This Necromancer Just Wants to Plant Trees - Chapter 190

Chapter 190: Death's Finger and the Mother of Labor

Matthew's combat prowess far surpasses what meets the eye.

Consider his individual abilities, compounded across various fields; facing a fifth-tier opponent as a third-tier individual isn't particularly challenging for him, especially on his home turf.

In the graveyard and oak forest, a variety of allies silently observed the Sphinx.

The vast numerical difference alone created immense pressure.

Moreover, there was the issue of domains.

Even setting aside the legendary wanderer Silver Serpent Richard, the crew led by the centaur Omodochi and the black knight Agus was enough to make any non-legendary unit bitter.

The Sphinx was undoubtedly powerful.

However, not yet reaching legendary status, it was difficult for him to defy objective laws no matter how strong he was.

With more people against fewer, coupled with home ground advantage, as soon as either side made a move—

The Sphinx was undoubtedly doomed!

His expression grew strained. If he could sweat, he'd likely be drenched by now.

"Wait," he suddenly said to Matthew, "I have something..."

Before he could finish, he swiftly flew towards a purple vortex behind him!

Seeing the Sphinx about to flee, Matthew raised his right hand without hesitation.

In this graveyard, except when facing freaks like Margaret, anyone below legendary status was invincible against him!

Ability: Forced Capture!

Suddenly, dark, muddy-like arms emerged violently from the walls of the underground space from all directions.

The Sphinx's movements were swift, but Matthew's ability activated even faster.

In a flash, those arms pinned the Sphinx to the ground.

He was less than three meters away from the purple vortex!

Yet, these three meters seemed like an impassable chasm.

No matter how hard the Sphinx struggled, he couldn't break free from the suppression of those muddy arms.

This was the power of domain and ritual ground!

As the Sphinx tried to wriggle free, Agus leaped up, instantly positioning himself between the Sphinx and the teleportation vortex. Then, in the Sphinx's despairing gaze, Agus raised his alloy shield and delivered a heavy shield strike to his head!

Bang!

The entire underground space resounded with the dull noise, accompanied by the faint sloshing of liquid.

Whether it was the Sphinx's brain matter echoing around was uncertain.

"Ah..."

The Sphinx let out a miserable cry, completely losing his ability to resist.

Matthew stepped onto one of the muddy arms and slowly moved towards the Sphinx.

Elite Ghost Ali and his cohorts flew over.

With Matthew's permission, they began indulging in their usual practice—

Greedily sapping the Sphinx's energy.

"Just barging into someone's home and thinking of fleeing, isn't that a bit rude?" Matthew calmly observed the Sphinx.

The latter, heavily panting, spoke weakly, "Wait, we don't necessarily have to do this between us."

"We might be able to cooperate," Matthew chuckled, "Cooperate? Like you did with Luticia?"

"If you can accurately answer every question I ask, then I'll consider cooperating with you."

"Otherwise... you'll see, in this graveyard, there won't be any undead transformed by the Sphinx."

The Sphinx's face turned ashen.

He was shocked and angry but had to suppress his anger, forcing himself to say, "I can answer your questions, as long as they don't harm the interests of others who have contracts with me."

Matthew got straight to the point, "Who instructed you to guard the Blood Flag Clan's sacrifices? Luticia? If it was her, why did she turn the sacrifices into something akin to treasure vaults?"

The Sphinx looked troubled, "That's not a question I can answer."

Bang!

Without a word, the nearby Black Knight delivered another forceful shield strike.

The Sphinx cried out again.

He felt dizzy and disoriented.

Matthew repeated the previous question, then cast a malicious gaze upon the Sphinx.

After a moment of silence, the Sphinx, struggling to speak, said with great difficulty, "I can only tell you, Lady Luticia isn't my direct contractor. The one who ordered me to guard the vault is someone else. That person is also a necromancer like you, but much stronger. Bound by contract rules, I can't say more."

There was a faint plea in his eyes.

"A necromancer? Another practitioner among us? But I didn't sense..." Matthew was surprised.

Then it struck him: Rhaegar hadn't mentioned the Sphinx in the treasury. That meant the Sphinx appeared after Rhaegar left.

