“So… what now? Are you going to use it to make your Necroheart or what ?” Leon asked, his brow furrowed in confusion as he studied Rees.
“I… thought you made it for the Tele-Points, Mr. Leon ?” Rees admitted, tilting his skull slightly.
Leon shook his head. “No. This is for your Necroheart. I want you at your full potential for now.”
Rees’ skeletal fingers twitched, the red balls in his eye sockets flickering. “Mr. Leon… you are a far greater man than I ever expected. I don’t know how I can repay such generosity.
You are like a god to me.”
Leon smirked. “You can start by teaching me everything you know—Voodoo magic, necromancy, all of it.”
“I will pass on every scrap of knowledge I possess and make you the best scholar of humans.” Rees vowed, his voice carrying an unfamiliar weight.
“Good. Now, let’s see this Necroheart of yours, how it works.” Leon said, crossing his arms.
Rees reached beneath the counter and pulled out an aged wooden box, its surface unmarked save for a single name carved into the corner: Rees.
Leon’s eyes flickered with recognition. “You got this from Lisa’s shop, didn’t you?”
“Yes. I crafted it years ago when I made my first Necroheart, but in order to keep it safe… I gave it to Lia.” Rees explained, lifting the lid. Inside, nestled on a cushion of deep red velvet, was a spherical casing of polished silver.
“This is the shell of a Necroheart,” Rees said, lifting it carefully. “Silver is the standard, but the most potent necrohearts are forged from gold or platinum. Back then, I could only afford silver—costed me a hundred coins to make this one. I had gold coins afte that… But i didn’t bothered to change it.” Rees explained.
Leon leaned in, examining the intricate engravings over it.
“What are these ? Runes ?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
“Enchantments… Engraved by the finest Enchanter in the whole elf kingdom. Alkari.” Rees spoke as he admired it’s beauty.
“So, what’s the next step?” Leon asked with a curious expression as he looked at it from all the angles.
“The Mana Complexer goes inside, the necroheart.” Rees said, pressing a small button on the sphere’s surface.
***Click.***
A series of mechanical whirs echoed as the silver casing split open, revealing an inner chamber lined with delicate gears. Rees poured the water like liquid from the bowl into the hollow core, and despite its small size, the chamber swallowed every last drop without overflowing.
Another *click*, and the Necroheart sealed shut, just like it was before.
Then, Rees turned to Leon with sudden urgency. “You have infinite mana, correct?”
“Yeah. Why?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
“I need you to channel some of it into the heart, Mr. Leon. You have to do it fast in order to activate it.” He handed the Necroheart to Leon immediately.
“How? Should I just directly supply mana to the circle or Focus on the-
“Just focus your mana into it. A steady, low stream is ideal—too much at once, and the temperature will spike dangerously.” Rees explained as he looked at Leon.
Leon frowned. “Wait, *dangerously* ?”
“Yes If it overheats, the reaction could detonate with enough force to erase the entire Vinceral Forest—and us along with it.” Rees spoke in a neutral voice as if it’s nothing big.
Leon’s grip on the sphere tightened. “So I’m holding a fucking nuclear bomb in my hand.”
“What’s a nuclear bomb ?” Rees asked with a confused expression.
“Nothing… I meant, A fucking magic bomb.” Leon corrected.
“Essentially, yes.” Rees replied.
“The fuck do you mean by yes ? If this thing explodes, I will kill you.” Leon spoke with a serious expression.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Leon. It won’t explode if you keep giving it a small amount of mana continuously but you will need to do it fast… If the activation ritual didn’t take place fast, the necroheart will be left useless.” Rees spoke with urgency.
Leon exhaled sharply. “Fine. But the second this thing gets too hot, I’m cutting the flow.”
Rees nodded. “A wise precaution. I should have thought of that …. I wonder why I didn’t.” Rees thought as he placed his skeleton fingers on his skull.
“Because you’re an idiot,” Leon muttered under his breath before focusing.
[ -700 MP ]
[ +345,897 MP ]
[ 700 MP ]
[ +345,897 MP ]
…
The cycle repeated, mana pulsing into the Necroheart in a rhythmic surge.
