《The tales of the Arch-necromancer》 Chapter one: The birth of the Arch-necromancer TABLES AND EDITING BY THE GLORIOUS, GOD-LIKE BEING CALLED kikyorebo Chapter one: The birth of the Arch-necromancer It all happened suddenly. That day had started just as usual. I woke up to the blaring sound of my alarm clock telling me it was time to get up, i left my bed and went to the loo with eyes still bleary from sleep,had my morning ablutions and brushed my teeth. As i went downstairs to have breakfast i thought to myself ~another dreadfully boring day is ahead of me huh~, little did i know that i couldn''t possibly be more wrong. I guess it''s high time for me to introduce myself. My name of Fujiwara Hikage and i''m 16 years old. In most aspects i''m just a normal high school stundent, average grades, average looks, average amount of friends. However there is one exception, a pretty big one you could say, and that is the fact that i can see and talk to ghosts. I''ve had this ability as far as i can remember and it has brought me more than a little trouble over the years. As you can imagine, children can be very vicious to those that are different, and it was no different in my case. The pain of those experiences made me realize at a young age that i should not speak of my gift to others, it would only bring me pain and heartache. When i was 11 my parents died and,with no close family, i was left alone. Thankfully my parents had been fairly succesful in their careers and left me a sizable inheritance, enough at i wouldn''t have to get a job immediatly and would be able to pay for college when the time came. So i lived my life like that, one day after the other, while being bored out of my mind. Until the ¡°event¡± , as i had come to calling it, happened. ---------------------- After i finished my breakfast and changed into my uniform, i left my house. On the way to school, which was close enough for me to walk there, i greeted a few neighbours and acquaintances, some of which were you could say ¡°special¡±. As you may have guessed, these special individuals were ghosts. Right now i was talking with the ghost of a little girl that had died in a car crash a few years ago in a nearby intersection. ¡°Onii-chan, are you going to school already?¡± Talking to this girl, Mei, always put a smile on my face. ¡° Yes, Mei-chan. I am.¡± ¡°But, isn''t it a bit early?¡± She asked with an adorably confused face. ¡°Indeed, however i have club activities this morning and need to get there a tad earlier¡± I answered with said smile on my face. ¡°I see, then come talk more with me after school, okay onii-chan?¡± ¡° Of course i will, because Mei-chan is cute¡± Mei blushed an adorable shade of pink and said, ¡°Promisse?¡± ¡°Promisse¡± I said, with the same goofy smile on my face. ----------------------- As i continued on my way to school, i came across an alley from which odd sounds were coming. Now normally i would just keep walking, however for some reason i can''t explain i felt drawn to it. As i peeked my head into the alley i saw it, a woman was being surround by a group lf 3 men, she looked extremely unconfortable and close to tears. The men were crowding her and leering at her body. As i strained to listen i heard one of the men say to her, ¡°Come on baby, i know you want us. Otherwise why would you come into a deserted alley with strangers? ¡° I-i just arrived in Tokyo an you s-said you would take me to the t-train station! T-that''s why i followed you here.¡± said the woman in a panic. ¡°Oh come on, only a country bumpkin would fall for that,it''s one of the oldest tricks in the book¡± said the second man while looking at her and licking his lips, a greedy look in his eyes. ~Well he is right, only a country bumpkin would follow three strange men into a dirty, deserted alley like this~ I thought. The woman now had a panic striken look in her face, so i decided to intervene. Don''t get me wrong, i am no hero. In fact i am very selfish in most of my actions. However i don''t think i would be able to live with myself if something were to happen to this woman, even though it''s partially her fault for being a naive idiot. I grabbed an iron pipe that was laying around the entrance of the alley, and testing it''s weight and center of gravity, i held it in a firm grip and entered the alley. -------------------------- Once i entered the alley, the woman looked in my direction and showed a relieved face. The men, noticing this, looked behind themselve and scowled. With the threat of bodily harm in his voice, the first man who seemed to be the leader said, ¡°Run along now boy, you don''t wanna mess with us. This bitch is ours¡± This was followed by a chorus of ¡°Yeah, that''s right¡± from the other two men. When i said nothing, he saw the pipe i was holding and smirked, saying ¡°What are you going to do with tha pipe, little boy?¡± And laughed nastily at me, quickly followed by the other would-be rapists. ¡°I will do nothing. As long as you leave here quietly of course.¡± I said while looking at them as if they were the scum at the bottom of my shoes. Now, i was fairly confident i could beat them. I''ve been practicing kendo since elementary school, and although not an expert nor a genius at it, i was still very good or so said my sensei. Nevertheless i was still a tasd nervous, after all it was the first time i would be using these skills in real combat. The man looked at me with furious eyes and with a ¡°tch...¡± took a knife out of his pocket. ¡°You should''ve run when i told ya boy, now i''m gonna mess ya up¡± he said, thinking that after seeing the knife i would run scared. I let out a sigh and holding the pipe in the basic two-handed kendo grip, i positioned my self in the apropriate stance and said, ¡°Come at me!¡± The three men looked at each other and two of them rushed at me, including the one with the knife. When the knife-wielding miscreant reached me he tried to cut me with the blade, i side-stepped from the path of the knife and ,using the ¡°hilt¡± of the pipe i hit him in the wrist causing him to drop the knife, i then kneed him in the stomach and as he doubled over, i hit him on his back with pipe. The second man was dispatched just as swiftly and seeing this,third man ran away leaving his ¡°friends¡± behind. As i saw this i turned to look at the woman and just as i was going to ask her if she was okay the men tha was holding the knife got on his knees and stabbed me twice, once in the leg ,and as i bent, once again straight in the heart. ---------------------------- After stabbing me, the man grabbed his friend and ran away. As i was laying there in the rapidly growing pool of my own blood i looked at the woman and said, ¡°P-please c-call for h-help¡± After i spoke those words the woman looked at me and with a scream ran stumbling out of the alley while saying, ¡°I''m sorry! So sorry!¡± Now i, left behind dying thought spitefully, ~ Well, no good deed goes unpunished huh~ ------------------------- ~ I''m dying...~ That was my thought after a few seconds passed. I could feel it, my life quickly seeping out of my body, my vision blured and darkened. However i realized i did not feel fear. Sure i wasn''t happy that i was dying because i tried saving someone that didn''t even have the decency to call an ambulance before fleeing, but i did not feel any fear. ~ Well it''s not like my life held any meaning, i was living one day after the other, bored out of my mind and completely uncaring regarding everything~ I thought. However as i felt the last spark of life leaving me i had a sudden thought, ~ I won''t be able to keep my promise with Mei-chan after all huh~ And after that, i died. