In this world, the concept of the Netherworld exists, and the Summoning Technique of a Necromancer is to attach the unconscious Wandering Souls from the Netherworld to corpses.
Death energy is the opposite of life force, with decay, withering, rotting, death, and so forth all accompanying the overflow of death energy.
The Netherworld is the destination for death energy, and the prerequisite to becoming a Necromancer is the ability to communicate with the Netherworld and perceive death energy.
This thing would work for anyone, and Heine had no shortcomings in this regard.
His problem was that no Wandering Souls responded to his summoning.
"I thought I'd never deal with the Undead again, but I didn't expect an unexpected surprise at home..."
He fastened a Burning Bottle to his waist and approached the cellar, holding an electric shock Magic Wand in his hand.
Though it was called a Magic Wand, it was actually a half-meter long stun baton that could discharge electricity three times after being charged, each shock strong enough to knock down a 300-pound wild boar.
This was the defensive weapon he relied on most, which he had paid 2 Gold Coins for Xiya La to purchase on his behalf from the church.
From the dirt covering the edge of the door and how perfectly it fit, it was clear the cellar hadn't been opened in at least half a year, yet death energy was indeed wafting from down below.
Heine lifted the heavy cellar door, and to his surprise, there was no stench of decay, but rather a faint breeze.
"It's ventilated?"
He was greatly surprised, tapped his forehead, and murmured softly:
"Life and death can both be seen."
His vision brightened slightly, and he saw a grey stream of air flowing out from the cellar.
This was the Eyes of the Undead, which could observe traces of death energy, most importantly to determine whether that death energy came from a wild Undead.
Such wild Undead would often claim the lives of many a Necromancer.
The air current in front of him was stable without any fluctuations, suggesting it was a natural spill, and that there was likely no dangerous creature lurking below.
Feeling his energy draining rapidly, Heine quickly lit a torch and climbed in.
The cellar was not large, but it was very dry. He had only walked a short distance when he saw the source of the death energy.
There were two bodies "clinging to each other on the ground."
Complete with clothes, only bones remained, but at the chest of each was scattered a small knife.
What surprised Heine was that from each body extended a silver line that pierced into the ground!
"This is..."
He exclaimed in shock, hurriedly turned off the Eyes of the Undead, and stuck the torch into the wall.
His heart raced uncontrollably!
He actually saw it!?
After his first failed attempt to summon a Wandering Soul, Heine asked those who had succeeded for advice.
Those people said that they saw green lines on the bodies, some had one, others had two, and some even more.
Afters comparing the achievements of these people, Heine came to a conclusion: the green lines represented the body's attraction to Wandering Souls.
Or it could be said that every body was attracting Wandering Souls, but not every Mage could see them.
Those who successfully summoned saw the green lines and were already successful, with the remaining work being a mere formality.
But Heine had never seen a single green line.
Now, although the color was wrong, he had indeed seen a line!
Could it mean that he could finally complete the summoning!?
Heine felt parched, barely containing his excitement as he stepped forward to inspect the two bodies.
He kept in mind the necessary procedures of summoning—you must understand the vessel that the Wandering Soul will attach to.
The flesh of the two bodies had disintegrated, leaving only stark white bones, indicating that they had been there at least a year.
The bones were tough and of high quality, indicating that both individuals were well-trained.
"No wonder they could stab each other to death. Were they fighting over something?"
Heine searched around. Neither body had any identifying items or valuables; they were clothed in ordinary garments.
The only noteworthy objects were the two daggers of good quality.
The Bone Burial Ground offered courses to fit bones with armor, also known as "iron-cladding," so he recognized that the daggers were made of fine forged iron ingots.
After confirming everything was in order, Heine took a deep breath.
He reopened the Eyes of the Undead, concentrating on the two bodies, each one connected by a silver line.
Two years later, he recited the unfamiliar spell once more:
"From dead to living seen anew, Wandering Soul cross the boundary to my side!"
Heine held his breath, intently watching the two skeletons.
He saw the silver line shudder and then, like a blooming Star-of-Bethlehem, split into hundreds of fine threads that stabbed into the ground.
One second...
Two seconds...
Three seconds...
In the skull cavities of the two skeletons, a cluster of silver fire ignited in each, the one on the left suddenly kicking the other as if misstepping on a staircase in a dream, sending the other flying, which immediately sat up from the ground!
"Success!!!"
Heine punched the air excitedly!
But just then, a strange voice flashed through his mind.
"What's happened to me?"
Struck as if by lightning, Heine stood frozen.
