After Leon and Nedra made their way out of the nest, the two of them immediately retreated to put some distance between the nest and themselves.
“This way, I have a hideout that we can stay at.” Leon took Nedra to the cathedral that he had woken up in. Upon seeing the cathedral, Nedra displayed an obvious discomfort. Leon could feel it at the back of his mind. She was connected to the cathedral in some way.
“What’s wrong?” He asked as he stepped into the hole in the wall. Nedra hung outside, her claws scrapping against the rubble that surrounded the opening.
[This cathedral… It is where my former master died.] She eventually said. Her voice was heavy with sadness as she spoke. She obviously held mixed thoughts toward the demise of her former master.
After a few moments, she finally crawled inside. She walked around the large hall, before eventually coming to stop on a particular spot.
[This is where I last saw his body…] She said, and Leon’s eyes widened. He was shocked because that was the exact spot he had woken up in.
Taking a look around the cathedral, Nedra saw that there were some blackened skeletons lying about, but there were no signs of the skeleton of her former master.
[Weird… Where is it? His skeleton should not have decomposed by now. He was too strong for that.] Through their mental link, Leon could hear Nedra’s mumbles. She was not trying to hide them from him, so he was able to easily hear them.
“Um… Nedra.” Leon called out to the Undead Millipede Queen.
[Yes, Master?] Nedra snapped out of her daze.
“I think his skeleton is still around…” Leon spoke slowly.
[What? Where is it? I must at least give him a proper burial!] She hurriedly rushed to him, her claws skittering on the rough floor.
“Calm down, calm down!” Leon raised up his black, bony hands to calm down the restless queen before speaking again. “When I woke up, I woke up like this… And I woke up in that spot.” He pointed over to the spot where he had woken up.
[Impossible…] At the back of his mind, Leon could feel the shock that ran through Nedra. [Then this is fate! For me to be your servant, just like I was to my former master! I will serve you to the best of my abilities, Master!] Nedra suddenly exclaimed.
Leon was taken aback by her sudden exclamation, but he was overall happy that she had just pledged to follow him with so much enthusiasm. At least, he felt a bit more assured.
Leon spent a few seconds thinking to himself before making his way over to one of the blackened skeletons that laid in the corners of the cathedral. He had gained a couple of new skills from his trip to the millipede nest, and he intended to use them now.
The first of the skills was <Spirit Summoning>, which effectively acted as its name stated. It summoned the soul, or spirit of a dead, or dying creature, giving Leon control over it. The second skill was the <Spirit Storage which stored the extracted spirits for Leon in a dimensional space that he did not yet understand.
He planned to use these skills on these skeletons, hoping to be able to summon some minions to assist him in taking down the millipede nest. If they were able to level up just like himself and Nedra, then that would be even better!
‘I don’t have any mana crystals this time…’ Leon looked at his empty hands and thought to himself, before turning to his status.
Mana: 1000
‘Maybe my mana will be enough.’
After preparing himself, Leon willed for the <Spirit Summoning>skill to activate. Like a truck roaring to life, he felt the bubble of the mana that resided within him come to life. He could feel a large chunk of that mana suddenly disappear, while a purple fog spread out from within his dark bones, and a bright green flame erupted from within his eye sockets.
A small storm of wind blew through the cathedral, raising dust and blowing away the small stones that were around him. The air around Leon and the skeleton was lit ablaze with dark and nebulous mana as Leon attempted to raise a long dead soul.
Bzzt!
[Partial Soul Reconstruction is complete. You have only managed to extract the abilities of this soul. The original soul can no longer be reached. As a result of Partial Soul Reconstruction, a new soul will be created and bestowed the abilities of the original summon.]
Lines of words appeared in Leon’s vision as he came down from his summoning high. After reading them, he was dazed for a couple of seconds.
“It… worked?”
There was no need for an answer, as the blackened skeleton turned into particles of dust, scattering with the dispersing wind. The wind whirled, blocking the vision of the spot where the skeleton had once been. When the black dust cleared out, the dark, shadowy form of a skeleton wreathed in blue sparks hovered over the air for a second, before landing smoothly on the ground.
Leon stared with a wide mouth. The skeleton was just like him, black bones and all, but this one was covered in black robes that were highlighted with jagged blue streaks that resembled lightning. The robes looked fairly dull, aside from the blue streaks.
Another ten seconds passed before the robed skeleton finally moved. It bowed deeply from its waist, before speaking.
“Greetings, master. Please give me a name.”