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that i was in a place completely white and empty. Before i could stop myself the words that left my mouth were, ¡°Huh, so this is the afterlife? How very drab¡± Not expecting a response i was startled when someone said, ¡°This is not the afterlife, Fujiwara Hikage. It is a place this one has specially created in order to have this meeting with you.¡± Turning around, i was so startled that i blurted, ¡°And who the devil are you!?¡± The entity smiled and said, ¡°I am this world''s God of Death¡± --------------------------- While baffled by the entity''s words, after looking at her my first thought was, ~ What a beautiful woman~ And that she was. With black hair as if it had been woven from night itself, skin as white as snow, enchanting ruby lips and mesmerizing purple eyes, she was the embodiment of beauty. As i thought that however, her words finally sunk in and i said, ¡° I see. So you''re the God of Death huh. Wait a second, what do you mean this world''s god of death? ¡°We will get to that shortly. This one''s name is Thanateia, and as i said i am a god of death. ¡° Okay... I''m Fujiwara Hikage¡± ¡° This one knows who you are, after all you''re the only mortal to whom this one has spoken to in millenia¡± ¡° The circumtances of your death are most peculiar, since as far as this one knows, you shouldn''t exist in the first place. Not in this world at least.¡± Utterly confused, i asked, ¡°What do you mean? I''m not supposed to exist?¡± Looking at me with curious but apologetic eyes, she said ¡°Well you see, when you died and your soul tried to move on our system warned us of an anomaly. Apparently your soul was not supposed to be on earth, therefore there was no record of you being born.¡± I wasn''t following is crazy conversation, how could there be no records of my existance? ~ I mean, even though i haven''t lived the longest or most impressive of lives but come on, no records?~ ¡° I see you''re confused. This one shall explain everything now.¡± ¡°Okay...¡± I nervously respond. She smiled at my nervous look and said, ¡° Right. Now as you may have infered by now, many worlds exist in many different dimensions, Earth is but one of them. Most of these worlds are inhabited by various sentient species, humans included of course. It was in one of these worlds, Gaeia, that you were supposed to be born, however because of what you may call a clerical error, your soul fell through the cracks and ended up here.¡± I was stunned. My entire life up until now was nothing more than a clerical error, a cosmic mistake. Taking advantage of my stunned silence, Thanatea continued. ¡° Because your soul was not meant for this world, your situation is very unique. We have no records about you, refor your soul cann be sent to an appropriate afterlife. After much debate, we have decided to send your soul to Gaeia, the world you were meant to be born all along. However beacause of the aberrant circumstances of your life until now, we cannot erase your memories and because of that you cannot be reincarnated through normal means, as the mind of an infant would not be capable of withstanding the massive amount of information gained in 16 years of life.¡± While still being flabbergasted at the situation, Hikage always prided himself in having a calm and collected mind, refore he was able to grasp the current situation well enough and understood what voluptious deity had said. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Deciding to finally engage in the conversations properly, he asked, ¡° So, how are you going to send me there? After all i can''t reincarnate¡± Happy thatnshe was dealing with a intelligent individual, capable of quickly grasping the situation, she gladly explained ¡° Well our plan is simple, we have created a new body for your soul to inhabit. That body is already matured to an age equivalent to the age you died in and is waiting for your soul, in stasis, to be put in it. We have reproduced the appearance of this new body to be identical to your old one, with the exeption of the fact that said body has the racial traits of the dark elves, the race you were supposed to be born in to.¡± Curious, i asked ¡° Dark elves? Are they one of the races that inhabit Gaeia?¡± ¡°Indeed,they are.¡± She answered while smiling. ¡°Amongst races in Gaeia, elvish races are most famous for their very long life spans and massive magic capacity, the biggest amongst all races in Gaeia. Dark elves specify in Dark magic, and most of the powerful black arts experts came from this elvish sub-race. All the elvish sub-races come descend from the old High elves, a race that no longer exists.¡± ¡° I understand. But magic? There is such a thing?¡± ¡°Ah, this one is not surprised you don''t know of magic, after all there hasn''t been any considerable amount of magic on Earth for eons.¡± Surprised, i asked ¡° There was magic on earth?¡± ¡° Indeed there was, a long time ago. However it slowly dissapeared several millenia ago, the reasons are not relevant however. Anyway, Gaeia is different from earth because it is a world abundantin magic, and since all races can use it the world has developed differently than earth. Whereas Earth develped in technology, Gaeia developed in magic, therefore the level of advancement in Gaeia is equivalent to earths middle ages. It is a world of swords and magic, of heroes and demon lords, it can be a very harsh but also very beautiful world.¡± Now excited with the prospect of magic, he had a question, ¡° Magic, huh? Sounds like a fantasy novel. Anyway is the fact that i was meant to be born in a world with magic the reason why i could see spirits and ghosts?¡± Thanateia widens her eyes in surprise and asks, ¡° You could see ghosts and spirits? My ,my the innate magic of your souls must be extremely powerful. Considering, as i said, there hasn''t been any measurable amount of magic on Earth for a very long time. But to answer your question, yes it is because of your innate magic that you were capable of interacting with those of the spirit wolrld. I have a suspicion regarding your parttuicular magical gift however because of your aberrant situation i cannot see it myself.¡± Confused and a tad sad, i asked ¡° Is there no way for me to know?¡± ¡° Well, lets see. Gaeia, the world you are going to, has a system of levels, skills and attributes, and as a soul originally from there you should be capable of displaying your status window.¡± Astonished,i thought ~ Levels? Skills? Stats window? Forget fantasy novel, that''s more like a game!? ¡° What''s up with this screwed up world!? Is it a game?!¡± Laughing softly, Thanatea explained. ¡°Hahaha, indeed. Anyway just say [Status] while thinking about your status window being opened.¡± While still dubious, he decided to just do it and see what happened. ¡° [Status]!¡± He said clearly, if a bit too loudly. To his surprise a blueish white screen appeared floating in front of his face. ¡°What the fuck?¡± He said, bewildered. ¡° Hou, i see that i was right about your magical gift.¡± Said Thanatea, while looking impressed. ¡° What are you talking about?¡± I asked, surprise still colouring my voice. ¡° Look for yourself, it is all there for you to see.¡± Deciding to do as she says, I looked at the displayed information on the window. ...Personal information...
