《Necromancer》 01 It was a clear night; two persons were arguing inside an old mansion. ¡°Can you do it or not?¡± ¡°I can do it, It¡¯s just that¡­ I wasn¡¯t prepared for that. Are you sure your father was human?¡± ¡°He was an asshole of the highest order, but yeah, he was.¡± ¡°An asshole uh? Well, he¡¯s pitch-black like a hole and he smells like trouble, but that where the comparison stops¡­ I mean, even the devil wouldn¡¯t want to touch that soul!¡± ¡°Do it, I need that gold!¡± ¡°So, do I. I didn¡¯t came thinking I was going to deal with an evil spirit. I don¡¯t have all the right tools here but I¡¯m going to a containment ward, and a curse net.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t give you any extra.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t expect any, do you mind if I take those candles? And do you have something silver? It doesn¡¯t matter what it is, even silverware is fine as long as you don¡¯t mind losing it.¡± ¡°The candleholders are made of silver, I think.¡± ¡°Are they? It looks like steel to me. Go see if you can find something else while I draw the protective circle.¡± On those word, the man got on his knee to draw. His hands were unnaturally sure, drawing circles and complex shape without the help of instruments. When his work was done, there were two circles containing and connected by esoteric runes and eldritch looking drawing. The proprietor(?) came back, his hand full of plates, forks and knives. ¡°Will that be enough?¡± ¡°Will do. Give me a fork, that should be enough.¡± The man holding the silverware put everything on the table, took a single fork and handed it to the other man who simply stabbed it into the floor, right in the middle of the smaller circle. ¡°Just to be sure, hand me some hair, I only need a few, but they must be fresh.¡± The proprietor(?) did as asked and the follicles ended inside a small clay doll right next the fork. ¡°Did you know your father well?¡± ¡°Not at all, I ran when I was fifteen and my mother left the house soon after. As I said, the man was an asshole and everybody hated him. Rightly so!¡± ¡°Oh, I believe you, I¡¯m just surprised there aren¡¯t more ghosts around. From the state of his soul, I expected the place to be filled with the spirit of hits victims. Alright, everything is ready, get away from the circle will you.¡± The man did as ordered but visibly it wasn¡¯t enough. ¡°Further¡­ even further.¡± The second man, already almost against the wall asked angrily. ¡°Is that enough? Or do you want me to exit the house?¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°That¡¯ll have to do.¡± Upon saying this, he chanted a long eldritch payer, each word spookier than the last. .¡±lleh ot thgiarts uoy dnes ll''I ro etunim siht nwod thgir ereh ssa ruoy teg ,yad lla evah t''nod I ,emit ym gnitsaw pots ,tirips nmad yeH.¡± Something stirred in the lager circle, a dark shape, almost humanoid yet not, something about it was clearly out of this world, and not simply because it was almost transparent. In the smaller circle, the doll broke in tiny pieces, scattering them all over. The fork became red hot before blackening. ¡°Where did you hide the gold?¡± ¡°"ecalperif eht dniheb llaw eslaf a si erehT.¡± ¡°How do I access it?¡± "nepo lliw ti dna ,thgir mottob eht morf kcirb dnoces eht hsuP." The necromancer didn¡¯t feel at ease, things were proceeding far too easily for this kind of spirit. He had expected to have to menace it and bend it to his will, but it was answering all his question without a fuss. Leaving this thing here would certainly cause problem in the future, be he hadn¡¯t been paid for an exorcism, still¡­ ¡°Do you have any question for your father? I¡¯d like to banish it from this world.¡± ¡°Please do, I don¡¯t want to stand in the same room as that bastard any longer than necessary.¡± ¡°Are you sure? ¡°Certain!¡± ¡°I still have doubt though¡­¡± The necromancer turned back to the spirit to ask. ¡°Is the gold behind the chimney all of it?¡± "siht no em tsurt ,ti fo lla si sihT." ¡°.efil retfa eht ni ecaep dnif uoy yam ,luos desruC! .uoy hsinab I ,dnob yldlrow ruoy reves I ,uoy etarebil I¡± The ghostly silhouette became more and more transparent before disappearing with a cackle. The Necromancer couldn¡¯t help but feel it had been all to easy, and that last cackle was particularly eerie. ¡°It behind the fireplace, you must push the second brick from the bottom right to open.¡± The heir ran to the fireplace, crawling inside to push on the brick but just as he was about to do it, the necromancer suddenly grabbed him the ankle to drag him out. The dragged man grabbed a poker to defend himself, but the sorcerer jumped back. ¡°Wait, I mean no harm. Use the poker to push the brick!¡± ¡°Why?¡± He had never cared much for the black arts. This time, he had needed the necromancer¡¯s help but that didn¡¯t mean he trusted him in the slightest outside of their deal. ¡°Just humor me. It¡¯s fine if I¡¯m wrong but that was far too easy, that kind of spirit shouldn¡¯t be this helpful, there has to be a trap.¡± It did make sense; the man was an awful bastard who tortured him and his mother and from what he had heard, he¡¯d become even worse after their departure. He pushed against the brick with the iron. There was a click as and two seconds later something heavy came crashing down inside the fireplace, splitting the stone floor. The heir gasped. ¡°That could have been my back.¡± He pulled the secret door open using the iron, wary of more trap, then recovered dozens upon dozens of small gold coins. It wasn¡¯t as much as he had expected but between this and the manor, he¡¯d be able to buy himself a nice shop away from this cursed place. ¡°You¡¯ve saved my life.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t do well if my client died on me. I mean, I¡¯d have to listen to your complaints afterward.¡± Then necromancer put a glove, crouched to pick up the black silver fork then dropped in a small multi layered box in his bag. He¡¯d have to dispel the curse later, then melt it. The heir didn¡¯t speak a word, he didn¡¯t want anything to do with the cursed thing. ¡°My part of the contract has been completed. I¡¯ll be going, please do respect yours.¡± ¡°I will. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll see each other again but thank you.¡± Five days later, as he walked down the road to the next city, the necromancer felt a movement in his bag. Upon looking inside, found that his latest contract had turned to dust. ¡®He tried to sell me out?¡¯ Seems like being a bastard ran in the family. He took from his bag a small grey wooden doll, barely the size of a thumb, and set it against the ash that soon disappeared into the figure, as though they had been sucked up. The sorcerer picked up the now turned red puppet and placed it delicately in a small container full or similar red figurine with a sigh. ¡®Why can¡¯t people respect their contract? I have more than enough familiars.¡± 02 The door bell ringed, inn keeper called. ¡°Coming¡± from the rest room upstairs and descended the stair. The guest was wearing a mage robe, clean, exquisitely craft and looking as good as new. ¡®He must be loaded thought the girl.¡¯ Before arranging her dress and her air. She greeted him with her best smile. ¡°Good evening, sir. How can I help you?¡± The man¡¯s looks were above average, and he wasn¡¯t old. ¡°I would like a room for the night, and a bucket of hot water to clean myself.¡± ¡°Just one night? Can I ask you where you are going?¡± There were only one road passing through the village, so the question was rhetorical ¡°Why? Is there a problem?¡± ¡°The knights are blockading the eastern roads, if you want to go in that direction, you¡¯ll have to wait until they are done with their business or go the long way around.¡± The long way meant either retracing his step or going through the wilderness, even with a horse it was at least a week long detour. Looking annoyed for the mage asked. ¡°Do you have any how long it will take?¡± ¡°Sorry, sir. The knight didn¡¯t say what they were doing here in the first place.¡± Well, she had heard they were hunting bandits but not from them directly, so she had no idea if it were true. Anyway, it was best for her if stayed, the closing of the road had really hurt their revenue. ¡°I¡¯ll stay until they open the road or a week, whichever comes first.¡± ¡°Can I ask you for a name?¡± ¡°Ignis.¡± That couldn¡¯t have been his real name, she looked up to him and he added with a wry smile. ¡°It¡¯s my work name.¡± ¡°People often gave fake names, and it wasn¡¯t rare for mage to believe in the power of names¡­ but they usually put a little more effort. It was her first time hearing such an obvious forgery.¡± Looking abashed, the mage explained. ¡°I know it sounds stupid, but I¡¯m not the one who came up with it.¡± ¡°I take it you¡¯re a fire mage?¡± He didn¡¯t look the type, they tended to be temperamental and aggressive. He suited the archetype of the earth or water mage a lot more. Not that it was a problem, though not as rich as the earth mages who often worked for nobility and royalty, they had an image of specializing in high risk, high reward jobs. ¡°I don¡¯t see a refectory, where can take my meals?¡± ¡°I can bring it to your room, or the tavern double as an eatery if you prefer eating out.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll be twenty-five cents for the room, two cents for the water. We got cold and hot food? It¡¯s five and eight.¡± The prices were slightly higher than normal but he didn¡¯t seem bothered in the slightest. ¡°I¡¯ll take some hot food, could you bring it at the same time as the water?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not problem at all, let me guide you to your room.¡± This inn had many small rooms in order to accommodate as many guests as possible but in exchange there was no communal rooms. The other inn in the village was the opposite, offering only a few large rooms for four to ten persons. ¡°Here it is sir, and here¡¯s you key.¡± She delicately put the key in his with a beguiling smile and the mage smiled back, although wryly. As soon as he entered the room, he lit the candle with a quick spell and dropped on the bed murmuring exasperatedly the head hidden in the pillow. ¡°Damn you teacher, couldn¡¯t you have picked a more proper name?!¡± The name was as much part of the disguise as his meagre fire magic, but that didn¡¯t make it more bearable. He remembered the girl¡¯s shocked eyes and pushed his head further in the pillow. Came a knock at his door. He sat down on the bed, faking a calm appearance, and spoke in a commending voice. ¡°You can enter.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Here are your hot water and your diner. It¡¯s ratatouille with braised bacon. Call me when you¡¯re done and I¡¯ll come collect it.¡± ¡°Thank you very much.¡± ¡°My pleasure.¡± The mage cleaned his hand and face then ate the food. It was unexpectedly good for something prepared in an inn without a kitchen, meaning he was probably sharing the owners¡¯ food. After heating, he cleaned himself more properly and called for the girl to collect the tableware and bucket. Once he had confirmed the girl was gone, he opened his bag to recover some cloth then closed it and opened it again but this time no clothes could be seen, only the tools of his trade. The thing he picked up was a red wooden simplistic doll, so thin it looked like a tag. Putting it next to him he chanted. ¡°seye ruoy deen I. modeerf ruoy rae dna tbed ruoy yap ot emit s''ti ,elohssa yeH.¡± A thin blackish almost transparent humanoid shape rose from the figurine. Taking control of the familiar, he flew it east, through the roof and the sky to look at the blockade and what was hidden beyond it. Further down the road were the ruin of a burned down village, but there wasn¡¯t a single corpse to be seen. On the rare walls still standing, he could see chalk marks, too damaged to be read. ¡®Not a single ghost.¡¯ Finding a scene of carnage uninhabited by the spirits of victims was rare, and whenever it happened someone like him was the reason. He looked around the village, widening his search until he found tens of dead knights and villagers guarding an old smuggler¡¯s cache in the forest. The villager bore trace of recent battle, but those hadn¡¯t been the cause of their death. Most of them still had arrow stuck in their bodies burn marks. Some of the knights¡¯ bodies were still fresh, one or two days at most, but the others could be as old a week. Suddenly, something tried to snatch control over his familiar. It was strong, much stronger than him, but had unexpectedly poor control. The necromancer sent the ghost towards the source of the pull. Hidden underground, was a small kid, surrounded by three adult corpses and so dirty he couldn¡¯t tell whether they were male or female. Their power over death was strong, but they themselves were sick. Children awakening to their power under stress wasn¡¯t rare, it had been the case for him too, but thankfully his master had been there to take him in. Who are you? Asked the child. Someone like you. They killed everyone. We didn¡¯t do nothing! I know. He had a clear image of what had happened now. They knight had surrounded and burned the village to stop a plague of spreading. The child was dying, he probably only had a few days left at best but it was enough to do a lot more damage. Tell them to leave me alone! I can¡¯t, they fear our power, they¡¯d come after me too. I¡¯ll kill them, if they come, I¡¯ll kill them all. You are dying, you don¡¯t have much time left. I know, but mom, dad, nana and all the villagers are stuck here because of me. I can teach you how to help them pass on. Really? Will we be together on the other side? I don¡¯t know, even the dead don¡¯t know what awaits. They hurt. They don¡¯t want to stay here. Please. And the knights? They can stay here, it¡¯s what they deserve. Fair enough. His master had taught him the content of the spell wasn¡¯t that important, what mattered were the feelings and meaning associated with them. If people truly understood the meaning of his spells, they wouldn¡¯t be so impressed, they¡¯d call him a hack¡­ ¡°Stupid master!¡± Even now, he couldn¡¯t discern what had been proper teaching from his constant harassment. Normally it isn¡¯t hard, you must wish with all your heart to sever their bond, to liberate them. It¡¯ll be a tad more complicated this time because you yourself are one of the bonds holding them here. I¡¯ll do everything I can. That¡¯s the spirit. Repeat after me: I liberate you. I sever your worldly bond, I free you! May your soul find peace in the after-life. It isn¡¯t working, mom and dad are still there. I can help you, but you¡¯ll die, and even the knights will pass on. Are you okay with that? I¡­ Take your time to think about it. It¡¯s okay, I¡¯m dying and there¡¯s no place left for me. He hadn¡¯t been half as courageous as this kid at the same age. Or rather, he¡¯d been obsessed with vengeance, even though the culprits were already dead. He was thankful to his master¡­ if only he hadn¡¯t been such a pain with everything else. It wasn¡¯t easy to cast a spell remotely, but it wasn¡¯t so bad because he didn¡¯t need precise control, a massive burst of energy would be enough in this case. As long as the kid died, it¡¯d be easy to liberate everyone else. His sight came back to his own body. He was unsure whether the familiar spirit had survived the blast but it wasn¡¯t one he¡¯d worry about. If demon and hell truly existed, then this guy would have been their fodder¡­ he still might. The next morning, the necromancer went down to ask for breakfast. The cute girl from yesterday looked as though she was slightly ill. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°There was an explosion in the forest last night. The knights have gone to investigate but they haven¡¯t returned yet.¡± ¡°Maybe it was what they were looking for? In that case the road will open again soon, isn¡¯t that good news?¡± It was, but it wasn¡¯t, depending on the circumstances, travellers might avoid this place altogether. The mage felt a bit guilty; he hadn¡¯t needed being so flashy, but he had the bad habit of taking the easiest route. ¡°I¡¯ll take breakfast.¡± He felt like he had to make up to her somehow, plus she was cute. ¡°What time are you getting off?¡± ¡®Hook, line and sinker.¡¯ Rejoiced the girl internally. ¡®I¡¯ll milk him for all he¡¯s got!¡¯ 03 Twenty knights rode into a forest, in their midst was a single mage, the newly appointed right-hand man of their lord. Their goal was a clearing, where and immense explosion occurred the preceding night, and the fact there was no such clearing two days ago spoke for how powerful it had been. Bits of burnt armors and flesh could still be seen, but nothing was known of its origin nor why the knights had been there in the first place when they should have been quarantining a village: there was no survivors amongst the two parties. The mage descended from his horse the examine the clearing. ¡°Sir Maximilian, are you sure it¡¯s safe?¡± ¡°What the hell?¡± Murmured the mage perplexed. ¡°Did you find something, sir.¡± No, and that was the problem. The damages couldn¡¯t have been caused by anything but magic, yet there was no trace of a spell being used. Even stranger was the fact the earth element was weaker here than a few meters away. ¡°Send a courier to the church asking for their help, if whatever did that is still around, we¡¯ll need it! Some time later, not so far from there in Oto, also known as the jewel of the orient and the stronghold of the church of the Elements, the necromancer entered the great cathedral, a structure as massive as it was graceful. He smiled wryly at the sight of an acolyte rushing to greet him respectfully. ¡°Welcome back sir, I¡¯m glad to see you¡¯ve returned unharmed from your last mission.¡± The common priest and believers didn¡¯t know much about him and the numbers, only that they were an elite force dealing with magic related problems, ghosts and monsters. His sneering came from the fact he had little doubt the young man would run in terror or turn against him if he knew of his affinity with death¡­ as for being an elite force, the job he did for the most part were minor and theoretically illegal according to the country and the church¡¯s current doctrine. ¡°I am very sorry to trouble you so soon after your return,¡± Pleaded the young mean. ¡°but his excellency cardinal Venati instructed us to bring you to him right away.¡± ¡®No rest for the wicked... I wish I were born with the life or earth element as my main. Easy job, plenty of money, and everyone likes you.¡¯ ¡°Lead the way, please.¡± There wasn¡¯t much else he could say, despite its creed, the church was without a doubt the safest for people like him and he owed them a lot. The cardinal was his boss and the person he had the most contact with, and yet he knew almost nothing of him¡­ apart from the bullshit his master fed him.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He was ushered into a beautifully room, decorated with fresco of the six elements. Unlike the ones outside, the element of death was displayed without obfuscation. The cardinal was a middle-aged man, which was very young for holding such an important position¡­ almost unheard of in fact. ¡®There¡¯s no way he¡¯s really a vampire.¡± As far he knew, there was no such creature, but with his teacher polluting his mind, he couldn¡¯t help but think about it every time they met. ¡°Ah, young Ignis. I¡¯m so glad you could make it. We¡¯ve received a request of the lord concerning an incident west from here. It has the smell of a violent awakening¡­¡± The necromancer interrupted the clergyman. ¡°West from here? Did a bunch of knight and villagers disappeared from a village north of the road?¡± ¡°I gather the destruction described in the letter was sign of you dealing with the situation?¡± ¡°The usual, a kid sees his family get killed by the knight and awaken to new power to deal with the attackers. There wasn¡¯t much I could do; he was dying from sickness and didn¡¯t know how to free the soul of his family and friend.¡± ¡°I see, good job erasing the evidences.¡± ¡°I had to sacrifice a familiar for that.¡± Needless to say, he hadn¡¯t done it on purpose, he just thought it¡¯d be easier to destroy the spells binding the souls and the bodies in one go. ¡°I suppose it couldn¡¯t be helped in a situation where time was of the essence.¡± ¡°Speaking of familiar, there wasn¡¯t a single person amongst my clients this time, and I have a bagful of souls to prove it. I¡¯m starting to feel like I¡¯m a demon, tricking others into signing a soul binding contract.¡± ¡°If think that¡¯s natural, decent would go through the proper channels rather than skulk around to recruit a shady necromancer from who know where.¡± ¡°First, the proper channel suck, nine out of ten spirit channelers are hack, with the tenth being wack! Second, sorry for being shady, I¡¯ll change my way and do some law-abiding job from now on.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to see you try, I¡¯m sure you¡¯d come back crying the next day.¡± ¡°I take offense of that, I¡¯m different from my master, I¡¯m sure I could last at least one week.¡± ¡°Coming back to our western problem, did you see a life mage amongst the victim?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I did. I didn¡¯t get a good look because I found the kid pretty fast.¡± ¡°It can¡¯t be helped I suppose. I¡¯ll write something about one of our inquisitors dealing with the violent awakening of a twin mage. Fire and air, there¡¯s already enough unjustified fear toward the death element.¡± ¡°I often feel we should stop dealing with ghosts and curses, you know? Just to see how they like it without us around.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be helped, the fear of the wight kings is still vivid in the heart of the populace.¡± ¡°Even though the kings and lords all have death mages in their employ secretly dealing with their curses and angry spirit problem.¡± ¡°Not so secretly in many cases. Take a few days off and relax a little, I¡¯m think about sending you north next time.¡± Ignis grimaced, the north was the theatre of major peasant revolt twelve years ago, and the subsequent repression the cause of his own awakening. ¡°If it¡¯s still too hard for you, I can send someone else.¡± ¡°Do you even have someone else?¡± ¡°A few, but not many have death as their prime element.¡± Ignis thought for a long time before conceding. ¡°I¡¯ll go, just give me some time to prepare.