An entire floor made of tombs and crypts.
The most sinister thing was that there were upside-down tombs built into the very roof of the tower. Creating one of the strangest places Zhang had ever seen.
As he observed this entire floor, he felt constant chills. Uncomprehendingly, he thought it was due to its affinity with souls...
According to Zha'Thik, this was a special floor that only a few of the Great Towers of Stygai had. The Senior Lich also explained that this cemetery was directly connected to some active human territory. Whenever someone died in that area, their souls would be "drawn" to this place, trapping them within this floor, allowing a large natural stockpile of souls to form here. Creating a self-sustaining soul stone farm.
Zhang's jaw dropped as he thought about the absurd number of souls in this place. He had to admit, as a Necromancer, he admired whoever created these Towers of Stygai; they were geniuses, but they were also very cruel…
...To think that, probably in the thousands of years that these towers existed, how many innocent people had their souls attracted to this place just to become ingredients in the experiments of the Necromancers of the city.
As if guessing Zhang's thoughts, all it took was a spell from Professor Lich, and dozens of soul stones appeared, falling to the ground, all of them flying towards Zhang, and he quickly put the blame at the back of his mind, storing all of these stones in his storage bag.
Zhang then asked about which region this Tower was connected to. His professor did not know how to answer, but confirmed that some places in the world had already been identified, but did not confirm which Tower they belonged to… However, there was a connection with Corpse City.
There were also some Towers that had these "soul farms" but did not produce a single soul, confirming that certain cities and regions that were connected were abandoned by the inhabitants, making each Tower with this function still active extremely valuable in the eyes of those who lived in Stygai.
Zhang continued following the Senior Lich to a crypt that was larger and in the center of this strange cemetery. Besides two empty coffins, there was also not much space inside.
"Lord Zhang, inside this crypt, meditation is three times more effective than normal. And practicing soul-type spells is twice as effective. You can come to this cemetery whenever you want, but I must warn you of two dangers here. You still cannot see souls without the aid of spells or rituals. Therefore, do not stay outside this crypt we are in now for too long. When you reach this floor, quickly head to the crypt, do what you need to do, and leave the cemetery again."
"These are new souls that have just died. Should they be that dangerous? My master said something about the city strengthening the dead…"
"Yes, especially within this floor, this effect is amplified, but also limited. As soon as the souls are attracted or pulled to this place, they are immediately strengthened to their most perfect and healthy state. But they are also limited from making any advancement beyond that."
"So they become troublesome ghosts, but they can't evolve into something more dangerous like a poltergeist or a vengeful soul?" Zhang asked curiously.
"Exactly, but there are thousands of them here, if you could see them, you wouldn't be so relaxed while walking around here…" Zha'Thic said as he watched thousands of souls wander around the cemetery, most of these souls constantly tried to touch young Zhang's body, either because he was the only one alive here, or because of his special physique, although they didn't cause immediate harm, if he stayed like this for 1 hour he would soon start to suffer damage to his soul…
"…But I recommend starting tomorrow, every day early before your lessons with the Immortal master, come here to do your daily meditation and spell learning, and then I will use this environment to help you master your spiritual vision…"
Zhang's face brightened. Learning soul-type spells twice as fast was a huge thing for him, since he also had a fast learning ability due to his special physique.
So he quickly agreed to the arrangements and sat inside the crypt to do his spell training for the day, followed by meditation. The first spell he had chosen was "summon lesser undead", and it was still a little far from being completed, but now with this special location, it should only take a few more months.
Finishing his meditation for the day after also practicing his spell 3 times, Zhang saw Zha'Thic smiling in a sinister and mysterious way as he spoke…
"It seems that the Eternal King has already learned of your arrival in Stygai and has sent you gifts…"
"Always be suspicious when the alms are too much…" Zhang thought.
Zhang had learned this phrase as a child when he spent almost a month living off garbage and alms. That phrase was said by a kind old beggar who wanted to teach him about the dangers of the streets. It meant that when someone gave you a lot of money in alms, the person really wanted something in return, and it usually wouldn't be something good, so refusing would always be the wisest choice.
Taking a deep breath and trying his best not to show his conflicting feelings in front of the Senior Lich, Zhang ascended the tower using the elevator, heading straight to the upper floors where his master lived. He first wanted to at least take a look at what the gifts were before politely declining...
Arriving at the floor where Immortal lived, he was guided to a break room, which looked more like one of the elegant offices of the Valyria City Hall. Immortal was sitting behind a beautiful dark brown desk carved from an unfamiliar wood in a morbid style, and on top of it, Zhang could see several items that immediately caught his attention and made him swallow hard, perhaps it wouldn't be so easy to refuse these gifts...
****
Special thanks to the Patreons:
Sage's Supporter: Jan, Vinnie, frimorigo, Leery Falcon, Parsa, Scott Robertson, and Pato Senalima!
Magic Apprentice: Axel Bour, Gabriele Sulpizio, Takatchi, mandeep singh, Austin, Kobe Robertson, Paul Gaslac, Niteo akuma, and 704Corleon!
Senior Magic Apprentice: Cole Bromley and Avacus!