Annabella swept her gaze over the eleven students present, her expression indifferent. "There are only three months left until the academy's year-end assessment. I think you all know that this year's assessment is far more significant than in previous years."
As soon as she said this, the area fell so silent that even their breathing seemed muffled. Everyone knew that this assessment not only concerned their resource allocation after they promoted to the High Tier class, but also affected the number of new junior students recruited in the next term, as well as their resource distribution. The academy recruited new students every three years, and this year was a recruitment year. For a moment, everyone felt the crushing weight of the pressure.
After Instructor Annabella applied the pressure, she didn't say much else. She walked up to a mountain-like pile of withered bones. "Today's class will continue practicing the Undead Resurrection Skill. First up, Pella Bird, you give it a try."
The one called was a timid-looking female apprentice. She stepped forward, raised her Magic Staff, and began chanting a long, obscure Spell at the massive bone pile. As the last syllable fell, a pale light of Negative Energy surged from the tip of the Magic Staff, shrouding a large area of bones.
"Sigh." Without even looking at the result, Lynch knew the situation was bad.
Sure enough. After a sparse CLATTER from the bone pile, only two Skeleton Servants missing limbs trembled as they stood up, so weak that they looked like a gust of wind could blow them over.
Although the individual combat power of things like Skeleton Servants was absolute garbage—completely incomparable to the formidable Netherworld Skeletons—they were the base troops for a Necromancer to form a Sea of Skulls. They had to rely on sheer numbers to overwhelm the enemy. Such a pitiful handful wasn't even enough to fill the gaps between the enemy's teeth.
However, the apprentice's lack of skill wasn't entirely to blame. The main reason was that there were too few fresh corpses in this graveyard. Most of the bones in this pile were old and aged. They had been repeatedly practiced on by countless past apprentices, so the vast majority had long lost their spiritual essence, becoming no different from ordinary withered bones. Naturally, the effectiveness of the Magic would be discounted.
Instructor Annabella's face remained expressionless as she simply said, "Dispel the Magic."
The female apprentice waved her Magic Staff as instructed. The two Skeleton Servants immediately looked as if their souls had been extracted, scattering into a heap with a CLATTER and melting back into the bone pile.
Annabella gave a brief critique of the problems during the casting process before calling the next apprentice's name. "Garth..."
This male apprentice named Garth performed slightly better, successfully resurrecting three Skeleton Servants with relatively stable skeletal structures. However, there were also impressive apprentices who actually resurrected six at once, drawing gasps of amazement from the others. Instructor Annabella also gave a slight nod.
Before long, it was Lynch's turn.
Instructor Annabella's gaze was visibly more focused than before. Her previous impression of this student wasn't particularly deep. She only felt that his Magic aptitude was mediocre; aside from being tall and possessing strength far exceeding his peers, his progress in studying Magic could only be considered average.
But just a few months ago, after being severely beaten, he suddenly seemed to have an epiphany. He became exceptionally diligent, and his mind grew much sharper. What surprised Annabella even more was his apparent knack for the Curse Skill. He had actually cultivated the Weakness Curse to Tier One. Many apprentices wouldn't even manage to cultivate the Weakness Curse to Tier One by the time they graduated from the High Tier class. Therefore, she felt that Lynch might bring her a pleasant surprise.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Lynch calmly walked up to the bone pile. Waving his eerie, bone-white Magic Staff, he cast the Skeleton Resurrection Skill. Ancient and obscure Spells chanted from his mouth with a unique rhythm. As the Magic progressed, a pale white light—far more solid and wider in scope than any previous apprentice's—erupted from the tip of the Magic Staff, covering a large swath of Skeletons before him.
CLATTER!
Obvious sounds of commotion immediately rang out from within the bone pile. Immediately after, one Skeleton Servant after another staggered up from the heap of bones.
One, two, three, four... seven, eight!
A full eight Skeleton Servants!
Eight Skeleton Servants gathered in a group already possessed the faint aura of an army, actually bringing a considerable sense of pressure to the apprentices present. Not to mention, the Skeletons Lynch resurrected had stable structures with no obvious signs of missing limbs.
For a moment, shock and admiration filled the eyes of all the apprentices. Even Instructor Annabella's eyes flashed with a hint of gratification. She indeed hadn't misjudged this Lynch.
At the same time, a line of text popped up on Lynch's interface.
[You successfully cast Skeleton Resurrection Skill LV0, Experience +4, Current Skill Level LV0 (556/1000)]
Lynch had also spent time practicing this Skill, but compared to the Summoned Skeleton, its priority was slightly lower. It wasn't that this Skill lacked power, but its practice conditions were harsher; it had to rely on corpses or bone piles. More importantly, without an elite Skeleton Soldier to lead them, he would have to split a massive amount of Spiritual Power to control these clumsy Skeleton Servants, which would negatively impact his own combat strength.
Now that he had Bone Jade, the situation was different. Although it couldn't currently help Lynch command a massive Sea of Skulls, it was more than capable of acting as a squad leader for a dozen or twenty Skeleton Servants, leading them in simple tactics like sieges and charges.
"Not bad," Annabella offered a rare word of praise. But her smile immediately faded as she began pointing out specific flaws and correcting them. She lectured for a full ten minutes, covering everything from the stability of Mana output to the subtle techniques of guiding bone assembly with Spiritual Power.
Lynch listened with rapt attention, absorbing her words as if they were priceless treasures.
[You listened to the instructor's guidance and gained insight. Skeleton Resurrection Skill Experience +2, Current Skill Level LV0 (558/1000)]
[You listened... Experience +1, Current... (559/1000)]
[You...+2...]
Ten minutes later, Lynch's Skeleton Resurrection Skill experience had increased by a total of 35 points, reaching LV0 (591/1000). The harvest was tremendous. He actually wanted the instructor to lecture until the end of time, but by the eighth minute, the content had become too profound. He was completely lost in the complexity, and the experience point growth subsequently stopped.
Annabella also sensed she might have delved too deep, so she naturally paused. However, she was very pleased to see Lynch nodding frequently with an enlightened expression, feeling that her words hadn't been wasted.
"Lynch, you have some talent in the Skeleton Resurrection Skill. You should focus more on practicing and studying this path recently. I hope you can perform well in the academy assessment three months from now." Amidst her joy, a trace of helplessness rippled through Annabella's heart.
In her eyes, Lynch's talent was merely the best of a mediocre bunch. Compared to herself, or those young geniuses she had seen in the Realm of the Dead, the gap was still glaringly obvious. Three months was simply too short a time. Given Lynch's current performance, it would likely be very difficult for his Skeleton Resurrection Skill to advance to Tier One. She could only hope that Lynch would perform exceptionally well when the time came, so those people wouldn't have an excuse to abolish the entire Undead Major.