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± 04 It should have been an easy mission, no people, no hiding, just a village full of curses and lingering spirits, but here he was, running for his life. Thankfully, it had been night time, the best time to find spirits roaming around, and also the best time to hide. As a mage and a triple, he was far from defenseless, but the other side had a way to deal with curses which was why they settled here in the first place. Death and fire didn¡¯t have good methods to deal with arrows, and his ability with air was so low it could only be used to reinforce the other elements. He conjured a wind shield anyway. It¡¯d only shift the trajectory of arrows slightly away from him but a bad protection was still better than none. He regretted his initial action of trying to take prisoners: if he hadn¡¯t wasted his time on curses, he could have fireballed them all to hell. Still hiding under a pile of debris, he overpowered a nearby spirit to look at the surrounding. He didn¡¯t like doing that since it¡¯d hold a grudge towards him afterward but he wasn¡¯t in a situation to be choosy. His attackers hadn¡¯t let their guard down. They only moved as groups of ten while keeping some spaces between them to avoid getting taken out at the same time. They seemed too organized to be bandits, but it wasn¡¯t impossible either, it wasn¡¯t unusual for the remnants of mercenary bands to turn to crime after an unrecoverable defeat. ¡®Bastards!¡¯ The third group was looking inside his bag, and they knew the trick to access its most important content. ¡®Scratch that, they aren¡¯t mercenaries, they¡¯re scouts for a foreign power!¡¯ The church of the elements was independent and didn¡¯t interfere in matters of state, but he doubted they¡¯d give the opportunity to play this card. ¡®If he still had his bag, he could have used the same trick as with the kid a few weeks ago, but as filled with hate and curse as the soul here were, they had just been normal people in life: he couldn¡¯t sacrifice them to save himself. He laid another layer of curse on the already much cursed terrain, but it was warded against by the mysterious invaders¡¯ protection. ¡®I need to reach the graveyard somehow¡­ or make my own corpses.¡¯ Easier said than done, acting through a familiar, he was seriously limited in his option, and he¡¯d die the instant he got out of his refuge. Suddenly he had an idea, animals didn¡¯t come near this place, but he could go and look for them. It was a risky since he¡¯d lose sight of this place, but sooner or later they¡¯d start looking under the rubbles. The spirit flew at high speed, circling around the village but he found only small birds and rodent; nothing worth possessing. A noise alerted him to the presence of someone nearby. He quickly recalled the spirit to this place to look at the events.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The situation wasn¡¯t ideal, but it wasn¡¯t the worst either. The broken-down house shielded him from over half the enemies. If he called upon a fire tornado and reinforced it by absorbing the surrounding necrotic powers¡­ he¡¯d probably get burned to death too. As soon as he¡¯d release the spell, he¡¯d give his position away, so he¡¯d have less than a second to deal with his troublesome neighbor. ¡®One, two, three, go!¡¯ The man turned towards him. Since he was near a building, he had taken hold of his sword, carrying the bow in the other. Ignis shifted to the side and the deadly blow bounced against the rubbles. That was all the time he needed, a narrow jet of blue fire struck at the man face, burning away the assailant¡¯s eyes and lung. ¡®Here¡¯s my first corpse.¡¯ Ignis ran out of his now brightly light hiding place to hide behind the building, while suggesting to the nearby spirits to possess the corpses. He couldn¡¯t really order them around since he hadn¡¯t submitted them to his will, but influencing them to do something they already wanted to do wasn¡¯t too hard. The nearby resurrected corpse immediately attacked him. ¡®Ah, yes, I forgot this one was holding a grudge against me.¡¯ The sword missed him by a hair and shattered against the wall. The spirit control over the body wasn¡¯t so good, but the strength was there. Ignis destroyed the zombie legs with another fire jet. In the distance he could hear cry of pains and sounds of battle. He dismissed the firestorm, even in the eye of the storm it was getting hot enough that he had trouble breathing. A few steps from there, the zombie crawled resolutely, decided to satiate its grudge. Already, he could ear the sound of battle fade and feel the ire of the nearby spirits turn towards him. He felt that maybe exchanging professional killer for unrelenting undead hadn¡¯t been such a good idea after all. He ran and the undead followed after him. For now, he had the advantage in speed but they¡¯d soon master their new bodies and then¡­ ¡¯Better not think about it.¡¯ Without his tools, he couldn¡¯t create a proper ward, so his only two ways to deal with them was to either destroy the body, or the spirits and the later wasn¡¯t an option he was willing to take. He put a curse of decay on the ground in behind him to do just that but the zombie went through without harm. ¡°Damn bloody ward!¡± Swore the mage who had forgotten about them. He used a small air spell to enhance his breathing and ran away again, going in a circle around the undead in order to congregate them all while preparing his next attack. He lobbed a fireball, but unlike with the previous spell, the flame didn¡¯t dissipate, they clung to the corpse, the wood, the rubble, consuming everything it touched. Finally, Ignis dropped to the ground exhausted. Maintaining this last spell when it wasn¡¯t his specialty had taken everything from him. All around, the spirits freed from their worldly flesh gathered to curse him. It was a pain since they had gotten stronger from his action, but they weren¡¯t quite yet evil spirit: he¡¯d seen worse; He walked back to the village, what was left of it, to recover his bag. As expected, the bag might have a strong fire ward, but it had been open at the time and a lot of his tools had been destroyed. He closed the bag and shifted, this one was better hidden because it contained his contracts and familiar as well as a few emergency tools and items he had yet to uncurse. He was tired and he wanted to look at his attacker belonging to see where they had come from but he had become the sole target of the spirits¡¯ grudge. And so, he got back to work. 05 Ignis prepared everything for the exorcism. He noted in passing that none of his suspicious attackers¡¯ spirit had dwelled on this side, but he hadn¡¯t expected them too; professional soldier and their ilk usually made peace with death. This time he exorcised the sprits in the gentlest way possible, gently guiding them to accept their demise rather than forcefully cutting their bond with this word. From his point of view, it wasn¡¯t their fault they¡¯d been stuck in this plane of existence, so they shouldn¡¯t suffer for it. He wanted to deal with the curses since his own had mixed with the already existing ones to form something much more terrible, but he had no way to know if there were more of the mysterious group somewhere. If the spirits hadn¡¯t made him their new haunt, he¡¯d have skipped on that too. Most of the corpses and their possession were charred beyond recognition, but thankfully, the one whose legs he had destroyed hadn¡¯t taken as much of beating. The talisman that had given him was an unremarkable tube of silver. Whoever they were, they¡¯d gone the long way to make sure they didn¡¯t carry anything betraying their origin. Wards and talismans work in three different ways known as blocking, shifting and containment. For example, his bag blocks the heat ¨C up to a degree ¨C while his puppets trick the curse into striking a container rather than their intended target. Noble metals like silver are naturally good for this purpose, but given preparation or affinity, anything can do, as in the current case, the hexed ground of a cursed village. ¡®It¡¯s no wonder my curses stayed on the grounds: the whole place has become a container for who knows how many curses.¡¯ And he had used some very nasty one. Before his arrival, the placed had been unfit for a prolonged stay, now it was evolving into something akin to the deadliest poisons. Ignis was unsure, he feared what would happen of this place if he leaved, but not as much as the mysterious group; his victory this time had more to do with luck than talent and with the look of the place, the next group would immediately know of the first¡¯s demise. He recovered his tools, put then in the bag, and ran to his horse. He¡¯d ask his contact to warn the lord and request reinforcement from him or the church. This was the only way as he¡¯d never accomplish anything if stayed there constantly looking over his shoulder in fear. The beast was still where he¡¯d left it, an old abandoned field about a kilometer from the village. As the mage approached his mount, it kicked and trashed violently trying desperately to free itself from its bond. The horse just a normal mount belonging to a local church, it couldn¡¯t withstand the strong smell of death emanating from its rider.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Ignis didn¡¯t have time to deal with the beast tantrum though, he recovered another temporary familiar from its bag and ordered it to possess the animal. The necromancer had no permanent attendant spirit as he¡¯d never found one he could trust. He released the bound and the horse walked a few steps gauchely. The mage cussed and took over the spirit, showing it how to control only the higher functions while leaving the rest to the host. Five hours later he was back in the regional capital of Dacia: Eredys. Lighted by the flame of a fire mage, the church had a different sense of beauty compared to the one in Oto. As he entered the diminutive cathedral, a priest came to meet him despite the early hour. ¡°Sir Ignis, I didn¡¯t expect to see you so soon. Did something happen?¡± He wasn¡¯t his contact, but visibly knew about him. ¡°You can say that,¡± Answered the miffed mage. ¡°I got attacked by a large band of armed men who had made residence in the ruins.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir, I assure you they weren¡¯t there when we last surveyed the place a three days ago.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t find traces of anyone living there?¡± ¡°No sir, the patrol days the houses were in the same state as during their previous visit.¡± Ignis had been under the impression they¡¯d made the place their base of operation, but it was night and he didn¡¯t have time to look around¡­ and now there wasn¡¯t anything left to search. ¡°Either they settled there in the last two days, or they have a base somewhere and were using this place for something.¡± ¡°It¡¯s unlikely sir, people avoid the places but the lord and the church watch these kinds of places on a regular basis just to make sure it doesn¡¯t develop into something worse.¡± ¡°If you guys have that kind of time, couldn¡¯t you have done something about them earlier?¡± ¡°We¡­ do not have many people with your abilities here, and the few we have cannot perform such large-scale exorcism.¡± Because of the prejudices, most death mages never get the chance to learn how to use their powers, and those who do are usually self-taught. What¡¯s more, fear often pushes these people to work in the shadow or resort to crime, perpetuating the shady image. Truthfully, apart from a few backward regions, people with the death element are highly sought after by authorities as they are the most capable of dealing with curses and evil spirits. ¡°Ask the lord if he can furnish me with an escort.¡± said Ignis with a pained voice. The current lord wasn¡¯t the one responsible for the brutal repression ¨C this one had been received his just retribution ¨C but someone along the line of a cousin or nephew. Even so, it was hard on the mage to deal with that man¡¯s family. He took the talisman out from his pocket and handed it to the priest. ¡°Send this to the main church, that¡¯s the only thing of interest I could find on the corpses.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be done, sir.¡± ¡°Thank you. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll be getting some sleep in the meantime; I¡¯m still sore from all that riding.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have a coach prepared for you, sir.¡± ¡°That¡¯d be most kind.¡± 06 ¡°I cannot thank enough for everything you¡¯ve done, master.¡± Said a middle-aged man to the youngster in front of him. He was Agafya, one of the two people with death affinity serving under the northern lord. Ignis showed a rare genuine smile. It was rare for him to receive heartful thanks. ¡°I already told you not to call me master, I¡¯m too young for that.¡± The good hearted and studious nature of the man was too much for him to deal with. Death mage tended to be effaced or brooding, but this one had the luck to have been born to a wealthy family serving under an open-minded lord. Another man, ten year older than the first laughed. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t happen; I¡¯ve been asking him the same thing for over twenty years, and look at the results.¡± The second man¡¯s voice was gentlemanly, and everything else about him also screamed chivalrousness. He was Alastair, great lord of the northern region and the polar opposite of his predecessor. He was so righteous and likable that talking with the man for more than ten minutes had been enough for Ignis to let go all of his apprehension. ¡°It¡¯s a bit sad to see you go, but I swear I¡¯ll make good use of your teaching and make you proud, master.¡± Spoke Agafya, tearfully embracing his junior. No matter how just they are, people in power will gather resentment and curses; so many in fact that without proper countermeasure, an early death is all but inevitable. Even if more knowledgeable than the common man about the reality of this world, they aren¡¯t without prejudice either and it¡¯s rare for them to totally trust, and be trusted by their subordinate like this man. The church does what it can, but they only have a handful of master themselves, not enough to teach other while also dealing with the myriad of demands all across the kingdom. Which is why, when asked to send an escort, the lord saw it as a way for his subordinate and friend to access the knowledge he so sorely lacked and current situation. ¡°I know you will, so please stop hugging me, it¡¯s embarrassing.¡± Squeaked the necromancer in defense. This kind of open and heartfelt dealing had been his dream for a long time, but he had never expected the real deal to be so cringeworthy.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Do you want an escort? Just because we haven¡¯t found any more trace of them, doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re gone. For all we know, they could have been targeting you.¡± ¡°Thank you very much for the offer lord, Dacaea.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only natural after all you did for us. Be assured, I¡¯ll inform the church if I find more about this mysterious group.¡± ¡°I cannot speak for others, but I¡¯ll do the same if I can.¡± Ignis and his were on the way to the eastern capital when they heard screaming up ahead. Bandit attacks were excessively rare on the very busy central road, but from time to time, a particularly stupid or audacious group would try and almost immediately get hunted down. Saving a damsel in distress from a bandit attack then reap the reward had been another of the mage¡¯s youthful dream. Listening to his heart ¨C and libido ¨C he quickly rode to the rescue, forgetting about the twenty valiant knights riding with him. Needless to say, it was a massacre. There¡¯s nothing a few bowmen can do against an equal number of armored professional riding barded war horses and a powerful mage. As in his dream, the young girl in the convoy swooned over their saviors, but contrary to what had happened in his vision, they preferred the muscular well-toned warrior ¨C do not forget well paid and garrisoned near a major city ¨C over a normally build erring mage. ¡®I¡¯m young, I regret nothing. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll get my chance later¡­¡¯ The leaders of the convoy knew better than his younger peers and quickly came to thank the necromancer for his help. ¡°Thank you, milord. If you and your knights didn¡¯t come to our rescue, I don¡¯t know what would have happened to us.¡± He answered ¡°I only did what is natural.¡± Adding internally ¡®and got nothing for it.¡¯ It didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t have saved them without the prospect of recompense, just that he was peeved to see others reap the reward he craved. ¡°I thought the central road were sure. Do this kind of incident happen often?¡± ¡°Never. The was trouble in the west some times ago, maybe they thought the regional border would be less well defended.¡± ¡®Wishful thinking¡¯ though Ignis, ¡®these roads are the arteries by which the commercial lifeblood of all four regions pass through.¡¯ Out loud he said. ¡°The idiots and hopeless are everywhere and we better make our lot in life.¡± ¡°Well said milord. If you don¡¯t¡¯ mind, can I ask you where you are travelling to?¡± ¡°Sure thing, we are heading to Oto. Is it also your way?¡± ¡°Aw, sadly no, we¡¯re heading to Utique in the west.¡± Losing a free escort was a big blow for the leader, but an unexpectedly good news for the mage since he wouldn¡¯t have to see the knights steal his rightful reward. ¡°I see. We¡¯ll accompany you for a short while, but you should think about hiring escort in the future.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right milord.¡± Said the merchant hoping it wouldn¡¯t come to that as he¡¯d have to rise his prices or lose profits. 07 As soon as Ignis arrived to the capital, he met Cardinal Vanati to report on his progress with the northern region. ¡°You taught the lord¡¯s vassal?¡± asked the cardinal, pleasantly surprised. As the years go by, the number of haunts only kept on increasing, and the general hostility against death magic forced the authorities do deal with it discreetly. Still, a lord openly tackling the problem openly was great news, even more considering the mountain of cursed sites left by his predecessor¡¯s wanton violence. ¡°Yes, he was a very open-minded man. As far as I can tell, he greatly trusted in his vassal and didn¡¯t hide his dealing with him. The knights who accompanied me showed no fear or dislike. It was¡­ pleasant.¡± ¡°Do you think we could send some apprentice up there? So, they can train in a safe environment?¡± ¡°I did what I could, but the number of cursed sites is simply ridiculous. It¡¯s not just a matter of the bloody repression of twelve years ago, they are some sites dating from fifty years back and more!¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Said the cardinal pensively. ¡°the previous lords were distrustful people, pathologically so. They¡¯ve caused great harm to the land and our operations.¡± ¡°One thing might explain the other, if they really didn¡¯t trust in people, it might easily have led them into falling victim to a curse, only to be driven further into insanity and distrust.¡± That was a likely scenario, even more so when considering the brutality of their reigns. ¡°On another note, did you find anything concerning the talisman I sent you?¡± ¡°Nothing more than what you¡¯ve discovered on your own. It was made to redirect curses to the land it¡¯s attuned for. That alone doesn¡¯t tell us of their goals; it could have been meant to strengthen the haunt, or protect them from its effect while they hide there.¡± A crestfallen Ignis answered. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, master or Windy would have captured the intruders, I on the other hand, only managed to burn the place down and had my own curses to the haunt.¡± Cussing at the two, the ecclesiast tried his best to reassure the youth. ¡°Please stop comparing yourself to those two: thankfully they¡¯re the exception rather than the norm. Surviving an ambush with such number is a victory in itself.¡± Being around those two geniuses for most of his life had left with a sense of inadequacy verging on a complex of inferiority. Whatever he did, Ignis would compare himself to them and find himself lacking. Add to that Firis horrible sense of humor and overbearing attitude and you obtain the perfect recipe for disastrous parenting. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t say that, they might be domineering at time but they¡¯re excellent mage. I owe them a lot and respect them greatly, they world would be in better shape if we had more people like them?¡± ¡®What do you mean at times?!¡± Thought Vanati. ¡°And who would want to live in a world where there¡¯s more of them?!¡¯ Those were his true feeling, even if it was impossible to deny their achievements and the good they had done, they were truly horrid person who followed their interest without the slightest regard for other people¡¯s circumstances. As far as he was concerned their retirement was the best thing that happened to him in a long time¡­ although he had serious apprehension about what they were doing with their time.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The number of haunts was ever increasing, but Vanati felt it might be a good to put the youth in a teaching position to bolster his confidence, and maybe inject him with a much-needed dose of common sense. Sadly, now was not the time. ¡°Please take two or three days off. I¡¯m sorry I cannot give you more but we receive tremendous amounts of requests every day; both official and unofficial.¡± The next night, Ignis awoke to the sound of battle. Looking outside, there was no fight going on, but the number of people looking down the street from their house was certainly proof enough that he hadn¡¯t been dreaming. On morning, he asked the old dorm manager if she had heard anything during the night. ¡°So, you heard it too?¡± Said the matron. ¡°I thought I had been dreaming.¡± Another resident who was eating his breakfast volunteered his own explanation. ¡°Today was my first time hearing it, but I heard through the grapevine that it¡¯s been going on for days all around the city, but there has been no report of injury or death in the area where it happened.¡± ¡°For real? Has it been confirmed?¡± ¡°It¡¯s only rumor, although now I have to admit there¡¯s some truth to it.¡± Ignis didn¡¯t know the young man, but since he lived there, he had to be in the know. ¡°I suspect ghostly activity¡­ It¡¯s just that even if everybody has heard stories of ghostly reenactment of past battles, those things don¡¯t happen in reality.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Oliver by the way.