Supreme Archmage:Deathbringer

Even after the first Walker was killed—despite all the noise and the heavy stench of blood—the other Walker in the same room didn't stir in the slightest.

Its ears and nostrils twitched—it clearly heard the sound, clearly smelled the blood—but its body remained utterly still.

Soon, that one met the same fate. Just like its companion, it was easily slaughtered by the Goblins and bound to a spear to be carried away downstairs.

In a matter of minutes, those twenty-some Goblins had killed over a dozen Walkers. They lifted the corpses and retraced the street they'd come down.

Watching this, Lucian Vale finally understood why these Goblins were making such a ruckus during the day and why they were searching the buildings.

They were hunting Walkers. As for why they were killing them—well, Lucian could guess the answer.

It was probably for food.

Goblins were omnivorous creatures. From grass roots to rotting flesh, there wasn't much they wouldn't eat.

They devoured the corpses of their own kind without hesitation—so what was a Walker to them?

These undead might have no intelligence, but they weren't diseased. They had simply lost all conscious thought after their minds were torn apart by the world's ambient mana and aether.

To a Goblin's eyes, a Walker was probably nothing more than walking pork.

Lucian Vale stood on the upper floor, silently watching as the Goblins disappeared down the road, carrying their haul of Walker corpses until they vanished from sight.

"Hahahaha!"

Lucian suddenly burst out laughing.

He'd been holding back for so long in the Ethereal Plane—but in this moment, something in him finally loosened. The pressure eased.

The Walkers during the day… they didn't even move. They were like training dummies. The Goblins had just given him a brilliant demonstration.

Potential Points, here I come!

He dropped his pack, grabbed his spear and the fire axe, and headed downstairs.

With his willpower fully extended, he quickly located a nearby building with several Walkers inside and began ascending, floor by floor.

Stepping into a dark room, he saw two Walkers standing silently in the shadows.

Knowing that they wouldn't move was one thing. Standing in front of them in person was something else entirely.

Lucian studied their forms—they weren't much different from ordinary humans, but something about them felt far more unsettling.

Their skin was stark pale, maybe because they never saw the sun, and coated in filth.

Both were male. Their anatomy was disturbingly clear—even their genitals were intact. These must've been second-generation Walkers or later.

That is, Walkers birthed by others of their kind.

They might lack intellect, but they still reproduced by instinct, slowly growing their numbers.

Although they had little access to food, the ambient mana allowed them to grow—albeit thin and malnourished.

Lucian's thoughts spiraled briefly, but then he snapped back to the task at hand.

He traced a rune into the air, conjuring a bonefang, but didn't launch it—just let the fang hover beside him.

A failsafe. If anything went wrong, he needed a backup plan.

Once that was ready, he tightened both hands on his spear and drove it with full force through the chest of the first Walker.

The thing instantly stirred, letting out a low, guttural howl. Its hands flailed, claws flashing, reaching for Lucian.

But the spear's length kept it out of range, and Lucian's eyes remained fixed on the second Walker.

Still motionless.

That gave him the confidence to finish the job.

The spear pinned the Walker's heart. After a few twitching moments, the creature went still—truly dead.

Lucian waited, watching for the telltale shimmer of a Potential Point.

Nothing.

A little disappointed, he steadied himself and stabbed the second Walker.

Still no light. No reward.

Bad luck, maybe. But Lucian was used to it.

He continued clearing the rest of the building's Walkers with practiced efficiency.

This time, his luck improved—two of the corpses released glowing fragments.

One whole Potential Point.

Lucian smiled. He looked around at the buildings nearby the way a starving wolf might eye a field of lambs.

As Lucian's slaughter continued, he began to encounter more types of Walkers. He'd seen male, female, even elderly ones before.

But in this building, he found something new: a juvenile.

Unlike the adults, this one still had a bit of hair—though dry and coarse, barely clinging to its scalp.

Probably wouldn't be long before it all fell out, and it ended up like the others—bald.

He hesitated. Part of him wanted to let it go.

But curiosity won out.

Would a juvenile Walker have a higher chance of yielding a Potential Point?

He crushed its skull cleanly.

Unfortunately, there was no difference. Just like the adults, the result was unpredictable.

…

After nearly two hours of fighting, Lucian had cleared out every Walker in the surrounding buildings.

The results were considerable.

Name: Lucian Vale

Bloodline: Human

Tier: Rank-0 Apprentice

…

Mana: 21/21

Skill: "Breath of Darkness" – Tier-0 Spell: Bonefang

Potential Points: 7.5

Roughly forty Walkers killed—but only seven and a half Potential Points earned.

That number fell far short of Lucian's expectations.

Even now, he couldn't figure out what governed the generation of Potential Points.

Sometimes strong Walkers gave them. Sometimes it was the weak or the old. There was no clear pattern.

But Lucian didn't dwell on what he couldn't solve. He hoisted his backpack and decided to move while the sun was still high.

He'd realized something: this street-facing row of buildings was popular.

Walkers liked it. Goblins came here often too.

It wasn't a place to linger. If he ever got surrounded in one of these buildings—either by the dead or the green bastards—he'd be finished.

He moved fast and quiet, keeping noise to a minimum. After more than an hour of cautious searching, he finally found a promising location.

It looked like a residential compound—walled off, slightly isolated.

When he reached the main gate, he spotted some letters etched into the stone above.

Must've been the local human language of this city.

He gave them a glance and moved on. No use trying to understand what he couldn't read.

To understand the Ethereal Plane's various tongues, one either had to learn them—or use the Black Iron-tier spell: Comprehend Languages.

When cast, it allowed the user to understand spoken words for the duration of the spell.

Of course, it didn't have to be cast by a mage—many spellcasters sold it as scrolls, which could be used by other professions as well. Quite convenient, really.

…

The residential complex Lucian Vale had picked wasn't bad at all. Not only was it walled off, but it also had wide open spaces and plenty of sunlight.

That last part was crucial—sunlight naturally drove away most Walkers.

And where there were no Walkers, there would be no Goblin hunting parties. That made this place a much safer hiding spot for Lucian Vale.

There were seven high-rise buildings in total, each standing over twenty stories tall.

Time had worn them down—tiles had peeled from the outer walls, and the lower levels were crawling with plant life, which no doubt accelerated the buildings' decay.

Lucian picked the tower with the best sunlight. After dropping his backpack, he began his reconnaissance of the area.

It took him about half an hour to sweep all seven towers using his mental senses.

Mental energy—what a game-changer. There was no need to open every door or check each floor manually.

The complex may have looked deserted, but it still housed a dozen or so Walkers, scattered among the buildings.

Lucian put each of them down, one by one, earning two more Potential Points for his effort.

Back in the plaza, basking in the warmth of the sun, Lucian pondered.

There was no way the Walkers here were the complex's original residents. Most likely, they'd wandered in during the night and found themselves unable to leave.

They'd stayed ever since.

And judging by the complete lack of rodents in a place this large, those Walkers had probably eaten them all.

If Lucian planned to stay here for the next few days, then safety had to be the top priority.

There wouldn't be any Walkers during daylight, so he could afford to make a bit of noise while working.

He did a full circuit around the complex, inspecting the outer wall. Aside from the front and back gates, he found a breach in the perimeter.

No idea what caused it—but since it was there, he needed to address it.

The gates themselves had once been iron, but time had reduced them to rusted husks. How much defense they could still offer was questionable.

Still, Lucian closed them anyway.

Then he got to work.

From the lower levels of the towers, he hauled out every piece of rotted, crumbling furniture he could find and began piling it up at the gates and the wall breach.

With enough of these barricades in place, and provided he didn't make any loud noises at night, even if a pack of Walkers passed by, the walls would likely deter them.

Walkers were effectively blind, and they had no intelligence to speak of. When faced with obstacles, they didn't persist—they simply changed course and walked along the barrier.

With that done, Lucian still had time. He grabbed his backpack and climbed to the fifteenth floor—the sun hit this level best.

The apartment had a north-south layout, with good airflow and plenty of natural light. High enough to be safe, and ideal for a new base.

He cleared out all the unusable furniture, piling it in the unit across the hall, and then scoured the building until he managed to piece together a simple set of furnishings.

At last, Lucian Vale had a home in the Ethereal Plane.

He even discovered a vacuum-sealed bedding set left behind by the original owner, tucked away in a closet.

Not bad at all. Lucian made the bed right then and there.

Three days in the Ethereal Plane—and he finally had a proper mattress to sleep on.

Lucian returned to his new room, sat down on a chair, and chewed on a compressed biscuit. Life was tolerable—for now. If only the food were better, but he wasn't going to complain.

He watched as the sun dipped below the horizon once again, giving way to the blackness of night.

Then he turned away from the window, pulled out his spellbook, and began reading by moonlight.

His next goal: to learn the two remaining spells.

"Use Potential Points to accelerate learning?"

"Yes!"

…

After several hours of focused study, Lucian finally put the spellbook down, a smile spreading across his face.

He visualized the runes in his mind, poured mana into them.

"Dusky Mist!"

A puff of gray fog formed in the air, drifting downward like smoke.

Success!

He moved on to the next.

"Touch of Fatigue!"

The spell was cast—but there was no target nearby.

After a moment of hesitation, Lucian sighed. No other choice.

He used himself.

A faint, illusory tendril wrapped around his body, then vanished.

Instantly, exhaustion crashed down on him—like he'd just finished running a marathon. His limbs went heavy, his breath grew shallow.

He quickly dismissed the magic and let the fatigue fade.

With both Tier-0 spells now learned, all that remained was consistent practice—to hone them until he could cast each one fluidly and instinctively.

He pulled up his status panel to check his current attributes.

Name: Lucian Vale

Bloodline: Human

…

Skill: Breath of Darkness

Tier-0 Spells: Bonefang, Dusky Mist, Touch of Fatigue

Potential Points: 5.5

He'd spent four Potential Points to learn two new spells. A worthwhile investment.

Without the boost, learning them would have taken at least twenty days.

Now he'd done it in just a few hours.

Even the legendary prodigies of old probably couldn't match that.

However, the spellbook refused to let him turn further pages. It seemed that unlocking more spells—at least for now—was out of the question.

Lucian turned his focus to his meditation technique—Breath of Darkness. If Potential Points could accelerate spell learning, could they also hasten his mastery of meditation?

The idea made his breath catch. He had to find out.

Lucian put the spellbook away and settled into a comfortable posture, preparing to meditate.

"Use Potential Points to accelerate learning?"

There it was.

Potential Points could speed up meditation too!

Without hesitation, Lucian let his mind sink into the depths of meditation.

Thanks to his preparations, the complex was now relatively safe. A short period of deep meditation wouldn't put him in danger.

More than anything, he was eager to know—just how much could Potential Points accelerate his progress?

Come on, Potential Points.

Show me your true power!