Stygian Mage

Rank 0 Initiators — they had another name for them:

Beginners!

Generally, someone who succeeded in becoming an Initiator would just cultivate silently using their cultivation technique.

They trained slowly through Rank 0 and tried their best to increase their odds to breakthrough to Rank 1. Only after breaking through to Rank 1, they could be called proper Initiators.

They could also supplement their slow cultivation by using potions or pills created by Potioneers and Alchemists if they had enough capital.

Though buying any supplementary potion or pill was only possible for the extremely rich ones and even then it was very hard to find the items in high quantity as it was extremely hard to produce them.

But the reason that the Rank 0 Initiators usually only cultivated and trained slowly without going out for the hunt was not only because it was dangerous for them; even the Non-Initiator veterans went into the forest to hunt: The main reason was that it was not efficient enough.

The rate at which they absorbed mana was quite low; mana present in the atmosphere was enough for them.

Unless they came out in groups to hunt for beasts and knew how to seal the mana in the beast core, they would end up wasting the mana present in the beast core.

Of course, this didn’t include everyone, as many Initiators came out to hunt for different purposes.

Some came out to hunt for experience, some did it for resources but they all were mostly on the higher layers of Rank 0.

Non-Initiators also hunted for resources but they had their own methods and generally stuck to low-level beasts. Initiators had their own pride and employing Non-Initiator’s methods, hurt that ‘pride’ so they remained pretty much useless at lower layers of Rank 0.

This was especially true for someone who had chosen the path of a Spellcaster, as they didn’t have enough mana at that point to put up a proper fight.

Warriors, on the other hand, got a head start as they could train their physique before the Initiation process. They could increase their ‘Stamina’—which they used to employ skills, beforehand and so, they fared better at lower layers of Rank 0 than their counterpart.

Soren was also aware of the fact.

Moreover, with his ‘Devour’ skill, his speed of cultivation was extremely high. He could have increased his cultivation level easily even while sitting in his hotel room.

He had few reasons to come to the jungle prematurely but the most important reason he had was to practice his most anticipated spell ‘Create Undead’.

He had already recorded the information that was available in the library related to this spell. But he was missing the most important piece of the puzzle: Corpse; A dead body.

Although he had gathered some information regarding the anatomy, it was nowhere near enough for Soren to get any mastery in this spell: He needed to perform live experiments. And that was not possible inside the town, at least right now.

………..

Soren sat on the ground inside the dark and dry cave, looking at three bodies he had just gathered.

He had already checked the cave for any residents and after confirming that it was empty, he had covered the entrance with the vines after entering.

He released his Grimoire and started his first order of business.

He started using the ‘Devour’ skill.

The white mist that was rising from the three dead bodies surged and started rushing towards the book; they still had quite a bit of mana left in them.

The process went on for a while as his cultivation percentage increased.

39%...45%...60%...80%...87%

It slowed down at around 88% and then stopped. Finishing the process, Soren released a quick breath and moved on to his next order of business.

He took out his knife from his waist and started cutting the first Goblin’s corpse.

He started from the upper chest and went down, making a big cut. He then opened the wound with his hands and spread it apart.

“Isaac, Record.”

“Yes, Master.”

He slowly checked every part of the body, researching and matching it with the information he already had.

He slowly gained knowledge about how the body worked. He then cut off the body parts and started researching about the skin, muscle, flesh, bones, and skeletons.

After finishing with the body he turned his attention to the brain.

Although it was damaged when he was taking out the core, it was still good enough for now. He started his research with the brain now.

He was completely covered in blood and gore but his eyes remained focused. He used his eyes and focused on the brain to see even the small particles in detail.

This was one of the effects he had discovered about his ‘Powered Vision’.

‘Powered Vision’ had the basic function of greatly enhancing his eyes efficiency: Some of the effects included the ability to see mana above certain density and another one was the one he was using right now; which was to see small particles in detail.

Another effect of this was the one which had saved his life on the first night in this world: Night Vision. He had also noticed some other athletic skills like dynamic vision, vision tracking etc.

The effects were still weak but they would slowly develop as his cultivation increased.

……….