¡± ¡°Earth elementalist I suppose? I¡¯m Ignis.¡± ¡°Indeed. I¡¯d say fire elementalist judging from the name, but you don¡¯t look the type.¡± ¡°I hear that a lot. I¡¯m a triple.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t exactly fit the mold either. I¡¯m a double, and nice to meet you mister death mage.¡± ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t, but I can tell you¡¯re itching to investigate.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t it strike you as odd? This shouldn¡¯t be happening.¡± ¡°The answer is no, and I wouldn¡¯t bother if I were you since they¡¯ll come to you soon enough. Just relax and enjoy your leave.¡± That night, the whole block awoke to the sound of battle again, but this time mixed in were obnoxious laughter and it lasted for over ten minutes before ending as suddenly as it had started. Come morning, voice on the street was that necromancers were to blame. Even though the vast majority of curses and ghost originated from normal people, every time something strange occurred, they were the first to take the blame. Any good they performed though, was quickly put under the rug as repentance for the trouble their kind caused all the time. As predicted by Oliver, Ignis was called to the church early in the morning. In the briefing room, he found Oliver and a few other mages he¡¯d seen in the dormitory. The earth mage called to him apologetically. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to lie. My main element really is earth, but anyone with the slightest connection to death is called to help nowadays.¡± ¡°What is all this?¡± ¡°A task force called to deal with our recurring ghost problem that you¡¯ll be leading, Ignis.¡± Said a voice the death mage knew very well. ¡°Cardinal Vanati?¡± ¡°Sorry to cut your leave short again, but discontentment is growing and we¡¯ve been called to deal with the situation and from all the people with the death element currently in the capital you¡¯re the only one with proper training. I¡¯d like you to supervise the operation while giving them some pointers.¡± 08 Ignis felt pressure like never before. ¡®Teaching and leading a team? And what does he expect me to teach in a few days?¡¯¡¯ ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ve never led anyone before, I wouldn¡¯t know where to start! And how long am I supposed to teach them, exorcisms are one thing, but curses are a different entirely, you need a lot of knowledge and first-hand experience.¡± Vanati smiled, the ghost had given him an unexpected opportunity to force this ragtag group together. It was true that there wouldn¡¯t be enough time to teach them properly, but the youth had already taken the first step to break out of his solitary shell by himself. If he could forge a connection between him and the other, his strong sense of duty would make him feel obligated to help them in the future. ¡°Obviously child, I do not expect you to teach them about curse. The church¡¯s education in matter of exorcism is adequate, but as you should know, there are things you can only learn from observing others.¡± The death mage had to admit it was true, even though the church has ample documentation and a myriad of spell book, there¡¯s an inescapable a gap between knowledge and practice. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can. Err¡­¡± ¡°Now, to the task at hand. As you all know, there¡¯s been a series of disturbance in the city over the last few weeks. At first, it was rather tame so most witness thought it was but a dream, however it¡¯s been gaining in strength by the day. Already, people have started blaming those with the death attribute and at this rate it¡¯s only a matter of time before it degenerates into a mob.¡± The listeners gulped; mob didn¡¯t think, it acted. Once it was on the street it¡¯d seek a scapegoat which would eventually lead to random lynching and mass paranoia. Some here already knew the result of such things, they were the one who had to exorcise the evil spirit left by victims. The wights¡¯ war was a story from many generations ago but the fear was still vivid in everyone¡¯s heart, even authorities who should know better weren¡¯t exempt of prejudices. The church itself had to remove depictions of the death element from its facade and its teaching even though when all¡¯s said and done, the fire lords were the cause of most destruction. ¡°The disturbance only occurs at night. Please, gather information and deal with it as soon as possible. That¡¯ll be all¡± ¡°Sir, can I speak with you for a second?¡± asked Ignis. ¡°Absolutely.¡± Addressing the others. ¡°Do you mind waiting outside?¡± The youths removed themselves from the room and then¡­ ¡°What should I do?¡± Exclaimed the death mage freaking out. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to lead a team! I¡¯ve never had to investigate into anything before, and that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s because it¡¯s your damn job!¡± Although extreme, the reaction was within the ecclesiarch¡¯s expectations. ¡°I know I¡¯m pushing you hard, but you must understand there¡¯s only so many things our investigators can do without. Unless we make some effort into educating these youths, all you¡¯ll ever have on your dispatches are fragmented information collected by someone without the proper knowledge and abilities.¡± The necromancer had no way to answer that since it was indeed a recurring complaint of his. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I have to lead them, though!¡± ¡°Oh, but it does, how else would they know what to look for if you don¡¯t tell them? Since Firis suddenly retired you¡¯re one of our only two properly trained death mage. You had seven years with a master; they¡¯ve had books. Like it or not, you¡¯ll have to impart your knowledge sometime or deal with ten times the jobs down the line.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. It was grumble at this point, but Ignis nevertheless pointed out. ¡°What about the other mage? He¡¯s older and more experienced than me, right? Can¡¯t he teach them?¡± ¡°He works in Fueur, and he already have some apprentices.¡± Fueur was the home of the fire lord, of all country it was the one that suffered the most and most the land is still unhabitable to this day. ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯ll do it. So, where do I start?¡± Ignis called the others back inside. ¡°Alright, I¡¯d like those who have friends and family in the capital to use their network to get an idea of where the disturbance started and how it progressed.¡± Three heads nodded, not as much as he had hoped but they were in luck since the last two disturbances occurred in one of the blocks surrounding their dormitory. ¡°The other will go by pairs and try to find the location from last night.¡± ¡°Why act in pairs?¡± Asked a guy, making him realize he still didn¡¯t know their names. ¡°With the current climate, we might attract suspicion or get in trouble. It¡¯s safer to act in a group. Who among you has a familiar?¡± The downcast gazes told it all. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I don¡¯t have a permanent familiar either. When you find a nice spirit, you¡¯d rather help it pass on than enslave it.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t even use familiar.¡± ¡°Same here.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t learn how to use them.¡± ¡°I can barely see spirits.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s introduce ourselves. I¡¯m Ignis, nineteen-years-old a tripe with death, fire and wind attributes.¡± ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a rather destructive combination.¡± ¡°You¡¯d think so, but the most terrifying mage I¡¯ve ever seen was a single of the wind attribute called Windy. She retired a few years ago.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Aliz¨¦e, fourteen, a wind/death double and I don¡¯t think wind is such a strong offensive element.¡± Ignis smirked at the girl¡¯s comment. ¡°You¡¯re lucky she isn¡¯t here, because she¡¯d given you a lesson.¡± He then shuddered, remembering the asphyxiation and other mistreatment she had put him through under the guise of training. ¡°Let¡¯s just say she could detect people breathing and change the composition of the air to induce coma or kill someone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Oliver, nineteen, an earth/death double. My second element is extremely weak and even in the best I can barely see evil spirits.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Govad, fifteen, a triple with wind/water/death attributes, but my secondary attributes are barely noticeable. My family live around¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cascade, fifteen, a water/death double. Both my attributes are about equally strong, and my family also live in the city.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Atesh, twenty fire/death/wind/water quadruple but all my attributes are weak. I have some uncles and a few friends who live in this city.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Zivagho, a life/death double¡­¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°For real?¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t I hear of that before?!¡± The excitation was comprehensible opposite attributes were extremely rare, usually only appearing in quadruple and beings of legend. Furthermore, this specific pairing was considered impossible.¡± ¡°¡­ but my death attribute it super weak.¡± Still, life and earth mages were welcome everywhere, having one capable of detecting curses and death attribute even a little would be a major boon. Ignis felt unusually motivated, he wished he was born with a life or earth pairing himself. ¡°How good are you with your light element?¡± ¡°I can heal wounds no problem, but only certain disease. I¡¯m training with a doctor at the moment.¡± Some people were naturally capable of healing about anything while others had to train to identify what was ailing the patient and how to treat them to be any good. ¡°I¡¯m Azrael, eleven,¡± he looked more thirteen but that wasn¡¯t surprising, some people aged faster or slower than other, but in some cases, they had to mature quickly. This boy had the look of the latter. ¡°death is my only attribute.¡± ¡°When did you arrive?¡± Asked Ignis while looking at the cardinal suspiciously. ¡°I was taken in by the church two weeks ago and arrived yesterday.¡± ¡°Just so you know, he volunteered to observe you.¡± Said Vanati matching eye for eye with the death mage. ¡°The south is a cursed land of ruin and death but it¡¯s still full of fools fearing those who do something about it.¡± This boy¡¯s story mirrored Ignis¡¯ own, the north too used to be like that and it probably still was for the most part. 09 The three with family and friends in the city went to collect ¨C or enlist other into collecting ¨C information while went around the blocks surrounding the dormitory in search the origin of last night ruckus. Initially Ignis and Azrael should have acted as a pair, but they looked too inconspicuous for that. The kid¡¯s features were too unlike his senior to pass as brothers, and the death mage himself too young to take apprentice. Instead, he elected to stay behind and review Azrael¡¯s knowledge. On the matter of exorcism, apart from his technique being rough and forceful, he was up to par. Unlike the techniques taught by the church that focused on diverting the curses while calming the spirit and severing their bong, the child¡¯s exorcism was about submission and control. Ignis disliked the very concept, but he knew enough of the situation in the southern countries to understand it was brought by necessity. ¡°Why did you choose to come here?¡± ¡°Sir Janardan and his pupils deal with the evil spirits because it¡¯s the most urgent, but the curses aren¡¯t really dealt with. I thought it might as well be me since I just a burden for them at the moment.¡± The death mage hesitated for a moment before asking. ¡°Did something happen to you involving a curse? You don¡¯t have to tell if it¡¯s too hard.¡± ¡°It did, and I don¡¯t want to talk about it, thank you.¡± ¡°What did you learn about curses so far?¡± ¡°Just the basic. I know some rituals and magic circle to deflect them, but I cannot remove them unless by force.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a terrible idea, you should never do that!¡± ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I came here to learn.¡± It was clear that this kid went through a lot. As someone who was recently in the northern region Ignis had an inkling of an idea of what it was like to be surrounded by evil spirits, but even so there were only a few dozen of major haunts up there while this boy¡¯s country was reputed to have hundreds¡­ the amount of lesser evil spirits was probably uncountable. ¡°Sir Janardan often complain that we should ditch the fools, create our own place and expand from there.¡± A sentiment most people with the death attribute shared. Yet such a place had yet to be created. ¡°On paper, it¡¯s probably be the best solution¡­ but it¡¯d lead to so much suffering.¡± Azrael showed his first smile. ¡°Everyone complains, but no one leave.¡± When you knew of the suffering of the dead, it was hard to leave them alone¡­ the living too. ¡°You can¡¯t just learn about curses; theoretical knowledge can only get you so far: you need experience them to fully understand.¡± There was the method his master had used to teach him, he didn¡¯t like it, in fact the memories still haunted him to this day, but he had to admit it worked. ¡°My master used a variety of curses on me until I learned how to distinguish between them and ward them. I do not recommend this method, but it¡¯s the fastest one I can think of.¡± The kid thought lengthily then asked. ¡°How long?¡± ¡°It took me less than a year to learn the most straightforward, and two years for the really insidious.¡± ¡°And with the normal method? twenty years, maybe only ten if you encounter a large variety.¡± ¡°I see. Can you start by showing me the one inducing violence and madness?¡± Those two were the most commonly used by evil spirits, although depending on the type of grudge and power the effect could range from slowly induced paranoia to instantly transforming a whole village into a bunch of bloodthirsty berserkers.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re more courageous than I was. Draw a ward and prepare puppet, I¡¯ll start with a straightforward one.¡± Once the boy was done drawing his circle, Ignis walked over it and erased one part, deliberately introducing a flaw. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°I weakened the barrier so you don¡¯t take the full brunt of the curse.¡± He then proceeded to cast the spell. ¡°niev ruoy ni esruoc rewop eht leef dna flesruoy etarebil ,srednih dna sdnib nosaeR .uoy nihtiw sllews ti tel ,wolf etah eht teL.¡± The child looked pensively at his senior, then at himself before asking. ¡°Is that all? I¡¯m not feeling anything?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s try again.¡± Ignis cast the curse for a second time. ¡°I don¡¯t feel any different.¡± ¡°sgnorts eht fo ytud dna thgir eht ti ,yaw ruoy ni teg dluow ohw esoht hsinup dna flesruoy etarebil ,uoy srednih dna sdnib nosaeR .uoy nihtiw sllews ti tel ,wolf etah eht teL.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ I¡¯m feeling good, really good, like I can do anything.¡± This spell was a lot stronger, but it was still a feat to be able to pinpoint the feeling after only a few tries. ¡°Never forget this feeling, it makes people feel strong then rob them from reason leaving only a rabid beast behind.¡± Azrael nodded strongly; he¡¯d seen it first-hand. ¡°The next is far more insidious. "uoy netaerht ot tfel era enon litnu ,meht llik dna meht tnuh ,meht eusrup ,noisacco eht meht evig t''noD .ekirts ot ssenkaew fo tnemom a rof gnitiaw ,uoy tsniaga tolp dna eripsnoc meht fo llA .kcab ruoy dniheb hgual yeht woh raeH."¡± What made this spell so insidious was how it played on the natural fear. For death mage in particular, it was an everyday fear and a real one at that. The youth didn¡¯t feel any different, until his teacher tried to touch him and he backed off on instinct. ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Screamed the eleven-year-old with a hint of fear in his voice. ¡°D¡­ don¡¯t go touching people without asking, that¡¯s rude.¡± The second part was the child trying to make sense and excuse his overreaction. Ignis smiled bitterly, he¡¯d done the exact same thing and said something very similar to his teacher. He stopped the spell. ¡°This one play on your paranoia, it¡¯s something most people have, and is at the very the core of people like us.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± Pleaded the child ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop myself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not blaming you, I did almost the same thing. Well, I might have added a few insults¡­ probably more than a few. I had quite the temper back then.¡± Azrael blushed then looked down then while hesitating a lot, asked. ¡°Did you¡­ Have you¡­ Do you know of a curse that make things rot? Even the ground itself?¡± That he knew, he had used himself not so long ago, although the form described by the youth was on a different level altogether. ¡°Yes, it is one of the few offensive hexes with direct effect in our arsenal. With that said, it¡¯s a tricky one to use as it can do some serious collateral damages.¡± ¡°Do you know how to remove it?¡± ¡°Yes, although normally this one shouldn¡¯t persist if the source as been dealt with.¡± Unless there¡¯s a special like when his combined with existing curses to form a one. ¡°Please!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll show you. It¡¯s just that there¡¯s one more thing¡­ the damages are permanent; the wounds and the earth can only be cured with the help of a life or an earth mage. In the worst-case scenario, in might even require the participation from every attribute, or at least that¡¯s what my master told me.¡± ¡°But you can stop its progress?¡± ¡°If the source¡¯s been dealt with, yes.¡± The ritual was long and complex, not something that could be taught in a single day, but the curse was very easy to learn, and knowing it would help in the long run. ¡°I won¡¯t be saying that too often, but since dealing with it imply the use of many different magic circles, you¡¯ll have to brush up on some literature before we can go further. On the other hand, I can teach you the spell and how to ward its effects.¡± They were still working on it when the others came back many hours later. Just like yesterday, Alize was the first to speak. ¡°We don¡¯t have precise locations for the last two days, but its we shouldn¡¯t be more than thirty meters wrong.¡± ¡°Just like she said.¡± Added Oliver obligingly. The other three had already pooled their information and drawn an approximative path on a map. ¡°Where?¡± Asked Atesh who seemed to act as the spokesperson for the trio. ¡°Around here.¡± ¡°I expected something more linear.¡± Commented Ignis while looking at the map. ¡°Yes, even accounting from approximation, it¡¯s been zigzagging a lot. However, the distance doesn¡¯t seem to vary that much.¡± Contributed the quadruple. ¡°It should be somewhere around here.¡± He drew a circle encompassing nearly three blocks ¡°That¡¯s a lot of ground to cover.¡± ¡°We can make three groups like today.¡± ¡°It was more like two groups and three individuals.¡± Pointed out Govad. ¡°The goal isn¡¯t to intervene, but to pinpoint the position and call for reinforcement, understood?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re ordering us to wait without taking risk, what choice do we have but to obey.¡± Jokingly remarked Oliver. ¡°What did he teach you.¡± Asked a curious Cascade. ¡°I asked to learn about curses and he taught me how to identify them by casting them on me.¡± ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t want to learn anymore.¡± The other five looked at Ignis as though he was a madman. ¡°He was within a ward, and that¡¯s now my idea, that how I¡¯ve been taught!¡± Turning to the young boy. ¡°I gave you two choices, and you¡¯re the one who chose this way, don¡¯t blame it on me.¡± ¡°Eh? But I didn¡¯t, I just described it as it was.¡± ¡°Next time, describe better!¡± 10 As there was still some time before sunset, the group tried to get as much sleep as possible, which turned out not to be a lot. Not everyone can sleep on command, even less when it¡¯s right before a mission full of uncertainties. The three youngest, Azrael, Alize and Cascade in particular were unable to get a wink of sleep, it was their first time being active in the field and to make thing worse, their formation was far from done. Right before sun down, the eight met again all slightly drawn, although for different reasons. ¡°Okay,¡± Said Ignis who was the team leader, much against his will. ¡°we separate into three group and go there, there and there.¡± He pointed three positions about half radius. Ideally, it would have been better to use four team, but with the current climate he didn¡¯t feel safe to leave youths without combat training walk in pairs at night, unlike him the had no familiars to look out for sneak attacks. ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re more worried about us running into some bad crowd than whatever evil spirit is roaming the city.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because I am. People do some insane thing when they¡¯re afraid, and this city¡¯s order has never been that great.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve lived here for years,¡± commented Govad. ¡°it isn¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°During the day, maybe, but at night and with trouble brewing it¡¯s a different story. Prioritize your safety and avoid drawing attention as much as possible. Be sure to wear a mantle or anything with a hood, really.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have one.¡± Muttered Azrael. ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°He blushed.¡± Before answering in an even weaker voice. ¡°Because it looks lame.¡± It was such a teenage boy¡¯s answer that no one felt like pointing it out. ¡°You can have one of mines.¡± Said Ignis who had different sets of clothing for his nightly activities¡­ and no, they didn¡¯t involve girls but rather spirits and shady clients. ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± Muttered the boy in response. With that last point settled, the three teams went to their appointed position. Thankfully, their mighty leader¡¯s fears were unfunded, as there weren¡¯t any villains roaming these streets that night. They¡¯d been the first to connect the dot and predict where the future event would occur. And really, what point was there in going out if everyone else was staying home out of fear? Hours passed without much happening. Here and then, a rat or a nocturnal bird would start them but that was about it¡­ until it suddenly happened. Scream and laughter, even stronger than previous night near somewhere south for Zhivago, Oliver and Alize. The girl levitated a scarf with her wind, to point the direction for the other two parties before following after her two companions. Right on the street, they found the translucent figure of a sharp featured, bearded man with an impossible large build cutting through a spirit with a massive double-sided axe. Almost half-as-large as the was tall, the giant was laughing like a madman while doing the deed.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Ignis and Azrael were second to arrive at the scene, with the elder carrying the other one on his back. More than the run, it was the scene that left him breathless. Spirits shouldn¡¯t be so well defined, and even more than that, they shouldn¡¯t be able to kill other spirits. Yes, rather than join the afterlife, the spirits cut got absorbed by it, as it grew louder and more corporeal with each and every kill. The very sight disgusted the necromancer, but the eleven years old reveled at the sight: it was exactly what his home country needed! ¡°You,¡± Screamed the child putting much of his necrotic power in his voice. ¡°serve me!¡± It was certainly an unusual way to recruit a familiar, but the circumstances were certainly unique themselves. The giant turned to the child with a demented smile to answer. ¡°Make me!¡± Before rushing at the child swinging. Ignis jumped in front of the youth with a wind barrier around but was sent flying by the hit. Apparently, the ghost intent wasn¡¯t to kill as unlike with his previous victims, the giant had struck with the side of blade. Even so, the impact was very physical, and strong enough to knock the mage on the ground. ¡°What strength, is that thing really a ghost?¡± The young mage hadn¡¯t stayed inactive either, something like pure darkness poured out of his hand to strike at the translucent man with enough force to send him flying. The downstruck mage rolled away in panic: this black stuff was bad news. Getting up, he ran towards the others screaming. ¡°Those who can, put barrier, the others draw a protective circle. He knew the kid had potential, but what he was doing was insane, it was pure uncontrolled necrotic power; efficient against the ghost, but deadly for anyone around. The giant was already up and laughing, ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it, come at me with all you¡¯ve got kid!¡± right before being served what he asked. The second blast could only be compared to the first in the way a breeze and a tornado are, if you get down to it, more or less the same thing at a different scale. ¡®Shit, shit, shit!¡¯ wailed Ignis internally as he madly casted whatever protection spells, he could think of. Hidden, behind their wards, all that the remaining seven could do was watch as the youngest of them pushed beyond the limit of his power. A third, and a fourth blast hit the giant, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to put him down. ¡°Yes kid, you¡¯re almost there!¡± ¡®This is bad.¡¯ Analyzed the fearless leader, ¡®if it continues, we¡¯re going to end up with a site on par with the Cursed city. Formerly known as the fortress of light, it had been the home of those who fought against the elemental lords and later the wight kings. So much death and destruction had occurred in this place that it had been deemed irrecuperable hundreds of years ago. Although the scale was much, much lower scale, the pollution created by Azrael was still comparable. Ignis didn¡¯t like the idea much, but he combined the three elements inside him into raw null power: it was a gamble that¡¯d either nullify all magic into the area, or blow the whole block. A sixth and last blow sent the ghost flying again, but this time, it laid down smiling. ¡°You¡¯ve won kid. Be proud, you¡¯re the first opponent I haven¡¯t been able to lay a finger against. Although, my opponents have been trash like that for the last five thousand years.¡± Even though it was still lying down, the ghost somehow managed to throw his axe at an evil spirit attracted the necrotic power still flowing into the air. Having absorbed the power of its kill, it stood up to face the child. ¡°I Thracian, emperor of the known world, recognize your strength. I swear to serve you until you grow weak and old.¡± That was probably the best promise the child would ever get from a monstrous self-titled emperor who had managed to hold on his personality for thousands of years¡­ assuming the ghost really was who it thought it was. ¡°You guys wanted to learn how to deal with curses, right? Well, you¡¯re in luck because thank to this moron¡± He stopped to point at Azrael. ¡°we¡¯ve got dozens to dispel.¡± 11 Since even working non-stop, there was no way they¡¯d finish before people started leaving their Ignis had the other put protection around the cursed area while he melted and scorched the ground to give the impression of an intense battle. He then proceeded to deal with the most intense and dangerous curse; there was a lot he wanted to say but now was not the time. Hours later, he finally gave the words they had all been waiting for. ¡°You can go home and sleep¡­ but not you Azrael, you¡¯re coming with me.¡± He guided the child to the cathedral and told the person on night duty. ¡°We¡¯ve just dealt with an evil spirit, but it has left a nasty curse behind, we¡¯ll need the street blocked. I left some burn marks to define the area and give us an excuse.¡± ¡°Which street?¡± Aske the night guard. ¡°Cauliflower street, one block south, you can¡¯t miss the damages.¡± ¡°One moment please.¡± He left the room, leaving to a colleague to take over. ¡°Was it the one behind all the screaming and laughing?¡± Asked the new guard to pass time. ¡°Yes, it was. It shouldn¡¯t bother us anymore¡­¡± He looked at the child beside him for a long time before adding sarcastically. ¡°I hope.¡± The one who came for them was the cardinal Vanati again, he didn¡¯t need to do everything himself but there was no stopping him as he was kind of a control freak and didn¡¯t trust anyone to perform as well as himself. ¡°I heard what happened.¡± ¡°Can we go sit somewhere to talk? We¡¯ve had a long night.¡± Asked Ignis in a weary tone. ¡°Sorry, I should have thought of that.¡± He guided them to a private room then asked. ¡°What was so important you needed talk to me in private?¡± Asked the ecclesiast as soon they were alone. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but first we really need to bar access to that street, there a bunch of nasty curses there.¡± Answered the necromancer, barely holding up his anger. ¡°I¡¯ve already sent a runner to speak to the lord, he¡¯s an understanding one and in the know.¡± ¡°Eh?! Is he one of ours?¡± The kings and lords had some knowledge of what the church did behind the same, but this alone didn¡¯t warrant calling them in the know. ¡°Not exactly, but he¡¯s seen a lot and understand even more.¡± ¡°I feel this is the kind of information I¡¯d have benefited from knowing.¡± Grumbled Ignis, thinking at how much easier his life would have been knowing that. ¡°And I kept it secret because I felt our people would let their guard down if they knew.¡± Explained the ecclesiast. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ definitely true.¡± Admitted the mage, knowing he¡¯d definitely would have taken advantage of this.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°So, what did you want to talk about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m taking this maverick as my apprentice.¡± This time the anger was clearly expressed. ¡°Maverick?¡± ¡°Out of question, now that I have this familiar, I¡¯m going back south!¡± Rejected the child. His reason for capturing the ghost king had been to cleanse his home country from evil spirit and he wasn¡¯t¡¯ going to give up on it. ¡°Shut up, moron!¡± Raged Ignis. Then in a very tired voice. ¡°He¡¯s the one who caused the curses, not some damn evil spirit. And the contract he formed with the ghost¡­ the language is so vague it could mean anything!¡± He turned to Azrael, speaking slowly, anger seeping from every word. ¡°Think about it, kid. You didn¡¯t win, it let you win! It could have knocked you down whenever it wanted by throwing its axe, and don¡¯t forget about its speed!¡± ¡°But I¡­.¡± Started the child with tears in his eyes. ¡°You nothing! Its promise means nothing. If it wanted, it could say you¡¯ve grown weak this very instant because you¡¯re tired! As for being older, you¡¯d definitely be older by half a day!¡± ¡°I resent that, brat.¡± Spoke an authoritative voice. ¡°I, the king of kings, never renege on a promise.¡± ¡°Where the hell did it pop out from?¡± Getting even more angry at the child. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to keep it in its container? How can you be stupid enough to let that thing inside your body?¡± Then to answer to ghost. ¡°What I¡¯m complaining about is the wording of your promise, I draw contract all the time and it¡¯s complete bullshit!¡± ¡°Such little object cannot contain this one¡¯s great essence!¡± Explained the ghost speaking of the dolls meant to hold the familiar. Unlike other spirits, it still had his full personality and no small amount of power. ¡°Let me reiterate my promise then, you untrusting brat: I Thracian pledge myself to serve and protect Azrael until death takes him.¡± No matter what, Ignis couldn¡¯t bring himself to trust in the ghost, there was no way for someone as arrogant as this king to serve under someone else, and it was tremendously suspicious that he lost on purpose. ¡°You understand nothing brat!¡± Boom the ancient king. ¡°This little one has willpower and ambition to rival my own, I want to see where it leads.¡± ¡°How the hell would I know that?¡± Raged the death mage. ¡°I can tell you where it¡¯ll lead him though: to an early grave! Same for everybody who had the bad luck from being around him!¡± ¡°Could I ask something?¡± Asked the cardinal calmly. ¡°Sorry, your holiness, I¡­¡± He was the one who had him awaken and now he was ignoring him to speak to a ghost. ¡°Are you the Thracian? The one from antiquity? The emperor who united the world?¡± ¡°I am Thracian, first emperor and king of kings. I know nothing of this antiquity you speak of. Try to make sense, old man¡± ¡°I beg your pardon your majesty, it is what we call the world before the discovery of magic.¡± ¡°What a polite little fellow. You should take some lessons from him, brat!¡± ¡°And you should go to hell. In fact, allow me to kick your sorry ass down there, right this moment.¡± Snapped the necromancer. ¡°Stop! Everybody shut-up.¡± Screamed Azrael. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I acted without thinking yesterday, but I cannot stay here, with him I could destroy all the evil spirits in my country, in the world!¡± ¡°Feed that thing to make it stronger? What a wonderful idea! Why not spread your curses everywhere and put the world on fire? That would certainly achieve the same result, just a whole lot faster?¡± It wasn¡¯t just anger speaking; this was how Ignis really saw the ancient king. ¡°Then why don¡¯t you accompany him south? That way you can teach him and keep an eye on sir Thracian at the same time?¡± Vanati had a fond spot for the king of king as he was the first to bring peace to the continent, even if it was only for a decade. ¡°Yes! That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯ll do. Understood Thracian? The minute you do anything suspicious, it¡¯s a one-way trip to hell for you.¡± ¡°Since everyone is on the same page, why don¡¯t we all go back to bed.¡± Volunteered the cardinal. ¡°¡­but we¡¯re not going anywhere until he¡¯s done cleaning the mess he made.¡± A sense of ¡®Ah! Right, I forgot about that.¡¯ Could be read on both the child and the cardinal¡¯s face. 12 The door bell rang. The inn keeper¡¯s daughter called. ¡°Coming¡± as she descended the stairs. There were three guests, two were wearing pretty mage robes, and the last one was wearing a full armor. She arranged her dress and her hair then walked behind the counter. She greeted them with her best smile. ¡°Good evening, sir. How can I help you?¡± The man¡¯s in the front was someone she knew, he had almost a week and she¡¯d gone out to have some fun with him. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Couldn¡¯t get enough of little old me?¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s something like that.¡± Answered the mage evasively. Truth to be told, his remembrance of the girl wasn¡¯t entirely unrelated, but it came second to the availability of individual rooms. ¡°I¡¯d like three rooms if possible. Two at the very least.¡± ¡°Nice body, wench.¡± Spoke unequivocally the man in armor. ¡°Shut the hell up tin can.¡± Raged the mage, making no effort to hide his distaste for the man in armor. Then in a gentler tone for the girl. ¡°Come to me if he bothers you, it¡¯ll be my pleasure to send him straight to hell.¡± The girl cheeks reddened mistaking the exchange as Ignis coming to her defense. ¡°Yes, sir¡­ I¡­ I¡¯ll be sure to do that. Sorry, but we only have two rooms, is it alright with you?¡± ¡°It is. I¡¯d like to order tw¡­ three buckets of hot water and three diners if you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°How long will you be staying?¡± Ignis wouldn¡¯t have minded staying a few days, but he had his travel companions to think of. ¡°Only a single night, we need to head south as soon as possible. On that matter, is there anything special going on in Thracia?¡± ¡°Oh? That¡¯s such an interesting name for this region to have.¡± Commented the man in armor, his tone seething with arrogance and pride. ¡°Shut-up.¡± Urged Ignis, who had kept quiet about it for this very reason only to stumble right before the finishing line. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Asked the girl who had trouble understanding the exchange. ¡°This guy¡¯s name is Thracian.¡± Explained the mage tiredly. ¡°Please, for your own good, forget he¡¯s ever existed. What don¡¯t you tell me at what time you¡¯re getting off instead, Laeticaea.¡± He¡¯d just only remembered her name.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The girl was more than happy to tell as she remembered last time rather fondly, and he¡¯d just made an even better impression on her. ¡°I get off at seven¡­¡± ¡°Hey, what about my lessons.¡± Complained the child who had stayed quiet until now. ¡°You can practice what I¡¯ve taught you, and how no to blow-up your allies.¡± Answered Ignis with a voice full of rancor. Then looking deliberately at the giant in armor with cold eyes. ¡°Or even better, why don¡¯t you practice your exorcism.¡± ¡°Sorry sir, I won¡¯t do it again.¡± Answered the child in a hurry. ¡°Great. Can you show us our room?¡± Asked Ignis while handing out the exact sum. ¡°Sorry, sir.¡± Speaking with a past acquaintance was no excuse to forget serving the other guests. ¡°Who¡¯s the kid?¡± she asked in a lower voice. ¡°My apprentice, for now, and you can think of that giant armored pain in the ass as his guardian.¡± She knew he was something of a special case to be so rich at such a young age, but it was unheard for someone this young to take apprentice. ¡°Hey, are you a big deal or something?¡± ¡°Uh, uh! I just have an uncommon specialty.¡± ¡°Wow!¡± Answered Laeticaea who knew little of magic beyond the facts that mages tended to have money and fire mage were often aggressive and hard to deal with. Ignis would never tell her his real job, but even if he did the girl wouldn¡¯t mind. Because of her job put her in contact with a load of people, she held very little prejudice, preferring to judge people personally from their acts. To put it simply, she¡¯d rather deal with a tranquil criminal who paid his bill than a rude knight or a well-known merchant who cheated his customers. The diner was as good as Ignis. Azrael had some difficulty finishing two plates by himself, but as far as his master was concerned, it was what he deserved for choosing such an annoying familiar. Before leaving with his date, the death mage left some instruction. ¡°Practice the wards I¡¯ve told you. Use these as examples.¡± He drew a few around the room, but each one of them had a commonality, they either weakened spirits or prevented them from leaving/entering the circle. ¡°You are as annoying as ever brat,¡± Grumbled the ghost. ¡°I have no intention of leaving the room or showing up my form. I¡¯m much comfier staying inside Azrael.¡± ¡°My care for what you want and say equal my trust in you, you damn evil spirit. Stay here, and be quiet for a change.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so hurt by your lack of trust in me, brat.¡± Answered the ghost with a loud laugh. ¡°Is quiet really this hard to understand for you?¡± ¡°Please, I¡¯ll do as you say, just stop fighting.¡± Pleaded the child who had to withstand the constant bickering for almost two weeks now. ¡°I had to let this thing possess that armor against my better judgement because it¡¯s unable to keep quiet, but you¡¯d do well to remember that if it weren¡¯t for the cardinal vouching for it, I¡¯d send it straight to hell where it belongs.¡± ¡°Hell this, hell that! I¡¯m as virtuous as it gets, brat, it¡¯d be heaven for me.¡± ¡°You¡­ That¡¯s¡­¡± This thing had been responsible for innumerable death both in life and death. Ignis just let out a tired. ¡°You should get a better look at yourself before spitting such nonsense.¡± As soon as the death mage was out of the room, the ghost approached the child with a smile. ¡°Let¡¯s start over, I¡¯m almost getting the hang of that magic thing of yours.¡± 13 Far south, in an old castle, an old man entered the throne room. ¡°My lord, the expedition we¡¯ve sent in Dacaea has been wiped out.¡± ¡°What? How is that possible? The wards were perfect.¡± Answered a decrepit figure sitting on a smaller chair besides the throne. ¡°We do not know how or why, but the lord is taking step to patrol and exorcise the numerous haunts on his territory.¡± ¡°Why now of all time?¡± It was too little, too late, and worse it was interfering with his plans. The former lord of life territory had a lot of haunts suiting their needs due to its long-standing association with the army of light, not as much as the former fire and death territories, but still incomparably more than the other three. ¡°Our comrades are too few and too precious to lose, we¡¯ll have to abandon all our operation in Aether kingdom for the time being.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t it delay our great design?¡± He had worked all his life towards this single goal, it was selfish of him but he wanted to see it with his own eyes. ¡°I, more than anyone, understand your anguish, but it¡¯s because we¡¯re nearing completion that we must be more careful than ever. Remember, a rash decision is what got us here in the first place!¡± ¡°You are right, my lord, I won¡¯t let myself be blinded by my desire again.¡± ¡°I wish I had your patience back then.¡± Murmured the figure. ¡°It wasn¡¯t your fault my lord, you were carrying the hopes of all.¡± ¡°Then, let us hope I¡¯ve learned from my mistakes.¡± Answered the figure in an inaudible voice. Thanatopia could be seen from the coach¡¯s windows. Soon they¡¯d have to buy horses if they wanted to continue on their way, a task Ignis wasn¡¯t looking forward to it: Azrael had never ridden a horse before and Thracian was¡­ well, a ghost. As the coach draw near the city, the mage got the foreboding feeling that something terrible was waiting for them, and then all the hair on his body stood up. You couldn¡¯t call this a city anymore; it was more akin to a giant haunt. ¡°What the hell with this place? How could they let it become like that?¡± ¡°Fear.¡± Whispered the child. ¡°Fear and stupidity. Sir Janardan said they¡¯d rather live amongst ghosts and curses than let a single necromancer walk free.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°It looks like they¡¯ve got their wish.¡± Answered the mage in the same voice. Getting blamed for everything that got wrong was an everyday thing for those bearing the death attribute but there¡¯s a limit to stupidity.¡± ¡°It gets slightly better south, not by a whole lot, there are still a lot of fools convinced that everything will get better once they¡¯ve eradicated the death attribute.¡± ¡°These are also Janardan words, I presume?¡± ¡°Yes, sir. Many see him as this country¡¯s savior, but a lot more as the source of its corruption.¡± The giant in armor leaned over the kid to scold him. ¡°Use your own words, kid. Trying to talk like an adult makes you sound like a parrot.¡± ¡°Sorry, sir. I won¡¯t do it again.¡± Ignis didn¡¯t like this exchange on bit as he blurred the line of who was supposed to be the master. Even so, despite thinking he understood the child¡¯s distress, he had to admit even Dacaea looked like a paradise compared to this place. It was really no wonder he saw the damn ghost as the hope of his country. The coach stopped, and the passengers got out. As expected, there was a horse seller only a step away although the price seemed to be on the higher side. Before Ignis could say anything, Thracian walked to the merchant and pointed at three horses. ¡°I want them, how much.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get to choose tin-can!¡± Raged the mage. ¡°Well, someone has too and I¡¯ve forgotten more about horse than you¡¯ll ever know!¡± ¡°In that case¡­¡± ¡°I remember the names of every single of my two hundred and seventeen horses!¡± ¡°But you can¡¯t remember the names of any of your children.¡± ¡°Why should I? There were hundreds of them, all equally worthless!¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Ignis stopped there. There was no point discussing with that thing, it only made him angrier. ¡°How much for the horses?¡± ¡°Do you wish to rent or buy?¡± Asked the merchant. ¡°Buy.¡± He had a terrible experience renting an animal before: he ended having to buy the mount while also paying the full rent. ¡°That¡¯d be twenty Marks, sir.¡± ¡°Come on, they¡¯re used horse, you can¡¯t charge me the same as a freshly trained one.¡± Denied the mage. ¡°¡­¡± Started the seller but a booming voice stopped him in his track. ¡°Brat, stop embarrassing yourself and pay the man.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m going to accept the mark up! Go do your job¡­ whatever that is, tin-can.