STATUS
NameFujiwara HikageAge16/Ageless Soul
RaceUndetermined; SoulClassArch-Necromancer
Current statusDead; Disembodied Soul
Health--/1300Mana2150
Strength120Dexterity200
Agility150Wisdom350
Intellect500Stamina300
Magic/Skills/Unique Abilities
Magical attribute
DarknessAllows user to perform darkness based spells at half the mana cost. Spell of other attributes will cost 2 times the mana required, while spells of the Light attribute will cost 3 times the specified mana required.
Basic Skills
InspectAllows the user to inspect objects, individuals and other life forms.
Shadow storageAllow the user to store an infinite amount of items in a special space, making it possible to deposit and withdraw items at any time.
Language ComprehensionAllows the user to understand and speak all languages of Gaeia.
Physical Skills
SwordsmanshipAfter years of arduous training you were able to develop a deep knowledge and ability in the swordsmanship style of the Yagyu-Shinkage Ryu school. Damage increased 5x when using a sword. [Kenjutsu] ; [Battoujutsu].
Magical skills
Dark ArtsYou are an adept of the black arts, as long as you posess the knowledge and mana, it allows you to cast any spell of this group. Coupled with Darkness affinity, it provides you with 20% resistance against harmfull dark magic.
Magic SensingAllows the user to sense magic within a 100 meter radius. Radius can be expanded with continuous use.
Mana AbsorptionAllows the user to absorb mana from nature and the enviroment around.
Unique Magic
NecromancyAs a necromancer, you have power over the dead. This unique magic is the rarest magical gifts. Although skilled dark magic practitioners can possess limited power over the dead, said ability pales over the necromancer''s absolute command over death itself. A skilled necromancer can bring the dead back to life, and control entire armies of the undead including zombies,ghouls, wraiths, ravenants and ghosts. Extremely powerful necromancers can even cheat death itself, by becoming the immortal and almost allmighty Lich. Arch-necromancer class grants a 50% increase in the power and overall eficiency of necromantic spells.
------------------- I was, once again stunned. I don''t know about the standards of Gaeia, however i seem to be fairly OP. ~What the hell!? Am i a cheat character!?~ I thought, feeling a bit suspicious. ¡°As i thought, you are a necromancer, and fairly powerful one at that. Even without any race bonus all your attributes are fairly high, at least 5x times the average for someone of your level and in case of mana and wisdom/intellect it''s 10x the average. But to think you would be an arch-necromancer, they are even rarer, specially to be born as one as it usually takes years of training and experience to become one.¡± ¡° As i thought, i''m a cheat character. Sigh...¡± I said while feeling a bit uncomfortable . ¡°Not at all, although you are very powerful it is not unheard of to be born this powerful, although i believe it has been around 500 years since someone as powerful as you was born in Gaeia. In fact, since she was also a member of the elvish race she''s still alive and the current Queen of the Woodland elves¡± ¡°I see...¡± Not really all that reassured,500 years is a long time after all. Being the most powerful individual born in the last 500 years still sounds very cheaty. ¡°Now, i believe this one doesn''t have to explain anything else regarding your powers and abilities, correct?¡± Said Thanatea with an expectant gaze. ¡°I guess not...¡± Despite still being kind of astonished at my cheat-like powers i did undersntand, after all descriptions in the status window were very clear. ¡° Very well. Now let''s get to the main event, remaining in this place for too long as a soul is not very healthy. Your body awaits you, so the last bit of information i have to tell you is that since you have no knowledge about the world of Gaeia and about magic took the liberty of giving your body comprehensive knowledge about the world, a bit more than a average person of your age would have. Things such as names of and basic informations about continents and countriesnand their history, lenght of the year as well as names of months and days, the measurement system and etc. Since you also would be a full fledged sorcerer by now if you had been born there we also gave you a deep knowledge about everything related to magic, specially dark arts and necromancy. You virtually know all spells in existance for all branches of magic, although as you know from the description in your status window, you won''t be capable of casting many of them in your current level, although still considerably more than most masters of magic, in fact because of the limitations imposed by magical afinity you probably won''t ever be able to cast the ultimate spells of magical branches outiside of dark arts and necromancy. However i believe that when you reach a high enough level you will be able to cast high tier magic in all branches, including light magic, although it will consume an extremely vast amount of mana because of the affinity restricition. Therefore you shall have the knowledge, work hard to get the power. Oh one more thing, once your soul is inside your new body your attributes will rise mildly and you will feel the effects of racial bonus, which is unique to each race.¡± ¡°Ok, i understand. Thank you for everything Thanatea-sama¡± I say while performing dogeza. ¡°You are most welcome. It was our error after all,it is only right for us to fix it.¡± She said, while inclining her head. After that she walked in my direction and asked ¡°Are you ready?¡± With a nervous look, i nodded. Then, out of the blue, she kissed me. It was only a quick kiss, but it left my lips numb. ¡°Good luck, Fujiwara Hikage. I hope we can meet again, but not too soon, okay?¡± Before i could reply, i felt a sudden but strong dizzyness and started falling, however before i could reach the ground... Evertything went pitch black. And thus, my new life, the life i was meant to live all along, begun. Chapter two: First impressions TABLES AND EDITING BY THE GLORIOUS, GOD-LIKE BEING CALLED kikyorebo Chapter two: First impressions *drip...drip...drip...* With the feeling of something wet dripping on my face, i slowly opened my eyes. Suddenly, blinding pain threatens to rip my skull apart, i fall from the platform i was laying, onto the floor. ¡°Urgh...¡± I moan, while holding my head as if to keep from exploding. Images start to flicker througgh my mind like a movie on fast-foward and i finally understood what was happening. The knowedge that had been stored on this body was imprinting itself onto my soul. ¡°Not that understanding helps with the pain in anyway, though. Urghh...¡± Once the knowledge of magic had imprinted itself, the pain subsided. However that small relief didn''t last long, as the knowledge about this worlds'' Gaeia, history and customs started asserting itself. The pain, if possible, was even worse and with blood coming out of my ears i passed out. To escape that horrific pain, i welcome the sweet embrace of oblivion. ----------------------- Once again, this time with the pain of something poking my ribs, i slowly opened my eyes. With a sigh and a positively pitful moan, i started getting up. I realized that the pain in my ribs was caused by small rocky protusions on the floor in which i was laying. ¡°Well, that was certainly unpleasant. Thanatea-sama could''ve at least given me a warning about that. Suddenly being struck with pain equivalent with being hit by a mack-truck the second i woke up was no joking matter.¡± I grumbled, now in a bad mood. ¡°Now, where in the 9 hells am i?¡± I asked, while curiously looking around. The place i found myself in was dark and damp. With walls, floor and ceiling made of what looked like very sturdy rock. ¡°Well, this looks like some sort of cave. Considering the structure, i am clearly underground. Uhmm... certainly a place which would be safe to store something, like my new body.¡± Obviously, considering the structure, there was no natural light. However, it was still iluminated enough that you could see everything in reasonable detail, the reason for that seemed to be the football sized crystal, sat atop a pedestal, in the very centre of the room. Interested, i approached the crystal and, after deciding it wans''t dangerous, i lightly its surface. Mild warmth seeped into hand,along with a slight buzz, and a feeling of recognition i realized what the buzzing was. ¡°Magic...¡± I said, in slight awe. Interested in how the curious device, i came closer and stared hard at it while caressing its surface. Suddenly, I heard a small ping inside my head and a window box appeared in front of me.
