Saintess Summons Skeletons

Sofia had barely started to draw her ritual on the ground but she couldn’t help switching to Pareth’s vision considering the crazy kill notifications she got and the wild jumps in his health points. She feared for him at some points, but now that the deed was done, she was left to contemplate the slew of system notifications that had appeared before her eyes.

Bewildered, she still changed back to her own vision. The avian ghost that had teleported her wasn’t one of the fighters that Pareth had killed, he had disappeared right after setting off his trap. Since he was a potential danger, she first focused on finishing the setup of her ritual.

Once it was up and running, she sat in the center and finally allowed herself to go through the messages.

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Spearman) - lv. 187]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Swordsman) - lv. 199]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Arbalest) - lv. 230]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Warrior) - lv. 249]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Warrior) - lv. 210]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Spearman) - lv. 199]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Mage) - lv. 232]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Mage) - lv. 249]’

‘You have defeated [??? (Avian Specter Arbalest) - lv. 202]’

‘You gained a level!’ * 9

So much experience!

Compared to the Thrombber or the Shade kills, these were worth much more experience for some reason, Sofia wondered if it was because they had actual classes, or simply the intensity and novelty of the fight. Either way, she was now stuck before a filter for the second time.

‘You have reached maximum experience’

[Congratulations, you have reached the third filter. Your potential will be revealed.]

[You will no longer gain experience]

[Please proceed to the trial site : Ranking Spire, distance : 2579153m]

“Ranking Spire? That’s the thing no one’s allowed to talk about? What is it ranking? Could be many things… But it’s most likely the obvious thing. Ranking the people. Also, I knew this was on the beastman continent but that’s quite far.”

Hmm, well, between the runes and the ritual I should be safe here. I’d summon something to be on the lookout but they wouldn’t see a thing because of the dark.

She returned to Pareth’s point of view, which was complete darkness. Hmmm. A shame I can’t go there anymore. There’s no way the graveyard skeletons get me so far deep underground. I’m pretty sure there should be a way I can teleport to Pareth but I have no idea how to even go about that. Maybe Cardinal could help with this, I’ll go to the Couvauz Vasperian embassy when I meet up with Alith. If I remember that by then and don't get sidetracked...

So I won't actually go I guess.

Pareth couldn’t heal himself without using up his daily activation of [Greater Heal] so he was stuck with around eighteen thousand health because he lost the bonus from his zone. That was liable to get him killed in one hit from the ghosts should he meet more, so Sofia ordered him to come back if he had to fight. When his mana was full, he got up. He walked slowly in the dark until he found the wall, and using it to guide his way forward, he searched for the entrance the Avian specters had come from.

He found it on the second wall of the rectangular space, it seemed like any other dark corridor. Sofia couldn’t really tell what was going on so she waited. She could hear the sound of Pareth walking for a bit, then it seemed he turned around. Now, if Sofia understood what was going on correctly, Pareth was on all fours around the middle of the arena, doing something she couldn’t understand.

Until Sofia heard a sound near her real body. Panicked, she opened her eyes, only to find Pareth standing there holding something.

“That was you! Don’t scare me like that… Did you teleport back to show me this?”

The thing he held in his hands was a staff just like the ethereal ones the Avian mages held.

Wait… The level 249 mage dropped this when he died! It was a real staff! I didn’t even connect the dots together!

The staff no longer looked like a ghostly weapon, it was very real and the ambient mana curved and swirled around it like this weapon was its master. It was made out of a gnarly piece of black primus wood. The top of the staff featured a realistic life-sized carving of an Avian’s clawed hand with its fingers curled like it was about to attack someone.

Sofia [Identify]ed it.

[Avian King-magi Scepter] : The ancient and precious staff of an Avian Arch-magi. It has multiple magic-enhancing enchantments on it.

‘[Identify] reached level 2’

“No way!”

Sofia instantly pulled up [Identify]’s description. It used to be a single sentence, but now there were two more.

[Identify] : Gives some information on target objects or people.

You can now identify objects currently being worn or used by people.

You can now pay additional mana (once per target) to perform a deeper analysis of a magic object and get more details on its functionalities.

