Thorin packed up camp and gathered his skeletons in the forest. As he looked at them he was happy just a couple of days ago they were clumsy and idiotic. Now they were at a more basic level and could be considered a decent fighters.
Once again he ordered them to follow him from in the woods as he started back down the road again. There were no interruptions this time and he eventually left the woods behind entering a hilly plains environment. Realizing he couldn't hide his skeletons out in the open he was faced with a problem. Did he leave them in the woods a day away from town or try to find a hiding place for them closer.
‘If I get into trouble then they’d be too far away to be any use.’ Thorin thought dejectedly.
“God I am an idiot how could I not thought of this.” Thorin said out loud as inspiration struck him. He quickly looked over the description for his dimensional storage talent again.
Dimensional Storage
Allows gives you a 50m cube to storage dimension. Just need to think about storing the object or bring it out to use.
‘I can put anything that's not living inside the space. Does that include his skeletons?’
He quickly called them all over. He had Tim’s skeleton, most easily the weakest, stand in front of him. Just like any other object he willed the skeleton away. He then instantly brought it back to see if it was still working. The skeleton just stood there not affected by what just happened at all.
‘Great, I could probably shove a hundred skeletons in there when it's empty.’ Thorin thought while grinding.
‘I feel bad for the next bastard that attacks me’ Thorin thought as he imagined the look on his attackers face when he summons a group of skeletons with just a hand motion.
He decided to camp for the night in the edge of the forest and make the rest of the trip tomorrow.
After he finished setting up and ordering the skeletons to train while he slept, Thorin sat down and looked at his status screen.
‘Huh no improvement today, I guess I need to do more work to get status points now.’ Thorin noticed.
‘Alright time to get some shut eye’ Thorin thought as he laid down on his bedding.
‘Hopefully by tomorrow I can be sleeping in a real bed.’ Thorin thought as he drifted to sleep.
Thorin opened his eyes. He was back in the classroom. This time it was eerily quiet and empty. He looked around and tried to see if anything was different than before. Not noticing anything he stood up and walked to the door. He grasped the doorknob and turned... It didn’t budge. Confused Thorin turned around, when he did he found himself in a completely different room. It was more of a house. It was a smaller house, but was quite comfy looking and had a warm atmosphere. There he saw two people standing there at the other side of the room, facing the other way. Once Thorin looked at these two the warm feeling in the house was drastically was chilled into a sorrowful atmosphere. As Thorin walked closer he could see that the woman’s shoulders were shaking and a faint crying could be heard. The man hugged her and seemed to be trying to calm her down. For some reason Thorin felt a pull to relive the woman. He walked over and reached out to hug her. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. He opened back up his eyes and shuddered and stepped back in fear. The women turned around and instead of a face, she only had a skull. She screeched and reached out grabbing Thorin.
Just as Thorin was grabbed he woke up in a cold sweat. It was still night but he wasn't going to fall asleep not after that. He started to meditate. He found that he could calm down after these dreams through clearing his mind. He could even gain willpower on some occasions. He entered a state of peacefulness and claimed his breathing. He tuned out his connection to his skeletons, who were still training.
He reached a point of mind where nothing mattered and he was embracing his surroundings. He could feel the wind, the moisture on his skin and the sounds of the night time forest. He felt at peace. He also felt an increase of the world's mana entering his body. At first it was a trickle more than normal. Slowly it started to ramp up until it was getting uncomfortable. His mana pool was quickly filled to the brim and was actually forced to expand. The torrent of mana continued to increase as Thorin was now sweating due to the energies coursing through his body. Thorin felt like he was melting, but he soon felt a presence in his body drawing mana away just as fast as it was pouring in. After what felt like an eternity the flow of mana into his body stopped. The tension in his body relaxed as he returned to normal. A blue window popped up showing an increase of ten in both willpower and in intelligence. Thorin realized that he just went through a refinement and that the mana could flow faster and more easily through his body. He quickly began to calm his mind to see if he could enter this state again.
