The Necromancer Who Was Despised

Kyla looked slightly surprised.

That was understandable. Until now, I had been very reluctant to let anyone else into the basement.

To the extent that I would tell them not to call me until I came out, unless it was something serious.

So it was no wonder she was surprised that I was calling her.

“Yes. To the basement. Stop by before sunset after training is over.”

As I answered, I glanced at her legs, and Kyla nodded, understanding what my gaze meant.

“Understood.”

Now that I’ve said what I needed to say, it’s time for me to do what I have to do.

Before I went into the basement, I seemed to have heard someone say something like, “How can you rest when you look like that?” or “What does your brother-in-law have to say?”

But as soon as I entered the basement, the distracting thoughts quickly disappeared.

First, I re-established the barrier that I had previously removed so that my magic wouldn’t be sensed from the outside.

After that, I took out the skeleton, checked its condition, and pondered the materials to use for making a new skeleton.

‘The bones of monsters would have better performance, but to make use of my experience, I should use human bones… ‘

It’s not difficult to obtain a corpse.

Just like the person who saw a Horned Orc in the Green Forest Village and ended up dead, it’s common for people to die in this world, so obtaining a corpse isn’t a difficult task.

It’s even easier in remote areas like this.

‘But I should still try to get the best corpse possible… ‘

If the original owner of the corpse or their family heard my thoughts, they would have been terrified.

That was one of the reasons why necromancers were ostracized.

I checked the reagents that I had with me and the undead that I would create in the future to see how much I could strengthen them.

‘It will be difficult to make it first-rate.’

It was a temporary name, the designation for the undead created from Nenson’s corpse.

‘Well, this was both for training and because I poured a lot of reagents into it.’

Literally, it was a skeleton strengthened by throwing money at it.

If I were to use the same materials at my current level, I could strengthen it to its current level using only about half the amount, but at that time, that was the best I could do.

Still, thanks to spending so much money at that time, I became stronger quickly and earned more profit, so in the end, it was a wise choice.

‘I don’t have enough materials, but since my skills have grown, I can strengthen this and that.’

I also obtained a staff that would amplify my abilities.

Thinking about it, since my magic is amplified through the staff, I might be able to further strengthen No.1 using it.

‘Well… one thing at a time… ‘

I plan to touch up No.1 and strengthen No.2.

At the same time, I also thought about how to restore the staff’s weakened power more quickly.

‘Hmm… it doesn’t seem to be from a Black Dragon from the Demon Realm… could it be that they killed a dragon from the Middle Realm and defiled its corpse?’

It’s theoretically possible, but… it’s only possible in theory.

‘Just how strong was that Lich?’

Dragons use a different type of magic than humans. To be precise, the prototype of the magic that humans use belongs to dragons.

It is said that in ancient times, humans who awakened mana observed the magic of dragons and various natural phenomena and created magic in an attempt to imitate them.

‘Well, it’s been over a hundred years since dragons have disappeared.’

Anyway, because of that, the magic resistance of dragons is not ordinary.

To the extent that an ordinary magician wouldn’t even be able to inflict a single wound.

Of course, if they die, their resistance drops significantly, but even then, they still have much stronger resistance than ordinary monsters.

It’s not easy to defile the body of such a dragon with magic and turn it into a staff.

‘They even made its heart accept magic.’

It’s not ambiguous. It accepted even my pure magic without any problems, so it could be said that it was perfectly defiled.

‘The amplification rate isn’t bad right now, but it’s still too weak considering it’s made from the body of a dragon. It even has a Dragon Heart embedded in it. Well, thanks to that, it recovers slowly just by feeding it magic… is there no way to make it faster?’

Besides, there must be a limit to just feeding it magic. Since I destroyed all the various magics that were inscribed during the staff’s creation process.

It couldn’t be helped. I had to destroy all the protections on this staff in order to use it as I am pleased.

In the process, all the inscribed magics were bound to be ruined. I couldn’t possibly have distinguished them all in a short period of time.

‘The inscribed magics weren’t so trivial that I could have figured them out in a short period of time.’

The level of the Lich is difficult for me to guess.

Therefore, it was best to simply destroy them all.

‘Well, it’s better to fix it to my liking.’

However, in order to do that, it was necessary to recover the staff to a certain level first.

That’s what I’m trying to shorten the time for.

A few methods came to mind, but they all required a lot of money or preparation, so they weren’t suitable for me right now.

‘In the end, is it back to basics?’

To steadily infuse magic into it.

The method of soaking a staff in blood infused with magic is evil.

There was a possibility that chaotic energy would mix in.

It would be more helpful to just expose it to pure magic from the seal of my contract.

Around the time I had planned to create a second permanent undead and infused the staff with magic.

Knock, knock.

“Come in.”

Creak.

It seems like the sun has already set.

“I have come as you commanded.”

“Well done. Sit there for now.”

Kayla seemed to be looking around the interior of the basement with some curiosity.

‘Well, it’s nothing special.’

Even so, the various research equipment I had originally purchased from Kuman, the remaining reagents, and the skeleton standing in one corner certainly made this place look like a magician’s laboratory or workshop.

“That’s…”

She looked at the staff that was being exposed to the magic I was emitting from one side.

