Strength

There was no need to wonder why others attacked him. Heming had known the cruelty of this world ever since joining Pitch Black. The weak had only one fate: to be killed.

Heming could only do his best to dodge their attacks, but the gap in strength was too great. He simply couldn't avoid them all, and he was already at his limit. All he could do now was pray...

BOOM! A gigantic bull-headed monster dropped from the sky and cut down everyone attacking Heming with a single swing of its axe. Heming glanced at the monster, then sat down against a wall. He didn't have the strength to move anymore.

"You've got some nerve, daring to openly attack us, Pitch Black. Are you looking to get yourselves killed?" Qiming stood on the bull-headed monster's shoulder and addressed the people watching.

"What Pitch Black? We're the world's biggest organization! You're all going to die!" one of the onlookers shouted. He was probably some kind of extremist.

Qiming said nothing more. He drew his bow, the Spirit Flash Profound Bow, from his palm. It shimmered with a strange white light. Despite its righteous-sounding name and appearance, the bow had once been a deadly weapon used by an evil European mage.

Qiming wasn't like the people he'd just fought. He had no intention of underestimating these enemies, whose lives were about to end. He gently drew the bowstring and shot a Death Arrow. One man tried to run, but when the arrow pursued him, he immediately gave up. That was undoubtedly the most terrifying thing about the Spirit Flash Profound Bow: it created illusions that made its targets lose their fear of death—even long for it...

Qiming fired shot after shot. The men made no further move. They understood how strong the man standing atop the monster was, and now they simply waited quietly for death. Unfortunately for them, Qiming wouldn't show mercy. That was Pitch Black's rule: never spare anyone, because otherwise you'd only end up hurting yourself.

The Death Arrows flew straight toward their targets. Just as they were about to split apart and strike, a figure suddenly appeared in front of the men. Heming hadn't seen how the person had arrived. One moment there had been no one there, and the next, someone had appeared.

Qiming wasn't particularly surprised, since he could see the person's movements. It was only natural that Heming, with his current level of strength, couldn't.

"I had no intention of involving myself in this matter. But I sensed evil energy pouring out from this area and became curious, so I came to investigate. Seeing you command Chiyou has made me eager to test your skills, young friend. What do you say?" The speaker was an old Taoist priest—or perhaps a deity. His voice was airy and ethereal, one of the East's special skills.

Qiming carefully examined the Taoist priest's clothes. A Black Tortoise, with a dragon's head and a snake's tail, was embroidered on his blue robe. He wore a Three-Star Crown. A lower-ranking immortal. Someone Qiming could handle. Although Qiming didn't really want to fight someone only slightly weaker than himself, the old man surely wouldn't let him deal with those men if he refused. He had no choice.

"Fine. Set up a barrier." Qiming put away the Spirit Flash Profound Bow and casually drew his sword. Heming found it strange that almost everyone in Pitch Black seemed to know how to use a sword...

The old Taoist chuckled and waved his hand. The Black Tortoise embroidered on his robe came to life and slowly grew larger. Qiming had fought immortals before, so he knew this was one of the old man's magic treasures. He leaped down from the bull-headed monster and kept his eyes on the Taoist.

The Black Tortoise stared intently at the bull-headed monster, seemingly ready to charge at any moment and fight it to the death. The bull-headed monster, meanwhile, casually fiddled with its axe.

The old Taoist struck first. He flung out five talismans and shouted, "By the covenant of heaven and earth, by the pact of thunder and rain—Five Thunder Summoning Technique!" In an instant, dark clouds gathered overhead, and thunder boomed.

Qiming gathered energy into his sword, preparing to withstand the Five Thunders. The old Taoist didn't stop. Just before the lightning struck, he flung out several more talismans. This time, he only uttered a soft incantation, and the talismans quickly burst into flames. Qiming was startled. That was high-level Samadhi True Fire; blocking it head-on would put him at a disadvantage.

Qiming took the two Demon Sealing Beads from his waist and activated the Pitch Black Heart Method.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The Five Thunders descended straight down. Qiming flicked his hand, sending the two Demon Sealing Beads forward and upward.

A flash of lightning appeared first, followed by a tremendous neigh. Above Qiming appeared a blazing steed wrapped in lightning from head to hoof.

Meanwhile, the Samadhi True Fire rushed toward Qiming. Just as it was about to hit him, a gigantic arm of flame blocked it completely. The Five Thunders overhead had also finished gathering and came crashing down—but they struck the Thunder Horse instead. The horse gave a soft snort and absorbed the devastating lightning. Then it snorted again, as if to say, That little bit of electricity isn't even enough to feed me a ton.

Seeing both of his attacks blocked, the old Taoist was naturally unwilling to accept defeat. He called the Black Tortoise forward to fight. The Black Tortoise let out a mighty roar and charged. Despite its turtle legs, it moved surprisingly fast. The bull-headed monster wasn't about to back down either. It adjusted its grip on its axe and charged forward.

The Black Tortoise attacked first. It opened its enormous dragon head and spat out a string of fireballs. Its snake tail transformed into a snake's head, which also spat out a shower of water bullets.

When the bull-headed monster saw the fireballs coming, it raised its axe in front of itself to block them. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The impacts rang out violently. The fireballs heated the bull-headed monster's axe until it glowed red, but they seemed to have no effect on the monster. After blocking all the fireballs, it hurled its axe at the Black Tortoise. The axe split half the incoming water bullets in two, while the rest struck the bull-headed monster. They didn't seem to affect it either.

Seeing the blood-red axe flying toward it, the Black Tortoise tucked its entire body into its shell. CLANG! The axe struck the shell with a loud bang. It produced a spark but seemed to do little else.

The Black Tortoise and the bull-headed monster continued their fierce battle.

