Chapter 282 - Nether And Soul Liam stared at the ceiling and emptied his mind for a bit without thinking about anything in particular. He then drew a deep breath and stood up, clearing all the scrolls strewn about on the floor. He had somehow clawed his way in and obtained the legacy but a lot of preparations are required to fully understand this new class and bring out its maximum potential. He also had only 10% of the legacy. Nevertheless… with high spirits, he left the garrison tower to try out some things and unlock the new skill he had obtained. A soul mancer… just what does this class entail? Liam pondered as he walked out of the garrison tower and then out of the small city. "So to unlock this [Soul Forging] skill, I need to first sense the presence of a soul? How am I supposed to do this?" He nodded at the guards, walking past them to the outskirts of the city. He spotted a few demonic hounds prowling nearby. "Let me start with these guys." The demonic hounds were only Level 34 so Liam finished them off in a couple of fireballs and a wave of fire bullets. He then walked over to the corpses to examine them. He stared at the dead doggos for a minute, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't sense a soul or whatever. They were alive and now they were dead. That was the difference. He then spotted another pack and went over to them to once again continue with his experiment. This time he did not kill them right away. He simply blocked and parried their attacks, while trying to see if he could sense something different. However, once again, his efforts did not result in anything fruitful. All he sensed was their killing intent when they struggled violently, trying to sink their teeth into his flesh and claw him to death. "Hmmm…" Liam silently observed things before finishing them off as well. He tried this type of approach for a while when he finally decided that this was not going to get him the results. "Ok. Time to try the next thing." Liam used the only necromancer spell he had in his possession and cast [Awaken Undead]. He had used this spell several times in the past. However, this time when he cast the same familiar spell, he felt something very unique. Or rather, it was as if he was blind before and now suddenly he was able to see. Swirls of thick black nether energy coiled around the dead hounds and slowly by slowly they became richer and turbulent as if the nether itself was alive. The energy then suddenly flooded inside the corpse and disappeared in a flash, the dead hound, springing back up alive the next instant. Liam was absolutely flabbergasted. This was the mystery of life and death in front of him. For a second, he even forgot about why he was trying to become stronger and became interested in what just happened in front of him, one of the greater truths of life and death. Liam unsheathed his sword, cutting down the hounds he had only just now summoned and trying to sense if there was something inside. He once again cast the spell [Awaken Undead] and did the same thing again. The thick swirls of nether gathered once again and gushed into the corpses for a second time as if it couldn't care less if the being possessed a soul or not or if it was alive or not. Just as Liam thought about this, he wondered if nether could have the same effect on a living being. Could he perhaps manipulate something that was already alive with nether? Or did it specifically have to die first? Seeing that his mind was beginning to wander in a different direction, he pulled his thoughts and focus back to the main topic. Soul! He wanted to sense a soul! Liam tried casting [Awaken Undead] repeatedly but he had a feeling that this spell did not require the presence of a soul. So after trying for a while he gave up this approach as well. "Hmmm… do I have to die again?" Liam chuckled as he sat down beneath a boulder and pondered the other options he had left. The first time he died, he was finally attuned with nether and was able to sense it as if he had forever breathed it in and out. So perhaps for sensing soul as well he needed to do something similar? Liam blankly stared into the distance for a while but then shook his head, rejecting that thought. "Why should I die when I can simply kill someone else?" He was also curious about the graveyards and the presence of nether in the graveyards. "Alright. Let's do it. I can camp someone at the graveyard and kill them enough number of times to see if I can sense a soul or not." He nodded and stood up. "Yes, this is what I will try next." He liked the idea and decided to stick with it. He also had an incomplete quest that he hadn't touched in a while. He needed to still collect several more souls for the quest. So while he was trying to sense it, he might as well finish that quest. Liam's mind quickly began to recalculate and re-evaluate everything that he had to do and the priority with which they should be done. After all, he also had a long list of people whom he owed a debt to, the newest members being Kouske and the group. Thanks to him he had gained so much. Perhaps he too would have missed the things beneath the moss if he was not trying to scavenge everything for Luna. So in the end, he only helped him out… but still… he couldn't just let that incident slip. He was neither that forgiving nor that kind. Just as Liam mulled over everything that was yet to be done, suddenly a thought popped into his mind. Excluding the soul devourer quest, he already had two more quests related to the soul in one way or the other. One was the Kingdom quest in the south about the spreading of sickness and the other was the sword that was made of dragon souls! Perhaps he could obtain more knowledge about the inheritance or gain some other breadcrumbs after finishing these ones! "Wait. Didn't that guy also give me a soul forging technique?" Liam quickly opened that skill description and saw that the portion which was locked was now unlocked? *** Bonus Chapter~~ Please thank Steamed Arrow for sponsoring this bonus chapter!