Chapter 36: A Dai!!

After circling around “his” skeleton two more times, his excitement finally calmed down, and at that moment, Luo Yan finally noticed something was wrong.

How could there be only one skeleton?!

Standing in the center of the room, Luo Yan frowned in confusion. Skeletons were the lowest rank of undead summons. Any Magic Apprentice casting a spell for the first time could easily summon several at once. Why had he only summoned one this time?

Was it because his mana accumulation was not enough? Narrowing his eyes slightly, Luo Yan felt that this didn’t seem to be the reason, but he couldn’t find a more reasonable explanation for the time being.

Just as Luo Yan was about to think deeply about this strange situation, his gaze unconsciously swept over the skeleton in front of him again, and suddenly his eyes froze, and his expression became strange.

Because he discovered another odd detail.

Actually, Luo Yan had felt that the color of this skeleton was strange from the beginning. Looking closely now, it indeed seemed so. It was not the grayish-white bone color of a typical basic skeleton; instead, it was close to a deep black and faintly revealed a metallic luster. This surprised Luo Yan, because this skeleton was clearly a newly born basic bone skeleton, not a second-level Black Iron Skeleton, and certainly not a bone skeleton about to level up.

Could it be a mutant skeleton? Thinking of this, Luo Yan felt a spark of excitement, and then his eyes suddenly widened further…

This skeleton was not holding the bone saber commonly used by ordinary skeletons, but was instead carrying a ragged-looking bone bow?

This… this was actually a Skeleton Archer?

Although it couldn’t be considered a specially mutated skeleton, Skeleton Spearmen, Skeleton Axemen, and Skeleton Archers were relatively special types among low-level skeletons, and their numbers were relatively rare. As the only long-range combat unit among low-level skeletons, the practicality of a Skeleton Archer was quite good. Any low-rank Necromancer would be excited to summon a Skeleton Archer.

Of course, for high-rank Necromancers who could summon thousands with a wave of their hand, these so-called “special types” had no practical meaning.

Now, Luo Yan became more and more certain that he had summoned a mutant skeleton. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. It was truly worthy of being the first summon he called after his rebirth.

Look at this color, look at this shape, look at this weapon , and look at this little hole on its shoulder blade…

[Hmm~~ Wait~~ A little hole?!]

Luo Yan suddenly wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost, and his mouth opened wide enough to swallow an egg.

— Newly born skeletons were mostly ragged in “material,” so it was perfectly normal to have damage on their bodies. Missing a rib or a piece of the spinal column was common; having a “wound” on the shoulder blade was completely normal.

But this little hole was different. The meaning of this little hole was completely different!!

This little hole… Luo Yan recognized it!!

“This… this…” He instinctively stuffed his palm into his mouth, because Luo Yan was worried that he might scream out loud from shock.

This was clearly A Dai, the skeleton captain he had cultivated on a whim before his rebirth!!

Before his rebirth, Luo Yan had been extremely bored in the Mages Guild for a period of time, so he had a sudden fancy to pick a low-level skeleton and begin cultivating it to see what it would look like when it grew up. In the end, although he only cultivated it to the level of a level-five skeleton captain, living together for decades had made him familiar with A Dai to the extreme, which was why he could clearly recognize him among countless skeletons that looked exactly the same.

This guy… this guy…

This guy was absolutely the A Dai he had intentionally cultivated. The little hole on the shoulder blade was the best proof. Back then, he had tried countless ways but could not remove this little hole. Even replacing the shoulder blade was useless; at most within two days, this little hole would reappear in the exact same position. Luo Yan even suspected that this guy had intentionally made the hole himself.

[Seeing this incredibly familiar little hole again, Luo Yan recognized him instantly. Additionally, A Dai happened to be a Skeleton Archer.]

How could it be A Dai? How could the first skeleton he summoned after his rebirth be A Dai?!

Luo Yan widened his eyes in horror. Was such a bizarre occurrence truly an extremely weird “coincidence,” or…

For a moment, Luo Yan had no idea how to understand this matter. He didn’t even know what he was horrified about, but looking at A Dai standing there quietly, just as he had stood quietly countless times “later” for decades, Luo Yan felt a mysterious chill run down his spine.

How could it be A Dai?!

After staring at each other for a long time, Luo Yan finally calmed down, and his expression became composed. This wasn’t because he figured out why such a frustrating thing happened, but simply because he had reasoned it through…

That’s right, he had reasoned it through. Since a frustrating thing like “rebirth” could happen, why was summoning an A Dai so surprising? Whether it was a coincidence or something else, it didn’t seem to matter, right?!

Since he could stand here alive and well now, other strange things were like floating clouds. Besides, maybe it was because he had been reborn, and under the attraction of his soul, he had summoned A Dai.

Rubbing his nose, Luo Yan showed a helpless, bitter smile. Thinking about it carefully, this seemed like a good thing no matter how you looked at it. At least in terms of potential, A Dai was absolutely amazing among low-level skeletons.

His thoughts drifted from how great A Dai was to something else, and Luo Yan suddenly remembered something. Compared to A Dai’s appearance, this matter seemed to be the truly important one.

— Why can I only summon one skeleton?

As mentioned before, “Skeleton Summon” was the most basic Necromancy Magic, and skeletons were the lowest rank of undead summons. Any Magic Apprentice casting a spell for the first time could easily summon several at once. But now, with Luo Yan, a level-seven Magister, taking action, he only summoned one at a time. How embarrassing was that!!

What on earth was going on? Luo Yan sank into deep thought, but after a long while, he still couldn’t find where the problem lay. Whether it was the preparation of mana, the detailed control of mental strength, or the details of the technique and incantation, there were absolutely no problems. Although Luo Yan did not have much mana now, even with a single standard portion of mana, he should have been able to summon at least four to five skeletons. Therefore, this was definitely not the key to the problem.

But why did it just not work? Luo Yan began to feel anxious. He snapped his fingers again and chanted the incantation once more. He used not only his simplified version but even the original incantation, but… there was still no reaction. There were no sound or light effects, and no new skeletons appeared. Everything was as quiet as if nothing had happened.

Now Luo Yan was completely depressed!! Summons like low-level skeletons had no unique features; their only highlight was their number. If they couldn’t form a numerical advantage, a single low-level skeleton wouldn’t even count as cannon fodder; they were simply standard “trash”… Damn it, this isn’t a fair way to play with someone!!

After trying several more times, Luo Yan completely lost it!

— Damn it, aren’t you forcing me to use my big moves? If this can’t be solved, be careful or I’ll summon a whole “Bone Warrior” squad…