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Just as he was starting to find his meditative state again a voice sounded out.
“I am back Mr. Black, due to your state of enlightenment I was able to use you as a conduit to restore myself.” Cynar spoke.
“Great now that you're back I can learn more and have some to talk to for a change, and please just call me Thorin.” Thorin said out loud looking around for the shade.
“I am still inside of you, so you don't need to speak out loud. Existing in the physical realm exhausts my power, so I'll remain here for now with your permission.”
‘Alright then, you're back now does that mean you can teach me more spells?’ Thorin asked hoping to learn more about magic.
“Yes, yes, I can teach you two spells right now. Normally I would only be able to teach you one spell at a time without hurting your mind, or draining my power substantially. Luckily you managed to enter a state of enlightenment earlier so your mind is more receptive.” Cynar explained happily.
Cynar was extremely pleased with Thorin. He had just begun his journey with magic and already entered a state of enlightenment with no teachings.
‘What is a state of enlightenment? I just thought I was meditating.’ Thorin questioned.
“It is a state of mind and being where you merge with the world around you. This state allows you to comprehend the mysteries of the world and magic. There is also an increase in your mana absorption as the energy of the world flows through you.” Cynar stated quickly doing his job as Thorin's teacher.
“It is dangerous though, if you can't handle the raw mana. Luckily for you I was there to absorb the extra mana that would have killed you or left you crippled.”
‘Thank you for that I didn't know’ Thorin thought grateful for Cynar’s intervention.
‘What are the spells you can teach me?’ Thorin was eager to increase his power.
“Before I can teach you a new spell we have to find out your specialization in necromancy. That way you will have a strong foundation for later.”
‘Sounds like a plan what are the specializations and what spells can I learn from each.’
“There is the basic spell all necromancers know, summon skeleton. Past this level of spells we will have to pick your specialization in the necromancer arts. Please choose between, life siphon, curse of weakness and skeletal refinement. Each of these are the start of the necromancers’ specialization process.”
‘What do you mean, will I be limited to only one type of necromancy?’ Thorin asked
“Each of these spells is the foundation spell for one of the necromancer paths. Life siphon for blood necromancer, curse of weakness for black necromancer, and skeletal refinement for lord necromancers. No you can learn some of each paths spells but you can only learn the more powerful skills from your path.” Cynar explained.
He continued to go on and explain each of the paths Thorin could take.
“Blood Necromancers focus on draining their opponent's vitality and using it to heal themselves or power their spells. Some people who follow this path become melee warriors who never tire as they cut through their enemies.”
“Black Necromancers focus on curse magic and weakening their opponents. They then use poison and disease magic to kill of their opponents. They are a great force for siege warfare and large combat.”
“Lord Necromancers focus on its summons. Using their willpower they control powerful undead armies and are a force to be reckon with. Often weak themselves they rely on their subordinates for their power.”
“Normally your teacher would be a master of your path, but you're stuck with me teaching you. Hopefully you are a black necromancer like myself, that way I could teach you everything I know. If you are one of the others I will only be able to teach the moderately powerful spells.”
‘I don’t get to pick my path?’ Thorin said. ‘I was hoping to just choose my favorite.’
“No I have to do a test to see your affinities, before we find out” Cynar said.
‘Alright what do I have to do?’
“Just relax and let me examine your mana pool, this might feel unpleasant but please endure it.”
Thorin closed his eyes in preparation and Cynar started his examination.
Name: Thorin Black Class: Necromancer Lv 5 12/50 XP Health 140/140 Mana 1250/1250 Stats: Strength: 16 Vitality: 14 Stamina: 16 Endurance: 9 Intelligence: 25 Willpower: 38 Agility: 12 Dexterity: 11
Skills Summon Familar Lv. Max Summon Skeleton Rank D
Talents Affinity with Death Dimensional Storage Head Start Magic Reserves Strong Soul
Thorin's Forces Skeleton 3