He continued with his experiment, moving to another body when the first one was completely destroyed.

Soon, the sun went down and night came.

Soren finally broke out of his trance when his stomach growled from hunger.

Putting down the bloody knife, he finally decided to take a rest. He cleaned his hands and face with water and ate some dried meat. He finished his dinner and then drank some water. Although the cave was completely dark, he was able to see pretty clearly; thanks to his ‘Powered Vision’.

It was not exactly like daylight but it was more than enough.

He leaned his back on the cave wall and closed his tired eyes for a while.

Isaac, can you able to play any songs for me?

“………..….”

“Master, you should just rest.”

So you can’t…..

“…………”

Ok then, talk to me about anything.

”What would you like to talk about, Master.”

Anything, I just want to hear a voice right now.

“……..Master, what do you plan to do in the future?”

Hmm~, let’s see….For now, I would like to get stronger so that I can survive alone. I also want to explore and travel this world. And someday…..I will find a way to go back to my world…..and meet my family.

Ah! Tell me, what would be the best way to travel around.

“According to some books from the library, most of the people travel using horse carts. It is quite efficient in different terrains. Some Initiators, though, like to use mana vehicles.”

Hmm….I would like one of that someday. Do you think I can buy a ‘mana vehicle’ with how much crystals I have right now?

“…..…….”

“……..….”

Ok so, let’s continue with the experiment.

After the small talk with Isaac, Soren again started his bloody experiment. He continued slicing up the bodies, throughout the night.

Soon morning came and with it came the notification that Soren was waiting for, so eagerly.

[Spell Mastery increased. Create Undead–Low Tier – Level 1/15.]

He finally had enough knowledge to use this spell.

YES!!

He couldn’t contain his excitement so he quickly released his Stygian Grimoire and tried casting the spell.

He lifted his palm and cast the spell. Soon, he felt his mana reserve almost drying up.

Black mist flew around him as a dark black colored magic circle manifested under his feet, giving off a very gloomy and dark feeling.

The circle felt like it was the essence of death and decay itself.

Soren felt some foreign information about the spell flowing into his brain as soon as the circle formed. He quickly analyzed it and made his choice.

He then pushed his palm forward and soon the black mist surged and the black magic circle disappeared.

Slowly, the black mist gathered in front of him but soon they dispersed. Instead, now there was a grayish white skeleton standing in front of him.

It looked quite fragile and had a short height, around 155~160 centimeters.

Soren could feel a strange connection to it. Like the skeleton was his slave and he was its master like it would cease to exist if he so much as wished it. Soren could feel that the skeleton in front of him was made by his own mana and his order was its will.

He was first speechless, then became ecstatic and started jumping in excitement.

YES—YES—YES. I did it….Finally!!

The two reasons for his happiness were: One—this was a Natural Spell. Two—he finally had someone to take the hits for him.

Soren then started to order the skeleton soldier around, making it do some menial stuff. After playing with it for a while, he started his experiments with it.

He checked its attack power, defensive power and how fast it could move. He performed all kinds of experiments on it.

After confirming everything, he just let it stay idle and sat down to recover his almost dried up mana reserve. While doing that, he also repaired his Spell Vessels.

Finished with that, he just waited for the skeleton to ‘die’ on its own so that he could check its lifespan.

Isaac, have you recorded everything?

“Yes, Master.”

After around 10~15 minutes, the skeleton broke and turned into black mist, dispersing into thin air.

Soren again used the spell but this time he called the ‘Rotten Zombie’.

He had in total three undead to choose from; at Low Tier of the spell. They were: Skeleton Soldier, Rotten Zombie, and Weak Wraith.

This was the information he had gained when he performed the spell successfully for the first time and formed the magic circle; though, he already had this information from the description of the spell.

He again started doing different experiments with the ‘Rotten Zombie’ and then moved on to the ‘Weak Wraith.’

……….

After he was finished with everything, he had formed a general idea about his undead minions.

Skeleton Soldier – Fragile and low strength but high speed and ability to use weapons.

Rotten Zombie – Strong and high defense—comparatively, but moved very slow and was unable to use any weapon.

