Necromancer Of The Black Bible (7)

A week had passed since I obtained my new body.

During that time, I went around collecting materials needed to study necromancy.

Afterward, I began magical training using the methods I knew.

But I soon hit a wall.

Because the fundamental issue remained unresolved.

‘I can’t create a mana ring.’

In my past life, I had received a mana ring from Demon King Illinas.

Black magic and necromancy were also based on that mana ring.

But my master sternly warned me.

The mark carved into the soul can be erased, but the ring forged in your heart by the Demon King cannot be undone.

That’s why I rejected Dikrea’s offer to forge me a mana ring.

Honestly, when I gained this new body and confirmed I could wield immensely powerful lesser magic, I was optimistic.

I believed that creating my first mana ring in this heart would be easy.

Besides, the magical knowledge I gained in my past life was by no means small.

I had smuggled out hundreds of grimoires hidden in the royal archives.

Since Master pressed me to absorb them quickly, their secrets are still vividly etched into my memory.

Even so, it wasn’t easy.

The method I remembered for forming the first mana ring was to sit still, sense mana directly, and repeatedly condense it into the heart.

Since the mana density in this natural cave was much higher than elsewhere, I expected to form a ring quickly.

After all, countless grimoires I’d studied said so.

But even after a week, there was no change in my heart.

‘Why?’

I thought it over, but finding the cause was difficult.

Then my eyes fell on the leather bag stuffed in a corner of the desk.

The leather bag containing Equinox.

The thought of seeking its help crossed my mind but was quickly dismissed.

‘No.’

The struggle for dominance wasn’t over. If I yielded first, things would only become harder later.

Like taming a wild horse, I had to wait until its strength was exhausted.

Only when it truly obeyed me and I could wield it as I pleased would Equinox be of real use.

So I returned to the beginning and looked at the staff Nocturne standing beside me.

Now it moved about quite freely—standing alone, sometimes even going out for a “walk”.

Of course, it could only do so with my permission, but sometimes seeing the staff return at night glowing with crimson light was unsettling.

‘But it did say it had been lonely all this time.’

Until now, it had been unlucky.

It could speak with no master, and so it could never release its true power.

Artifacts are bound by a restriction: they can only act with their master’s permission.

Its 168 years of silence and loneliness had to be relieved somehow.

My Master once told me this as well.

Objects bound with souls must be treated with care. If they’re left to fester in loneliness too long, corruption will seep in and they’ll lose reason. Once an object takes on demonic nature, it becomes a monster that disrupts the world. Never forget that.

In that sense, Nocturne was dangerous. If it went further, who knew how it might turn.

‘Perhaps it’s one of the artifacts I know of.’

I remembered some monsters from my past life that had once turned the world upside down.

But that wasn’t important now.

It had already left Raiernov’s hand and come to me.

I intended to put it to proper use.

Looking at the violet jewel embedded in Nocturne, I asked:

[Do you know how to create a first mana ring?]

I do.

[Then tell me. The most credible and likely method.]

Nocturne seemed to organize its thoughts for a moment, then began to speak quietly.

I remember quite a few magic texts. The most credible among them is Archmage Edmon’s book, General Theory of Magic.

Edmon…

A familiar name.

He was famed as the oldest and most powerful mage in the continent’s 4,000-year history.

I had never heard until today that such a man left behind a book.

[And this information can be trusted?]

Yes. I was born in the hands of Edmon’s 210th disciple, Godrian. Whether it was genuine or not, Godrian taught me General Theory of Magic, and I remember its contents vividly.

Hearing this much, it seemed reliable. I nodded, and Nocturne recited the contents.

Mana exists everywhere. To form a mana ring in the heart, one must first be chosen by mana. Mana itself must settle in the heart and be given the chance to form a ring.

Some are born with mana rings, but far more are not. Those without must forge them through steady training.

The most important step in this process is consistently gathering pure mana into the heart.

The process is extremely difficult—obtaining pure mana, condensing it, and fixing it into the heart are all arduous.

Hearing this, I realized the problem.

‘The mana here is the issue.’

This place held abundant mana, but its types were wildly mixed.

That was exactly what Edmon had pointed out.

I gathered my thoughts and asked Nocturne:

[So how can I produce pure mana?]

It must undergo a purification process.

The mention of purification reminded me of something.

The Mana Purification Device.

I had once learned how to make it from Master Balthazar.

Back then, I could use magic and had plenty of tools, so it was easy to create.

‘Though I don’t have those things now…’

I can still make one.

I can substitute lesser magic for spells, and I’ve already gathered the necessary materials.

I stood up and walked to the campfire near my desk.

I chose a piece of jade wood I had split earlier and placed it on the fire.

Jade wood burns long and hot due to its strength and density.

With lesser magic, it could generate enough heat to melt glassy particles mixed in sand.

‘Ignition.’

The trigger word brought an immediate response.

The dying embers flared up, catching onto the jade wood.

I fanned it gently and picked up fine sand powder nearby.

Then I sifted out the glassy grains with a sieve.

