Chapter 8

Sigma’s daily plans to skip school stemmed from two reasons: on one hand, he truly couldn’t bear the bizarre courses at the academy that challenged his worldview; on the other hand, he couldn’t stand the lifeless and dull atmosphere of the Death Nation, where even a stick couldn’t elicit a fart.

Every accomplished necromancer was as uninteresting as an ascetic monk from a past life, always spouting phrases like “life is unpredictable, filled with chaos, filth, and pain,” and “death means tranquility, order, and eternal beauty.” Almost every successful necromancer was destined to be a lonely old bachelor. For instance, when Sigma, feeling warm and comfortable, once asked a mentor he was on good terms with if there was a magical place in Atlas City where they could “indulge a bit,” he was lectured for an hour. The mentor repeatedly emphasized that “pleasure is a false entity that deceives your pure soul, and only by perfectly depriving your senses can you embrace the ultimate death.” His lengthy discourse, filled with examples, analogies, and explanations, boiled down to one point: “lust is the root of all evil, classmate, you should just cut it off.”

Drenched in sweat, Sigma couldn’t help but ask, “Have you never done it, sir?”

The answer was extremely firm: “Stimulating your body through external means and无聊的幻想传递虚假的信号，浪费精力和体力去做枯燥的摩擦活动，最终的结果是，你获得了十几秒的愉悦，这种愉悦感很快就会消散，而相应的，你消耗了体力，流失了生命精华。愉悦感消散后，你会感到空虚，怀念这无聊的十几秒的虚假感受，想再做一遍，继而你上了瘾，消耗了更多的体力，流失了更多的生命精华，你感到更空虚了——这毁灭性的死循环来源于你第一次罪恶且可耻的自慰，所以在我看来，自慰和性行为以及生孩子一样，都是毫无意义浪费时间生命精力的愚蠢行为。”

Sigma’s worldview was once again shaken.

Thus, Atlas City, where the Atlas Necromancy Academy was located, was lifeless and devoid of any entertainment. There were no theaters, no brothels, not even any decent hotels. The library of the academy and the bookstores in the city were filled with dry and boring academic books. The spiritual sustenance that Sigma relied on—popular erotic novels written by bored bards of the Holy Empire and impure art books drawn by dark elf artists—were all smuggled in from the Warhammer Province, where the black market trade was most developed. This barren spiritual landscape reminded Sigma of North Korea in his past life.

Staying in such a place for too long would definitely lead to psychological issues.

So, being able to leave the academy for a month, and even on official business to visit another country, was a blessing. If the old folks were momentarily senile and sent an incompetent mentor to lead the group, it might even be possible to slip away...

Sigma arranged everything as quickly as possible. In fact, there wasn’t much to arrange. He happily informed a few close friends, then went to his mentor to learn about the upcoming month’s courses, and that was it.

Two days later, a report came in that the druids were about to arrive, and the necromancer delegation was ready to set off. It was a sunny day, and the undead in the city were freed from their enclosed work environments and moved into the sunlight. According to ancient traditions, exposing skeletons to sunlight could effectively prevent osteoporosis, and zombies could be kept from decaying. In this chaotic and eerie atmosphere, the people of Atlas prepared to welcome the guests from the Maya Great Forest.

The delegation was making final preparations. According to the necromancers’ strange etiquette, they would only set off after the druids entered the city. So, taking advantage of this brief respite, Sigma squatted on the highest obelisk near the West Gate, ready to witness the grandeur of the legendary children of the forest and the preparations of the necromancers responsible for hosting the druid delegation.

After watching for a while, Sigma felt that the person in charge of hosting the druid delegation should be dragged to the spell practice field and used as a target. Clearly, this naive and clueless individual had blindly copied the methods from the Holy Empire, setting up a grand welcome. Since there weren’t many living people in Atlas City, they used the undead who were basking in the sun on the streets.

The mindless undead, under the control of the responsible person’s powerful necromancy, formed a tight blockade at the city gates. The druids, transformed into eagles and riding golden eagles, circled three times in the sky, not daring to land. To them, this scene looked more like a group of ravenous ghouls waiting for a meal than a welcoming party.

Only after a necromancer flew up to explain did the druids return to human form and land, albeit with mixed feelings. Soon, their expressions changed again: a grand road led straight into the city, and on both sides of the gate, the enthusiastic Atlas undead were packed together. Ghasts and skeleton soldiers waved golden oak and green leaf flags, symbols of the druidic order, and shouted enthusiastically, looking ready to devour someone. The scene was so intense that the druids didn’t dare to look, and Sigma covered his face.

...Damn, you’re afraid I’ll embarrass you by staying here, but do you have any dignity left?

When the druids boarded the famous ghost carriages of the Death Nation and headed into the city, a third incident occurred. A ghast in the welcoming line, perhaps due to the harsh working conditions and severe decay, had its entire rotten scalp slide off its head after being accidentally elbowed by an enthusiastic skeleton. Disgusting maggots crawled in and out of its hollow eye sockets and gaping mouth, but the ghast remained oblivious, still enthusiastically welcoming the guests with low, guttural roars...

This shocking scene directly caused a young druid to faint, and several others almost vomited. The children of the forest jumped off the carriages, refusing to move forward despite the repeated persuasion of their teacher and the necromancer in charge. Nearby necromancers gathered, their worried gazes fixed on the druids.

—Outside the dark, sun-devouring Atlas City, thousands of undead howled and wailed. On the empty streets, a dozen necromancers, expressionless and sinister, looked over. This scene could form a perfect postmodern depiction of the underworld, instantly chilling the druids to the bone.

...No wonder necromancers have a bad reputation; it can’t all be blamed on others’ prejudices. These dozen druids, upon returning, would definitely spread the word that necromancers are evil for life.

Unable to bear it any longer, Sigma sighed deeply and dove from the obelisk, landing in front of everyone.

***

PS: Thank you to “sytmidsky” for the generous donation of 50,000 starting coins, and to the other dozen friends who donated and generously voted with full-star reviews. Thank you very much. I’ll try to update three times tomorrow.