Elite Mages’ Academy (Web Novel)
chapter-313

Chapter 313: A Crisis in The Making

Xiao Lin was still a little concerned about Asabanor due to the third monthly exam. He believed that the dean shared a similar view on it: if the old undead soul really did crack the resurrection law, the colonists would face a great loss of support.

Lilith had not considered any of that though, and their topic soon shifted to necromancy. She said with a bit of flair to Xiao Lin that she was presently learning necromancy.

Xiao Lin’s jaw dropped again, and he secretly smiled to himself. It was a coincidence indeed, though his necromantic meditation was not progressing that smoothly. Dawn Academy’s unique independent space had no trace of death energy, which forced Xiao Lin to put the meditation technique on hold for the time being. Still, Xiao Lin did not want to give up immediately as he wanted to try it again while he was in the New World.

Although Xiao Lin did not know what Lilith’s talent was, he could more or less figure out that it was similar to his learning-enhancement ability. Moreover, her strength was higher than himself, and Xiao Lin thought that perhaps they could discuss the use of necromancy. He then casually asked, “How far have you progressed in your necromancy?”

Lilith was stunned, and reacted in some surprise. “You know about necromancy? Are you learning it too?!”

The two again found a common topic, but the difference was that Lilith had always disdained learning spells. Xiao Lin was very surprised at her eagerness to learn necromantic sword aura. It was on a much higher level than necromancy, and Xiao Lin could forget about learning it unless he reached the minimum requirement of Bronze-rank.

The one thing they had in common was necromancy still remained as their learning foundation and it was necessary for them to feel the death energy. Lilith was distressed over that for a long time, and she was not really interested in the nuts and bolts of spells. However, Xiao Lin happened to be quite confident in that aspect, so he temporarily satisfied his vanity when Lilith humbly asked him for advice.

The argument, or rather, the negotiations in the manor might go on for God knows how long, so Xiao Lin continued talking about the topic with Lilith. He decided to try it out right there and Lilith expressed a willingness to observe and learn.

In fact, Xiao Lin’s experience might not be practical for Lilith, as he used a deviant path to enter necromantic meditation, though he himself was not entirely aware of it. He lay on the soft grass of the manor and closed his eyes to concentrate. Before he knew it, he had already entered his meditation realm. He then activated his Miracle state like a switch, and in that starry meditation world of his, the black hole which resembled a bottomless abyss appeared silently again and completely obliterated the surrounding elements.

Xiao Lin had previously already experienced everything up until then, so there was nothing surprising as of yet. From then on however, there was a completely different scene from when he was meditating in Dawn Academy.

A group of jumping gray flames, like ghastly fires, appeared in the empty starless sky. Those flames had no fixed shape and were morphing constantly. Some were long or square, others large or small, and they all floated around like a shadow.

Was that the so-called death energy?

Xiao Lin tried to separate part of his consciousness to touch those gray flames, but he quickly retracted after feeling their coldness. Those flames were extremely cold, but he would not have felt anything if they were not in his meditation world.

It was also a unique balance system in Planet Norma. In most areas, death energy did not exist by itself. They were often accompanied by lifeforce, and the two acted as a counter to each other in order to maintain the balance in that world.

As those thoughts flashed away in Xiao Lin’s subconscious, he suddenly felt that something was amiss. However, it was difficult for Xiao Lin to devote his attention to other things in his meditation realm, otherwise he would have exited the realm because of a lack of concentration. Those ghost flames were originally floating around Xiao Lin, but Xiao Lin soon felt that a light source had appeared in a nearby place. It had to be Lilith, who was also trying to perform necromantic meditation at the same time.

He could distinctly sense that Lilith’s attraction to death energy was far less than Xiao Lin, which showed that her necromantic meditation was not better than his. Somehow that made Xiao Lin feel rather content.

According to the introduction of the meditation book Xiao Lin read some time ago, the original necromancy meditation technique had been continuously improved through repeated perception of the death energy. For the moment, Xiao Lin was only in the communicative state, as he and Lilith had not yet progressed too far in their meditative state. Once the meditation ended, Xiao Lin opened his eyes and could not help but feel a shiver.

“It’s cold.” Lilith frowned too.

Xiao Lin raised his head. The sky that was still bright and clear before had turned gloomy at some point. It was the sign of a storm. Although it was strange that the weather would change that quickly, he got up and said, “It’ll probably rain soon. Let’s head back first.”

“Good idea. I hope they’re done with it.” Lilith was equally as uninterested in the arguments inside the house.

The two of them walked together, but after only a few steps, a very strange thought flashed through Xiao Lin’s mind like a spark of lightning. When he was meditating earlier, he felt that something was not quite right. The grey flames which represented death energy seemed to be too abundant in his meditation world.

He knew that death energy was the residual breath left by any creature after death. It was not inherently harmful, but there were no benefits if too much of it was gathered in one place, hence the existence of natural energy to balance it. Although he had not been able to sense that natural energy, the unusual presence of death energy left Xiao Lin with a nagging feeling of uneasiness.

Xiao Lin quickened his pace subconsciously and Lilith also noticed the gloomy expression on his face. She raised her brows and waved her palm, drawing out her huge pitch-black scythe. As someone who possessed an SS-level talent, she had an impressive instinct for danger even though her necromantic meditation skills were inferior to Xiao Lin.

Slam!

Upon opening the door to the temporary conference room, the messiness within caused Xiao Lin’s face to turn pale. The individuals from both Dawn Academy and Judge Academy had disappeared, with the tables and chairs scattered everywhere, while the drinks spilled all over the floor. Since the two of them were in a meditative state earlier, they probably failed to notice the abnormality there. One question still remained: what exactly happened?

Lilith, who had been in the New World for many years and was more experienced than Xiao Lin, calmly muttered, “I think they’re dead.”

Xiao Lin came to his senses too. There was a resurrection tower in Wildfire Town, which meant that the body of anyone who died would quickly disappear as long as they were within the scope of that small town. After that, they would resurrect near the resurrection tower.

No one seemed to be present in the house, but since they were the investigation team of both colleges respectively, it was impossible that they would leave Xiao Lin and Lilith alone without informing the latter two. In that case, the most likely possibility was that they had died and resurrected again.