And Rhaegar's wife ran away with a necromancer.

Could that necromancer be so audacious as to steal away to Rhaegar's family tomb?

And have some inexplicable connection with Rhaegar's sister?

This line of thought startled Matthew.

He hurriedly asked, "Did this necromancer reside in the graveyard all this time?"

The Sphinx shook his head, "No."

Matthew asked a few more questions, and the Sphinx answered briefly.

Seeing the Sphinx's condition, Agus wanted to continue practicing his shield strikes, but Matthew stopped him.

He sensed that the Sphinx was experiencing slight backlash within the contract domain.

Continuing to press would yield no desired answers.

So, he switched to another question, "Apart from the Blood Flag Clan's graveyard, do you guard any other vaults?"

The Sphinx sighed, "The Sphinx is the guardian of the vaults. I cannot reveal their locations..."

Bang!

Agus, who had been brewing his shield strike for a while, fiercely slammed down.

The Sphinx's eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

When he woke, drenched in water, and saw the gleaming light from the alloy shield, he blurted out:

"Stop! There's another vault, in the Helen Mountains of the primary material plane. There's another tomb there. Entrusted by the tomb's owner, I've guarded the most crucial treasure for generations. That tomb owner was once a great hero."

The tomb in the Helen Mountains.

A hero's tomb.

The content spoken by the sphinx instantly corresponded perfectly with a set of coordinates that Matthew had obtained from the tomb's knowledge.

Matthew knew the sphinx wasn't lying, yet considering the threat the creature had posed earlier, he wasn't about to let him off easily now.

So, deliberately deviating from the contract, he posed a few tricky questions.

The sphinx wore a troubled expression and dared not answer a single word while Matthew questioned him. During this, Matthew kept a wary eye on Agus, fearing another shield strike.

However, Matthew wasn't deceived by the creature's appearance. He knew the sphinx had been seeking an opportunity to escape all along, but the power within the ritual site had thoroughly suppressed him.

Unable to hold back, Matthew said, "If you can't answer this or that, what use are you to me?"

"Perhaps turn you into an undead, at worst, you'd make a decent meat shield."

The sphinx, in a panic, replied, "You can't kill me. If you do, another sphinx from a different time will come to hunt you down, and they will have my current memories."

"Truth be told, I acted too recklessly in intruding upon your domain. Had I known the situation here beforehand, I would have chosen to lay an ambush outside. Then you'd have had a real headache."

"Sphinxes are unkillable. If you intend to solve everything through violence, it'll be an exercise in futility."

Matthew, maintaining a poker face, observed him, "Very well. If sphinxes are truly unkillable, does that mean I'm about to command an undead army made up of sphinxes?"

"You better offer more reasons than subtly threatening me."

The sphinx hurriedly added, "I'm not threatening you; I'm merely fulfilling my obligation. Regardless, since you've plundered the treasure I was guarding, I must relentlessly pursue you to the ends of the earth. However, this is the effect of the contract, not my willingness."

"In this situation, we could form a new contract to avoid the impact of the old one on me. The sphinx knows many secrets of treasures. We could sign a consultancy agreement. Once the contract is sealed, you'll have three opportunities per month to summon me for free answers to your questions. This will foster a friendly relationship between us, preventing conflicts and misunderstandings. How about it?"

Matthew looked at the sphinx sarcastically, "Is this the demeanor of the most powerful treasure guardian? Your talk of pursuing to the ends of the earth is just a lie told to weak thieves."

The sphinx, unabashed, replied, "Though harsh, what you say is true. The strong are entitled. Sphinxes merely serve the clever among the powerful."

Matthew didn't bother continuing the mockery, thinking for a moment. Killing the sphinx wouldn't yield high returns. Besides, being a benevolent necromancer, he didn't fancy the trouble of having other timelines' sphinxes come after him.

He didn't want a fifth-level monster lurking within Rolling Stone Town and outside Oak Forest continuously.

So, Matthew spoke up, "I accept your proposal, but the terms of the contract need adjustments. A consultancy agreement might not reflect our mutual understanding. I propose a pursuit agreement instead."