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Tried once again the merchant, only to have his voice covered by the same booming voice. ¡°Ts, and here I was trying to protect whatever little credibility you have. These lovelies are wonderfully trained to accept about any rider independently from their skills and other particularities. They might as well be warhorses!¡± ¡°¡­¡± Started again the merchant with a smile before being interrupted once again by the man in armor who had jumped on the back of one of the mounts in the meantime. ¡°See, this beauty listens to everything I say¡­ you should learn from her, brat. No pay the man, will you.¡± Ignis relented, he had more than enough money and if the animal didn¡¯t mind the ghost, then they could use it right away without training. Even so, he didn¡¯t like it and upon seeing Azrael look at him with a rare smile, he told the kid harshly. ¡°What? You got something to add?¡± 14 Their destination was a deserted area about two days away from Azrael¡¯s home village by horse¡­ or it would have been if the child was a competent rider. As thing were, they had to let him rest every two hours, and book an inn mid-afternoon. It was within expectation for Ignis, but unacceptable for the horse loving king. ¡°What kind of child doesn¡¯t know how to mount a horse? If it were my kingdom you wouldn¡¯t even be fit to be a slave!¡± ¡°Cute him some slack old fossil, your kingdom is long gone and there are far more people than there are horses nowadays.¡± ¡°It¡¯s no wonder the world is going to waste. It¡¯s full of weakling who can neither fight nor ride.¡± ¡°The world is going to waste because it was full of horse-brained idiot like you who ruined it with all their fighting!¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have happened if they fought with blade like proper warriors. It¡¯s your fancy magic that¡¯s responsible.¡± ¡°So says the ghost, haunting the world to this day. I don¡¯t know why, but I don¡¯t think your argument convincing¡± ¡°Stop, please!¡± Pleaded Azrael. ¡°I¡¯ll make an effort, so please stop shouting.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to, and you don¡¯t need to. It¡¯s pointless if you can¡¯t walk afterward. We¡¯ll go slowly until you get used to it.¡± Explained Ignis. ¡°You¡¯re pampering him too much: it¡¯s by going beyond your limits that you make real progress.¡± Countered the ghost. ¡°Who care, he¡¯s not trying to become a horseman, but a mage. It¡¯s good if he knows how to ride, but that¡¯s not the bloody point!¡± ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯ll always be a brat! Kid, listen¡­¡± The voice stopped and the armor loudly fell to the ground. ¡°What did you do.¡± Asked the necromancer, pleased by the turn of event. ¡°I¡¯ve forced him inside me, and I¡¯m restraining him.¡± Groaned the child. ¡°You should do that more often.¡± Commented his teacher with a large smile. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ struggling to¡­ get¡­ out.¡± Whimpered the young mage breathless, his face red from the effort. The armor reassembled itself slowly. ¡°That was nasty kid. I take back what I said, you aren¡¯t a wimp.¡± Ignis understood the appeal of the ancient king ability to hunt and destroy other spirits ¨C even if he didn¡¯t approve of it ¨C but he could only see him as a dangerous entity, and the fact Azrael couldn¡¯t control it made it even more obvious. ¡°Why did the cardinal see in you, old fossil? You¡¯re just a killer from bygone times.¡± A voice came from the almost complete armor, if you squinted your eyes, you could see a faint. ¡°You can¡¯t unite the world with pretty word, brat. Only the threat of greater violence can restrain violence.¡± ¡°Unless it escalades it.¡± There was plenty example of that happening, but he couldn¡¯t remember a single one of peace achieved through pure oppression. ¡°I don¡¯t want to discuss politic with an inexperienced brat who can barely control himself.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to hear advice from a ruler whose reign was succeeded by hundreds of years of war.¡± ¡°That was my successor¡¯s fault, not mine.¡± ¡°Oh, and what was his name? Surely you must know.¡± The ghost didn¡¯t know, he hadn¡¯t bothered appointing one, preferring the tried and proven method of a good bloodbath to select the strongest ruler. ¡°You don¡¯t know what it was like.¡± Pointed out the ghost, a feeble defense at best. ¡°What a coincidence, I happen you know nothing of what it¡¯s like now.¡± The armor had been complete for a while, and it climbed back on the horse keeping it ethereal mouth shut. ¡°Azrael, come here.¡± Called Ignis in a serious tone. ¡°What is it, master?¡± Answered the child politely. ¡°We¡¯re going to work on your, on the fly warding and shielding.¡± ¡°I understand warding, but what is shielding?¡± ¡°Warding is for magical effect, while shielding is for physical ones. Honestly, as a pure death attribute you have very few options for the latter and almost all of them need a familiar. Thankfully, you have one, even if¡¯s terribly obnoxious.¡± ¡°Please, don¡¯t start again, master.¡± Pleaded the young apprentice. ¡°You¡¯re right, sorry.¡± Said the young mage apologetically before continuing in a business-like tone. ¡°The biggest drawback of the death attribute, is that you can only act on things that were alive at some point, and to varying degree. But with enough practice, a familiar allows you to act on the living and the unliving, like your ghost possessing an armor for example.¡± ¡°Eh? A normal familiar can do that? I thought it was something limited to him alone.¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s a special one alright, a normal familiar would be unable to achieve this degree of precise movement and strength. At best you could use them create a pile of object or float a shield in front of you.¡± Before possessing the armor, Thracian had already been able to interact with physical object, but at great cost for itself. From what he had gathered, it had taken him thousands of hunts to get to the point where it could manifest himself. However, thanks to its contract with Azrael he was now able to do so on a grander scale and with his master shouldering the expenditure. ¡°Personally,¡± continued Ignis. ¡°I use wind for shielding as it has a physical manifestation, but it¡¯s possible to use necrotic power to move the world, much like what you did when you fought against Thracian. Just be sure to keep it as a last resort, because it caused a ton of problems down the line as you probably remember.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t really need it, then?¡± ¡°Do not underestimate evil spirit, they don¡¯t have much influence on the physical world, but they don¡¯t need to. A small rot curse on an old wooden beam can be enough to drop a roof on you. Watch the environment and be prepared.¡± Ignis took out a dead rabbit from its bag. He had bought at the market yesterday, but it looked almost fresh thank to his power killing the creature responsible for the decomposing it. ¡°It is possible to manipulate a corpse to some degree but you have to control its every action by yourself, or automate them. Both methods however are far from being as responsive as with a familiar.¡± ¡°You said something about controlling the living?¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see about that later. It is kind of like when Thracian is insides you, but he¡¯d be the one in control.¡± ¡°Ewww.¡± ¡°Ewww, indeed. Now concentrate on the rabbit and will it to move. I won¡¯t give you a spell to recite, it¡¯s better you come up with your own.¡± And mostly because mine is ¡®Become my flesh puppet, and dance to my tune, you rotten corpse.¡¯ Courtesy of my master. ¡°Eh? You can make your own spells?¡± Up until now he had been handed down his spells, that was the normal method. ¡°That¡¯s the normal method, but it gives slightly better result if you come up with your own, and it¡¯s easier to remember.¡± Since he had inherited his from his master, he had in a way followed the ancient method, however he had a stronger connection with the spell than most student did because of the shame he had felt after discovering what they truly meant. ¡°What about, Dance to my tune, my flesh puppet. Become a shield for your master?¡± Volunteered the child. Ignis looked at him agape for almost five second before asking. ¡°Where did you hear that? Are you my master in disguise?¡± ¡°Eh? It was in the notebook you lent me.¡± Protested the confused apprentice. ¡°I just told you to come up with your own.¡± ¡°But I like the sound of this one, it sounds weird, guttural and all. Like a secret ancient language.¡± Ignis was becoming red with embarrassment. ¡®It¡¯s just the words backward. It sounds impressive, but it¡¯s just a damn joke!¡¯ ¡°Just do as you like, but don¡¯t come complaining later.¡± 15 The blight, such a fitting name. A large expense of rotten earth with an omnipresent smell of death and decay. The element of death was tremendously strong around the area, but however strong something didn¡¯t feel right. ¡°What did the other death mages say about this place?¡± Asked Ignis. ¡°Not much, only that it was beyond their ability.¡± ¡°Yeah, I think it¡¯s beyond mine too. I feel the effect of many curses, but none of them seem related to¡­¡± He waved at the expanse with defeat in his voice. ¡°this.¡± ¡°I thought you were the best.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the best they have, not the best there is; that¡¯s my master¡­ Do you think I could meet with that Janardan guy, the one who taught you before you came to us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, he wasn¡¯t against me going there, but he gave me the feeling that he doesn¡¯t like the church very much.¡± It was no surprise considering their public stance against the death element, many thought they should be more proactive, including Ignis himself. ¡°Can¡¯t blame him for that, the world is a mess and it¡¯s only getting worse, and it¡¯s all because we let the fear and ignorance of the clueless masses limit our actions.¡± ¡°Nice speech brat, but what will you do about it?¡± Ignis didn¡¯t answer, there was nothing he could do by his lone self. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I though, a big angry mouth who can talk the talk but won¡¯t walk the walk.¡± That was so true that it hurt. He complained and carried a lot of anger, but short of starting a revolution, he saw no way to change the mentality. Most necromancers had a natural dislike for violence¡­ which wasn¡¯t to say they were pacifist, just that they were less keen to resort to murder compared to other mages.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Hear that child,¡± Continued Thracian. ¡°those are the cry of a pathetic loser. If you don¡¯t want to become like that, you should follow your ambition, consequences be damned.¡± ¡°You know what?¡± Asked Ignis with a faint smile. ¡°I think the spirit responsible for all this is still inside. We should send his majesty to deal with it¡­ that is why is there after all, right?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way I setting foot in there, brat. Did you go crazy?¡±¡± ¡°You¡¯re already dead. Anyway, I¡¯m almost certain you won¡¯t be affected.¡± His smile was growing harder to conceal as he spoke. ¡°Almost? Brat, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m¡­¡± His commanding tone and attitude suddenly changed into a pleading one. ¡°Hey, kid please¡­¡± Azrael was ordering him forward and he could barely resist the push. ¡°Stop, stop!¡± ¡°Please stop.¡± Echoed Ignis. ¡°Let him remove his armor first, we don¡¯t want him to bring back some nasty contaminant.¡± As the armor fell on the ground, the ancient king screamed. ¡°Bastard, I¡¯ll kill you. I swear.¡± And then, a few seconds later. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling anything.¡± The necromancer laughed then exclaimed triumphantly. ¡°Seems like you¡¯re no different, you can only talk the talk.¡± The armor reassembled itself then came at him with a vengeance, only to be forcefully stop a meter away. ¡°Did you think I hadn¡¯t taken precaution against you, your majesty?¡± Then in business-like tone. ¡°Jokes aside, I¡¯m now one hundred percent certain this is the work of an earth or life mage.¡± ¡°I thought you said it was an evil spirit.¡± Countered Azrael. ¡°Just because the dead have an affinity with the death element doesn¡¯t mean they lose the ones they had in life. I think we have the wight kings make for a perfect example.¡± He looked up to gather his thought before explaining. ¡°I think if it was the curse of rot I told you about, this earth would be in a much worse state, almost like sand or chalk.¡± ¡°Can you do something about it.¡± Asked Azrael full of hope. ¡°I can¡¯t, but you can. Have your familiar kill the evil spirit involved and it should wane with time.¡± ¡°Thracian, go and hunt him¡­ hunt them all. Destroy every evil spirit in the area.¡± ¡°Now, that¡¯s an order I like.¡± He dropped his armor again, then as he passed Ignis, spoke in a lower voice. ¡°I¡¯ll make you regret mocking me, brat.¡± The menace didn¡¯t bother the mage much, from his point of view the ghost was a threat he¡¯d have to deal with sooner or later. Ii wasn¡¯t a matter of if they¡¯d clash, but when. Ignoring the dead king, he put on some gloves and a mask, took one of the horse feedbags, filled it earth taken from the blighted side before heating it with his fire magic for a long time. Once he was done, he told the child to give him the reanimated rabbit trotting besides him and cut it in two. One half, he threw on the blight, the second on the earth in the bag. ¡°Let¡¯s see how it goes.¡± 16 Thracian was afraid. He had lived most of his life devoid of fear, leading armies in the conquest of the whole continent, only to end up an old made terrified by death. His last moment, and what came after, were nebulous at best, however he remembered seeking eternal life. Was his current state the result of that search, he couldn¡¯t say, but it had taken him thousands of years of devouring spirits to regain his self. Even then, it hadn¡¯t been perfect, the cost of the hunt greatly offset the gains and it was only after reaching a major population center that he finally found enough prey to sustain himself. Truthfully, he was more afraid of going back to those time when he lacked self-awareness than to disappear and that¡¯s why he had tested and offered his service to Azrael. The child was strong, strong enough to support him, and determined enough not to care about the means. The brat on the other hand, although emotional, wasn¡¯t so easy. Furthermore, he had already taken a dislike to him due to the way he absorbed other spirits. They¡¯d butt head sooner or later, and he¡¯d have to make sure the kid would be on his side at that time. The ancient king stopped this train of thought, he had found his prey, it was stronger than any he¡¯d fought before and that was far from the only problem. He hated the idea, but he¡¯d need some help with this one. Ignis looked into the feedbag, this half was only slightly rotten but the one thrown into the blight had partly liquified; it was proof of his theory of something living into the earth, something that spread through contact. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t very that deadly, or the situation would be much worse. ¡°Azrael, come here.¡± ¡°What is it, master?¡± Asked the child while rubbing his eyes. He hadn¡¯t slept well; he was sore from being horseback and the sight of this place had caused bad memories to resurface.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Look at this.¡± He said, showing the content of the feedbag, then the other half on the ground. ¡°What do you think?¡± There were two obvious options, either the cursed was limited to a zone around the caster, or there was something in the ground and the mage had killed it when he heated the ground yesterday. He pointed at the nearest part of the blight, and proposed. ¡°Should we destroy all life in this area, and try again?¡± The mage nodded contentedly; this was the way to go to test his theory. ¡°That¡¯s right. Now, I want you to decide which spell is the best to use.¡± ¡®Which spell?¡¯ Thought the child. Direct destruction probably wouldn¡¯t work as whatever was in the earth could come back crawling later. It¡¯d have to affect the surface, and what¡¯s beneath and prevent whatever to come back¡­ ¡°Do you want me to cut this swath of land with the curse of death and decay?¡± Asked the child incredulously. ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I had in mind, but that¡¯d work just as well¡­ even better. It¡¯d even prove the death attribute had nothing to do with it. Well thought.¡± Ignis idea had been to vitrify are large swath of the land with intense heat, but he liked the kid idea better because it wasn¡¯t as destructive. ¡°Isn¡¯t that like the worst spell of all the death attribute repertoire? It completely destroys the land.¡± ¡°Only a part of it, and it takes time. My idea was to burn everything down to a few meters deep. I assure, your method is better. People tend to think death is worst element because it¡¯s sneaky or whatever, but in matter of destructivity it doesn¡¯t hold a candle to the main four.¡± Azrael looked at his master dubiously, it didn¡¯t fit into what he¡¯d been taught. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. Half of the former wind and fire king territories are glassed land. The water king created a giant lake of acidic water to protect his frontiers and the earth king cut a giant chasm. People blame the death king for the wights actions, but they only came back to their former ways.¡± ¡°Then why does everyone blame him? Blame us?¡± ¡°Because he attempted to become immortal and gave almost it to a bunch of crazies bent on ruling the world instead, duh! Maybe because the dead from this ancient war still haunt this world to this day, or maybe they think the cure is worse than the disease. Fear breeds fear and makes people stupid, and at the time, they were very, very afraid¡­ they still are.¡± The child nodded, then frowned. ¡°Aren¡¯t you calling everyone stupid?¡± ¡°What? Aren¡¯t they?¡± After all, he had a bagful of stupid who couldn¡¯t read a contract to save their life to prove his point. 17 ¡°Hey brat.¡± Called Thracian. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can do this one alone.¡± ¡°Oh, could it be his majesty needs this lowly one¡¯s help?¡± Ignis smiled. ¡°No, that can¡¯t be, it is his majesty, the great conqueror, he wouldn¡¯t need a brat¡¯s help.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t even try, brat. Jokes are supposed to be funny, but you make everything dreary.¡± They could go at it for hours if need be, knowing it was pointless since neither would fold. ¡°What is it?¡± Asked Ignis ¡°Did you find your match?¡± ¡°I found your earth mage, but that thing isn¡¯t your everyday spirit. It¡¯s not fully formed like me but it¡¯s conducting a ritual and using other spirits to protect himself.¡± Spirit congregating a on a piece of cursed land wasn¡¯t uncommon, but they rarely acknowledged each other existence, much less cooperated. ¡°They¡¯re acting together to curse this land?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s soothing this elaborate. It¡¯s probably this one spirit using the other. No, my problem is that the other attacked as soon as I approached and it went in hiding.¡± ¡°You want me to distract them while you go for it?¡± It¡¯s range of action was pretty limited with a familiar, not unless he sacrificed them which he hated doing¡­ although he still had a few bandits and mass murders in his bag he wouldn¡¯t feel any remorse for.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°That¡¯s it. I don¡¯t need much time, open the path for me and it won¡¯t have any opportunity to hide.¡± Would that even work, though. If they didn¡¯t consider his familiar a threat, they might be tempted to ignore it, or worse, capture it¡­ ¡°Azrael, is there an abandoned village around here, preferably one with a cemetery.¡± The young apprentice had been waiting to learn this. Even since he learned of animating the dead, he¡¯d thought about using them to perform exorcisms from a safe distance. ¡°There are, but I cannot tell you if they¡¯ve moved their dead when the people abandoned them.¡± It made sense that the people wouldn¡¯t want to leave their loved ones to the mercy of this terrible curse, but that sounded like their best chance too. Right from the start, they found what they needed. Some graves had been emptied, but most of the older ones had been left alone. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this.¡± Exclaimed Ignis, walking toward an empty shed near the cemetery. Inside was a pair of shovels left alone either because of their terrible quality, or their intended use. ¡°Catch.¡± He said as he threw one for Azrael. ¡°What?¡± He hadn¡¯t expected that at all. He thought they¡¯d simply use magic and the dead would rise from the ground. ¡°I can blow a hole open with my fire magic, but you can¡¯t.¡± He smiled at the child alarm as it reminded him of his own not so long ago. ¡°It¡¯s not as simple as you think to dig your way out, believe me, I tried.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just blow a hole open?¡± Pleaded the child. ¡°I¡¯d do it if I was in a hurry, but since there a risk of damaging the corpse, I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Thracian, you do it.¡± Ordered the child, but to his dismay, the ghost easily resisted. With a laugh, Ignis explained. ¡°You are too shaken to control your familiar properly. Anyway, I¡¯m with him on this one, you can¡¯t just leave all the distasteful part to your familiar.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I try too? Digging from inside out?¡± ¡°No, that¡¯d be letting Thracian do all the work again.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± The apprentice suddenly realized something. ¡°Wait a minute, you¡¯re the one needing a corpse, not me.¡± ¡°Oh? I thought you wanted to learn?¡± ¡°I want to learn magic, not how to rob tombs.¡± ¡°Sometimes, they¡¯re the same thing. Now dig!¡± 18 The exhumed corpses were old and rotten, but they still had their ligaments and sufficient flesh. Ignis first used his power to kill every organism that lived inside the two bodies as there was a good chance fresh air would make them more active, then applied a light curse to stop new parasite from settling in. Even for Ignis the smell was painful to bear, and not something he¡¯d ever become fully used to, but for Azrael, it was much worse. He waited until the young apprentice had finished vomiting to approach him again with a wet towel and some soap. ¡°Here, clean yourself up.