I would melt these and form them into a glass vessel.

Fwoosh-

Another surge of heat roared up, heating the plaster bowl placed above.

After about thirty minutes, the plaster bowl turned red-hot, and the glassy grains inside began to melt.

Sweat beaded on my skin from the heat.

I tried to raise a wall of wind to block the heat, but realized lesser magic couldn’t achieve that.

I could stir the air, but not create a solid barrier.

‘Well, nothing to be done.’

A wall of wind would make work easier, but it wasn’t essential.

What mattered now was producing results, not comfort.

While the glass melted, I approached the desk and began working plaster into the shape I wanted.

A long tube.

I dried the plaster with wind magic, then continued working with plants hanging on the wall.

These plants had surfaces covered in tiny pores and were extremely tough.

Because of that, they could serve as filters for the Mana Purification Device.

I pressed them thin and layered them into filters.

By the time all the filters were finished.

The glass over the fire had melted completely, glowing red.

I inserted the plaster tube I’d made earlier, then lifted it with telekinesis and blew wind into it.

Air entered the molten glass as it rose with the tube, bulging into shape.

At first glance, it seemed nearly done, but this was the crucial stage.

‘One mistake and it’ll warp.’

I carefully used telekinesis.

The molten glass floated in the air, gradually shaped.

Into a glass vessel with a narrow mouth and broad pyramidal base.

How long did it take?

After finishing the vessel, I began shaping other parts.

I also made glass tubes and two small bottles needed for the Mana Purification Device.

When the shaping was done, I closed my eyes to rest, and Nocturne’s voice spoke.

Master, it seems to be complete.

[Really?]

I stood and walked to the desk.

Indeed, it was just as Nocturne said.

The vessels had cooled and turned clear, and the long and short tubes had all solidified.

I assembled the filters and other components, completing the Mana Purification Device.

‘Now it just needs to be activated.’

I created a mana flame in the largest glass vessel with lesser magic.

Mana from the surroundings was drawn in through the filters into the flask.

It looked smooth and steady.

The vessel was cruder than the one I had made in my past life, but it worked the same.

The mana drawn inside touched the blue flame and emitted lights, just as I had seen before.

‘It worked.’

I waited until the mana flame burned out completely.

When it faded, only bluish mana remained in the flask.

This was ‘Pure Mana’.

Seeing this, Nocturne murmured in awe.

Remarkable. To refine pure mana so easily.

[So, I can train with this?]

Yes, exactly.

I calculated briefly—it didn’t seem too difficult.

With this device, I could refine pure mana anytime.

‘I’ll have to be more diligent from now on.’

Resolving so, I sat and inhaled the mana from the flask.

Then I closed my eyes, focusing on my heart and the mana.

‘The sensation is definitely different.’

Being pure, the mana spread throughout me in a unique way.

The feeling was clearer, and focusing it into my heart was easier.

I repeated this process through the night.

When I opened my eyes, morning had come.

I asked Nocturne, still standing by my side.

[What do you think?]

It seems effective. Try a lesser spell.

As Nocturne suggested, I cast “Ignition” outside the fire.

Even with nothing combustible, fire roared up in midair.

Seeing this, I realized my magic had definitely strengthened.

‘My lesser magic has grown stronger. Proof that pure mana has gathered in my heart.’

It was good news.

I smiled faintly and asked Nocturne:

[How many times does that book say I need to repeat this grind?]

It depends on the practitioner, but on average—sixty years, every day.

[What? Sixty years?!]

Was this a joke?

Sixty years of this grind just to form a 1st-circle mana ring?

I was about to protest when something hummed under the desk.

It was Equinox crying from within the leather bag.

The sound was far stronger than anything before.

[How is this possible? That thing shouldn’t have such power.]

It had neither my permission nor my power.

Yet it produced such force—strange indeed.

Then Nocturne replied.

Just now, as you settled pure mana into your heart, some of it leaked out through your breathing. That relic must be using it.

Hearing that, I understood.

Mana exhaled with my breath was still mine.

I rose to subdue Equinox, and soon its voice rang out.

The mana ring used for necromancy cannot be made with such tricks! If you dare treat me this way, I’ll burn myself here and now!

A blatant threat.

I sensed the time had come.

If I missed this moment, I would never tame it.

I strode to the desk, pulled Equinox from the leather bag.

With my other hand, I grabbed a torch from the wall and lit it.

Fwoosh-

The bright flame illuminated both of us.

I opened Equinox and brought the torch close, asking:

“Shall I just burn you, old relic?”

I didn’t wait long.

I touched the torch to it, and the top page began to blacken and burn.

Then the pages flipped rapidly, blowing the torch’s flame away.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

‘So it really didn’t intend to burn itself.’

I had seized the advantage.

I pulled the torch back slightly and asked:

“Looks like you don’t actually want to burn.”

Then its words surfaced on the book.

Are you threatening me?

[You were the one making threats, old relic.]

It fell silent.

And then I threw my final card at it.

[First, acknowledge me as your master. Then I’ll allow you to personally teach me necromancy.]