"I must be going crazy," Kael said, concentrating his mana with everything he had to keep his gaze up and eliminate the hordes of monsters coming toward him.

"I believe whatever performed these rituals really didn't like you breaking one of them," Umbra said, hovering in spectral form near Kael.

He looked at her and said, "I'm really going to go crazy if this continues. I can use unlimited mana, but the atmosphere is losing mana by the second."

Ahri, in her fox form, flew close to Umbra and said, "This is the academy's fault. That protective barrier sucked too much mana from the environment, and since the city is part of the ritual, the mana of nature refuses to enter a corrupted place like this."

"I figured so," Kael said, focusing hard to use darkness magic and drain mana from the monsters.

Kael didn't know how to use dark magic like his grandmother, the Witch Queen. Essentially speaking, Kael can use all magical elements, but he has great difficulty with some, like Water, Stone, and Lightning. He has partial control over Dark Magic because of his low affinity with Shadow Magic, which are essentially very compatible and similar.

Ahri looked at him... "Umbra... Why haven't you let him use necromancy yet?" Ahri asked suddenly.

"Hm?" Kael looked confused when he saw that Ahri was genuinely nervous, looking at Umbra.

"N-necromancy? W-what are you talking about, woman? I'm Umbra, a nature spirit of the forest!" Umbra said, beating her chest.

Ahri glared at her... "Of the nature of the underworld, you damn bitch. Your name is Umbra, you are the ruler of the shadow dimension, the Umbral. Stop hiding, you damn bitch, forest spirit my ass."

Umbra and Kael stopped, and they both looked at the divine fox… "You… are you really a goddess?" Kael questioned…

Ahri looked at him and muttered, "I was until I became your familiar. It's your fault I have a foul mouth."

Kael placed his hand over his eyes and muttered a curse before turning and looking at Umbra, who was floating calmly in his 'human' form.

"Do you have something to tell me, Miss Umbral?" he asked nervously, but he didn't have time to listen to her.

A huge axe came toward him, and with his sword, he deflected it, sending it flying away. A huge mana ogre was looking at him nervously.

"Oh, good," Kael said, already nervous about the situation.

Kael planted his feet on the cracked ground, the impact of the axe still vibrating through his bones. The air around him trembled—the metallic smell of condensed mana mixed with dust and evaporated blood.

The mana ogre let out a low roar, the sound echoing through the ruins and shaking the ground. The creature was massive—nearly four meters tall, its body formed of floating rocks and corrupted energy seeping from its joints like smoke.

Kael swung his sword, and the metal responded with a purplish glow. The blade absorbed the dense air, pulsing with the flow of mana he channeled through his body.

"Excellent," he muttered through clenched teeth. "A mana ogre. Because a day without an aberration trying to kill me isn't a complete day."

Umbra crossed his arms in the air, floating beside him, his translucent body wavering like living mist.

"You attract confusion like a bonfire attracts moths."

"And you," Kael replied, deflecting the creature's first blow and severing one of the ogre's ethereal arms, "still hiding what you are."

Umbra opened his mouth to retort, but Ahri slashed again, landing behind him, her nine tails fluttering.

"Kael, watch out! It's absorbing mana from the ground!"

Kael looked, and it was true—the energy veins beneath the monster's feet were moving, sucked into its body. The glow of the stones that made up its chest grew brighter, a deep red, like lava about to erupt.

He snorted. "Oh, wonderful." Then he twisted his fist and raised the sword above his head.

The ground beneath him writhed, and a series of black blades emerged, made of pure, concentrated mana.

The blades shot out in succession, tearing through the air and striking the ogre diagonally.

The impact sent the monster reeling back, roaring, the stones in its body shattering and reforming in the same instant. The thing wasn't just resisting—it was learning with every blow.

Kael felt the thin air.

"This bastard's growing," he muttered.

Umbra replied dryly, "He's channeling the mana you release into the air. Every spell you cast strengthens him."

Kael gritted his teeth. "Then I can't use long-lasting magic…" "Or it kills quickly."

