Lucien awoke to silence. No movement, no chanting, no skeletal figure looming over him. Just the quiet hum of distant mana and the faint flicker of witchlight torches licking the tomb's stone walls.
He blinked slowly, vision adjusting to the gloom. The ceiling above him was cracked and flaking. Mold spiderwebbed across the archways. He was alone.
His body ached. Not from wounds, but from uselessness.
He tried to sit up—his arms barely moved. His muscles responded like they were underwater. Worse than weak.
Then he focused downward. Tried to move his legs.
Nothing.
No resistance. No pressure. No pain.
Just... nothing.
Lucien's chest tightened. So it wasn't just the baby body. The Bound to the Chair trait was real.
I really can't feel my legs.
It was like someone had drawn a line across his body just above the hips and erased everything below it.
But he wasn't panicking. Not really.
Because his mind was clear. His soul sharp. His magic? Still intact.
And right now, that was all that mattered.
His eyes wandered to the strange bundle left by the lich.
A pile of torn rags, still crusted with dried blood. Likely scavenged from the dead. Small enough to fit a child.
A still-warm basin of glowing green liquid — likely the mana-rich brew Alazaar had mentioned.
And beside it, the limp, stiff body of a dead rat.
This is what he thinks children need to survive, Lucien thought. Clothes from corpses, magical soup, and a corpse of my own.
Morbid.
But... thoughtful, in its own terrifying way.
His gaze fell on the rat. He didn't see a corpse.
He saw potential.
He focused, pushing past the physical weakness. The interface responded instantly.
📋 [STATUS PANEL]
Name: Lucien Vaelthorn
Race: Human (Infant)
Class: None
Age: 0
Condition: Stable – Paralysis: Waist Down
HP: 12 / 12
Mana: 200 / 200
Stats:
CON – 1
STR – 1
DEX – 0
INT – 31 (+13 bonus)
WIS – 6
CHA – 3
Soul Points: 13
Achievement Points: 0
Traits: Mana Fiend • Magic Prodigy • Eidetic Memory • Scion of the Necroline Darkness Affinity • Blood Manipulation • Necroforge
Negative Traits: Bound to the Chair • Glass Body • Cursed Bloodline
Still a potato, he noted. But a magical one.
And then, with a single thought, he opened the Necroforge.
⚙️ [NECROFORGE INTERFACE – Tier I]
A 3D wheel of glowing blue symbols spun into view—clean, modular, alive.
Component Slots:🧠 Core (Power Source) – Required💀Skull (Brain Housing) – Required🦴 Spine (Support Structure) – Optional🦿 Limbs (Mobility) – Optional🛡 Modifiers (x2) – Optional
Stored Components: 0 Forge Tier: I Available Summon Slots: 3 (INT-based: 1 per 10 INT)
Cost to Forge: 10 MP minimum
Note: Material value scales with freshness, complexity, and magic affinity.
Lucien focused on the rat.
The system pinged.
[Material Detected: Corpse – Rodent] Eligible Components: Skull, Spine, Bone Fragments, Mana-Saturated Core, Hide MP Yield: 12 Use for forging?⚠️ Irreversible.
Yes.
The corpse glowed. Bits of bone and tissue lifted into the forge wheel, taking shape like puzzle pieces.
Then came the mana slider:
🔘 [Mana Infusion]
Slide to allocate infusion: [1–20 MP] Infused mana improves stats and abilities.⚠️ Mana is locked until summon is destroyed or dismissed.
Lucien slid it to 5 MP. Enough to test, not enough to regret.
Mana Confirmed: 5 MP Materials Consumed: 12 MP Initiating Forge...
The wheel spun, runes flaring.
A pulse like a distant heartbeat shook the air.
Bone clicked to bone. Flesh stitched itself unnaturally. Spectral energy wrapped the shape in ethereal muscle and will.
Then, it opened its eyes—green, glowing, obedient.
👁️ [Unit Created: Skeletal Rodent – Tier I]
HP: 14
AGI: 6
Bite Power: 2
Mild Traits: Small, Fast, Fragile Infused Mana: 5 MP
Duration: Indefinite (until death)
[Soul Points Gained: +5]
> Source: Undead Creation (Skeleton Rat)
[Bonus Soul Points: +10]
> Source: Unique Creation – New base form crafted
[Achievement Unlocked: The First Forge]
> Craft an undead using Necroforge for the first time.
> Reward: +20 Soul Points
[Total Soul Points Gained: +35]
Mana Reserved: 5 MP (restores on unit destruction)
Lucien stared, half-awed, half-exhausted.
My first summon.
And it obeyed him. Fully.
He felt the link — soul-threaded, faint but present. A creature born from death, shaped by will.
He was just about to explore the new tab that had appeared — Soul Point Shop — when the temperature shifted.
The air turned still. Heavy.
Lucien turned his head as far as it would go—
And saw Alazaar.
The lich had returned.
The rat froze.
And with one lazy gesture, the lich severed its thread.
The creature crumbled to dust.
Mana Restored: 5 MP
Lucien didn't flinch.
Alazaar stepped forward, his voice soft.
"You forged that."
It wasn't a question.
"You used necromancy with intent. Without catalyst. Without training."
He knelt again, staring with renewed scrutiny.
"You are not simply gifted..."
He leaned in.
"You are something... unnatural."
Lucien stared back, unable to speak. But the thread between them?
It had just begun to tighten.