25% Impact

Blayz watched silently from the beginning. No words came out of his mouth. Watching Gris kill the slave without hesitation, his lips carved out a grin, and his eyes flashed with enthusiasm.

"Oh Lord, your mother finally succeeded! You became normal and... didn't hesitate to kill a living creature," he exclaimed and then started laughing so hard that his whole body shook with it.

This was like a scene where a crazy villain finds a strange hobby. Gris had faced some crazy people before, so he was not too surprised by the sudden change in situation.

After all, the situation was already destined to be abnormal since he decided to kill someone. Adding one more oddity to it was no surprise.

"What are you talking about, Father?" Gris asked, looking at the eerie black mist slowly enveloping the girl's body.

Beginning at her feet, the mist wrapped around her and crept up to other parts of her body. Each part it touched vanished into thin air.

[Anne Fritzrays' living soul has been completely absorbed. You can summon her soul by splashing water on the ground; it costs 10 Dark Energy.

Soul Bound has no skill level. Your rank determines the effectiveness of soul summoning. As a Beginner Necromancer, you can't control the form of the soul you summon. It will maintain its current form when it had when it was alive.]

[You have unlocked the Route of Death (One Star Novice) progression: 1/10!

Your first target has an original soul quality of 5. To progress, you must kill a living creature with the same (cannot be less) or higher soul quality.

If you kill a living being with a low original soul quality, it does not count towards progression, even if a cursed weapon or certain skills increase the soul quality.]

While Gris was processing the information, Blayz continued to laugh uncontrollably. It started to worry Gris about his father's mental state.

But suddenly, he recalled what Blayz had said in the lab yesterday. His father had said something about the experiment, and he connected that with his strange behavior.

"Father, what do you mean by mother succeeded? I can't understand," Gris gripped Blayz's shoulder, stopping him from laughing.

Blayz gasped in shock. His eyes were locked on Gris, but his gaze seemed to drift to another place or perhaps another time.

"Forget about it and summon that slave's soul immediately!"

Gris winced as Blayz pushed him. He needed to understand what Blayz meant. Perhaps the experiment had something to do with his transmigration.

Unfortunately, Blayz had returned to normal. The enthusiastic glint had disappeared from his gaze. If Gris questioned about the experiment, Blayz would likely avoid the topic and act as if nothing had occurred.

Knowing that extracting information from Blayz would be futile, Gris decided to summon the slave's soul.

'It's not just Blayz who's keeping secrets; I've got my own. I won't tell him about the Route of Death.'

When interviewed by Alberic, Gris deliberately acted arrogant so that others would think he had nothing else to brag about. 

Arrogant and narcissistic people usually always brag about what they have excessively. 

They were nervous about keeping their great achievements, and Gris could pretend to be like them and hide his ultimate weapon.

Gris glanced around the room for water. Found it. Spotting a bottle of water on one of the tables, he grabbed it hastily, spilling some on the ground.

[-10 Dark Energy has been used to summon Anne Fritzrays!

Your current Dark Energy: 89 >>> 79.]

The same red mist that appeared when summoning Infernoclaw Scorpion's soul returned. The difference was that there was more mist than before.

The mist coalesced into a figure, gradually becoming clear that it was Anne. She returned to life with her body and mind under Gris' control.

"Can you see through the slave's eyes? Like what happened when you summoned the scorpion," Blayz questioned.

Gris paused, giving his mind time to focus. Moments later, he saw himself standing with a blank stare.

In one rough breath, his vision returned to normal, and standing before him was Anne's soul.

"Yes, I can do the same thing. But if I do that, my original vision will be blocked," Gris replied while thinking about the weakness of his summoning.

The souls he summoned could be used for good things like spying or infiltration. But in return, he could not pay attention to the situation around him.

He needed a trustworthy person to look after him while he empowered the soul. Right now, it was too early to trust someone.

"Try giving the slave an order," Blayz's gaze flashed enthusiasm again, and Gris was tempted to bring up the experiment.

But Gris did not. Blayz sat at the long table in the lab, and his hand could quickly grab a mortar to throw at Gris' head if he insisted on discussing the experiment.

"Anne, get the rosemary on that table," Gris commanded without pointing at the herbs or the table.

Connecting with his mind, Anne figured out what he wanted and walked to a table near her.

Her thin hand picked up a green bush with purple flowers in a herb jar. "Master, this is the rosemary you need," she spoke with the voice she had when she was alive.

For some reason, that gave Gris goosebumps. One of his nightmares as a hitman was seeing his victims come back to life.

He did not believe in ghosts; it was something he always said to himself when he first killed, and seeing his victim haunted him in dreams.

"I can control souls at will. Our minds are connected," Gris said after receiving rosemary from Anne.

Blayz clapped his hands. "Great! Son, you're my rock now. Study well at the academy and make your father proud," he signaled Gris to come closer.

Gris was not touched at all by Blayz's caress on his head. His father's words about the academy were rather funny.

'What kind of parent expects their child to do their best at the villain academy? This world is crazier than mine because there is such an academy,' he thought with a faint smile.

[Warning: You are distributing your stamina and thoughts with Anne's soul, meaning you will tire more easily. If you focus your mind on a particular soul, you will receive a 25% impact when they are attacked.

The impact will not appear if you give the soul a clear command and do not focus a special mind on it.

It would be better to return the summoned soul to the Soul Rooms when it's not in use to prevent any potential accidents.]

"I need to return this soul to its origin if it's not used anymore," Gris told Blayz, silently cursing the warning that appeared too late.

He would receive a 25% impact when his mind connected specifically with the summoned soul. He focused his mind on Anne as he gave her the order to return the rosemary to its jar.

This effect did not exist in the original story, thus making Griswalden an overpowered character.

The only way to avoid this effect was to give one clear command to the summoned souls and then not connect to their minds until the command was completed.

"You may return the soul. I've had my fill of your abilities," Blayz waved his hand.

Gris immediately gave Anne the order to return to the Soul Room. Crimson mist came back into view and engulfed Anne before vanishing without a trace.