Chapter 44: Necrotic Transformation
Leon had encountered many bosses, but he had never actually fought one face-to-face. The strongest enemies he had ever faced alone were just elite-level creatures. The wind elemental before him, whether in terms of size or power, exerted immense pressure on him.
Fortunately, the Storm Isles map could no longer support creatures above Lv1. Although this wind elemental boss looked enormous, its strength did not exceed the limits of this level.
With that, the temporary team of ten, hastily assembled, charged at the wind elemental boss head-on.
Leading the charge were two of Lady Ember's juniors, followed by Lady Ember herself and Lynn. Behind them were the other players.
This wasn't a formal team setup, so there was no defined tank or healer. Everyone relied solely on their battle instincts to fight.
Thankfully, before the battle, Lady Ember had instructed everyone to attack freely but to retreat only after losing two-thirds of their health to recover.
According to her calculations, this wind elemental didn't have many area attacks and couldn't possibly take out everyone at once, at most attacking one or two players simultaneously.
If two people retreated, two others could immediately step up. As long as no one was taken out in one blow, there wouldn't be any major losses.
Lady Ember's plan was sound and logical, but she had underestimated the boss's endurance, even though it was suppressed to Lv0. The battle dragged on for nearly thirty minutes before the wind elemental finally fell before them.
To their dismay, aside from dropping a Wind Elemental Core, the boss left nothing else behind. It meant the others gained no tangible rewards this time.
Thankfully, Lady Ember's reputation carried weight, and since most of the players had benefited from her before, they didn't complain. After returning to the base at Aurelia Pinehold, everyone went about their own business.
Over the next few days, Leon focused diligently on completing daily missions. Aside from spending two hours practicing his spear skills, he dedicated the rest of his time to mastering the skill taught by the divination crone.
By now, Leon had mostly figured out the frequencies and intensity needed for the vibrations. What he lacked now was the proper material infusion ratios.
Leon also realized that he was short on some materials, making it hard to conduct proper experiments. Moreover, his knowledge of shadow-based elements was still too limited. Most of his attention had been on necromancy, though he knew shadow energy encompassed more than just that.
This mission had revealed many of his shortcomings, prompting Leon to decide that, once he left, he would spend at least a year studying more thoroughly before going back to deal with the sea dragon's corpse.
Most of his original plans were no longer feasible, especially his construction plans. He also needed to learn more about material science, and it would be best to gain some skills in alchemy as well.
Days passed by, and on the tenth day at the Storm Isles, Leon noticed that Lady Ember had completed her tasks ahead of schedule and arrived at the location where he had been using the summoning technique.
By this point, the outer area around the base at Aurelia Pinehold had already been heavily corroded by negative energy. In places unseen, wandering undead roamed.
The location where Leon stood now was the same as where he had first used the summoning technique. Compared to last time, more and more phantom heads appeared in the sandstorm in the sky, drawn by the negative energy.
Leon stood there waiting. Around 3:30 PM, the giant boar head descended from the sky with a gust of sand.
Compared to a few days ago, the Seven Knights IV core control hub had completely transformed. The black sand clung to the central hub like some kind of viscous liquid.
Among the sand, Leon could see numerous components, some of which were familiar to him—relics he had submitted during daily missions. There were also parts of unknown machines, as well as outer shells from strange devices.
As Lady Ember observed the control hub, she nodded in approval. It was clear that Leon had been working hard, as the attributes of the central hub had undergone a complete transformation.
Just as Leon was about to leap onto the control hub, Lady Ember stopped him.
"Wait a moment. I have something else to add."
Leon nodded and stepped aside. He could sense that the necrotic transformation of the core control hub had reached about 99%. A little more use of the summoning technique would fully complete the transformation, so there was no rush.
From a distance, Leon watched as Lady Ember took out numerous cards from her pocket. These cards contained various components, some of which were familiar to Leon, as they were items he had submitted during daily tasks at the base.
In addition to those, there were scorpion shells and beast bones, though these weren't typical necromancer tools. Instead, most of them were earth-elemental materials.
Leon had no objection to this. He knew he could have brought better materials, but those would cost money, and gathering them himself would take time. Since Lady Ember had made her preparations, it was no longer his concern.
After tossing the materials into the sand, Lady Ember jumped onto the control hub and inserted several circuit board-like items.
When everything was in place, she nodded to Leon. "It's ready. Begin the necrotic transformation."
Without asking any further questions, Leon leaped onto the control hub and started the final summoning technique.
As he channeled the summoning spell, Leon noticed that the negative energy wasn't following his usual guidance. Instead, it spread along specific energy lines from the control hub.
This phenomenon startled Leon, and he quickly recorded the operation and trajectory of these energy lines. He understood that this was the best chance to observe the inner workings of the Seven Knights IV.
The negative energy he channeled spread outward from the central hub, causing the ground to tremble. Components buried underground slowly rose and gathered towards the core control hub.
Soon, a massive boar, with mechanical parts as its skeleton and black sand as its muscles, stood before Leon and Lady Ember.