Re: I must complete all my Missions-Chapter 32: Disguised Trap (2/3)

[Congrats! You have succeeded in unlocking the final gate of the Essence of Reckoning.]

[Level completed! Level 130 attained!]

[You may now proceed to retrieve the Essence of Reckoning, and awaken your new class afterwards.]

Buji heaved a deep sigh after reading all that was contained in the system’s screen and went into the cloudy energy. The air around him was thick, with an unnatural presence. Each step he took echoed against the stone floor as he ventured deeper.

A dim glow pulsed ahead of him, the temperature dropped, sending a chill up his spine. His breath came in ragged gasps, because of the mists but he endured until he approached in front of what appeared to be an altar.

The altar was a craft from obsidian and bone, with runes etched on its surface that seemed alive on its own, shifting seamlessly.

At the center of the altar, resting on top of the pedestal of skeletal hands, was a small black box. The Essence of Reckoning, it seems to Buji.

He exhaled slowly, steadying his pace, bracing himself. He was right, it is the Essence of Reckoning. He knew because he could feel it already, that immense power that radiated from within, calling to him, waiting.

Buji was close. Too close.

Before he knew it, he began to hear strange whispering voices.

At first, it started as a mere murmur, like the wind rustled through dead leaves. But it grew, becoming louder, exploding into a chorus of voices, surrounding him from all sides.

All these voices, unknown and strange, spoke in a tongue that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Buji.

As if their uncoordinated approach was not yielding result, the voices began to speak in unison. This time around, their voices vomited words that were cold, ancient and at the same time, binding.

*Life is borrowed and Death is due,

The cycle turns, both that of old and new.

A soul once taken it’s not supposed to remain,

Yet, through our hands, it wakes again.*

*Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, bone to bone,

In death’s embrace, the path is shown.

But power twists what was once true,

For we decide what Death can do.*

*Yes, we do.*

*Blood runs dry, yet shadows still call,

The nameless rise and heed the thrall.

What was once bound is now unchained,

A will comprised of steel, yet fate remains.*

*The hand that takes, the eye that sees,

A master that bends death with ease.

But mark the cost, the price is steep,

For what is risen does not sleep.*

*O Necromancer, claim your right,

Dwell in darkness and wield the night.

The Reckoning has called for you,

Now take the gift and set death free.*

The moment the final words were spoken, Buji activated his Retention feature immediately and copied the poem. It was beyond his understanding, in the meantime.

Now, the voices stopped ranting. Next he noticed, the altar trembled. A deep hum resounded through the hair, making the bones that are on the pedestal to rattle.

The air around Buji tightened. It was as if unseen eyes were locked onto him.

He stepped forward, reaching out his trembling hand toward the black box on the altar. Almost on the verge of touching it, he withdrew his hand as if it burned—although he couldn’t feel burn, and pulled them out again.

This time, he let his finger brush against it, and at that very moment, his environment changed.

The world around him changed.

An unknown force, ever to him, erupted from the box, surging through him like a storm. The whole hall shattered into pure darkness, and a void swallowed everything. An inky void.

Buji was falling. Or saw, he felt like.

Falling into a labyrinth of howling shadows.

The energy that had shot through, engulfing him, wrapping around his limbs, his chest, his throat, were all suffocating yet exhilarating.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. Yet, he wasn’t dying. His body was transforming.

The voices returned, but this time, they spoke through him.

"You have taken the gift."

"You have defied the cycle."

"You are no longer mortal. You are something more."

"You are something forbidden."

Pain shot through Buji, lancing through his body as if his soul was being reshaped. His vein burned with black blood, oozing at dark flames that proved it’s heat intensity. His eyes opened, clearer—he now had a different perception of what the world was like.

He could see the world not as it was, but as it truly was.

In the corners of his mind, he heard another whispers. As if coming from beings that lurked in the shadows. The whispers began to call onto names, unknown to him.