The ogre advanced with brutal speed, the ground crumbling beneath its weight. Kael moved, quick as a shadow. The first blow missed by inches, cracking the ground.

The second followed, and Kael spun, dodging underneath and plunging his sword into the creature's ribs.

The blade went in, but didn't go through—it was caught between the rocks and the mana currents. The ogre roared and tried to grab him.

Kael drew his sword, spun, and used the monster's momentum against it. In one fluid motion, he leaped over the giant arm and drove the blade into the creature's head.

Energy exploded.

Black and purple mana spread like lightning, consuming the air in a sharp crack.

The ogre staggered, letting out a piercing roar.

Kael fell to his knees, the impact shaking the earth, and rolled to the side just as the creature collapsed—a colossus of smoke and stone that dissolved into pure energy before hitting the ground.

For a moment, there was silence.

The wind blew away the ash, the sky split into golden flashes, and Kael took a deep breath, bracing himself against the sword stuck in the ground.

Ahri landed beside him, curled up in spirit form.

"That was close."

Kael wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his glove.

"Just another normal Tuesday."

Umbra, still floating, spun in the air with a smug smile.

"You should thank me. I told you he was absorbing mana."

Kael glanced at her wearily. "And you still owe me an explanation, Umbra."

She blinked, and her spectral body briefly took on a more solid form.

For an instant, Kael could see something behind the illusion—a crowned shadow, eyes like white slits in the darkness. A chill ran down his spine.

"W-well," she said, stuttering a little. "I-I can't give you too many details, but... well, if you want to use my necromancy, you can, but like... it's pretty risky..."

Kael raised an eyebrow, still breathing heavily, sweat trickling down the side of his face. The smell of burnt mana and evaporated blood still hung in the air, thick, suffocating.

He stabbed his sword into the ground, the blade vibrating slightly as he turned to Umbra.

"Risky?" he asked, his voice dry, tired, but firm. "What do you mean risky? I've been through a lot of shit with mana. What could be worse than this?"

Umbra floated nearby, her translucent body wavering like a black flame amidst the dust. Her smile slowly faded.

"Kael... dark magic isn't like manipulating fire, or wind, or light. It's different. It's alive. It has a will."

Kael stared at him silently for a moment, listening only to the sound of the wind whistling through the debris.

"So you're saying the magic will... kill me if I mess up?"

Umbra crossed her arms, not denying it.

"Not necessarily kill me." She spun around in the air, searching for words. "But if you mess up, it will take you. The power I can give you comes from the Umbral, and it charges a high price for any loan. Even for me."

Ahri, who was sitting on a piece of rock, cleaning one of her paws with her tongue, pricked up her ears.

"Translation: If you're not careful, you'll end up a bone doll screaming across the field."

Kael sighed, running a hand through his messy hair.

"Wonderful. Then the risk is that I'll become one of my own soldiers. Charming."

Umbra shrugged.

"I warned you. And besides..."—she gestured with her fingers, drawing small runes in the air, which quickly faded—"you have no experience with necromancy. Even if I lend you my affinity, your control is weak. You could probably lift... three skeletons, tops."

Kael blinked, confused.

"Three? Only three?"

Umbra nodded seriously.

"Three, and even then only if you're very lucky. The rest will fail, collapse, or turn against you."

Kael snorted.

"I don't need an army. I just need them to stop biting my heels while I'm trying to breathe."

Ahri let out a sarcastic chuckle. — "That is, until one of them rips your leg off."

Kael glanced at the fox.

"You're not much help, you know?"

Ahri smiled, her nine tails swaying lazily.

"I'm not a babysitter for an impulsive human."

Umbra descended a little lower, her spectral body almost touching the ground. Her expression grew serious again.

"Kael, listen... if you're really going to try this, you're going to have to do it right. It's not just summoning. You have to impose your will on death. Not as a beggar—but as an orderer. If you hesitate, the mana will devour your soul."

He stared at the sword stuck in the ground, its purple reflection pulsing gently.

"Imposing your will on death... right. Seems simple enough."

Ahri looked up at the dark sky and murmured,

"You have a habit of thinking everything is simple until it goes wrong."