That’s about what I expected considering Tyrene was able to get information on the sand pendant when I was wearing it. And the merchant who sold me the Anchor bracelet also tried to [Identify] my ring while I had it on.

Of course, the new function costs mana. And of course, it appears now when my mana is limited and I have an object to use it on… How much is it for this thing?

[Avian King-magi Scepter] : Advanced analysis = 55555 Mana.

Holy hell that’s expensive… Oh whatever, I need to heal Pareth too. Sofia felt safer with Pareth around, she asked him to stick a hand out of the window so she could heal him. She also discarded her immortality runes to start to get mana back, and after a lot of waiting, she performed the advanced [Identify].

She could clearly see the mana departing from her body to surround the Scepter and surround it, poking at it, washing all over it. Whatever was happening Sofia had no control over it. The rest of her system was frozen when she tried to access it, so it had to be the Scribe who was taking care of this. Little by little, the mana she had sent disappeared as it made its way in and around the Scepter. Once no mana was left, it still took some time for the new prompt to appear.

[Avian King-magi Scepter] : The ancient and precious staff of an Avian Arch-magi. It has multiple magic-enhancing enchantments on it. This Black Primus Scepter features an enchanted Dragon horn core and has been melded with orichalcum to ensure maximum durability. Despite the ravages of time, it remains pristine in form and function.

Must be primed to unlock advanced functions (0/ 1 000 000 000 mana).

Basic functions (Fueled by ambient mana or the user’s if lack thereof)

• Absorbs the backlash of forcefully canceled channeling.
• Cannot be damaged by the user’s magic.
• Cannot be forcefully un-equipped.
• Attracts and absorbs weak magical projectiles aimed at the user.

Advanced functions (Requires Priming)

• Halves channeling time
• Halves the mana cost per second of sustained magic

The hand at the top has been designed to be able to either hold catalysts or be used as a melee weapon depending on the user’s preference.

This weapon has been tainted by the eternal shadow, it has a mind of its own.

Make it yours!

And I thought the level 200 skill point’s 1 million points price was a pain to pay! Even with the Sun ritual, it would take me years to ‘Prime’ this staff, whatever that means…

I have to say, the effects are worth it though. Five seconds for an Angel bolt? One and a half for the Spine? Three for the Graveyard? The runes would be down to five minutes too!

The mana cost per second works for the spine, the graveyard, and the heal, dropping them all to fifty mana per second from 100.

This thing is HUGE. It has a fucking Dragon Horn inside!

This… I need to get this Soul-Bound. At all costs. Avians are credited for the creation and popularization of rituals? Yeah, I get why! Enchantments are rituals too!

Well, it’s not primed yet though, and nowhere near it. The other effects aren’t anything exceptional, especially since the magical protection thing is only for ‘weak projectiles’. Better than nothing though. The second to last line is more than a bit ominous…

Sofia stopped being bewildered at the description and grabbed the black scepter. If there was anyone she found trustworthy, it was her scribe.

It was quite hefty even for her level 199 body and was about as long as Alith was tall. She instantly felt a connection between her mana and the scepter and understood what the ‘Cannot be forcefully un-equiped’ meant. It was for all intent and purposes the item version of [Way of the Fool]’s no-falling effect. She was convinced not even Kuli could rip that out of her hands if she tried.

Or she could. She could just rip my whole arm off and that would work…

The legendary Midenicite catalyst appeared in the palm of Sofia’s hand.

[Midenicite catalyst] : A masterfully crafted spell catalyst made of Gold and Midenicite. Enhances the speed of mana projectiles by up to 50%.

Item level : 150. Grade : Legendary.

If I can cast the bolts through the scepter and the catalyst…

Sofia looked at the catalyst and the scepter’s avian hand part, the catalyst was too big to fit in there. Still, she brought the blue crystal ball near the scepter. The hand, which was solid wood, actually opened to accommodate the catalyst. The fingers closed around the artifact, the Avian hand changing, morphing into something new. A skeletal hand.

The description of the scepter was still open on the side of Sofia’s vision. Letter by letter, the name changed.

[Sofia’s Shadow Scepter] ♢

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