Chapter 687 Gentleman’s Guide
Chapter 687 Gentleman’s Guide
Unholy Sensory Magic turned out to be a dud, as Wolfe already knew most of the spells that it covered, and had extensive experience using them. On the other hand, the Gentleman’s Guide to Soul Devastation was an absolute treasure of a tome, which contained not only various ways of using Unholy Magic to cause lasting soul damage, it also had ways to mend and shape the soul.
For example, the page that Wolfe was on right now, was entitled [The Skeleton Guard]. Inside, it contained a detailed description of how to modify the willpower of a skeleton to make it more loyal and powerful, while building upon various ways to enhance its undead power to make it a worthy guardian of one’s household.
[The lowly skeleton might be much maligned by the mainstream, but nevertheless, this scholar maintains that they are truly the most practical guards that a home can have. Unlike most undead, they do not carry the stench of the grave, and with regular washing, should have no unpleasant odour at all.
For that reason alone, they are uniquely suited to guarding the entrance to the home, and with these few upgrades, they can be more than a mere decoration to open doors.] The chapter began.
The writer of the book was clearly enthusiastic about the use of the undead as household servants, though some of the earlier chapters had seemed a bit paranoid, as if anything that they could not completely control might turn on them and assassinate them in their sleep.
That might actually be true, as neither Wolfe nor the librarian were familiar with the author or their history, only the work that they had left behind. Perhaps they really were so unliked that it was unsafe to have living assistants in their home.
Wolfe suffered from no such issues. Other than being murdered by a jealous wife when he brought back a pair of succubi and a new pentacle of Demon Princesses and bodyguards, he was relatively safe at home, and they were even pushing for him to be the official continental leader.
Wolfe examined the roasted chicken that Risa had requested for a snack. It was almost completely bare now, scraped clean of any lingering meat by the hungry Wrathbringer, but missing its head. That wouldn’t do, as even skeleton animation magic used the eye sockets as their primary sense.
If he wanted to test out the theory, he would have to find another source of intact skeletons.
Wolfe read on.
[With these Unholy Strengthening spells, the bones of a skeleton will become much more durable, comparable to the elemental armour commonly used by the living, but without need for upkeep. Taken to an extreme, it will even extend to weapons that the skeleton holds, enabling it to become a properly armed guard.]
Wolfe took notes as he read. If he had seen this before he had sent the crusaders back, he could have made a much more fearsome army than the simple zombies that were unleashed upon the home of the Fallen.
If they had been super durable, self repairing, and with enchanted weapons, as well as the lingering magical abilities that they had maintained as zombies, they might have actually stood a chance at taking over their hometown without waiting for the curse to spread.
He immediately felt guilty for thinking that. The majority of the people there were likely not crazed cultists, or in any way affiliated with the crusades. Wanting to harm them in retaliation for the crusaders actions wasn’t right.
If they came again, he would have to be more specific and make sure that they targeted the training grounds and temples that they had come from, so that the right people were afflicted with the curses that they had attempted to spread through the Demon Realm.
The next entry was a complete change from the loyalty and power upgrades for skeletons. Entitled [Unholy Balls] it was a soul damaging spell that specifically targeted the groin for extreme pain on a spiritual level. No amount of healing would affect it, as the body was uninjured, and it wasn’t a curse, so no cleansing would take the pain away. Instead, you would have to use Mana Purification or Antimagic Counter to break the effect.
That was a new spell to Wolfe. He had never heard of Antimagic Counter, but fortunately, the tome had an index, and a listing of the essentials of all the spells that it referred to.
Wolfe marked his spot and flipped to check the appropriate page.
[Antimagic Counter] Unholy Magic. Destabilizes spells and allows the accumulated magic to harmlessly dissipate. Useful for the mitigation of mutations, lingering spell damage and some forms of curses.
It was simple and elegant, everything that you could want in a counterspell. You could even use it as another spell was being cast to cause it to fail, or to block a damaging effect.
It would take talent to block a fireball or a wind blade with the Counterspell, but in theory you could do it if you could activate it fast enough.
It was a brilliant bit of magic, and something that Wolfe wished that he had known about when he was first learning magical combat skills.
“Librarian, is this spell a common one?” Wolfe asked.
“Somewhat. The level of mana control needed to make it work on higher level effects is quite high, as it must surpass the stability of its target, but other than that, it is one of the few reliable ways to clean up unwanted magic.
The labs here in the Palace are cleansed with it on a regular basis, to keep the spells from previous experiments from interfering with the new projects.” The Librarian explained.
So, it wasn’t some super secret spell, it was just a utility magic that the Demons used casually, and Wolfe had seen potential in. It was likely being employed by the Demon Royals quite frequently, as they dismissed attacks on themselves with their absolute might, but Wolfe hadn’t noticed.
“I think I will need more paper, this book has quite a number of novel ideas.” He informed the Librarian as he flipped back to his spot.
“Of course, Patriarch.”