Inspect Skill: Activated
Startled, I looked at it and after roughly 3 seconds the window disappeared and was replaced by a similar, but bigger one.
Roryx Crystal
This crystal has been used by all races in Gaeia since time immemorial. This crystal only ability is very simple, however extremely useful. It absorbs the natural mana in the environment around it and converts it into light. The strength the of light it produces is directly proportionate to the amount of mana it has absorbed. As such, it is very useful as a household item since all sentient species in Gaeia possess magic. If you want to increase the light output, simply place your hand on the crystal and visualize your mana being transferred into crystal. To diminish the light output, reverse the process and visualize the mana within the crystal either being absorbed by your hand or being dispersed into the air.
Excited about having used my first skill, I chuckled and said, ¡°Well, this [Inspect] skill is certainly useful, huh? So I don''t actually to say the name of the skill to invoke it, just visualize and wish for the information about an object. Uhmm, lets see what happens if I consciously use it by saying its name. I look at a nearby rock and say, ¡°[Inspect]!¡±
Common Rock
This is a common rock.
¡°Well, that''s concise.¡± I say, with a heavy dose of sarcasm. Looking back at the [Roryx crystal], i decided to try using magic for the first time. I once again approach the pedestal, and placing my hand on the crtystal i visualize energy circulating in my body like blood and travelling down my arm onto the palm of my hand and intonthe crystal. ¡°Gah!?¡± I shout, coveringn my eyes. It seems i poured too much mana into the crystal, and now it''s glowing like a miniature sun and releasing massive amounts of heat. Before i could do anything, i heard a loud crack. ¡°Holy shit! Is this thing going to blow up!?¡± Worried, and a tad scared, i run like the hounds of hell a trying to bite my ankles and hide behind the stone altar on which i had first woken up. Seconds later, a small explosion shook the entire place. After the tremors stopped, he opened his eyes and and stepped out from behind the altar. ¡°Jesus tap-dancing christ! What in the flying fuck just happened!? Bloody hell!¡± I exclaimed, considerably freaked out. Dust permeated the air. Coughing, i looked around, worried about the structural integrity of the place after the explosion. ¡°Man... that was bloody dangerous¡± i say, while looking around. That''s when i noticed a bluish glow coming from the walls all around me. Curious, i hesitantly approached the nearest wall. There i noticed the glow was coming from several simbols carved on the walls and ceiling. ¡°Huh? What''s this?¡± A said, a bit suspicious of magic after the explosion. I considered using [Inspect], but then i remembered something. And that was the fact that i should possess an extremely deep and comprehensive knowledge about magic. So looking at the strange symbol, i concentrated and tried to call up said knowledge. Suddenly, information started flooding my brain, similar to what happened when i first woke up, sans the pain thankfully. ~ Uhmm... so these are magical sigils, huh. They are used in magical formulas to give a magical attribute to things, as well as casting spells. Aparently, when you cast a spell, a magic circle formed by these sigils will appear. The sigils specify the type of magic being used and its effects~ i thought, while staring intently at the walls and ceiling. ¡° And these particular sigils were carved to give the structure the ability to withstand both phyical and magical damage, up to a certain degree. Not only that but these seem to be very powerful, no average person would ever be able to make even a single dent in these walls no matter how longn they tried. Well, this magic WAS cast by divine beings so that''s to be expected i guess¡± I said, while feeling very impressed. ¡°Phew! That''s actually a very good thing, having the ceiling fall on my head because of my carelesness and inexperience would not have been amusing¡± However, now i had a problem. Thanks to my magical knowledge i knew that the glow of the sigils would only last for a couple more minutes before it vanished and then the room would swallowed by darkness. Trying to think of something quickly, i decided to search my brain for spell that i could use as a light source. I found many, however all spells to create light itself required a light affinity, the only way for someone whitout light affinity to create light was through the use of the [Roryx crystal], so i decided to look for fire spells, after all fire also produces light. Many of them were from the [Light arts] branch, and because of my darkness afinity any light arts spells would consume 3x more mana, and i don''t want to use so much mana, even if the spell is basic, before i learn to control it better. Not that i am complaining, darkness afinity, together with light afinity, are the rarest and most powerful afinities. As long as the spell is classified a dark arts, i can use at half the mana cost regardless of the element or properties of the spell. Same thing applies to those with a light affinity. People with normal elemental affinities, air, water, earth and fire, could only cast spells at half the cost if the spell matches their afinity. For example, a person with fire afinity can cast a fire spell, no matter if it''s light art or dark arts, at half the cost. However if they tried using a wind spell for example, it would take twice as much mana as it would take for a person with air affinity. And if they tried using a water spell, it would take 3x as much mana, since it''s a spell from the oposite element to their affinity. Same applies to a person with water affinity trying to use fire magic, or person with air affinity trying to use earth magic and vice versa. In my case, regardless if it''s a fire, air, water, earth or non-elemental spellsuch as healing magic, as long as is classified as dark magic, i can cast at half cost. There are also two special elements, darkness and light, and