"The [Undead Calamity] that transpired 751 years ago marked the genesis of the undead race," explained a tall, white-haired middle-aged man, towering over the average inhabitants of the region. His silver eyes and refined demeanor had not gone unnoticed, especially by the younger women in the hall, though a silver ring on his finger quickly dashed any hopes of romantic interest.
However, it was expected for someone to wear the mantle adorned with the insignia of the Guild Master.
"The ascendancy and proliferation of the undead are inevitable. Based on my current research, despite their inherently negative impact on living beings, there's an economic potential in their utilization that outweighs the harm. While most share this sentiment, those who hold the knowledge seek to monopolize it. But today, that changes," declared the Guild Master, gesturing towards the edge of the hall.
An assistant promptly unveiled a tall figure shrouded in black armor, standing sentinel-like and exuding an ominous black aura. As the figure was revealed, murmurs and speculations echoed through the hall. While some became cautious, the majority animatedly discussed the mysterious presence.
"As seasoned Adventurers, many of you may already recognize what this represents..." The Guild Master's words brought a hush over the assembly. "Would anyone care to share their thoughts?"
A seasoned veteran, cloaked in a resplendent magical robe, promptly raised his hand. Signaled by the Guild Master, he began to elucidate, “That’s a rank 3 Death Knight, the Boss of the rank 3 Dungeon in the southern regions, Gravekeep Mountain!”
The white-haired Guild Master nodded, affirming his assessment. “Correct! The Death Knight of Gravekeep Mountain is notorious for its high resistance to magic Arts and formidable physical endurance. Its humanoid nature makes it one of the most aggressive and formidable Dungeon Bosses. Now then,” He paused, heightening the listener's anticipation, “Why do you think the Dungeon Boss of Gravekeep Mountain refrains from attacking indiscriminately in your presence?”
A fresh wave of whispers and speculations unfurled among the attendees. Despite their expertise, deducing the precise answer proved elusive, owing partly to inexperience and mostly to the groundbreaking nature of the question.
“Guild Master, could you dispense with the riddles and enlighten us?” An impatient mage, a seasoned veteran with silvered hair, implored, weary of waiting for the room to quiet.
The guild master smiled. “From henceforth, I declare that Necromancy— the study of dark arts that revolves around raising, controlling the undead, the application of death-related arts— is open to the general public!” He produced a weighty grimoire and placed it on the table for all to see, inciting a clamor in the hall.
“Previously, Necromancy was a rogue discipline. Only those who have relation to the dark races can learn this, for unreasonable prices. Guild Master, if you sold this to the public and broke their monopoly, wouldn’t your life be targeted by the dark guilds?” Another veteran asked.
The dark guilds refer to the type of guild whose primary line of work is less than savory in nature. For example, the assassination guild and thieves guild would be hired intensively by certain groups of people to steal or silence the white-haired guild master. After all, the benefit of using the undead economically is too much.
“As the master of the Universal Truth Guild…” The white-haired man proclaimed, “My aim is unrestricted advancement of Arts! My desire to pursue the absolute, universal truth outshine my fear of death!”
The hall once again went into an uproar. They praised and thanked the guild master for everything that they had done, but behind their honeyed words, the guild master could discern that they were but mere empty praise. In this line of work, most of the members in the Universal Truth Guild are mainly adventurers, not true researchers like the Guild Master. In other words, they are trying to parasitize the guild’s core member’s hard work for their own benefit.
However, the guild master didn’t think too much of this. When there are resources, people will gather, and where people gather, conflict of interest will occur.
In truth, the Guild Master’s decision to advertise necromancy to the public was also spurred by external pressure from other guilds, who leveraged their influence over members of the Universal Truth Guild.
‘I’m sure Necromancy will be adopted by the other adventurer guilds by the end of the week.’ The Guild Master reveals a facade of pride to match their language of lies as he answers all sorts of questions, such as how it works, who can learn necromancy, and the cost of purchasing necromantic arts from the guild, etc.
Eventually, the announcement came to an end just before dark.
….
“Demiurge!” A short but bulky, bearded man kicked open the door to the Guild Master’s office, wrath plastered on his face. “Why did you release Necromancy to the general public? You know better than anyone that they are just parasites, spies of other guilds who want nothing more than to satisfy their own greed! The guild is no longer the old one after your aggressive expansionism! Do you know how it’ll affect everyone in general?”
Before the Arts-reinforced door fragments hit his person, the guild master waved his hand. An invisible force field defended his face from ever being hurt by the wood splinters. “Thorun my brother, It’s been a while since we’ve met. I’m glad you’re safe and sound.”
The master of the Universal Truth Guild, Demiurge, reveals an expression of fatigue and relief at Thorun the dwarf’s arrival.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“You are…” Thorun’s rage quickly switched into concern as he took a closer look at Demiurge. When he saw the heavy bags underneath his eyes, his rage reignited, but for a different reason. “How long have you been awake? Tsk, this bad habit of yours of not sleeping for weeks…” Thorun heaved a heavy sigh, he couldn’t stay mad for long at his former party member.
Chuckling, Demiurge stood up and opened up a bottle of booze stored underneath his desk. The smell alone motivated Thorun, the dwarf instantly went to the cupboard on the side of the room to get a couple of cups. With beer being shared, the tense atmosphere has washed away.
“Why have you called me, Cosmagus?” Thorun asked after gulping down his second cup of amber-like alcohol, feeling the liquid lubricating his dry throat.
