Chương 366: Inside And Outside–Different Worlds

Ergonip was indeed clutching a white pearl when I found him in his usual spot in the hidden base of the organisation. The thing was larger than his bony hands and gave the impression that it was one of those crystal balls, only lacking any reflective capability.

"Ah, if it isn't the woman of the hour!" He showed off the large pearl. There was no expression to be found on his dusty skeleton face, but he radiated smugness quite aggressively.

"One of my fellow sacks of bones gave this magnificent thing to me, merely for me to tell you that he would like to pay a visit as soon as possible–What a steal that is! He doesn't care much about it because he is no necromancer, but let me tell you, this thing, associated with a bright mind such as mine, can cause a whole lot of damage! What a silly goose he is" I tilted my head slightly.

"Who exactly is the person who–who asked you to tell me this?"

"Oh, I almost forgot! He is known as 'Sir Seventh'. He is the highest authority amongst the System Fundamentalists. He is the leader of the ruling council… He's been obsessed with the Universal System a very long time, now, and he is probably the greatest scholar when it comes to this subject" Ergonip marked a pause to admire the pearl before resuming speaking.

"He told me that he had tried to contact you through another means, but that it had been a little while, so he went ahead and went with a more direct–And costly–Approach. I can vouch that he is pretty much harmless…"

"... Well, you don't have anything to worry about is what I mean. He isn't harmless at all otherwise, but his obsession with the Universal System and all that relates to it is very strong. He worships the Universal System, and he seems certain that you possess a special system yourself, so you'll be an esteemed guest" I hadn't expected Ergonip to be familiar with someone from the System Fundamentalists, and certainly not their highest authority. It's another skeleton at that… Yet, one that isn't a necromancer?

The words Ergonip was throwing around weren't ignored by my nonexistent ears. I may not be anything of a necromancer, but anyone could deduce some basic things, especially since stories about necromancy were rather prevalent. It stood to reason that raising or turning oneself into an undead required not only to be slightly insane, but most of all, required one to be extremely skilled in necromantic arts. Casting such a spell on your own person was deemed to be extremely risky and prone to mistakes.

Most necromancers who took this leap of faith either ended up as regular corpses or turned into mindless undeads. If they were lucky, a bit of their memories and personality would remain in the husk, but the undead that was created would basically be a new entity altogether. I recall plenty of stories of people exploring laboratories or homes that had once belonged to necromancers, only for them to find the necromancers as an undead that merely attacked anything alive in sight.

At the very least, the resulting undead would be a formidable force, as becoming undead not only had the possibility of making one eternal, but it also held the potential to greatly enhance one's talent and power with necromancy. After all, what better way to gain a greater grasp of death magic than to be dead?

The odds of someone becoming an undead version of themselves with their memories and personality intact were rare even if the person was a skilled necromancer, so for someone who apparently wasn't even a necromancer to become such an undead was pretty much impossible. Perhaps Ergonip did for that 'Sir Seventh', and that's why he was willing to pay such a hefty price just for a message to be delivered? After all, I could potentially ignore the message completely.

For all this Sir Seventh knew, I might have never been willing to even visit in the first place. He definitely is an odd character like Ergonip. I guess being willingly turned into a skeleton is the side effect of giving a funny bone. Heh… It is unusual, but at times, it is clearer than ever that you and Xlown are much more alike than meets the eye Guilty as charged! I pointed to the pearl.

"I was going to pay a visit eventually regardless… What is this thing even about, though? Does it empower death spel–spells or something?"

"This gorgeous, rotund beauty? What it does is very simple. It allows a renowned spellcaster of my great stature with a strong affinity for necromancy to summon shades of people who have long passed away""Sh–Shades?" I had only heard of the topic once, maybe twice. To me, they were just a specific kind of phantomatic apparition, but instead of being a soul of the damned or some spectre bound to a place or item, they were the manifestation of a memory, of a person at a precise moment in time.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Basically, if I went to my old house and ran into my mother and she acted as though it was still the past before her death and looked the same as she had at that time, then I would probably be addressing a shade rather than a ghost like I am more familiar with. I couldn't help but slightly lean forward.

"... And it can–an summon the shade of anyone?"

"Precisely, you must understand just how valuable an item this pearl is. Well, it can only do one summoning at a time, and my tests have revealed a fairly significant cooldown alongside a greedy cost to activate it, but they are more than worth it considering that as long as someone has existed, that I know of their existence, and that they have passed on…

Then, their shade can be summoned for as long as my mana can support their presence""I see" I nodded along as he went on with details that were of no importance to me, and eventually excused myself by saying that I was going to pay the System Fundamentalists a visit since they seemed so sincere in their desire to meet me. … That wasn't a lie, but I had been deceptive in my explanation.

