Chapter 67: Another Summon, What Great Luck

Leon left the room some time later. Dustin and Raul were still discussing their next spar, and neither paid much attention when he told them he would be back.

The time was already past 9:00 PM, and he hadn’t used the Door that day.

The small training room he found was empty, one he had scouted prior to that time. He checked that nobody had left anything behind before closing the door and locking it from the inside, then he placed his bag on a chair close to the wall.

’Let’s see what I get.’ He thought to himself.

Getting the second Swordsman had made that draw worthwhile. Leon didn’t expect to get another Grade 3 so soon after that, but missing a day certainly wouldn’t help his chances.

He sat down, closed his eyes and entered his summoner’s space.

He had recently discovered a secret, for whatever reason, he no longer had to call the Door out of his summoner’s space before he could summon.

Within his summoner’s space, the Door stood in its usual place, and when Leon willed it, it slowly opened. A figure appeared within the darkness on the other side, but unlike most of the undead he had gotten before, this one was wearing robes.

Dark cloth hung loosely around its narrow skeleton, leaving its hands and part of its skull exposed. Blue light burned within its hollow eye sockets, while one of its bony hands held a staff.

’Ainz, is that you?’ Leon thought as he looked it over.

This was certainly something new! He needed no info on it at all, this was for sure, a Mage.

..

Undead Skeleton Mage

Grade 3 — Peak

..

He was about to bring it into his summoner’s space when he remembered that all fifty of his slots were already occupied.

Leon turned towards the ordinary Skeleton Warriors. He had more than enough of them, and losing one wouldn’t make any real difference when they all did the same thing.

He selected one of the Skeleton Warriors and directed it towards the Door by releasing it. The Skeleton Warrior walked through the open Door and disappeared into the darkness, leaving one of his fifty slots empty.

Leon brought the robed undead into its place before checking its information.

’Peak.’ Leon thought, his eyebrows rising slightly.

The exchange had already been worth it.

Another Great Swordsman was useful, but this was a summon he didn’t already have, and it was at the Peak of Grade 3. If its abilities were any good, it could give Leon far more options than another ordinary fighter.

He checked the abilities available to it.

...

Summon: Undead Skeleton Mage

Description: A Skeleton Mage at has attained proper mastery in a branch of spell casting. Able to use detection, defensive spells, and fire magic.

Grade: 3 (Peak)

Potential: 3 (Peak)

...

’I’d better see what they can actually do.’

Leon left his summoner’s space and opened his eyes. The training room was still quiet, with a few practice targets placed along the far wall and enough open space between them and the chair.

Without hesitating, he went ahead with summoning the Undead Mage.

The robed skeleton appeared a short distance in front of him. Its robes shifted slightly as it turned its head towards Leon, and seeing it up close, the cloth was worn around the edges while the fingers wrapped around its staff looked rather thin.

It wasn’t as imposing as either of the Great Swordsmen, standing only a little taller than him, but Leon didn’t need it to be.

"Use Detection." Leon said while pointing towards the door.

The Mage raised its staff.

Nothing visible happened for the first few seconds, then its head turned slightly towards the corridor outside.

"Someone is there?"

The Mage nodded.

Leon walked to the door and listened. Footsteps passed outside a short while later, continuing down the corridor without stopping.

’Useful.’ He thought to himself, though it would be even more useful if he could someone be connected to the spell, so he too would be able to feel or tell the location of targets after using it. But then again, Undead could sense the living, so it wasn’t the biggest thing as such.

Also, he didn’t know the range yet, or how much information the Mage could obtain through the ability, but finding someone outside the room was enough for now. ’Maybe it can find more than living things.’

He could test the exact limits another time. Detection wasn’t the ability he was most interested in at that time.

Leon returned to the practice area and picked up a loose piece of stone lying close to one of the targets.

"Raise the barrier here." Leon said while pointing towards the open space in front of him.

The Mage lifted its free hand.

Light gathered around its fingers and spread outward, taking several seconds to form a translucent wall between Leon and the practice targets.

He pressed his palm against the barrier before slowly leaning some of his weight into it. The surface remained firm.

Leon picked up a loose piece of stone from beside one of the targets and threw it against the wall. It struck the surface and bounced away without leaving any visible damage.

He walked around one edge of the barrier and looked at the other side.

It only protected one direction, and there was more than enough space for someone to walk around it. Nothing stopped an opponent from approaching him from behind either.

’So I’ll still need something watching the other sides.’

Leon returned behind the barrier and ordered the Mage to keep it active.

The translucent wall remained steady as the Mage moved around its edge to face the practice targets. Maintaining the spell required a continuous supply of Spirit Energy, but that energy wasn’t coming from Leon.

The Door sustained his undead after they were summoned, and the Mage could draw from the same energy for its spells. An ordinary summoner would eventually have to dismiss the barrier or exhaust themselves trying to maintain it since summons draw from the summoner’s reserves, but Leon could leave it active indefinitely.

He watched the barrier for some time. There was no fading around its edges, and Leon felt none of the strain he would have expected if the spell were drawing from him.

"Keep that up."