Chapter 46: The crow and spine! (Castle bonus chap)

Karl was lying lazily across his bed after finally getting some proper rest.

His hair was still slightly wet from the bath, and for once there was nothing immediately trying to kill him, drag him into another dungeon or mark him for death.

Noctis had settled somewhere nearby while Karl stared at the ceiling for several moments before finally remembering everything he had been putting aside.

Alright, System give me my rewards now.

The reply came almost immediately.

[Certainly, Host.]

[Please enjoy your rewards.]

Karl sat up and opened his storage.

The first things he took out were the two dark Undead Summoning Tokens, one obtained from the Emergency Mission inside Forgotten Cave and the other from curing Arthur.

Before wasting either of them blindly, Karl turned one between his fingers.

What exactly do these things summon?

[Undead Summoning Tokens send a call across countless realms toward deceased existences compatible with Host’s profession.]

Karl raised an eyebrow.

And what can answer?

[Almost anything.]

[A powerful undead existence that once stood among divine beings may answer.]

Karl’s eyes brightened.

[Alternatively, Host may receive completely useless low-grade trash.]

His expression immediately twitched.

You really had to add that part.

[The quality of the token and Host’s profession greatly increase the probability of obtaining something valuable.]

[However, probability is not certainty.]

Karl looked at the token again.

Anything else I should know before I accidentally summon something that eats Ardent City?

The System answered without hesitation.

[If the responding existence exceeds what Host can currently summon by an unacceptable degree, or possesses overwhelming hostility that prevents safe binding, the System will immediately sever the connection.]

[The token will be destroyed rather than allowing a dangerous existence to cross over.]

Karl nodded, that was reasonable enough.

My luck can’t possibly be that bad.

The System went suspiciously silent, Karl stared at the empty notification space for a moment.

Whatever.

He held the first token properly.

How do I use it?

[Simply crush it, Host.]

Karl sat straighter and closed his fingers around the token.

Crack.

The dark material broke apart instantly and dissolved into streams of black light that poured onto the floor.

A summoning circle formed on the floor and Karl watched it expand.

Within seconds, the formation covered a huge portion of his bedroom while increasingly heavy pressure spread from its centre.

Karl’s earlier laziness disappeared almost immediately.

This scale... Hero rank?

The circle grew even larger and his eyes brightened further.

Maybe something even better?

The black light filling the formation suddenly surged.

[Summoning successful.]

[Heaven-Eating Crow summoned.]

Karl froze for a second.

Heaven-Eating Crow?

His excitement immediately rose again.

That name alone sounds ridiculous.

Something shot out of the summoning circle and Karl instinctively leaned back.

A tiny black bird barely larger than his palm flew directly into his chest before scrambling upward and landing on him.

The crow looked around the bedroom in complete confusion.

"Where the hell am I?"

The Heaven-Eating Crow suddenly noticed the enormous summoning circle behind it and jts eyes widened.

"Wait!"

It shot into the air.

"Send me back!"

The crow flew toward the formation, but the summoning circle disappeared before it could reach it.

The tiny bird stopped in midair and for several seconds, it simply hovered there.

Then it slowly turned toward Karl and Marl stared back.

After that enormous summoning circle...

After a name like Heaven-Eating Crow...

Karl immediately activated Perception.

[Heaven-Eating Crow]

[Level: 1]

[Undead Rank: Common]

Karl stared at the information, then at the crow and then back at the information.

Common?

Every expectation he had built over the past minute collapsed at once.

The Heaven-Eating Crow seemed even more offended.

"Send me back, damn weak Necromancer!"

Karl looked at it flatly.

"There is no way back."

"Impossible."

"The formation is gone."

"Then summon it again!"

"That’s not how it works."

The crow continued shouting for quite some time, occasionally flying around the room as though another return path might suddenly appear somewhere.

Eventually, it seemed to accept that no such path existed and landed heavily on Karl’s shoulder.

"My seven generations of ancestors would be disappointed in me."

Karl glanced sideways at it.

"You’re Level 1 and Common rank, I think your ancestors already have enough to be disappointed about."

The crow immediately pecked the side of his head.

"Ow."

Karl grabbed it lightly and pushed it away.

"Enough."

He had already wasted too much time on his first summon, there was still another token.

Karl took out the second one and stared at it for several seconds.

After what had happened with the first, he genuinely hesitated.

Whoever is listening... ancestors, gods, System, literally anyone.

He tightened his grip around the token.

Give me something useful this time.

[Host’s behaviour has been noted.]

Shut up.

Crack.

Karl crushed the second token and another summoning circle formed across the floor.

This one was much smaller and unlike the first formation, however, this one did not finish quickly.

Several seconds passsed and then more.

Karl gradually sat straighter.

Wait... maybe longer is better.

The formation continued running for quite some time before suddenly disappearing and something dropped onto the floor.

