 to Bertram.
But now, that was no longer necessary.
'For now, set it to 240.'
I immediately adjusted the mana Bertram would take.
From 385 down to 240.
That was enough for one use of Clinging Flames, but by no means a small amount.
With 240 mana, he could cast Lightning Bolt twelve times, Rock Thorn ten times, or Level Ground twice.
For now, this seemed sufficient.
'What's the next requirement?'
Anyway, after resetting Bertram's mana allocation that way, I focused on the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire's voice.
I had to meet its third requirement.
"What do you do after training your employees? The answer is simple. Put them to work on the site. Have your servants face real combat and check their performance. That way, you can easily distinguish talent from the rest. See? It's really straightforward, isn't it?"
Put the servants through real combat.
It seemed like they needed to experience battle.
Honestly, this was a simple requirement.
'Alright, now that I've learned the spell, let's take stock.'
First, I unsummoned the undead freak.
It collapsed limply to the ground.
And it never moved again.
It had reverted to a normal corpse.
With my familiars reduced, I calculated my total mana and the amount I could personally use.
'Total mana: 1,950. Usable mana: 738.'
Reader Grimoire and Speaker Grimoire.
Reading those had pushed my usable mana over 1,000.
But making Bertram a familiar dropped it back to 738.
It was a huge expenditure.
That's why I wanted confirmation that my choice was right.
'Bertram, use Clinging Flames.'
I gave Bertram the order.
I wanted to see the power of his spells with my own eyes.
If Bertram didn't meet my expectations, I'd unsummon him without hesitation.
Whoosh!
Soon, flames erupted in front of Bertram.
They quickly grew into a fireball.
However, it was noticeably smaller than when I cast Clinging Flames myself.
About 75% of my power, maybe?
'Better than I thought.'
Not a bad level of skill.
Plus, he could use a variety of spells like me.
So if Bertram joined the party, our overall strength would rise significantly.
And Bertram could still improve further.
Body Sculpting, Thought Imprint, Corpse Disguise.
Those three spells could be applied.
And the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire's third spell was still pending.
If that one also enhanced the undead mage like Vocational Training, he'd perform even better.
'Now, cancel the spell.'
I ordered Bertram.
The blazing fireball in the air vanished in an instant.
Then I instructed Gilbert to bring the pre-prepared materials.
I planned to make the bone-only guy look human.
I returned to camp late at night.
Even though it was well past bedtime, every member was wide awake, waiting for me.
They looked at me, then spotted Bertram beside me and began scrutinizing his face.
Cedric spoke up.
"Lord Heros, is this a new member?"
"Yeah. Name's Bertram. He's a mage."
With that answer, I pulled Bertram forward so the party could observe him closely.
"Uh... He looks like one of the black mages we fought today. Am I seeing things?"
Cedric said while studying Bertram.
So I affirmed it again.
"Spot on. He repented his wrongs and wanted to lend his strength to our journey. So I brought him along."
"I remember him getting hit by your fireball and dying... Guess I must've been mistaken. Right?"
"Exactly."
"I knew it!"
Cedric nodded at my response.
Perfectly natural demeanor.
I subtly checked the party's reactions.
No one seemed shocked.
They were fully accustomed to undead by now.
'Good.'
Honestly, I didn't want to act this brazenly either, but there was no other way.
Openly calling him an undead would've been awkward.
So fooling them like this was better for keeping my necromancer status hidden.
"Oh, welcome! Looking forward to working with you."
At that moment, Cedric jumped up and greeted Bertram.
Unable to speak, Bertram nodded in response.
Seeing that, Cedric's eyes lit up.
"Lord Bertram can't speak either, like the other knights excluding Sir Baer and Sir Conal?"
"Yeah. Battle injury."
"Oh no!"
Cedric sighed sympathetically.
Through this back-and-forth, he was indirectly informing the others of Bertram's nature.
So they could get used to him.
He was quick on the uptake, for sure.
'The kind of talent the Underground Noblewoman Grimoire would approve of.'
I looked at Cedric with satisfaction.
That's when it happened.
Perigal, who'd been watching, tossed in a remark.
"Even black mages would be horrified by this sight."
The members glanced at me upon hearing Perigal.
The mood soured naturally.
At that instant, Cedric stepped in again.
"Of course they'd be shocked, old man! Two mages and nine knights? With this firepower, we could take a small city no problem. No wonder the black mages are freaking out."
Cedric responded smoothly.
The heavy atmosphere lightened once more.
Did Perigal sense it too?
He snorted and shut up.
So I took over.
I wanted to wrap up the awkwardness quickly.
"Bertram's a former black mage. If word gets out, it'll spell trouble for him and us. So no mentioning his past outside the group, got it?"
"Yes, sir!"
The members replied energetically.
Perigal excepted, of course.
As usual.
His rebellious streak kept him apart.
"Alright, Bertram intro's over. Time to sleep."
With that, I ended it.
We had to rise early tomorrow to continue the journey, so bedding down ASAP was best.
Rustle rustle.
After Bertram's introduction, the members settled around the campfire, wrapped in blankets, and turned in.
Just one on watch.
To outsiders, it might seem lax.
Freaks and monsters everywhere, yet lighting a fire at night and skimping on sentries? They'd deserve the criticism.
But we could afford it.
Why?
The familiars would guard us all night.
'Necromancer privilege.'
Giant and six undead knights.
They'd patrol the camp's perimeter, blocking freak and monster attacks in advance.
No worries about night raids.
'Though these two don't seem reassured.'
With that thought, I pulled my blanket over me.
My spot was between Baer and Conal.
My fixed position.
At their strong insistence, I slept this way every camp.
Gilbert would guard me through the night.
In other words, even in sleep, I was under the big three's protection.
And that was why I could sleep soundly even in enemy territory.
'What a tumultuous day.'
Conal became chief of a great wolf pack, we descended the Savage Mountains, and then clashed fiercely with Eremus's army under Bertram's command.
Amazingly, all in one day.
As I reviewed the day's events in my head, drowsiness crept in.
Embracing the sleep, I thought:
Thank goodness no one in the party died.