Tylen held the round bone shard that served as a controller, his brow furrowing slightly.
Under his mental control, the Skeleton Dog staggered crookedly across the table like a drunk.
"Forward."
The Bone Dog raised its left foreleg, then followed with its right hind leg. Its balance gave way, and it nearly sprawled face-first across the table.
"Back."
The Bone Dog stiffly shuffled backward, its joints scraping with an unpleasant, teeth-grating sound.
The whole process felt extremely difficult and uncomfortable.
It was like playing a game with 500 milliseconds of lag, and a controller whose joystick had rusted over.
Tylen had to channel his Mental Power through the bone shard and turn it into commands, which were then transmitted to the Runic Core on the Bone Dog. Finally, the runes drove its bones to move.
There was a noticeable delay at every step in the process.
Fortunately, Tylen had the [Slacker Saint Body].
With his thoughts accelerated thirtyfold, he could quickly analyze the feedback from every command and adjust the output frequency of his Mental Power in real time.
Five minutes later.
As its Mana ran out, the Skeleton Dog flopped onto the table with a clatter, like a robot dog whose power had been cut. It lay motionless.
"Phew..."
Tylen rubbed his slightly throbbing temples.
"Just as the book described, the Bone Domination rune is a complete, self-contained system."
"The entire rune system can draw on and store Mana directly, allowing it to power itself."
"By controlling the runes, I can spend one point of Mental Power to activate and control a bone construct for about five minutes."
The book's theories had been fully confirmed.
Though the principle was similar to "controlling a game character with a joystick," the potential of this method was enormous.
With sufficiently precise control, he could make this pile of bones perform all sorts of bizarre movements.
After reviewing and digesting what he'd learned, Tylen spent another point of Mental Power and continued practicing.
This time, simple walking wasn't enough. He tried to make the Bone Dog run, and even attempt a pouncing bite.
By the time all 2.6 points of his Mental Power had been used up, Tylen had completed a total of thirteen minutes of practical training.
With the [Slacker Saint Body] boosting his thoughts, that was equivalent to six and a half hours of intensive practice!
Tylen had now completely gotten used to the "lag" and learned to anticipate it.
He could make the Bone Dog run in a straight line. Its posture was still a little awkward, but at least it no longer fell flat on its face.
He could also make it open its jaws, full of sharp teeth, and bite down.
Unfortunately...
"Too weak."
Tylen looked at the shallow tooth marks the Bone Dog had left in a piece of scrap wood and shook his head.
"That bite could just about break human skin, but there's no way it could damage muscle, let alone bone."
"And since it's driven by purely mechanical means, the whole thing is incredibly clumsy."
"To turn, it has to inch around like a tank. When it runs, it brakes with its face, tumbling all over the place."
"Jumping is out of the question. Its joints are as stiff as a rusty iron door."
Once his Mental Power was spent, Tylen sat cross-legged and began meditating to recover.
Twenty minutes later, his Mental Power was full again.
His maximum had also increased slightly, from 3.6 to 3.7.
Although he'd created his first undead servant, Tylen still felt it fell short of his expectations.
It might be fine for scaring ordinary people, but in a real fight, one kick would probably knock it to pieces.
He turned his head and looked at the two Skeleton Soldiers standing in the corner.
They were helpers his mentor Makley had left behind for him.
"Bring me the Bone-Cleaving Knife," Tylen ordered.
A green flame flickered in the left Skeleton Soldier's eye socket, and it immediately turned and walked into the Morgue.
Its movements were fluid and natural, its joints nimble. Even as it picked up the Bone-Cleaving Knife, its finger bones adjusted their grip.
Then it walked back with steady steps and held out the knife by its handle to Tylen.
Tylen took it and tried giving the pair several more complicated commands.
"Stand on one leg."
"Make a slashing motion."
"Pretend to throw a javelin."
The two Skeleton Soldiers followed each order to the letter. Their movements weren't exactly smooth, but they were quite intelligent and agile.
Compared with them, his Skeleton Dog was nothing more than a defective toy fresh off the production line.
"Where's the difference?"
Tylen stared intently at the faint green flame burning in the Skeleton Soldier's hollow eye socket.
"The key must be the Undead Fire."
"According to the books, Undead Fire is an amalgamation formed from the ascension of a living being's spirituality."
"It's like an undead creature's 'soul' and 'nervous system,' giving cold bones instincts and functions similar to those of a living creature."
"I definitely don't have any Undead Fire right now. That's advanced stuff that only an Official Wizard can handle."
"But..."
A flash of inspiration suddenly crossed Tylen's mind.
"What if I gave my Skeleton Dog some spirituality, too?"
"Could that make it more agile?"
"And if that spirituality came from me... could I use the Spirit Summoning Control Method to control it on a deeper level?"
The moment the thought occurred to him, Tylen went over to the two Skeleton Soldiers and carefully examined the surfaces of their bones.
Sure enough!
In the dim candlelight, he saw that the runes on the Skeleton Soldiers weren't dead, pitch-black marks.
Instead, they shimmered with a faint green light, as if they'd been infused with some kind of flowing liquid.
"The Undead Fire follows the pathways of the inscriptions and covers every key node."
"That's why they can move so nimbly. It's a medium for transmitting energy!"
"There's only Mana in my runes, no medium, which is why they feel so clumsy."
"So, what's rich in spirituality and also conducts Mana well?"
Tylen's gaze fell on the Bone-Cleaving Knife in his hand, then shifted to his own wrist.
A hint of grim resolve flashed in his eyes.
"Perfect. This will test how quickly my body can recover."
He took a clean wooden bowl and set it on the table.
He drew a deep breath.
