[ Somewhere inside the Forest ]
A man knelt around a circle of boulders he had erected, on those said boulders were Nordic runes he had carved with magic, those runes were not something one would want to use as it belongs to forbidden Nordic magic that was banned a century ago.
" All that is left is to supply it with magic. " The man said to himself as he limped to the centre of the circle. He cursed as the pain in his leg was getting unbearable. At the centre of the circle was a monolith that had a mixture of Nordic runes and foreign magic circles.
The man took out a blue crystal from his pocket and placed it in a slot carved on the monolith. He then took a deep breath and poured his magic power into the crystal. The runes on the Monolith gave a greyish glow, and so did the other runes that were carved onto the boulders that were placed in a circle around the Monolith.
This ritual was forbidden for a reason and was rightfully banned many years ago, as it took a piece of the caster's soul every time the ritual was performed. But this did not stop the man instead, he poured more of his magic into the monolith.
What was it like to have a piece of your soul sacrificed for this ritual? The man would say it would be like being suffocated and blood being drained, which was followed by feeling very very weak.
With the runes activated and half the ritual is done, he proceeded to the next half. The activation of the magic circles was less demanding than the Runes, but his magic reserves were getting low.
Thankfully he had enough magic to activate the magic circles.
" Duo Magic " He whispered, his breath was getting shallow, his vision blurry and his consciousness leaving him.
He gritted his teeth, forcing him to stay conscious. He could not give up now, not after everything he had done, after everything they had done to her, they will pay for everything they had taken from him.
" SANCTUARY OF THE DEAD!!! "
The monolith began to rumble, as smoke precipitated from the ground, it was very thick but it did not rise higher than his knees.
He took this time to rest as he smiled at his fished work. From the smoke, emerged five draug armed and ready for combat.
The man took a map of the entire forest, he marked the location he was currently at and was looking at the next location to start the ritual again.
" Just twenty more to go. " He said to himself, as he quickly pocketed the map, but in his hurry, he accidentally dropped his wallet. He carefully picked it up and opened it.
He gave a warm smile at a picture in it. It was a picture of his family. He, his wife and his baby boy were smiling, oh he missed those days. But they had to take them away from him.
" I'm sorry I could not save you or our son. " The man had to suppress the urge to cry, he had failed as a man and he had failed as a father. " Don't worry, I will deliver justice, the justice you both deserve. "
His smile was soon replaced by a cold and emotionless face, he remembered everything, how they called him a madman, they called his wife a witch. They took everything from him and he will destroy everything they loved.
" Odin, I will destroy everything you ever loved. " His words were filled with venom, as he uttered that word.
He was going to be the cause of RAGNAROK.
{ Back to Nikolai }
Magic was a really weird topic for Nikolai, he would not classify himself as a magician or even a beginner magician. He had only one spell in his arsenal, UNDEAD WILL. Though his understanding of the spell is limited, what he does know is that it suppresses all types of emotions turning any person like him into an emotionless and fearless warrior. Not to mention it gave him an absolute calmness that was very addictive.
But the problem with wanting to use this spell for a long period is that he had to deal with magic exhaustion. But he came up with an idea that might solve his problem.
' Nine minutes and forty-eight seconds. ' That was how long he could keep " UNDEAD WILL " active. ' Ten seconds longer than the last time. '
He observed that when his magic reserve is close to being depleted and then is allowed to recover, it gets increased by a small amount. It was similar to doing exercise, like causing micro-tears to muscles and letting them heal, which results in more muscle mass.
This method of increasing his magic reserves was a good discovery on his part, but it also had drawbacks. " Half an hour to fully recharge. "
Despite the drawback, the ten more seconds increase to keep the spell active every time he depletes his magic reserve was worth it.
Do the week was spent with an organised timetable, after breakfast he burns all the undead and collects all the weapons they so generously gave to him along with their armour. Then till lunch, he explores the forest for food. After lunch, he spent three hours conditioning his body, with strength exercises, hand-to-hand combat and weapon training. Then for three hours, he works to increase his magic reserves. After exterminating the undead, he takes a quick bath and goes to bed.
Days went by and he followed this timetable religiously, it kept him occupied but boredom was something he was very vulnerable to. So he kept himself entertained by experimenting with the black mist and the voice that was a part of him.
" So... Why can't I use two items at the same time? " He asked the creepy voice not really expecting an answer. It was not like it was sentient or anything.
[ YES YOU CAN ]
' Colour me surprise. ' He chuckled, " How? " he asked as he summoned the knife, and tried to summon the sword. The knife immediately turned itself into mist and became part of the sword.
" I tried to do that many times but it won't work. "
[ ITEMS ARE FOUR TYPES: ]
WEAPONS
SHIELD
ARMOUR
ACCESSORY
[ YOU CAN ONLY SUMMON ONLY ONE OF EACH TYPE ]
Nikolai was dumbfounded by this information, ' One type of each Item. '
There was a reason he never tried to summon the armour and a weapon at the same time. He thought that it was not possible, that he could only summon only one item. But with this discovery, he immediately went to work.
' YAHOO! '
As the armour began to form on his body, he also summoned the sword, which dematerialize itself. On seeing this success, he smiled in excitement. He proceeded to summon the round shield and it also didn't dematerialize itself.
" YES!!! "
This development gave Nikolai another boost in his combat powers as he was protected from all the attacks the undead could bring to him. But the armour was the least item he had improved, so it had a very low durability and it could only take so many hits before it dematerialize itself.
" Once that chain hets digested, I'm going to improve the armour first. "
Days passed by quickly and the fated day had arrived.
[ DIGESTION TIME: 1 MINUTE ]
The timing could not get any better, he had just finished dealing with the undead that came to generously give him their weapons and armour.
The week had passed by, and the fruits of his hard work had begun to show themselves to him and they tasted very sweet.
He was getting better at using the weapons the mist had devoured and not only that, he was getting stronger. But the most fruitful was the vast improvement to his magic reserves.
He could not really tell how much magic he had, but he could keep UNDEAD WILL active for thirteen minutes straight, before his magic reserves almost get depleted.
Overall, that was all the progress he made during the past seven days. His focus was then shifted to the elephant in the room. He activated UNDEAD WILL.
[ DIGESTION TIME: 5 SECONDS ]
.
.
.
.
.
[ ITEM DIGESTED ]
[ CURSE MAGIC LEARNED ]
[ NEW SPELL LEARNED: MAGIC DEVOUR* ]
[ NEW SPELL LEARNED: GRIP* ]
' Four gifts in one day, is it my birthday? '
He knew very well that it was not his birthday, he was not even when his birthday was. But hey, today he got a new weapon, he learned curse magic and also learned two new spells. It deserves a small celebration. He was going to open one can food for dinner to night
He could not wait to try these new weapons and spells.
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Author's note: Like my story? Please leave a comment and a review, Thank you.
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CHAPTER.