The first reason I had felt the need to go away was that Ergonip's pearl was a meal so succulent that I had genuinely been beginning to struggle to stop myself from trying to grab it. Naturally, trying to snatch away the prized treasures of an ancient skeleton mage–Who was probably a bona fide lich–Right under his nose was far from a wise idea. I find this item to be tempting to eat for a different reason than most things.

I had devoured countless spirits and haunted items, even a dungeon core that spawned nothing but ghosts and spectres, but nothing had ever given me this particular feeling. I don't think it had anything to do with merely improving my nature or unlocking a form. It instead felt like there was something more… Specific associated with eating this orb-thing. Also, can you check my memories real quick, Nara?

I don't know if I was imagining things, but I could have sworn that I was beginning to see my reflection in this thing, despite it not being reflective at all when I first saw it. I could go through my memories myself, especially with 'Machine Brain' under my belt, but I wanted a fresh pair of eyes, just to make sure. You were absolutely seeing your own reflection in the pearl. It wasn't an effect of wanting to devour it–I have no idea what this means, though.

Maybe it is supposed to have something to do with what eating the orb will grant you? Huh… I have no idea, to be honest. I guess we'll just have to sit on all this for now. There is no way I can eat the orb without being found out right now. Not only is Ergonip keeping it close to him, but I mostly don't want to make an enemy out of him. He is clearly the strongest spellcaster I have ever seen. I don't need some refined mana sense to tell.

Even if 'Energy Resistance' was at a much higher level than it currently is, I doubt I would be able to just take his spells head-on. Regardless of how much I would like to shatter this pearl in between my steel teeth, I returned to Leou's tower and decided that I would go visit the system fanatics after Mari was done with trying to grant me the 'Rest Mode' upgrade. It seemed uncertain whether she would be able to do so, but Mari was confident, and I trusted that confidence of hers.

She usually had a much meeker approach to things, so it was always nice to see my sweet mechanist thrive in an environment that was to her liking. … It took three days' worth of work until a conclusion was reached… Rest Mode - You gain an additional mode between active and dormant. You can still move, but your eyes and certain other functions will act as though you are dormant This upgrade turned out to be quite straightforward.

The so-called 'functions' that were affected could be picked and chosen to a certain extent. However, if I just used this new 'Rest Mode' in its raw form, pretty much all of my upgrades would become inaccessible, but it did indeed completely remove the glow of my eyes, and when I tried to stop moving, I was able to confirm with some assistance from my family that it indeed seemed just like when I was actually dormant.

Alongside 'Trickster's XP Tank', I would be able to truly pull off the good old act of playing death very convincingly if needed. Ahh… It's been a while since I had to use this tank full of false experience. It had helped me a lot early on, so it was certainly a shame to see it go unused for so long. Well, I'll surely have more occasions in the future…

I took the crystal-compass-thingy that I had originally found hidden inside of the Gravescape, and using a giant flying beast from Leou's exportation and importation business, I headed straight toward where it was pointing, jumping off when it became clear that I was passing my mark.

Thankfully, the System Fundamentalists had their headquarters hidden within the territory of the Continental Alliance–It frankly didn't faze me much, but nearly the entire continent was being burned by chaos and drowned by blood right now. Quite a lot of people were blaming me for it, so my income of negative emotions was quite high, but I didn't really care about all of this.

A whole bunch of nations were throwing their champions and summoned heroes at each other, whilst the monsters spawned because of me were apparently running rampant as well. News from the outside was only supplied by seers and the like, so it was sparse and often confused, but apparently, a few of my monsters outside were making a name for themselves. There was even word that one of them had slaughtered a somewhat important group of champions. A bunch of spellblades or whatever with elemental specialisations.

They were apparently quite strong, or they used to be at least. According to what I heard, they were all torn apart by a humanoid monster. As in, just this one fellow against a group of elite warriors praised even by countries of the Continental Alliance, and it had massacred them and just walked away. Whether that was true was uncertain, and whether that monster was even one of mine was also dubious, but if it was–I would have to pat it on the shoulder.

There were a few other monsters that were starting to invite themselves into scary stories alongside me. There was one that could apparently turn into anyone. There was one that hadn't actually done anything, but was spotted all over the place, and there was even one that specifically targeted people inside of their home or refuge… Almost brings a tear to my eye.