Previously Sage had concentrated on learning mostly attack spells, which had not served her well when she had been faced with a strong opponent. This time she decided to focus on other spells; like the transfiguration 5th Order spell [Polymorph]. When she inscribed this, the image that popped up in her head was her using it on the bastard of a Guard Captain. When they next met maybe she should turn him into a rat or a toad and then beat the living shit out of him. It would be immensely satisfying to do so.

Apart from [Polymorph], she also learned the 4th Order spell [Ward] she had found recorded in Zachary’s holy book. This was a spell with which one could ward off a select amount of elemental damage of the user’s choice. It was a perfect fit for her. With this spell in hand she would definitely be able to resist that guy’s Light Magic when they met again.

The other spells that she ingrained were the likes of 5th Order spells [Tremor], [Ice Storm] and [Stone Wall]. She also went back to learn more 1st to 4th Order spells to increase the amount of higher Order spells she could ingrain. After learning [Stone Wall], which was her sixth 5th Order spell, she was finally eligible to learn her first 6th Order spell.

With this she looked at the spells that were available in Bori’s study.

Unfortunately they were quite few and mostly had to do with the necromancy branch of magic. That left Sage to automatically delete spells like [Raise Dead VI] and [Create Skeleton VI]. Other spells included [Blight] which was described as a spell that could turn everything with a ten metre radius into a dried up corpse. There was also the spell [Rot], a particularly nasty one that caused living flesh to rot. Apart from these spells there were those that could strengthen the undead, which she did not even bother to look at; except one, [Dark Field].

This type of spell conjured a shadowy ground with a diameters of ten metres. Within this field undead were gradually strengthened and the living gradually weakened. The spell had a twin called [Light Field] which inflicted the opposite effect. Upon reading about it she immediately recalled the field spell of the Guard Captain that had weakened her. And so she decided to advance using this spell. In her mind she was thinking; would it not be good to counter the bastard’s [Light Field] with her own dark one?

There was no hesitance as she brought the scroll to eye level and tried to memorise its contents. While she did so she stubbornly forced herself to focus on the task and not to wonder about the pain that would come the moment she successfully cast the spell. If her thoughts drifted to that, chances were that she would scare herself and delay what needed to be done.

In her current situation she could not afford that.

The moment she completely memorised the spell’s pattern she immediately cast it. In that instant darkness escaped from her feet and covered the entire floor of the tower’s study. The feeling she got as she stood in said darkness was pleasant. She felt stronger than usual and even felt her new reattached arm’s rate of recovery speed up.

Unfortunately, she only got a moment to enjoy the feeling.

What came after was what she had been dreading.

She was suddenly struck with an intense agony, causing her to clench her fists tightly and curl her toes. She shut her eyes as tightly as she could and bit her lip hard enough to taste her obsidian blood. Unfortunately, these actions did nothing to alleviate the pain.

If advancing to the 5th Order had felt like being stabbed by a million needles simultaneously then advancing the 6th Order felt the same, only the needles were red-hot irons fresh out of the fire. Even though she was biting her lip hard she could not stop herself from letting out a pained groan. Her entire body shook as she endured, silent tears welling from her eyes.

The wait for the transformation of her mana to end felt like an eternity. The pain kept getting worse and worse until she felt like she was dying. Unfortunately, as an undead she could not be killed by climbing Orders, which meant she could only endure as the pain got worse.

Then the transformation ended. She was left sprawled in the armchair once again. The books and scrolls that were on the table were splayed onto the now undarkened floor and the table they were previously resting on had been flipped over. Her advancement this time had been pretty rough.

Fuck, she thought, choosing to remain slumped in the armchair with her eyes closed. Her body was still shaking from the aftereffects as she thought about her next advancements. There were still four more to go including Ultra Order. That advancement, she had a feeling would, be on a completely different level to what she had just experienced.

These advancements were designed for fucking masochists! She complained.

If she had a choice she would have opted out of advancing to the next Orders after this experience, or at least set up intervals ranging from a few years to a decade in order to prepare herself. Unfortunately, she did not have a choice. She would have to keep climbing to higher ranks in the shortest amount of time if she did not want to be completely helpless when Saint Leah finally found her. When that happened- and it would happen, Sage was not under the illusion that her status as Darkborne could remain hidden forever. The fact that her dark element seeped into her elemental spells was a clear giveaway for anyone who knew what to look for. In the future she would be careful not to cast them around people- she should at least be in the Ultra Order.

