The Necromancer Who Was Despised

‘After all, the fact that my body is healthy is what makes the difference.’

In a way, it’s a natural result.

‘First, I’ll prepare….’

The most important thing is to ensure the safety of the underground dungeon.

So the first thing I did was go to the surface and improve the Land of the Dead.

‘I overdid it when I first created it, but not anymore.’

I throw the bones of the orcs into the Land of the Dead, release my magic, and interfere with it.

Normally, it is very difficult to intervene in such a complete magic, but since this is something I created and was originally intended to be improved, it was not so difficult.

It didn’t take long to fill it with magic either.

I filled the Land of the Dead with magic, and above all, as my circle increased, the amount of magic I could draw from the stigma increased greatly.

‘In the past, it was twice, no, almost three times as much.’

As my own power grew, so did the utility of my staff.

‘…Certainly, it’s different when made from the body of a dragon. With the materials I have, I’ll probably keep using this even when I become 7th Class.’

Normally, as the level of a magician increases, they need to improve or make a new wand or staff.

As the circles increased, the amount of mana required increased dramatically, so it was common for the staff to be unable to handle the power and either amplify it properly or ruin it altogether.

But my case was different.

“I thought the recovery was a bit slow, but it seems like the stimulation wasn’t that great in the first place.”

Despite feeding it plenty of magic, I felt the recovery speed was strangely slow.

Of course, the amplification rate had been steadily increasing and the stability had improved, so I thought that since it was made from a dragon’s body, it would naturally consume a lot of magic, but it seemed that quantity alone was not enough.

It seemed that the staff itself was lacking in output and could not draw out the full potential of the staff.

“This is quite promising.”

The higher the level of magic, the greater its power, range, and complexity.

Around class 6, one could become a walking tactical weapon capable of wiping out hundreds of people at once, so I couldn’t imagine how stable and powerful the magic would be with the assistance of such a staff.

Of course, the necromancer’s magic is different, but I can also use magic to assist the undead and curses.

“As I level up, I’ll need to specialize… I wonder if I’ll be able to use the dark system properly.”

Dark Ball, for example, is an offensive magic of the dark system.

With the combination of a good staff, a higher level, and the previous enhancements, the improvement of the Land of the Dead was rapid.

All the skeletons were promoted to the warrior class at once, and new undead were added based on the bones of the prepared orcs.

I could have increased the range, but I chose to increase the number and quality of the undead instead.

“I’m not going to stray far from here anyway.”

In addition, I added a special magic circle.

“…You mean if we kill monsters here, we can produce a small amount of magic?”

“Yes. You can try it if you follow the set method.”

It’s just a contingency plan for emergencies. I wouldn’t be able to replenish my magic if I wasn’t there.

I’m going to make a lot of black bones that act as a kind of auxiliary battery to store magic, but I needed to be prepared for any eventuality.

This is a method commonly used by black magicians. Although the efficiency is not that great, it is the most reliable way to obtain magic.

When I told them how to kill monsters, Tia and the three fighters turned pale.

Athena and Baldur, who were listening to the explanation, also frowned, while Kayla’s expression remained indifferent.

She seemed to be unfazed by this, as she had once been active in the afterlife.

“I guess they were prepared for this when they found out I was a black magician.”

“…Now I understand that you’re a black magician. Isn’t that just torture? Even monsters would beg to be killed instead? You don’t usually create magic like that. It’s almost like you’re just extracting it …”

“That’s because I’m special. It’s one of the common methods black magicians use to gain magic.”

“…Is that like skinning them alive, gouging out their eyes and entrails, and letting them die slowly?”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The order I gave is even more gruesome, and it’s no wonder the others were horrified.

You can think of it as killing each of the five senses one by one, starting from the extremities of the body and moving towards the center, keeping them alive as long as possible to extract their emotions.

