Chapter 432 – Soul Fire

Having decided to make a skeleton undead servant, it was time to start selecting bones.

Considering that they were still traveling and frequently had to ride the flying carpet, where space was limited, an adult-sized undead servant would take up too much room. Mo Lan picked out a skeleton frame the size of a three-year-old child.

After all, the core of a skeleton was its soul fire. As long as the soul fire was in good condition, the skeleton frame could be upgraded and replaced at any time.

For now, she would use the small frame and focus on nurturing the little skeleton’s soul fire, making it smarter and teaching it a few things.

Once it could actually help her with tasks, she could swap it into a larger frame better suited for work.

She laid the skeleton frame neatly on the carpet, first cleaning it with a Cleaning spell, then converting her Mana into Death Force to nourish it, and finally submerging the whole thing in the low-grade Bone Spirit potion she had prepared in advance.

Bone Spirit potion was a concoction that made bones harder, more resistant to wear, more lustrous, and at the same time more spiritually attuned — making them easier for soul fire to control.

If one wanted to carefully maintain a skeleton undead servant, Bone Spirit potion was essential for routine upkeep.

While the bones soaked in the Bone Spirit potion, Mo Lan took out a brass oil lamp — though there was no oil in it.

She pulled out several Material Card – Soul Essence cards, first materializing a mass of soul essence and placing it in the lamp, then igniting it with the Necromancy Magic spell Dead Fire.

A pale gray flame burned silently, without any heat. At that moment, Mo Lan used the Death Servant spell to imprint a mark upon the flame.

Instantly, within the pale gray flame, a speck of green no thicker than a strand of hair appeared.

Seeing that thread of green emerge, Mo Lan breathed a sigh of relief.

When the flame took on that green tint, it meant the soul fire’s fuse had been lit, and at the same time, her undead servant contract with this little flame had been established.

All she needed to do now was keep adding “fuel” — that is, soul essence — and wait for it to slowly grow stronger.

Once the entire flame had taken on the signature green color of a low-level skeleton’s soul fire, it would be more or less ready.

However, if the flame went out during the process, all her efforts would be wasted, and she would have to start over from scratch.

“Zhizhi, keep an eye on this for me. When the soul essence in the lamp runs out, call me so I can add more.”

Mo Lan entrusted Zhizhi with the task of watching over the little flame in the oil lamp.

“Zhee!” The little monkey nodded solemnly, squatting beside the lamp, its two big round eyes fixed unblinkingly on the wick.

It already understood that what was being born in this lamp would become its future little companion.

Having grown up in a troop of monkeys, always surrounded by a crowd of followers wherever it went, Zhizhi was very much looking forward to having a little companion.

Seeing how earnest it was, Mo Lan set down a timer clock and went off to do other things with peace of mind.

She had read only a dozen or so pages when Zhizhi called for her.

Mo Lan looked and saw that the soul essence in the lamp was nearly depleted, so she hurriedly added a full mass of it.

“Zhizhi, your timing was spot on!” Mo Lan praised.

She glanced at the timer clock beside her and now had a rough idea of how long one mass of soul essence would last.

She set an alarm a little ahead of time; after that, she just needed to add soul essence on schedule.

“Alright, you don’t need to watch it anymore. The alarm will remind me when it’s time,” Mo Lan said.

Zhizhi shook its head, pointed at the Material Card – Soul Essence in Mo Lan’s hand, then pointed at itself, and said in halting Common Tongue: “I… do it, zhee!”

“You want to help me add soul essence?” Mo Lan asked in surprise.

Zhizhi thumped its chest and nodded: “Zhizhi, can do!”

Mo Lan thought it over. It seemed that adding soul essence didn’t strictly require the undead servant’s master to do it personally. “Alright then! These are for you.”

Letting Zhizhi try wouldn’t hurt. If it failed, the worst that could happen was re-igniting the soul fire and slowly cultivating it again.

For her, losing that small amount of soul essence was no great loss.

And so, Zhizhi officially took on the weighty responsibility of feeding and caring for this wisp of soul fire.

Mo Lan had just discovered two methods inerta that could both enhance the aesthetic appeal and increase the strength of bones.

The first was the gilding method — coating the bones with a metallic protective or decorative layer.

It was recommended for witches who knew the Metal Shaping spell, since the protective layer needed to be as thin as possible to avoid hindering the skeleton’s movement.

The second was the boiling method — simmering the skeleton’s bones in water together with specific magical plants.

For instance, the best material for the boiling method was the Jade Bone Flower. It could cause a skeleton’s bones to undergo jade transformation, making them not only more beautiful but also dramatically stronger. Flexibility would be greatly enhanced, and the bones would even gain a degree of Self-healing ability.

The Jade Bone Flower could transform an ordinary set of bones into a top-tier skeleton frame.

However, despite its remarkable effects, it was extraordinarily rare.

Mo Lan had only ever seen descriptions of the Jade Bone Flower in books. Even among the vast collection of rare magical plants in the Witch Academy’s botanical gardens, the Jade Bone Flower was nowhere to be found.

It was said that Jade Bone Flowers only grew on the remains of someone who had died a terrible death yet harbored not the slightest trace of resentment.

But how could someone who died so horribly have no resentment?

So this flower was the stuff of legends — something one could only read about.

Below the Jade Bone Flower, the next tier of materials included Crystal Jade Grass, Scarlet Flame Root, Water Coral, Thunder Bamboo Leaf, and so on.

These could imbue the skeleton’s bones with energy characteristics beyond just Death Force, making them suitable for use with skeleton mages.

Thanks to the material upload function, several of these materials had already been catalogued in the Book of Cards, and their corresponding material cards were already listed in the shop.

However, the effects produced by boiling these materials were better suited for skeleton mages, and Mo Lan had no intention of developing the little skeleton in that direction for now.

A low-level skeleton could only learn one thing and perform one simple task. Even if she raised it into a skeleton mage, it would only be able to produce tiny sparks or little water globes — utterly lacking in offensive power.

Setting aside these dual-purpose materials that offered both aesthetics and functionality, the remaining options were dyeing materials like Big-Face Flower petals and Blue Core Grass leaves. They had no functional effects whatsoever and could only change the color of the bones.

After weighing all the options, Mo Lan ultimately decided against the boiling method. It would be better to wait until the little skeleton’s soul fire had reached a higher level and it was smarter, capable of learning more things, before using the boiling method to enhance its bones. For now, the gilding method would do.

Mo Lan glanced at Zhizhi, who was hugging the alarm clock and squatting before the oil lamp, diligently watching over the soul fire, and made her decision — she would plate the little skeleton in silver.

It was attractive yet understated, and most importantly, the color was close to Zhizhi’s fur. That way, the two little ones might bond more easily.

Moreover, silver plating had the least impact on bone flexibility.

The bones hadn’t soaked in the Bone Spirit potion long enough yet, so Mo Lan used her cards to make an identical set of bones to practice silver-plating on first.