Chapter 147 - Lich
“Mage Felic, what do you mean?” Kayla’s smile stiffened.
“Mage Kayla, please don’t be mistaken. I don’t have anything against you…” Lin Li replied with a sincere smile, but the words that came out of his mouth nearly caused Kayla to vomit blood. He continued humbly, “I only feel that such a simple and worn-out cave is not suitable for people with high status. I heard that there’s this Undead Palace in the Shadowglen. Why don’t you live there tonight? The time now is still early, so if you rush there now, maybe you can reach there by dinnertime…”
“…” Mason was listening by the side. He nearly choked on his saliva.
“Mage Felic, you must be joking…” Kayla let out a nervous laughter. The ends of his lips curved as though he had infantile paralysis.
“What?” Lin Li stared at him with a shocked expression, and continued, “Does Mage Kayla has such high expectations that he does not take any fancy to the palace? I’ve heard that a monarch of the undead lived there before though…”
“This fella, you are going overboard!” Before Kayla could react, the short mage beside him stood out and pointed a finger at Lin Li face. He came so close that he nearly poked him.
Lin Li looked at that short and thick finger, and vaguely recalled that this short mage was one of Kayla’s followers, named Fedrick…
Who was Sarsen? He was a rare genius coming from Nightfall City, and the man who could pose a threat to Gryffindor.
“Felic—” Mason said as he pulled on Felic’s sleeves. He wanted to remind his teammate of Sarsen’s abilities.
Before Mason could complete his sentence, the Mental Protection Field at the entrance shook with a great force.
What followed was Lin Li’s change in expression. He knew better than anyone else that the Mental Protection Field he’d put up was a high-grade magewealth. It would not bulge if it were to come in contact with normal spells. From the impact that was just created, he could tell that it was a Mental Spell of at least level-eight.
“Let’s go and have a look first.” Lin Li grabbed his Winter Staff, and dashed to the mouth of the cave, leaving behind a baffled Sarsen.
The moment Lin Li exited the cave, Orrin and Mason followed suit immediately. The trio had always been moving together. Naturally, they understood Lin Li’s actions more than anyone else. It had to be a terrifying thing to be able to change Lin Li’s expression. They grabbed their staffs without any delay.
The moment Lin Li set foot out of the cave, he heard a low voice from afar that was not the usual recitation for spells. The sound was mellow and distant, and underlying it was a tinge of sinister and deadly force.
As the recitation continued, black smoke clouded the air. A huge amount of Death Energy filled the surroundings, and a dark figure started to emerge from the black smoke. From afar, it seemed to be a ghost in a dark night.
“Why are we so unlucky…” Mason complained as he followed behind them. Right after he saw that the figure had a Bone Staff and it was Death Energy that it was emitting, Mason was terrified. He started stuttering, “T-t-that’s a freaking lich!”
“Troublesome.” It was rare for Orrin to frown.
Since even Orrin showed signs of disapproval, it was obvious that the undead creature was an extremely troublesome one.
The birth of the undead creatures was a slow and complicated process. There were many different conditions required to birth one creature. If any of the factors were to be absent, it would be impossible to breed a true undead creature.
No one could define how complicated such a process was—not even a wise and knowledgeable man like Andoine.
The only thing certain about those creatures was that their power would be determined by that from their previous life.
For example, the most common creatures in the Shadowglen would be Skeletal Warriors. In their previous life, most of them were adventurers with their own skill set and fighting abilities. After death, and under the influence of the massive aura of death in the Shadowglen, they got converted into Skeletal Warriors very quickly.
And what was more powerful than the Skeletal Warriors would be Hell Ghouls. They were usually the reincarnation of mages, and their levels were decided by the level the mage was at when he died.
If nothing were to go wrong, mages who were above level-10 would generally transform into Hell Ghouls. Compared to Skeletal Warriors, Hell Ghouls were a more powerful existence. They retained a small amount of magical knowledge from their previous life, and were to a certain extent intelligent as well. With those abilities, they would be able to achieve breakthroughs and upgrade themselves into a real Lich!
As for mages who were at least level-15, they had great possibility of becoming a Lich immediately.
A Hell Ghoul and a Lich only differed by one level.
Yet it was that single level that classified them into high-grade and low-grade monsters.
One would only become a high-grade undead creature after becoming a Lich.
The Hell Ghouls, on the other hand, retained a small portion of magical knowledge. Apart from summoning Skeletal Warriors, they only knew a limited number of low-grade magical spells. On top of that, they had weak cognitive ability. If they were to meet enemies a little slyer than them, they would naturally be at the losing end.
But for Liches, it was another matter.
Especially the Archmages—they’d transform into Liches immediately after death. Not only would the knowledge they gained stay with them, they would also be mightier than a normal Archmage. Their accumulation of the Death Energy and the proficiency in the spells of the undead—particularly in the mental field—would make them the master of everyone!
And because of that, their intelligence was no different from a normal human being’s. Their long lifespan as undead would give them unlimited time for rationalizing. A Lich that had lived for a hundred years would be like a living encyclopedia, and the amount of knowledge it had would intimidate everyone.
If possible, Mason would rather be faced with 10 Hell Ghouls than one Lich…
But unfortunately, there were just some things that he could not choose not to deal with.
While the mellow recitation continued, black smoke moved towards the Lich. Everybody knew that that Lich was absorbing the Death Energy—it was a skill that empowered them to become a high-grade undead creature.
Its abilities would increase at the rate of its absorption of the Death Energy.
After its energy had reached the maximum capacity, what they need would just be one favorable circumstance. With that opportunity, they would be able to transcend into a higher-grade being.
Since there had been a battle between the undead near the cave, there were countless dead bodies—many Hell Ghouls, numerous low-grade Vampires, countless Death Knights, and of course… a level-18 Vampire. To any undead creature, the energy they’d left behind would be a deadly temptation…
Unfortunately…
The Death Energy got wiped off by Lin Li’s crystal the moment it was released, and its remnants would be far from meeting the needs of a Lich…