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t what you were expecting, right?¡± ¡°I¡­ I hadn¡¯t really thought about it. I didn¡¯t know corpses smelled so bad.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t¡¯ worry, it¡¯s the same for everyone. The story about raising the dead kind of forget to take into account the smelly and retching parts. It¡¯s not cool, it¡¯s a disgusting and horrendous act, don¡¯t ever forget about it.¡± The child, didn¡¯t dare look at the two bodies. ¡°I won¡¯t sir.¡± You¡¯ll have to go through it though was the thought on his teacher mind at this very moment, but first. ¡°I¡¯m going to transmit the ownership of one of my familiars to you.¡± ¡°Eh? But why, I already have one.¡± His question was genuine because he had yet to understand what possession was all about. ¡°Typical spirits are pure desire or hatred, they can be tricky, sometimes cunning, but they don¡¯t have will and intelligence of their own. At best, they carry bits of knowledge of what they once were and use it carry their vendetta against the living.¡± ¡°Yes, I know that.¡± Why did his teacher feel the need to feed him such trivialities? ¡°You do, do you? Tell me, does anything I said apply to this?¡± He pointed at the haunted armor behind him. ¡°Ah¡­¡± He¡¯d gotten so fixated on the benefits he could get from the singularity, that he¡¯d forgotten about what made it special in the first place. ¡°Eventually, you might have to use possession on this once, but I wouldn¡¯t recommend it. Take this.¡± The doll contained a particularly evil spirit, although it hadn¡¯t been remotely as harmful in death than it had been in life. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about hurting this one, treat it as a disposable thing, it¡¯s trash. If there¡¯s really is a hell, it¡¯s meant for the likes of this one.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What¡­ what did it does?¡± He wanted to know, but at the same time, felt it might be better not to as it¡¯d might cause him to hate the spirit. ¡°You don¡¯t need to know, and you¡¯re better not knowing. It¡¯s just a spirit now.¡± Even though he said that, he himself differentiated between his familiar depending on their origin as proven by his previous statement. Azrael despite being able to discern the double standard, accepted the statement: knowing wouldn¡¯t help. Ignis showed the method for possession a few times. There was no actual method to teach it, It didn¡¯t require a spell and could be describe as a natural ability for those born with the death element. Eventually, you¡¯d learn how to do it¡­ or not. The young apprentice tried many times but couldn¡¯t reproduce it. He suspected his slight disgust towards the spirit might have something to do with it and raised the question with his teacher. ¡°I know you told me about its past so I wouldn¡¯t worry about hurting it, but it made me feel antipathy and disgust towards it, I think somewhere inside, I don¡¯t want to bond with it.¡± ¡°You might be right, the next one wasn¡¯t a particularly bad person.¡± It was also one of his clients. A lot of them reneged on their promise out of greed or out of fear, this one was the latter. ¡°Once you¡¯re done, I¡¯ll ask you to release it.¡± There was more than one lesson being taught, a necromancer role wasn¡¯t to judge which spirit deserved an afterlife, and which didn¡¯t. They did anyway, no human could be truly impartial, but they needed to make the effort. The idea of liberating a trapped innocent soul was tempting enough for the child to try harder, and he did it in only a few tries. Nothing of what he had expected happened, it was very much the same a looking through a spyglass or connected mirrors, or not¡­ ¡°I can look around. I can fly¡± Exclaimed the child. Finally, he caught sight of his own unmoving body, down on the ground and the vision terrified him. In a blink of an eye, he was inside. Azrael wanted to try again immediately, the feeling of flying weightlessly through the air had been tremendously enjoyable. Next time he wouldn¡¯t succumb to fear. His teacher though, had other idea. ¡°You did it.¡± Announced Ignis proudly. ¡°Your first possession. Now, as promised free this poor spirit.¡± ¡°Ah, yes.¡± How could he have forgotten about that. ¡°I¡¯ll do it immediately. I, Azrael liberate you and hereby sever our contract; may you find peace in the after-life. ¡° Ignis smiled internally, content to hear a proper spell coming from his disciple, but there was no time to spare, he needed to seize the moment. ¡°Try again with the second spirit, and avoid looking down.¡± The two main reason for losing controls where the fear of height, or seeing your own body, as long a he didn¡¯t look down he¡¯d avoid them both. The second time was easier, and the apprentice had already forgotten about his distastes for the spirit in his hurry to fly again, in fact he wouldn¡¯t realize he had been manipulated until much later. 19 Azrael had lost all measure of time, flying joyously through the air, detached from his body and his worries until he suddenly found himself back in his body with both his cheeks burning hot. Ignis was right beside him, removing his hands. ¡°Did you hit me?¡± ¡°I tried some more gentle method first, but you weren¡¯t responding.¡± He had let the child lose himself on purpose. Possession came with its fair share of danger, but the two major ones were disconnection, and reverse possession. The former was what the young apprentice had experienced by putting too much of himself inside the spirit. The second was a likely consequence of the first, and occurred when a spirit commandeered an emptied body. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for almost an hour, what were you thinking leaving your body for so long, it could have died!¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t that long¡­ was it?¡± It was hard to deny that the sun had moved quite a lot compared to what he remembered. ¡°I let you do as you wanted since it was only your second first time, but you managed to do even worse than with your first. You didn¡¯t anchor yourself to your body, you literally left it alone to die or worse, get possessed. Do you have a death wish or something?¡± ¡°Er¡­ I¡­ What?¡± Azrael¡¯s mind was a mess after spending so much time outside his body, however the word of his master conjured a sense of dread: he¡¯d almost died ¨C or more precisely, left alone, he¡¯d have died for sure. ¡°Take your time to gather your thought and think about what you¡¯ve done wrong.¡± To deliberately let the learner, make all the mistakes then throw them into his face, was cruel at best. However, many generations had proved that words of caution could only go so far; a bit of pain on the other hand would etch the danger into the apprentice¡¯s mind. ¡°So, what did you do wrong?¡± Asked the master again. ¡°I left my body empty¡­ and I didn¡¯t put¡­ a¡­ ward?¡± Hazarded Azrael who hadn¡¯t regained all his faculties yet. ¡°Is that all? Is that really all?¡± ¡°How long¡­ did you say I¡­ was gone?¡± Speaking was arduous, so was remembering things. ¡°About one hour, your body went into a coma, and your breath was becoming weaker and weaker.¡± ¡°Why¡­ didn¡¯t you wake me?¡± ¡°I tried to call you, I prodded you, don¡¯t you remember?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± It felt distant, but there might have been something like that, something that tried to force him back into his body against his will.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°I want you to order your familiar to possess one of the corpses we dug out.¡± ¡°No!¡± Now that he was back in his body, he was afraid to try again, afraid to die. ¡°You don¡¯t need to possess it yourself, not right now, but you¡¯ll have to do it again eventually. You know that, right?¡± ¡°Right.¡± The order came out instinctually, the moment of confusion after a possession was the best time to learn the techniques to control a familiar, yet another reason to push the child through this whole ordeal. ¡°Ask it to run around the cemetery, then do a handstand.¡± The corpse only managed a few steps of a shambling walk before falling down the ground. It wasn¡¯t surprising, a spirit was a shadow of its former self, barely a mass of desire holding to a few knowledges and desire of its past life; a familiar was a shadow of that shadow. The corpse got up, then fell again, and again¡­ it¡¯d continue until the child didn¡¯t¡¯ rescinded his order, or it got it right. ¡®How long did I have this one?¡¯ Ignis remembered the name and circumstances of all his acquisitions, but not the dates. ¡®It was one of my first mission alone, a piece of trash haunted by his victims. As soon as I exorcised them, he tried to stab me under the guise of a hug.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t uncommon for his client to try to kill him, a lot of them were terrible people who wouldn¡¯t want the knowledge of their crimes to spread. Other, were fearful of what others would do if they learned of their dealing with the force of evil. The most common type was people wanting their money back; after all, it wasn¡¯t a crime to kill thief and necromancers, right? ¡®That was fast.¡¯ Thought Ignis as the corpse finished the first length of the cemetery. It was natural for the bond to be strengthened in this state, but he was a natural doing in minutes or hours what took others days. ¡°I want you to possess your familiar again, but take proper precaution this time.¡± ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t.¡± Whispered Azrael, still confused and afraid. ¡°Didn¡¯t you come to me to learn how to dispel this curse? Didn¡¯t you bond with Thracian for that purpose? To free your country from the curses and evil spirit that plagues it. Well, there is no shame in giving up, give me that damn ghost and I¡¯ll seal your power.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ giving up! Thracian¡¯s mine, I won¡¯t let you take him away. I need him to save my home!¡± Ignis only reasons for coming here were Thracian and the fear of what he could do without supervision. If he yielded, his home and the whole country would eventually get devoured by the curse. ¡°Then show me.¡± The young apprentice sent his will into the corpse, and brought it to face the necromancer. ¡°See, I can do it. I won¡¯t let you go until we¡¯ve dealt with that damn curse. And don¡¯t even think about taking Thracian from me or sealing my power, I won¡¯t let you.¡± Ignis answered gravely. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Then chuckling. ¡°You do remember there¡¯s no such thing as sealing someone¡¯s power, right?¡± The voice of Thracian resounded for the first time in a long while, some rare respect in his voice. ¡°Nicely played, brat. I didn¡¯t think you had it in you.¡± ¡°You bastard. You manipulated me?! Did you think it was funny?¡± Screamed Azrael, his confusion finally blown away by his anger. ¡°My master did more or less the same. You can think of it as a rite of passage. ¡°That¡¯s awful, distasteful¡­¡± It was followed by a long litany of words in ful and ing. To this, Ignis simply answered. ¡°Rites of passage often are. I mean, did you ever hear of scarification and tongue piercing?¡± ¡°What are you two talking about, a battle scare is proof of being a man.¡± Assured Thracian. ¡°See? That¡¯s what I mean.¡± Pointed out Ignis. ¡°Those are nothing alike.¡± Countered Azrael. And the discussion went for a long time¡­ 20 The two animated corpses went first, carrying with them all the tools needed for an exorcism. There wasn¡¯t a need to go through, but since it was a rare occasion, it¡¯d be a waste not to use it for training. The first thing was to draw some wards around the site of the ritual. They had already drawn some around their own bodies, but taking into account the numbers and their use of possession, it might not be enough. It was a strange sight to see so many evil spirits in the same place. Not even the ruin of the fortress of light had this many crammed together. As soon as the ritual started, they came in drove, throwing curse after curse and trying to break into the circle, into their bodies. Thracian, moved circled them, waiting for a path to appear. Last time, the main culprit used the confusion to slip away and hide. This time, he¡¯d go straight for the culprit and devour it¡­ after that, he¡¯d have a field day with all those damn spirits. A curse catcher burst apart, another rotted down almost instantly. They had to devote so much of their attention on warding the curse, that the things hidden into the ground were now free to eat the corpses. ¡°Master, why don¡¯t the curses kill them?¡± Asked a disembodied voice. ¡°We¡¯re the one warding the curses. Ignore them, unlike the spirits they can only harm the body.¡± ¡°It¡¯s awful, I feel them inside me.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not; you¡¯re safe outside!¡± He acted with assurance for his disciple, but it was naught a front. ¡®Hurry, you damn ghost bastard.¡¯ Less than half of the spirit had gone on the offensive, leaving Thracian to wonder if he should take the risk. However, when the fear of his host flowed through their link, he jumped into action. If it failed, they could try another day, but if he lost Azrael, he¡¯d go back to be an erring ghost lost in the middle of nowhere. The ghost mage retreated behind the others, there was no intelligence involved, just the simple repletion of past tactics and knowledge. The spirits didn¡¯t act to protect it either, there was no collaboration: they saw an enemy and attacked.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. He summoned his ghostly axe and cleaved any who got in his way, his mind entirely focused on the prey ahead. The destruction of their brethren caused a stir amongst the apparitions. Some moved out of the way, acting on the remnants of their instinctual fear responses, other became even more aggressive. It was all for naught, though, as unlike Thracian, they weren¡¯t equipped to fight the dead. The ancient king threw his axe, mowing down a dozen of spirit beside his target. He felt a rush of power like never before, a wave of memories and a sensation of loss. ¡°I could have done without that.¡± Complained the ancient ruler as a flood of regrets and losses washed his mind. He pushed them away ¨C as he did with so many things during his life ¨C to focus on the task at hand: the harvest. He went after those targeting the pair first, with each kill, his body becoming even more defined. ¡®Tch, things weren¡¯t as rosy as I remembered.¡¯ He¡¯d been one child amongst hundred, unloved by both his parents. His rise to power paved by the corpse of his siblings and finally his father. Weakness was despised amongst his people, and there was no greater weakness than attachment. His tribe desired perfect warriors, but what it got instead were ambitious calculating killers with no loyalty for anyone but themselves. The vision he had of himself was getting destroyed by the coming memories. ¡®I was never the great unifier revered, I just played my enemies and my allies against each-others until they were too weak to resist.¡¯ The imperfect memories were far more agreeable than the complete ones, but he couldn¡¯t stop, the feeling of being incomplete was that much worse to bear. Two hours later, the ghost reappeared near Azrael, looking almost normal if it weren¡¯t for his hue and his clothes being seemingly one with his body. ¡°I¡¯m finished. Was all that it said before donning its armor. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Asked the child, worried by the sudden change of comportment. ¡°I am complete.¡± Another laconic answer. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a good thing.¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t. As it turns out I wasn¡¯t who I believe I was. I feel empty, what was it that I was striving for.¡± He wasn¡¯t a hero. He¡¯d lived all his life fearing an assassin, feeling safer on the battlefield surrounded by known enemy than at home, surrounded by secretive ones. Even his death was pathetic: poisoned by an elixir of immortality. ¡°It¡¯s nice that you¡¯re quiet for a change.¡± Mused Ignis. ¡°Shut up brat, I might not be half the man I though I was, but I¡¯m still hundreds of time the man you are.¡± ¡°Scary. This old man doesn¡¯t have any teeth, but he sure got some bite.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you stop fighting for two damn minutes?¡± Snapped the young apprentice. ¡°There¡¯s till work to do!¡± 21 ¡°Please, have mercy, at least spar the children.¡± Begged a crying voice. The room was small, most of the space occupied by a single table. It was set, the food served, however the men around the table weren¡¯t eating. Two had collapsed on their plate, and the last one was sprawled on the ground, all dead. A man was standing over a crying woman, protecting two kids behind her back. He put a knee on the ground to look her calmly in the eyes, then let out two emotionless word. ¡°Would you?¡± The cries of the two kids behind her hadn¡¯t completely covered his voice, but the question was so unexpected she wasn¡¯t sure she heard him properly. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I asked, if the situation was reversed, would you give mercy?¡± His voice cracked this time, betraying the rage hidden behind his impassible facade. ¡°Yes!¡± She cried. ¡°I¡¯m a woman and a mother, I never agreed to their vile schemes in the first place, I only obeyed them out of fear for my children.¡± The young man silently looked over her shoulder. His mask dropped, revealing the hatred he had internalized up to now. ¡°It takes some gall to lie in the face of your victims, you accursed murderous whore.¡± The emotionless came back as fast as it had dropped, disinterestedly he order. ¡°Devour her.¡± Knowing she was about to die like the rest of her family, the woman dropped the act. ¡°Monster, if only your kind didn¡¯t exist, we¡¯d...¡± He screamed ¡°Stop.¡± To something in the air, before turning his attention to the woman one last time. ¡°You¡¯re deluded, bitch. Your kind is the disease, and I¡¯m the cure.¡± He ignored the woman screams and invectives, to listen to something else. ¡°Yes, you can eat her now. Everyone in the village was her accomplice, you can kill them too, but no eating them, and no damaging the bodies, okays.¡± The screams and cries soon ended, and four shadowy figures appeared by his side, two smalls, and two larges. For the first time, his face showed an emotion other than rage. ¡°I know mom, but they were all complicit to their murders. They could have stopped them if they wanted. None of their victims had the death element you know.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. He listened to something else before answering. ¡°Yes dad, with these corpses we¡¯ll be pushing over seven hundred, just a little more and we¡¯ll be¡­¡± Around him, and all over the village, the people got up, shambling towards the same goal, and he stopped mid-phrase to speak to the two small figures. ¡°Arc, Lydia, what did I tell you? I know you want to be friend with the children, but let them pass on.¡± Answering his will; two of his new familiars left the bodies to look for some others, but the two ghostly children did nothing, or rather they couldn¡¯t since their master had yet to give them orders. The one-sided conversation continued for a long time, with the young man filling the blank until hunger stopped him. He searched in the kitchen for fresh food, discarded the previous accessories for new one he was sure weren¡¯t poisoned and got busy. ¡°What do you want to eat, he asked his two siblings? Eh, meat with potatoes? I¡¯ve seen some ham and jerky, but it isn¡¯t the kind or place where you¡¯d find steak you know?¡± The tone was kind, but inflexible, he had to, or they¡¯d walk all over him. ¡°Sit, here¡¯s some bread and cheese if you can¡¯t wait.¡± The four figures weren¡¯t tangible enough to sit, however, as it was their master order, they did their best to look like it. Twenty minute later, he put down plates with large serving of boiled potatoes, and slices of ham in front of each of them and himself while warning. ¡°Be careful, it¡¯s hot¡­ Tch, Arc, what did I just told you?¡± No need the say; the small spirit hadn¡¯t moved an inch, there wasn¡¯t much he could do without a direct order. Once the young man had finished his meal, he told the family. ¡°Arc, Lydia, brush your teeth then go to bed. Mom, dad, I need to talk to you about our plans: I¡¯m thinking about attacking a small keep not far from here to steal their equipment. Undead are stronger than normal people, but without armors, they¡¯re easy to immobilize.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to recall a few of them, with enough clothes we could make some makeshift gambeson. Good thinking mom.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not competition dad, but that¡¯s true that in an undead hand, a pitchfork or a wood axe are as good as any weapon.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Come on, dad. Where am I going to find a pickax around these parts?¡± ¡°¡­¡± He Laughed and laughed, then finally answered the non-existing question. ¡°No mom, spades aren¡¯t the same.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I know dad.¡± His tone was serious again. ¡°Dealing with mages is going to be a pain, but if we can kill a few then we¡¯ll have nothing to fear.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Remember the wights? Yes? I¡¯m thinking about doing the same thing, but I won¡¯t do the same mistake: I¡¯ll unite the whole world under me, and damn anyone who dare resist.¡± 22 An old man hurry into the throne room, his face full of worries. ¡°My lord, terrible news from our brethren up north.¡± ¡°What is it this time?¡± Asked a tired voice coming from a large chair beneath the throne. No one knew of their plan, and yet it had seen more setbacks in the last three years alone, that in all previous years since its inception over seven decades ago. ¡°A necromancer leading an army of the dead has conquered almost a quarter of the country.¡± ¡°Preposterous, how did we not hear of this development earlier?¡± Their plan was mostly articulated around the cursed north, and if that necromancer dispelled them, it¡¯d be the end of it. ¡°Their first action, as it seems, was to close the frontiers.¡± That made sense, the former fire country was a mess of small fiefs competing with each other. The southern mountains in particular, were as lawless as it goes, and the neighboring countries would be more interested in stopping the incursion of the bandits nesting there than learning of what was happened on the other side. ¡°Then, if news can circulate freely now¡­¡± ¡°It is as you surmise, sir, their control is good enough that they don¡¯t have to fear external intervention anymore.