[Summon Skeleton] (Apprentice Level, Beginner): Can summon skeletons to fight. Their quantity, strength, and duration are determined by the user's Spirit Attribute and Skill Proficiency.
A Professional's Skills could be used not only for combat but also for production. The Federation had excellently combined the Skills of Professionals with technology, and the personal terminal was a very successful result of this. Professionals could learn Skills, view guides, and exchange resources all through their personal terminals.
Unfortunately, since the Skill Library already included the [Summon Skeleton] Skill, Fang Zhou did not receive any reward.
A short while later, seeing that the cadets had finished entering their Skills, Lu Hu asked, "How did it go? Did anyone acquire a new Skill?"
"Report, Instructor! I awakened a new Skill, and the Federation awarded me 100 contribution points," a burly male cadet replied proudly, puffing out his chest.
Upon hearing this, all the other cadets looked on with envy. To put that in perspective, as Junior Sergeants, their basic monthly salary was only one contribution point.
Lu Hu chuckled. "Good! Apprentice-level Skills are inherently weak, but we can use them as a foundation to pioneer a whole new Profession Skill Tree, enhancing the foundation of our Human Alliance.
"Classmates, as long as you work diligently, you too can develop your own exclusive Skills and receive generous rewards in the future.
"Alright, today's Awakening session ends here. Dismissed!"
The cadets walked back to their dorms in small groups, their faces filled with excitement and determination.
Fang Zhou was lost in thought on the way back; Lu Hu's words had struck a chord with him. In many fantasy games, the Undead Mage was known as a Calamity.
Summoning Series, Skeleton Series, Flesh and Blood Series, Corrosive Poison Series, Curse Series, Soul Series...
These various skill types allowed an Undead Mage to become a one-man army.
I wonder how far the Skill Tree for Undead Mages in this world has developed?
Back in his dorm, Fang Zhou sat at his desk and opened his personal terminal. Searching for the keywords "Undead Mage" yielded only a few results.
*Insights on Undead Mage Cultivation*
*Overview of the Undead Mage Skill Tree*
*History of the Undead Mage Profession's Development*
*A Discussion on Why the Undead Mage is So Weak*
Fang Zhou briefly browsed through these Profession guides and silently shook his head. In this world, the situation of the Undead Mage Profession was even more miserable than he had imagined.
First, their Meditation Method was weak. This caused an Undead Mage's Cultivation speed and Spirit Attribute to be far inferior to those of other Mages.
Second, their Skill Tree was too simplistic. It focused mainly on the Summoning Series, but the Undead Creatures that could be summoned were garbage like skeletons, zombies, and ghouls. Aside from Summoning Skills, there were only a few disjointed Corrosive Poison Series and Negative Energy Series Skills, and their power was unimpressive.
Furthermore, because Undead Attribute mana was very harmful to the human body, Undead Mages had poor physical conditioning, making them ill-suited for intense battlefield environments. All these factors had led to the Profession's decline.
Fang Zhou sighed. Regardless, I should try out my own Skill first.
He attempted to activate the [Summon Skeleton] Skill. As his Spiritual Power was consumed, a black vortex appeared beside him. A tattered, gray, and unarmed skeleton wobbled out from within.
Looking at its weak Soul Fire, Fang Zhou felt a bit disappointed. According to his senses, the skeleton's average Four-dimensional Attributes were estimated to be no higher than 1. It couldn't even defeat an ordinary person who hadn't had their Awakening.
However, he stroked his chin, feeling slightly confused.
According to the guides, summoning a skeleton was a very Spiritual Power-consuming Skill because Blue Star was so far from the Undead Realm. A newly Awakened, Lower-rank Apprentice could summon at most two skeletons in a row before exhausting their Spiritual Power.
But his Spiritual Power seemed to have depleted by only a tiny fraction—about one-twentieth.
This means I can continuously summon twenty skeletons! The difference is just too great.
Fang Zhou opened his personal terminal to check the analysis of the [Summon Skeleton] Skill.
"For an Undead Mage using Summoning Series Skills, the most important factor is the intimacy of their connection to the Undead Realm. The closer the connection, the more readily Summoned Creatures will respond, and the less Spiritual Power will be consumed."
It all makes sense now. My guess must be correct. The Otherworld where my skeleton Clone is located must be the Undead Realm! That's the only way to explain why summoning a skeleton consumes so little of my Spiritual Power. With the skeleton Clone, there shouldn't be another Undead Mage in the world with a greater advantage than me!
Fang Zhou smiled faintly. An Undead Mage who could only summon two measly skeletons might be an easy target for anyone. But an Undead Mage who could summon twenty skeletons and execute the Sea of Bones Skill would not be underestimated by any Profession!
Moreover, the more a Skill was used, the higher its Skill Proficiency and Skill Power would become. Summoning Skills were no exception. At full capacity, Fang Zhou could use [Summon Skeleton] twenty times. This meant he could raise his Skill Proficiency at ten times the speed of an ordinary Undead Mage. This would naturally bring an immense boost to his combat strength.
Realizing this, he didn't hesitate. He used [Summon Skeleton] another twenty times, stopping only when his Spiritual Power was nearing its limit. During this time, he also tried to see if he could summon his skeleton Clone to Blue Star through the [Summon Skeleton] Skill. For some unknown reason, the attempt ended in failure.
As dusk fell, Fang Zhou contentedly inspected the Sea of Skulls he had summoned. Luckily, Sea City Military Academy was well-funded and provided each cadet with a private apartment. Otherwise, the sudden sight of dozens of skulls with flickering Soul Fires would have likely scared any freshman to death.
Maintaining the Summoned Creatures also consumed Spiritual Power, so after admiring them for a while, Fang Zhou banished them all back to the Undead Realm.
Next, he searched the Apprentice-level Skill library for Undead Mages. The Profession Skills were pitifully few, with only [Skeleton Meditation Method], [Summon Skeleton], [Touch of Corrosion], [Death Missile], [Weakening Beam], and a few others.
Except for [Skeleton Meditation Method], which was essential to acquire for Cultivation, the others all seemed very weak, leaving Fang Zhou deeply unsatisfied.
Following the guides' advice, he then browsed the Universal Apprentice Skill Library. There weren't many of these Universal Skills either, but they were the crystallization of human wisdom over decades. Generation after generation of Professionals had pondered deeply, successfully transforming a few of their Profession's exclusive Skills into Universal Skills usable by all Professions. This allowed Professionals to complement their weaknesses with the strengths of others.
Representative Universal Skills for the Mage class included [Mana Missile], [Mana Sprint], [Mage Hand], [Mana Shield], [Calm and Relaxed], and so on.
For Warriors, there were [Charge], [Brutal Strike], [Block], [Weapon Specialization], [Battle Cry], and so on.
They all seemed far more practical than what was in the Undead Mage's Skill Library.