---
Chapter 43: Invitation to the Academy – The Journey Begins
The bloody mist of the battlefield slowly faded.
Skeletons cleaned the ground methodically, repairing the broken terrain.
The Frost Wolves howled once, signaling the battlefield was clear.
And Ray...
He stood silently at the heart of his newborn domain.
Behind him, the Death Knight loomed silently, an ever-present guardian.
Lucas Vermilion lay unconscious nearby, bound by the silver Slave Collar.
Seventeen's calm voice echoed in Ray's mind:
> "Host, Minor Necrotic Domain is now stabilized.
All F-rank trees have reached maximum initial capacity.
New option unlocked:
[Domain Expansion Phase 2].
Current Resources:
— 1200 Domain Points.
— 6 F-rank Core Fragments.
— 1 Bloodline Core (Stored from Lucas)."
Ray exhaled deeply.
He wasn't a weak boy anymore.
He was a Necromancer King in the making.
---
Notification: Message Received
Suddenly, a golden ripple flashed in front of Ray.
> [Ding!]
[System Message]
Invitation Received:
'Verdant Sky Academy' — 5-Star Ranking Academy.
Recruiters approaching in 3 days.
Prepare accordingly.
Ray's eyes narrowed.
> "Finally... it's starting." he whispered.
The academy — the place where the strong were made, where geniuses clashed, where empires recruited new heroes.
And Ray...
He would rise from there too.
Not as a common student.
But as a King hidden among sheep.
---
Minor Domain: Current State
Seventeen quickly displayed a neat overview for Ray:
---
> Domain Name: Graveborn Sanctuary (Minor)
Domain Level: 1 (Upgradeable)
Owned Trees:
Frost Wolf Tree (Max 10 Frost Wolves)
Bone Archer Tree (Max 15 Bone Archers)
Bone Shield Tree (Max 10 Bone Shield Warriors)
Special Summons:
Death Knight (1)
Lucas Vermilion (Elite Slave)
---
Each Tree was alive — producing beasts every day up to their maximum cap.
If a unit died, the tree would automatically grow a new one within 24 hours.
Seventeen suggested calmly:
> "Host, it is recommended to begin stockpiling troops discreetly.
Once at the academy, you will need hidden strength.
Also, initiate training for Death Knight and Frost Wolves."
Ray smiled faintly.
> "Of course.
Seventeen, prepare battle drills.
Time to sharpen my blade."
---
Elsewhere: In a Distant City
Inside the Verdant Sky Academy, an emergency meeting was underway.
Three powerful figures sat at a long black stone table —
the Academy Master, the Head of Combat, and the Head of Intelligence.
A report floated in midair.
It showed blurry images of Ray's battle against Lucas —
the Death Knight's summoning, the domination of undead, the enslaving of Lucas.
The Head of Intelligence frowned.
> "This boy is... a monster in the making.
A minor necrotic domain at 12 years old?
That's absurd."
The Academy Master leaned back, smiling.
> "Exactly.
Which is why we must recruit him...
or if necessary, control him.
Even a Necromancer can be useful under the right leash."
---
Back to Ray
Three days passed in a blink.
Ray spent his time training — sparring with Frost Wolves, drilling Bone Archers in formation firing, and tempering his Death Knight in brutal duels.
Lucas slowly recovered under Seventeen's healing magic, his loyalty meter creeping up painfully slowly:
> [Lucas Vermilion Loyalty: 12/100]
Still too low for full trust — but usable if tightly controlled.
Ray stood at the border of his hidden village when he sensed it.
A portal tearing space.
The academy's recruiters had arrived.
Three figures stepped through:
A tall man in silver armor.
A cold-eyed woman in a dark green combat uniform.
A smiling middle-aged man with scholarly robes.
They glanced around the ruined battlefield, the cleaned corpses, the chilling presence of the Death Knight behind Ray.
And they all felt it —
This child...
was not normal.
The man in armor stepped forward first, voice booming:
> "Ray of Silverleaf Village, by order of Verdant Sky Academy,
You are hereby invited to join our next generation of heroes.
Do you accept?"
Ray's crimson eyes gleamed coldly.
He didn't bow.
He didn't show weakness.
He simply smiled faintly and said:
> "Lead the way."
---
(Chapter 43 End)
-
---
Chapter 44: The Echoes of Hidden Power
The early morning mist clung low over the Academy grounds.
Ray stood alone on the empty training field, the chilling air swirling around him as he faced a worn-out practice dummy.
But today, he wasn't here for simple drills.
> "Push deeper, Ray," Seventeen whispered in his mind, voice steady like the slow hum of a forge.
"The surface of your power is nothing. You must tear through it."
Ray exhaled, closing his eyes.
Mana flowed through him — thicker, heavier now.
Ever since his awakening and the first expansion of his Domain, something inside him had changed.
Something... hungry.
---
He raised his hand.
Dark mist coiled around his fingers. It wasn't just mana.
It was marrow-deep power, a resonance with the dead, a call to the silent things buried beneath the world.
He focused it — not blasting, not shouting — but commanding.
The ground beneath the dummy cracked.
Pale, skeletal hands burst from the earth, dragging the dummy down as if devouring it into a grave.
Ray opened his eyes.
> "Control," Seventeen said approvingly. "Destruction is easy. Control is art."
Ray clenched his fist. The skeletal arms twisted, then crumbled into dust at his will.
---
He wasn't satisfied.
Not yet.
Because he could feel it — the depth he had not yet reached.
Seventeen... how much stronger can I become?
Ray asked silently.
Seventeen's answer came after a pause.
> "If you survive long enough... strong enough to bend this world on its knees."
---
Later that day, the Academy buzzed with new rumors.
Talk of new gates opening near the Southern Borders. Small, unstable ones — Tier 1 at best. But still... it meant beasts and danger were leaking into the human lands again.
