BXBX NOVEL Chapter 135 Defying Death
A few minutes flashback, The Crescent Moon Dimension.
Nathan summoned The Book of Darkness, which then flew in front of him with its continuous flipping pages. He attempted to read the contents of the book until its pages stopped on one particular page.
[The Book of Darkness - Chapter 1]
[Rowena, the Vampire Queen, was feared and revered.
Her beauty and grace were beyond comparison.
She lived a life of secrets and mystery.
Her life was one of darkness and despair.]
[Dressed in a gown of black velvet and lace.
Her long blonde locks flowed down.
Her crimson eyes held a hunger and a rage.
That could bring men to their knees with a single glance.]
[Rowena was a queen of the night, Her power and beauty a wondrous sight. Her life was full of mystery and might, And her legend lives on forever in the night.]
Nathan quickly scanned the text as if it was an introduction to Rowena in the first chapter. He re-read it, trying to find any important details he might have overlooked.
Rowena giggled softly, "You just read me a love poem, Master?"
Nathan shifted his gaze to Rowena, "That was quite an impressive poem, Rowena."
The pages of the ominous book opened once more. Nathan was met with another piece of information that had appeared before him.
[Necromantic Energy: 0/100]
[Unlocked Undead Generals - 1]
[Rowena - Vampire Queen (Undead)]
"Necromantic Energy?" Nathan murmured.
She stepped closer, her cheek lightly brushing against his as she leaned in to read the same information. "Yes," she murmured. "It\'s like this: kill something, and you\'ll get the Necromantic Energy. Don\'t worry, Master—I can help you kill whatever you need, to get the full energy for you."
Yudan and Meriel sprinted towards Nathan and stopped a few feet away, both of them staring at Nathan\'s furrowed brow as he appeared intensely focused.
[Skills - 4]
[Summon Undead Rowena: Summon Rowena from her eternal chamber, bringing her to the same level as the owner and binding her to them with complete control.
Although she will still retain her own consciousness and thoughts. Be mindful of your commands, as misinterpretation can lead to unwanted outcomes.
As long as Necromantic Energy is supplied, Rowena will remain active for several hours at the cost of 20 per hour.]
Nathan carefully studied the information regarding the Necromancy skill in Chapter 1. He quickly realized that the cost of summoning Rowena was quite expensive, and he was unsure of how difficult it would be to gather the necessary Necromantic Energy.
With a hint of dismay, Nathan quietly spoke up, "Did I spend too much mana and willpower since my Necromantic Energy was depleted?"
Rowena replied in a soft voice, "Yes, master."
[Life Force Drain: Draining life force from fallen enemies to restore the Necromantic Energy.]
The next skill Nathan acquired was the ability to harvest Necromantic Energy from enemies he had killed. However, it was not specified what type of race he had to kill to access this energy.
"Don\'t worry, Master," Rowena reassured him. "You can get Necromantic Energy by killing monsters, but intelligent creatures will replenish your energy faster. The higher their level, the more energy you will get."
Nathan then checked the remaining time before they would be ejected from the pocket dimension; there were four minutes left, but he still had sufficient time to accomplish all he had planned.
[Reanimated Corpse: This spell allows the caster to reanimate a single corpse, restoring it as a loyal undead servant.
They will possess around 60% of the stats they had in life and can be sustained by paying a cost of 10 Necromantic Energy.
However, this undead is limited to Normal grade, with the maximum number of undead servants able to be summoned being 5.]
The next skill Nathan had acquired was the most common for a necromancer: the ability to resurrect corpses into Undead. When looking at them, one can observe that the Undead inherited 60% of the total stats the corpse had when it was alive, and Nathan was capable of controlling up to five Undead at a time.
This skill was extremely advantageous for him, giving him a sense of security.
"This skill, Master, only requires you to spend Necromantic Energy when awakening the Undead. Therefore the cost is quite affordable," Rowena explained slowly, her fingers gently exploring Nathan\'s shoulders and arms as she embraced him from behind.
[Necrotic Shock: launches a devastating blast of necrotic energy that can disintegrate living beings. It works on a 0.5-second interval, delivering 10% magical damage and an extra 10% dark element magic damage per strike.]
The fourth and final skill of the four was something that Nathan didn\'t quite comprehend.