“Ah. It’s an old one, so it’s not working properly and is being repaired.”

“Are you exposing it to magic?”

“Not normally a staff member.”

“I heard that it was made from the… body of a dragon.”

As a dragon that had not revealed itself for over a hundred years, the name ‘dragon’ certainly piqued her curiosity.

‘I should take care of that too.’

The body of a dragon.

There was only one body of a dragon that would be discovered in the future.

I knew its location, and I planned to find it and retrieve it before it was naturally discovered.

It wasn’t small enough to be easily taken care of, so I had to make thorough preparations and go through several procedures, but the reward was worth the price, so I intended to take the risk.

“But why did you call me?”

“Hmm? Ah. I need a little of your blood.”

“My… blood, you say?”

Kayla looked a little embarrassed.

‘Ugh. That’s why the perception of trash jobs…’

Since there were cases where a person’s body was offered as a sacrifice to cast a curse, it was inevitable that people would be creeped out if a warlock asked for a part of their body so openly.

“Don’t worry. I’m not asking for it to use for anything strange. Oh, and if possible, I’d like you to give it to me with as much of your mana as possible.”

“My man?”

“You can control it to that extent, can’t you?”

She said with a confident voice.

“One of the things I’ve been focusing on since I got hurt is mana control. How much blood do I need to draw?”

“You don’t need much. We don’t have any proper bloodletting tools, so just cut yourself and collect a few drops.”

I took out a small container and gave it to her, and she cut her hand with the knife I gave her and drew some blood.

It wasn’t a big cut, so it wouldn’t interfere with her training or daily life.

“But I don’t understand how my blood can heal my legs.”

“Let’s just run some tests first.”

Kayla looked puzzled at my words.

I mixed the blood I received with the prepared solution, and then sprinkled it on the tendons, muscles, and bones I had collected from Denok.

Then the tendons, muscles, and bones began to glow faintly.

“…Whew.”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, I’m relieved.”

It would be difficult if there was no reaction.

“As expected… I’m glad I brought it in adjusted.”

“Then…”

“I’m going to use this to fix your ankle. I still need to prepare more, but I think I’ll transplant it and fuse it.”

There was no point in explaining it in detail, so I kept it short and easy to understand.

“And this.”

I said, taking out two of Trenesi’s blue roots.

“One for you, one for the transplant. If there are common parts on both sides, they are more likely to be assimilated.”

It could be seen as similar to contaminating mana with magic.

“So, you mean you’re going to use two blue herbs on me?”

“That’s right. Well, most of it will be used for fusion, but the amount you absorb won’t be small either.”

I won’t know until I see how it goes, but depending on the case, you may be able to absorb more mana than Athena.

Athena listened to my explanation and stared at me blankly, her mouth open.

Short break

“Aren’t you wasting it?”

“What? This?”

I said, pointing to Trenesi’s blue roots.

“Not really? I can’t use it anyway.”

It’s a bit beautiful to sell it.

If I want to get my money’s worth, I have to go to the royal road, but without considerable power and authority, I’ll be a target for all sorts of bobcats looking for food.

In the worst case, I could be captured by a high-ranking aristocrat or the royal family and handed over.

In the first place, with this level of blue herbs, it’s usually power, not money, that moves.

‘It’s better to use it where no one knows.’

Perhaps unaware of my thoughts, Kayla muttered blankly.

“I can’t believe I’m not even as good as a black magician…”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Now that I’ve confirmed the response, go back. You can’t do anything right now anyway.”

“Then I’ll go inside and take a look. Don’t overdo it.”

After sending Kayla away, I had to think about how to fix her leg in earnest.

‘It looks like I’ll have to spend most of the remaining money.’

I also had to buy the ingredients for the elixir to feed to Athena, so I had to give up on saving money.

I hope another capture request comes in.

‘Well, money comes and goes.’

I used to be obsessed with money, but now…

‘It’s good to have it, but if you don’t, you can earn it, and you should spend it when you need to.’

I’m making a shopping list to ask Kuman.

There were some things that I definitely wouldn’t be able to get, so I had to think about alternative ingredients, which took quite a bit of time.

As I worked on the shopping list, assessed the staff’s performance and repairs, and strengthened No. 1, time flew by.

Before I knew it, more than two days had passed, and on the third day, I finally stopped training and researching.

As I came out of the basement, Athena started nagging me.

“What, the guy who told us to take it easy is the one working the hardest? Don’t you need to eat?”

“I couldn’t help it. I have a lot to do. Unlike you guys, I won’t get hurt if I overdo it, so don’t worry.”

“Even so, you need to eat and sleep. You’re going to ruin your body.”

“I didn’t even sleep for a minute. I ate a little bit, too.”

I ate just enough to satisfy my hunger.

It wasn’t a lie.

Still, thanks to this excuse, Athena’s face relaxed a little.

‘Actually, I wanted to stay a few more days…’

But the furniture I ordered was coming today, so I couldn’t help it.

When I told her that, Athena looked surprised.

“Furniture for me and Tia to use?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go together. I can finally go inside the development zone, right?”

That’s right. Even if I didn’t have an ID, the guards wouldn’t arrest me if I was with them.

‘Once they know my face, they won’t check my ID later on.’