The skeleton army marched on, drawing terror to everyone. Those nearby had fled as several skeleton scouts appeared and attacked those without warning.
With this threat approaching, many of those who live in the scattered Desolate level towns surrounding Martsirt all fled in fear of the wrath of the Skeleton army.
Dyne had handed over the dark artifacts of Abrellam to Leoric.
“This small coffin ought to help you in your powers of controlling the skeleton army. It seems to make the wearer more sensitive to the dark elements of this world and allows you to feel the energy and negative emotions around you. I don’t need it since my little disciple here can harness all the dark energy he needs soon.” Dyne pointed at Jedo, who was now numb from being referred to as a disciple.
The moment Dyne gave the small coffin-like necklace to Leoric, Leoric could feel a strange sensation as if voices from a great distance were calling to him.
“I can sense… the hatred of many. Many of these voices have made vowes to me. But they hate me…” Leoric closed his eyes to feel those voices.
“They are from Martsirt. Those that vowed to serve Ciroel. Pitiable fools. Interesting. By the vows that they have made to me, I should be able to call out to them…” Leoric opened his eyes and turned to Dyne.
“Is there any way to enhance it all the more? It seems if I have more of these, I can command the skeletons from a great distance and even cause those living to honor their vow.” Leoric asked.
“I suggest you study it and improve your ability through it, King Leoric. At the very foundation of what you have, is an ability called Soul Cultivation. Your specific path is linked to a summoner. The knights that have served you, both living and death, are bound to you by some powerful oath. But I don’t know why that is so. What is the process of their vows to you?”
“My family comes from a long line of powerful kings. It is said that my kingdom had the power that could challenge Paradise. But our lineage had declined when my ancestors faced the wrath of several kingdoms beyond the Scattered Continent. We have left the Core Crystal, which became the place our knights and all who serve the kingdom make their vows. Could it be related to that?”
“That’s possible. It seems the land of Martsirt is full of mysteries. Try to understand your power all the more. If you can command many more knights, those who turned traitor could be pulled back and become important spies who can suddenly help us.”
“Then let it be so. I shall do as you say. What plans do you have now that we have a skeleton army? We roughly have over a hundred soldiers, but each should be at the Martial Formation level! If we attack Martsirt, it’s even possible to take it. Of course, it will come at great cost, which I wish not to waste.”
“That’s why we deal with the Afarit first. With these skeletons, we can attack the cave where Archbishop Lazarus is found. He commands an army of Kong Apes. These skeletons should be capable of dealing with them while a smaller team infiltrates and subdue the Afarit.”
“How many Kong Apes are there?” Ardnula asked.
“Possibly over three hundred. It could go as high as five hundred. The Afarit would definitely recall all the other Kong Apes to protect themselves from the threat.”
“Five hundred? That's…!”
“That’s a good place to train my news powers.” The mad king laughed.
“I still have a small group of allies there. I wish to meet with them, and then we begin the attack. I believe it’s important that those weak allies join the battle.” Dyne asserted.
“Weak allies? You still have some allies there?” Jaden asked.
“You have not met them. I was with three people before meeting you. They are Martial Novices, and one is Martial Advent. But she’s blessed with incredible talent and might have a powerful bloodline that would shock us all. So I need them present.”
“We will follow your arrangements.” The king smiled.
“Ardnula! Chrone! To me! We plan our tactics for the battle as early as now. Once we raid the small fortress, I will try to call those traitorous knights in the fort and make them ours once more. Let us make plans for the battle. Master Dyne will oversee the infiltration team kill the Afarit. Our job is to kill those on top!”
“Yes, my King!” The two answered.
“Is this arrangement favorable?”
“Yes!” Dyne nodded. He looked at his team. He had the four characters of Diablo, a knight, an archer, a mage, and a monk. He also had Arya the Assassin, Ussylys the Berserker, Emera the Revenant, and the formless ghost of Lachdagonan. Chrone and Chantel, the Bishop and Priest pair, would be with the king's forces. So Dyne began to think about what to outfit his team. He also considered that Rena and her parents would be among her team.
“Let me go over the stuff and see what I can give you guys. I have quite a haul from my trip.” Dyne turned to Jaden.
