NOVEL NEXT Chapter 21: Awakening and Rewards
Ferda returned to the mansion around evening.
He quickened his pace while watching the sun slowly setting.
'It took longer than I thought.'
It was fortunate he arrived before nightfall, but he still couldn't hide his anxious feelings.
The reason was simple.
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[Mythical Grade Necromancy]: Unlock Conditions
*Achieve nether mana [1,000]
*Current mana: [996 / 1,000]
=====
If he'd been just a little later, it would've been a disaster.
Actually, even now he wasn't exactly comfortable. At this rate, the talent might awaken before midnight.
Ferda bit his lip tightly and knocked on Silvan's door.
Knock knock—
"Come in."
As soon as permission was given, he threw the door wide open.
Inside the room, painted red by the evening sunset.
Normally, this would be an unimaginable scene. But given the situation, Ferda had asked him to keep the windows wide open just for today.
"I was just about to invite you to dinner."
Silvan was huddled under a blanket in the corner of his room.
With just his head poking out, he looked at Ferda.
"Could I close the window before that?"
"Not yet."
At the firm refusal, Silvan frowned.
It was an expression that clearly showed his displeasure, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"And let's postpone dinner for today."
There wasn't time to leisurely eat dinner.
Meanwhile, Silvan's eyes went round with surprise.
"Huh? Why?"
"It's that thing I mentioned before."
"That thing... You mean the stuff related to my talent?"
Ferda nodded silently.
Had he not expected something like this to happen?
Silvan looked dazed.
"But they said we're having lamb tonight..."
Twitch—
For a moment, he almost wavered at the temptation.
But he quickly regained his composure.
"We'll eat later. Today we need to awaken your talent first."
"Mmm. Got it."
Was it because of Ferda's serious expression?
Silvan got up from his spot without much resistance.
***
The veil of darkness had covered the world.
On a night when the moon rose and stars twinkled, Ferda arrived at the cemetery. It was the same cemetery he'd visited with Silvan before.
"Wait here for a bit."
After seating Silvan on a flat rock, Ferda rummaged through his bag.
A moment later, what he pulled out was a yellow stone. The unusual thing was that the stone was glowing like a fluorescent light.
"Ugh! It's blinding."
Naturally, Silvan frowned.
Covering his eyes with his palm, Silvan asked grumpily.
"What's that thing for?"
"Fang of the Sun."
Right after leaving the moon temple.
Ferda had headed to his next destination, the sun temple. It was to get this holy relic.
Though he'd 'secretly' taken it.
While it was a lower grade than the 'Eyes of the Moon,' he'd brought it just in case.
'The Eyes of the Moon alone might not be enough.'
This was the moment a mythical-grade necromancer would be born.
The more holy relics that could suppress negative energy, the better.
That's how he could avoid watchful eyes.
Meanwhile, Silvan gradually backed away. His deeply furrowed expression was a bonus.
"...Fang of the Sun. Even the name feels awful."
He probably felt repulsed by the blinding light and divine power.
Chuckling, Ferda continued his explanation.
"It has the ability to block unholy power."
True to its name as a fang, the holy relic had one pointed corner. If you aimed this part toward something unholy, it could suppress unholy power.
Just like right now.
"Ugh, I feel kind of stuffy for some reason..."
Silvan muttered with a grimace.
Nether mana belonged to unholy power. It was natural he'd feel stuffy.
Ferda put the fang back in his bag.
Then, looking somewhat better, Silvan's face brightened.
"Is that also related to my talent?"
That's right. Strictly speaking, it was meant to suppress power.
Ferda nodded silently.
Then shadows fell over the cemetery. Clouds had covered the moon.
Before long, a system message appeared.
Content saying nether mana had increased by 1 point.
He couldn't delay any longer.
Ferda called Silvan in a heavy voice.
"Silvan."
"Yeah?"
"Let's get started."
At those words, Silvan made a tense expression.
"...What do I need to do?"
"Eat this when I give you the signal."
What he held out was a dried Death Herb root he'd prepared in advance.
Looking at the withered, twisted root naturally made you frown.
"Ugh, it looks like it'll taste awful."
Still, Silvan obediently took it.
Seeing this, Ferda continued.
"And when your talent awakens, something strange will happen."
"Something strange?"
"Yeah. When that happens, don't be surprised and put this around your neck."
What he pulled from inside his clothes was the Eyes of the Moon.
Although it was said to be sealed, it gave off divine power that couldn't be ignored.
