In the dim basement, Rorona knelt in front of Li Xiuman, her hands clasped in prayer.
Within Li Xiuman's menacing skull, two eerie, ghostly blue flames flickered in his eye sockets.
He held his wand in his ghastly white finger bones and pressed it against Rorona's forehead.
It looked like some bizarre cult ritual.
Unfortunately, his slippers, large boxers, and short-sleeved shirt severely diminished the terror and eeriness a skeleton would normally exude.
“I bestow upon you a name...”
Li Xiuman chanted this in Ancient Magic.
As for Ancient Magic, Li Xiuman had only mastered a few skill and element names; he had just looked up how to pronounce this phrase in a dictionary.
At the sound of the profound syllables, ghostly blue flames rose from the floor, forming a magic circle that enveloped the two of them right in the center.
Then, Li Xiuman felt the power within his body begin to drain out bit by bit.
At the same time, he almost instinctively sensed the naming options.
He could bestow three names: Xiuman, Pound, or Li.
A window popped up on his panel.
[Please select the surname you wish to bestow.]
Bestowing the surname “Xiuman” required the least mana and Experience, followed by “Pound,” and the surname that consumed the most mana and Experience was his original surname, “Li.”
Li Xiuman looked at Rorona. Since she was his first Subordinate, how could he be stingy?
He resolutely chose “Li.”
“Rorona Li.”
His Experience bar rapidly depleted, and mana was continuously drawn out as a massive amount of Experience flowed through the wand and into Rorona's body.
Rorona's blood-red eyes suddenly flared, and the bat-like wings on her back snapped open.
Shadows rushed toward her feet, erupting into flames like a dark fire.
She reached out, and black flames rose, hovering above her hand with a dangerous aura.
Then, her level began to climb from LV15, not stopping until it reached LV17.
Three new skills appeared in her skill list: [Elemental Resistance LV2], [Great Strength LV2], and [Black Flame LV1].
[Ding! You have obtained a High-Tier Subordinate.]
[Unlocked the Subordinate system.]
[When a High-Tier Subordinate kills an enemy, you will receive an additional 20% of the target's Experience.]
[When a Mid-Tier Subordinate kills an enemy, you will receive an additional 5% of the target's Experience.]
[When a Low-Tier Subordinate kills an enemy, you will receive an additional 1% of the target's Experience.]
Looking at the pop-ups, Li Xiuman grew excited.
Subordinates, wonderful!
[Ding! Currently, your soul capacity only allows you to name one High-Tier Subordinate.]
And just like that, the good mood was gone.
Li Xiuman looked at his Experience bar. His six-thousand-plus Experience was now down to just over one thousand.
A requirement of over five thousand Experience.
“Master, I seem to have gained some new abilities.”
Rorona looked at the black flames on her hand, showing them to Li Xiuman in excitement.
“Yes, very nice.”
“Besides that, are there any other changes in your body?”
“It seems my constitution has improved, and my strength has increased as well.”
Rorona swung her arms, saying in surprise,
“As expected of Master! You are truly amazing!”
But Li Xiuman was not happy. Instead, he frowned.
Rorona's abilities were indeed excellent, and she would funnel Experience back to him, making this Experience cost absolutely worth it.
However, his original plan was to make Rorona a Subordinate so she could support him as a Dark Mage in clearing dungeons.
That would greatly increase their efficiency.
But given the current circumstances, it was actually not ideal to keep Rorona by his side as support.
Rorona had to clear dungeons separately from him.
If she killed enemies, she would funnel 20% of the Experience back to him, but if they worked together, there was no point in letting Rorona land the killing blows just to funnel back a fraction of the Experience.
He could just kill them himself and claim 100% of the Experience.
Therefore, Rorona had to operate independently for them to maximize their gains.
The natives of this world could not gain Experience or level up.
They didn't even have a concept of levels; they simply categorized the ranks of Mages and Warriors as...
...Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3... all the way to Tier 9.
They simply trained, studied, cultivated, and fought, and then suddenly advanced a Tier.
Terrifying natives.
If the people of this world knew that Li Xiuman could gain Experience and level up just by killing...
...they would probably exclaim, “What a terrifying outsider.”
He sent Rorona back to her room to adapt to her new abilities.
Once again, Li Xiuman was the only skeleton left in the basement room.
He sat at his desk, used his mana to turn on the magic lamp, pulled out the borrowed books, and slowly opened them.
Studying was very important.
First, he opened 《What is a Golem?》.
After all, his knowledge of Golems was absolutely zero, and this book was the perfect introduction to help him understand them.
With [Magic Analysis LV2] enhancing his abilities, Li Xiuman's memory and comprehension were far superior to what they once were.
He grasped the concepts of Golems with ease, quickly memorizing and understanding the book's contents.
The information inside was quite simple and easy to understand.
Golems were Earth Magic creations. Some legendary Golems even possessed the power to rival dragons.
Furthermore, their lifespan and intelligence were no different from normal living creatures.
The talent for making Golems was usually very difficult to acquire later in life.
Even if one studied Golem knowledge, without the talent to create them, they still wouldn't be able to make one.
It was said that only those favored by the Earth Spirit could obtain the ability to create Golems.
Li Xiuman's interpretation was that the [Golem] skill was exceptionally rare, with very few people able to acquire it.
Since he had managed to obtain such a rare skill, he would have to make good use of it!
Li Xiuman turned to the next page.
This page featured well-executed sketches of various common Golems.
Along with the sketches were cross-section diagrams of some parts and explanations of their functions.
Li Xiuman stared intently at them, committing the images firmly to memory.
As he read, he couldn't help but pull out some draft paper and begin drawing with a charcoal pencil.
Just like that, staying up all night until dawn again, Li Xiuman only finished half of the introductory book.
“How is it already dawn? It feels like barely any time has passed.”
Li Xiuman couldn't help but remark as he watched the light filter in through the basement's ventilation shaft.
“Still, Golems are incredibly interesting.”
Having finished half of the book, Li Xiuman couldn't resist the urge to try it out.
He went out to the yard, scooped up a large bag of mud with a shovel, and returned to his basement room.
“Let's try making a small one first.”
Li Xiuman scooped up a handful of mud and carefully lifted it before him.
Then, an earthy yellow magic circle lit up in his hands.
The mud began to squirm and grow like modeling clay, and in no time, it transformed into a lifelike little doll.
It looked remarkably well-proportioned and delicate.
It hugged Li Xiuman's finger bone, tilted its head, and looked up at him.
Damn, that was too cute.
Li Xiuman placed the little doll on the desk, and it carefully hopped from his palm onto the tabletop.
He tried casting Appraisal on it.
[Name] Golem Li
[Level] LV2
[Class] Golem
[Skills] Quiet Steps LV1, Swiftness LV1
[Status] Decay (expected to collapse in 3 days)
[Description] A Golem made by Mage Xiuman Pound Li. Although its structure is somewhat weak and simple, its design is already worthy of being called a qualified Golem.
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