Chapter 2-4 : Necromancy (part 2)
「Eh…?」(Alice)
「Alice, what’s wrong-nya?」(Lynette)
「Lynette-san, instead of【Puppet Arts】, I get to learn【Necromancy】.」(Alice)
「【Necromancy】-nya? What are the conditions?」(Lynette)
「It says【Dark Magic】,【Hunter】, and【Manipulation】.」(Alice)
「I see-nya. If I’m not mistaken,【Necromancy】is an advanced dark magic spell-nya. Alice-chan you’re lucky-nya!」(Lynette)
「You think so?」(Alice)
「Of course-nya. Not every player gets the chance to learn it-nya.」(Lynette)
「Hmm, you may be right. But I wonder why one of the requirements is to have learned【Hunter】.」(Alice)
「It’s probably because you’ll need a corpse-nya.」(Lynette)
「A corpse? Aahh…」(Alice)
Now that she mentions it, I see now.
If I’m not mistaken, necromancy is an ability to manipulate corpses or the souls of the dead in fantasy games. It looks like it has a similar concept in this game as well.
「In other words, first, I have to kill my target, and due to my【Hunter】skill, their corpse will remain on the field. After that, I can manipulate it with【Necromancy】. Is that correct?」(Alice)
「I’ve never seen someone use that skill, but, perhaps that’s how it works-nya.」(Lynette)
「Hmm…」(Alice)
I folded my arms and thought.
It sounds like a great skill to learn, but it’s not that convenient. After all, I have to kill a target first before I can use it.
Besides, I have Levy when I need a companion’s help in a battle, so I don’t really need an extra hand.
Moreover, it costs 5 Skill Points. It’s not that costly, but it’s not cheap either. I want to think about it carefully before I decide, so I pressed〈NO〉for now. I can always learn it when I feel like it.
After closing the UI, I looked at Umika.
「Say, Umika.」(Alice)
「What is it?」(Umika)
「You haven’t decided your fighting style yet, right? Do you want to learn 【Necromancy】?」(Alice)
I think this skill can be helpful, especially for a beginner in an action VR game like her. The controlled unit can help her in combat for sure.
She can learn【Dark Magic】from the basic skill list, and as for【Hunter】, I don’t mind telling her how to learn it.
「H, huuh?」(Umika)
However, she frowned and looked at me with a face as if saying, “What are you talking about?”
She doesn’t seem to like the idea.
「If you haven’t decided your fighting style, you can learn this skill and fight like a necromancer.」(Alice)
「Necromancer? No, no. Why do you think that style suits me?」(Umika)
「You’re an idol, right?」(Alice)
「Yeah, so?」(Umika)
「So you like having people around you.」(Alice)
「Well, you’re not wrong, butー」(Umika)
「Then you should learn this skill. You like having people who serve you. I think it’s a perfect ability for you.」(Alice)
「Alice…」(Umika)
She face-palmed and sighed.
「Look. I do like having people around me, but only if they’re breathing!」(Umika)
「Hm? What’s the difference?」(Alice)
「They’re different! Living people and corpses are completely different! I can’t imagine myself being surrounded by blood-soaked living corpses… That would be scary!」(Umika)
「But they will serve you.」(Alice)
「Still, it’s freaking scary!」(Umika)
「Scary, huh?」(Alice)
I tilted my head, thinking.
「Alice, just imagine yourself standing around corpses. You would be frightened, right?」(Umika)
「Hmmm…?」(Alice)
Is it really scary? I don’t think it is.
「Nyahaha! Umika-chan, she doesn’t think it’s scary-nya. Unlike normal girls, Alice-chan seems to have a different kind of fear-nya.」(Lynette)
Suddenly, Lyentte said that.
Wait, so she thinks I’m not a normal girl?
「Aahh, you’re right… I forgot she beheaded my fans and me the other day… Alice is indeed something else. Now I understand why many players are scared of her.」(Umika)
「Right? Perhaps the most terrifying thing in this game is her, and she’s not even aware of it-nya.」(Lynette)
Umika and Lynette were looking at me.
I tilted my head again. I don’t really understand what they’re talking about.
Are they complimenting me or making fun of me? I don’t know.
That aside.
「So, Umika, you don’t want to learn【Necromancy】? I can tell you how to learn【Hunter】if you want.」(Alice)
「No, thanks. I’ll stick with【Puppet Arts】for now. I’d rather be surrounded by cute moving stuffed animals.」(Umika)
I thought it was a good idea, but I can’t force her.