Shk!
The sharp edge of the Bone-Cleaving Knife sliced across his left wrist.
Bright red blood immediately welled up and trickled from his wrist into the porcelain bowl.
Drip, drip...
As he watched himself bleed, Tylen instinctively felt dizzy and queasy.
But he forced his eyes open and stared fixedly at the wound.
"This is a necessary price."
"If I can't even bear to look at this little blood, what will I do when I face a much bloodier battle?"
In less than two minutes, the bowl was already more than half full.
Then something miraculous happened.
The wound, which had been bleeding moments earlier, began to shrink and clot right before his eyes.
A scab formed quickly, and the bleeding stopped with ease.
"So this is what a thirtyfold recovery rate looks like?"
Tylen marveled inwardly and quickly bandaged the wound.
Then he closed his eyes and activated the first stage of the Spirit Summoning Control Method, which he'd just begun to master.
Humm...
In his perceptual vision, the porcelain bowl filled with blood radiated a vibrant, warm, and lively spiritual glow.
"The knowledge in the books didn't lie!"
"Within this world's mystic system, the blood of the living holds the most spirituality."
"Legends dating back to the Second Era say that blood carries the most important essence in the human body. Its circulation grants humans life and spirituality."
"And a wizard's blood is even more densely packed with spirituality!"
Tylen didn't hesitate any longer.
He picked up the Bone-Cleaving Knife and dipped its tip into the blood in the bowl.
Then, like a meticulous painter, he carefully let the crimson blood drip, one drop at a time, into the grooves of the runes on the Skeleton Dog.
The blood spread along the lines, as if it were alive, quickly filling the entire rune system.
Ten minutes later.
The job was done.
Tylen wiped away the excess blood with a rag.
The bones, which had originally been grayish white, were now covered in dark red lines that crisscrossed like blood vessels, giving them an eerie beauty.
"Blood Rune Bone Hound, complete."
Tylen drew a deep breath and picked up the control bone shard again.
He spent one point of Mental Power to activate the runes.
At the same time—
The Spirit Summoning Control Method activated!
In an instant, Tylen felt as though his Mental Power had crashed into a warm ocean.
It was his own blood!
His mind immediately resonated intensely with the blood flowing through the runes on the Skeleton Dog.
The resonance was extraordinary.
He was no longer controlling a game character from behind a joystick.
Instead... his mind extended directly outward, enveloping the Skeleton Dog's bones.
The 500-millisecond delay dropped to just twenty.
He felt as though the Skeleton Dog had become part of his body, like an arm or leg stretching out from him.
"This feeling... is incredible!"
Tylen's eyes filled with astonishment and excitement.
He spent one point of Mental Power to activate the Skeleton Dog.
"Rise!"
At a thought, the Blood Rune Bone Hound sprang to life atop the table.
Its movements were light, and it landed without a sound.
Though Tylen could still feel the stiffness and clumsiness of its mechanical structure as it moved, the spiritual resonance brought by the Spirit Summoning Control Method perfectly compensated for the delay in his control.
Tylen's mind instinctively took over the Bone Dog's balance.
"Run!"
The Bone Dog raced around the cramped Morgue.
It stopped abruptly, turned, and leaped.
It still occasionally stumbled on landing, but compared with its previous half-paralyzed, lopsided, numb-limbed state, this was a qualitative leap!
"This is exactly what I wanted!"
Over the next while, Tylen poured 6.5 of his remaining 7.5 points of Mental Power into training his control over the Blood Rune Bone Hound.
With one minute left before his Mental Power was nearly exhausted, the Bone Dog was moving under Tylen's control almost like a real dog.
Its overall capabilities still couldn't match those of a living dog, but it had just about reached the level of the two Skeleton Soldiers.
As the control time neared its end, Tylen's eyes narrowed.
"One last test: its attack power!"
He spent his final point of Mental Power and poured all his Mana into the Bone Dog's jaws.
At the same time—
[Magic Thorn Art] activated!
[Magic Thorn Art experience +70]
[Magic Thorn Art increased to Lv3.]
Buzz!
A layer of shuddering ripples instantly lit up across the Bone Dog's ivory-white fangs.
"Attack!"
Crunch!
The Bone Dog sank its teeth into a discarded plank beside it, a handspan thick.
The sturdy oak board was as fragile as a biscuit against its teeth, enchanted with the Magic Thorn Art.
It bit straight through!
Wood splinters flew everywhere, leaving two holes clear through the plank.
"Excellent, excellent!"
Watching this, Tyron couldn't help clapping, his face alight with excitement and delight.
"With such terrifying bite force, plus the armor-piercing effect of the Magic Thorn Art..."
"One bite is enough to catch a target off guard and tear through their throat!"
"Now that's a real killing move!"
After finishing all his practice,
Tyron felt mentally exhausted, but his spirits were soaring.
He put the Bone Dog away, then took out the rune paper Ars had sent him and began drawing Runic Frames to earn money.
After all, getting stronger took money.
Fifty minutes later.
Tyron came to his senses after finishing everything and habitually opened the System Panel for a look.
To his surprise, his attributes had changed considerably.
[Name: Tyron Arthas Magnus] [Rank: Level 0 → Level 1 Apprentice] [Constitution: 1 → 1.2] [Spirit: 3.6 → 3.8] [Magic Control: 7.666 → 11.7] [Spell: Spirit Summoning Control Method (11684/100000)] [Skill: Magic Thorn Art Lv. 3 (10/300)] [Knowledge: Runic Studies 0.2 → 0.4]
Watching the numbers rise line by line, Tyron let out a long breath and leaned back in his chair.
"Things are finally looking up!"
Before you continue