What a transformation.
Just moments ago, it had been nothing but a shattered heap of flesh—and now, simply standing there, it radiated an overwhelming sense of menace.
The mist of blood seeping from the cross-section of its neck was a nice touch, too.
When I'd first heard "necromancy," I'd pictured zombies or some shambling horror.
Not something wearing armor this cool.
Of course, we'd have to part ways soon enough.
I'd have to run the floor-advancement battle alone and leave it behind on the previous floor.
"Wow…"
Just imagining it made me feel incredible.
Finally.
*Finally.*
The moment had come when I no longer had to worry about that door suddenly bursting open without warning.
At the very least, I'd have advance notice now.
At first, I'd thought it would be enough to make even a scarecrow that could serve as an alarm—
But looking at the visual on this thing, it seemed more than capable of playing the role of a proper bulwark.
Which meant it was time to test just how strong it actually was.
"You just give it verbal commands, right."
I extended my index finger and pointed at empty air.
"Go—! Attack!"
*Whoosh!*
The Blood Knight's silhouette vanished from my field of vision.
An instant later.
*KRRRRAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
The sound hit first.
Then a tremendous gust of wind slammed into me out of nowhere, sending silver hair whipping across my face.
*Fwooooom—!*
"……"
I was speechless.
*What the hell…*
I turned toward the source of the noise—and my jaw went slack.
The far wall of the marble chamber.
The Blood Knight stood there, fist buried in the marble, having carved a massive crater into the wall with a single punch.
"It… broke the tower wall…?"
Sure, it was common knowledge that the innermost surface of the tower was made of ordinary stone—but this was the first time I'd ever actually *seen* the wall take damage like that with my own eyes.
I swallowed hard.
Strength. Agility.
At minimum, those two physical stats were clearly far beyond mine.
My hands trembled slightly.
It wasn't that I was drunk on the power of my own summoned undead.
Well—this was the moment to be happy about it, obviously—but a different thought crept in.
"I was genuinely in danger back there…"
According to the Floor-702 Necromancer's explanation, the Spirit Blood Tea Rite drew out roughly 90% of the corpse's strength from when it was alive.
Meaning.
I had been fighting something even stronger than this.
…The more I thought about it, the more I was glad I hadn't exchanged a single blow with that swordsman.
It had just been proven, right here and now, that without an instant-kill skill, there was no way I could have won.
"…"
I stared at the Blood Knight in silence.
Now that I'd confirmed its physical capabilities, the empty hands looked painfully inadequate.
"Right… I should give it a sword."
I opened my inventory and pulled out the greatsword the man had been holding in life.
"Here. Take it."
When I held the greatsword out, the headless knight walked steadily toward me—and then, like a knight receiving a sacred relic, dropped to one knee.
With both hands, reverently, as if deeply honored, it carefully accepted the greatsword.
⟨…Obedience…⟩
*Shhhhring—.*
The Blood Knight rose again.
"Give it a swing."
In that instant.
I realized I had still been underestimating this knight until just a moment ago.
A murderous intent far more chilling than anything before began to rise from it.
My Sense stat screamed.
*This is something I could never beat.*
That instinct hammered into me, over and over.
I shook my head.
"No…"
There was no reason to find it chilling.
It had become my subordinate, after all.
And besides.
"If it's stronger than me…"
I could have it handle the floor-advancement battles.
They'd said all the experience from kills made by my summoned undead would flow to me—so there was no reason not to.
The problem was that eventually I'd have to leave it behind, which meant the floors I'd have to tackle alone could get harder—but…
Those floors I could handle with *Sentence of Death – Slash*.
"…Let's climb together for now."
But first.
I pulled up the Gallery to report that the Spirit Blood Tea Rite had been a success.
_______
Title: I did it!
Author: Anon (60F)
{Photo of a red knight's back, greatsword in hand}
Used Blood Command to complete all 5 stages of the Spirit Blood Tea Rite.
Named him Blood Knight.
