‘Is that Jack?’
‘If that’s true, that means Jack lost control over Darkness and…’
Emma noticed his inner turmoil.
“You know that Necromancer in Spain?” she asked.
“…” Neo remained silent before he spoke, “When did that Necromancer appear?”
“Seven—six months ago.”
Neo closed his eyes.
‘The timing matches with when I arrived in.this world.’
‘It’s Jack.’
He clenched his fists.
‘Fuck.’
“The Necromancer is alive, for now at least.”
Emma’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
“What is happening right now in Spain?” Neo asked.
“I told you. The Necromancer is going berserk there. I’ve sent my clone to stop the situation from worsening.
“But my clone is being overpowered. The Necromancer is growing stronger at an alarming pace.
“After we leave the city with you, we are going to Spain to take care of the Necromancer.”
“You will kill him?”
“Him?” Emma noticed the nuance behind Neo’s words. “You know the Necromancer?”
“I do.”
“That’s unfortunate. We will subdue the Necromancer. If we can take him alive, we will do that. Though he will be punished for the crimes he has committed.”
Neo didn’t need to ask what crimes she was talking about.
“I wouldn’t recommend going rogue,” Emma suddenly spoke. “I don’t know your trait. But going by physical stats, you are B-rank at best. You’ll die a needless death if you try to protect your friend.”
“…”
Neo remained silent.
Emma frowned and spoke,
“Anyway, let’s focus on training for now.”
“You are still going to teach me? Aren’t you worried about me going rogue?”
“Why would I be worried?” Emma smirked.
“I’m teaching you Incantations only. Even Zeus hasn’t surpassed me in Incantations.”
“…”
Neo became silent again.
He didn’t want to talk.
Not now, after he received the news about Jack.
“Aren’t you going to ask why I’m confident in my Incantation skills?” Emma initiated the talk. Find more to read at freewebnovel
She was trying to lighten the mood.
Neo shook his head.
“Not really.”
His tone was monotonous, and his gaze remained unfocused.
“Neo Hargraves.”
A powerful aura erupted from Emma.
“I’m using my precious time to help you train. If you have no intention of paying attention, say so. I don’t want to waste my time either.”
“…”
Neo pursed his lips.
“I’ll focus on training.”
He pushed the brooding thoughts to the back of his head and looked Emma in the eye.
“What are you going to teach me?”
“True Incantations.”
“True… Incantations?”
“Yes, the Incantations you are using are based on the Harmony pathway. They were created for normal awakeners.
“But True Incantations work on the Willpower pathway.”
“Pathway?”
“Yes, pathways. I used that word since it sounds fancy.”
“…”
Neo nodded with a weirded-out expression.
Maybe it was because the anime industry had hit its peak before the apocalypse, the names of techniques of awakeners were often grand and not related to techniques at all.
Then again, Neo himself had been an anime fan and avid gamer. He had no right to point fingers at others.
“Get ready,” Emma spoke. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
She dashed at him.
The hands behind her back moved as if they had thoughts of their own and attacked Neo.
He dodged skillfully.
“O Darkness, entwine and consume, let all be cast into eternal gloom.
“O Darkness, echoes of the abyss, obey; rend their spirit, lead them astray.”
She chanted multiple Incantations in quick succession.
Two giant black hands attacked Neo from opposite sides.
He blocked them, but they phased through his guard and swept past his body.
His vision dimmed, and a pounding headache assaulted him.
“O Darkness, bind their essence, let them fall.”
Wisps of Darkness rose from the ground.
They bound Neo’s limbs and melted into his body.
Neo’s movements slowed, and he felt his vitality being sucked away.
He jumped back.
“Those are quite strong Incantations.”
“…”
Emma stared at him with a frown.
‘How can he see and move? The Incantations should’ve incapacitated him.’
‘Does he have a trait that increases his defenses?’
The two continued to clash for dozens of minutes.
Neither of them went all out.
A few minutes later, Emma stopped attacking and spoke,
“Did you notice something different about my Incantations?”
“Yes.”
Neo nodded.
“You weren’t asking the Elementals to help you.”
“That’s surprising. I thought it would take you longer to notice that. You have good senses,” Emma said. “You are right. The Harmony pathway involves asking the Elementals to help us.
“Most awakeners use this pathway.
“The advantage of the Harmony pathway is that anyone can use it as long as they are able to chant proper Incantations.
“But in exchange, the strength of their Incantations is limited by their Harmony with the Elemental,” she explained.
“And the Willpower Pathway is different?” Neo asked.
“Yes. Instead of asking Elementals to help me, I ‘order’ them to follow my words.”
“What…?” Neo frowned. “You order them, and they listen to you?”
“It’s not easy, of course. You need to have very strong Willpower to impose your will – Intent – forcefully on the Elementals.”
Neo understood her words after thinking about them a bit.
Harmony Pathway = You use Intent to order Elementals → If you have sufficient Harmony with the Elementals, they will listen to you.
Willpower Pathway = You use a ‘strong’ Intent to order Elementals → If you use a powerful Intent, the Elementals will have no choice but to listen to you.
“Won’t the Elementals rebel if we make them follow our orders forcefully?”
“They would. That’s why you would need to appease them at regular intervals.”
“Appease them, how?”
“I don’t know. You will need to ask the Elementals themselves.”
Neo frowned.
The Willpower pathway was perfect for him since he had exceptionally high Willpower.
However…
‘Appeasing Elementals sounds troublesome.’
“Is this why you said I am talented?” he asked.
“Yes, you have a high Willpower. It’s quite easy to notice since you have a good grasp on the Darkness element.
“You would’ve gone crazy without a high Willpower,” she said and thought,
‘Just like how every Darkness user does.’
Emma canceled her Incantations and removed the debuffs on Neo.
“Train in True Incantations. It suits you.”
“I wouldn’t say I like to force others to work for me.”
“I doubt that,” Emma smirked. “Someone who calls himself the Divine Ruler can’t possibly not like giving orders to others.”
***
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