Dyne closed his eyes and brought out the weapons and armors he got from Nabal and the Arc Knight’s confiscated repository, which had several powerful weapons and enchantments.
“Arya. I wish to have Jaden hold onto your father's sword.” Dyne spoke.
“My father would be pleased to know a righteous man, and the son of a king wields his sword.” Arya smiled.
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Jaden was surprised when Dyne gave him the sword. He could feel the powerful heat bursting out of it.
One by one, Dyne gave some of the weapons and items he found. From armor to bows to gauntlets which his team had.
The Diablo team had their entire outfit replaced with more superior weapons that he got from Nabal. In addition, Ishreth received some scrolls and a staff that Abrellam had in his room.
Ussylys already had his powerful gear, so Dyne decided to prioritize the rest.
Arya had already received weapon replacements during her night adventures with Dyne.
Emera and Lachdagonan did not need any physical weapons.
After outfitting his team, he gave each instruction to familiarize themselves with certain fighting tactics as he would be busy and might have to leave the group.
The burden of command fell unto Jaden, who felt immense pressure. He had seen how Dyne commanded a squad when they faced Chrone’s monkey form and hoped he could top such tactics.
And so, the group began to talk and discuss among themselves. Even Lachdagonan’s spirit appeared to listen.
Dyne, however, closed his eyes and began to go over the more than a hundred books he stole.
He was going to use his book's devouring ability to go through the memories of those who unconsciously added soul power to the books.
Dyne kept switching from one book to the other and would throw a book that didn’t have even the slightest of souls.
The first book that drew Dyne’s memories was a book written by a Mage who was considered one of the strongest fire mages in Martsirt.
His memories gave Dyne a look into the many ways to control fire magic and how to harness it. It was then that Dyne realized how poor the people of Martsirt had it. Unlike him, who had an Elemental Soul seed, these people needed both the spark and the power of the mind to activate the said object to create magic.
Although it was not written in the book, Dyne found out the secret behind the mage’s powerful spell. He found a strange fiery crystal when exploring the secret warp pads that led to various dangerous places. His memory showed him a dangerous escapade that led him towards a temple guarded by large robotic humanoids. While he had not the strength to move in, he managed to steal a fire crystal that powered the entire temple.
“Oh. An Energy Crystal. And that one is a fire type.” Strafe identified the object.
“And those strange robots. They look like the one in your Vanguard Bandit game.”
“Yeah. What are Fire Crystals?”
“That orb you found is a type of Crystal, but an inferior version. The cultivators in the center of Eternity use a more advanced version than the one you saw. Of course, in this place, a Fire Crystal is supposedly powerful. This is why that mage could focus on the form of his magic. That’s how his fire magic had hardening properties and could even assume life.”
“I got that part. Instead of focusing and concentrating on creating the magic, he had it stored in that fire crystal and would release it. Interesting. With these, we can actually train non-magical folks to cast magic like the materia system in Final Fantasy VII.” Dyne grew excited. The map of that place was now embedded in his memory.
“After the Afarit and protecting Legaia, I’ll definitely go there!” Dyne vowed.
Dyne then focused on the other spoils of this memory. The mage had the ability to control fire and move it. Most mages in Martsirt can only harness it and shoot the energy. While Dyne could have practiced and learned this, it took time and effort, which he didn’t have.
But now…
Dyne raised his hands and did something so inconceivable. Relying on the muscle memory of the mage, he gathered his fire energy, and it immediately took form. While he couldn’t do everything that the mage could do through muscle memory, it helped lighten the concentration that Dyne needed.
“Tsk… It’s just this, huh…? I really need to put something in my mind palace.” Dyne sighed as he held a floating ball of fire in his hands.
But while Dyne was pitying himself, those nearby were surprised that Dyne could not only channel the fire in his hands but harness and compress it into something that could be thrown. With his Elemental Soul Seed, Dyne could only harness the energy and concentrate it on his fist or weapons. It couldn’t be thrown or shot like before.
“Oh well. I guess I’ll treat this as learning firebolt from books like in Diablo.” Dyne comforted himself.
“You can already do firebolt?!” Strafe cursed. This was the first time Strafe saw a non-Mind Cultivator who could already cast magic!