Bro, I'm not an Undead!



The concept of imprinting new skills on living things using the Nullmancer exclusive skill, [Wealth of Spoils]...

After Replicus realised that the skill only worked with objects, he had had to get creative. Barring what he knew of the influence of the soul – however limited it was – he began to dive deeper into his knowledge of the body.

The body naturally had the capacity to learn, but [Wealth of Spoils] seemed to refuse to grant abilities to living bodies, which forced the Penetrator to go back to his roots.

In Deadmanland, and even Aigas, it was common for one to develop skills through the process of repeating a certain motion. This was how his best friend Bonet had awakened [Boneman of Steel] in Deadmanland, and this was how Skullius had learned skills like [Mana Sense], [Mana Force] and [Artless Dodger].

This process, seemed to be one of the universal concepts that applies to living bodies in general, even if they were technically 'dead'.

Simply, bodies had a remarkable capacity to learn.

This got Replicus thinking.

Of course, he couldn't create a regiment that allowed someone to learn how to use complex abilities, but... what was the central part of the body that allowed one to learn, generally speaking?

That's right. The brain.

While it sounded obvious, to Skullius who didn't know that brains existed until he came to Aigas – meaning he had 1,000 years worth of garbage to decondition himself from – it took longer than it would have a normal person to realise that the brain was the gateway to certain bodily functions.

Once this realisation set in, Replicus tied this research on the body to other studies that he had been coming up with concerning his Apostles... concerning the skill [Apostle Summon] which had finally begun to level up without the need to rely on evolution.

...

At this moment, Replicus held what looked like a metallic band that would fit his wrist with some manner of effort. It had a complex string of writing across it, as well as a thin streak of glowing blue, which housed Null Life Essence. A very specific type of it.

Just as he had told Timmit, this indeed was a leash, but that was its most basic function. And sadly, he needed to exploit it now, before even thinking about the other functions of the band.

"What do you mean I best prepare, Bright Storm? What is about to come out of that egg?" the stork asked while eyeing the tumbling blue oval shape warily.

"Relax. We're in your Territory. If it turns out to be extremely dangerous, you can subdue it – or at least try to – with your Primary attack. As long as you don't kill it," Replicus said.

Chip.

At that moment, a thin crack appeared on the egg, and it shook violently. Timmit sprang up and flapped away.

"Bright Storm!" the stork screamed.

"I said relax," Replicus said.

Yuyui, who had once again begun to think about her future, reeled in her focus and shielded the cute monstrosity that had been given to her with her arms. She felt a grave sense of unease when the blue egg tilted to the side with another jerk from the inside.

"I might need your eye, Yuyui. Just in case. Even though it's not as effective on Null Life," the Penetrator said without turning to the girl.

The Eye of Dispersal.

Yuyui acknowledged that she would be able to use it, but she backed away further and further, and soon Timmit joined her.

"Crazy! You're all crazy! I thought this was normal hatching! I was even expectant! But surprise, surprise! Why did I put my faith in a charred skeleton, pfff?!" Timmit complained while raising his wings.

"It's a design," Replicus answered the mockery with his own justification.

"Sure! Of course it is!" the stork cried hysterically. Still, a surge of super condensed mana was already surging from his radiant purple core.

Dormant Territories, especially for higher Tier beasts, could be rooted in a place where they felt the strongest connection to. While exploiting the pure mana in such locations, which usually turned out to be deep forests, the rooted dormant Territory would act as a shelter for the beast, which they could keep active without expending more than a quarter of their own mana reserves daily.

The properties of the Territory while dormant, were usually limited, but if they chose, the masters of the Territories could disallow all who came in from leaving and vice versa.

When truly in need of the other functions of the Territory, the beasts would only need to take back the mana supply reins of the Territory, and...

The red stained environment around the group grew eerie, and dark, the humble trees becoming thick and bulky, as though they had suddenly turned to trunk building in the past second. They arched to create a deep shade around the nest while their forms drew a large chunk of the pure mana in the atmosphere.

"Good," Replicus remarked.

Just like the others, he too was worried about what would come out of the egg. He knew what its powers would be, but its behaviour is what mattered most. After all, unlike many other times, Replicus hadn't exactly chosen an Apostle that was completely subservient to him this time.

That was why this particular creature came with the band.

A few minutes of heavy, almost crushing tension followed, and finally, there was a loud shattering noise that sounded more like the destruction of a thick boulder.

The egg hatched.

And then...

A sharp burst of Null Life Essence soared without warning right after the different pieces of the egg scattered about.

...!

Replicus' sockets shot forth glaring beams of light.

He was extremely excited.

The colour of the Null Life Essence...

It was more green than it was blue, but with a diluted shade.

Incredible.

He had actually done!

And the volume of it!

It was likely more than the amount of mana he had within his second mana core!

"Hahahaha. As if you could ever, Somanda..." he said with a low voice.

Timmit and Yuyui didn't share his enthusiasm, unfortunately.

The stork had been caught off guard, and only now had he mobilised a massive force of mana to reinforce his Territory, and expand its range.

As cruel as it was, he couldn't see the beam of greenish energy which had almost torn the upper layer of his magical demesne, and this handicap made it hard to act accordingly.

Yuyui by the side looked in wonder. She too was blind to the force, but could see the effects.

The air was darting away.

The mana was drifting wildly.

The pulse of Null Life Essence sent out waves of a single emotion.

 Unfocused zeal.

"Bright Storm!" Timmit shrieked.

Replicus didn't offer the stork the reaction nor the response it wanted.

This was tricky, even for him.

Over the past month, he had spent many days creating Apostles, pushing them to Tier 1 so that they could obtain special races, extracting interesting skills, and then killing them off.

Indeed, [Wealth of Spoils] had shown that it couldn't extract skills from living things, so Replicus had turned to working around his theory about the brain.

The brain stored information, and with the use of his Hybrid Luman's [Basic Evil Invasion] – as unlike Skullius, Replicus didn't combine it with different skills – he managed to extract information about skills from beasts, and made attempts to assemble this information into skills when he returned to his Penetrator form, which had advanced abilities that allowed him to construct blueprints of what the skills related would look like.

As for imprinting these skills into another body?

Well...

Just as Skullius had figured out before the Premium Age Royale, Replicus had also learned that Null Life Essence was a very invasive energy... and it worked particularly well with unborn subjects.

Even better than [Basic Evil Invasion]!

Replicus wished he could grin.

'If I manage to place this band around it, I've won. But the type of Null Life Essence it is producing is incredibly deadly. In terms of potency, it can be likened to Primus energy. Hostile Primus energy...' he thought. 'Oh well... it's not like I die that easily. I can suffer all the embarrassment I need to away from my subordinates."

In an instant, Replicus zipped towards the location of the egg, under the pillar of energy.

However...

...!

He had just gotten close enough when the column of energy died down so abruptly that it made him pause for a split moment in surprise.

A small creature huddled against itself, with pale, crumpled skin and almost indiscernible, glinting stems that grew from its temples, like an unfinished crown, emerged out of bright light.

At the sight, Yuyui let out a subdued scream.

That was...!

Didn't that look like...?!

Replicus made to clip the leash around the creature's barely formed neck, but...

It didn't go as planned.

A guidance field notification even popped up to spell the trouble ahead.

[The Apostle you are attempting to restrain resists with 'Dominion']