Eiko hummed on top of the head of a two-headed Ogre Zombie.
This creature was the latest addition to her Terrorist Squad, and she named him BataBoom.
After seeing Lux's Skeleton Generator Skill, Hereswith decided to impart her knowledge to him, making the skill evolve into Undead Generator [EX].
Because of this, Lux, Eiko, and Asmodeus, were now able to generate any Undead-Type Monster, and were no longer limited to Skeletons.
Shax was a special case because there had been a mutation when Lux had created him using the Skeleton Generator skill. This also led to him being unable to control the Nightgaunt at the beginning because its Rank had surpassed the Half-Elf's rank.
As Lux's Beast Companion, Eiko also learned the skill, Death God's Aura.
But, the Baby Slime wanted her Slime party, and the Terrorist Squad to learn it as well. Fortunately, Hereswith didn't mind and imparted the skill to Eiko's subordinates as well.
Bataboom had three abilities. The first one was Fire Blast. This was a skill that hurled a fireball at the target, and detonated upon impact.
Its second skill was called Burning Casks, which it hurled at its targets, dealing burning damage per second, as well as slowing their movements by 30%
Its last skill was Fervor. It was able to bless its allies with increased movement and attack speed, making them more efficient in battle.
Just like all of Eiko's summons, Bataboom's skills had a chance to deal 200% up to 400% damage.
This was something that made all of them very deadly because one could never gauge how strong the exploding attacks could be, until it hit you right on your face.
It had been a week since Lux had started his training under Hereswith, and she had imparted five abilities to him that were unique to the Heaven's Necromancer Class.
The first one was Death God's Aura, which he, and all of his subordinates learned.
The second one was Mass Bone Prison. This ability encases his targets into cages made up of bones, which would require a very strong attack to break.
The third skill was called Bone Storm. This ability allowed Lux to summon a tornado made up of bones that had a very wide area of effect. Anything that was sucked up inside it would find themselves being shredded by razor sharp bones that could easily cut through flesh.
The fourth skill was called Half-Life. This increased a target's Health by 50% when cast, which was perfect for tanks such as Pazuzu and Orion.
Last but not the least was the skill, Blood Mist. For a few seconds, Lux could transform into a Blood Mist, negating any kind of physical damage aimed in his direction.
It also gave him a 50% resistance to magic attacks when he was in his blood mist form, greatly reducing the damage of Magical Attacks.
Due to Lux's Skill Evolution [EX], all of these skills were upgraded to the next stage, making them stronger than ever before.
Currently, the Half-Elf was sitting in a cross legged position while mastering the skill, Blood Mist.
Hereswith was throwing rocks in his direction, making Lux yelp in pain whenever he failed to turn into a Blood Mist in time.
"Although you have the Corpse God to protect you, your goal should be to focus on avoiding getting hit by anything," Hereswith said as she threw another rock, which Lux managed to dodge using the skill. "Some attacks don't only target the body, but also target the soul. As someone who had the Divine Abyss Touch ability, you should know this very well."
In order to make the training more challenging, Hereswith had asked Lux to close his eyes, while she threw stones at him.
The beautiful Elf had forcefully sealed Lux's Corpse God, so it could not automatically protect him from getting hit. She wanted to make the Half-Elf competent in turning into a blood mist by reflex, so her training became more intense with each passing day.
———————
Two weeks had passed since Lux had entered the World Tree, and things had become more calm since he left.
Since the old Half-Ling and Kieran were waiting for their Disciples to appear, the two no longer indulged themselves in verbal warfare, and simply enjoyed Dracul's wine and company.
"The outside world is a mess right now," Dracul said as he swirled the wine inside his glass. "Battles for Hegemony and Conquest are happening everywhere, making me think that we have all entered a new era of war."
"Nothing's changed," Kieran replied before emptying his glass of wine. "You've been cooped up here in the Ancestral Lands so long that you haven't seen how many Kingdoms and Empires have disappeared over the past decade."
