Chapter 075 – Advanced success, level soaring!
......
The Abomination is a powerful and evil undead creature.
Each Abomination is born out of pain and anti-human nature. They are terrifyingly deformed creatures, a true reflection of human fear.
Each Abomination looks vastly different.
The one that appeared before Matthew had seven heads. Six smaller heads surrounded the largest one in the middle. If viewed from a distance, one might mistake the six heads on its neck for some sort of necklace.
Its limbs were made up of multiple human thighs or calves tied together. On its stomach was a large mouth emitting yellow smoke, filled with jagged teeth. Occasionally, a hand would emerge from it. Perhaps due to being inside the Abomination for years, the hand had an unhealthy gelatinous appearance, looking incredibly smooth.
Stitches symbolizing its origin were everywhere on the Abomination.
Despite his disgust for such anti-human creatures, Matthew had to admit that the Necromancer who created this Abomination was skilled.
Her tailoring level must be above master level!
Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to stitch such perfect wounds.
Matthew looked for a long time, but couldn't find the end of the stitches!
Apart from that.
Except for the mouth on its stomach constantly spewing sulfur, there was no pus flowing from anywhere else, nor any foul smell.
This was almost a perfect Abomination!
"Except that it's filled with the lives of the Jango people... oh, and Naga?"
It was only when he got closer that Matthew noticed a large snake tail behind it. It was stitched together from three Naga lower bodies, looking somewhat like a twisted bun.
The Abomination actually had a tail!
What kind of aesthetic was this?
Matthew couldn't help but question the mental state of the Necromancer named Dania.
But he quickly dismissed these messy thoughts in his mind.
The appearance of the Abomination was crucial for Matthew. It was both an opportunity and a challenge, with two opportunities:
First, although the Night of the Undead is the simplest way to advance, there are no hard requirements for what happens to the Necromancer and the undead at night.
But if there is a high-level undead present this night, Matthew will have the opportunity to gain a large amount of negative energy affinity.
His negative energy affinity has always been low, often needing to borrow the power of negative energy stones. This is an excellent compensation plan.
Second, if he can get along well with this Abomination, then the rest of the night will be very comfortable for him.
The undead's bullying of the weak is actually ingrained.
No one would dare to offend a Necromancer protected by an Abomination.
Even the perverted Zombie that was just driven away wouldn't.
So when the Abomination approached.
Matthew couldn't wait to stand up and greet it:
"Good evening, Mr. Abomination."
This Abomination seemed not fully awake. In response to Matthew's enthusiasm, it just grunted heavily.
Its gaze drifted to the small items on the ground.
Without saying a word, Matthew quickly took out a small Imp's skull from the Mysterious Spell Satchel and offered it with both hands:
"The low-grade stuff is not worthy of you. I have prepared top-grade goods especially for someone as noble as you."
The Abomination's big head hadn't reacted yet.
The smaller heads underneath started praising in unison:
"This Necromancer is a real flatterer!"
"He's afraid we'll eat him!"
"I like his attitude. If he bowed a little lower, I could see his..."
Smack!
The Abomination angrily slapped each of the talking heads:
"Stop talking, you're making my head buzz!"
With that.
It unceremoniously took the Imp's skull from Matthew's hand and stuffed it into the mouth on its stomach.
Crunch crunch!
The chewing sound rang out, and the large mouth no longer spewed sulfur.
"I want that one too!"
The Abomination walked over to the stall, its thick finger pointing down, not specifying which one.
"You can take it yourself."
Matthew's face was full of flattery, he had become the undead's waiter.
The most interesting part of the Night of the Undead was here. The Necromancers who usually ordered the undead around were forced to put up with their whims this night.
Many mages actually find it hard to let go of their pride. They can't compromise with their usual slaves, which ultimately leads to failure in advancement.
But Matthew didn't have this burden at all. He was naturally patient. If he really couldn't stand it, he simply imagined the undead as Peggy.
In this way, no matter how much he suffered, he could bear it by gritting his teeth.
The Abomination picked and chose at the stall, while the other undead remained motionless.
After a while, he picked out a lucky rabbit's foot, two pieces of a gray wolf's appendix, and a bat's tooth.
"I'll take all of these!"
The Abomination said in a coarse voice.
