SSS-Rank Hunter Reborn: Private Tutor to the Count's Bastard Son

"...Experiment?"

Irona asked back as if flustered. But no answer came back. Thinking his actions were reckless beyond belief, she hastily reached out to grab Silvan's arm.

But then.

[Wait, don't those guys seem a bit strange?]

[Why aren't they moving?]

The spirits muttered with puzzlement.

Listening to them, something was definitely odd. The Skeleton Warriors who had been emitting menacing killing intent just moments ago had suddenly stopped in place.

Unlike the flustered Irona, Ferda was completely at ease.

Because he knew the reason.

'The dignity of a necromancer.'

The dignity of a Mythical-grade necromancer had this effect. Undead below World-grade couldn't make the first attack on Silvan. Skeleton Warriors who didn't even have Great Person dignity wouldn't dare even look Silvan in the eye.

Step, step—

Meanwhile, Silvan approached close to the Skeleton Warriors. At the same time, Ferda half-drew Arcane's dagger. Just in case—if Silvan were to fall into danger, he could rush out at any time.

[We don't doubt Your Majesty's abilities, but...]

[Stealing dominance is a difficult task.]

[Perhaps you should leave this to us...]

Meanwhile, the three spirits spoke up with worried voices.

As far as they knew, Silvan had never stolen dominance over undead before. So it was natural they'd be worried. If something went wrong, the Skeleton Warriors would attack Silvan first.

But Silvan shook his head.

"It's okay."

Stop—

Soon Silvan stopped walking. Looking at the hollow eye sockets, a smile formed on his lips.

"I have a feeling it'll work, so I'm gonna try it."

A confident smile, just like when he made the mimic.

Then he narrowed his eyes and carefully stared at the Skeleton Warriors. After a moment, Silvan began reaching out and waving his hand through the air. Like a maestro conducting an orchestra.

The three spirits watched this scene with anxious eyes. Ferda, however, was different. He watched Silvan's back with a pleased gaze.

To be honest, he didn't know what Silvan was doing right now. But he could tell he was concentrating. Whenever he concentrated, his ears always tensed up.

'Though he doesn't know it himself.'

Ferda chuckled softly.

Meanwhile, Irona was still tilting her head in confusion.

She probably found it hard to understand. She'd never seen Silvan's true abilities. Was that why? Irona, who had been quietly standing, reached toward Silvan.

"Silvan, what are you doing right..."

But she couldn't approach Silvan.

Because Ferda had stepped in front of Irona.

"Don't interfere with my student's experiment."

"...It's fine for now, but a dangerous situation could develop."

"Don't worry. When that happens, I'll just save him."

His tone oozed confidence.

Just then, Silvan's hand stopped in midair. At the same time, the Skeleton Warrior's body trembled. Amid the strange tension, Ferda suddenly broke into a deep smile.

=====

[Notification]

*'Silvan Arcdute' has acquired a new ability.

*Ability Name: [Plunder]

=====

As expected, geniuses are different in every way.

Ferda smiled as he looked at the system message.

At that moment, golden light blazed from the Skeleton Warriors' eye sockets. Seeing this, Irona's face hardened instantly. She had an ominous feeling.

"Silvan! Back away!"

It looked like the axes would split Silvan's head at any moment. So she kicked off the ground and ran with all her might. But then, an amazing scene unfolded.

Clank—

Thirty-three Skeleton Warriors armed with axes and armor.

They all knelt to the ground in unison. After setting down their axes and shields, they folded their hands neatly and bowed.

Thud thud—!

Soon their skulls were buried in the dry earth.

It was a bow of reverence offered to the king of all unholy things.

At this perfect posture of submission, Irona froze in place. Then she muttered in a stammering tone.

"Wh-what is this..."

It was natural to be surprised. She'd never seen such a scene before.

Leaving the stone-like frozen Irona behind, Ferda examined the skill Silvan had newly acquired.

=====

[Ability]: Plunder

[Grade]: Hero

[Stage]: 1/10

[Effect]: Forcibly steals dominance over undead under another's command. Magic consumption decreases as stage increases. However, can only activate properly if the other party's dignity is two stages below the caster's.

*Magic Consumption:

[5/90/250/1,000]

[General/Great Person/Hero/Legend]

=====

Plunder had one unique feature.

The amount of magic consumed varied depending on the undead's dignity.

In the case of Skeleton Warriors, since they were general undead with no dignity, only 5 magic per individual was consumed. In other words, plundering thirty-three Skeleton Warriors only cost a mere 165 magic.

'Much more beneficial compared to reviving them one by one with Resurrection of the Dead.'

Ferda smiled with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, it wasn't only Irona who was shocked by this scene. The spirits hovering around Silvan also cried out in surprised voices.

[Wh-what exactly did you do?]

[We never thought you could steal dominance so easily...]

"It wasn't that difficult."

Silvan shrugged.

He pointed at the Skeleton Warriors and explained.

"When I looked carefully, the nether mana arrangements that make up these guys were all exactly the same. So I thought if I rearranged them my way, they'd become mine, so I just tried it."

As if he was talking about correcting a wrong answer.

Silvan spoke casually. Then the two spirits beside Irona strongly objected.

[That's impossible. How can you move magic arrangements at will!]

[Right. It's not like mana is visible...]

Originally, mana was the energy that composed the world.

Just as you can't see wind with your eyes, mana was also invisible. Even the most powerful wizards couldn't do it. This was common sense.