“My research has come to a critical juncture. I am recalling our old party members before the team ‘Universal Truth’ expanded into the guild it is today…”
Thud! Thorun slammed the office’s table, “The five of us would be fine with being a small party. It was your greed that made them leave!” Thorun knew his words had little weight in them. He also knew what Demiurge did in the past was for their own sake, but being right doesn’t mean they liked it.
Demiurge's voice resonated through the chamber, each name he uttered carrying the weight of a carefully woven destiny. "Remember who we were! Our six-man Universal Truth party was once the number-one party in this country!
'Blacksteel Lord' Thorun Forgeshaper, your mastery of the forge precedes your prowess in battle.
'Grand Transmuter' Lyriel Elyndra aspired to transcend the alchemical Arts to their zenith.
'Death Specter' Mordred, a master of assassination and necromancy, sought perfection in the Arts of killing.
'Dragonblood Berserker' Ulfrik Battleborn, a warrior of raw might, dedicated himself to mastering all forms of reinforcement Arts.
'Celestial Arcanist' Selene Eldermyst, a scholar with a boundless thirst for elemental Arts. And then there's me,
'Cosmagus' Demiurge, driven by my unyielding passion for the study of Dungeon Cores." Demiurge paused.
“Tell me,” he continued after taking a deep breath, “Each of us has our specialization and pursuit. How can I fund all of our expenditures if we do not expand our little party into a guild? Research is no different than literally burning money.”
“Hey, I shared my golem and artifact refinement findings with you!” Thorun raged at the accusation. “But you sold them to the big guilds, betraying my trust! Now, my secret techniques are no longer secret techniques! Even Mordred’s necromantic Arts has been sold by you, how can we trust you won’t betray us in the future!?”
“This is the problem with the original member of our guild. With the exception of Mordred, you’re all dogshit at finance. Please elaborate, has your guild, Blacksteel Arsenal, flourished? It’s been 48 years since you left and made your own guild, but why haven’t I heard of your accomplishment? The same with the rest of our former team members. Only Mordred’s guild, the Death Covenant, finds success.”
Thorun blushed, hiding his shame away. “That’s because the people are blind! They cannot see the forest for the trees, they do not see the quality of the golems and the artifacts my guild has refined!”
“I’m not going to rebuke you, you’re just underestimating everyone else with eyes,” Demiurge replied, “Your artifacts and golems are truly the best in the country. However, you’re simply bad at business. The fact that your golem is priced 5 times more expensive while merely providing a 15% improvement compared to the second-best golem in the kingdom is the reason why your guild is struggling. Reality is not about the best golem or artifact, but market share. If you design a golem ten billion times stronger than the second best, if there’s nobody who can realistically refine or make use of them, then you’re just drowning in fantasy!”
“What do you know about golem refinement?” Thorun's grip on his hand tightened. “A 0.5% overall improvement in my line of work is an achievement worth celebrating, you-” He pointed at Demiurge’s face, but his words stopped as he was no longer confident in rebuking Demiurge’s argument.
“What ‘you’?” Demiurge slapped his hand. “I know exactly what a 0.5% overall improvement meant in the grand scheme of things.” He scoffed. “I’m not saying a 15% improvement is bad, but if you consider the material and mana capacity requirement to use it, selling them isn’t realistic. At the very least, you need to invent new types of magic alloy for mass production.”
Thorun frowned, defeated. Demiurge was absolutely correct. It’s not like he can’t perform his own research to develop new material, but his stubbornness to succeed in his way has blinded his original path. “Your research, what do you need?” He switched the topic back to why he was summoned by the Cosmagus in the first place.
“High-end manpower.” Demiurge stood up, his hands started to draw pale white runes in the air. “As of now, rank 4 dungeons are simply impossible to raid. The periphery of rank 4 Dungeon has become a forbidden zone that we must steer away from. Even for those of us who are the forerunners in this field, it’s impossible to dive in too deep. However, Mordred has found a rank 3 dungeon that is on the brink of advancement.”
“You crazy son of a bitch… A dungeon during its Heavenly Tribulation is extremely dangerous. Do you wanna die- wait! Mordred is still with you?”
“Of course.” Demiurge stated in a matter-of-fact tone, “I sold Necromantic Arts under his request. Do you actually think I can steal the Arts of someone who is the pinnacle of killing without repercussion? I do not fear death, but I value my life.”
While they were conversing, Demiurge’s hand had never stopped drawing runes in the air. At this point, the runes have already formed a circular formation that fits someone to pass through.
“Rank 3 space-attribute magic Arts, [Gate]!” With Demiurge’s last rune, the circular formation undulates, turning into a spatial gate that connects one location to another.
The scene visible on the other side of the gate is a messy room, filled with alchemical flasks and tools. There is a tall, hooded, and masked figure whose body is leaning towards an elven loli. The hooded figure doesn’t seem to have the same physiology as a human, since its total body length is about three meters if it stood straight.
On the other hand, the loli seemed to be very irritated, she kept pushing back the tall figure’s masked head who was trying to observe her from her eye level. This action was very rude, considering the difference in height between the two was enormous.
“This spatial fluctuation…” The elven loli noticed the gate suddenly appearing at their side, “Cosmagus! Help me, Mordred is being unreasonable!”
Demiurge gazes at Thorun, “Shall we?”
“Your Gate is even more accurate and has a longer range than before…” Clicking his tongue, he whispered under his breath. Considering he could get the favor of the Cosmagus if he helped him, he entered the Gate first. “Hey Lyriel, it’s been a while…” He offered a light greeting to the elven alchemist.