The moment Moros's consciousness returned from the sub-plane to his physical body, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion surged through him.
After all, he was still just a one-month-old infant. Even as a superhuman being, he couldn't resist the fatigue that came from the depths of his soul.
Without even a hint of resistance, Moros immediately fell into a deep sleep.
By the time he woke up again, daylight had already flooded the room.
Thanks to the naturally sleep-heavy nature of infants, Moros's extended slumber didn't arouse any suspicion from his parents.
As usual, his mother Emma took care of him full-time, while his father, Frakt, went out to work and earn money.
For Moros, babyhood was nothing short of carefree bliss.
Freed from any worldly sense of shame, he fully indulged in the idyllic life of food arriving when he opened his mouth, clothes appearing when he reached out his hand.
To those worn-down office workers constantly struggling to survive, such a life was nothing less than a distant and unattainable luxury.
But this freedom and comfort quietly came to an end today.
After nearly ten days of saving up, Moros finally gathered the resources needed to construct his second building — the Level 1 Magic Guild.
While using the Marketplace to obtain resources was only a stopgap measure in most games, to Moros it was currently his only way to acquire non-gold resources.
The sub-plane where the Necropolis city was located did, of course, contain resource-generating structures like Sawmills, Mines, and Crystal Caves.
In fact, it wasn't just resource production structures — as the master of the sub-plane, Moros had the precise coordinates of all the wild buildings within it, including recruitment centers, hero enhancement shrines, and more.
But to claim any of them, Moros would first have to eliminate the neutral monsters guarding them.
Which was impossible for him right now — Moros didn't even have a single skeleton soldier under his command.
So, even though he knew that exchanging gold for wood was a terrible deal, he had no choice but to be the sucker.
Even as a transmigrator — and even though undead troops were among the easiest to control — Moros, as a mere infant, had no way of personally leading an army into battle.
Therefore, between building a Graveyard and a Level 1 Magic Guild, Moros ultimately chose the latter.
As the corresponding resources were consumed, a magnificent mage tower slowly manifested out of thin air, rising proudly from the ruins around the Village Hall.
The moment the Magic Guild was completed, Moros focused his thoughts and entered the structure with his spiritual form.
Inside, the guild was vast and profound, like a treasure trove of knowledge.
Tall bookshelves were lined with countless magical tomes that emitted a subtle, enchanting glow.
The air was filled with the faint scent of ink and paper, bringing with it a feeling of peace and solemnity.
As he wandered among the shelves, Moros's fingers lightly brushed the spines of the books, as if he could feel the wisdom and power hidden within each one.
He knew — this Magic Guild would mark the beginning of his magical path, and serve as the foundation for his journey toward greater power.
As the Lord of the Necropolis, Moros could indeed grow stronger by killing enemies and absorbing experience.
But that wasn't the only path.
Through studying magic, meditating, and conducting arcane experiments — all traditional means — he could also steadily accumulate experience (EXP).
Passing through row after row of enormous shelves, Moros arrived at the center of the Magic Guild.
There, on a desk, lay a thick brown spellbook.
So this is my spellbook, huh?
Murmuring in his heart, Moros reached out and touched the brown tome.
At that moment, information on three Level 1 spells surged into his mind.
Because the Magic Guild was part of the Necropolis faction, the three Level 1 spells he received were:
• [Weakness] – a Dark Magic spell
• [Fire Trap] – a Summoning Magic spell
• [Eldritch Arrow] – a Destructive Magic spell
[Weakness]: Curses a target unit, reducing its maximum damage output.
[Fire Trap]: Allows the caster to select an area. Within this area, magical fire mines are placed randomly. If an enemy steps on them, they take non-elemental magical damage.
[Eldritch Arrow]: Launches a magical projectile at a target unit, dealing non-elemental damage.
These might all be basic Level 1 spells, but to ordinary people, they were already terrifyingly lethal attacks.
Take Eldritch Arrow for example — when cast by Moros right now, it had a power of 57.
What does that mean?
An average adult male only has around 2 or 3 points of health.
In other words, one arrow from Moros could kill a grown man more than ten times over.
That was the terror of combat magic.
Even though Moros was currently just a one-month-old infant, and even though his mana pool only allowed him to cast two Level 1 spells per day, he now possessed the power to easily kill an adult.
And that was when he could only cast these three spells in the most basic, panel-supported way.
Once he truly mastered these spells, the power he could unleash would be even greater.
Take Weakness, for instance.
Right now, he could only use it to reduce enemy attack power.
But once he fully mastered it, he could potentially use Weakness to induce cardiac arrest in a target.
With the ability to effortlessly kill a grown adult, much of Moros's sense of insecurity — brought about by being a fragile infant — instantly vanished.
This was also a major reason why he had chosen to build the Magic Guild first.
He needed real power to compensate for the deep unease caused by transmigrating into a helpless baby's body.
Time passed slowly, each day seemingly calm and pleasant.
To Frakt and Emma, their son Moros was a remarkably easy baby.
Unless he was hungry, needed a diaper change, or felt unwell, baby Moros always lay quietly in his cradle, his clear, gem-like eyes curiously observing the world around him.
Even though it was her first time raising a child, Emma didn't find it too difficult.
At least, not compared to other first-time mothers.
Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't putting in a lot of effort.
Still, with Mr. Frakt earning more and more money lately, Emma felt their small family was enjoying an increasingly comfortable life.
But this was only an illusion.
A massive illusion.
In a small town that only had one hospital, it was more than a little suspicious for someone to steadily increase their income without limit.
Yet thanks to Mr. Frakt's careful cover-ups, Emma hadn't yet realized that something was off about her husband's current earnings.
But problems, no matter how well hidden, don't just vanish.
One day, they will come to light.