But Irona didn't know.

That Silvan had already far exceeded common sense.

"Huh? I can see it though?"

"...What?"

"I can see mana's form and flow, color and density—everything."

Maybe because she was too shocked, she couldn't even react now.

Looking at Irona who had hardened like stone, Silvan smiled awkwardly.

"It's been like that since I became a necromancer. I didn't think I needed to mention it, so I didn't, but maybe I should have?"

It probably would have been better to mention it. Because Ferda was hearing this for the first time too.

But since he couldn't be surprised along with Irona, Ferda tried hard to maintain his composure.

"But you know what."

Then Silvan spoke up again.

"While rearranging the mana, I found out these guys suddenly popped out from somewhere over there."

"Suddenly?"

"Yeah. Like they appeared out of thin air with a 'pop.'"

Hearing that answer, he felt somewhat uneasy.

Ferda stared intently in the direction Silvan pointed.

"I'll go check it out."

"I want to come too."

Silvan quickly followed along.

The three spirits naturally followed behind him.

[I sense unholy power.]

[It's similar to what we saw in the underground waterways before.]

[But the dignity is lower, so there doesn't seem to be a need to be wary.]

Listening to the spirits' reports, Silvan followed behind Ferda.

Rustle—

When they pushed through the bushes, a familiar smell hit their noses. The smell of unstable, unpleasant magic power. It was the same as when they'd discovered the dungeon in the underground waterways. Ferda looked around with a "no way" expression.

It didn't take long to find something familiar.

=====

[Notification]

*Hidden dungeon [??????] discovered.

*Cannot obtain information until exploration.

=====

'So it was a dungeon after all.'

For a moment his eyes sparkled with curiosity. Irona, who had followed a step behind, also saw this and stopped in place.

Her face immediately hardened.

"Th-this is..."

She clearly knew something about it.

He opened his mouth to ask a question. But before he could speak, the spirits answered on their own.

[It's exactly like what we saw in the forest.]

[Right. Even that creepy magic power is identical.]

At the spirits' conversation, Silvan's eyes widened in surprise.

"There was something like this in the forest too?"

"..."

Irona kept her mouth tightly shut. The expression of someone whose secret had been discovered. But since everything was already revealed, there was no point in continuing to hide it.

"...These started appearing occasionally about two weeks ago."

With a heavy sigh, Irona's story began.

Five dungeons had already appeared in Serneck Forest.

At first, they didn't approach carelessly. It was because they felt that ominous magic power. They planned to investigate little by little while keeping their distance, but one day something unexpected happened.

"Undead started pouring out from inside. It was a sudden ambush we weren't prepared for. As a result, dozens of our people died."

After barely defeating the undead.

The clan realized the seriousness of the situation. Warriors who had lost family members took up arms in anger. A few days later, a subjugation force of over a hundred people was assembled.

"Twenty warriors with double-digit rankings and a hundred with triple-digit rankings volunteered for the subjugation. But the result was tragic. Of the one hundred and twenty warriors, only about ten survived."

Irona bit her lips tightly.

A faint anger flowed through her voice.

"The survivors all said the same thing. That inside was hell, crawling with all kinds of undead. That it was best not to touch it."

Finishing her explanation, Irona lifted her head.

"This place is dangerous. It's better not to go in."

Her pupils behind the mask trembled faintly.

Seeing her show uncharacteristic weakness, she must have been quite shocked. Meanwhile, Silvan had an unconcerned expression.

"Why? I think I'll be fine."

"Silvan! I told you. Most of the subjugation force didn't return..."

"But you said undead would pour out if we left it alone, right?"

"Th-that's..."

Irona clenched her teeth.

Actually, Skeleton Warriors had come out. While she hesitated about what to answer, Silvan spoke again.

"You said it was crawling with only undead, right? Then it's fine."

The corners of his mouth gently curved upward.

It was a smile full of leisure.

"I don't really think it's dangerous."

At his confident answer, Ferda chuckled.

Only crawling with undead? For Silvan, those were optimal conditions. If he had enough magic power, he could put all the undead in the dungeon under his command.

'Maybe there are undead with dignity in there.'

For a Mythical-grade necromancer, an undead dungeon was the ultimate treasure.

An expectant smile formed on Ferda's lips.

"I also agree with Silvan's opinion."

"But...!"

"You saw it earlier, right? What Silvan did to those undead."

At his continued answer, Irona was speechless.

Of course she had seen it. The scene of over thirty Skeleton Warriors kneeling before Silvan.

But that was that and this was this. No matter how strong a necromancer Silvan was, the dungeon was a place where the clan's warriors had died en masse. She didn't want to send her nephew into such a place.

Did he notice Irona's feelings? Silvan added.

"Don't worry too much. If something dangerous comes out, these guys will protect me."

Three spirits with Hero dignity.

That was somewhat reassuring. But she still hesitated to make a decision readily. Just then, Irona's gaze fell on Silvan's pupils.

Pupils filled with strong stubbornness. Seeing this, someone came to mind.

'Irina...'

A child who was infinitely kind normally, but stronger than anyone when being stubborn. As expected of blood relatives, even this aspect was exactly the same. After agonizing for a moment, Irona soon raised the white flag.

"...Alright. Let's try going in once."

"Really?"

"However, we need to secure the exit location first. According to the subjugation force, the exit is in an unexpected place."

"Okay, great! We'll do that."

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Silvan smiled broadly.

A little later, the three stepped toward the dungeon.