Summoning went wrong

Chapter 15. Payback

This went better than I thought.

I looked at the unconscious people who were dragged in and tied them together, making them completely unable to move, when they wake up.

"Why didn't I do this sooner?"

I could have called for a fricking army, defeating the prince without doing anything! I seriously need to start to think further in the future.

While I was thinking, my blades glided on my head in a grating motion, cutting off any strand of hair that grew on my skull.

"Ehhh, my lord, what should we do with them?"

Before I became completely bald again, one of the ghouls talked to me.

It was one that I made, Subject Number:1

During the two-day I stayed here I took the liberty to study it. Not only it could talk normally, but its mental capabilities have also stayed the same, filling out the blanks in my knowledge of this world thanks to his explanations. And now, with the eight (now seven) ghouls I summoned, he showed that he could command them without any difficulty, becoming a helpful asset for my entire operation.

"...Number1 and Number2 stay here with some ghouls for the magic formation. Number 3 and the rest go outside and retrieve the body of the ghouls that were killed. If you find a living being then bring it back here. "

The ones I was referring to were the comrades of Number1. After they were used to summon the ghouls, I transformed them. Maybe because of some sort of backlash, these two turned out different than the first one. They became 'Lesser Living Ghouls', with painfully thin bodies, bluish skin, and elongated jaws. They were dumb, unable to talk. Their only saving grace was that they could use some of their skills to fight and were stealthy. Also, they didn't eat like the other ghouls, who did it even though they were long dead.

"Finished."

I stepped into another circle, draw with coal, then I made sure to check if everything was correct.

"That was fast."

With a glance, I checked the formation draw with the coal then I went to the next one made from ghoul blood.

"Seems alright. Then let's begin."

"Will there be more ghouls, my lord?"

"... I won't promise anything."

The magic circles that were on the floor were my design. Usually, when summoning, one must need to draw the limiter seal over the main one. Here, what I did was a little bit more complex. With the regular method, one must use their own mana to call for something. If their mana capacity wasn't enough then they would do the ritual with other mages, chanting the spells at the same time.

My masterpiece on the other hand was different. I disassembled the regular summoning circle into three parts, connecting them with symbols in a configuration similar to a rectangle.

Even if it was complicated, it was necessary.

The cores inside me need mana to keep me alive. I can't be sure if by using magi, I won't affect them. With my method, I could use people as sentient batteries, forcing them to use their mana. When they run out of juice, I would use my own to make it work. This method cut out the necessity of agreeing to the summon and till now there didn't seem to be any side effects. (the two skeletons don't count!)

"You can cut him."

One of the ghouls stepped forward, slicing the wrist of the one who was lying on the magic formation that was drawn with their brethren's blood.