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Not that she actually believed that she would be able to defeat a legend like the Shean Imperator even if she reached that level. However, she should at least be able to resist for a while and escape.

After a long time she finally opened her eyes and brought her hand close to her face, activating {Index} as she gazed at it.

Race: Phantom (Undead)

Physique: Grade 4

Mana: SS (Burgundy)

Title(s): Darkborne

That confirmed it. She was now in the 6th Order, similar to Bori. If she learned five more spells and found a satisfactory 7th Order spell she might even be able to advance and become a senior mage before him.

This would have been incredibly tempting if not for the fact that she had just experienced the pain of advancing. As the 7th Order is the beginning of senior level in terms of magic, there was no doubt that the leap to it from the 6th would be as big a change as it was from the 3rd to 4th. The agony she would have to endure was certain to be on another level.

It’s a good thing that the only 7th Order spell is in the geezer’s hands, she thought with relief.

It really was fortunate that she was not interested in the spell or she would have no excuse for not trying to advance again. After all, for living beings doing so within a short frame could be extremely harmful, but as an undead the process was entirely risk-free, that was if she did not take into account the amount of pain involved.

Why did I become a phantom? She thought dejectedly.

From what she heard from Bori; when undead sorcerers reached a new Order they did not suffer like she did. Most undead do not feel pain and those who did only felt a numbed version of it. The fact that she became an undead with no dulled sense of pain was complete shit. It was definitely the work of the arsehole in the Abyss. That guy had been screwing her over since he reincarnated her in this world.

“Congratulations on your advancement master,” a soft voice came from the side.

She craned her head and saw Nyx, who had just popped out of a shadow. The cat looked at her with its big green eyes, joy in them clear as the sincerity she heard in its voice. Just one look and she immediately knew why the cat was delighted.

Race: Familiar (Elemental- Dark)

Physique: Grade 5

Mana: A (Burgundy)

The moment she advanced, so did Nyx. This was the reason why a familiar’s strength always matched that of the contractor. Unfortunately for her, even though her familiar’s mana was equivalent to a 6th Order mage, Nyx still lacked combat capabilities; which still made him almost useless to her.

“By the way master. You were moaning and squirming in your seat.” When Nyx said this, she could almost hear the mockery in his tone. “Did it hurt badly?”

This caused her to shoot him a glare. “You should know. After all, did it not hurt for you?”

“Not at all,” the cat said, propping up its posture in a prideful manner. “I am an elemental being. The transformation of mana for me is as breathing is to the living; natural and painless.”

From his behaviour, it was clear that Nyx was trying to get back at her for her earlier treatment of him. Unfortunately, she was not eager to humour the feline. Scooping it up from the scruff of the neck like she first did after summoning it, she brought it closer to her face. Ignoring its pitiful struggles, she began to inspect the changes that came with its advancement.

First off, {Void Space} could now store materials weighing up to two tonnes. {Shadow Travel} did not have much change except that its range seemed to have increased, {Devour} could now be used to consume the corpse of a Grade 3 beast and the intensity of {Misfortune} had increased by almost fifty percent.

Sage frowned as she checked the last ability. This was a passive skill that could be turned on and off, capable of doing exactly as its name suggested.

Now that I think about it nothing good has happened to me since summoning this little shit, she thought, her gaze turning into a glare. Is he the reason?

“M… master?” Nyx began, her expression seemed to be making him uneasy.

The cat’s call made her sigh and put him down. “Clean up all the books on the floor,” she ordered.

Ignoring the cat’s unhappy look, she dove back into the tomes and scrolls.

Even though she did not have a 7th Order spell to advance with, it did not mean she could not learn more 6th Order ones in preparation for the day.

The time to go out into the world is close, she thought as she selected spells to learn.

In the near future she would leave the tower and go search for the Elixir of Rejuvenation. Finding spells of the higher Orders would naturally be included on her voyage.

With these thoughts in mind she ingrained 6th Order spells [Rot], [Shield], [Forbidden Zone], [Blight] and [Dispel]. With these spells she finally met the conditions to advance to the 7th Order. Unfortunately she was unable to do so in the absence or a 7th Order spell model.

She sighed in relief and leaned back into her seat.

However…

In that moment she felt a surge of mana gathering above her. This surge did not come from Bori upstairs. No, it came from a much higher altitude, far in the sky. Also, the mana contained an incredible amount of the element of light.

Suddenly, she felt a threat to her life. Without thinking, she glanced at the sky outside tower the window and {Blink}ed.

An instant later the surge of light element mana beamed down onto the tower.