Qiming watched the spectacle as the old Taoist took out his finest treasure, the Fire Spirit Divine Talisman, and charged at him.

Qiming met him head-on. He'd seen the Fire Spirit Divine Talisman before. It could stretch automatically to attack its enemies, and if he wasn't careful, it would burn his clothes. That would be a nuisance.

"Pitch Black Sword Technique, Seventh Form: Flooded Swallows!" This close-combat technique unleashed a torrent of energy from Qiming's sword, pressing down on the old Taoist's Fire Spirit Divine Talisman.

The old Taoist brandished the Fire Spirit Divine Talisman. Although his attack had been held back, he was gathering spiritual energy from heaven and earth in his other hand, preparing to use the immortal technique, Spirit Gathering Finger.

Qiming had already noticed. The old Taoist's Spirit Gathering Finger wasn't enough to threaten him.

Powerful spiritual energy gathered into a small green sphere. Released in an instant, it could hit with the force of an atomic bomb.

"Pitch Black Sword Technique, Ninth Form: Turning Rain into Gold!" With a single thrust, Qiming forced the old Taoist back a step. Then he quickly sheathed his sword and drew the Spirit Flash Profound Bow.

By then, the old Taoist had unleashed his Spirit Gathering Finger. A powerful beam of green light shot toward Qiming. Qiming quickly gathered his energy and shouted, "Energy Profound Arrow!" A pale-black arrow shot out and collided with the green light.

BOOM! A massive explosion erupted. The old Taoist was knocked back a step by the shock wave and could no longer fight back, because Qiming had already prepared another arrow.

The Black Tortoise and the bull-headed monster were still fighting, but anyone could see that the bull-headed monster was holding back. Otherwise, the little Black Tortoise would have been chopped in half long ago.

The old Taoist called the Black Tortoise back and smiled. "It's been the old Taoist's good fortune to spar with you, young friend. You showed excellent judgment in every aspect, and your energy control is impressive. If fate allows, I hope we'll meet again someday." With that, he dissolved into a cloud of mist and vanished.

"Immortals have no wish to meddle in mortal affairs. I hope you'll show mercy where you can, young friend. Until we meet again." The voice spoke directly into the heads of everyone nearby.

Qiming shook his head, but still released the arrow he had already nocked...

Several days later, Heming had recovered at the Japan branch in Okinawa. He received a message from Qiming telling him to bring Rie to the office.

In the office, Qiming wasn't sitting in his usual boss's chair. He stood beside Heming instead. A man sat in Qiming's seat. Heming had seen him a few times at Pitch Black headquarters before. His name was Guangcheng Mingli, and he was a first-level member. In terms of strength, he was probably about on par with Qiming, though there might be some differences in other areas.

He looked at Heming and Rie, then said, "Miss Yaming asked me to come and see if Rie was capable of joining Pitch Black. Unfortunately, her constitution isn't suited to the Pitch Black Heart Method. If you want her to take missions with you, you'll have to give her the Necromancy Grimoire inside your body. I can use certain methods to make her able to use magic, but a mage is still a mage. She'll face certain dangers on missions, and she'll only have offensive abilities, with no way to defend herself. The two of you should think it over."

Heming was still thinking it over, but Rie spoke first. "I've made up my mind. I'm willing to become a mage!" Her voice was firm. Yes, she said it in Japanese...

Mingli stood up and said, "Good. Heming, you'll need to bear with it for a while. Splitting the grimoire from your body will put some mental strain on you."

Several hours later, Rie's constitution had been altered.

If Heming didn't have Copy Power—or the Necromancy Grimoire—this transformation would have been pointless. In truth, Mingli had explained things to Heming quite clearly...

The Necromancy Grimoire had been transferred from Heming's body into Rie's. As Heming was leaving, Mingli told him that if he wanted to keep Rie safe, he should make sure she went on fewer missions. Rie was now part of Pitch Black, but since she couldn't practice the Pitch Black Heart Method, she could only be an outer member. Every official member of Pitch Black could bring several outer members along on missions.

Rie was practicing how to control her magic, while Heming gazed up at the sky. He had no idea what he was thinking about. In his hand was the Magic Shield Generator Qiming had given him as he left the office. Watching Rie engrossed in her practice, he wondered whether he should smile or...

Rie finished her practice. Because of her special constitution, she could only practice magic at a few specific times each day, though she could use magic whenever she wanted, as long as she had a medium.

Heming handed Rie the Magic Shield Generator. "This is a mid-grade divine artifact. Just channel your magic into it, and it'll automatically form a magic shield. The shield is multiplied by the amount of magic you put into it. You can use it at your current level. Once you reach the level expected of a mage, the artifact will stop working, but for now, it'll be perfect for protecting yourself."

Rie took the Magic Shield Generator and wore it around her neck...

A few days later, Rie was ready to begin practicing with a physical medium. Heming collected a medium specifically for necromancer training from the supplies office. It was made from Pitch Black energy and could only be used for practice. Using it in battle? Well, that was impossible.

Heming was spending more time practicing the Pitch Black Heart Method now, so he decided to stay and watch Rie practice first. He'd already told her everything he knew, but he still felt a little uneasy.

Rie's first attempt to summon a skeleton succeeded, but it was obvious at a glance that the skeleton couldn't fight. Surely it needed to be whole, at least? The skeleton Rie summoned for the first time didn't even have legs. It could only crawl along the ground. Heming ran over and scattered the energy skeleton. Skeletons summoned with energy disappeared at the slightest touch.

Rie was only a magic apprentice, and she had less than a fifth of Heming's magic. She could only summon a skeleton once, then had to rest for a while before trying again.

Although the dedicated practice area sped up magic recovery, Rie still wasn't a mage. She couldn't yet use meditation to recover her magic, so all she could do was sit and wait.