"Well, you know me," Dracul commented. "I dislike conflicts. Why wage war when I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy my nearly immortal life?"
Gaap smirked after hearing Dracul's reply.
Although the Vampire King was a happy-go-lucky person, that didn't change the fact that he was the current Guardian of the Ancestral Grounds.
This meant only one thing.
Dracul was a very strong Necromancer.
Without Antero by his side, Gaap and Kieran combined, wouldn't be able to defeat Dracul even if they asked all the Necromancers that were currently inside their Ancestral Ground to help them. That was how powerful their Guardian was, making them wonder how he was able to achieve his current level of strength.
Suddenly, black lightning bolts descended from the heavens and continuously hit the bark of the World Tree.
Although there were different signs when a Ranker was breaking through, lightning was one of the most common signs that someone was about to transition from an Initiate to a Ranker.
"The quality of the lightning bolts are superior to the ones I've seen before," Dracul commented. "I wonder who it is. Could it possibly be your disciple, Kieran, or is it perhaps Lux, who entered two weeks ago?"
"We'll know in a bit," Kieran replied as he gazed at the powerful lightning bolts that were trying to tear the World Tree apart.
However, this was an impossible task because the World Tree in their Ancestral Grounds wouldn't even get a scratch even if it was continuously hit by lightning bolts.
Nearly ten minutes later, the barrage of lightning stopped completely.
From within the bark of the World Tree, a green-haired High-Elf emerged.
Behind her back were black angel wings, highlighting the black dress that clung to her body.
She was very beautiful, and even Gaap had no choice but to admit that Kieran's Disciple was a cut above the rest.
Judging from the Aura she had, she had just broken through as a Ranker, making Gaap's best friend smile from ear to ear.
"Welcome back, Lorelei," Kieran said with a smile. "Did your breakthrough go smoothly?"
Lorelei nodded. "Yes, Master. Thanks to everything you taught me, my breakthrough didn't have any problems."
"Good to hear." Kieran then made a gesture to introduce the old Half-Ling, who was seated across him. "This is Gaap, and his Disciple is currently inside the World Tree."
Lorelei glanced in the direction of the old Half-Ling and gave him a brief nod. She knew who Gaap was because her Master would always mention his name in passing, and call him a coward, and a loser.
After seeing the Half-Ling in person, the beautiful Elf, who seemed to be in her late teens arched an eyebrow, which made Gaap also raise his own eyebrow.
Seeing the look on his Disciple's face, Kieran chuckled internally.
He had bad-mouthed Gaap so many times that a single glance was enough to tell him that Lorelei was also looking down on the Apostle, whom her Master called a failure.
"Lorelei, Gaap and I made a bet two weeks ago," Kieran said. "We want to know who has the better Disciple between us. Because of this, we decided to make a bet. The two of you will fight, and the loser will do what the winner commands them to do for a day.
"This also applies to me and Gaap. If you win, I will be able to command this bastard to walk on his hands and circle the Ancestral Grounds naked."
Lorelei who heard this only smiled. "Master, bullying the weak isn't a good thing. But, since this bet has already been made, I will accept it. I also want to see what kind of Disciple a coward can raise."
Gaap only shook his head helplessly after hearing Lorelei's side remark.
"Like Master, like disciple," Gaap replied. "All bark and no bite."
"Hah! Say whatever you want, Gaap." Kieran sneered. "At the end of the day, your words will not help you win."
Before Gaap could even reply, a voice filled with sarcasm reached everyone's ears.
"Oh, really?"
Gaap, Kieran, Dracul, and Lorelei, all shifted their attention in the direction that the voice came from.
Standing in front of them was a red-headed Half-Elf, who had a baby slime perched on top of his head.
"I'm back, Master," Lux said with a smile.
Gaap frowned after seeing Lux. Judging by the aura that his disciple currently had, it was clear that he was still an Initiate, making him wonder if something had gone wrong inside the World Tree, where his Disciple was supposed to enter the realm of a Ranker.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel