With this magic artifact in hand, the four treasures of the Lizardman clan had now all fallen into Sakeer's possession.
Sakeer withdrew his gaze from the magic cauldron and shifted his focus elsewhere.
The Magic Ring
"What's the deal with this magic ring?"
With a casual flick of his palm, a ring appeared in his hand.
It was the same magic ring he had obtained from the Cave Lizardman earlier—the one that allowed its user to alter their appearance.
Sakeer had already identified its abilities long ago. The ring's function was purely cosmetic, allowing only a simple change in appearance.
"It's the artifact he gave us," the Emerald Leaf Witch spoke up respectfully, quickly pulling out an identical ring from her robes.
"Every so often, we need to inject mana into the Transformation Ring to continue using it."
Hearing that the gray-robed mage had given the twin witches these rings, Sakeer's eyes flickered with thought, and a faint smile curled at the corners of his mouth.
"Can you use this ring to transform into a human?" Sakeer asked, glancing at the Emerald Leaf Witch.
"Yes, Master."
The Emerald Leaf Witch nodded.
She slid the Transformation Ring onto her finger, and as she did, the leaves wrapped around her body fluttered to the ground.
Then—
A soft white light engulfed her body.
Her form began to shift and distort, the transformation happening in the blink of an eye.
When the glow faded, standing before Sakeer was a young girl with pale skin and white hair, appearing to be around sixteen or seventeen years old.
"Wrap the leaves back around you."
Sakeer turned his head slightly to the side, his tone unchanging.
The Emerald Leaf Witch hesitated for a moment, puzzled.
But she quickly obeyed, picking up the fallen leaves and draping them around her body again.
Sakeer examined her closely.
From the outside, there was no trace that she was a demihuman.
Though the Transformation Ring could only alter appearances, the twin witches' natural features were already very human-like, aside from their skeletal frames.
Satisfied, Sakeer turned to the Dense Mist Witch.
"You. Go inside."
Without hesitation, the Dense Mist Witchdissipated into a cloud of white mist and merged into the Emerald Leaf Witch's body.
"Good."
Sakeer nodded in approval at the scene before him.
A smirk formed on his face, but his next words made the twin witches tremble in fear.
"Finally, you two might actually be useful for something."
His gaze darkened.
"I was already considering whether to dispose of you both."
The twins froze in terror.
Whoosh!
Sakeer tossed the Transformation Ring toward them.
The twin witches hurriedly reached out, fumbling to catch it.
"Throw this ring into the Lizardman territory."
"Once you've done that—leave the wetlands."
"Leave?"
The Emerald Leaf Witch blinked in confusion.
Sakeer's eyelids lowered, and he gave her a cold, indifferent look.
At that moment, the Emerald Leaf Witch's mouth snapped shut, and she immediately lowered her head in submission.
"Head south."
"With your strength, you should be able to cross the Great Forest of Tob without much trouble."
"There are many human villages along the forest's outskirts—find a way to blend in."
"Learn how to live among humans first."
With that, Sakeer reached for his magic belt, retrieved a small pouch, and tossed it toward them.
Ding—Ding—!
The pouch spun through the air before landing in the twin witches' hands, its contents clinking softly.
Inside—50 gold coins.
As Sakeer watched the twins depart, he muttered under his breath:
"There really are too few people I can use."
Originally, he had considered sending the twins to the Great Forest of Tob to assist the Demon Serpent Naga.
But after some thought, he abandoned the idea.
Their situation was too different from the Demon Serpent Naga's.
The twins' loyalty was not born of respect or devotion—it was purely out of fear.
And they knew full well that Sakeer had left a magical mark on them.
Even if they tried to run—
They couldn't.
That was the only reason they obeyed him.
On the Demon Serpent Naga's side, its role was tied to experience acquisition in the later stages. Sakeer preferred to avoid any unnecessary complications.
As for why he had the Twin Witches leave the Great Wetlands?