"As you've seen, my mausoleum is currently short of a scholar. Here's the deal: after I release you, you must spend half your time in the mausoleum serving me. You answer whatever questions I have, as long as it doesn't breach agreements with you or other parties."

The sphinx, suppressing anger, said, "This is humiliating! I can't possibly sign such a contract. You might as well kill me!"

Matthew coldly retorted, "No, you will sign."

With that, he swiftly drafted a consultancy contract on parchment using his acquired knowledge. The domain of the contract had already been opened. After finishing writing, Matthew slammed the contract in front of the sphinx.

Despairingly, the sphinx looked around. The dark warrior silently raised the alloy shield again. The specters above drained his life and energy like mosquitoes. Not far away, a minotaur skeleton gestured toward him while holding a cleaver, blood on its fingers, a horrifying sight.

In that moment, the sphinx finally lowered its proud head.

...

"Hint: Your domain abilities 'Supreme Covenant' and 'Overlord Contract' are now active. You've signed a consultancy agreement with the sphinx. For the next five hundred years, half of the time, the sphinx must serve in your mausoleum."

...

"Welcome to Matthew's mausoleum!"

The dark, rigid arms vanished instantly. A warm smile spread across Matthew's face, "Respected Mr. Sphinx, I'm sure you'll soon adapt here and find it just like home!"

"However, I must remind you, your current form is too imposing. When moving around the mausoleum, it's better to adopt a smaller, friendlier appearance."

Unamused, the sphinx replied, "Of course, I know! What you see now is my mythological form; I do have a mundane appearance, meow!"

With that, his body rapidly shrank into a clean, large-eyed, hairless cat!

At that moment, Suyan, unaware of the situation, squeezed through the pile of skeletons and immediately took a liking to the hairless cat in the crowd, excitedly picking it up, "Is this your new pet, Matthew?"

The hairless cat pouted.

Matthew winked at her, "Sort of. If you have the time, you can take Mr. Sphinx for a stroll around the mausoleum. He'll love it here, I believe."

...

"Hint: Your mausoleum has gained a new knowledge consultant, 'Sphinx.' You've earned a small amount of strategic experience (Ritual Site)."

To enhance your strategic experience and eventually upgrade your mausoleum's strategic level, consider the following actions:

1. Recruit more guardians (Elite templates and above).

2. Construct more subsidiary buildings.

3. Expand further layers and areas.

4. Establish more negative energy channels.

5. Summon more intermediate undead.

...

Matthew's involuntary involvement with the Sphinx slightly boosted his cemetery battle strategy.

Glancing at his strategy level, Matthew realized he was about two-thirds away from reaching Level 2, indicating substantial progress.

An elevation in the cemetery strategy level would mean increased power in the ritual grounds—a crucial consideration that had just been vividly demonstrated in an earlier scene.

Matthew's ambition to forge the cemetery into an unparalleled fortress demanded meticulous attention to fulfilling various needs step by step.

"Expanding to the second level might be premature, as well as the negative energy conduit. However, constructing additional structures and summoning more intermediate undead could be attempted," he mused.

Amidst his thoughts, Matthew dismissed the group and retreated to his workspace.

Seated and settled, he opted to delve into the backlog of necromantic spells!

In an instant, an endless darkness enveloped him.

Deep within this darkness, a flash of white light hurtled toward him at lightning speed.

Try as he might, Matthew couldn't seem to grasp it, realizing soon after that his body was being propelled backward.

This surreal scene persisted for what felt like an eternity until the radiance surrounding the white light diffused into vast grey areas, bearing countless runic symbols of supreme necromantic knowledge.

His thirst for knowledge was insatiable, yet in what seemed like a mere five minutes, the runes within the grey areas were devoured by boundless darkness.

A tremendous weight bore down on Matthew's shoulders, and the illusion before his eyes vanished without a trace.

...

"Hint: You've successfully entered the necromantic subdomain of the spell, in an exploratory state. As a reward for venturing into this domain, you'll gain one of the following three abilities—"

1. Spell Ability Enhancement (You can designate a spell to enhance its abilities, eliminating any casting delay and not consuming mana;

Warning: Spell ability enhancement takes approximately a month and carries an extremely low failure probability.)

