(Author: Hello all. Writing a fantasy is a nice break from my other stories. Now as a paragraph stated in the first chapter, the first seven years was just Elgar (aka the Dragon King that once ruled a planet) reading books in the imperial library to learn more about his new world while trying to avoid unwanted attention. Anyway, I plan to focus on this story and Jade Immortal. Writing 2 different genres is easier. Again, this is not a virtual reality story so the tables I make will be different. Thank you all for reading. I guarantee there are no more experiment stories as I have decided to stick with these two. Enjoy.)
Chapter 2: Power of Souls
Elgar sat on his bed as he began meditating. He was a mage so why meditate? The reason was that he was absorbing the mana around him. He had chosen the path of a mage, a harder and rarer path than a martial artist who cultivated something call qi or spirit energy. Mages mainly relied on the mana in their bodies to cast spells, but necromancers were different. Necromancers could use mana from all living things around them and slowly expand their mana pool.
Another energy source was the soul. As Elgar read his magic books, all seven fields of necromancy talked about souls. When a person died, a part of their soul is left behind and becomes something akin to mana. Necromancy did had to do with the dead, but it was the soul, not the flesh. The only exception was using the body as a vessel for an undead minion as it was easier than twisting mana and giving it a physical form.
Blood magic actually raised the dead and forcibly fused what was left of the body's soul back into the body to animate the body. People always confused necromancy with blood magic until one hundred and twenty years ago when the current imperial family authorized its use so the second child, the eldest princess, would not be sentenced to death. Sometimes people in power only did the right thing to protect themselves.
"Seven different elementals fused into one," Elgar said as he stared at his scorpion. "That Tristan is a powerful human."
Mages had nine ranks in total, but few ever ventured into the Immortal Realms like martial artists did. The nine ranks of mages were Apprentice Mage, Adept Mage, Elite Mage, Sorcerer, Wizard, Magus, Arch Magus, Mage King, and Mage Emperor. Tristan was an Arch Magus, a rank 7 mage. He would have been a tasty snack for Elgar in his previous life. Pity, but he was useful.
Bone magic was really fascinating magic. The necromancer could create bones in any shape of form from mana or by using an actual bone and imbuing mana into it. As Elgar experimented with bone magic, he was able to create a small cage of bones large enough to trap his scorpion. It wasn't much, but having a bone cage for his scorpion was pretty cool to look at. He decided to learn magic as a form of crowd control. It lacked power, but had many potential uses.
Water and lightning magic was elementary magic that anyone could learn. It was simple, but very powerful. Elgar did not want to be a generic mage, but necromancers could learn lightning and water magic so he had decided to study them too. He decided to master it if only to disguise himself as an elementalist in the future.
Only his father and Tristan knew he was a necromancer. In three years, when his status card activated and he was given the card, it would say he was a hero and elementalist that could use lightning, water, darkness, and plant magic. A status card was made by creating a card using one's own mana and qi, depending on which path you followed. This meant that he was the one to make his card. Anything could be manipulated on a status card, even one's name and profession. Why? This was because the gods or devils who created the Mortal Realm wanted people to be able to hide their power or capabilities to protect themselves in the future.
His status card would look like this to avoid revealing his true class was necromancy.
NameElgar MaltosClassElementalistElemental Affinities Lighting
Water
Darkness
PlantTitlesHero
Bookworm
Researcher
Alchemist
Plant magic was rare not because people didn't use it but because many people thought it was weak. Using plant magic, Elgar could study and find plants suitable for his alchemical potions he would make. He planed to make explosive vials containing water, plant, lightning, and poison magic. Plant magic would help him identify plants. He could also think of creating walls of roots as a barrier or use thorny vines to ensnare his foes. Plant life was everywhere and could be used as subtle attacks. He could also draw mana from plants to heal himself.
People just didn't think of how to apply magic and considered them weak because of their ignorance. Plus, alchemy was a lucrative trade and necromancy required a lot of tools and materials of magical beast and creatures. He could just pay for the materials if he couldn't find them or if the monster was too strong for him.
Darkness magic was useful as he could use invisibility magic in shadows or at night. It was more of a stealth type magic, but many demons could use it as powerful offense type magic. His father was a quarter demon so he had some aptitude to use dark magic offensively. Poison magic was more of a control type magic that damaged the enemy over time. If he wanted to assassinate someone in the future, poison magic was the way to go. Furthermore, by studying poison magic, he could also cure himself in case someone tried to poison him.
Summoning magic was the main essence of necromancy. He could summon skeletal warriors and monsters to battle in his stead in the future. He could relax and use long range spells while his minions took all the damage and did the grunt work. If someone slipped past them, he would use his spear and keep his scorpion close as a bodyguard as Tristan told him its maximum size would grow as he got stronger. He wondered what Tristan's first familiar was, but suspected it was in the vault of the library only the elders and patriarch of the Maltos clan could enter. His father, the third son of House Maltos, probably knew what it was unless it was in its tiny form and hid among the treasure.
"Necromancy is very useful for my ambition," Elgar said. He stopped absorbing mana and fell asleep after reviewing his plans. All seven fields served a useful purpose and would be worth the extra effort to learn. The only problem was the quality of his soul.
"Now as your teacher, I have earned the right to call you Elgar and you will call me master when we are alone," Tristan said as they resided in the second level basement under the library. "As I'm sure you realized, you absorbed mana from the air. Each of the mana contained attributes of the four fields of magic with arcane essences representing summoning magic."
