Chapter 032 – The Birth of Evil
...
"Moonfire: Channel moonlight to attack the target, causing a fixed amount of damage upon hit, and then continue to inflict moonlight burn damage for 15 seconds;
When using Moonfire under moonlight, the damage is doubled;
Moonfire cannot damage construct creatures;
This spell deals an additional 100% damage to undead creatures..."
...
Matthew created a dummy target and tested the damage of Moonfire both indoors and outdoors. It was quite underwhelming.
"The double damage under moonlight is only equivalent to a level 5-6 spell. Without moonlight, it's just a scratch. Although the emblem of the faithful has the ability to release moonlight, and in most cases, it can deal ideal damage, it's still too weak."
Matthew was not very satisfied with this spell.
One of the few advantages of Moonfire is its low mana consumption, the tactical significance of the burn effect, and... it looks pretty good?
"Restraining undead creatures can also be considered an advantage."
Matthew consoled himself.
In fact, he didn't have high expectations for the spells bestowed by the Moon Goddess. She was a deity, not a mage, and her spell level might not even be as good as some fourth or fifth-tier mages.
The advantage of deities lies in being able to simulate spells with divine magic.
However, after the ascension of the Heavenly Palace, they were no longer able to use divine magic in the mortal realm.
Matthew pondered that Moonfire was originally a simulated divine magic created by the Moon Goddess, but it became inconvenient to bestow upon the few faithful, so it was reluctantly modified and passed down.
Thinking about it this way, the Moon Goddess was also quite pitiful. No wonder she had such a low posture.
"But the Moon Goddess's low posture may have existed since the Enlightenment Era. Her divine role is only limited to 'moonlight,' which means that someone else has taken away the other authority of the 'moon.' She can only silently manage her own domain."
Matthew wiped his emblem of the faithful and casually thought:
"But Ella mentioned that the Moonlit Grove had a glorious period. Could it be that she once had complete authority over the moon?"
But all of this didn't matter anymore.
Matthew quickly returned to his small house and politely chanted:
"Praise the moonlight!"
To read the uncut version, go to [pawread.com].
...
In the following days, Matthew's focus in life returned to reality, especially tree planting. He used his spare time to search for potential withered ones, but unfortunately, his divination skills were really terrible. During one divination for a "withered one," he inexplicably saw an image of a woman bathing.
Judging from the architectural style behind her, it was obviously the artisan district or commercial district of Rolling Stone Town.
But that woman was obviously not a withered one.
Afraid of being perceived as a voyeur, Matthew quickly covered the crystal ball with a cloth.
For the time being, he didn't plan to do divinations himself.
...
Although he couldn't find any withered ones for a while, Matthew found it increasingly easy to track Eli's whereabouts.
He activated the Oak Domain at a suitable time. Since Eli had resonated with his domain before, as long as he was in the Oak Forest, Matthew could immediately lock onto his position.
From what Matthew sensed, Eli's daily movements were very monotonous.
It seemed like he was patrolling the forest very seriously.
After observing for a while, Matthew decided to leave him alone—
His forest was already full of skeletons, necromancers, and corpses. What's wrong with a few serious druids?
...
As for the Moonlit Grove, Ella had repeatedly urged Matthew to continue clearing the insect nests, but he used the excuse of "lack of manpower" to stall her.
In fact, this excuse was not entirely unreasonable.
He had lost so many skeleton soldiers, and it would be troublesome to summon them one by one.
And Samantha hadn't appeared since that day. Matthew guessed that she had gone to gather intelligence on the Su Kingdom.
There was no rush for the task in the insect nests.
Even the target given by the Moon Goddess was just "eliminate a Frenzy Guardian," and Matthew had already exceeded that.
As for the side quest requirement of "kill all Frenzy Guardians," after learning about the connection between the insect nests and the Antu Empire, he had given up on rushing through it.
It's better to operate steadily!
...
During this period, two things happened:
Matthew took the time to find a merchant who often went to Baiyan City and bought 10 Elemental Convergence Runes and a small bottle of Ghoul Nail Powder.
These two things were for preparing to summon zombies;
The other thing was that the private territory transfer promised by Raga was quickly implemented.
Matthew received a document of free land donation personally signed by Lord Raga from an unfamiliar official in the city hall.
Of course, this matter absolutely couldn't be made public.
So, under the hint of that official.
Matthew went to find Liz again, who complained that he should have come earlier to pick up the document for the free land lease.
In this way.
Matthew only became the lessee of that piece of land on the surface, still following Liz's path.
Only a few people knew.
He was now a landowner!
Liz was very efficient in handling things, and she fully fulfilled her previous promise of allowances.
When Matthew walked out of the city hall.
With the jingling sound in his pocket, he felt that life was wonderful.