Just tested him out and he's insanely fast, honestly shocked me… seems stronger than me.
Going to try climbing with him for now.
[Comments]
Anon (574F): Nice.
Anon (353F): Oh you actually pulled it off!!!
Anon (435F): Isn't this more like summoning than necromancy? Why does the undead look so badass?
______
That's when the Floor-702 Necromancer anon came crashing in like he'd been electrocuted.
Anon (702F): ?????? ;;;;;;;;; You're saying you actually succeeded?
Anon (702F): "Used Blood Command to" ← what the actual hell is this sentence?????
└Anon (247F): Tried it and it worked apparently lmaooo
└Anon (702F): The way it just breezes past that in one sentence is insane. How does someone who isn't even a vampire just immediately use Blood Command????
It had been genuinely difficult, I'll admit.
I'd been on edge the whole time, terrified the blood I was holding in midair would come crashing down at any second.
└Anon (702F): And how did you one-shot stages 3 and 4 of the Spirit Blood Tea Rite?
└Anon (702F): Just try saying you controlled it with Blood Command. Go on.
└Anon (60F) (OP): That's what I did lol
└Anon (702F): No wtf that's insanely dangerous;;; If you used Blood Command on your own body, your own blood could've reversed flow;;
└Anon (60F) (OP): Oh wow, I didn't know that.
So there was that kind of risk involved.
Then again, I'd never received a single word of explanation about Blood Command.
└Anon (702F): There's no way you just succeeded with zero explanation. This makes no sense;;;
└Anon (465F): You succeeded, so have a drink.
└Anon (702F): None of this computes. Why does she keep pulling off the hardest possible things?
└Anon (702F): Why couldn't she do it with an intact corpse but somehow forced it through with a pile of rags using Blood Command??? Why does this work? What even is she??
└Anon (435F): Muttering muttering muttering muttering lmaooooo
└Anon (384F): Dude's just filling the entire comment section by himself
└Anon (674F): Is the Spirit Blood Tea Rite really that hard?
Anon (702F): No, this isn't even just the Spirit Blood Tea Rite—that's the Cupless Tea Rite (無盞茶禮)…
└Anon (461F): Cup. Less. Tea. Rite.
└Anon (513F): Four Chinese characters appearing out of nowhere is sending me lmaooo
└Anon (351F): What the hell lmaooo
└Anon (436F): Anyway it does sound incredibly impressive tho fr
Floor-702 was practically having an aneurysm.
Why, though. I thought he'd be happy for me.
Anon (702F): This is actually insane. It took me 30 years just to get the Spirit Blood Tea Rite down;;;;
└Anon (466F): Watching ordinary-person inferiority complex spin 360 degrees and spray in every direction is hilarious lmaooooooo
└Anon (248F): Inferiority complex sprinkler system lmaooooooooooooooo
Anon (702F): You guys just don't get it. The Cupless Tea Rite is genuinely impossible;;;;
└Anon (354F): So what IS the Cupless Tea Rite lmaooooo
└Anon (610F): Guessing it's succeeding without a "cup" (intact body)?
Cupless Tea Rite.
It seemed to be what they called performing the Spirit Blood Tea Rite on a corpse that was barely even a corpse anymore.
└Anon (702F): The Spirit Blood Tea Rite's core is blood circulation, so you need a fresh corpse… that penalty is literally what makes it the strongest technique. The Cupless Tea Rite, which achieves that same power with a damaged corpse, is basically the pinnacle of necromancy.
└Anon (499F): Oh wow, I learned something!
└Anon (702F): So how did you do the Blood Command part, that's what I'm asking wtf;;;
└Anon (384F): Pulling off Blood Command in 4 hours is genuinely insane.
└Anon (702F): Not 4 hours—she did it immediately, that's the point;;;
└Anon (384F): For real?
└Anon (60F) (OP): It was hard, but I tried shaping it a few times and it just clicked.
└Anon (432F): You. Just. Do. It.
└Anon (702F): …
└Anon (384F): ?