「Alright, if you say so. You really like stuffed animals, I see.」(Alice)
「Ugu… Can we stop talking about that?」(Umika)
She blushed and looked away.
Cute.
「Anyway, are we done here? Let’s go hunting in the forest.」(Umika)
「You’re right. Let’s go.」(Alice)
「Wait-nya. Umika-chan, let me add you as friend-nya. I’ll contact you when I finish your dress-nya.」(Lynette)
「Un. Thank you, Lynette-san!」(Umika)
After Lynette and Umika added each other as friends, we left the shop and walked past the town’s gate, going straight into the forest.
ーーーーー
When we got to the forest, without wasting time, we began hunting Erst Wolves.
About an hour laterー
「Umm, Alice, I appreciate your help, but you make it too easy for me.」(Umika)
「Is that so?」(Alice)
At the beginning, I fought the wolves alone to show her an example, but it wasn’t very helpful since my fighting style was too difficult for her to imitate. Then, I let her fight by herself, but she was struggling so much.
She was using a basic fire magic spell,【Fireball】, but the wolves were too quick for her. Her shots missed most of the time.
That’s why I got the idea to use my【Sever】skill to cut off the wolves’ limbs so that she could finish them off.
It has been going well, but she doesn’t seem to like this strategy.
「If I don’t do it, you will miss your shots, and they will kill you.」(Alice)
「Ugu… I’m aware that I suck at this, but you make it way too easy for me. It’s not even a target practice anymore.」(Umika)
「But I heard that lions teach their cubs how to hunt by injuring a deer and letting the cubs kill it. 」(Alice)
「We’re not lions… Also, they only injure the deer a little, right? But you went too far. You cut off all these wolves’ limbs.」(Umika)
Now that I think about it, she’s right.
My goal is to make her, a complete beginner in an action VR game, ready for the upcoming event. She needs to improve not only her skill levels but also her gaming sense.
If I use this strategy, her【Fireball】level may improve, but not with her skills as a gamer.
「I see. I’m sorry, Umika. I’ve never taught someone else before.」(Alice)
「No, please don’t apologize. It’s me who asked you to play with me.」(Umika)
「I’ll hold back next time. Let’s try it again.」(Alice)
「Un!」(Umika)
Cutting off the wolves’ limbs was a bad idea. Perhaps I should just cut off one limb.
No, that would still be too easy for her.
Maybe I shouldn’t cut off any limbs and just injure them a little enough to slow them down. But my【Sever】skill is too powerful; I might end up cutting them in half.
I rarely fight without using this skill, but I guess I’ll remove【Sever】from my active skill slot for now.
After walking deeper into the forest for a few minutes, we found another Erst Wolf.
I dashed toward it and hit its front leg with my blade. Since【Sever】has been deactivated, I didn’t cut it off completely.
「Alright, I think this is enough.」(Alice)
Soon after, I quickly jumped back and stood behind Umika.
「It’s yours now.」(Alice)
「Un!」(Umika)
Umika stretched her arms forward and cast her spell.
「【Fireball】!」(Umika)
However, the injured wolf barely dodged it. The fire grazed its skin, but it didn’t kill it.
「Dammit!」(Umika)
「Calm down and try to predict its movements.」(Alice)
「Predict its movements… Predict its movements…」(Umika)
I’ve taught her this before.
Erst Wolves may be fast, but their movements are pretty simple. I’ve fought thousands of them, and predicting their movements is a piece of cake to me, but for a beginner like Umika, it will be quite challenging.
Upon dodging the fireball, the wolf ran toward us while jumping side to side, trying to make it harder for Umika to hit it, but it moved slower than normal due to the injury.
「……Right there!【Fireball】!」(Umika)
After observing the wolf’s movements, Umika shot another fireball and successfully hit the wolf a few meters away before it could reach us.
The wolf was blown away and died immediately. It then scattered into pixels.
「Alice, I did it!」(Umika)
「Un. Well done, Umika!」(Alice)
「~~~~!!」(Umika)
She clenched her fists and made a big smile on her face, looking so happy.
「Let’s keep going like this.」(Alice)
「Yes, Ma’am!」(Umika)
I had never taught someone before, but it’s not bad at all.
I wonder if this is how it feels to become a mentor.
You can gain access to [Early Access] page and read up to ten chapters ahead by supporting me on [Patreon]