"Don\'t fret about this skill, Master," Rowena was reassured, "the book will cast it for you without you needing to manually control it."
Nathan attempted to comprehend Rowena\'s words, but then he glanced up when Meriel uttered.
"Mr. Nathan, the skill will allow you to cast spells straight from the grimoire you have. Basically, the grimoire shall be your faithful companion, constantly bombarding your adversaries while you do battle." Meriel spoke with fervor.
"It\'s a really neat ability and is highly sought after by many Grimoire users. Not only is the mana cost low, but it has a very high utility."
Nathan then attempted to summarize all the abilities he had just acquired from Chapter 1 of the Book of Darkness.
The first skill, Summon Undead Rowena, enabled him to call upon Rowena for a cost of 20 necromantic energy per hour. Although it seemed to be a hefty price to pay, it was certainly worth it due to Rowena\'s impressive strength and the tremendous support she could provide to Nathan in battle.
The second skill was Life Force Drain, a skill that allowed him to refill his Necromantic Energy, an essential resource for him as a user of the book of darkness. Though he would normally need to kill to replenish this energy, this time, he was relieved to find that he could do so by killing monsters instead.
The third skill was Reanimated Corpse; this was the fundamental necromancer skill. It enabled Nathan to raise creatures from the dead and put them under his control as undead.
Nathan gave a wry smile as he realized he could now control more troops than ever before, not just golems, but now undead too.
Meriel nervously chuckled as she said to Nathan, "I\'m afraid that if you continue to acquire more and more armies, we won\'t be necessary anymore, Mr. Nathan."
Then the last skill was a practical one which, from a brief description, enabled Nathan to have an auto-fire grimoire that would always accompany him and provide assistance in combat. Even though the damage it dealt wasn\'t too significant, it could fire up to two shots per second, thus greatly increasing the amount of damage it could inflict, especially when facing numerous enemies.
Nathan sighed with relief and murmured, "I never expected to acquire such an impressive range of skills." He paused, marveling at his newfound abilities, before adding, "They look so amazing."
"But the fact that you can open one chapter at a time is truly remarkable," Yudan was astonished and awestruck by what he had seen earlier. "That is something I never thought was possible."
Meriel beamed as she continued to gaze upon Nathan\'s face. "I was truly shocked to discover that your affinity of the dark element is even more higher than mine, despite your obtaining it through our contract, Mr. Nathan," she said, a hint of awe in her voice. "To be honest, this is the first time I have ever encountered someone with such a capability."
Nathan then nodded in agreement, "so I guess you don\'t need to be proud of my little accomplishments outside of this group, right?"
"There\'s no need to be concerned, Nathan," Yudan replied, giving a reassuring nod. "You can trust me, but if that\'s not enough, I\'m happy to draw up a contract for us to sign."
Nathan smiled and shook his head. "I\'ve had enough of contracts, bonds, and servitude for now. Let me enjoy some freedom, at least for a little while."
Nathan had a larger circle of influence now, making it increasingly difficult for him to conceal what he had. Despite his efforts to remain inconspicuous, he continually failed.
Maybe he was just biding his time until his main adversary revealed himself.
He took a deep breath, managing a smile. No matter what obstacles he was presented with, he had to make sure he gave it his all; hesitation and fear were not an option.
He had chosen this path, and thus he had to make the most of it. Of course, there would be regrets, but he had to keep going.
Nathan then decided to make the most of the skill slots he had collected, which enabled him to develop several new skills and classes.
[Skill Creation System]
[Skill Points: 1,127,608]
[Available Skill Slots: 5/24]
[Available Skill Tiers: 1, 2, 3, and 4]
[Available Skill Classes - 8]
[...]
[Grim Reaper - 2: Afterimage Creation Tier 1 - Lv. 5, Soul Seed Creation Tier 2 - Lv. 5]
[...]
Nathan still possessed two Soul Stone Monsters and a collection of Skill Tokens.
[1 Tier 1 - Skill Remover Token]
[1 Tier 1 - Skill Upgrader Token]
[1 Tier 2 - Skill Combine Token]
[Soul Stone Elite Monster Ursa Major Lv. 70]
[Soul Stone Elite Frost Giant Lv. 90]
He murmured to himself, "Let\'s see what we can come up with," as the "Create a new skill" page popped up on his screen. Focusing intently, he studied the options before him, determined to create something extraordinary.