spells from these elements can only be used by those that have a darkness or light affinity. My necromancy for example, because it''s a unique magic, it not only requires a darkness affinity, but true necromancy can only be used by those that, like me, are born with the ability. It cannot be learned. All magic is classified as either dark arts, light arts or neutral arts. Neutral arts can be used by individuals with all affinities at base cost. However, said cost is by default vastly enormous, since the neutral arts encompass things such as gravity and time manipulation. Anyway, since only someone who has light affinity create light itself, i searched and found a fire spell from the dark arts branch that would satisfy my needs. It was the most basic fire spell, it created a small flame, about the size of a big fist, and you could create as many as you wanted, as long as yiu had enough mana left to maintain them. Each cost 20 mana to cast and 5 mana per minute to maintain. Which means that for me, someone with a darkness affinity, it only cost 10 mana to cast each and and 3 mana per minute to maintain, since the spell belongs to the dark arts branch. So, after repeating the spell a few times under my breath, i begin the chant. {O, flame of Tartarus, came to the aid of this Dark mage, [Crimson flames]! } Promptly, after feeling the odd sensation of having mana leaving yiour body, 5 bright red balls of fire appeared in front of me. ¡°Well, now that''s just cool¡± i say, while grinning like a fool. Focusing, i commanded them to move ahead of me as i continued my investigation of the place. After searching the room, i determined that there really was nothing of interest there, the only things were the altar and, the now destroyed, pedestal with the [Roryx crystal]. However i also found a heavy wodden door in a nook on one of the walls. Since there was nothing left to to here, i headed towards the door and, aftrr a slight hesitation, i opened it. What greeted me was a dark corridor, built from the same stone as the previous room. Now that i knew what to look for, i noticed that protection sigils present on the other room were also carved on the walls of the corridor. I also noticed that, set apart at regular intervals, were black sconces with [Roryx crystals] on them. Having learned my lesson, i decided not to touchnthe acursed things with a 10 meter pole before i had better control over my mana output. I walked along the corridor while using the [Crimson flames] as a light source, they produced enough light although they made everything have an eerie red glow. While walking, i realized the corridor seemed to have a slight upwards inclination,therefore whatever was at the end of the corridor was on higher ground than the previous room. ¡°Maybe this leads to the surface?¡± i wondered aloud. After a couple more minutes of walking, i finally reached the end of the corridor. There stood a door with a softly glowing magical sigil carved onto its surface. My knowledge told me that said sigil was the one used to cast a powerful locking spell, so powerful that even i would not be able to open. ¡°More divine magic, huh¡± i said, while thinking that Thanatea-sama really wasn''t taking any chances with regards to the safety of my body while it waited for my soul. However, i also knew that this type of spell allowed those that had a authorized magical signatuee. It stood to reason that i would be at least one of the authorized individuals, if not the only one, that could open the door. With trepidation born out of my last interaction with a magical object, i slowly walked towards the door and, after slight hesitation, i put my hand on top of the carved sigil. With a hum, the sigil glowed and then flashed bright green. After thatmi heard a click the door swung open. ¡°Phew! At last the door didn''t blow up like the [Roryx crystal].¡± i mumbled while wiping the sweat off my forehead. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!¡° Now, lets move foward before the door decides to close by itself.¡± I entered the room, and the second i stepped foot over the threshold bright lights flooded over the ambient, iluminating everything perfectly. I, of course, jumped 5 meters into the air, my nerves stuill frazzled by the explosion from before. ¡°Fucking hell! Scared the living shit out of me, damn!¡± i shouted with anger, mostly at myself for jumping like a scared like a little bitch. Looking around the room, i saw that the light came from a combination of sconces and pedestals similar to those in the previous room and the cortidor. These however, were fancier, probably to match the room. ¡°Well, this is certainly not what i expected.¡± i said, after surveying the room. The best word to describe the room was ¡°regal¡±. The walls,floor and ceiling, altough made from the same stone as the corridor and previous room, were polished into smoothness. The room was rectangular in shape, and in one side, all three walls were covered with book cases filled with in books. The other walls were covered in beautiful tapetries, showing knights fightingnwith dragons, mages casting powerful spells and more fantastic images. ¡°Damn, those are awesome¡± I said in awe. The wall on the opposite side of the room held a huge bay window, however before i could approach it, my senses picked up a magical signature coming from it. Weary, I focused my attention on said magical signature trying to determine what, if anything, was its purpose. Once again a ping was heard inside my head and a window appeared in front of my eyes.
Magic Sensing: Activated
¡°Oh yeah, I also had this skill, huh?¡± i said. Afterwards i focused my attention on the second screen that appeared before my eyes.
Enchanted Windows
These windows have been enchanted to show the illusion of actualy leading outside. The image you see is an exact projection of the current appearance and weather that would be observed from this position should the window really lead outside. If opened, the illusion will extend to asround 10 meters outside the window, and will recreate weather patterns such as rain and wind.