Matthew nodded and bowed:
"Absolutely, Mr. Abomination."
A satisfied expression appeared on the central face. Just as he was about to find a comfortable place to lie down, suddenly, a small head on his neck interjected:
"The Necromancer just said that each person can only take one item. You're breaking the rules by taking more."
The Abomination looked at Matthew with suspicion:
"Is that so?"
Matthew nodded:
"There is indeed such a rule, but it doesn't apply to you."
The Abomination said somewhat unhappily:
"Why didn't you say so earlier? I don't like special treatment."
Matthew's face stiffened, but he reacted quickly:
"This isn't special treatment. It's because you're not one person. They, on the other hand, are indeed individuals."
The Abomination pondered for a moment after hearing this:
"You're right."
He casually punched the head that had interjected, then strode back to the stall:
"I have many people in me, I need to take a few more items."
Matthew maintained his smile throughout.
These little things weren't worth much. The Abomination could take as many as he liked. Besides, he wasn't too excessive, only taking half of the items on the stall.
Then he found a comfortable spot near the incense burner and sat down, enthusiastically playing with the small items.
Matthew still had a lot of stock in his bag, but he didn't take it out immediately, just quietly observing.
With the Abomination present, the other undead became much more restrained, even unwilling to speak.
If it weren't for the presence of the incense burner, they might have already left.
Matthew watched coldly, with a clear understanding in his heart.
A moment later.
Once the crunching sound from the Abomination's stomach subsided, Matthew gently asked the dazed Zombie lady:
"Could you pass this to Mr. Abomination?"
He took out another head from his bag.
This time it was a gnome's, also a spoil from the last battle.
The Zombie lady seemed easy to talk to. She nodded in agreement and carried the gnome's head over to the Abomination.
She didn't ask the Abomination, just directly stuffed the head into the mouth on his stomach.
Crunch, crunch.
A new round of chewing sounds began.
The Abomination looked at her with satisfaction:
"Oh, thank you! Beautiful lady. Your gentleness reminds me of my deceased wife."
The Zombie lady asked blankly:
"Wow! What was her name?"
The Abomination sighed deeply:
"I'm sorry, it's not that I can't remember her name, but that I have too many wives. Of course, it's not what you think. We were all very faithful, but you have to understand, I'm a monster made up of more than thirty humanoid creatures. It's only natural that I have many deceased wives. As for which one specifically, I'm at a loss for words."
The Zombie lady exclaimed:
"Wow! That's amazing!"
The Abomination chuckled, even somewhat shyly rubbing his heads.
Matthew noticed that the other six heads were silent at this time, looking shy and socially awkward, a stark contrast to the scene where they were vying to interject when talking to Matthew.
While they were talking, Matthew carefully observed the state of the other undead.
They were probably all once under Dania's command.
After Dania left, they lost their master and showed symptoms of negative energy deficiency to some extent.
For example, the Zombie lady.
Her skin was incredibly dry, unlike the usual moist surface of a normal zombie.
This indicated that the negative energy in her body was insufficient to retain moisture.
If this continued, she would become a mummy, and her combat power would greatly decrease.
The symptoms of the others were similar.
Only the Abomination was unaffected, because his level was as high as sixteen, which allowed him to directly communicate with the negative energy plane.
In order to make these undead more stable, Matthew reluctantly placed six negative energy stones next to the incense.
This action greatly increased the undead's favorability towards him.
Meanwhile, it seemed that the Zombie lady had also finished her conversation with Mr. Abomination.
She returned to Matthew's side in a daze.
The night grew deeper.
More and more undead approached.
Intimidated by the Abomination's aura, most of them obediently sat down on the periphery.
Seeing that the atmosphere was right, Matthew cleared his throat and said to the undead present:
"I once heard a story about a Headless Knight and a flying ghost head falling in love. Would you like to hear it?"
As soon as he said this, it broke the silence of the night of the undead and attracted the attention of all the undead.
The Zombie lady was the first to show support.
She looked at Matthew with confusion:
"How can the Headless Knight, who has no head, and the Flying Ghost, who has no body, be together?"
Matthew asked with a smile, "Is that really important? Do they have to have similar physical bodies to be together?"
As he spoke, he handed another head to Miss Zombie to continue feeding the Abomination.
The Undead all showed thoughtful expressions.