"Lakdish."

"Nissa."

"Bische."

...

And so on.

Buji clinged his head, motioning them in struggle fo come off the whispers. He felt the strange presence. The presence of long gone spirits.

Their voices kept disturbing, pleading, offering as well as demanding.

When it seemed like everything emotional chaos has stopped, Buji braced himself and raised his head. In front of him, the System’s screen has materialized.

Ding!

[Level 130 attained!]

[You have met the conditions for a new awakening.]

[Awakening Initiating...!]

*Successful.*

[You have awakened a New Class!]

[Class-2: NECROMANCER]

Buji collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. His hands trembled as the dark mist around him settled, absorbing into his skin.

His heart was still beating, but it beat different—slower, heavier, colder.

A new power coursed through his veins, something deep, primal, and terrifying.

He understood now. He was thrust into this coast of the dungeon alone to face life, death and its balance.

He has being appointed as its master.

He is now a Necromancer.

Ding!

[The Essence of Reckoning has been consumed.]

[An entities that embodied the full art of necromancy, protecting its power to the fullest.]

[To make use of such power, you must possess the Mana Power.]

Description: Mana Power, specifically referred as Necromantic Mana will be deeply intertwined with death, the soul and afterlife. Your gifted energy Mana Points will serve as a fuel source, to keep up your undead legion when summoned, and strengthen them when need be.

Your undead’s abilities, and capabilities will be solely dependent on your Mana Points.

Buji exhaled.

’How do I go about building my undead legion?’

[You may now proceed to retrieve your legion.]

Immediately, the whole vanished. Everything, his surrounding changed. He found himself in the battlefield, where he had fought endlessly with the skeletons and its generals.

But, he was surprised.

He was pretty sure that upon defeat of the Dungeon boss, the skeleton general, and its subordinates, they had all vanished. How then, have their skeletal frame all reappeared?

[Choose your undead awakening word.]

[ - - - - - ]

Buji thought for a while, then he said. "Surgité."

[Surgité—recorded.]

[You can now proceed with your first task.]

[Assemble your first undead.]

[Each failed attempt will cost you 200 MPs.]

Buji approached the Skeletal General first, his eyes turned dark, then he muttered.

"Surgité."

Immediately, dark smokes began to rise from the General’s body, moving like tendrils until it engulfed wholly into Buji’s body.

He moved over to the piles of skeletal bones packed, at a close distance and repeated the same process.

This time around, he spread out his hands, as he allowed the hundreds of bones to get engulfed into him as dark energies. When all these happened, and he made sure there was no undead skeleton left.

He grunted, "Is that all?"

Again, his environment changed. Throwing him into the area where he had fought with Wyrm, and he smiled wryly, with devilish intent in his eyes.

"Surgité!"

He roared, his voice echoing around the dungeon.

Dark smokes began to surge out of the monster’s body, but after a while, it flickered and disappeared. He tried it again, and again, and again...but he failed each attempt.

He sat on the cavern floor, and thought for a while. Then, his mind suddenly reeled to Mr. Zin, and the other hunters.

He searched around to know if probably, they had died as he presumed. And, his presumption was true. At one corner, their dead bodies lay.

Buji hopped over the dead bodies, and finally knelt before one of the bodies. Lily was gone. He sobbed silently at this misfortune, as he claims.

And stood up with a new resolve, wiping the tears that formed on his eyes.

With a smile and soft tone, he muttered, "Surgité."

The bodies of the hunters there did the same as that of the skeletons. Then, Buji returned to the Wyrm.

His eyes lurked onto it, and he smiled. "I won’t fail this time."

"Surgité!"

The essence from the dead monster began to flow out gradually, until finally, there was no dark energy to engulf.

Buji clapped his hands against each other and began walking out of the dungeon. Once he was out of the dungeon portal, he heard a familiar voice.

Once he was out of the dungeon portal, he heard a familiar voice.

"Get him!"