Ethan knew that to master necromancy, he needed more than just practice; he required a significant increase in his mana capacity. Just trying to maintain five undead simultaneously quickly drained his reserves, and he was aware that in a real confrontation, he would become vulnerable too soon. Determined to strengthen himself, he began researching methods to increase his mana through Mysticweb.
Mysticweb offered various solutions, from expensive potions to rare artifacts that permanently increased mana capacity. However, with the limited gold he had left, Ethan had to be selective. He opted to purchase a small artifact that, according to descriptions and reviews, would help restore his mana gradually and consistently. The cost of 4,500 gold coins left his treasury almost empty, but he had no other choice. Additionally, he bought a mana training manual for 2,500 gold coins, which contained exercises designed to expand his internal mana capacity through meditation and continuous practice. With this last purchase, he was left with only a few insignificant coins.
Apophis had offered him a meditation method, which even promised to be better than the one he bought, but Ethan didn't trust her at all, so he simply ignored the idea.
Ethan spent the following weeks training intensely, following the manual's instructions and using the artifact. As his mana capacity slowly increased, he began to notice an improvement in his control and the duration of his spells.
During this time, he also trained in other necromancer skills, such as summoning skeletal soldiers. These summons were more convenient than the undead he had been using so far, and although a skeletal soldier is weaker than an undead, they were easier to summon since they didn't require a body to revive. The major drawback was the large initial mana cost, but once the initial mana was spent, maintaining them was extremely cheap.
Moreover, thanks to another skill learned from "Arcanum Mortis," Ethan had the ability to store his minions in a personal pocket dimension. Although he couldn't store anything else there besides the undead, it was already convenient enough with just that. Thanks to this, once the mana cost for his skeletons was paid, there was no need to do it again.
Unfortunately, if he wanted to learn to summon different types of skeletons, such as mage skeletons, archer skeletons, and others, he would have to buy new skill books. But with his resources exhausted, Ethan knew he needed to return to Buenos Aires to continue financing his training and strengthening his skills. After giving some instructions here and there to his employees at the mine, he finally took a plane back. This trip had meant a complete change in his life, but he had no regrets; it's always better to know the enemy's secret weapons, even if it means putting oneself in danger in the process.
---
Meanwhile, in Egypt, Yassir returned home with a sense of victory. Upon arriving at his family's fortress, he was greeted by his sister Yassmin, a beautiful, imposing, and determined woman who was the head of the al-Rashid family. She looked at him with a mix of expectation and distrust.
"Yassir, I hope you bring good news," said Yassmin, her voice as cold as marble.
Yassir nodded and, with a gesture, displayed the urn where he had supposedly captured the demon. Confident in his success, Yassir looked at Yassmin with a mocking smile.
"Here is the demon," said Yassir, trying to hide his smile.
Yassmin observed the urn for a few moments, and with a single glance, she realized something was wrong. She took Apophis, looked at it closely, and then turned to her brother.
"This is not what I expected," she said, her voice filled with disappointment and anger. "What happened, Yassir? Did you let yourself be fooled by a lesser demon?"
Yassir swallowed, fearing to face the truth.
"Was I fooled?" he wondered. "Did the demon I was chasing manage to escape? But how was that possible? I checked the place before leaving, unless..."
Yassmin's anger was palpable, but she restrained herself and asked, "Unless what? What happened?"
Without wasting time, Yassir recounted what had happened earlier. Upon hearing it, Yassmin decided to travel personally to Argentina to resolve the problem. She couldn't allow her brother's mistake to jeopardize their plans.
"Prepare yourself, Yassir. We will travel to find this person immediately," she ordered, her tone making it clear that she would not accept objections.
---
Back in Buenos Aires, Ethan resumed his role in his company. He acted completely normally, dedicating himself to reviewing financial reports and daily operations, handling his tasks with great efficiency. However, there wasn't much to do in his company. Sara, his right-hand and assistant, had taken care of everything during his absence and had not failed in any of her work. The problem Ethan was facing at that moment was the lack of coins to strengthen himself using Malakai's store. He couldn't take all the funds from the company either; it didn't make sense to bankrupt it just to acquire power. That's why Ethan was thinking of some other method to get gold coins.
"Although necromancer magic will take time to be effective in a battle, it's time to implement my plan. If it doesn't work, I'll be in a lot of trouble," Ethan thought aloud.