“It’s the easiest way to extract negative emotions. The closer they get to the point of death, the purer the emotions you can extract, so it’s convenient. That’s what you turn into magic. However, there’s a clear limit to how much you can extract from a single entity, and since one life is lost at a time, the efficiency isn’t that great… Um, can’t you do it?”

Baldur said with a trembling voice.

“I have educated them not to hesitate about killing monsters or committing murder, and they have experience in killing monsters… but there is a big difference between killing them outright and doing it that way…”

“Hmm… Well, there are professionals in torture. I wonder…”

If they can’t do it, things will get complicated.

It wasn’t easy to extract magic by killing them outright.

“If I force them to do it, they will…”

To protect the place where they live. They’ll probably do it if I tell them to. The problem is that if their minds break down as a result, it will ultimately be a loss, right?

“…I’ll have to create an undead to specialize in it.”

It feels automated. It’s like a method that forces the undead to do only what has been set for them, so there’s nothing they can’t do if I tell them to. The problem is…

‘If I do it this way, I’ll likely end up making a wrong judgment and end up pulling out their emotions, so there’s a high chance that they’ll end up dying in the middle of it… .’

For me to order a high-ranking undead with an ego to do it would dirty their pride, and if I were to use a high-ranking undead just for this task, it would take decades just to recover the magical energy used for their creation , so the cost-benefit wouldn’t match.

However, if I were to use low-ranking undeads without an ego, they wouldn’t be able to do the job properly.

You could call it a dilemma.

‘Well, I have to do it anyway.’

If there’s not even a single raid while I’m gone, it’ll be useless, but if that’s not the case, I’ll need to recover at least a small amount of magical energy.

‘Ah, I should do this too.’

In a way, this is also a method to become self-sufficient. I couldn’t use it before, but it’s possible now.

It’s a method of slowly wearing them down by not completely killing those who attack and keeping them alive for as long as possible.

You could say it’s a minor version of the previous method.

I won’t necessarily torture them one by one to maximize it, but if a lot of them invade, it will be covered by the sheer volume.

This is a part where you can see just how fraudulent my ability to endlessly extract magical energy from the magical world is.

It’s the privilege to be able to ignore magical energy collection, which is one of the biggest disadvantages of a black magician.

There’s also no need to force a contract with the demon family.

‘Alright. This should be enough.’

Finally, I processed some of the orc’s bones to create an artifact that could control the land of death and handed it to Tia.

“This is… .”

“It’ll be fine for you to carry it around normally. However, don’t forget that it only responds to certain commands because you’re not a black magician or even a mana user.”

I made it so that it would only respond to certain keywords spoken in Tia’s voice.

You could call it a type of voice recognition.

‘How do I create additional undead… .’

Currently, the number of undead I can keep under my seal is about seven. I can directly control about ten undead.

I can also create commander-type undead which can have subordinates, but it would be pointless to create them since it’s difficult to take undead with me on a regular basis.

‘I’ll just end up getting into trouble with nobles or strong people.’

The better way is… .

‘I should create two living armors and attach them. I’ll make it so that the living armors can collect magical energy on their own.’

It would be better to make these two remember the order of torture and use the first method to make them self-sufficient.

‘They’re better than skeletons in terms of appearance too.’

With Mutr’s help, I could create them in the most efficient way possible.

‘I should fill your empty seats with living armor too.’

They’re the ones that are less disgusting in terms of appearance.

It’s not that skeleton archers or mages aren’t desirable, but there weren’t many outstanding archers or those with an affinity for mana among the corpses I had.

There are also warrior-type orcs and orc leaders, but they’re not suitable to be turned into magicians.

While Mutr was creating additional armor, I created as many black bones as I could.

At the same time, I started taking care of the things I had put off.

For example… .

‘Is it done?’

I had to make a gift for the maid I had made a mistake with before.

I had been busy and the maid tended to be overly afraid of me, so I had put it off, but I decided to take care of it this time since I would be gone for years if I left this time.

