“Like this?”

As they pushed back the foliage along their journey, Israfel manipulated the Undead Attribute in various ways while under Elsmeth’s scrutiny.

He was exceptionally studious, otherwise, he would never have achieved his level of mastery in controlling the Attribute at his age and Tier. Still, he knew that he was far from reaching the pinnacle. He would accept guidance from any source that could aid his improvement, even from unlikely ones, skeleton summons included.

“Yes, but with a little less of the units of Freedom and a few more units of Communication. That way, it’ll scatter less while amplifying the amount of signal relay, more effectively locking onto a target instead of spreading out aimlessly.”

Elsmeth detailed what he was able to notice from Israfel’s magic in order to help improve it. They were both learning together as the demon conducted the experiments using his vast reserve of darkness energy while the skeleton used his unique perception to provide direction.

There was a bit of a barrier at first in communication, given their different methods of perceiving energy and the Undead Attribute, especially since Elsmeth had no clue how to describe what he was seeing.

To resolve this, he came up with names for certain conceptual meanings based on what he felt when he focused on them. The two he mentioned, Freedom and Communication, gave him the impression of how things were spread and how they conveyed meaning, respectively.

Israfel couldn’t see the units in energy, but as a darkness Mage, he could manipulate the forms of the Undead Attribute which was comprised of the same meanings. Since he didn’t feel them the same way, it took time to establish what he was feeling with what Elsmeth was seeing, but he was eventually able to identify the different units.

They didn’t at all seem like foreign invaders hiding out from the locals as they continued their experimentation while trudging through a dense forest.

The next destination was a nearby dungeon which had been of the Fifth Tier before the upgrade. It was relatively close and they still needed to lay low for a few days before all of the demons collectively set out for one of the new Tier 1 dungeons that appeared. They decided it would be best to move there so they wouldn’t be around for any further investigations that would occur after the two parties disappeared.

It wasn’t much of a challenge locating it since the demons were given extensive instructions on how to navigate their way between all of the dungeons in preparation for the Lord’s spell. They just needed to brainwash one additional scouting group and they found themselves in a brand new Tier 4 dungeon.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was a great opportunity to implement some of the changes they came up with to influence the memories and thoughts of others, so they spent a bit of time messing around with the humans. Elsmeth even took his shot and successfully altered the memories of a Cleric, much to the astonishment of his companion.

His energy level was still around what a Tier 5 demon would possess, yet he was already able to perform something Israfel had to be at Tier 3 to do. It was only possible because while the demons relied on their vast energy to brute force their way through some of their spells, he was able to efficiently use the little bit he had with his own understanding of how the magic operated.

They didn’t just focus on their study of magic, though. The newborn skeleton had many questions and the utter absence of a filter. He didn’t hesitate to bombard Israfel with everything that piqued his curiosity.

And a great many things piqued his curiosity.

“You mentioned earlier that you have a title of Nobility, so why did you volunteer to leave the Abyssal Realm and be stationed in a dungeon? Perhaps things are somewhat different now that the invasion is underway, but I don’t see why anyone would want to be in a position akin to being a hostage of the humans. Isn’t that why you killed them? Because they felt they could demand of you whatever they pleased?”

“There are those that volunteer to gain a noble title, those that do so driven by a sense of patriotism, and those that choose it over the punishment for the crime they committed.”

“What crime did you commit?”

“What makes you think I wasn’t driven by patriotism?”

“You don’t seem very patriotic…”

“Tsk… It was nothing too serious. I simply killed my father.”

His tone was nonchalant, but his eyes betrayed a sense of seriousness and indignation. There was surely a great story behind it, but he didn’t offer any further elaboration. Elsmeth wanted to press, but after a number of very direct questions and overly blunt remarks, he had been scolded for not having any ‘tact’ during their trip.

He wasn’t completely certain, but he had a vague feeling that prying into the reason behind why someone would commit patricide fell into the realm of ‘crossing boundaries’, another thing Israfel had mentioned during their discussions.

Seeing the demon clam up after his final line, he ultimately decided to change his line of questioning. There were many things he wanted to know about, after all.

“So, you haven’t really given me the exact details. You said that you killed the humans because they were trying to steal the ingredients you were cultivating from you, but why were they so important? Surely you could make more, not to mention the fact that you’d be leaving for the invasion after a short period, so I don’t really understand why you’d put yourself in such a situation over something so trivial.”

“Cultivate more? When nourishing flora with potions derived from the essences of their predecessors, not only will the new essences gain an increase in potency, but there will also occasionally be alterations in effects.

Two different people starting with the same type of herb and the same potion recipe can create entirely different species with unique magical properties given enough time. Do you think I can precisely replicate the results I’ve obtained by starting from scratch?

I wasn’t about to abandon the progress I had accumulated in my research over the greed of some pesky humans. Do even realize what I’ve accomplished so far?

You know what? Let me show you.”