¡°Hou? That''s quite impressive. And it proves my theory that i am still underground, even if in slightly higher ground than before.¡± The rest of e room was also decorated exquisitly, in front of the book cases was a big and sturdy desk, made from a black wood. A confortable chair sat behind it, overlooking the rest of the room. The middle of the room was done in a way to look like a living room. Three large leather couches were positioned in an semi-square with a coffe table in the middle. On the wall in front of th couch, was a massive fireplace with a crackling fire. The entire floor was covered in a thick, sinful carpet that made yiur feet feel like they were in heaven. After thining that, i finaly realized i was barefoot. In fact, i was wearing nothing but an undershirt and underwear, both in black. ¡°Wow, i must have been really on edge not to notice i was half naked until now.¡± Thinking about what he would do about clothes, he decided to enter the single door, other than the one he came through, at existed directly opposite from it. ¡°Considering it seems someone either lives or lived here, i should be able to find something to wear¡± I said, while heading in the direction of the door. And then, he noticed something flashing with a strong white light on top of the black desk. Approaching it, he realized it was a piece of folded paper. Since [Magical sensing] was still active, he was able to determine it was safd to pick up. Doing so, he noticed his name written in a beautifully flowing script, righin front of the paper. His name was written in the language of the dark elves, the race he now belonged to. Curious, i opened the letter. After reading the first few paragraphs, i felt my eyes widen. Dear Hikage-san, If you are reading this letter, it means that the reincarnation was successeful. By now you must have many questions, and this one shall do her best to address them. Firstly, as to why this one is comunicating through a letter. ~Well i did wonder about that~ i thought. I continue reading after my musings. The reason for that is simple, after making the preparations for your reincarnation, i had to cease any and all interaction with the world of Gaeia and anyone in it, including you. After all, this world is not my juristiction, as this one is the Death Goddess of earth. Therefore i had no other choice, but to leave this letter, in which this one shall try to address all your possible concerns. As you have reached this room, it means that you had open the door with magical lock in place. I war this means your macal knowledge has successesfuly imprinted onto your soul. Sorry about the pain, i thought it would be better not to maker you too nervous about the reincarnation process. By now you must be asking yourself where you are. Well, you are in ty jidden location hidden deeply in the mountains known as Black Wyvern Mountains, in the border between the dark elf kingdom, Svartana, and one of three human nations, the Kingdom of Haspian. Curiously enough, we were not the ones to build the facility, we simply found it while looking for a suitable place for you to reincarnate. After investigating, we discovered that it belonged to a dark elf hermit who died a little over a 100 years ago. Although had fallen in disrepair, it withstood the test of time thanks to the protection magics cast by said its previous owner. After some consideration, we decided to repair and renovate the facility, as well as to strengthen the proctection spells around it, making it virtually impregnable a well as unplotable. It means that, unless the individual had prior knowledge about its existance, no one will be asble to find this place unless you tell tgm of its location. And even if therenis someone alive that knows about it, they stuill wouldn''t be able to approach, let alone enter. Other than the room you woke up in, and this one, there are 4 bedrooms, one master bedroom with a full bathroom and 3 guest bedrooms, one comunal bathroom, and a fully stocked laboratory for spell crafting, potion making and magic tool creation. When you wish to leave, a hidden room exists behind the bookcase to the left of the study desk, touch it and say open, after it determines you''re authorized through your magical signature, it will slide open and a small room with a magical circle on the floor will be revealed. That is a teleportation circle, the only way in and out of the facility. Of course a similar room exists on the surface, hidden behind a large, bluish bolderthat can be openes through the same process. What else...? Oh, i almost forgot. Behind the tapestry with a image of a black dragon, a there is a door that leads to the kitchen. Of course it is also fully stocked with enough food last 6 months. And, at last, your bedroom has a closet full of clothes for all weathers and ocasions, as well as shoes and boots. There is also a vault with a sizable amount of money from every nation in Gaeia. Although it is not enough to last for the life span of a dark elf, it is enough to give you a head start. We could not mess with economical balance of Gaeia, after all. Finaly, if you wish to expand the facility, do not worry. Our protection spells are configured with a self replicating capability, therefore it will grow to cover the new area as well, no matter how big. Also, do not worry about the magic required to fuel the spells, thankfully the facili was built on top of a convergency of Dragon veins (ley lines), therefore it has a nearly inexaustible supply of magic. And as a final poiece of advice, do not forget to check your status window, to verify the changes that your reincarnation has caused. Hikage-san this is probably the last time we shall communicate during your lifetime. I truly wish you the best of luck in your new life. This facilitymis our last present for you, even though i still feel it isn''t enough to right the wrong we inflicted upon you. Until the our next encounter, Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again. Thanatea, Chief Death Goddess of Earth. -------------------------- As i read the letter, i examined each of the rooms it mentioned. As thanatea-sama said, all the rooms were fully furnished and stocked. The bedrooms we tastefuly decorated in a similar style to the study/living room. The laboratory was fully equiped and stocked, as was the kitchen. After i finished the letter, i returned to the main room and sat onmone of the sofas in front of the fireplace. ~Well, i really appreciate that she went through all this trouble for me. As i thought, Thanatea-sama is really kind.~ I thought, while looking at the crackling fire. ¡°It''s sad that i probably wont be abl to see her ever again.¡± ¡°Sigh...¡± I was feeling quite bummed out. Then I remembered what Thanatea-sama had said near the end of the letter. ¡°Check my status, huh. Well here goes nothing.¡± ¡°[Status]!¡± When the bluish white window appeared, I looked for any changes.
STATUS
NameFujiwara Hikage
Age16Level16
RaceDark ElfClassArch-Necromancer
TitlesLord of Black Wyvern Mountain; Master of Death; Favored by the Gods
Current StatusEmotionally Fatigued
Health4250Mana6200
Strength206 (+10%)Dexterity330 (+10%)
Agility270 (+10%)Wisdom623 (+20%)
Intellect947 (+20%)Stamina572 (+15%)
Racial Characteristics [Dark Elf]
Racial Attribute
10% bonus to strength,dexterity and agility. 20% bonus to wisdom and intellect. 15% bonus to stamina.
Racial Features
Long average life span, 1500 years. High physical regeneration, mana production and absorption, as well a mana output. Magical core capable of storing a minimum of 3x as much mana than an average individual of non-elvish origin.
Personal Capacity20x as much as average, non-elvish individual of the same level. 15x as much as elvish individual of the same level.
Racial Unique Skill
Chant Omission: DarkAllows user to omit the chant of any dark arts spell, as long as the spell has been cast at least once before with full chant.