Silvan must have felt it too, as he grimaced.
"Ugh, this gives me a weird feeling of rejection..."
Of course it would.
It was completely incompatible with the magic power Silvan possessed.
"You don't need to hold it right now."
As soon as those words ended, Silvan threw the necklace to the ground as if discarding it. He really seemed to hate it.
Ferda chuckled and turned around.
"Then I'll get ready, so wait just a bit."
Soon he took out the Fang of the Sun.
Not just one, but four. He'd wasted a lot of time getting these. He'd gone around all the sun temples in all four directions.
'Originally these were meant to be used for defense.'
For example, when surrounded by monsters, if you pointed the sharp part toward where the monsters were, the monsters couldn't approach carelessly.
Because the divine power emitted by the Fang of the Sun would block their power.
Taking advantage of that gap to reorganize or escape was the original purpose.
It was mentioned that way in the original work too.
'But...'
Thud—
Ferda placed the Fangs of the Sun at each outer edge around the cemetery.
One each in the north, south, east, and west.
With the pointed parts facing toward Silvan.
'When used this way, it's a different story.'
When awakening as a necromancer, an enormous amount of negative energy explodes outward.
No matter how far away, anyone at the level of high priest or above would definitely notice. To avoid the Holy Kingdom's attention, it was best to prevent negative energy from leaking out.
For that, there was no better method than this.
"F-Ferda."
Then Silvan called out in a weak voice.
With his face deeply furrowed, he continued.
"My chest feels so stuffy."
Of course it would. Even if they were mass-produced, holy relics were still holy relics.
And with four of them, he probably couldn't even breathe properly.
Ferda stroked Silvan's head with a bitter expression.
"Just bear with it a little. You'll feel better soon."
"...Yeah. Got it. I'll try to endure it."
Biting his lip tightly, Silvan nodded with effort.
What an admirable sight. He needed to hurry for Silvan's sake too. Ferda immediately finished his preparations.
Some time after that.
=====
[Mythical Grade Necromancy]: Unlock Conditions
*Achieve nether mana [1,000]
*Current mana: [999 / 1,000]
=====
All preparations were complete.
Ferda distanced himself from Silvan.
He wanted to stay by his side if possible, but he couldn't. He might get swept up in the nether mana if he wasn't careful.
That would be poison for both Ferda and Silvan.
"Silvan."
Ferda, who had retreated to where the Fang of the Sun was placed.
He moved his lips.
"You can eat it now."
That single phrase signaled the beginning of the ritual.
Crunch!
Silvan quickly put the Death Herb in his mouth.
The dried root was tough. So he chewed and chewed again.
He'd thought it would taste bitter, but fortunately it had no taste at all.
Gulp—
He swallowed the Death Herb.
Ferda examined Silvan with a somewhat tense expression. As far as he knew, the awakening of necromancers described in the novel was as follows:
"The sky darkened. The wind died down and faint vibrations occurred in the ground. The nether mana that had been dwelling in the cemetery began to rise up.
Thud—!
A rotting arm shot up. From several graves, decaying corpses raised their bodies. They were zombies. They must have reacted to the nether mana."
It wasn't magic or sorcery.
Just by emitting nether mana, several zombies had been created.
This was the awakening scene of a necromancer with 'Great Person grade' talent.
'But Silvan is on a different level.'
Ferda bit his lip slightly.
All of Silvan's awakening scenes in the novel had been skipped.
There were only descriptions like 'That night, he finished awakening.' So he couldn't get a sense of how many zombies would be created.
'It's okay. I prepared thoroughly.'
He'd done everything he could.
All that remained was to watch.
Ferda quietly stared at Silvan standing there blankly.
"Phew."
Silvan let out a quiet sigh.
Then a system message appeared.
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[Notification]: Target achieved.
*Current mana: [1,000 / 1,000]
*[Mythical Grade Necromancy] awakens.
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At that moment!
Thud—
All sounds stopped at once.
The wind, the crying of insects, everything.
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[Warning]: Prepare for impact.
=====
In the past, when he was active as an SSS-rank hunter.
He'd seen similar messages several times.
'...When boss monsters appeared.'
And it was a message that appeared only for boss monsters so powerful they were called 'disasters.'
Recalling old memories, Ferda hid behind cover and drew up his meager magic power to the maximum.
If the system was warning him to this degree, this level of preparation was natural.
Just then!
Crack!
The Fang of the Sun developed a fissure.
And the scenery before his eyes changed.