Episode(89) Wonderful Uses of Art of Death!
SOVEREIGN OF DEATH~(89)
Seeing the boy of such a young girl would make anyone feel it was a pity.
Is this 18 or twenty years old? Probably no older than Maya would be.
It seemed close enough.
But, Nagisa was honestly more intrigued by the fact that her corpse was so well in-tact.
I mean, if you minus the holes that were punched through her here and there, her body was well preserved.
Even that hero guy back on the previous floors was no flesh and just bones, why was this one in such good condition.
His eyes traced her figure trying to find a reason.
Ehem*
Damn, I didn't realize her clothes were all messed up.
I promise I'm not a pervert!
Taking out a huge cloth, he covered her drenched body and felt glad no one was around to frame him for liking dead bodies.
I really don't have such strange tastes!
Still, her body really looked as if she had just died.
If you told me that she entered the dungeon over a week ago I would definitely believe it.
Now, what to do with this? Do I extort some power, or-
Wait!
Isn't now the best time to try that out?!
HAHAHAHAH!
The time has come to display my greatness yet again!
A smile spread across his face.
Please don't think anything weird!
I just wanted to take an old forgotten car for a test drive.
Yes, it was time for art of death to do its job again!
What was that job you ask?
Art of death, it was originally a skill for reanimating the dead and having them serve me as minions.
It's just that I had been using it to create weapons and armor instead and I really didn't need a bunch of useless minions trailing behind me in every battle.
Space in the dungeon was definitely large but having a bunch of silent unfeeling corpses follow me around did not sound like fun at all!
As for why I decided not to use Soul Extortion on her?
It didn't seem profitable at all.
This woman seemed to either be a swordsman or a damage sponge, neither of which really gave him much of a boost since he judged her level to be lower than his own.
[Maybe if she had a bit more mana I would have 'Extorted' her without hesitation]
Anyway, it was good timing.
I was starting to get lonely.
If I used the skill as is before I would have been driven mad with unfriendly skeletons around me all the time, but now that I've encountered an intact corpse I won't waste the opportunity.
Just off the record, I am not doing this just because she is a pretty girl okay?
Don't misunderstand!
[Now time to strip you down!]
PAUSE!
Don't you dare picture anything naughty! Take your minds out of the gutter okay?
Its apart of the process, how can you refine top quality goods if they're covered in rust and mold!?
There is no need to be too excited I am someone with integrity and I will do my job!
Slightly embarrassed, Nagisa stripped the girl's armor completely.
The rust from being drenched in water for too long made it a bit difficult to remove, but soon enough the girl was left in a plain one piece that seemed to be from good material.
The quality seems good enough to make socks at least.
Perhaps his perception of good material had been twisted from using high ranking monsters to make his own equipment, in the end he judged it as trash.
Soon, he stripped her down to her underwear.
Is this a chemise?
She was in something like a thin lingerie top and drawers.
At least she wasn't naked so no one could call him a pervert.
In any case, if what he was about to do worked and she woke up completely naked he would have no way out of explaining that he was a good person.
The title of pervert would be marked on him like a chick calling the person it first saw mom.
Ignoring the horrifying thoughts that surged in his mind, Nagisa placed a hand on the soft chest of the girl.
Perhaps due to her still being soaked, Nagisa felt like he was getting more skin contact than needed but still shook off the thoughts.
Just focus on the task.
He poured a concentrated fine line of mana spreading from his palms into the girl's body.
As it entered, the already fine thread split into several tinier threads and dispersed through her cells constantly reading and analyzing her.
From head to toe, Nagisa felt as if he could see a visible construct of the body laying before him taking shape in his mind.
No, saying I know more about her than she would know about herself isn't and exaggeration.
This was the level of perception Nagisa now held.
And there was one more thing.
With the combination of 'Art of Death', Nagisa not only saw a physical construct of the girl's body, soon he could even make out the faint hum of a soul.
Art of Death basically allowed him to interact with the spiritual will of an object or being.
Just like when I created the swords.
The spiritual will contained in them allowed me to evolve them to their current forms.
Although they couldn't talk and didn't have a will of their own, his swords were definitely alive just in a different way.
And there was no need to use simple necromancy on a corpse.
Nagisa didn't want a mindless slave he'd have to allocate a portion of his awareness into controlling and giving orders.
I don't need a mannequin, I want a genuine person that can think for themselves.
With this wish, Nagisa activated Art of Death.
Mana surged even more wildly around him and the threads of mana reached out to the light of the soul that was now fully visible but faint as if it would disappear anytime soon.
So, that's the case.
The moment my threads of mana touched the flickering soul I finally understood the situation.
The soul had been trapped by the dungeon and was slowly being drained.
It made sense, why would a dead person still have the soul residing in their physical vessel after so long.
But, any longer and I would have lost the chance to resurrect the soul and really would have ended up with a mindless corpse.
Enough thinking!
Not wanting to waste time, Nagisa concentrated even further wrapping the threads around the soul like a web.
His mana, converted by art of death into life energy surged into the flickering soul making the faintly visible light now as bright as a sun.
[Your time may have come, but I have more use for you-]
The loneliness of death, I know it well.
I don't know your circumstances, nor do I care if you accepted this death.
[From now on, be mine!]
Fwoosh!
A visible wind swept the surroundings.
Alright!
The soul had recovered, however the process hadn't finished just yet.
The physical vessel was still dead and even if I recovered the soul it would just allow the dungeon to absorb more food.
Nagisa now had to fully reconstruct the body and a container for the soul to fully recall this person from the dead.
Based on my previous analysis, this person had a physique more suited to physical prowess but for some reason her mana prevented her from growing to her full potential.
There seemed to be an imbalance, as if her mana was supposed to be greater instead and her physique was suppressing it causing her physical and magical abilities both to hit a wall.
Was she not born with this physique but gained it later on?
It was strange but he would leave that for a next day.
If I want to correct this I have several options.
One, remove the factor of mana completely.
This would allow her physical talent to bloom giving her more growth. However, it meant she would completely lose the effectiveness of her skills.
My deduction says she is a Saintess and her skills are definitely amazing.
Nagisa may not need it now, but a Saintess could definitely help more people.
I'm reluctant to help people when being forced, but if I see someone in the future that really needs help then her abilities may be useful.
Casting them aside would cause an issue.
The second option would be to reduce her physical talent lower than her magical aptitude.
This would kill her physical potential, but her suppressed mana would be able to see growth.
It wouldn't be a lot, at most she would only be above average but it would allow her magic capability to rise several folds beyond what it was now.
But, doing this wasn't feasible as it meant I would need to throw away a decent fighter.
Then-
The only other option was to forcibly correct this imbalance by adding to the equation.
How?
Just add parts!
Indeed, when a car needs better performance specs, what do you do?
Give it modifications!
Haha, it's risky!
I might even end up raising a hideous beast but, if it works this this will be a great discovery on how to use my skills later.
[Well, even if you turn into a beast I promise I won't abandon you]
Let's get started.