Looking at the basketball sized, charcoal looking lump on the ground, I wondered if I should have used a spell that was a little less powerful. The slime's core was relatively useful material for enchantments and certain minor ceremonies, but unfortunately, the black lump that was left from frying the slime was pretty much useless. However, I was more concerned about the slime's soul that I sensed floating nearby.
I knew I could use it to summon various mid tier undead if I had the right materials, but unfortunately, I had no proper material to use. Most of the bones in the armory/barracks were from low tier skeletons, and even if I wanted to use them, they would be useless and brittle. It was a waste of a mid tier soul. The only thing I had nearby was the massive quantities of metal lying around, but it was unfortunate that my memories of golem producing spells were all scrambled and the spells in the books lacked anything useful.
My reserve of materials back in the throne room also didn't exactly match a slime's soul. A mid tier soul would carry a lot of its memories from its life, and I couldn't imagine a slime's soul easily using a humanoid body. Worse yet, purging its memories would essentially turn it into a dumb automaton that could barely think for itself and would most likely damage its soul. Even if I gave it some memories and gave it training, it would never really be able to function fully independently.
I thought about also creating another avatar for myself, but the soul seed required to parasitize mid and high tier souls would essentially weaken me. If I compared my soul to a ball of clay, then me parasitzing another soul was like taking a chunk of clay from the original ball to stick it on the other soul. The higher the tier of the other soul, the larger the piece of clay needed to be in order to control the other soul effectively. Currently, I was barely able to control one mid tier avatar and a few lower tier avatars with the help of
Without the spell, there was a good chance I could develop multiple personalities, fuck up my soul, or even drive myself insane. Being a lich was turning out to be a shit load of hard work and was probably as close to a fantasy version of a mad scientist as one could get. So, I had some admiration for my crazy predecessor, considering the fact he had survived all the crazy shit he had to do until he reached the apex of being undead.
However, by the time I showed up, Neduzar's soul had already weakened while being sealed, and its mana producing and refining capacity had been crippled to the point that he was barely at mid tier strength. For whatever reason, when I swallowed his soul, my soul strength had been promoted to high tier strength, though still on the weaker end. I didn't know exactly how that happened, other than knowing it had something to do with ancient spell he had cast and the grimoire the LARPers back on Earth had let me use. Unfortunately, my memories of the spell and the grimoire continued to be hazy, like there was something purposefully blocking any details. I scratched at my horned head, deciding I needed to focus on what was in front of me for now. Worrying over something I had very little understanding about currently was nothing but wasting my time.
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Focusing on back on the dead slime's soul, I came to a decision. I began casting a mid tier spell that I remembered relatively well from my memory. Remembering how the slime fought and how it moved, I decided a 'Book' spell [Summon Wraith] was the best fit. The ancient words of the spell echoed in my mind, as a three dimensional structure slowly formed in my consciousness with each word spoken. There was no logic to the structure, but somehow it still made sense as though every line, dot, curve, and shape had a purpose. When the last word of the spell was spoken in my mind, it was like something clicked into place, and the 3D, spell structure in my mind solidified ready to be cast.
“[Summon Wraith]!” The spell name was the final trigger to cast the spell. Almost immediately, I felt the mana pulled from my soul to empower the spell structure, which then pulled the dead slime's soul quickly towards me. A second later, a large clump of mana shot out of my outstretched hand, enveloping the invisible soul, and a dark, swirling funnel of smoke formed in front of me as the spell formation finally dissipated in my mind.
The creature that scattered the smoke was bizarre looking if anything. Instead of some horrifying apparition cloaked in ethereal rags and fiery eyes, there was a large, blackish sphere floating in front of me, covered in tendrils of dark mist that were wriggling all around it. For a second, the suspenseful tableau continued, but then, just as expected, the Slime Wraith launched shadowy tentacles at me with a “Gluummp!” echoing in my mind.
However, a quick, mana reinforced thought ordering it to 'heel' was all it took for Slith to sink to the ground, its tentacles locking in place. “Sigh... Every friggin time...There's gotta be a way to pre-install some manners.”
Beside me, Bas, who had been curiously watching the entire time, walked up to the sphere like wraith and tried nudging it with a head butt. In return, Bas got quickly slapped on his bony head, leaving a layer of ice coating his skull. “Diiiieee!”
“I really have to teach you more words...” Mentally restraining Bas from pouncing on my new subordinate, I apologized to Slith. “Sorry, you have to forgive your future partner here. He tends to get a bit curious at times. Now, where were we? Ah, yes... respecting your boss... and manners... Shall we start then?”