Eden had managed to learn four spells in a single week, three of which he had created and the fourth being a 2nd Circle Spell, and this was a win already in his book. He doubted any Players fresh into their First Mission had a more extensive arsenal of spells than he did.
But this was only the beginning, as he still needed to master them. He would have started already, if he knew how to do so. After all, as far as he could tell, Eden already did everything right, because if he did not, his spells would not activate.
Back then, he had decided to let the issue go, thinking the mastery would come naturally as he used his spells, but he now knew that this was not needed.
As explained before, when Eden used his spells, he did not actually consciously move his mana himself, but instead directed it through the proxy of visualization, and hand signs.
But in that moment against Guardian, Eden had discovered that the key to mastering his spells was to shed this reliance on visualization, and direct his mana himself.
It was easier said than done, of course, but Eden believed that it worked like a muscle.
There remained many unknowns due to Eden's ignorance on everything magical, but from what he could tell, the mastery of a spell was all about energy management. The base version of a spell worked just fine, but his mana would not be used in the most optimal way.
Thus, mastering the spell would mean learning to better use every strand of mana, so that he would use the least amount of mana for the best effects.
For regular people, this probably was done through repetition. Even without his Talent, Eden could somewhat feel his mana moving when he used a spell. It was faint, but the more he used it, and the better he would learn how it moved.
Fortunately, Eden had a shortcut, or a cheat. He had already started directly manipulating his mana, and while it was through his Talent, it still gave him a sense of familiarity with his mana, hence allowing him to pull off that Strengthened Fireball back in the cave.
In any case, Eden had four spells he could work on. Dark Bolt, while powerful, was unfortunately impossible to be improved as it was an equipment spell, rather than one he mastered. Again, Eden did not know much, but from what he could tell, the equipment did all the work. He would just pour the required mana into it, and it would turn that mana into a spell internally.
So, of his four spells, Eden could have continued with his Strengthened Fireball, which was a valid choice since it was his strongest spell, after Dark Bolt, and he had already started mastering it. Further lowering the required MP to use it would give Eden more options in combat, but he decided against it.
Had it been before the cave, this would have been his most reliable way to deal heavy damage, but he now had Guardian. In comparison, his three other spells worked better at assisting Guardian, which would benefit him more. Besides, the spell had already improved quite a bit.
Pulling up his status, Eden looked at the spell, which had gone through some changes.
[Strengthened Fireball (2nd Circle): Condense a ball of fire and send it flying, making it explode at will. Explodes on impact, deals 60 (70) fire damage to every target within a two meter radius. Cost: 180 (160) MP.]
Of course, there was also the difference in rank between the two. Eden had no doubt that mastering 1st Circle spells would be much faster than 2nd Circle ones, and Strengthened Fireball was strong enough already.
There was also the matter of him having created his dark spells, while Strengthened Fireball was from a scroll. Not only should he master them more easily, but doing so should also help him improve his understanding of dark magic.
Out of his three spells, Eden decided to start with Dark Pool, since its ability to control the movements of his enemies was unique, and could be game-changing.
Eden also ditched the Necronomicon, as it was not of much use to him anyway. He needed to have it in his hands for its powers to work, and since he only had one hand, holding it would stop him from using spells.
And even if not for that, the effects of all his spells were increased by the Necronomicon, and since he was training, he would rather not have anything artificially increasing the strength of his spells, as it might be detrimental to his training.
Clutching the skull between his burnt arm and his chest, Eden made the appropriate hand sign as his palm faced the ground, and he cast Dark Pool, concentrating on the casting itself to feel how his mana behaved. As expected, he did not feel much through his raw senses.
Unfortunately, using his Talent to feel his internals required his full attention, as did casting a spell, so he could not do both at the same time. If he could, maybe he would be able to master his spells in a matter of hours.
Casting Dark Pool a second time, Eden still did not feel much, but he was not deterred as he closed his eyes, and used his Talent to increase his MP Regeneration.
His passive regeneration was already exceedingly fast with the Skull touching him, but with him manipulating strands of his mana into his ember, what should have taken hours, only took two minutes as Eden was back to full MP.
And from there, it was rinse and repeat. Use Dark Pool as many times as he could, then regenerate his MP through deep meditation.
From there, it only took about an hour for Eden to get the hang of things with Dark Pool, and finally managed to lower its cost. And once he got it, it only went uphill as he managed to rapidly decrease its cost, while increasing its effectiveness.
Although Eden had no easy way to calculate the passing of time, he switched to his other spells after around two or three hours, believing his results to be good enough already.
[Dark Pool (1st Circle): Conjure a circular, 5 meters in radius circle on the ground that lasts 10 (13) seconds, lowering the movement speed of anyone standing within. Cost: 85 (40) MP.]
The cost of the spell had more than halved, and the spell lasted a little longer. What was more important, however, was what was not shown by the System's description.
Not only was the slow down effect distinctly stronger than before, but Eden no longer needed a hand sign to cast it. Eden had also gained a rudimentary control over his mana, and while it was very rough and did not compare to what his Talent could do in the slightest, it was a first step, and meant mastering all of his other spells would also come more easily.
And indeed, as he switched to Demon Claw next, the process became remarkably easier, as he used only half the time to reach results just as great.
[Demon Claw (1st Circle): Conjure a large demon's claw to deal 10 (30) necrotic damage. Cost: 80 (45) MP]
Like Strengthened Fireball and Dark Pool, this spell required a hand gesture, which was a four-fingered claw, to be cast, but this had now been removed.
This meant that these two spells were now much more easily usable, and Eden could even cast them without anyone noticing anything. The only way to know Eden was the one casting them would be to be able to feel the ambient Mana being disturbed by him, but even he could not feel that.