2. More Summons (Your undead summoning art receives a boost; when summoning low-level undead, you'll have an increased quantity limit—

Skeletons +80/Zombies +80/Wraiths +40)

3. Death's Touch (You prematurely learn the fourth-tier spell Death's Touch. Concentrating a large amount of negative energy on your designated finger, upon physical contact with a living being, it undergoes a severe instant death assessment.

Particularly, your spells Claw of Azro and Mage's Hand can share some effects with Death's Touch.)"

...

The entry into the necromantic spell domain was unremarkable for Matthew. He lamented his inadequate memory, thinking that with better retention, he might have gained more knowledge.

Regarding the three abilities, without hesitation, he chose "Death's Touch."

Not because it was exceedingly superior, but the other options were lackluster.

"Spell Ability Enhancement seemed alright, but I don't have any spells particularly worth enhancing yet, and there's a chance of failure."

"More Summons is average; I need more intermediate undead rather than just quantity."

As for Death's Touch, despite being a fourth-tier spell, it was arguably better than the fifth-tier Law of Death. The Law of Death creates a projectile prone to being blocked by smaller creatures.

In contrast, Death's Touch requires physical contact, which, aside from the risk in close combat, offers greater precision.

Moreover, this spell could synergize with Claw of Azro and Mage's Hand, significantly expanding its applications—even serving as a defensive spell if need be.

"The incantation for Death's Touch seems suitable for accelerating with Suerel's chanting technique. With my own enhancements, I might even bring it down to 1.5 seconds. Coupled with Iron Body or Undead Resilience, there's a good chance of a last-ditch counterattack."

Matthew carefully examined the incantations in his mind.

Apart from Death's Touch, delving into the necromantic spell domain bestowed upon Matthew a new permanent state.

"Meditation Enhancement: When using meditation to train the mind and connect with negative energy planes, you'll gain 200% meditation efficiency and a 300% Soul Crystal production rate."

This state was quite favorable.

Recently, Matthew's Soul Crystals had been barely sufficient. Were it not for a batch previously gifted by Little Fei, he might have struggled to pay wages.

With the increased Soul Crystal production rate, he could confidently recruit more undead minions!

...

Later, Matthew and Zeller exchanged greetings, and he recounted the events in Eskana to Zeller.

After discussing for a while, Matthew began preparing the Giant Tree Amber.

All he awaited was Little Patton's return, intending to seal all the temporal rifts for the time being.

By evening, Matthew arrived at the Mushroom Chamber.

The mushrooms were thriving, possibly due to their proximity to the two ritual grounds.

Beneath the mushroom chamber lay the wine cellar.

Previously, Matthew had used his brewing ability to create several barrels of wine, which theoretically took six hours to complete. He had purposely left them for a while longer, only now deciding to open them.

Half of the batch was fermented from apples, while the other was from barley—common fruits and grains in the Rolling Stone Town area.

As he pried open a barrel, a pleasant aroma of fruits wafted out.

Straining out some residue, he poured himself a glass of apple wine.

The taste journeyed from sweet to sour and back to sweet, tantalizing his taste buds.

Upon testing, besides their alcoholic properties, these wines had additional effects.

Drinking apple wine slightly enhanced mental strength, while barley wine astonishingly increased a person's language fluency!

"It seems that wines brewed from different materials indeed have distinct effects. This ability truly has the potential to become profitable!"

Matthew stored the wine barrel away.

Taking out several empty ones, he experimented with wheat, corn, mushrooms, peaches, and grapes—six different food items he had for brewing.

He planned to test every material he could acquire to see if he could create exceptionally potent varieties.

If successful, not only could he use them personally, but the Oak Tree Merchant Guild would also gain another top-notch product!

This wasn't like Rhaegar's dubious sword oil—it had the potential to create a stir with high-end beverages!

"If only I could invite Mushroom King Duderly directly to the main house. His expertise in mushroom cultivation and brewing alone could sustain many."