The other person was speaking... in Chinese?
The three great taboos of Summoning Technique suddenly surfaced:
Never summon a soul with a master, never summon a soul with a master, never summon a soul with a master!
But his skeleton could talk, and it even spoke fluent Chinese...
Transmigrator??
The bad news didn't stop there; another skeleton also exclaimed in astonishment:
"I've transmigrated?"
What the heck, two??
"What a coincidence, me too, dude I can hear your voice."
"Are you the skeleton in front of me? Damn, how come I'm also a skeleton, then who is this guy? Wait a minute... what the hell, master?"
"No problem, brother, we've become summoned beings, shit, just a second ago I was still on the battlefield, could it be the helmet burned out?"
And they even started chatting!!
"Bro, which battlefield were you on? Don't tell me it was AGE?"
"Holy crap, can't be this coincidental, right? I'm a level 44 Wanderer from the Asian region, my name is Xia Gegai Enemy Sword, and you?"
"Teacher Xia??? I'm Zhuo Yang, I caught a sheep!"
"Holy cow, Brother Yang???"
While the two were passionately recognizing each other, Heine's sanity had already gone through the entire process of burning out and being rekindled from the ashes.
In that instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, he overloaded to the point of crashing, but he finally calmed down.
Heine came from Earth in the year 2023, he had never heard of a game called "AGE," especially the term "Asian region" was unheard of to him.
Taking the past's Mount Yamaguchi as an example, when players located themselves, they would first mention the larger server—Asia server, America server, Europe server, etc., and then narrow down to the region—like 1357, 246810, and so on.
There were different servers for different regions, such as the Burning Card, Phoenix Card.
But this transmigrator named "Teacher Xia" only mentioned "Asian region" without any other modifiers to pinpoint his location.
This could certainly be influenced by Chinese, but since he mentioned it so casually, it implies the game likely had a global server, with at least the whole "Asia" only having one region, not even separating China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and so on.
Plus, the mention of a helmet...
Wasn't this the virtual gaming that no one wrote about at some web novel site before he transmigrated?
Heine was certain he wouldn't see such a game in his lifetime.
So the people in front of him either came from a parallel universe, or they were from the future.
Either way, they were not from his era.
After the initial ecstasy and shock, Heine was plunged into intense fear.
This fear originated primarily from the repulsion he felt towards fellow transmigrators.
It was a kind of biological instinct, similar to territorial consciousness, his unique advantage was being challenged.
Next was his own vulnerability.
Having transmigrated for three years without any golden finger, and the others possibly coming from a more advanced era, and even recognizing each other...
If it were him, even if he transmigrated as a native's servant, he would definitely keep a low profile, endure, and then strike back.
What about the others who were weaker and just arrived a few years ahead of him?
Although he could still keep them in check for the time being, after all, they were transmigrators.
With things having developed to this point, the security that Necromancy brought him was hardly enough.
Heine's mind was racing with rapid thoughts.
He quickly made a decision; the most urgent matter was to disguise himself as a native. He would not reveal that he was a transmigrator who understood their language until he fully grasped their temperaments, understood their characters, and their era well enough!
This was his greatest advantage.
He thought about all these in a very short time, as the two transmigrated beings were busy recognizing each other and did not notice anything unusual about him.
"Follow my command, stand up!"
The two skeletons immediately got to their feet and stood neatly in front of him.
Meanwhile, they were frantically conversing.
"Brother Yang, can you understand what he's saying?"
"No, but I get it, and my body followed suit."
"Same here, now we really have become someone else's servants."
"Look on the bright side, having something is better than nothing... Say, how are we talking to each other? It's not like our squad voice chat traveled with us, right? This cheat is pretty lame."
"Think positively, having it is better than not."
Listening to their conversation, Heine also breathed a sigh of relief.
They had not realized he could hear their dialogue, and they also did not understand the language of this world.
But because of the master-servant relationship, they could understand his words.
This made things much easier.
"I command you to pick up the dagger from the ground and the torch from the wall, and follow me to the surface."
Heine gave verbal orders while meticulously planning the specifics in his mind, making sure they understood who would pick up the torch and who would grab the dagger.
In theory, a Necromancer's thoughts alone should be enough to command, and shouting commands was not necessary.
But the human mind changes at every moment, hard to control, whereas language allows him to be clear on what he was thinking exactly.
The two skeletons, while complaining that this was "like some newbie tutorial," complied with smooth movements and no mistakes.
Heine's heart, which had been in his throat, finally eased a little.