Chapter 144: Chapter 100: Gathering Invitation, New Magic

The second was Necromancer’s Claw, which could summon a giant Bone Claw to attack enemies.

The remaining two spells were both Elemental Magic from the Spiritual Mystery School—Fireball Technique and Lightning Arrow, considered extremely powerful spells that can be learned during the apprentice stage.

Similarly, the rune patterns for all six of these spells had been confirmed to be hexagram patterns that could be fused with the Death God Origin Rune.

Wei’en looked at the less than 40 gold pounds he had left and couldn’t help but sigh.

’Powerful or not, these spells are ridiculously expensive.’

’If I hadn’t earned my first pot of gold through the Secret Investigation Department, on top of the profits from making Magic Potions, I’d probably be just like that Shadow—stuck with an Origin sub-body but hardly any spells, right?’

Still, the good thing was that after this exchange, he would no longer be short on combat methods for the time being.

From now on, he just needed to methodically study runology and learn the knowledge of the Mechanical School from Jerry’s notes, and that would be enough to handle future battles.

Before long, a sound came from the blue and white box, signaling that the exchanged spells had arrived.

Wei’en wasted no time. After taking out the parchments, he began to methodically follow the previous steps: drawing the runes, upgrading their levels, and then fusing them with the Death God Origin Rune...

By the time he had fused all six spells, it was already 4:00 AM.

To the accompaniment of lightning and thunder outside his window, Wei’en inscribed these spells one by one onto his two Origin sub-bodies, Phantom and Secret Master.

Three new Rune Brandings appeared on each of their foreheads, which made Old Second the Driver’s eyes go wide with envy.

[You have successfully branded the Necromancer’s Claw Rune (Death God) and learned Necromancer’s Claw (Death God), Level 1. Evaluation: The skeleton of a colossal beast is still a skeleton, right? Special Rewards: Survival Points +8, Resilience Level +2, Spirit Level +2.]

[Note 1: Necromancer’s Claw (Death God) Level 1, Spirit cost 10. Effect: In the name of the Death God, summon one finger bone of the King of Skeletons from the depths of the Undead World.]

[Note 2: The attack power of one finger bone from the King of Skeletons is comparable to a single strike from a Captain-level combatant.]

[Note 3: Each level up adds one finger bone, and the attack power stacks with each level increase.]

[You have successfully branded the Spirit Shield Rune (Death God) and learned Spirit Shield (Death God), Level 1. Evaluation... Special Rewards: Survival Points +6, Spirit Level +3.]

[Note 1: Spirit Shield (Death God) Level 1, Spirit cost 2. Effect: Can defend against attacks targeting the Origin, soul, and spirit.]

[Note 2: ...]

[You have successfully...]

With Wei’en’s current Spirit Level of nearly 200, branding six Magic Runes at once wasn’t too strenuous.

However, he was slightly disappointed with the results of fusing them with the Death God Origin Rune this time.

Aside from Necromancer’s Claw and Shadow Bind, which required 50 survival points to upgrade, Fireball Technique and Lightning Arrow needed only 20 points—the lowest upgrade cost since he had obtained the Death God Rune.

Correspondingly, Fireball Technique and Lightning Arrow only gained an explosive effect, with no other Extraordinary characteristics added.

This meant that aside from the spells’ inherent high-temperature and paralysis properties, they were merely transformed from single-target attacks into area-of-effect spells.

But the attack power of Elemental Magic was secondary; the most crucial part was that these two spells gave Wei’en more options when facing Extraordinaries with high defenses.

Take Elno for example. His long blade could slice through bullets, but it would have been difficult for him to effectively block Elemental Magic like Fireball Technique or Lightning Arrow. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The intense heat of the Fireball Technique alone was not something he could have ignored.

The two defensive spells, Spirit Shield and Bone Wall, required only 30 survival points to upgrade, which was about average.

In terms of effect, however, after being enhanced by the Death God Origin Rune, Spirit Shield’s defensive capabilities became more comprehensive, able to resist not only spiritual attacks but also attacks on the soul and Origin levels.

As for Bone Wall, its upgrade also enhanced its defensive capabilities. Compared to its pre-fusion Level 1 effect, it could now summon a two-layer Bone Wall... ’Better than nothing, I suppose.’

’I didn’t expect the biggest gains would actually be from Necromancer’s Claw and Shadow Bind...’

The former could summon the finger bones of the King of Skeletons, with an initial power comparable to a single strike from a Captain-level combatant. Since it could be stacked after upgrading, it was a very powerful attack spell.

The latter, Shadow Bind, had its area of effect expanded. At the same time, the attacks from its ghostly clawed arms could be imbued with a death characteristic, which would complement his flintlock attacks perfectly.

Wei’en drank a bottle of Enlightenment Potion. After his Spiritual Power recovered, he upgraded all these spells to Level 2.

Necromancer’s Claw (Death God) Level 1 (1/50), (2/50)... (50/50).

[Necromancer’s Claw (Death God) Level 1 (50/50). Upgrade?]

[Upgrade.]

[Congratulations! Your skill, Necromancer’s Claw (Death God) Level 1, has been upgraded to Level 2. Effect: In the name of the Death God, summon two finger bones of the King of Skeletons from the depths of the Undead World.]

[Congratulations! Your skill, Shadow Bind (Death God) Level 1, has been upgraded to Level 2. Effect...]

[...]

[Congratulations! Your skill, Corpse Explosion Skill (Death God) Level 2, has been upgraded to Level 3. Effect...]

[Congratulations! Your skill, Soul-Devouring Magic Level 3, has been upgraded to Level 4. Effect...]

’All those survival points, and now there are less than 100 left... To be precise, only 15 survival points remain...’

This time, Wei’en hadn’t been frugal with his survival points.

In addition to leveling the six newly learned spells to Level 2, he also deliberately spent 900 survival points to raise Corpse Explosion Skill (Death God) and Soul-Devouring Magic each by one level.

Ever since he had experienced the effects of Soul-Devouring Magic last time, he had been wanting to raise its level.