Eden would have liked to work on his other two spells, that is Evil Possession and Strengthened Fireball, but he was running out of time as the first lights of dawn were showing themselves by the time Eden was done with Demon Claw.
This was acceptable to Eden, as Evil Possession, while very intricate, needed preparation anyway, so even if it took more MP to cast, being able to use it should mean he would have the time to recover his MP.
As for Strengthened Fireball, again, it was powerful enough already.
Now, with all things considered, 'playing' as a mage had finally become a real possibility for Eden. Before, he had been unable to use any of his skills more than twice in a row, and most of their effects had been lacklustre.
Although most of them were still limited, with the addition of Guardian, it had become viable, although it was honestly still remarkably hard. This made Eden wonder how other mages dealt with this, especially in the early stages.
Still, Eden was very satisfied with the progress he had made during the night, as it did not just amount to the increased mastery over his skills. His control over his mana, while still extremely rough, had improved by quite a lot, and he suspected that it should not be possible with his current attributes.
What corroborated this theory was the rewards he had gotten through the night, as his attributes had also increased.
Attribute gains were multiplied within the Training Rooms in the Nexus, but that was not to say progression was impossible outside of them. Still, it was supposed to take a long while to see any improvement, yet Eden's stats had improved quite dramatically overnight.
The little flame in his heart had once again grown, and become a little brighter as both his Intelligence and Wisdom increased by 1, reaching 19 and 17 respectively. This was even faster than it had been in the two-fold room in the Nexus.
Now that dawn approached, the time to leave the island was close, and Eden had to make his choice. Should he bring the Skull to Morgan and be done with it, or take a risk and take it away?
Walking up to Alex, who had calmed down since earlier, with the Skull in hand, Eden looked down at him, feeling somewhat regretful. He had managed to create strong hatred in Alex's heart, which would have made an exceptional Evil Spirit.
However, for the sake of testing the Magical Contract, he had not killed him right away. And while Eden was sure Alex still had plenty of hatred inside him, he still had visibly calmed down.
Sighing softly at the waste, Eden watched the previously silent Alex squirm from the necrotic energy released by the Skull, and finally said, "I met with Lord Henry Morgan earlier today."
It was but a simple sentence, but the moment he said it, Eden felt his connection to the contract flare up.
[Wisdom Check…]
[Wisdom Check overruled by 'Soul Overlord'!]
Eden had braced himself for pain, only to grin as he heard the notifications. This was good. This meant his plan was possible.
Of course, Instant Death was not exactly the same as memory loss and migraine, but this did confirm that the effects of the contract were transmitted magically.
But more importantly, they would trigger an Attribute Check. This meant that Magical Contract were not all-powerful System Tools that bypassed attributes, but instead magical artefacts like any others.
Eden had a hunch that this was the case since this Magical Contract had a rank, but it was good to have a confirmation. It should also mean that the Instant Death punishment would also trigger an attribute check, and would only kill him if it passed it.
This meant that, even ignoring his Talent, it could potentially be resisted through high enough attributes. And since it was transmitted magically, it would be a Wisdom or Intelligence Check, which happened to be his highest attributes.
Even now, Eden was not 100% sure that he would survive breaking the Magical Contract, but life was rarely, if ever, made of certainties, and so he made his mind: he was taking the Skull.
Squatting next to the uncomfortable Alex, Eden placed the skull next to his face, causing the man to spasm as Eden used his fourth spell for the first time outside of Nexus, Evil Possession.
Evil Possession was his pride because it worked very differently from his other spells. It required three activations to work: the first was on a living being. This would cause them to turn into an Evil Spirit upon their death, and attach themselves to Eden.
Then, the second activation would attach that Evil Spirit to an object. But if left there, it could stay inside for years, dormant. For it to activate, it required a third activation, where the Evil Spirit would take control of an object and do his bidding.
It was quite the tedious spell to make work, even though only the first two activations required MP, but it also had great potential.
Despite the harsh requirements for activation, there was potentially no limit to the number of Evil Spirit he could have.
He could be wrong, though. Although he had created it, this was the spell Eden knew the least about. Actually, he only knew it worked because the System had listed it as a skill, as he had never used it.
After all, he could not create an Evil Spirit in Dreamland.
Back to Alex, the moment Evil Possession was cast, Eden did not waste any more time, and used Demon Claw.
A charcoal-black hand manifested out of thin air, and with Alex powerless to do anything to stop it, clawed his throat apart.
While full of hatred and frustration, Alex did feel a small amount of relief as his suffering finally ended. But before his spirit could pass on, a darkness that had been implanted inside his body latched onto his spirit, stopping it from passing on to the afterlife.
After a moment, a dark, transparent figure flew out of Alex's body, and latched onto Eden, seemingly merging with him. This was Eden's first Evil Spirit.
Now that everything was done, it was time for Eden to leave. Before doing so though, Eden made one final gesture, and closed Alex's eyes for the final time.
But then, as Eden was about to walk away, he felt a familiar sensation come from the Necronomicon, followed by a notification.
[Would you like to change your Evil Servant from 'Guardian of the Underworld' to 'Alex'?]
Eden stopped in his step, looking back at the corpse curiously. Because of the Skull, it was covered in necrotic miasma, and now that he looked at it, it seemed to be entering the body.
Glancing at the Guardian, Eden now understood how it had been turned into his Evil Servant. The three subordinates had their corpses bath in necrotic energy for hours, yet no changes came. However, both Guardian and Alex died in close proximity to the Skull.
Hence, the logical assumption would be that for the Necronomicon to make an Evil Servant, the target had to die while surrounded by necrotic energy.
This was an interesting find, and meant Eden could change Guardian for another, were he to wish to.
Of course, he refused, and finally left for the port.