In the central plaza, announcement boards were filled with mission requests.
F-Rank beast exterminations.
Missing merchant caravans.
Mana disturbances.
Students grouped up quickly, forming temporary squads to snatch easy missions and build their Academy Points.
Ray watched from a distance, uninterested.
He wasn't here for points.
He was here for power.
For growth.
For the future that only he — and Seventeen — could see.
---
At sunset, Ray wandered to the outskirts of the Academy.
Past the formal grounds, past the gardens, into the old, abandoned training ruins — the place students called the Graveyard.
Most feared it.
Old mana traps. Cursed grounds. Broken summon circles.
But for Ray... it felt familiar.
The dead mana that lingered here whispered to him.
He knelt near a shattered altar, placing his palm against the cold stone.
The System pulsed.
> [Hidden Resource Detected!]
[Would you like to absorb?]
Ray smiled faintly.
> "Always."
Dark light burst from his hand, surging through the altar.
The ground rumbled.
From the depths beneath the ruins, an ancient pulse answered his call.
Something old.
Something abandoned.
Something waiting for a new master.
---
[Domain Expansion - Phase Two Initiated!]
> New Feature Unlocked: Bone Orchard Seed.
— Grows undead creatures automatically over time.
— Current Capacity: 5 Lesser Undead (F-Rank).
— Upgrade possible through corpses, mana cores, and special fertilizer.
Ray's eyes widened.
A self-growing undead army.
Slow now, small now — but in the future?
> "Seventeen," he whispered. "This... this is how we win, isn't it?"
Seventeen chuckled softly in his mind.
> "No, Ray. This is how we begin."
---
---
Chapter 45: Mission of Blood and Coin
The moon hung low, a red smear across the night sky.
At the Academy's southern mission board, dozens of students had gathered, voices raised in excitement and fear.
Today, a new set of missions had arrived — dangerous ones.
Among them, one stood out.
---
[Emergency Mission]
> Gate Disturbance - Tier 1
Location: Black Hollow Woods, 15 kilometers south of Academy grounds.
Reward: 10,000 Academy Points + Country Coin Bonus.
Details: Investigate unstable mana rift. Eliminate any hostile beasts. Survival not guaranteed.
---
"Survival not guaranteed, huh..."
Ray muttered under his breath, a cold smile forming.
Around him, teams were forming fast — students grouping up, forming parties of five to seven members.
But Ray?
Ray stood alone.
Watching.
Waiting.
> "You should go alone for now," Seventeen advised quietly in his mind.
"Trust no one until they prove themselves with blood."
Ray nodded.
His goal wasn't just mission completion.
It was to grow.
To harvest corpses.
And to feed his expanding Domain.
---
As Ray moved toward the mission officer, a voice called out.
"Oi, kid! Going alone?"
A bulky teenager with a thick scar across his jaw smirked at him.
Ray glanced sideways.
"And if I am?"
The scarred teen laughed.
"Then you'll die faster. Good luck, orphan boy!"
Others chuckled — some in mockery, some in pity.
Ray said nothing.
He simply registered for the mission with cold, detached eyes.
He didn't need their approval.
He needed their corpses.
One day, Ray thought, you'll be begging to stand beside me.
---
[Mission Start: Black Hollow Woods]
The gate shimmered before him, unstable and flickering.
With a final breath, Ray stepped through.
The world twisted — and then settled.
He stood amidst a ruined forest, air heavy with mana.
The trees were blackened, their bark cracked and bleeding strange blue sap.
The ground trembled under his boots.
Growl.
Ray's hand went to his waist instinctively.
Three shadows emerged from the twisted woods.
F-Rank Beasts: Blood-Fanged Wolves
> Fast.
Vicious.
Known for targeting isolated prey.
---
Ray smiled thinly.
"Perfect."
With a sharp motion, he drew a crude iron sword — old and battered, but enough for now.
The wolves lunged.
Ray moved.
Dodging low, he sidestepped the first wolf, letting its snapping jaws bite empty air.
The second wolf came from his blindside — but Ray had already pivoted, slamming the sword hilt into its throat with brutal force.
The third wolf, faster, smarter, circled wide.
Ray let it.
Instead, he opened his palm — and summoned a skeletal arm from the cracked earth.
It snatched the wolf mid-leap, dragging it screaming into the dirt.
---
The first wolf recovered — too slow.
Ray's sword plunged into its eye, ending it instantly.
[Beast Core Acquired!]
The second wolf whimpered, trying to limp away.
Ray strode forward, silent as death.
One precise stab into the spine — mercy and ruthlessness combined.
[Beast Core Acquired!]
The third wolf still struggled underground, half-buried.
Ray knelt beside it, watching coldly as it snarled and whined.
> "Weak," Seventeen whispered. "But every corpse feeds your rise."
Ray drove the sword into its heart without hesitation.
[Beast Core Acquired!]
---
He stood, blood dripping from his sword, breath slow and steady.
Already, the System pinged.
> [Absorb cores to feed Bone Orchard Seed?]
Ray smiled slightly.
> "Absorb."
The black mist surged from his body, swallowing the three cores.
Far away, in his hidden Domain, tiny saplings stirred — the beginning of his private army.
---
But the danger wasn't over.
The earth rumbled again.
From deeper within the woods, a massive shadow approached — twice the size of the wolves.
A Pack Leader.
An E-Rank Beast.
Far stronger, far smarter.
Ray's eyes gleamed.
Finally, a real fight.
---
He braced himself, mana coiling around him like dark fire.
The Pack Leader charged, a roar tearing through the cursed forest.
Ray met it head-on — not with fear, but with a feral grin.
> "Come," he whispered. "Let's see who the real predator is."
And the battle b