"Stop, Kreacher. Hand over the locket first."
Regulus Black quickly stopped the house-elf from carrying out another foolish act.
Slytherin's locket was handed over with great reverence by Kreacher, who blamed himself deeply for being unable to destroy the magical item.
"Fortunately, Kreacher wasn't able to destroy it. Back then, I intended to, but now I actually need it. This isn't Kreacher's fault. The fact that Kreacher kept it safe and never gave it to anyone, that's the best possible outcome."
Regulus Black knew he had to give the house-elf an explanation. Otherwise, Kreacher would obsess over it endlessly, like a frozen computer, and might resort to cruel acts of self-harm again. A simple explanation now could prevent that.
As soon as the real Slytherin's locket landed in Regulus Black's hand, he could clearly sense the soul-piercing darkness radiating from it.
In fact, it was precisely because of this dark magical object that things had gone so badly. If it were left lying around without restrictions, the dark energy it emitted could easily drive people out of control, sending their minds into chaos and madness. It had already brought serious harm to the Black family. After Regulus disappeared and Sirius was imprisoned, the family was essentially ruined.
Regulus Black naturally wanted to reclaim this Horcrux for his own use, and refine it anew using the system that came with his transmigration. But there was one problem: the soul fragment Voldemort left inside. Though just a piece of his soul, it was still not to be underestimated.
Every time someone tried to destroy a Horcrux, it either ended with the protagonist barely escaping death or with Dumbledore turning into a shadowy mastermind, which, admittedly, fit his behind-the-scenes role perfectly.
Back when Regulus designed the Titan's Belt of the Horadric, he intended for the item to have the largest possible capacity and the ability to synthesize and alchemize magical items like a Horadric Cube.
Of course, if this were just a set of numbers in a game, that would be wishful thinking. The system had its own rules. A belt was still a belt, with a maximum of 16 slots, not 49. The Horadric Cube had only 12 synthesis slots, not full equipment and backpack slots.
Now, the belt's Horadric Cube feature manifests as the ability to freely add inscribed properties. This was its key function.
It worked much like a game modifier: Any attributes compatible with the item could be freely added. Incompatible ones would fail; for example, you couldn't add attack attributes to armor or defense attributes to weapons.
Take the Black Lake Temple of Soul Potions, for example. All its properties were set based on its original traits. After extensive testing, Regulus chose the most appropriate attributes. Plus, he had personally crafted this magical item, so he knew it inside and out.
But the Slytherin locket was far more complicated. Leaving aside the fact that it was a Horcrux made by Voldemort, its exact attributes were unclear, making it difficult to determine its full value. And the soul fragment inside was a massive variable.
Only by extracting the soul fragment could the locket be truly used.
As for the locations of the other Horcruxes, Regulus, being a transmigrator, was well aware of them. Although he didn't know every specific detail, he at least knew when and where they would appear. So unless he had the strength to deal with the soul fragments, he'd simply grab any Horcrux he could. If not, he wouldn't force it.
Instead of focusing solely on collecting Horcruxes, it made more sense to start with the system he brought with him. That was his cheat, his transmigrator's golden finger. To ignore it would be a huge waste. After all, it was more suited to becoming his core strength than any magic.
Since arriving in this world, Regulus Black had only used one skill, Corpse Revival, to bring himself back to life in his undead body. He hadn't used any other skills yet.
The Necromancer class had three skill trees, each with ten skills: Summoning, Bone and Poison, and Curses.
Thanks to his self-designed belt, all his skills were at level 7. That meant his starting point was level 7 for every skill, no high or low, so he didn't need to be level 30 like in the game to use Corpse Revival.
"Well then, as the signature of a Necromancer, let's try summoning a skeleton first!"
Regulus Black reached out to the side. "Summon Skeleton! …Huh?"
Nothing appeared.
"Master, do you need to experiment with magic?"
Kreacher had no idea that his master had just failed to cast a spell and was now feeling embarrassed.
"The basement is still the same as before, used for magic training. Kreacher has always kept it clean. Kreacher cleaned it very thoroughly."
The house-elf earnestly praised himself while he began clearing the dishes from the table.
Regulus Black glanced at the panoramic map. As expected, this old house did have a reinforced basement specifically used for magical experiments, potion brewing, and alchemical crafting. The surrounding walls were lined with cabinets filled with necessary materials.
So, time to change locations. Regulus Black didn't say much more to Kreacher and headed straight to the basement.
On the floor of the basement was a complex magic circle with ancient runes glowing faintly. Even after 11 years, it was still radiating magical energy. Its function was to ensure that any experiments conducted here wouldn't blow up the old house. It could even provide an illusory space for training.
Regulus Black took a look around and first pulled out a corpse from the Slytherin locket [Fake], deliberately choosing the one with the largest frame, figuring that the summoned skeleton would be sturdier as a result.
"Summon Skeleton!"
This time, the skill worked, and a skeleton was successfully summoned. The pure-white bones stood two meters tall, thick and sturdy, with a double-bladed battle axe in each hand. It swayed slightly, its entire frame rattling as ghostly flames flickered in its hollow eye sockets.
Regulus Black knew clearly that he could command it in battle with ease just by providing a general target, and it would fight to the death, either destroying the enemy or perishing itself.
"Skill level 7… that means I can summon seven skeletons."
Regulus Black continued pulling out the remaining corpses one by one, using them as materials to summon six more skeletons.
With that one move, Regulus Black immediately saw the deeper design.
Why had he always been fixated on the number 7? It was also the number of classes in the game. The skeletons he summoned corresponded perfectly: an Amazon skeleton wielding a bow, an Assassin skeleton with dual claws, a Necromancer skeleton carrying a scythe, a Sorceress skeleton with a staff, a Druid skeleton holding a spiked club, a Paladin skeleton equipped with a longsword and shield, and the Barbarian skeleton dual-wielding axes from earlier exactly the seven core classes from Diablo.
During the experiment, Regulus Black discovered another trick to using the skill these summoned skeletons could be stored within the skill tree. Once registered, he could summon all seven at once in the future without expending any magic power.
The skill "Summon Skeleton" now displayed as 7/7 next to it.
"Well then… I can summon seven Skeletal Mages next. That way, the corpse guard count can remain at a clean 777/777."
Regulus continued using the remaining corpses to summon Skeletal Mages.
"Summon Undead! Summon Undead! Summon Undead…"
Seven skeletal mages of the seven classes appeared.
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