"Kill it."
Arthur's voice was cold, echoing in the damp mist of the graveyard.
But the System didn't respond immediately.
For a brief, terrifying moment... it hesitated. The blue flames in the Iron-Bone Knight's hollow eyes flickered violently, struggling to parse the command against the overwhelming aura of the Level 8 Elite Boss standing before them.
The [Corpse-Eater Ghoul] roared, a sound that shook the very earth.
Three meters of rotting, hyper-dense muscle and raging fury. For a Level 1 student, facing this meant certain, undeniable death. Even a full party of Level 5 students would break formation and run.
The Ghoul didn't wait for the skeleton to attack.
It lunged, its massive, jagged claws slicing through the mist, aiming directly for Arthur's head. The sheer kinetic wind of its charge blew Arthur's dark hair back.
CLANG!
Sparks erupted into the dark air.
The Ghoul's claws hadn't reached Arthur. They were stopped by the heavy bone blade of the Elite Iron-Bone Knight.
But it wasn't absolute suppression.
The Level 5 Knight shuddered. Its pitch-black bones groaned under the monstrous impact. The sheer weight of the Level 8 Boss forced the skeleton to slide backward, its feet carving deep trenches into the muddy graveyard dirt.
Arthur's pitch-black eyes narrowed.
The level gap is real, Arthur analyzed rapidly, stepping back to avoid the shockwave. A Level 5 summon cannot overpower a Level 8 Elite Boss in raw strength.
The Ghoul shrieked in anger, realizing its prey was protected. It completely ignored Arthur and unleashed a brutal flurry of slashes against the Knight.
Smash. Rip. Tear.
The Iron-Bone Knight fought back with unnatural, silent ferocity. Its heavy bone blade traced arcs of dark energy, slicing deep into the Ghoul's rotting flesh. Black blood sprayed across the tombstones.
But the Ghoul was a tank. The wounds didn't slow it down; they only enraged it.
CRACK!
The Ghoul's massive fist bypassed the Knight's guard, slamming directly into the skeleton's left shoulder.
Pitch-black bone shattered, flying into the mist like shrapnel. The Knight stumbled heavily, its blue flames dimming to a weak flicker.
And for a split second...
Arthur felt it.
A sharp, phantom pain spiked violently through his own left shoulder.
His vision blurred. His knees nearly buckled, forcing him to grip a nearby tombstone to stay standing.
The connection. It wasn't just a mental link. The summon was an extension of his soul. Its damage was bleeding into his own nervous system.
Arthur gasped, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
If it dies... I die next.
He gritted his teeth. If the Knight collapsed, Arthur's 20 mana points were already exhausted. He would be completely defenseless.
He couldn't just stand here and bleed.
Think, Arthur commanded his hyper-accelerated mind, fighting through the phantom pain. It has mass. It has rage. It lacks intelligence.
The Ghoul raised its massive, mutated arm high above its head, preparing for a devastating downward smash that would pulverize the Knight's skull.
"Knight. Drop," Arthur commanded sharply, his voice tight with pain.
The System obeyed instantly. The Iron-Bone Knight didn't try to block. It simply let its legs give out, dropping flat onto the muddy ground.
The Ghoul's massive smash hit nothing but empty air. The sheer, unchecked momentum threw the massive beast completely off balance, making it stumble forward heavily.
"Legs!" Arthur yelled.
From the ground, the Iron-Bone Knight swung its heavy blade in a brutal, horizontal sweep.
SLASH!
The dark energy tore through the Ghoul's right kneecap, severing the thick tendons perfectly.
The Level 8 Boss roared in agony, its massive body crashing down onto one knee, the earth shaking under the impact.
"Now. The neck."
The Knight didn't hesitate. It used its remaining arm to push itself up, driving the heavy bone blade down like a guillotine directly into the exposed, muscular neck of the kneeling monster.
CRUNCH!
The blade bit deep, severing the spinal cord.
The Ghoul's massive body froze for a single, agonizing second, then collapsed onto the mud with a heavy, lifeless thud.
Silence returned to the graveyard.
Arthur let out a long, ragged breath. He looked down at his trembling hands.
Not from fear. But from how incredibly close that had been.
He walked over to the shattered, kneeling Iron-Bone Knight. It was missing a shoulder, its chest cavity was cracked, and its flames were weak.
It had won, but it had barely survived.
This world isn't a game, Arthur realized, his eyes cold and focused as the phantom pain in his own shoulder slowly subsided. Mistakes cost lives. Pain is real.
[Ding!]
[Your summon has killed a Level 8 Elite Ghoul!]
[Level Difference Exceeds 5! Bonus EXP Applied!]
[Experience gained: +750]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 3.]
Arthur wiped a smear of mud from his pale cheek.
Two levels from a single monster. A party of regular Awakeners would grind weak slimes for a whole week just to reach Level 2.
"Experience isn't shared," Arthur muttered, a faint, exhausted smile touching his lips. "Because the summon is an extension of my own soul. I get 100% of it."
His leveling speed wouldn't just be fast. It would be monstrous.
He walked past the damaged Knight and approached the Ghoul's massive corpse.
Hovering above the remains was a faintly glowing green orb.
[Item Found: Corrupted Ghoul Core (Uncommon)]
[Effect: Can be sold for 5,000 credits or used for dark-attribute crafting.]
Five thousand credits. For an orphan like Arthur, who survived on stale bread and academy rations, it was a small fortune.
But he didn't reach for it.
His dark eyes shifted from the glowing core to the massive, muscular corpse of the Ghoul itself.
A crazy, dangerous idea sparked in his mind.
His class was Necromancer. His talent was [Absolute Synthesis].
"The system said I can fuse two identical summoned creatures," Arthur murmured, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the broken Iron-Bone Knight. "But what about raw materials? Can I use a high-tier corpse to repair and upgrade my summon directly?"
It was a gamble. But if he didn't take risks, he would remain prey.
He raised his hand, pointing at the Ghoul's corpse, then at his shattered Knight.
"System," Arthur commanded, his voice dropping an octave. "Use Absolute Synthesis on the Ghoul's corpse and the Iron-Bone Knight."
A heavy moment of silence stretched in the graveyard.
Then—
[Ding!]
[Warning: The target corpse is not a summoned entity.]
[Invalid Synthesis Parameters.]
Arthur's eyes turned pitch-black, the oppressive aura of the anomaly inside him flaring.
"I didn't ask for permission," Arthur hissed, forcing his newfound Mental Energy into the command. "Override."
[...Processing...]
[Host's talent is SSS-Rank. Forcibly extracting the corpse's core for Irregular Synthesis...]
[Warning: High Mental Strain imminent.]
Dark red light erupted violently from Arthur's hands, swallowing both the broken Knight and the massive, dead Ghoul completely.
The ground cracked under the sheer, unnatural pressure of the magic.
Arthur fell to one knee, a sharp spike of pain drilling into his skull. A thin line of blood leaked from his nose.
So this is the price, Arthur thought, gritting his teeth against the agony. Playing god hurts.
He wiped the blood away, a cold smile spreading across his face as the crimson storm raged before him.
"Let's see what kind of monster I can create next."
Suddenly, the red light pulsed violently.
A terrifying, guttural roar echoed from within the synthesis storm—a roar that belonged to neither skeleton nor Ghoul.
Something entirely new, and profoundly dangerous, was being born.