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"Yes master," Elgar said. "I had a higher affinity for absorbing the bone essence from the mana. I believe it might be because my affinity for it is the highest. I had difficulty absorbing dark essence so my affinity must be average for dark magic."
"Bone magic is best for defensive purposes which is a must for a mage," Tristan nodded. "When you go to a an academy in the future, choose one for warriors and mages. You can't use qi or spirit energy, but you can learn how to use a spear there besides the general your father hired to teach you. He will come in one year so you will only have two years to learn from him. I made this request as you are a mage first and warrior second. The classes you will attend will be to learn the spear, water, and plant magic. Alchemy, can't be taught and can only be truly mastered through experience. As for darkness and lightning, skip those classes and focus learning them on your own with your other fields of necromancy."
"That way I have free time," Elgar said in agreement. "I will do as you say master. My problem is my scorpion. How can I hide that it is a minion created by necromancy?"
"That's a simple matter as magical pets are allowed. It will be treated as a pet," Tristan answered, smiling. I suggest bringing the bone cage with you and saw that the scorpion was animated by me to protect you. That way, people will not know you know necromancy and will explain the bone cage you let the scorpion sleep in. Carry it with you at all times to make the lie believable. Also, let the scorpion absorb mana from you from time to time until it evolves. When it does, it can talk and as a fusion of seven elementals, it can guide you and only you can hear it speak as you are its true master."
"Oh! Cool," Elgar said. If it was sentient, this means it would be even more useful in battle. He could only imagine the monster meat he would eat when he and his scorpion was more powerful. As it had absolute obedience to him, it would be the one living creature he would trust with his ambitions.
Every day Elgar spent the morning studying his books. In the afternoon, he would spend time in the second level basement and applying his knowledge under the guidance of Tristan. He would spend the rest of the afternoon until midnight meditating. He would only rest to eat, sleep, and use the bathroom everyday and will sleep soundly due to exhaustion. He would also let the scorpion absorb mana while he studied in the morning to make it stronger.
His only breaks from training were the weekends. He used his free time to study alchemy books and learning about plants. He also made many experiments trying to make the exploding vials and suffered many setbacks. Sometimes, he would sneak into the imperial cemetery at night and absorb the mana from the corpses to expand his mana pool. This was only possible as his family were nobles and were allowed to live in the fourth section of the city. Each section was a circle around the palace and expanded up to twenty miles.
The capital city of the Galintor Kingdom, Akhildor was made of five sections. The outer most section was were the livestock and commoners lived, The second section was were soldiers were trained and lived. The third section was the merchant district and the part that all outsiders and people of common status to had access at the most. The fourth section was where the nobles and knights lived. The knights trained there and the imperial cemetery and library was there as well. Unbeknownst to the common folk, underneath the knights' houses and training grounds was where the imperial dungeon laid. It was made there to prevent the royal family from being endangered in the result of a jail break. The fifth section was the palace itself where only members of the royal family lived. The royal guards and palace servants also lived there.
After almost a year of training, Tristan called Elgar to meet him for a trip before he started learning the spear. It was time for Elgar to empower his soul and be able to use more soul energy.
"It is time for you to learn about the power of souls as you have absorbed an adequate amount of soul energy from the dead," Tristan said. "I have already received permission from your father to take you with me into the imperial catacombs. A hidden entrance lies in the grave of the founder of the kingdom, your most famous ancestor. No outsider knows it, but the grave is empty and a few drops from a descendent will break the illusion magic and reveal the stairs to the catacomb. None of your family members were able to reach the heart of the catacomb due to its many dangers. However, no one as powerful as I, a rank 7 mage, has ever made an attempt."
"So we are going to hunt for treasures?" Elgar asked.
"Yes," Tristan answered. "Any gold and jewelry found will be given to your father with a few given to you and myself. All the magical items and weapons we find will be given to you. It is yours by right and I have raided many other tombs and ruins. This will be a test of your progress thus far. It will also serve as practice for you to use your spear in a life and death situation and get a feel as to how to use it. Also, the catacomb will be rich with soul energy and your scorpion will become stronger tremendously. The main goal is to find the Urn of the Demon King. Do you know of Demon Kings?"
"It is said to be a demon that ascended to the Immortal Realm," Elgar answered. In his old life, he was the Dragon King. He was a dragon that ascended to the Immortal Realm and broke back into the Mortal Realm after two millennia to rule a planet. He had killed a few Demon Kings and Immortal Kings before he lost the desire to grow stronger and wanted to rule instead.
"Correct," Tristan smiled. "A Demon King is an elite ranked demon from the Immortal Realm. When a demon or immortal ascends, they don't become a Demon King or Immortal King yet. As to how they become one, no one knows. When you and I become a Mage Kings onwards, we are considered immortals as the length of a lifespan is obsolete to us. We live forever unless we get killed. I am an Arch Magus so I am just one rank away from being a Mage King and a low tier Immortal. Hopefully you become a powerful mage before I ascend one day. Tomorrow we head to the catacombs. Make your preparations well. I can only imagine what dangers we will face to find the Urn of the Demon King. What it is, you'll know when you see it."
Prologue and Chapter 1: Hero Summoning Main Page Chapter 3: Relatives and Tombs