Suddenly, a skeleton stood up, "I don't think it's important. We're all dead. If we want to love, we can. Why should we follow these rules?"
The skeleton's opinion won the approval of many Undead.
However, some zombies disagreed, "This is not about rules, but about how to operate. If they can't even operate, what's the point of their love?"
Although there were not many who supported this zombie, their voices were loud.
For a while, both sides were engaged in a war of words, and the scene became lively.
Seeing this, Matthew smiled slightly.
His goal had been initially achieved.
The more the Undead argued, the happier he was, as long as they didn't start fighting.
As long as Matthew kept the Abomination comfortable, no one dared to make a move on his territory.
As the argument continued, the Undead in the room divided into two groups, one group of skeletons, who were numerous and powerful;
And a group of zombies, who were loud.
Both sides held their own opinions and argued endlessly.
After a while, the Abomination suddenly asked, "Can we sew them together?"
Matthew was momentarily unable to follow his train of thought, "What do you mean?"
The Abomination explained, "If we can sew them together, wouldn't they be together?"
The Undead fell silent.
It was unclear whether they were afraid of the Abomination's power or were stunned by his train of thought.
Matthew quickly thought, "This... is indeed a solution."
"But the Headless Knight and the Flying Ghost face another problem. They were picky about food in their lifetime. The Headless Knight liked sweet food, while the Flying Ghost liked salty food."
This time, without him instigating, the Undead started arguing again.
However, this time, they broke the shackles of their races. The newly formed Skeleton Party and Zombie Party disbanded and became the Salty Party and Sweet Party.
Seeing this, Matthew was secretly delighted.
This was his strategy for the Night of the Undead!
There were so many Undead, if Matthew had to talk to each one, it would be too tiring. Moreover, while chatting with one Undead, others might suddenly explode.
Remaining silent was also not an option, as it did not conform to the principle of deep communication on the Night of the Undead.
The more mature approach was for the Necromancer to act as the host and guide the Undead in discussing topics.
This was not Matthew's original idea.
He learned it from the Necromancers of Baiyan City.
The only thing he prepared was the discussion topic. His selection criteria was simple - the more controversial, the better!
If these Undead were his online friends from his previous life, Matthew would probably have thrown out a certain game as a controversial topic.
That way, he could probably get through the entire Night of the Undead with time to spare.
Of course.
The controversial method was not omnipotent. To get through the Night of the Undead using this method, you must have a big brother who can control the situation.
This was the fundamental reason why Matthew was so eager to please the Abomination.
In addition, there were many taboos in the conversation content of the Undead.
This was also the reason why Matthew didn't want to talk too much. The more he said, the more likely he was to make a mistake. If he upset the Abomination, all his previous efforts would be wasted.
For this situation.
The Necromancers of Baiyan City had a nearly cheating method.
They would find a powerful Undead before the Night of the Undead - this Undead must be a high-level existence with wisdom like Peggy. They called these Undead "middlemen".
The Necromancer would make a deal with the middleman in advance.
They would agree on a time and place. After the Night of the Undead began, the middleman would "accidentally be attracted" and forcefully enter the ceremony site, ensuring everything went smoothly.
How mature was this cheating process?
The official of Baiyan City even had a service specifically for renting "middlemen"!
This was one of the reasons why Baiyan City could mass-produce high-level Necromancers.
However, there was a price to pay for taking shortcuts. The advancement completed by shortcuts was usually the weakest.
Matthew naturally looked down on it.
He was confident that he could get through the night smoothly with his eloquence.
Perhaps because they hadn't spoken for a long time, the Undead seemed very active. Except for the Abomination, almost everyone was expressing their opinions.
This made Matthew's job a lot easier. He just needed to control the situation."What you said makes sense, but what if the Headless Knight is unwilling? I mean, although he is male and once had male characteristics, he is, after all, an Undead now."
"Miss Flying Ghost Head has a good temper, but she always lacks a sense of security. She can't stand the Headless Knight often not coming home at night. She even suspects that the Headless Knight actually has a head, but he hides it and uses that head to flirt around..."
"You're right, Flying Ghost Head is known for her ugly appearance, but does that mean ugly people are destined not to find true love? If they can't find their soulmate, can't they wait? What if there is one?"
