Chapter 80: Mastering Angel Summoning: First Autonomous Spell Advancement

Night fell upon the inn.

In the room on the second floor, which had already been cleaned,

the little Evil Spirit Dog lay on the ground, its slightly distended belly a testament to having just devoured another goblin corpse.

Tang Zheng stood by the window, gazing out at the alleyway and the street across from it.

"Eight Fingers" had shown no movement yet, perhaps because he had only just arrived in E-Rantel today.

After all, more than a month had already passed.

"I hope you take the initiative to come to me," Tang Zheng muttered to himself, then turned toward the wooden table in the room.

It was piled high with white paper.

There were 1,400 sheets in total, all produced using the Second Rank spell "Papermaking."

Of course,

these were not all produced just now; 700 of them were made in the Great Forest of Tob when he had advanced "Papermaking" to the Second Rank,

while the other 700 were made at the Mages Guild earlier.

Since he now knew these sheets were alchemical materials that could be crafted into magic scrolls, Tang Zheng no longer had any intention of selling them and had brought them all back.

Before experimenting with the scroll-making technique,

Tang Zheng took out the Second Rank "Angel Summoning" magic scroll.

A magic scroll of this level, had it not been for Master Beru, would likely have been impossible to purchase through normal channels.

Tang Zheng hadn't spent any money on this scroll.

After he refused the offer and produced the alchemical potion, upon hearing his request, Master Beru had simply gifted him the scroll.

According to Master Beru, it was just an exchange between the two of them.

Tang Zheng's impression of Master Beru was quite favorable; at the very least, the man was indeed generous.

However,

Tang Zheng never believed in free lunches. There was clearly some trouble brewing around the man, and it was no small matter.

He had no desire to get entangled in it, as it would only waste his time.

He squeezed the scroll in his hand with force.

As a white light emerged, the scroll dissolved into motes of light.

Swish! Magic power surged.

An angel, standing about two meters tall with a body encased in gleaming silver armor and a helmet covering its head, hovered in mid-air before Tang Zheng.

It had a pair of bright yellow wings on its back and gripped a silver spear, the tip of which glowed with a bright yellow, holy light.

Second Rank—Guardian Angel. "Rather than an angel, it's more like a construct."

Tang Zheng looked at the image of the summoned Guardian Angel, feeling a strange sense of dissonance.

In most of the works he was familiar with, angels were depicted as biological entities, whereas the angels summoned in "YGGDRASIL" gave off a vibe reminiscent of mecha.

Back when he watched the anime, he had felt the urge to complain about it.

But now, seeing the summoned angel in person, aside from the lingering sense of dissonance, the creature—so distinct from the world around it and imbued with a hint of technology—

made Tang Zheng's eyes light up. If nothing else, the mere appearance of it was enough to make one feel it was not to be trifled with.

"Awoo!"

Seeing the creature suddenly appear in the room, the little Evil Spirit Dog scrambled up from the ground and quickly moved to Tang Zheng's side, looking wary.

"Don't be nervous," Tang Zheng said, patting the little dog's head to soothe it.

Hum—

【Spell "Rank 2: Angel Summoning" discovered. Requirement: Faith-based Caster Level 8–14. Class conditions not met...】

【"Genius" class activated. Transformed into "Cleric." Learning conditions met. Consume 1 Skill Point to learn?】

Tang Zheng silently thought: "Yes."

【Skill Points: 42→41】

Once the spell was mastered, Tang Zheng quickly checked the information on it.

Skill: Angel Summoning (Rank 2). Cost: 10 MP. Description: Summons a Guardian Angel (Level 8–14).

Tang Zheng looked at the skill with a hint of anticipation.

After all, among the many Rank spells,

summoning spells like Angel Summoning and Demon Summoning had a clear progression process from "Rank 1 to Rank 10."

Thus, Tang Zheng was hoping to see an "↑" symbol after "Angel Summoning."

"None?"

Tang Zheng checked several times, but there was indeed no "↑" symbol. His expression darkened slightly. Rank spells were indeed distinctly different from the life spells created by the humans of this world.

"Angel Summoning!"

Tang Zheng chanted softly.

Swish! A massive amount of light gathered, and with a flash of white light, a brand-new Guardian Angel appeared in the room.

Two Guardian Angels hovered silently in mid-air, their bright yellow magic wings increasing the brightness of the entire room by a notch.

Compared to the Guardian Angel summoned via the scroll,

Tang Zheng could clearly feel that the angel he had summoned himself was stronger in terms of aura.

Moreover, he could perceive the level of this Guardian Angel.

Guardian Angel (Level 14)! "A max-level Rank 2 angel." Tang Zheng was not surprised.

Under normal circumstances,

a monster summoned via a summoning spell would be one or two levels lower than the caster, and one could only summon one at a time; summoning a second would cause the first to automatically dissipate.

Unless one possessed specific summoning-related specializations.

His current level was far higher than the cap for "Rank 2: Angel Summoning."

At this moment,

Tang Zheng felt a sense of disappointment.

If he couldn't use Skill Points to advance "Angel Summoning," then the spell's utility to him wasn't that high.

The highest-ranking "Angel Summoning" in this world was the "Rank 7: Angel Summoning" stored in a crystal, which was at the level of (Level 43–49).

In the eyes of the nations of this world, it might be a catastrophic existence, but to Ainz, it was just something to be dealt with casually.

"Awoo." The little Evil Spirit Dog seemed to sense Tang Zheng's mood and rubbed against his pant leg.

Tang Zheng paused, looking at the little dog. "I didn't expect to be comforted by you."

His train of thought interrupted,

he realized he had been overthinking things.

Or rather,

facing the pressure of the future, he had become too reliant on Skill Points.

Other Rank spells aside,

for a spell like "Angel Summoning" which had a clear progression, since he had mastered "Rank 2: Angel Summoning," mastering higher ranks shouldn't be an issue.

His caster level fully met the requirements.

Tang Zheng's eyes showed a contemplative look, considering for the first time whether he could master spells through his own ability.

But how to improve Faith-based spells? The humans of this world were different from players. Warriors needed to hone their bodies and techniques to improve, and casters were the same.

If a magic-based caster needed to improve the strength of their mana, then a Faith-based caster...

Faith?

But the problem was!

Most Faith-based casters in this world worshipped the Six Great Gods, but those gods weren't true deities; they were just players.

They were dead players, so how could they provide feedback? Take Shalltear from Nazarick, for instance; as a vampire, she should have worshipped the Progenitor Cain!

In reality, "Progenitor Cain" was just a boss that Ainz's guild had once slain.

Shalltear not only didn't worship the entity, she felt ashamed of it, yet that didn't stop her from using Faith-based spells.

Tang Zheng's mind flashed through various thoughts, and suddenly, he closed his eyes and assumed a meditative posture.

Time passed bit by bit.

The night outside grew deeper.

Suddenly! A powerful surge of magic power erupted from Tang Zheng's body.

"Rank 3: Angel Summoning!" Tang Zheng opened his eyes, a white glow of magic power manifesting around him.

Bang—

The Guardian Angel that had been hovering in mid-air dissolved into motes of light, which then condensed again in the air.

It still had the same gleaming silver armor!

But the lines were now more graceful and powerful. The original bright yellow magic wings on its back had shrunk, covered by a larger area of armor.

The red markings on the angel's chest and eyes became larger and more prominent!

Especially atop the angel's head, where a bright yellow halo appeared.

The weapon in its hand had transformed into a light sword radiating fiery magic, and its entire body exuded a poised, dangerous aura.

Rank 3: Flame Archangel (Level 20)! (End of Chapter)