└Anon (462F): Hit a wall lmao
That's when the anon who'd commented back when I was getting my circle appeared.
Anon (710F): Heh, yeah yeah. Now you know how I felt when she figured out Death's Edge Invincibility on her own?
└Anon (702F): No, you bag of bones, those are completely different things. Death's Edge Invincibility you just have to *think* of—this is something she actually *executed*…
└Anon (198F): Unprompted personal attack lmaooooooooo
└Anon (279F): This is what inferiority complex looks like, folks.
└Anon (710F): Nah nah, figuring out the Death's Edge Invincibility mechanism from scratch is more impressive. Necromancy is basically playing house. Not invincibility, not an instant kill…
└Anon (702F): Yeah go screw yourself, Cupless Tea Rite is harder no contest.
└Anon (431F): I've seen named users fight before, but two 700-floor vets going at it is a rare sight lmaooo
└Anon (136F): At floor 700 they usually think they're transcendent immortals so they don't fight much. Weird to see.
└Anon (302F): ? Who even are you.
└Anon (136F): I'm entering floor 137 next year, can you two chill out already
It was getting a bit chaotic.
That's when the Spirit Blood Tea Rite necromancy expert who'd set me on this path made her entrance.
One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: Haah… Newbie.
└Anon (312F): Oh! The professor has arrived.
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: I'm so shocked my fingertips are trembling…!
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: I truly cannot believe it…
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: To be honest, I expected this to take quite a long time… at least… half a year or more…
└Anon (451F): ? Wait, then should you not have taught her?
Her tone was noticeably agitated.
There was something that looked like guilt in it, too.
She continued.
One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: You're right… I'll confess… my intention to have Newbie learn the Spirit Blood Tea Rite within 24 hours… was my own selfishness…
└Anon (651F): Wait are you insane, the newbie's on a time limit and you were trying to get her hooked on necromancy lmaooooooooooo
└Anon (677F): She succeeded so it's fine.
└Anon (574F): Hmm.
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: And yet… you went ahead and accomplished it in just 4 hours… and the Cupless Tea Rite at that… I am truly astonished…
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: Please, scold this wicked me…
└Anon (279F): Mama did nothing wrong…
So there had been that kind of ulterior motive hidden in there…
But from my perspective, since I'd succeeded right away, I could only feel grateful for being taught.
└Anon (60F) (OP): Not at all! Thank you for teaching me.
One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: It is I who should be thanking you… for using that brilliant talent of yours on necromancy… ^^
One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: And while the Cupless Tea Rite is indeed the pinnacle of the Spirit Blood Tea Rite, there are still deeper and more enchanting possibilities for development left in the necromancy you have yet to learn… If you truly wish to walk the path of necromancy, I will teach you everything I know…
└Anon (541F): E v e r y t h i n g I k n o w.
└Anon (279F): Teach me too mama…
"Alright."
I'd gained another teacher.
Unlike a certain someone, her gentle way of speaking was to my liking.
└Anon (60F) (OP): Understood. I'll properly dive into necromancy going forward—it seems like it has a lot of appeal.
One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: Appeal…
└Anon (431F): Hey hey don't go speechless on us.
└Anon (651F): That kind of appeal?
└One Who Savors a Cup of Black Tea: So you've awakened to the pleasure of Tea Drinking…! I'm moved…! ^^
└Anon (541F): What's Tea Drinking?
Tea Drinking (飮茶).
Stage 3 of the Spirit Blood Tea Rite.
The literal translation of the Chinese characters is "drinking tea"—but in practice, it's an extraordinarily painful process of receiving spirit blood through the body's three orifices.
"That's not what I found appealing at all…"
It seemed a misunderstanding had formed.
Honestly, just thinking about doing that again made me dizzy.
I had absolutely no idea how anyone could compare that to pleasure.
I needed to change the subject.
Anon (60F) (OP): …Anyway, let me go test this guy out in actual combat and report back.
I headed for floor 61.