With Matthew's timely soul-searching questions, the Undead Debate Conference was constantly pushed to climax after climax.
If it weren't for the Abomination's frequent question, "Can we sew them together?" disrupting the atmosphere, Matthew could probably keep a topic going all night!
Despite this, time unknowingly slipped away.
In the intense debate atmosphere, someone suddenly shouted:
"Dawn is breaking!"
The Undead, who were just in a heated debate, were suddenly struck by lightning.
Matthew looked down. The incense in the censer had also burned out its last wisp.
Almost instantly, the once lively Undead fell into stiffness, as if a force had stripped away the wisdom and memory temporarily granted to them.
The dawn light spilled into the rainforest.
The Undead returned to their dazed state.
They left Matthew's venue one by one.
Including the Abomination.
Under the effect of the ceremony, they would obediently leave the scene.
Matthew watched them leave with a sigh of relief.
Except for that perverted Zombie who sneaked in again—
Matthew walked straight up to him, tripped him with his foot, and the latter fell to the ground, baring his teeth at Matthew.
He finally managed to get up.
Matthew kicked him down again.
Until all the Undead disappeared from Matthew's sight.
At this moment, the perverted Zombie jumped up from the ground and bit at Matthew.
Matthew didn't even blink.
The next second.
His body swelled rapidly, instantly turning into a Moon Bear, and then he slapped down!
Puff! Puff! Puff!
Three consecutive slaps from the Moon Bear turned the Zombie's sturdy chest into loose meat!
Then he twisted his palms around the Zombie's neck.
The perverted Zombie's head was unscrewed by Matthew.
Ding Dong!
That was the sound of the nameplate falling to the ground.
Kicking away the Zombie's head, Matthew slowly changed back.
The next moment.
He bent down to pick up the nameplate, which read—
...
"This Zombie is a pervert, keep away."
...
"Very timely reminder."
Matthew smiled helplessly.
At this moment, Bobo, who had been watching from a distance, hopped over:
"What a novel night, although I didn't see the overnight content I wanted to see, it still left a deep impression on me."
"I have a question."
Matthew said:
"Go ahead."
"So did the Headless Knight and Flying Ghost Head end up together?"
Bobo looked up, his eyes full of curiosity.
"No."
Matthew answered.
"Why?"
Bobo looked somewhat disappointed.
"Because the Headless Knight has no head, and the Flying Ghost Head has no body. If they meet, they will only pass by each other forever. Unless they are sewn together according to the Abomination's method, but is that real love?"
Matthew answered with a smile:
"Of course, all of this is just my nonsense. They are Undead and still longing for love, their soul fire must be seriously ill."
...
「Prompt: You have completed the "Advanced Ceremony: Night of the Undead", you have obtained the "Advanced Profession: Senior Necromancer". Since the Senior Necromancer is a continuation of the basic profession Necromancer, the former's profession title will replace the latter's from now on.
Please distribute experience!
...
Experience distribution in progress——
Your level has been raised from LV8 to LV12!
Your attributes have been increased: Intelligence+1 & Perception+1;
Your contract slot +2;
You have obtained the professional characteristic of the Senior Necromancer "Soul Projection";
You have obtained new abilities "Tombstone Creation" and "Death Shockwave";
Your ability "Pus Sac Mastery" has been upgraded to "Pus Sac Control";
Due to your outstanding performance in the Night of the Undead, you will receive the following additional rewards——
1. Your negative energy affinity has been slightly increased;
2. You will receive a new Undead summon (Random/3~4 rank)！」
...
A large amount of XP was consumed, and Matthew's level also soared like a rocket.In one breath, he leaped from the peak of the second rank to the peak of the third rank, his strength instantly surged.
The first noticeable increase was in his attributes, the extra intelligence would help him learn spells faster and cast them more effectively;
Perception was exactly what a Druid needed, it made one more sensitive, able to perceive things that ordinary people couldn't, and also improved the effects of the Wild Form.
As for traits and abilities.
Advanced Necromancers usually gain one of the four traits: "Troop Rally", "Withering Aura", "Grinding Stone", and "Soul Projection".
Troop Rally could increase the limit of summoned creatures, about two to three times;
Withering Aura added an effect similar to Withering Light to the undead, but its overall performance was somewhat inferior to the latter;
Grinding Stone was a pretty good trait, it was a stone condensed by the Necromancer using his own mana and negative energy, which greatly increased the favorability with the Blood Clan.