Naturally, it was to prepare for the next phase of the Slane Theocracy's operations.
His earlier words were not an empty threat—if not for the fact that the Twins could assume human form with the Transformation Ring, he would have disposed of them just like he had with the Cave Lizardmen.
With that matter settled, Sakeer turned his gaze toward the unconscious gray-robed mage lying beside him.
His expression hardened.
This man would serve as the first test subject—a true death experiment.
"There's no right or wrong," he murmured.
"I just hope you'll stay asleep forever."
Sakeer rose to his feet, gripping an iron sword that had materialized in his hand. Without hesitation, he swung it down.
Slash!
A deep gash split the mage's throat.
Blood gushed forth, staining the ground.
The gray-robed mage suddenly regained consciousness, his bloodshot eyes flying open in shock. His body trembled violently, but within moments—
He was dead.
[Experience Gained: 16,212]
[Experience Slot: 65,977 / 120,000]
As the status panel flickered, Sakeer's eyes gleamed with mild surprise.
"A Level 29+ mage grants nearly 20,000 experience?"
Since he couldn't accurately gauge the gray-robed mage's exact level, it was difficult to determine the experience gain per level.
Still, the result was unexpectedly high.
Just as this thought crossed his mind—
Sakeer activated resurrection magic for the first time.
His gaze locked onto the corpse before him.
Thanks to his [Shamanic Adept] passive ability, he could clearly see the translucent soul rising from the mage's body, slowly drifting away.
Hummm—
A surge of magic power exploded outward, spreading in a three-meter-wide circular formation beneath Sakeer's feet.
The pressure in the air grew dense, sinking under the weight of the magic's power.
Since Resurrection of the Dead was a spell that had been modified by humans from another world, it required twice the usual mana consumption to activate.
Even with Sakeer's current reserves, he could only afford a few more casts before exhausting himself.
To counter this, he activated [Mad Mage]'s ability: "Crazy Mage"] to bypass mana consumption.
"Crazy Mage" (3/day) – Cancels the mana cost of a spell.
Whoosh—
The magic circle pulsed, radiating a powerful glow.
The soul, which had begun to dissipate, was suddenly dragged back into the mage's lifeless body by the spell's force.
"Ahh...!"
The gray-robed mage gasped violently, his breath ragged.
As his consciousness returned, he instinctively tried to speak.
"Thank you... my lor—"
But—
The moment his gaze fell on Sakeer, his pupils contracted violently.
A mix of shock, confusion, disbelief, and terror flickered across his ashen face.
"Swarm—!"
The gray-robed mage began chanting a spell, but Sakeer, who had been anticipating this, took a single step forward—
And with a swift motion, knocked him unconscious again.
At this close range, the mage had no chance to resist against Sakeer's true melee capabilities.
Sakeer stared at the gray-robed mage's unconscious form, his mind piecing together what had just happened.
"So resurrection magic really does involve the soul..."
His eyes narrowed as he observed the changes in the revived mage.
"The aura is noticeably weaker… Given the properties of low-tier resurrection magic, his level should have dropped by four."
He wasn't surprised by this outcome.
He had known about this effect for a long time.
In various stories and legends, figures like Bone King and Demiurge had conducted extensive experiments on both healing and resurrection magic, reaching similar conclusions.
Sakeer recalled that after he killed Hamusuke, the Wise King of the Forest, he had chosen not to resurrect him.
The reason?
Because reviving someone caused a loss of life energy—a permanent level reduction.
Losing experience points was one thing.
But the real issue?
If a resurrected being had a corpse rich in valuable materials, those materials would also be affected.
Even if the fur, skin, or organs were removed beforehand, it wouldn't matter.
Upon resurrection, any missing limbs or body parts would also vanish—along with it.
This was a well-documented phenomenon, confirmed by Demiurge's past experiments.
Some had even attempted "exploiting" resurrection mechanics, trying to cheat the system for rare items.
But—
The results were… uncertain.