Soul Summoning (1)

Doctor Wilkins listened until Green had finished speaking, thought for a moment, then said seriously, "Teaching you two basic spells is no trouble. I dabbled in the Necromancy School a few years ago, but you should know that I belong to the Evocation School. Although I've studied necromancy, I never learned it personally, so I can't guarantee whether you'll master it or how much you'll be able to learn. You should know that magic is extraordinarily precise: a hair's breadth off can send you a thousand miles astray. Mispronounce a single syllable while chanting a spell, or get one symbol wrong while forming a magic ring, and the magic will either fail or have its power greatly reduced."

"That's fine. I'll accept whatever I can learn. Thank you for teaching me, Doctor." Green answered with great solemnity. An ordinary person who heard such a warning would probably have to think it over, but Green had the Graveyard System. No matter what magic it was, as long as it was certified by the Graveyard, he could use it normally.

Seeing Green's attitude—and knowing that Vincent had brought him—Doctor Wilkins decided it was no big deal and nodded in agreement.

Still, it was impossible for him to personally teach Green step by step. After agreeing, he merely instructed a student to fetch two spellbooks from the study and hand them to Green.

"These are both first-circle Necromancy School spells: one is the basic Soul Summoning spell for necromancers, and the other is Bone Spikes, useful for close-range self-defense." Doctor Wilkins was exceedingly generous, bringing out two spells at once. Besides the Soul Summoning Green urgently needed, he had even thrown in an extra one, leaving Green deeply grateful.

In truth, Doctor Wilkins also wanted to take the opportunity to form a favorable connection with Green. Anyone who could embark on the path of magic through his own efforts either possessed extraordinary talent or had encountered some other fortuitous opportunity. Such a person was bound to achieve extraordinary things in the future. Giving away two insignificant spellbooks today might earn him the goodwill of a powerful necromancer someday.

Green accepted the spellbooks and thanked him repeatedly. Satisfied, he left the top floor of the castle with Vincent. The two then parted ways, and Green returned to his room alone. He immediately shut the door and eagerly opened the spellbook containing Soul Summoning.

Soul Summoning was the entry-level spell of necromancers and the foundation of most necromantic magic. A necromancer's greatest combat strength lay in the undead army under his command. Yet whether it was a skeleton, a Zombie, or even a powerful Black Knight or Bone Dragon, all of them were summoned using Soul Summoning. Of course, ordinary Soul Summoning was enough to summon low-level undead such as skeleton soldiers, while summoning a Black Knight or Undead Dragon required the advanced form of Soul Summoning—Spirit Calling!

In truth, the undead creatures necromancers commanded did not come from nowhere. The magical world was still divided over the nature and origins of undead creatures.

The debate was mainly divided into two schools of thought:

The first was the Void Psionics School. It believed that undead creatures were fragments of psychic energy from the void, which necromantic magic drove together and condensed into undead beings before applying them to physical matter in reality, forming intelligent puppets. Such puppets were not necessarily skeletons or Zombies; they could also be made of materials such as earth, stone, or iron. It was simply that the corpses of living creatures had a higher affinity with undead condensed from psychic-energy fragments, making the magic easier to complete and use. The strongest supporting evidence for this theory was the rather unusual necromantic practice of summoning golems: Clay Golems, Blood Golems, and Iron Golems. These golems were not corpses, yet they could still be summoned as undead creatures.

The second was the Undead Arcane Realm School. It believed that undead creatures were not fragments of psychic energy, but beings that existed in another world, generally known as the Netherworld. Necromancers used magic to summon undead creatures from the Netherworld and drove them to fight through contractual bonds. This theory had been extremely popular before the Industrial Revolution and, after merging with theology, had given rise to religion and the worship of the god of the underworld who governed the Netherworld. The strongest evidence for this theory was the existence of the Undead Dragon.

The Undead Dragon was the most powerful undead creature known to exist. The first theory could not explain its existence, much less summon one by condensing fragments of void psychic energy. A specific sacrificial magic array had to be used to communicate with the dragon's soul, and only after the two sides recognized each other through mental communication could a summoning contract be established. Clearly, the Undead Dragon was not an undead creature temporarily condensed from fragments of psychic energy, which in turn provided indirect support for the existence of the Netherworld.

Fortunately, Green did not need to worry about any of that. With the Graveyard System, whether it was a void spirit or the Netherworld, all he needed to do was raise the Graveyard's level. High-rank Black Knights and Undead Dragons would both become available. Unlike the many miserable necromancers who, even after advancing to Magus, still could not contract a truly high-rank undead creature.

Green sat before the desk, holding the Soul Summoning spellbook as he read it carefully.

As a first-circle spell, Soul Summoning was not complicated. Its difficulty was even lower than that of the Death Spirit Sight Green had mastered. In fact, ordinary necromancer apprentices learned Soul Summoning before Death Spirit Sight. It was only because Green's circumstances were unusual that the order had been reversed.

Although Soul Summoning was said to be a single spell, the spellbook Doctor Wilkins had given him recorded three spells: "Summon Skeleton," "Summon Zombie," and "Summon Ghost." The difference between the three spells lay in how the condensed void psychic energy combined with matter. If it merged with the bones of a living creature, it became Summon Skeleton; if it merged with a corpse, it became Summon Zombie; and if it did not merge with any physical matter, it became Summon Ghost.

It seems this spellbook came from a necromancer of the Void Psionics School. Green understood at once. The spellbook itself did not contain many words, but its margins were filled with notes. They were probably Doctor Wilkins's views and insights on the spell, and they gave Green considerable inspiration in understanding the essence of Soul Summoning.

Green read through the spellbook several times before closing it again. He shut his eyes and pondered, doing his best to recall its contents and simulate the spell's use: how to condense the magic ring, how to coordinate it with the incantation. Whenever he encountered something that felt unclear, he did not immediately consult the spellbook. Instead, he committed it to memory and waited until half an hour later, when he had found three problems in total, before reviewing the spellbook all at once.

After roughly seven or eight hours, Green finally learned Soul Summoning. When he entered the Graveyard and opened his character status, he indeed found a new Soul Summoning LV1 in the skill bar.

Green was secretly delighted, yet also somewhat apprehensive as he exited the Graveyard. He drew a deep breath and used Soul Summoning.

As the psychic energy within his body gathered, a gray-white orb of light began to condense in Green's hand. The orb was extremely dim, as though it might go out at any moment. Yet within it, a red magic ring began forming around his palm. Green focused his mind and did not dare become distracted in the slightest. The red magic ring finally took complete shape. In the next instant, with a sudden whoosh, he began chanting the spell in a low voice. A giant red magic ring appeared before him, and a vortex formed at its center. The next moment, with a bang, a stark-white skeletal arm reached out from within...