“How long does this take for this to activate or whatever ?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
“Once it activates, it’ll glow green, and—” Rees cut himself off as the sphere suddenly radiated a deep violet light.
“Uh. That’s not supposed to happen.” Rees spoke as he pointed towards the necroheart.
Leon stared at the pulsating purple glow.
“What the hell does that mean?” He asked with a shocked expression as he looked at Rees.
Rees scrambled for his books on the slabs as he tried to find out what was wrong with the necroheart. “I-I don’t know! This has never happened it can happen that the heart is not getting enough mana or maybe it’s not—”
Before he could finish, a translucent screen flickered before Leon…
[ Would you like to bind with the Necroheart? ]
[ Yes / No ?]
[ Note: Once bound, the Necroheart will obey your commands. You may transfer ownership to an undead subordinate if desired but the necroheart will still acknowledge your command as priority.]
Leon’s lips curled up as soon as he readed the notification.
“Yes.” He spoke without any hesitation.
[ Necroheart has been bound to Leon Luster. ]
The violet light faded, replaced by a steady emerald glow.
Rees turned back, relief in his voice. “Ah! It stabilized. The mana flow must have resolved the anomaly. I don’t understand why it showed such bright colours… Phew, I thought it was about to explode for a second.”
“So it’s ready?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
“Yes. And thanks to your infinite mana, the process was exponentially faster.
Your infinite mana is a very nice gift. Can you teach me how you achieved it ?” Rees asked took the Necroheart back, admiration in his tone.
“No. Even if I did… You won’t be able to do it.” Leon replied with a flat face.
“I understand.” Rees replied with a neutral tone.
“You know… I can show you some really good spells that no one even dares to use because of their absurd mana usage.
Once you learn them… You will become one of the strongest beings in this world.” Rees replied with a neutral expression.
“Sounds useful, but I can’t supply infinite mana to spells remember that.” Leon replied with a neutral expression.
“I can give you spells that use continuous amounts of mana for a long time. But most of them are class restricted spells.” He explained.
“Although if you can become a magic class… I can teach you all the spells.” Rees continued.
“Why magi class ?” Leon asked with a confused expression.
“Magi is the only class that can allow you to learn every class based and restricted spells, Mr. Leon.” Rees replied with a neutral expression.
’What !? I didn’t know that.’ Leon thought as his eyes widened a bit.
Rees then removed his tattered robe, exposing his skeletal frame.
Leon raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“To fully integrate the Necroheart, I must revert to my base form—just as all undead as I was upon the creation after i died.” He laid flat on the ground, placing the glowing necroheart within his ribcage.
“Two questions,” Leon said. “How do you plant to die since you are already an undead, and how do you plan to come back if you died?” He asked with a confused expression.
“An undead under a necromancer’s control can perish at their master’s will. Since I am my own master… I can simply choose to die at will. The Necroheart will revive me.” Rees explained as he looked at ceiling.
With that, the crimson balls in Rees’ eyes hitted the back of his skull.
*Thud-Thud*
Suddenly a new prompt appeared before Leon’s eyes.
[ Would you like to raise the undead with the Necroheart ? ]
[ Yes / No ?]
’I didn’t plan on binding it to myself in the first place, but I can’t trust Rees completely either. Better be safe than sorry.’ Leon thought in his mind as he selected yes on the screen.
The Necroheart flared, its verdant light spreading through Rees’ skeleton like liquid fire. Then—
*Crack. Crack. Crack.*
Fissures spiderwebbed across his bones.
“What the hell?!” Leon stepped back.
Rees’ voice echoed, calm. “Do not worry, Mr. Leon. This is the reinforcement process done by the necroheart. Look closely, you will see something interesting.”
The cracks deepened, revealing tiny, luminous runes etching themselves into the bone.
Leon leaned closer, eyes widening. “Holy fucking shit.”
“The Mana Complexer will flow through these runes,” Rees explained as his skeletal form reassembled, the fractures sealing with a faint glow. “Just as blood flows through living flesh.”