----------------------------- ¡°Well, i can''t even be surprised anymore. I truly am a cheat character. And what is up with that mana capacity!? It''s basically saying that as long as we are the same level, i''ll have 15 to 20 times as much mana as almost everyone in the world?! Isn''t that at least a tad bit unfair?! And seriouly, what are those embarrassing titles, so chuni!¡± What started as a calm observation, quickly turned into a rant. ¡°I can''t deal with this right now. No, i refuse to think of it any further right now.¡± Having decided i got up and headed towards the master bedroom. One thing about the status window was right, he was emotionally wrung out. Too much had happened in a short span of time, he need time to wrap his head around things. Arriving at the master bedroom, he dropped into the bed unceremoniously. He fell asleep seconds after his head hit the pillow. His last thought was, ~ I should check out the surface when i wake up, i wanna know just how isolated from civilization i am~ Well, that is a worry for the me of tomorrow, let that guy deal with it. Chapter three: Visit to the surface, training begins TABLES AND EDITING BY THE GLORIOUS, GOD-LIKE BEING CALLED kikyorebo Chapter three: Visit to the surface, training begins I woke up in the dark room, and for a second i thought i was back on Earth and that everything had been a dream. However a slight pain on the side of my head drew my attention, and as i reached up to touch the area, i felt something weird in my hands. ¡°What the hell...?¡± I said with a voice still filled with sleepiness. That''s when i realized what the strange thing was. It was my ear. However it wasn''t the ear i was used to, but longer and ponty one. At that moment, eveything that happend in the last 24 hours came rushing at me. ¡°Right... i really did die and reincarnate on a diferent world, huh.¡± I got out of the sinfully soft bed and begun and, to dispell the darkness, i once again cast the fire spell i used the previous day. Remembering that thanks to [Chant omission: Dark] i no longer had to chant in order to cast this particular spell, i focused my mana and strongly and clearly said, ¡°[Crimson Flames]!¡± And just like last time, 5 fist-sized flames of the purest and brightest red manifested in front of me. Now that i could actually see worth a damn i looked at the wall and finding what i wanted, a large mirror, i walked towards it and after a quick look, i removed it from the wall and headed towards door, deciding to take it to the main room where there was better lighting. Arriving at the main room, i quickly found a hook on a nearby wall and, hanging the mirror, i had my first real look at my new body. ¡° Well, just i as figured, my ears are evidently longer and pointy. Uhmm, at least they are not freakshly long like i''ve seen on some games and animes.¡± I said, while poking and tugging at the appendages. Looking at myself, i noticed other changes as well. My skin, which had always been white, now had a graysh tint to it, like clouds on a stormy day. My eyes, which had been the typical japanese black, now were a deep purple and shone like amethysts. I has also become taller, my height not surpassing 180 cm, my body also had more pronounced and well defined muscles. My facial features were drastically different. No longer did i look like a teenager still growing, but looked like a fully matured young man, with chiseled jaw and strong chin. ¡°It''s probably because the elvish races mature so quick, by the time they reach the age of 16, they have already finished growing and will stop aging, maintaining the same timeless appearance until they die¡± ¡°Well, i guess i can''t really complain about anything. I do look, well, kind of hot¡± I became embarrassed at my own words. Lastly, my hair had now grown to in lengh, but it maintained the color and texture i was used to. I had no problems with my new looks, although it was very strange looking at the mirror and seeing a complete stranger. ¡°Well, now that that''s out of the way, i''m very hungry. Lets see what''s in the kitchen. ----------------------- After eating, i decided to check out the surface. But firstly, i had to change clothes. So i returned to the master suite and after browsing the options in the closet, which were divided between normal clothes and and equipment, i chose a pair of dragonhide leather boots that boosted my speed, as well as dragonhide pants which are resitant againts pierces and cuts and a black cloak that provided defense against physical and magical attacks. After i changed, i went to the laboratory, which housed a small armory, and chose a magical staff and a katana, which i hung on my waist. This may seem like i''m exagerating, however considering this is my first time outside, i had no idea if there were any dangers awaiting for me. Thus i decided to wear the best equipment that was available for me. Checking my status, i made sure everything was working properly. ¡°[Status]!¡±
STATUS
NameFujiwara Hikage
Age16Level16
RaceDark ElfClassArch-Necromancer
TitlesLord of Black Wyvern Mountain; Master of Death; Favored by the Gods
Current StatusWell Rested; Excited
Health4250Mana6200
Strength206 (+10%)Dexterity330 (+10%)
Agility270 (+10%)Wisdom623 (+20%)
Intellect947 (+20%)Stamina572 (+15%)
Equipment
Arachne-Silk CloakA cloak made from the silk of the arachne people, a race of women with half human and half spider bodies. This cloak provides a 50% reduction of magic damage and 30% reduction of physical damage.
Dragon-Hide TrousersThe trousers are made from dragon-hide, and as such are very difficult to cut and pierce, as well a providing resistance against fire magic.
Dragon-Hide Boots of HasteThese boots made from dragon-hide, provide all of the benefits associated with the material, plus they have been enchanted with a spell to enhance the speed of the user.
Katana of MithrilThis katana is made from the metal Mithril, the best metal in existence. This katana requires 0 maintenance since it will never rust, bend, dent or break unless the attack comes from another Mithril weapon. Mithril is also known as Magic Silver, and has the ability to channel very strong magic.
Staff of CalamityThis staff was created to be used by specialists on the dark arts. Any dark arts spell cast through this staff will receive a 30% boost in power, while maintaining the same amount of mana requirement.
Racial Characteristics [Dark Elf]
Racial Attribute
10% bonus to strength,dexterity and agility. 20% bonus to wisdom and intellect. 15% bonus to stamina.
Racial Features
Long average life span, 1500 years. High physical regeneration, mana production and absorption, as well a mana output. Magical core capable of storing a minimum of 3x as much mana than an average individual of non-elvish origin.
Personal Capacity20x as much as average, non-elvish individual of the same level. 15x as much as elvish individual of the same level.
Racial Unique Skill
Chant Omission: DarkAllows user to omit the chant of any dark arts spell, as long as the spell has been cast at least once before with full chant.