He had just happened to save Sif once along the way, and he was thanked by both her and her father with generous gifts.
He felt a little guilty.
For a moment.
A wicked thought even arose in Matthew's heart:
"If only I could do it again!"Soon.
He criticized himself seriously for this evil idea.
"Even if I want to do it again, it can't be Sif. This child has already suffered enough."
"Well, if it's Raga, it's not impossible to save him once."
...
Like this.
Five days later.
Evening.
In the oak forest.
Matthew walked back to the cabin leisurely, carrying a sack and a shovel.
When he was less than fifty meters away from the cabin.
His domain suddenly triggered automatically!
"A big guy is coming!"
An oak tree secretly informed him.
Matthew turned to the west.
A figure rushed towards him.
He rushed to Matthew, paused for a moment, and then asked in a particularly unpleasant tone:
"In this forest of yours, it's fine if there are no animals, but why are there no berries?!!"
Eli glared angrily.
Matthew thought for a moment:
"Maybe because this is an oak forest?"
Eli's dissatisfaction became even more serious:
"That's not what I mean. Of course, I know this is an oak forest, but why are there only oak trees in the forest, without any other plants?"
Matthew put down the shovel and explained kindly:
"Well, Mr. Eli, this forest is recently developed by me. I am not a forest expert myself, and right now I only know how to plant oak trees."
Eli looked at him incredulously.
Immediately, he sneered:
"It really fits my understanding of a necromancer. Who plants only one kind of tree—forget it, I don't want to talk about these with you today. You know, as a shapeshifter like me, I often need a lot of meat to replenish energy. Of course, the series of spells I have mastered can also ensure that I can fill my stomach with a small amount of berries. But the problem is, you have nothing here!"
Matthew suddenly realized.
He wondered why Eli had been running around in the forest these days!
So, he was looking for food?
"So, you haven't eaten for five days?"
Matthew quickly asked.
"Four days!"
Eli showed a cold and unkind expression:
"On the third day, I couldn't help it and stole a chicken from the neighboring farm. But I can't do this too often, and this account will be on you, Matthew. I am guarding the forest for you!"
Guarding the forest for himself?
Matthew thought for a moment and connected the cause and effect.
"It seems that he wants to repay me for my help in his domain."
Matthew's impression of Eli improved a lot.
"In that case, Mr. Eli, why don't you come to my place for a meal?"
He invited.
"I won't have a meal with a necromancer! I'll stay here, but you have to give me some food."
Eli's attitude still seemed stubborn and tough.
Matthew didn't mind.
"Well then, I can only give you this for now."
Sif's Mysterious Spell Satchel produced a large batch of cookies.
Matthew handed them over.
Eli took the cookies, smelled them, and then eagerly started chewing.
Matthew smiled.
He turned and went back to the cabin to have his meal.
After finishing the meal.
He found that Eli was still in the same place.
So he took the initiative to greet him:
"What's wrong, Mr. Eli, haven't you eaten enough?"
Eli glanced at him:
"I'm full, thanks."
His tone was still tough.
After saying that, he glanced at Matthew's cabin:
"What did you just eat?"
Matthew wiped the grease off his mouth:
"Just a simple meal."
"Is that so? I smell the scent of sausage."
Eli looked at him suspiciously.
Matthew changed the subject:
"So, are you staying in my forest to repay me for the little help I gave you unintentionally? If that's the case, it's not necessary at all, because it was just an accident. I originally wanted to provide domain enlightenment for Samantha. Your comprehension was purely due to your amazing talent."
When Eli heard Matthew mention Samantha.
A vein on his forehead twitched.
He had to exert a lot of effort to control himself from erupting:
"I have a ruler in my heart. I won't leave until I have repaid what I owe you."
"Don't underestimate me either. We druids are the true forest guardians. If it weren't for me guarding the forest for you, these oak trees would have been destroyed by the evil withering ones!"
Matthew laughed.
He wanted to tell Eli that he didn't owe him anything.
But looking at Eli's proud face, Matthew swallowed his words.
So he nodded and said:
"If you want to stay, of course you can. Feel free to do whatever you want. I will have someone prepare food for you. What do you usually like to eat?"
As he said that, he took out pen and paper, seemingly ready to write it down.
Eli's mouth twitched:
"No need, those cookies just now are fine."
Matthew chuckled:
"Cookies or sausage?"
Eli hesitated for a moment:
"Sausage."
"Anything else? Like a drink?"
Matthew asked again.
Eli decisively shook his head:
"No need."
"Milk or coffee?"
Matthew seemed to not hear his words.
"Well, milk then."
Eli answered somewhat unnaturally.
"Then, starting tomorrow morning, you can come here to find me before I start planting trees. I will give you food for the day."
Matthew lowered his head and quickly wrote a few lines.