Weak Wraith – Special kind of existence: Able to phase through most objects and people. Cannot do any physical attack but specializes in soul attack.

Soren sat down with his back supported by the cave wall and heaved a sigh of relief as he opened his status.

Status: Healthy
Rank 0: Layer 2 [88%]
Name: Soren Farrow	Species: Human		Attribute: Darkness & Ice
Health: 100%	Stamina: 60%		Mana: 15%
Strength: 0.90	Agility: 1.20		Vitality: 1.66
Intelligence: 3.20	Spirit: 2.80		Resistance: 1.11
Spells:
Spell Vessels: 5/5		Innate Spells/Skills:
Ice Arrow [7/7] – Level 3/10.  Mana Cost – Average. ------------   Cold Touch [4/4] – Level 2/10.  Mana Cost – High. ------------   Acid Splash [6/6] – Level 3/10.  Mana Cost – Average. ------------   Shadow Chain [4/4] – Level 3/10.  Mana Cost – High. ------------   Create Undead – Low Tier [1/3] – Level 1/15.  Mana Cost – Very High. ------------

 

He then took a break for daily stuff and after eating some dried meat, he moved on to his next order of business.

Remembering his last fight, he knew where he had to improve himself.

His spell power was quite good because of his Soul Form: Stygian Grimoire, but his mana capacity totally paled in comparison; his mana had become almost empty after only about 4 spells.

Though, that was true for all the Initiators at lower layers of Rank 0 who chose the Spellcaster’s path: He was no different but he still wanted to work on his weakness.

Soon, he formed a plan.

He was going to divide his days according to three activities: First; cultivate. Second; practice mana control. Third; hunt beasts.

After resting for a while, he started his first activity.

Devour!

Cultivation percentage slowly started increasing.

88%....92%.....95%....98%....99%

Isaac, prepare for a breakthrough. Focus on the same aspects as the last time.

“Yes, Master. Staring the breakthrough process; priority remains the same.”

Soren gritted his teeth in pain and held on to his consciousness.

The pain had lessened a bit this time but it was still significantly high. He again felt the same sensation of ants crawling and biting in his body, tearing it up.

The process continued for a while.

Soren’s clothes were completely wet from his sweat and were now sticking to his body. His breaths were erratic and his palms were clenched tightly.

Time passed.

……….

After a while, everything calmed down.

Soren released a long breath and opened his eyes.

He had finally broken through to the third layer. He couldn’t contain his excitement anymore and quickly opened his status.

Status: Healthy
Rank 0: Layer 3 [0%]
Name: Soren Farrow	Species: Human		Attribute: Darkness & Ice
Health: 100%	Stamina: 30%		Mana: 100%
Strength: 1.01	Agility: 1.32		Vitality: 1.97
Intelligence: 3.90	Spirit: 3.52		Resistance: 1.20
Spells:
Spell Vessels: 5/5		Innate Spells/Skills:
Ice Arrow [7/7] – Level 3/10.  Mana Cost – Average. ------------   Cold Touch [4/4] – Level 2/10.  Mana Cost – High. ------------   Acid Splash [6/6] – Level 3/10.  Mana Cost – Average. ------------   Shadow Chain [4/4] – Level 3/10.  Mana Cost – High. ------------   Create Undead – Low Tier [1/3] – Level 1/15.  Mana Cost – Very High. ------------

 

He felt the mana coursing through his body. If he were to fight those Goblins again, he would finish them off without running.

As his mana quality and quantity had increased, the mana requirements for his spells had also decreased. He quickly repaired the Spell Vessels and started his second activity of the day.

But before doing that, he used his ‘Cold Touch’ spell and froze the Goblin’s dead bodies so that it would not rot, as he still had some use for them and bringing another dead body in the cave would be too much trouble.

After finishing that, he sat down and started practicing his mana control.

He did different kinds of things with mana to increase his control over that.

During the process, the sun had started to sink under the horizon. Soren kept practicing even after the night came.

Soon he started feeling tired and his eyelids started getting heavy.

“Master, you should eat something and go to slee—”

As Isaac was finishing his sentence, Soren received his long-awaited notification.

[Innate Skill Learned. Mana Manipulation – Level 1/15.]