After checking my status, i headed towards the room with the teleportation circle. I stepped on the circle, and thanks to my knowledge, i knew how to activate it. Since i still didn''t trust my mana control, i let out a slight trickle of mana, channelingnit onto the circle. After a few seconds, i felt a feeling like all the air had been sucked from my lungs and i was been squezed through a small space. I closed my eyes until the feeling passed, and once i opened them, i was in a different, although similar room. Walking towards the exit, i touched the stone boulder that blocked it and once the spell recognized my magical signature it slid open. The strong light of the sun momentarely blinded me, forcing me to close my eyes. After they ajustedmi opened them and saw, for the first time, my new world. --------------------- Stepoing out of the cave, i had my first look of this strange, new world. While i say strange however, the view that greeted me looked just like any forest back on earth, if a bit more dense than the ones close to major cities like Tokyo. Looking up, i noticed that the facility was indeed built inside a large mountain range, the Black wyern mountains. It was called that because in the past, magical beasts named black wyerns made these mountains their territory. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. However, since these mountains make for a natural border between the dark elf kingdom of Svartana and the human kingdom of Haspian, throughout the years alot of subjulgation requests were submitted to the adventurers guild asking them to clean them out. As such, overtime, the black wyerns of this area were hunted virtually to extinction. The only part of the mountain range where you can still spot them is on the extreme north, away ftom any cities or any routes taken by merchant caravans that need to cross t mountains. I know of this thanks to the knowledge Thanatea-sama gave of this world. ¡°Well, i guess it''s nice i won''t have to worry about being eaten alive everytime i step outside.¡±i said, while still looking up, imagining black, dragon like lizards flying in the air above the mountain. The entrance to my new house is far alway from any merchant routes or towns, but since it is in the southern part of the mountain range, there are no wyerns. Walking away from the entrance, i headed towards the edge of the forest. Activating [Magic sensing] on range 100 meters around me, i determined there were no life forms bigger than squirrels or birds in my general vicinity. So i decided to enter the forest and explore a bit, keeping the skill active to warn me about anyone or anything that might approach my location. After exploring for a while, i started to see a few differences between this forest and forests on earth. Small things such as unique flowers, plants and a few small animals, like a red rat with a horn-like crystal on it''s forehead. Using [Inspect], i learnt it was called [Fire rat] and it used the crystal on it''s forehead to sense the flow of mana in the air to find pray and detect hidden predators. It''s pelt had fire resisting capabolities. ~Well, when you evolve in a area that was once surrouded by monsters thay breath fire, you''d need to develop a way to survive~ i thought, while watching the rat run away. A while later, after looking around for about an hour, i decided to head back. As i walked back to the facility, the magic sensening skill suddenly told me something very large was moving at grea speed towards my location. Startled, i unsheathed my katana and with both hands i widened my stance i waited, looking towarss the direction the skill warned me. What i saw stunned me. A huge gray bear, at least 3 meter in height, came bareling down through the woods. Once it spotted me, it stood on it''s hind legs and let out of hugh roar. ¡°Grrroooarrrr¡± Realizing it woud be difficult to fight inside the forest, i cast the only spell i could whitout chanting, to distract the bear while he ran. If i was lucky, i might make to the teleportation room. ¡°[Crimson flames]! The five fist-sized flames appeared, and upon his commando flew towards the the bear. The bear caught on fire, and after determining it was distracted, i started running towards the forest''s exit. After reaching the open space, between the forest and the foot of the mountain, i noticed that the bear was coming after me. Realizing i would be unable to escape, i took a fighting stance, and waited for the beast to reach my location. The bear came out of the woods with smoke coming from his massive body. I noticed that other than slightly singed, it was mostly unharmed. ¡°Well, i guess i couldn''t hope to kill it with elementary level magic, huh.¡± He was in trouble. That spell was the only one he could cast chantless, and because he still didn''t trusy his mana control, he woudn''t dare try using higher tier magic, least he blows himself up in the process. Hey it almost happened before! ¡°I guess i''ll have to use my sword, and trust my equipment to protect me against its attacks.¡± Saying that i poured as much mana as i dared into the mithril katana and the boots of haste. I would need the extra speed. Preparations complete, he rushed the bear. He had to be the one to set the pace of battle from the start. I ran towards the beast. The bear swung it''s right arm at me with impressive speed, however I was able to dodge by hairbreadth using the [Boots of haste]. The arm hit a tree that was beside the bear, and with a terrifyingly loud sound, the area that was hit exploded to several pieces. CRAAAACK! The deafening sound resonated throughout the area, and splinters spread in all directions. The attack broke the massive tree in two, making its upper part fall in the direction of the forest. With wide eyes, I stared at the destroyed tree, ~Holy shit! Thank the gods I dodged in time!~ Freaked out, I used the speed from the boots to sidestep the beast and appear behind it, trying to aim for an opening. However the bear was more agile than I thoght and twisting its body it tried to body blow me into the ground. ~Damnit, it seems to have extremely god instincts, as expected of a magical beast~. While I was thinking, the bear¡¯s right arm swung once again, aiming at my head. ~Relentless fucker!~. As I thought that, this time I jumped, not to the side, but forward in its direction. And then, aiming at the base of right arm that was swinging down, I swung the [Mithril katana] up. The bear¡¯s right arm got separated completely from its body. ¡°GWAAAAAAA!!!!!¡± Then, while raising its writhing voice, it swung down its left arm again. This time, i couldn''t dodge, and putting the katana in front of me to defend, i got blown away. I fell to the ground several meters away. Thanks to the physical resistance provided by my equipment i only felt winded by the impact. However, i determined that approaching the bear while it was on guard and furious was a bad idea. That''s when i remembered something. I had never actually used it, but my kenjutsu school had a technique perfect for this situatuion. Casting [Crimson flames] once again as a distraction, i started pouring large amounts onto the katana. Once i was done, i entered the correct stance and, praying to the gods, i attacked. ¡°Yagyu-shinkage ryu: himitsu ougi [Empi]!¡± with that i threw the katana with all my strenght at the bear like a spear, and with a whining sound as it cut through the air, it hit the the bear straight through his heart. The bear got pushed back by the impact and fell backwards in a heap. After a few gurgling noises, it layed still. Approaching it carefuly, i looked at it and grabed the katana hilt, pulling it out of the corpse. ¡°Fucking bastard. If it wasn''t for the boots of haste he would have blown me away with that first attack.¡± although because of his equipment he wouldn''t actually be hurt by the blow, whitout the boots it would have been difficult to manouver and attack. He decided to return to the facility quickly, least some other beast showed up. But first he looked at the bear''s corpse, and thinking it would probably attract predators should he just leave it like that. He used crimson flames to burn t corpse. Now that it was dead, there was no magic to make it resist the flamrs and the body caught fire instantly. ---------------------- After returning to the facility, or should he call it home? He sit down on the nearest sofa and sighed. Today''s blattle had thaught him one thing, if he didn''t train his magic, he wouldn''t survive long in this world. ¡°I have to take full control of my powers. I have to refine my mana control and make it so that i can cast as many spells chantless as possible. Some spells from intermediary class and above have ridiculously long chants, whitout a vangard to take the heat while one chants, it would be very difficult to cast them mid-battle.¡± Having decided, i got up from the couch and went to have a long bath. Afterwards he went into the kitchen to eat something before making preparations for his training, which would start tomorrow at the crack of dawn. This was the begining of a 4 month long training from hell he imposed on himself.
This is more or less what he looks like.