Looking at his serious expression.A sudden thought crossed Eli's mind:
"Is he always this nice to his subordinates?"
"No, damn it! I'm not a lackey of this Necromancer!"
He lifted his head fiercely.
Only to find that Matthew had already greeted him and walked away.
……
As night fell, all was quiet.
Matthew, having finished his day's meditation, stepped out of the door.
The moonlight outside was bright.
Eli was sitting under an oak tree not far away, staring blankly at the moon.
Matthew didn't greet him.
He walked straight towards the northwest.
However, soon.
Footsteps came from behind him.
"What are you doing in the middle of the night, Necromancer?" Eli asked from a distance.
"A bit of private business."
Matthew responded succinctly:
"You'd better not follow."
Upon hearing this.
Eli seemed even more interested.
He quickly caught up, walking side by side with Matthew:
"What kind of mischief are you trying to hide from me?"
Matthew glanced at him:
"It's not something I need to hide from you, I just think it would be somewhat blasphemous to summon zombies in front of a Druid."
Eli's first reaction to these words was "You've already blasphemed Samantha in front of me!"
Then he realized what Matthew was about to do.
"You dare to summon zombies in the oak forest?!"
The anger in Eli's eyes was about to overflow:
"This is the realm of nature, a sacred place that must not be defiled!"
Matthew responded leisurely:
"If this is considered defilement, then nature has pretty much been ruined by me."
Eli's temples throbbed, he suppressed his anger and looked at Matthew:
"Aren't you afraid I'll disrupt your evil ritual?"
Matthew looked at him meaningfully:
"This is my territory, don't do anything foolish, Eli."
With that, he walked to the location of the skeleton dormitory.
He opened the lid.
And began to move the bodies out.
Eli watched this scene with a gloomy face.
He knew that although Matthew seemed to be only at the second level, with the blessing of the oak territory, he didn't have much chance of winning;
If he wanted to launch a surprise attack, Matthew could activate his territory at the first moment, and the repulsion of the territory would give him enough operating space; and after the territory was activated, not only would Matthew gain the advantage of time and place, but Eli, as a Druid, would also be affected by the change in the environment.
This was the power of the territory.
Moreover, this Necromancer in front of him obviously had many cards up his sleeve.
These days in the forest.
Eli had felt a killing intent more than once.
That feeling and pressure.
At least a third-level wanderer could give it to him.
"I won't interfere with your ritual, but I want to witness the birth of evil with my own eyes. Once I've repaid my debt to you, I'll destroy all the evil creatures you've summoned!"
Eli said coldly.
Matthew ignored him.
He lined up the bodies of five Arsonist lackeys under the moonlight.
Although he couldn't explain why.
But it was generally believed among Necromancers that summoning zombies under sufficient moonlight was more likely to succeed, and there was also a chance to produce high-quality zombies.
Matthew naturally preferred to believe it.
He quickly sprinkled a handful of "Corpse Rising Powder" and a small amount of "Ghoul Nail Powder" evenly on each body.
Then he put the previously purchased "Air Elemental Convergence Rune" on each of them.
After all this.
Matthew began the long chant.
The Necromancer's Summoning took a long time at first, but it was at most about 5 minutes, but Matthew chanted for a full 12 minutes!
The reason was simple.
He was slacking off and singing randomly for the first few minutes - although he was willing to trust Eli's character, he had to be extra cautious at such a critical moment, and it wasn't until Eli got impatient and squatted down that Matthew began the real Necromancer Summoning!
In the forest.
The Necromancer's chant was full of ups and downs.
Dark clouds drifted by.
Eli's face was alternately bright and dark.
Suddenly.
One of the bodies stiffly stood up!
Then.
One after another, the bodies rose from the ground!
Eli instinctively jumped up from the ground.
But the next second.
He was surprised to sense - the surrounding oak forest seemed to come alive!
The night wind blew.
A hint of green light appeared on the oaks.
Eventually, it flowed into the bodies of the five zombies!
This scene also surprised Matthew.
He couldn't help but check the record bar.
……
"Prompt: You have successfully completed the Necromancer Summoning (First Time/Zombie)
You have obtained 5 Undead Creatures (Zombies/Average Level LV7)
……
Your zombies have been blessed by the Oak Territory at their birth, they have gained 'Bark Skin'!
Bark Skin (Passive): Your zombies' skin automatically forms a layer of tough ancient tree bark (Armor +3), and provides a certain amount of damage reduction when injured"
……
Zombies that can use Bark Skin?
Matthew was stunned.
He was just about to take a closer look at the data of the zombie lackeys.
At this moment.
Another change occurred.
A strong moonlight poured down.
The five zombies bathed in the moonlight.
Their bodies seemed to undergo a wonderful transformation.
……