Undead Spirit

Prologue: Destruction. . "What! No!!! No. " . Wiina screamed, looking nothing like a holy angel anymore. The necromancer began to chant a spell again, and his left arm bone turned to ashes. As the spell was completed, a figure walked slowly into the temple, it was Bishop Bren. His usually well-kept face was now a deathly pale, his throat wound had bled out, and the flesh was ghastly white. Bren noticed Wiina, his gaze settling on her white, straight legs covered in blood and bruises. His desires from life, now amplified a thousandfold by the necromancy, made him roar like a beast and pounce on the angel. . The temple echoed with the bishop's beast-like heavy breathing, the golden altar creaked as if it could not bear the weight. . The necromancer kept chanting spells, his bones shattering. The flames in his eyes burned fiercely, fixed on the entangled bodies on the altar. With a roar like thunder, the most evil seed spread throughout Wiina's body. . Wiina's spirit finally broke at that moment. The necromancer, now only a torso, had his skull burst open, and a small, transparent figure enveloped in dark mist flew out. He spat out a pearl, around which complex magical circles floated. The transparent angel's soul was instantly sucked into the pearl. . Then, a white beam of light came down from the sky, engulfing the temple in flames, and the dark mists in the fire quickly disappeared. The necromancer's remaining skull also exploded, and a wisp of dark mist entered the pearl. . In the year 682 of the holy calendar, the most powerful necromancer, Rodrigues, was obliterated by the furious divine judgment from the heavens. . V1C 1: The Apple. . It was the year 682. Roge Ota Rivers had been at the Rhine Magic Academy for four years. Smart as he was, he would leave the academy as a certified magician in two more years. In these troubled times, magicians, known for their power, were in demand. However, their known weaknesses, like physical frailty and long spell casting times, made protecting them in wars a priority. Even so, casualties among magicians were hard to prevent, even for the greatest commanders. . Magic requires talent and becoming a qualified magician takes time, making them rare and respected. Many senior magicians are wealthy, thanks to valuable gems, magical silver, and mystical iron. High-quality magical tools can allow a magician to challenge those of higher levels. It's said a magician's power matches their wealth. . Roge's father, Viscount Rivers, was a minor noble in the Rhine Confederacy, ruling a small town and a few villages with a few thousand people. As a noble with land, Roge had the right to include "Ota" in his name, a symbol of hereditary nobility in the Rhine. . The continent's name, Gloria, meaning a hymn of praise to God, was adopted by countries under the influence of the rising Holy Church. The Rhine Confederacy, located in the southeast corner of the continent, was a second-tier power compared to the three major nations. However, it had its strengths. King Louis XIV of the Confederacy, more interested in arts, beauty, and immortality than conquest, maintained peace with neighboring countries for the most part. . The Rhine Magic Academy, a mid-tier institution, reflected the Confederacy's status. Its practical teaching style meant it hadn't produced many continent-shaking figures in its 300-year history. Magic academies were among the most egalitarian places, where commoner apprentices were unlikely to be harmed by nobles. Successful commoner graduates often had a chance to become nobles themselves. . Roge's family was declining, with only four servants, embarrassing for a land-owning noble. His father, known for his temper rather than financial skills, saw their income decrease yearly. Yet, Roge learned all the vices of nobility: pride, arrogance, desire of passion, and a cunning not common among nobles. After becoming a man at fourteen, Roge's behavior made their small territory even more troubled, leading his father to send him to the academy, using the last of their heirlooms for the tuition. . Roge didn't expect more support from his father and needed money for leisure. By flattering a mid-level magician, Fes, he managed the magic laboratory and did tasks Fes couldn't handle directly. Roge was examining a dull, pale pearl with cracks, which seemed worthless but contained a flicker of white and black light. As he estimated its value, the pearl studied him back. It cracked open, releasing a black mist that entered Roge's forehead, turning him into a writhing, blood-oozing form. When he regained normalcy, his eyes were pale, and a low laugh said, "This soul's mental strength is not bad. “ . The black mist was the soul of Rodrigues, the necromancer, who escaped divine judgment and heavenly pursuit with the Soul Pearl, a divine artifact blocking all soul powers. However, the divine judgment, initiated by the supreme deity to eliminate excessive evil, was unstoppable. The Soul Pearl, depleted after the battle at the Eddy Temple, didn't destroy Roge's soul but merged with it, inheriting his personality. The pearl, limited in energy and mostly used to imprison Wiina's soul, brought only an understanding of magic's essence to Roge, leaving behind specific spell knowledge. Wiina's soul, reduced to a mere core of divine energy, was also integrated. . The necromancer didn't destroy but merged with Roge's soul consciousness. "I've left too many marks on this world; all I can do is destroy. Perhaps creation is what truly matters. When an apple enters the chessboard and causes chaos, its impact is far greater than a piece stepping out. “ . Roge, a level-two magician after four years of half-hearted practice, could only cast basic and level-one spells. According to the academy, casting two different level-two spells, reaching level four, meant graduation. The necromancer's soul merger gave Roge immense mental strength and magical control. A magician's power lies not just in their magic but in understanding and controlling it. Roge believed a magician's strength also depended on cunning and wealth. "A level-one magician with ten magic-enhanced rings won't lose to an unarmed level-two magician. " This, the necromancer agreed with, as the gap between levels one and two was like that between idiocy and mental deficiency. For Roge, understanding higher-level magicians was still challenging. . Magic in Gloria had evolved, especially for war, into. a strict system where every two levels of magical power allowed access to a higher level of spells. There were exceptions like Rodrigues, the necromancer. . The divine energy core, the purest soul energy, allowed Roge, with his transformed soul and body, to create his own pets. Magician pets, usually high-level magicians' summons, were a privilege. Creating beings, "That's the realm of gods," the necromancer thought. However, he never respected gods and busied himself with soul merging and body transformation. After fully integrating the Soul Pearl, Roge's appearance remained unchanged: short, stout, with an unremarkable face and cunning eyes. The Soul Pearl granted another mysterious skill: space. . Roge, having no say, admired Bren after learning the divine energy's origin. "He won't be the last," he thought fiercely. . After three days and nights of a dream-like state and several reprimands from Fes, the necromancer completed his work. . Roge woke up. From that moment, Roge was still Roge, and Rodrigues was also Roge. The necromancer had deceived the heavens, placing the apple on the chessboard.