Clack.

Karl looked down and a long pale object lay where the circle had been.

At first glance, it resembled a human spine, for several seconds, nobody moved.

Karl suddenly jumped away from the edge of the bed.

"The fuck?!"

Even the Heaven-Eating Crow on his shoulder went silent.

It looked at the strange spine lying on the floor before slowly turning toward Karl.

"What kind of Necromancer are you?"

Before Karl could answer, the spine moved.

Its entire structure bent before it started writhing across the floor like some kind of pale serpent.

Karl took another step back.

System.

Nothing.

System!

[Yes, Host?]

What the fuck is this thing?!

Instead of sounding concerned, the System seemed almost pleased.

[Congratulations, Host.]

[Host has been extremely fortunate.]

Karl frowned before activating Perception.

[Undead Rank: Marshal.]

His expression changed.

Marshal?

The System continued before he could ask anything else.

[This is an extremely rare support-type undead.]

[Unlike conventional undead, it is not primarily intended to fight independently.]

[It can attach itself to Host and function as a secondary combat structure.]

Karl’s interest immediately rose, the writhing spine no longer looked quite as disgusting.

What does it actually do?

[While attached, it can reinforce Host’s body, increase physical capability and reduce the inherent vulnerability of a traditional Necromancer in direct combat.]

Karl sat back down slowly, that alone was already useful.

Then another notification appeared.

[Host may also temporarily utilize certain supportive abilities belonging to the attached undead.]

Karl went quietnfor an ordinary Necromancer, that would already be extremely valuable.

For him, it was much better.

His profession had changed after regression, but ten years of Sword Saint combat experience had not disappeared with it.

Karl still knew how to fight in close combat.

What he lacked was the physical foundation his previous class had once given him.

If this undead could reinforce his body enough, then Karl could finally begin combining his old combat experience with his current Necromancer profession properly.

The disappointment from the first summon disappeared almost completely.

[Host’s luck remains exceptional.]

Karl looked toward the tiny Common-rank crow sitting on his shoulder.

Then toward the Marshal-rank spine still moving across the floor.

His expression became complicated.

At least one token worked properly.

Then he remembered that the two tokens were not even the main reward from curing Arthur.

He still had the Divine Skill, karl leaned back slightly.

System.

[Yes, Host?]

This skill better not be another weird thing like these two.

The crow immediately protested.

"Who are you calling weird?"

Karl ignored it again.

[Host does not need to worry.]

A new panel appeared.

[Divine Skill obtained: Life Link.]

Karl nearly cursed.

Life Link?

He already knew this skill and it certainly was not some legendary ability.

A Necromancer with enough money and the right connections could eventually find a skill book for it.

Normally, the skill allowed a Necromancer to connect their life to one or several undead, redirecting fatal damage toward those summons instead.

Better versions could establish more links, sometimes reaching several or even around a dozen powerful undead.

Karl stared at the panel.

You gave me a common Necromancer skill as a Divine Skill?

He was already preparing to complain when something in the description caught his attention.

Karl read it again and then rubbed his eyes and red again ,there was no maximum number of links.

The Divine version of Life Link did not connect him to one undead.

Or ten.

Or even a hundred.

[Life Link]

[All undead belonging to Host’s Death Legion will automatically become valid Life Link targets.]

He already possessed well over a thousand undead.

As long as enough of them remained alive, lethal damage dealt to Karl could continuously be transferred through the links rather than killing him directly.

And his army would only continue growing.

Karl stared at the description for several seconds.

Doesn’t this basically make me impossible to kill?

But then he controlled himself as he thought there are countless existences that could probably erase his current Death Legion with a single attack.

Karl’s excitement settled slightly.

Yeah... definitely not immortal.

There were far too many things in this world capable of destroying his entire army before Life Link could save him.

But against anyone who could not immediately wipe out his summons, the skill was ridiculous.

Karl finally nodded in satisfaction.

Alright, this one is actually good.

[The System naturally provides excellent rewards.]

Don’t push it.

Karl had dealt with enough strange rewards for one day.

He was about to lie back down when something inside his storage necklace suddenly trembled.

Karl stopped to feel it and the vibration came again stronger this time.

He opened his storage and immediately noticed one item shining brightly inside.

The Death Stick.

Karl frowned and pulled it out ,the moment the weapon appeared in his hand, notifications began flashing before him.

[Unsealing Token detected.]

[Unsealing Token detected.]

Karl stared at the Death Stick and then his eyes widened slightly.

He suddenly remembered the other reward he had obtained inside Forgotten Cave.

The Unsealing Token.

Karl had stored it away because he had no idea where it could actually be used.

His gaze shifted between the Death Stick and the notification.

Oh...

A slow smile appeared on his face.

So the token actually had an immediate use.

Karl reached into his storage again.