Wight’s level was rising more slowly than I had expected it to, though it’s probably just that my level rose faster because I had those supplementary title skills. It never even crossed my mind that it would take this much trouble to raise someone by just 3 levels.
At long last, after defeating six whole little treants, Wight had reached level 4. Wight’s status looked to be improving though, as they were getting to the point where they could take down little treants with relative ease.
Though after defeating a further three little treants, Wight’s level had yet to max out. Their level should probably be going up pretty soon here with the next one…
Together with Wight, we searched for a young sapling. Once we found one, I gave Partner the order and had her transform it into a little treant.
⦋The general skill ⟨Fabricate Life⟩ has risen from level 3 to level 4.⦌
…This skill’s been runnin’ through levels too after I’ve been spammin’ the hell outta it, huh?
On a side note, for the little treants that had run out of HP, there’s no possibility of them becoming reanimated, even when using ⟨Fabricate Life⟩ on them. For poor Wight, they are bones, no more, no less. So it would be absurd to expect the skill to, say, not work on the deadest of bodies… right? It might be that there’s a physical law of nature of some kind for things that are easy to monsterize. Now, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel any response whatsoever, so I have a strong hunch that ⟨Fabricate Life⟩ will reach a point where it can be used like that if I keep on leveling it…
“Squrk- Squreeeeak!”
A little treant, having uprooted itself from the ground, launched itself at Wight. Wight cleanly sidestepped the little treant’s movements, mounted and wrapped themself around its back, broke off its limbs, and clamped their jaw down on its main body.
“Squreak…”
The little treant’s movements came to a stop as it became limp, collapsing on the spot. Now… with this, Wight’s level should have risen.
It sure would be good if they could evolve to look a little bit more… human-like…
Species: Wight
Condition: Cursed
Level: 5/5
HP: 14/14
MP: 1/6
Alright, cool. Their level has risen. With all that set, Wight’s evolution should be unlocked.
“Gwuo…”
Upon calling out to Wight, they looked up at me. The rattling of bones rang out as Wight nodded wholeheartedly. And then, when I thought that they were going to evolve, their appearance instead remained more or less unchanged. Wight just kept on facing me with their empty eye sockets locked in my direction.
Could it be that there’s something that… I have to do here? If we’re talking about stuff I can do in regards to an undead, about the only thing that’ll fit the bill is ⟨Fabricate Life⟩.
Hey, Partner. If you could go ahead and give Wight one more dose, and make the magic as strong as possible.
“Gwagh!”
As Partner barked out, black light enveloped Wight. As the black light dissipated, Wight slowly emerged from within it.
Wight’s bones had taken on a somewhat bluer shade of color with the symbol of a cross surfacing on their forehead. Wight also had some patterns appear on bones across their body and around their eye sockets… but beyond that, there weren’t any areas on Wight’s body that had distinctive changes. I even got the impression that this evolution monsterized them further rather than, say, brought them closer to being human. …I wonder if making Wight’s body go back to how it formerly was when they were alive is fruitless after all…
At any rate, for future’s sake, I’d like to get an idea about what Wight has evolved into. Guess I’ll give their status a check and see what we got.
Species: Low Skull Mage
Condition: Cursed
Level: 1/13
HP: 15/15
MP: 1/10
Attack: 5
Defense: 4
Magic: 6
Speed: 3
Rank: E
Characteristic Skills:
⟨Gureek Language: Lv 1⟩⟨Undead: Lv –⟩⟨Dark Element: Lv –⟩
Resistance Skills:
⟨Condition Ailment Nullification: Lv –⟩⟨Physical Resistance: Lv 3⟩
⟨Magic Resistance: Lv 1⟩
General Skills:
⟨Gale: Lv 2⟩⟨Weak Curse: Lv 2⟩⟨Life Drain: Lv 1⟩⟨Earth: Lv 1⟩
Title Skills:
⟨Wicked Dragon’s Minion: Lv –⟩
⟨Low Skull Mage⟩… So to summarize, that means they’re a low grade magic user? Made of bona fide bones? So then, what comes next? Skull Mage? I, uh, do wonder about them obtaining a flesh and blood body at this point… They’re gonna be bones their whole life, aren’t they? Well, not life, they’re um… dead.
If they can at least select a potential evolution like me, then they can additionally still choose a path with some hope, right…? Er, well, nevertheless, the expanded MP pool they now have means that the number of times they can attack safely from a distance has been increased. If I have Wight… argh, since they’re now evolved, would that be a weird name? If I have… Low Skull Mage provide support while I fight out in the open, I might be able to easily powerlevel them.
Now, it may be that the less danger there is, the lower the experience points will be, but it’s bound to be far more efficient than hunting something that’s the same rank, small, and purposefully arranged. Ball Rabbit had evolved using that powerleveling method as well and even surged straight to D rank. And besides, using ⟨Fabricate Life⟩ to level them up is… something I’d really rather not do. It goes without saying that making a living creature with the express purpose of killing it does not make for a good and healthy state of mind.
I stared at Low Skull Mage’s face, wondering what I would do if it came to pass that they stayed stuck as this—as bones. Low Skull Mage stood motionlessly while staring at their hands, supposedly also having their own reservations about their appearance. They sure don’t look all that thrilled about it… Guess it is what it is. Yeah, I’d like to try asking them how much they can recall, but they don’t even have a tongue, so there’s no way they can speak. They’re all bones.
Come to think of it, their name from when they were alive hasn’t been displaying, has it? Yeah, it feels kinda strange to modify what I call them every single time they change species, so I suppose I’ll try whippin’ up more or less a proper name for ‘em.
Even then, Because I don’t have the faintest clue on whether they’re male or female—because obviously—I don’t have the faintest clue on whether I should be lookin’ at the bones or meat of this whole situation to figure a name out. There’s said to be a difference in skeletal structure between males and females, but since they’re a child…
Yeah, I know that they still have some remaining habits and behaviors from back when they were human, but they might not even remember their name. I’m getting a fairly strong sense that their name would show up in their status if they knew it themself. Until I can settle on a proper name for them, for now, I’ve more or less decided to stick with calling them Wight. Look, it’s not like I mean to brand them by putting it front and center, but…
I guess I’ll call it a day and have Wight recover their MP by letting them take the rest of the day off… And starting tomorrow, I’ve decided we’ll try to go out hunting again. Now, let’s go get those tributes and have us some food. I’m curious, but almost worried about whether or not the Litōvear Tribe will come around again, you know?