¡± ¡°How, strong is their army?¡± That was the most important factor, the one that¡¯d decide their future actions. ¡°At least ten thousand of the dead at the moment of the report.¡± ¡°Ten?¡± Even the death lord had only ever controlled less than a thousand, and the damage they caused after his death still plagued the world to this day. Fear suddenly gripped him. ¡°What are operatives doing?¡± ¡°They¡¯re looking for a way to ingratiate themselves to the new order, in order to assassinate their leader.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Order them to stop, the necromancer must be protected at all cost.¡± They didn¡¯t have the mean to resist ten thousand wights, no one could... at least not yet. ¡°My lord?!¡± His fear was out of the comprehension of the old man, as it was from anyone who hadn¡¯t witnessed the horrors of powerful undead left without a master. ¡°But how? How did they gain this much control in this little time?¡± That was what befuddled him the most. A rule of fear could only go so far. ¡°As far as we know, everyone who stood in opposition was killed and raised as an undead.¡± This much was expected, but it wouldn¡¯t stop the resistance, just make it more secretive. ¡°They had all the leaders captured, and their past crimes exposed to the public, then they¡¯ve gone through prison to free those unjustly imprisoned and execute and raise as undead those who weren¡¯t.¡± How? How did he know of their crimes? Apart for some very rare cases, the dead are blanks¡­ Did they make them up? Unless¡­ ¡°Could it be? Could they have the power to read the memories of the soul?¡± ¡°The memories of the soul? I fear I¡¯ve never heard of it before. ¡° ¡°You know that with some special ritual, it is possible for a wight to conserve its memories from life?¡± ¡°Yes, my lord, that much is obvious.¡± How could he not know something so integral to their origin and their plans. ¡°Now, you must have heard how a lot of religions say they dead will be judged and sent to heaven or hell?¡± That point was much more debatable, but a lot of people believed those tales. ¡°Indeed, sir, it¡¯s a fundamental for most religions.¡± ¡°Independently of whether heaven or hell exists, some believe the soul records everything, and that¡¯s why it is possible for some wights and spirits to conserve their memories independently from their body. If this necromancer can truly access these memories, then what you said isn¡¯t impossible.¡± ¡°Are you saying they¡¯re administering true justice? That they can see through the lies of anyone?¡± If they reading the truth into people¡¯s souls, it¡¯d be impossible to conspire against them. ¡°No, I do not. It doesn¡¯t matter if what their accusation are true, only that enough people believe they might be. Think about it, if it¡¯s known that necromancers can expose people crimes, anyone rejecting their existence too strongly will appear suspicious; afterward, all that is needed is to make up some proper accusation and this suspicion will become true enough.¡± To think there was such an easily solution, it made all their suffering up to now seems stupid and wasteful. ¡°Won¡¯t they eventually get tangled up in their fabric of lies?¡± ¡°Would they? The current world was based on lies, and no amount of exposing the truth was enough to bury them for good. 23 ¡°So, you¡¯re the one who dealt with that massive curse up north.¡± Spoke Janardan grumpily. ¡°You have my thanks, but that not enough to change my opinion of your damn church: I can¡¯t stand how two faced you are.¡± The man¡¯s physic was the opposite of the mage¡¯s stereotype, tall, large and muscular, he had the aura of a mercenary or an old war veteran. ¡°It wasn¡¯t my work alone. Azrael did most of the work.¡± Explained Ignis to the older necromancer. ¡°You damn right he did,¡± Interjected Thracian, miffed by the fact he couldn¡¯t publicly claim credit for his deed. ¡°you¡¯ve only played the role of a diversion.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck, old man. I¡¯m still the one who had to do most of the cleansing¡­ and I wouldn¡¯t mind doing some more, there¡¯s another blight right in front of me.¡± ¡°Color me scared, brat, that¡¯s the only way you¡¯ll ever see me afraid of you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how the sentence work, old man. Telltale sign of senility if you ask me.¡± ¡°Well, no one does; your opinion doesn¡¯t matter, brat.¡± Eying Thracian suspiciously, the old necromancer asked. ¡°Hum, who could be this¡­ gentleman?¡± ¡°His name is Thracian,¡± Volunteered Ignis. ¡°His knowledge is as profound as a puddle, however is irksomeness is wider than any ocean and taller than any mountain.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Sneered Thracian. ¡°this one was almost passable. Good job, brat, enjoy the first and last decent wisecrack of your entire life.¡± ¡°Do not try to distract me with your banter.¡± Roared Janardan. ¡°This one isn¡¯t human; he is not even breathing.¡± He approached the ancient king, sniffing the air. ¡°You aren¡¯t a wight either, what in the hell are you?¡± ¡°Can we talk about that somewhere¡­ more discreet?¡± asked Azrael timidly, he¡¯d been particularly discreet ever since well before they met with the old master. ¡°Now you talk? Hmph, not even a hello, I don¡¯t know what they taught you in that damn church, but you¡¯ve sure lost your manners.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sir. I didn¡¯t know what to say¡­ you didn¡¯t want me to go, and I made a mess almost immediately.¡± ¡°Eh? You did? But You came back with a master and all.¡± The old necromancer¡¯s reactions were all over the place, getting angry or friendly without warning, this time he seemed genuinely curious, maybe joyous. ¡°What did you do? Come on, tell me?¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°After we relocate, if you don¡¯t mind.¡± Asked Ignis. ¡°Right. Well, follow me then.¡± And then without looking back to see if they followed, he brought them to an unassuming room he used as his office. ¡°Is this place really safe?¡± Asked Thracian. They thin walls didn¡¯t inspire much confidence. ¡°The people here know better than to spy on me. You can put your familiars on the lookout if you don¡¯t believe me.¡± ¡°No, It¡¯s just¡­¡± Ignis hesitated for a long moment, not knowing himself what was bothering him. ¡°I¡¯m not used acting so openly.¡± ¡°This place is my hometown, you know, the people here understand the nature of our work better than most, not like those cretins in the north. They transformed the damn death lord territory into a literal land of the dead. Bloody useless morons, all of them¡­ they mistake their prejudices for the truth and make laws around them! The death lord should have wiped them all out, damn spies and traitors.¡± Azrael clarified. ¡°Most people down south still follow the old customs. Tanathopia on the other hand, was built around refugee from other countries, and a core of life lord worshippers who never pardoned the death lord for transforming their master into a wight.¡± ¡°Even though he was the one who bloody asked for it,¡± Complained the old necromancer. ¡°because he was too weak to help in battle.¡± This was new information for Ignis, if it was true, it was probably censured long ago. ¡°Your damn church should know better, but they went with everyone¡¯s bullshit to appease the birdbrained masses¡­ but enough about this; tell me what that thing is.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a thing, I¡¯m Thracian, king of king. You should watch your mouth old fart, unless you want me to teach¡­¡± The armor suddenly jerked back, before falling to the ground. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of your kind ghost, and what you used to be don¡¯t matter to me. Where¡¯s Thracia? Where are your armies? You¡¯re just a damn ghost, and a king of nothing.¡± This time, Thracian voice came from Azrael general direction carrying a small hint of fear. ¡°What was that?¡± However, it didn¡¯t last long, ceding place to the ancient king usual haughtiness ¡°Is that a way to treat your savior? I¡¯m the one who destroyed the ghost laying that damn curse you were so afraid of up north.¡± ¡°You have my thanks, Azrael, but you should put a leash or your damn pet.¡± He drew a long breath. ¡°Well, now I understand why you¡¯re here, you¡¯re looking for hot spot we haven¡¯t cleaned up yet, right?¡± The trio was a bit lost, thanks to the man habit of skipping all dialog he wasn¡¯t interested in to jump right to the conclusion. ¡°Hum, yes, that¡¯s about right.¡± ¡°I thought so. The most obvious answer would be Tanathopia, this place is a mess, but you¡¯ll only find enmity there. I suggest you leave them to rot, it¡¯ll be faster than trying to convince them.¡± Even with the king¡¯s decree and the backing of the church, Ignis home, the kingdom of Aether was pretty bad, but here it, it felt like they¡¯d sooner kill each-others than talk. He leaned towards Azrael to ask. ¡°It almost sounds like you¡¯re at war.¡± ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be far from the truth, the people up north are convinced they¡¯re being cursed by the one down south, and there have been many confrontations. There are also pogroms, like the one who killed my parents¡­ Honestly, even though I want to save my country before it¡¯s too late, I also feel like those deserve to die for what they did to me and my family.¡± Each of the death mages here had their own focus, Janardan and Azrael cared more about the living, which was why destroying spirits didn¡¯t bother them in the slightest, Ignis cared more about the dead, but he hadn¡¯t completely rejected the living, which explained why he couldn¡¯t completely reject the pair¡¯s method as wrong, going even as far as to help his apprentice. 24 That day, pillars of light erupted all around the world without a warning. Some place, like Tanathopia or the ancient fortress of light disappeared overnight from the surface of the earth in a series of massive explosions. Those in the know who observed the event could find no direct relation between the type, power or age of the curse and the consequence of its disappearance¡­ but the scale and number undeniably played a big role. Without rhyme or reason, giant plots of land, that had been cursed for decades or even hundred of years suddenly found themselves cleansed, or spontaneously burnt to a crisp. As the places that suffered the less were the ones under the new necromancer king of the north, or the ragtag group of death lord believers in the south, many were quick to push the blame on them. However, for the new subject of the necromancer king who had almost entirely escaped the tragedy though, it became a confirmation of a new belief that had recently been taking root: what if it was a punishment for their crimes against the dead? Down south, in an ancient castle, a woman awakened with terrible sadness in her eyes. At her feet, laid many corpses, sacrifice for a revival she hadn¡¯t wished for. ¡°Your majesty,¡± Cried an old man with tears in his eyes. ¡°is that really you?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Murmured the woman. ¡°Why did you bring me back? Whose body is this?¡± She looked at the numerous bodies on the ground. ¡°Was bringing this foolish me really worth such sacrifices?¡± ¡°It was his lordship idea, a massive ritual fueled by the six elements all across the country in order to remove the all the curses in the world, and purify all the accumulated necrotic power. An outlet was necessary for the energy released though, as well as a strong leader to bring the new world together afterward.¡± ¡°And you chose me out of all people?! Me, who ruined the world? I deserved this agony; you should have left me to rot!¡± There was an outcry among the few survivor left in the room, they had followed their leader¡¯s ideal, never once thinking their long-lost lord might have a different opinion.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. The woman looked at the desiccated corpse of her long-lost friend: as the centerpiece of the ritual he¡¯d suffered the most of it and there was nothing left of his soul. ¡°My dear old friend, you were always such a self-sacrificing fool.¡± She looked at the corpse silently, it wasn¡¯t the same she had last seen him possess but there was no mistaking the form of a wight. Her heartbeat accelerated as she pondered about the future. Yes, her heart¡¯s beat, it wasn¡¯t false life or imperfect possession, this stranger¡¯s body was hers truly. What else could she do but honor their sacrifices. She walked back to her throne. As she sat in it, she felt its harness, its coldness, acknowledging the first sensations she felt in so many centuries, she asked. ¡°Tell me of the life lord¡¯s plans.¡± Far north, the necromancer king unemotional face drew a true smile, the same one he normally reserved for his family. He had no idea what happened or why, but if the report was to be believed, this insane event had offered more legibility in a single night that he could have achieved in a life time of trickery and manipulation: those who had followed him with fear or doubt in their heart were confused no more as the world itself had spoken against those who opposed him. ¡°I want estimations of the destruction. Welcome the refugee and open the granaries wherever possible, but only when it is possible! We must help those in need but never at the cost of our own citizen well-being.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord!¡± All present answered with absolute conviction; his rule was cruel and calculating, however in less than a year he had eradicated crime, corruption that had plagued the once great countries for centuries. He¡¯d even reclaimed the large parcel of cursed land to give it back to the people. The display of yesterday had eradicated what little doubt was left in in their mind: he truly was the one true king chosen by the heaven. Vanati and his fellow cardinal didn¡¯t know if they ought to rejoice or not. In one night, most of the naysayers, abusive lords and corrupts merchants had disappeared from the surface of the earth. There were damages of course, but the place that had openly used death mages to cleanse the land had suffered less than others. Furthermore, not a single place associated with the church had suffered damage. Obviously, many of their opposition had accusatorily pointed it out, but the scale of the event had been too massive and those people too unpopular to garner real support. It wasn¡¯t as if the church and the mage were suddenly popular, particularly in the place that had suffered the most, but the one in power knew which way the wind was blowing; there was already an example with the so-called necromancer king. More than anything though, they feared the possibility of a second or even third event. 25 ¡°Over fifteen thousand wights?!¡± Her face blanched at the shock of the announcement. ¡°This is madness. No, insane doesn¡¯t even start to cover the stupidity of what that youngster is doing.¡± ¡°The life lord ordered him protected at all cost. From the information we have gathered, his rule is very pragmatic. He does use violence, but not as much as his predecessors, and his domain is safer than ever¡­ It might be no exaggeration to say that crime and corruption are almost nonexistent.¡± Explained the steward. He didn¡¯t understand why the life lord had be so afraid of the youth, going as far as to rush their plans by decades at the cost of numerous lives. The newly reborn death lord on the other hand, understood very well. The ban on wights was doubtlessly the right decision, but it had brought a loss of knowledge about their functions and dangers. She herself never used more than a few dozens during her lifetime¡­ although, considering each of them was a mage of the highest order, worth an army by itself, the importance of their number was disputable. ¡°Listen children,¡± Said gravely the youthful lord to the men and women whose bodies were much older than her own. ¡°wights many peculiarities are what make them dangerous. The zombies, also known as the possessed, are merely flesh animated by the will of an evil spirit. It is beholden to the same bounds and restriction as its physical and spiritual component.¡± In life, she had been a teacher foremost, and a leader second. Her only reason for joining the war was to answer the woes of the dead and the pleas of her friend the life lord. ¡°Animated corpse, used by necromancers are also moved by a spirit, but the familiar is but a medium bound to the will of its master.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. This information was not superfluous, not all present were death mages, there were normal people as well as mages from all attributes. ¡°Wights only share a tenuous link with their master, they are bound to the body they inhabit first and foremost. This body is protected and maintained by the spirit, almost immune to age and capable of greater regeneration than the living. They are weapons; without wielder nor intelligence and this is by far their most terrifying trait!¡± The people across the room stirred, but they had yet to fully understand the horror of this tool called wight. ¡°They will do their utmost to accomplish their order, no matter the cost to themselves and others, even long after the death of their master. As long as there is someone to direct them, this lack of intelligence can be make-up for by the master. After their death however, an innocuous order like protect this room from intruder will continue to be carried out long after said room falls to ruin.¡± The order to protect the young king made a lot more sense to them now. ¡°Now, imagine what¡¯d happen if you were to order one to destroy the enemy¡¯s army. It¡¯d be fine as long as said army exist, but what would happen afterward?¡± ¡°The wight kings war?!¡± Proposed someone incredulously. ¡°It wasn¡¯t a war at all! It was mindless orchestrated by weapons who had lost their masters. My own bodyguards identified me as their master enemy and destroyed my body while the ritual was still ongoing. My soul was left trapped in this realm unable to pass on, while my creations fought against the world and each-others.¡± She showed a bitter smile. ¡°Had they truly been sentient like my dear old friend, victory would have been nigh impossible, but the damage might not have been so great.¡± Fear gripped them; the necromancer king¡¯s army wasn¡¯t as threatening as the ancient elemental lords, but their sheer number and the speed at which it grew were frightening enough. ¡°What should we do?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to believe talk will be enough, but I doubt it¡¯ll be enough: this young man¡¯s actions derive from insanity and single-mindedness.¡± She shook her head. ¡°We cannot do anything with our numbers; first we¡¯ll have to seek new allies.¡± 26 ¡°Father, Mother, what do you make of it?¡± Asked Denil. The two ghosts manifested before him, silent as usual. This was a common occurrence in the throne room, and the advisor had long stopped reacting to it. Somehow, even those who had knowledge of the way of the dead had come to persuade themselves that he really communicated with them; after all, the king had more than once displayed knowledge only the dead could possess. The missive was from dubious origin, but the content very troubling. The young necromancer had not thought much about what would happen after his death, but that didn¡¯t mean he had thought of it at all. Most wights were part of a long chain of command with him at the top, but their number had grown so fast that it had become impossible to integrate all of them into it; at the current time, about one third of the undead had only a single master besides him. Also, if the content of the letter was to be believed, assigning adjoints would not fully solve the problem as the undead would only accept their orders if, and only if, they acknowledged the death of their former master. Another solution would be to give both of them equal authority, but it¡¯d make a mess of the command structure. ¡°You believe them mother? Even though they presented themselves as the death lord of old?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°True, it does make sense, and their goal is similar to mine¡­ However, they are not compatible: I do not simply wish for unification, I aim to eradicate all evil, whatever the cost.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°No, I do not care I must burn in hell for all eternity¡­ assuming hell does exist, and I do not believe it does.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°My goal will only be accomplished when I¡¯ve created a perfect society without the possibility of crime.¡± His goal was an authoritarian state where all, including the leaders, would be under constant surveillance. From his point of view, too much freedom was a poison, and turning a blind eye to a crime, whether it was out of fear, disinterest or any other reason, was the same as being complicit.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He thought for a long time, then ordered. ¡°Scribe, make a copy for all of our armed force leaders. They must designate at least one adjutant they totally trust and give them equal authority over the wights under their command. These officers must move separately at all time, as to never lose both and leave the undead without a commander.¡± He couldn¡¯t trust the missive entirely, however more oversight was a good thing, it keeps people on their toes, keeps them honest. Alone in the eye of the storm to pass, Windy had a lot of time to think. She already regretted accepting this mission, the pay was great but it wasn¡¯t what brought her here. She was no more interested in her client¡¯s well being or the fate of his people: she had assumed the wight to be a challenge and he had been wrong. Sure, her signature move did not work on those who don¡¯t breathe, but this was nothing but trick she¡¯d come privilege over other for how little damage it did to her surroundings. Something came crashing down. It was the better half of a roof. It was quickly followed by a second object, a corpse, burnt and mangled beyond recognition, it was dead for good this time. A rain of similar bodies soon followed alongside barn, house, horses and many other. She smiled cruelly. ¡®The client isn¡¯t going to be happy about it. Oh well, I doubt he had any intention to pay in the first place.¡¯ Her smile redoubled. ¡°I wonder how he¡¯s going to try to kill me.