Chapter 005 – Arsonist
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Matthew rushed into the room.
He quickly started changing his clothes.
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"You equipped the 'Misty Robe (+1)'!
Misty Robe (Armor +0): Casting speed +10%; slightly increases mental recovery speed.
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"You equipped the 'Withered Wood Staff'!
Withered Wood Staff (Attack +1): Undead summoning skill level +1.
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"You equipped the 'Mysterious Spell Satchel'!
Mysterious Spell Satchel: Contains 8 foldable spaces, each space can store up to 12 items of the same kind.
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Currently stored items: Decaying Spores/Phantom Butterflies/Several Scrolls."
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After changing into an outfit that was completely different from his usual attire, Matthew's whole demeanor changed. If he usually resembled a friendly young teacher, then now he was one step closer to the stereotypical image of a necromancer.
"Dinner is ready!"
Peggy walked over with a basin of mushroom stir-fried noodles.
"Eat when I come back!"
Leaving these words behind, Matthew hurriedly ran into the night.
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After about ten minutes, Matthew's figure appeared at the edge of the oak forest. The only thing accompanying him was a mage's fire used for illumination.
His expression didn't look good.
The appearance of the arsonist posed a great threat to his most important resource.
He was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly becoming furious.
According to normal logic, he should seek help from the security office. However, Matthew considered that Blade must be busy dealing with Sif's matters and might not have time to handle his own affairs. Moreover, he also wanted to personally punish this audacious arsonist!
"The forest that I painstakingly cultivated is not something any Tom, Dick, or Harry can come and destroy!"
On tiptoes, Matthew looked into the distance from the edge of the oak forest. From here, he could indeed see a large area of fire, but the fire had not yet spread to the oak forest thanks to the lack of flammable materials in this area.
He used the divine sense and discovered that the place where the flames were burning seemed to be a farm. It was only separated from the oak forest by a hill. Matthew had some acquaintance with the owner of the farm, and his daughter was very cute. With such a fierce fire burning in the farm, and yet no one nearby was shouting for help, it was not difficult to guess the fate of the farm owner and his family.
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"It's not just ordinary bandits..." Matthew calmed down. The oak fairy told him that there were many arsonists, emitting an evil and powerful aura, which indicated that they were most likely adventurers. In the face of unknown enemy strength, he couldn't act rashly.
So he observed for a while, then quickly ran towards the other end of the oak forest.
Soon, Matthew arrived at the location he remembered.
It was a huge haystack.
Underneath the haystack was a place similar to a cellar.
The cellar was not spacious, and its layout was somewhat similar to the university dormitory in Matthew's previous life.
"Phew!"
Matthew opened the iron cover.
With a slight perception, he began to use the "Undead Summoning" skill.
Guided by mana.
Unexpectedly.
A pale hand suddenly slapped on the muddy ground at the exit of the cellar!
Immediately after.
One skeleton after another crawled out from inside!
Before long.
There were 12 skeleton soldiers with faint green soul fires emerging from the edge of the haystack.
Most of these skeleton soldiers had sturdy skeletons and high integrity, and they held weapons and small round shields, making them the elite among skeleton soldiers.
They were all carefully selected summoning creatures by Matthew.
It took him a lot of effort to make them look like this.
It should be noted that the Undead Summoning skill cannot create something out of nothing. Even the most powerful necromancer cannot summon a squad of skeleton soldiers out of thin air. Summoning undead requires materials.
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Taking skeleton soldiers as an example.
Summoning them requires a certain number of bones.
If the number is insufficient, even if the summoning is successful, the skeleton soldiers you get will be missing limbs.
Not to mention fighting, they might fall apart after taking just a few steps.
The reason why skeleton soldiers have become synonymous with cannon fodder is because the materials they require are relatively easy to obtain.
Summoning other creatures like Black Knights, Blood Fiends, Bone Dragons, and Soul Eaters is thousands of times more difficult!
Of course, there is a way to bypass the need for casting materials to summon creatures.
That is to establish a magic array that connects to a negative energy plane.
Directly pull people from there.
But doing so consumes even more wealth.
Even high-level mages would carefully consider before constructing such a magic array.
So generally speaking.
There is a reason why morally questionable necromancers like to linger in graveyards and desecrated burial grounds—they are simply too poor!
And someone like Matthew—who almost every bone in the cellar was bought by himself or accidentally found—can definitely be considered a saint among necromancers.
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"Let's go!"
Matthew gave the order.
The slightly sluggish skeleton soldiers slowly followed his footsteps.
A chilling aura began to spread.
In the oak forest.
Even the noisy night wind became silent.
It seemed that even they were wary of the arrival of the undead.
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"Boom!"
A fierce flame exploded in the farmland.
The roaring sound of the wind fueled the fire.
As the farm gradually disappeared into the sea of fire.
Blackwood, wearing a black vest that revealed his muscular upper body, showed a smile from the bottom of his heart.
He suppressed the urge to continue setting fires.
And shifted his gaze to the dark forest not far away.