Fortunately, I had some time to spare.

“When I came to the main building, I thought it had gotten better recently.”

There was a time when I would even hiccup just by looking at her, but it wasnt like that now.

“Her name was Enri, I think.”

She was the maid who had advised Tia to call me her brother.

The gift I had prepared was a type of cosmetic.

“It’s just a moisturizer.”

It didn’t have any special effects, it just kept your face from getting dry.

This wasn’t easy to make, either.

It was something close to a combination of black magic and alchemy.

Once I had finished making it, I paused.

“… Should I give some to Tiana Atina and Kayla as well?”

I hadn’t really seen the three of them paying much attention to their appearance… .

“But they do keep themselves neat and tidy… .”

Even if it was meant as an apology, you never know.

“… It’s right to take care of those close to you first.”

If I only gave it to Enri and not the other maids, that would also be a sign of apology.

Besides, she had to live with Tia. It would be a burden on her if she was the only one who had something that her superior didn’t.

“Ugh, this is going to be a pain.”

It was already annoying making one, but now I had to make four… .

I had no choice but to make three more.

“All because I said one wrong thing… .”

I didn’t have to do it. However, the fact that she had given advice to Tia at that time meant that she was one of Tia’s closest aids.

The fact that she had told me that story meant that Tia had opened her heart to the maid, Enri.

In that sense, taking care of her like this would ultimately be helpful to Tia and Atina, who would be worried about her.

That was why I was doing something that I didn’t have to do.

“It’s true that the higher you are, the more you have to be aware of the consequences of your actions.”

It was annoying, but it was also a responsibility.

I gave the finished cosmetics to Kayla and Atina first.

“Moisturizer, so I guess you apply it to your face. It’ll keep your skin from getting dry.”

“… “You could make something like this?”

“Now that I’m a 4th Class.”

I could have done it before that. I just didn’t because it was annoying and it secretly ate up my magic.

“If I apply this, my skin won’t feel tight anymore, right?”

I nodded, and the two of them thanked me.

“You two are mana awakeners, so your skin won’t get damaged easily even without something like this… .”

“No, it’s not! Our skin gets rough and tight after training!”

“Is that so? That’s good. I thought you didn’t care… .”

“We only acted like that because we didn’t have a choice. “If we had, we would have used something.”

“I thought only nobles used things like this, but I never imagined you could make them, Inha.”

The two of them gaze at me with peculiar looks.

When I noticed they wanted me to elaborate, I quickly dismissed them.

One of the remaining two will go to Tia, and the other will go to Enri as an apology.

I could make other cosmetics, but the ingredients aren’t available around here, and it’s difficult to make them.

It’s more important to get stronger than that.

When the two of them left, I called Tia and Enri.

“I heard you called for us, Inha oppa.”

“Excuse me, Inha-nim.”

Tia enters my room naturally as if nothing happened, while Enri enters with a very nervous look, contrasting their behaviors.

“But why Enri? It seems like this is the first time you’ve called for a maid.”

“Because there was no need to call.”

Tia had thoroughly managed the maids in the main building under her command, and I had no reason to call for the maids separately.

In particular, since the majority of the maids moved to the main building, the main building was managed even more thoroughly, so there was almost no need to call them.

That’s why it seemed surprising that I had specifically called for Enri.

“I wanted to apologize for what happened last time, and I have a present for you, Tia.”

“A present?”

“Yes, it’s a present for you, and a token of apology for Enri.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay. That time, it was my fault…”

“No, it was my fault that time. I should have reacted more calmly. I’m sorry, even though it’s late.”

“Th-that’s okay.”

“It seems like Tia relies on you a lot. Thank you. This is a token of apology, but it’s also a token of gratitude.”

“Enri helps me a lot.”

Tia reacts as if she’s very happy about my behavior.

Tia urges Enri when I hand her the moisturizer I’m holding.

“What are you doing? Go and receive it.”