With this thought, Matthew briskly left the Mushroom Chamber.

Night fell.

Black Warrior Agus reported to Matthew that the patrol team had been officially formed and their training had yielded good results. They were ready to commence patrolling around the graveyard.

Of note, the Crimson Flame Nightmare had voluntarily joined the patrol team, assuming the role of a cavalry unit. This addition significantly enhanced the patrol team's mobility.

Considering the recent unsettling activities in the darkened regions, Matthew decided to set the patrol team in motion to carry out their tasks.

While Agus was reluctant to depart from the graveyard, the patrol task wasn't far, allowing him to fulfill his duties competently.

Once the patrol team was operational, the security level of the graveyard increased significantly, pleasing Matthew.

What was even more surprising was that a few hours later, there was an unusual movement at the center of the graveyard! A grey-black teleportation gate suddenly appeared, and from it emerged a clumsy, tall, and chubby figure—a remarkably corpulent zombie!

...

"Notification: Your Negative Energy Marker has worked! The Mother of Labor from the Negative Energy Plane, Mysterious Sach (LV14/Elite), has been drawn by the marker's call and has come to join you. However, to gain Mysterious Sach's loyalty, you must pass her test!"

...

"Excuse me, owner of the graveyard, are there many idle zombies here?" Mysterious Sach asked shakily.

Matthew found her question peculiar, yet she wasn't entirely wrong. He realized that the undead he kept often had little to occupy themselves with, hence their tendency to wander or carry tombstones. Calling them 'idle' wasn't entirely inaccurate.

"What's the matter?" Matthew inquired.

"The atmosphere in my graveyard is indeed quite relaxed," he said.

Mysterious Sach earnestly bowed, her voice gravelly, resembling that of an elderly woman: "May I join the graveyard and train them for you?"

"I've traveled far and wide and detest my kin idling about. I swear to train them into useful assets for the graveyard. Just give me a chance, and I'll return to you a lively team of zombies!" she exclaimed.

Matthew was astonished. Such a request?

However, observing the fervor in Mysterious Sach's eyes, he couldn't help but ask, "Do you have any other demands?"

Mysterious Sach immediately revealed a greedy gaze: "Oh, just a small fee from you, about five Soul Crystals per month."

Matthew frowned, considering a refusal. But in the next moment, Mysterious Sach respectfully extended her hands. A peculiar field of power transferred to Matthew.

In the data column...

"Notification: Mother of Labor, Mysterious Sach, has shown you her 'Labor Domain.'

Labor Domain: Mysterious Sach possesses means to train zombies into superior varieties—

1. Labor Zombies (capable of intense work like tunneling, carrying heavy stones, and transporting items, with a strength and constitution boost of +1)

2. Farmer Zombies (skilled in farming, harvesting, and repelling animals, possessing a balance of skill and strength, with a constitution and agility boost of +1)

3. Unknown"

A labor domain. Such an obscure ability?

Can I enter this?

With this thought, a subtle change flickered across Matthew's expression: "How long does it take to train a regular zombie into a Labor Zombie or Farmer Zombie?"

Mysterious Sach revealed an unpleasant smile: "One month, at least thirty of them."

"Trust me, it's absolutely worth it," she assured.

Matthew attempted to sense the Labor Domain, but Mysterious Sach seemed to react and abruptly withdrew its effect. Her expression remained respectful, faultlessly composed.

After a moment's thought, Matthew proposed, "You can stay, but I have a condition: I reserve the right to observe during your training."

"Agreed," Mysterious Sach consented.

Matthew extended his hand openly: "Welcome to Matthew's graveyard!"

Coincidentally, at that moment, a group of zombies, swaggering with tombstones on their backs, carelessly strolled by. They glanced at Mysterious Sach and made aggressive zombie-like gestures towards her.

Mysterious Sach merely smiled faintly and, following Matthew's cue, swiftly approached the group of zombies.

Soon enough, eerie sounds of gnawing echoed within the graveyard. These sounds persisted until late into the night.

The next morning, as Matthew woke up in the northern wilderness planting a few trees, he received a message sent by Zeller's envoy: "Rhaegar has returned!"

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