Most Necromancers who obtained the Grinding Stone embarked on the path of success, after all, the Blood Clan was one of the few units among the undead that had strong individual combat power, high intelligence, and knew how to cooperate.
However, these three traits were overshadowed by Soul Projection.
...
"Soul Projection: Your soul can leave your body, and then your body enters a state of trance. In this state, you will gain the following special properties—
Your soul can roam the nearby world at this time, with a flight speed equivalent to twice your walking speed, and gain abilities such as perspective, wall penetration, and invisibility to mortals;
Your soul and body both gain high resistance to physical damage such as slashing and stabbing;
You can cast spells in the soul state, and exempt the casting action and medium. When this spell is a necromantic spell, you will also gain the ability to "cast without materials";
You can attempt to possess any target, but it is best to possess dead objects. When the soul is not strong enough, any possession of a living object is like plucking chestnuts from the fire;
When your soul leaves your body, you will continuously consume soul energy, unless you can return to your body to rest.
You can also create some containers that can accommodate souls, place them around your body, and use them as resting places.
But no matter what, your soul projection time cannot exceed one hour, and the furthest distance must not exceed 70 meters from your body;
In the soul state, you have the "Trembling Form". When you display this form, all mortals will see you and fall into great fear.
After displaying the Trembling Form, you must return to your body within a maximum of three minutes, otherwise there is a risk of not being able to return."
...
Despite various restrictions, Soul Projection is still one of the strongest traits that advanced Necromancers can master.
Matthew didn't know whether it was his good luck or the performance of the Night of the Undead that scored too many points.
This trait was incredibly strong for scouting, fighting, or scheming.
The only spell of the same level that could have a similar effect was the 12th level "Demon Soul Pot", but the effect of the Demon Soul Pot was less than 1/5 of Soul Projection.
So Matthew was quite satisfied.
Not to mention the two new abilities were also pretty good.
...
"Tombstone Creation: You can create tombstones for the undead to rest. Near the tombstones, they can recover from injuries faster, absorb negative energy better, and greatly increase their potential loyalty.
Undead who rest near the tombstones for a long time have a lower chance of transforming into elite templates.
You can also detonate the tombstones, which can be considered as units that simultaneously meet the conditions of "Last Dance" and "Corpse Explosion."
...
"Death Shockwave: You can launch a terrifying negative energy shockwave towards a large fan-shaped range, which has strong knockback, knockdown, and stun effects.
Enemies hit by the shockwave will suffer a "severe injury judgment", and if the judgment is successful, at least half of their life will be drained;
Even if the judgment fails, those hit by the shockwave still need to lose about one-fifth of their life.
Can be used twice a day."
...
One of these abilities is a logistical support ability that can improve the treatment of the undead;
The other is a rare AOE skill.
The range damage provided by the shockwave was something Matthew had always lacked.
The Necromancy school's spells were incredibly diverse, but negative energy was always known for its point-to-point burst, and there were very few group attacks.
This ability greatly made up for Matthew's shortcomings.
His mood became even more cheerful.
"At least I didn't waste a night's worth of talking!"
The part-time job of the Balance Messenger and the advancement of the advanced Necromancer made Matthew's strength skyrocket.
He believed that as long as he gave himself some time to familiarize himself with his abilities, even with the body of the third rank, he could easily defeat many fourth-rank enemies.
After all, in this world, the level was only ranked at the end of the five major components of strength.
The order of the four major elements in Matthew's mind is as follows—
Domain, Connections, Equipment (including items), and Abilities.
The domain is the most important. It is the bud of the path to legend, and also the key to uncovering the truth of the world. It can also provide great assistance in fights;
Next are connections. In Matthew's view, a problem that can be solved by pulling strings is not a problem at all.
Equipment and items represent wealth, and money can actually solve many problems.
Lorran is a living example of this.
As for abilities and levels, they are the least important.
He quickly skimmed over the specific descriptions of each enhancement.
Matthew's mood gradually became uneasy.
Next.
It's time to test his luck!
……
"Prompt: Do you want to summon a new Undead summon?
Summoning in progress, please wait……"
……
(End of Chapter)