Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 140 - 135: I Perform a Taboo Transformation?
```
Hoo-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
The scholar’s chains clanged loudly, their echoes surging like a torrent of water through the dark corridors of Andrey’s nighttime.
Lyle had intended to remind him about disguising and avoiding the witch, but now seemed like a poor time to do so. The scholar’s silver chains writhed like the angry tentacles of a colossal king squid, swinging wildly in the air. Surrounding the scholar, a swirling vortex of magic power formed and enveloped him, which, to Lyle’s eyes, resembled a runaway tumble dryer.
The flowing magic power spontaneously created a spherical barrier. Merely approaching it, Lyle felt the magic power on his body being siphoned away, becoming part of the barrier. Mr. Scholar probably had never realized how dangerous he could be when angry.
Like a rampant tornado, chaos ensued wherever Mr. Scholar marched. The magic power in the air turned turbulent and restless, causing Lyle, a spellcaster, to feel only a stinging on his skin. However, to the sensitive magical creatures, the disruption was far from comfortable. The light from the light bats flickered and eventually snuffed out completely. One by one, the bats suffered from magic suffocation, falling unconscious from the sky. Nia extended her tendrils to gently place the tiny creatures aside as Lyle followed closely behind Mr. Scholar.
It was only upon arriving at the pink doors of the Cup of Luxury that Mr. Scholar naturally subdued his temper. After knocking three times and receiving no response, he opened the grand doors of the Cup of Luxury and headed straight for Mr. Dragon’s room.
It was a place Lyle had yet to set foot in. The companions of the Cup of Luxury had their own private spaces and seldom showed them to others. According to Mr. Gentleman, everyone had their secrets, and those secrets were dark and grim.
He was right, Lyle was sure of it; Mr. Dragon’s room was quite appalling. Far from the treasure heap Lyle had once imagined, the room was a vast graveyard. Human bones scattered on the floor, thickly carpeting the ground, leaving no hint of what color the floor might be—nothing but skulls, ribcages, and femur bones underfoot. This meant nothing to the floating scholar, but it took a considerable effort for Lyle. Nia’s tendrils liquefied and seeped beneath Lyle’s feet, sticking to the white bones like glue and preventing him from stepping into a void or being covered by the skeletal remains. At the center of the room stood a large display platform. Specimens of rare and exotic beasts were neatly exhibited within their cases, a meter above the surrounding sea of skeletons, standing out amidst the chaotic piles of human bones, manifesting Mr. Dragon’s peculiar traits unquestionably.
Mr. Scholar made his way to the display platform, while Lyle was still navigating through the piles of skeletons. He came to a small section covered with fine black hairs, resembling a branch, from which hung a complete human skeleton.
He tapped the skull as if knocking on a door or dialing a number.
"Dragon, Dragon, I need your help. Tell me where you are," he called out.
Watching the scene before him, Lyle felt an absurdity well up inside him. This sense of the absurd was quickly replaced by surprise and shock.
"Scholar, that body is newly separated and hasn’t undergone the revival ritual yet, so it can’t be used," Mr. Dragon’s magnetic, albeit slightly muffled voice advised.
It was perfectly understandable, considering that the voice was coming from beneath Lyle’s feet.
With an uneasy feeling, Lyle stepped aside. A pristine white skull, nestled among the bones, moved its jaw up and down, and in its eye sockets burned a pale green soul flame. That small flame was like igniting an oil field; it spread through the sea of skeletons. Until every deeply buried skull began to speak, their mouths moving in unison, all with Mr. Dragon’s voice.
"Teacher?"
"Plague Doctor~~," the response came as a wave of voices lifted. It felt like arguing with a thousand people at once.
Lyle was almost knocked off his feet by this force, but he did not fall. As he was half a meter from the protruding bone spurs, pairs of bone hands reached out from the pile to lift him up.
"Be careful, Plague Doctor~~"
"Yes, Teacher," Lyle replied as he steadied himself, supported only by the pair of bone hands under his feet. And with every step he took, a new pair of bone hands rose at his anticipated landing spot to lift him up.
Lyle’s movement sped up considerably, and he even found the method of transport surprisingly delightful, though he was a bit embarrassed by it.
"Mr. Dragon, you really didn’t have to go to such lengths," he said.
"A teacher is meant to be the stepping stone for a student’s ascent; Plague Doctor, this is just a very literal representation. Besides, I find it quite amusing. You know, after the main body separated us, we rarely leave this room," Mr. Dragon’s voice explained.
"I truly appreciate it, Teacher." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
The pathway of bone hands ultimately delivered Lyle onto the high platform.
```
The scholar inquired about the skeletal sea made up of the dragon’s avatars.
"Where is your true form now? We need your help with something," he said.
"In the Bone Necromancy Tower, my true form is conducting a grand resurrection ritual for the upcoming exams."
"Take us there."
"Of course, my old friend."
The Sea of White Bones began to boil, and skulls ablaze with fire shrank back into the waves, forming a tempest of white bones.
Crack crack crack crack crack!!!!
As the bones arranged themselves, a circular skeleton gate ten meters in diameter, glowing coldly, faced the two men.
The two walked into the light.
.....
It was a bone tower standing tall in the White Bone Forest. Twenty meters above the ground at the very top, a pale skull shrouded in smoke silently wailed as several souls, torn into strips, encircled the tower. A few ghastly and twisted spirits even approached Lyle, revealing their hideous faces, before being scattered by Nia’s tentacled stab.
Several floating skulls were chasing these spirits, sucking them into their mouths and crunching them up.
Lyle followed the scholar, ascending the necromancy tower.
On the second floor’s vast platform, they found Mr. Dragon chanting in front of a large magic circle. The eerie atmosphere, the low murmurs, along with the chill magic power, made Mr. Dragon’s large dragon plush costume seem particularly out of place.
The scholar waited until a pause in the chanting of spells, and Mr. Dragon approached.
"What’s the emergency that also involves the Plague Doctor, let me guess, is it about saving the Merfolk? Does that mermaid really have something to do with the Ice Pop Lady?" Mr. Dragon speculated.
The scholar ignored Mr. Dragon’s jest about Princess, knowing it would never end.
"We need your knowledge, master of Spirit Summoning Studies," the scholar brought out the Flesh of Deception, "we need you to cast a Taboo Transformation spell and create a Flesh Aberration for us. I know you are only proficient in bone, but we must try."
Mr. Dragon looked at the piece of black rotting flesh, silent for a moment, lost in thought.
Lyle couldn’t help feeling anxious about this decision-making situation; it was really unpleasant. Nia sensed his mood, and her black tentacles wrapped around his neck.
"I cannot do it, my friend," Lyle and Nia drooped their hand/tentacle in sync.
"But I have a better idea."
"What idea?"
Mr. Dragon didn’t speak, shifting his gaze to Lyle. After about two seconds, the scholar understood his meaning.
"How could that possibly work? The Plague Doctor is still just an apprentice Spirit Summoner, how can he cast the Taboo Transformation spell, a mark of master-level expertise?"