"Fain's intelligence seems to be true. Attacking Rolling Stone Town at this time, they are completely defenseless!"
"Hehe, let me give them a little more shock of flames!"
He walked quickly in the direction of the hill.
Behind him.
Six followers followed.
"Is everything arranged?"Blackwood asked indifferently.
"Boss, rest assured, there's not a single survivor, all burned alive!"
One of the men with a scarred face showed a ferocious smile.
Blackwood nodded in satisfaction.
As an 11th level 'Arsonist', he could feel his power growing a bit stronger!
Not much.
But it was clearly visible.
In fact.
According to the original plan, he should have retreated after burning the farm, but the sense of power enhancement made him extremely intoxicated.
Especially when he noticed the oak forest in front of him, he immediately changed his mind.
He could feel the vibrant life contained in this forest, burning it would bring him a great power boost!
That was about ten times the yield of the farm.
It was almost equivalent to burning a block in a city.
But the risk was much lower than setting a fire in the city!
No Arsonist could resist such a temptation.
Especially Blackwood, he clearly sensed that as long as he burned this forest, the legendary path that was very vague to him would become clear.
He could no longer suppress the crazy thoughts!
Set fire!
Set fire!
He wanted to burn!
Burn!
Burn!
……
"Stop!"
Halfway up the hill.
Blackwood suddenly shouted.
Six followers immediately surrounded him.
"Boss, what's wrong? Should we retreat?" the scarred face asked.
Blackwood ignored him, just staring straight ahead.
The night wind brought a faint green glow, and there was a faint smell of decay in the air.
"It's Bone Fire..."
Blackwood thoughtfully looked at the slowly appearing figures on the hill.
Skeleton Soldiers? A Necromancer?
Blackwood's furrowed brows immediately relaxed:
"Did Fain send you? Tell him when I burn this forest, I'll go find him!"
"As for joining the cult, it depends on his sincerity."
The Skeleton Soldier stood still, and the person hiding in the dark controlling these undead creatures didn't make a sound.
Blackwood laughed dumbly:
"You're not trying to stop me, are you? With these skeleton frames?"
The followers also started laughing.
The scarred face volunteered: "Boss, I can kick all these skeletons away by myself!"
Blackwood shook his head.
His gaze searched around the hillside, his eyes sharp, but he never acted rashly.
After a few minutes.
His tense state suddenly relaxed.
The two huge muscles in his chest also trembled:
"Stop playing coy, I've found your location - didn't Fain tell you what I do? Hehe, I'm very sensitive to temperature!"
He jokingly said in the direction of the Skeleton Soldiers:
"Do all you Necromancers like to hide in the mob? So uncreative!"
However, the other party still didn't answer.
Blackwood finally got angry:
"If you don't get out of here, I'll burn you too!"
As he spoke, a glass bottle with a flame suddenly appeared in his hand!
"I'm not playing coy."
Finally.
A voice came from behind one of the Skeleton Soldiers:
"I was just waiting for the Sack of Corruption to take effect - which you just inhaled."
Matthew stood on the hill.
A large amount of negative energy surged from the tip of his dry wood staff!
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"Sack of Corruption: Accelerate Infection!"
……
"Not good!"
Blackwood turned his head.
The expressions of the followers were slightly panicked.
They began to realize something was wrong.
"Why is my face itchy!"
"My arm too!"
"It's so itchy! It feels like something is growing!"
In their horrified eyes.
Some people's skin surface began to show red bumps.
At first, these bumps were not noticeable and didn't feel anything.
Soon they became unbearably itchy.
People couldn't control their hands from scratching.
And once scratched.
A large amount of yellow-green pus gushed out.
Splashing onto other parts of the skin.
The infection began to spread more rapidly!
With the continuous spread of the infection area.
In the crowd, the breath from the negative plane became stronger and stronger!
"Stop scratching, kill that Necromancer and we'll be fine!"
Blackwood made a decisive decision and roared.
The group, enduring the itch, charged up.
Matthew continued to wave his staff.
This time.
He didn't even need to chant!
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"Undead Summoning: Contracted Entity!
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Your ability 'Instant Summoning' is in effect!
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Your ability 'Fixed Point Drop' is in effect!"
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On the hillside.
A large green circle appeared in the area where the group was about to charge.
"Get out of the way!"
Before Blackwood could finish.
A tall figure fell from the sky!
Bang!
One of the followers couldn't dodge in time.
He was smashed into a pulp!
The people next to him were also affected by the shock wave.
They rolled down the hill one after another.
Blackwood looked over in anger.
But he saw the two-meter-tall figure looking around blankly.
Her bones were pure white.
But what caught the eye most was the dinner plate she was holding in her hand——
"Matthew? Are you ready for dinner? I just reheated the mushroom stir-fry..."
Peggy looked at Matthew excitedly.
"No, throw the stir-fry away, Peggy, I want you to fight for me."
Matthew said.
Peggy's mood suddenly became serious.
She turned to face the Arsonist.
Then she said to Matthew:
"Well then, please strengthen me!"