¡± Then it disappeared. Poison, it was always poison: no originality whatsoever. To her surprise, and pleasure, one of the corpses got back up despite its broken legs. ¡°Too bad,¡± She commented joyfully. ¡°this place is ideal for lightning.¡± One spell later, a first strike struck, missing the target by a wide margin, then a second and a third with no more success, but such is the way of thunder. The next one found its target; she had made the preparation, then another and again and again. Lightning wasn¡¯t very efficient against the dead, but now that there was only one single target, she wanted to see why. She drew her sword and approached the burning corpse. It was still moving but she didn¡¯t care, her age hadn¡¯t weakened so much that she¡¯d lose to that kind of opponent. The flesh was dry and easy to cut; in a single strike, her heavy blade ran through her opponent cleaving it in two at the waist. As Second slash soon followed to do away with its head. ¡°As I thought.¡± Only the outside flesh was burnt, the damages to the organ were minimal at best. ¡®I hope their master will prove more challenging.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t in her contract, but since she¡¯d come all this way, she might as well pay him a visit. 27 It was a strange time for the trio, to suddenly find themselves without work when up to now, they¡¯d been faced with an insurmountable amount they could not possibly finish in a lifetime ¨C or a dozen. Even with the help of Thracian, Azrael had not hoped to make more than a little dent into the mountain of haunts and curses plaguing his home Ignis knew this period of grace wouldn¡¯t last long; people were still dying and few died without regret or resentment. Anyway, his current goal hadn¡¯t really changed, to keep an eye on the dangerous ghost and its reckless master. Jokingly, he asked. ¡°Good job for accomplishing your life¡¯s purpose¡­ in a matter of weeks no less. What do you want to do next? Conquer the world? Bring eternal happiness to all?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I never thought I¡¯d see the day¡­ and I didn¡¯t do it. It just sorts of happened.¡± Having lost his purpose, the young boy had been out of it for days. ¡°You have two options right now, go back to Janardan, or to the church. Either way, the current situation in just a temporary reprieve. Sooner or later, we¡¯ll be needed again.¡± Whatever the youth¡¯s choice, he intended to follow after the dangerous pair, from his point of view, they were no better than a lit candle in a dusty mill¡­ or worse, a bored Windy kid until he stopped being a danger to himself and those around him.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. If he didn¡¯t return to the church, he¡¯d probably lose his salary, but as a decently powerful a fire mage, he could easily work as an escort, same for Thracian. Industries also were also always on the lookout for someone like him, he¡¯d heard they employed mages to smelt special metal that could not be melt under normal circumstances¡­ not that he¡¯d like this kind of job. ¡°I¡¯ll return to the church. I owe them, and I want to learn more about curses; it¡¯s not something Mister Janardan and the others can teach me.¡± Judging from the tone, it was a conclusion he¡¯d reached just then. Something in the statement bothered Ignis though. ¡°I thought you said they didn¡¯t do it because it wasn¡¯t as urgent.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, and what they think. However, I¡¯ve come to realize they only know the basics. Practice makes perfect, and they¡¯ve none. Someone needs to do it, right?¡± Ignis couldn¡¯t help but smile at the gall of the kid; he hadn¡¯t changed at all. He was telling him he¡¯d use him and the church to learn all he could all he needed then bring back this knowledge to his former companion. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to stay and see how the country change? The balance of power has greatly shifted after the destruction of the northern metropoles.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯d love to stay, but I¡¯m still a novice and a child; I won¡¯t be of any help to them right now.¡± This thoughtful aspect of the child made for a great contrast with his usual bullheadedness and recklessness. ¡®Thoughtful yet reckless, deliberate yet careless. What¡¯s wrong with his head?¡¯ ¡°Let us go home then.¡± ¡°Your home, not mine.¡± Pointed out Azrael in a terrible attempt at humor. ¡°Alright then, if you want to nitpick. Let us go back to our temporary dormitory.¡± 28 At the same time as the trio started his journey towards Oto, Janardan received a strange missive. Had it not been for the recent events, he would have immediately dismissed it as an elaborate prank and severely chewed out the messenger. Even so, it was too great a claim to believe. Speaking of the messenger, up until now, he had considered him a comrade among others, not one of great talent, but at the very least committed to the cause. ¡°For all those years, you¡¯ve been spying on us.¡± The man addressed a cynical smile to his former boss. ¡°I chose the path I had most hope in, and I turned out so much better than I could for.¡± ¡°So, you really believe this crap? About the sender being the death lord reincarnate?¡± The lords had been powerful beings, all right. If the legends were to be believed; the extent of their power made it doubtful that they¡¯d been human at all¡­ if. ¡°Why now of all times?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because it is now, that they had to bring her back, have you heard of the necromancer king?¡± ¡°Yet another weird title? What is this one¡¯s deal? Is he the reincarnation of the tooth fairy, leading his army of undead tooth robbing mice for revenge against the life mages and their evil practice of dental care?¡± ¡°Mock me if you want, but you ¡®d only need to see her to believe.¡± The old mage laughed mockingly ¡°It¡¯s not as convincing an argument as you¡¯d think, you know? There¡¯s brainwashing and all this kind of crap, right?¡± It wasn¡¯t like the messenger couldn¡¯t see where his former colleague was coming from, he himself hadn¡¯t been much of a believer¡­ until her resurrection. Her strength was immeasurable, her knowledge unfathomable and determination, immovable. What he saw was no fake, mere puppet brandished by some mad cultist: they had set to liberate the world from the curses of the dead and bring back the death lord, and they¡¯d done just that.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Please, this necromancer king is no joke, he¡¯s got at least fifteen thousand wights under his command. You, who have inherited the ancient tradition, should know more than anyone else what it truly means.¡± ¡°Fifteen thousand?!¡± Disbelief and fear were written on his face. ¡°That can¡¯t be, no one¡¯s strong enough to do that! Even the death lord themselves never had more than a hundred¡­ what the hell is he doing with them.¡± ¡°Conquest and policing, they are in every city, every fort. Also, according to her majesty, creating any number of them is easy, controlling them is not. They are mindless weapons, obeying orders to the letter without real understanding. One bad order, and you¡¯re unleashing a tireless monster upon the world.¡± This description didn¡¯t fit exactly what Janardan had learned, some wights supposedly held intelligence. According to the legend, the life lord had become one of his own accord and fought all throughout the war¡­ maybe even after. ¡°According to they legend, the life lord¡­¡± He was cut short. ¡°Died not so long ago, all so he could bring back her majesty faster. That alone shows how much he feared this necromancer king¡¯s action.¡± ¡°You¡¯re telling me he¡¯s been alive for centuries and hasn¡¯t done anything to deal with this damn mess? If he¡¯d spoken up earlier, we could have reconciled with Aether! If he was the real, then he was a bloody incompetent, a freaking useless bastard¡­¡± The insults didn¡¯t stop for a long time, but the messenger couldn¡¯t get a word in edgewise. He had to wait until the old mage had run out of insults to finally explain. ¡°Most of his people turned their back on him when he became a wight, they wouldn¡¯t have listened to him; in their mind he was nothing but a puppet.¡± ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll met than woman, but any trickery and you¡¯ll find yourself one leader short.¡± ¡°Thank you, Janardan! I swear you won¡¯t regret it. I told them you weren¡¯t the trusting type, you¡¯re free to decide the method, time and place.¡± The messenger smiled, but the old mage, being untrusting by nature, worried even more. 29 If it was a trap, Janardan had no way to know which type. Rather than search counter measure against each and every possibility, he publicized the event and invited anyone who wished to come assist. Despite the hundreds of years, and the great war, the death lord title still commanded a lot of respect amongst the southerner, far more than the current king¡­ whoever that may be. The fraud, for no matter how powerful and knowledgeable she supposedly was, she certainly was one, would be hard pressed to use mind tricks in front of such a crowd. The idea of working with a fraudster befouling the good name of the Lord was difficult, to say the least, but assuming the threat was real¡­ ¡®Damn it, there no point in rehashing the same thought, I¡¯ll know when I see her.¡¯ Thankfully, he¡¯d get his answers soon enough; the time of the rendezvous wasn¡¯t far off. Something changed. He looked around to see the others doing the same: he clearly wasn¡¯t the only one with this feeling. The slight change in ambience soon transformed in a light pull coming from the south, growing ever stronger as time passed. His familiar stirred, he could feel them knocking on their seals to get out... metaphorically. The dead cannot help but gather near strong necrotic power, it stabilizes and reinforce their existence. Even familiars, despite having now will of their own, are unable to totally escape this attraction. A brouhaha erupted among the presents, growing louder and louder as the source of the aura approached. No mere human could hold such power, could she really be what she claimed to be? If she wasn¡¯t, was in the hell, was she? The delegation finally came into view, there were only five living persons but accompanying them was a large gathering of spirits. Unlike normal familiars, they had a ghostly presence to them. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Do you see that?¡± ¡°The dead are walking behind them!¡± And similar comments came from all around, but most notably, from normal people who could not see spirits.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Janardan was regretting his decision to have her come to him, it didn¡¯t matter anymore if she wasn¡¯t the real deal: such power deserved at least that much respect. The woman riding in the back got down from her horse without waiting for her escort to offer help. Ignoring all protocol, she set her eye on the one with most power and countenance to ask. ¡°Are you the one called Janardan.¡± Cold sweat running on this back, the old mage answered with his usual voice. ¡°Are you the death lord reincarnate?¡± ¡°I do not care much for title, the owner of this body was called Aria, you can call me by that name.¡± ¡°Previous owner?¡± Was she implying possession or worst? ¡°You have all rights to judge me for my actions, however I had no part in this waste of human life, nor did I ever ask to be brought back. Regrets won¡¯t change the past, and what is coming is far more important. It deserves all our attention.¡± ¡°Aria then. I expected you to be more regal and commanding.¡± Answered the old mage snidely. He did not trust appearance, and as a result often tested his vis-¨¤-vis¡¯ patience to get a glimpse of their true personality. ¡°I prefer to leave those things for those who care.¡± ¡°I see.¡± This one was a tough nut to crack. ¡°Miss Aria, may I ask you what you expect of us?¡° ¡°I sent this necromancer king a missive sharing my knowledge of the wights, but I fear it¡¯s already too late for them to do anything. All I can do is to seek allies and share my knowledge with them in preparation of what¡¯s to come.¡± ¡°You seem pretty convinced the necromancer king will fail.¡± ¡°From the moment they created this many undead, and scattered them it was already too late. Whether it¡¯s from age, sickness or assassins, they will die and the failsafe will fail. One cannot put a stop to greed and stupidity, put a weapon into someone hand and they will use it.¡± ¡°Do you speak from experience?¡± ¡°I do, not even the lords didn¡¯t start as tyrants. The earth lord was adored by his people before he was feared as the blight caster. Stories put all the blame on the fire lord, but him too in the end was a victim of his country¡¯s ideal.¡± The more he heard, the more he was convinced she was the real deal. Legend of the death lord portrayed them as too kind for their own good, helping others even at her own disadvantage: such as accepting refugees from other countries regardless of the countless spies and assassins hiding in their midst. ¡°We will cooperate with you, but we won¡¯t follow your orders; if you really are who you say you are, you should know why.¡± ¡°I know of my failures better than anyone else, I won¡¯t tell you what to do, but I¡¯ll give you options and tools.¡± Her escort stayed silent, they had brought her back to deal with the threat and unite the world, however just like the life lord before her, she wasn¡¯t suited for the latter and never had been. 30 The damages in Thracia were far and few, but hit Ignis much more closely than the devastation in Thanatopia. The necromancer had on many occasions expressed the view that the people born with the death element should look after themselves first and leave those who rejected them to their fate, he¡¯d even felt somewhat justified by the situation in Hades. Now that he was back in Aether though, he could see that while those who had suffered the most were mostly bad people and detractor of death magic, it wasn¡¯t always the case. Free hospitals, mass graves and even some small cemeteries, had been hit by the incident, and caused some collateral damage. It was one thing to hear of the demise of an evil lord finally killed by his victim¡¯s curse, and another to learn that most of the red-light district he ran had been wiped out in the explosion. Most of the workers there had been victims of bad times or worse, it was unfair for them to die because some exploitative bastards forced them here. Sadly, that had been only the beginning. After the incident, many of the casualties had their misdeeds exposed ¨C sometimes by the church, but far more often by their previous victims or their families themselves. That in itself was a good, however there was the situation of the collateral victims: were they sinner themselves? What of their family? Should they be ostracized in case of a second event? In Philippopolis, Azrael and Ignis were having their dinner at their inn when they heard a conversation at the nearby table. ¡°Did you hear the news? You know Phyllis was killed during the incident.¡± ¡°Good riddance! This bitch got what was coming to her, always skimming on salaries, and kicking people out if they complained.¡± ¡°Well, that wasn¡¯t all. Someone put the brand on their house, the father and son were mobbed last night!¡± After saying that, the voice erupted in laughter.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You didn¡¯t do it, did you?¡± The second voice didn¡¯t laugh though, it sounded worried more than anything. ¡°I wish I did, I¡¯d have loved to see it with my own eyes.¡± Said the first voice. ¡°That isn¡¯t as funny as you think. Laelis and Navaea had to move out of their house, just because they worked in the baron¡¯s stables.¡± ¡°What? But they¡¯re super nice. Always lending a hand and everything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I mean, anyone can be a target. We knocked Aelios¡¯ teeth last month, what if he decides to get revenge.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s a complete bastard, every saw we were protecting that wee girl. ¡°What does it matter? The brand is anonymous!¡± The first voice was panicking now. ¡°Maybe¡­ maybe we should brand him first¡­ Do you know where he lives?¡± The pair felt disgusted; fear, vengeance, and good old opportunism already raised their ugly heads to breed even more violence and confusion. ¡°What is that brand they are talking about, master?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, probably nothing special. Just a mark people put on others house to mark them as potential sinner. Fear and paranoia do the rest.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awful, why doesn¡¯t anyone do anything to stop it?¡± ¡°Maybe they fear to be branded too? Also, the highest local authority the lord died in the incident. Whoever remains is probably too afraid to step in.¡± ¡°But then¡­¡± Started the child. Ignis interjected. ¡°Then nothing. There¡¯s nothing we can do, but get out of here as soon as possible. Finish your diner and go to your room. Tell Thracian to stand guard: we leave tomorrow at the earliest.¡± They were in mage robes and accompanied by a man in full armor. Only a moron would try something against them, but then again, mobs and small-time criminals aren¡¯t exactly known for being clever and mage usually transported money and valuable artifacts. ¡°Thracian would do something about it.¡± Complained Azrael with a holier-than-thou. ¡°Yeah! He¡¯d kill them until they stopped complaining. Listen kid, I¡¯ve seen it before; this town has already gone over the rail, so unless you want to take over and enforce your will with violence, we better scram.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s awful¡­¡± ¡°Ts, the world is like that, you and me know that better than anyone.¡± One had lost his family to an insane noble driven by paranoia and the other to a mob. ¡°No, we shouldn¡¯t! We should do something.¡± Rebutted the youth with a strong voice, gathering the eye of the surrounding upon them in the process. ¡°Well done, you made us stand out even more.¡± Complained the older mage. ¡°Let us go your room, if you can come up with a decent solution I¡¯ll help, otherwise we leave first hour tomorrow.¡± 31 The two went back to their room, since many people had lost their home in the incident, the only room available had been for two in which they had hastily added a hammock. ¡°So, any idea? One that wouldn¡¯t get use killed or branded criminal if possible.¡± Asked Ignis mockingly, expecting the whole thing to be a waste of time. ¡°Not yet, but¡­ Thracian, the people out there have gone crazy, they are throwing accusations at each other, putting marks on each other houses and the people who¡¯ve been accused get mobbed out of fear.¡± ¡°Na, I¡¯ve seen that in the past, it¡¯s mostly out of malice and self-empowerment. All you need is to make a few examples to calm down the other. I found impalement works great in those kinds of situation.¡± The older mage looked at the other one triumphally; what did I told you spoke its smile. ¡°We can¡¯t do that! We don¡¯t even know who¡¯re the leaders¡­ we don¡¯t even know if there are any.¡± ¡°There always are.¡± Announced Thracian with great authority, he¡¯d been an expert at heading mob mentality himself. ¡°Mob don¡¯t make themselves, there¡¯s always a triggering element, but if they do, they don¡¯t persist on their own, they need some guiding hands.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Asked the necromancer. ¡°He had seen his fair share of mobs himself, and thought them to be spontaneous. ¡°Mob can¡¯t form unprompted every day of the week, you know? Kill the leader, and you¡¯ll seriously limit the risks.¡± That made sense, but investigation wasn¡¯t something they could do overnight. Ignis looked at his apprentice. ¡°Heck no, we¡¯re not staying! Do you want to solve the problems of every damn cities and villages along the way? If so, we¡¯re parting way here and now!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not it, but¡­¡± Started Azrael. ¡®Well,¡¯ He thought. ¡°maybe that was it.¡± He couldn¡¯t tell for sure. Little did he know, it was him looking for a new goal. For most of his short life he had been on a mission to save his country, but it had ended without him getting to do anything. It wasn¡¯t like he had a messiah complex, but it was in his character to help other and he absolutely needed a new task to focus on.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°You can¡¯t save everyone, you know? You¡¯re a stranger in town, a kid and a commoner family and this is a work for the local authorities.¡± ¡°Even so¡­ I want to do something, I know I can, I just don¡¯t know how!¡± Murmured the child, in deep thought. Thracian interrupted the youth probing with one of his own. ¡°You said they were drawing marks on each-others house to mark the bad apples, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, at least that¡¯s what we heard downstairs.¡± Answered Ignis. ¡°Then, wouldn¡¯t a simple solution be to cover every building with this symbol?¡± Offered the ancient king. The necromancer laughed out at the answer before answering much more seriously. ¡°How the hell do you expect to do that without getting caught in a single night? It might not be a big city, but there are hundreds of building!¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t I a ghost? And don¡¯t the two of you have spirit familiars that can write them symbols?¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± Both the mage and his apprentice suddenly felt very stupid, even if the familiars¡¯ capacity to act on the physical word wasn¡¯t strong, etching or drawing a mark wasn¡¯t hard work under the possession of their masters. As long as there were creatures or corpses to possess, they could probably do it alone. ¡°Would you do it?¡± Asked Azrael to the ancestral king. ¡°Obviously, I wouldn¡¯t have proposed it, if I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then please, help me.¡± Begged the youth. ¡°Master, what about you?¡± Ignis wasn¡¯t sure how efficient the childish plot would be, but it wasn¡¯t hard to do even adhering to his one task per familiar policy, it wouldn¡¯t be a big loss considering the numbers he had on him. More than anything though, he had promised. ¡°I said I would, and I will.¡± He opened his bag to look inside. There were over thirty familiars left. Quite a big number for sure, however there wouldn¡¯t be as many occasions to replenish their numbers in the future, it might be a good idea to select a few as his permanent helper and amongst them were some terrible murderers he didn¡¯t mind using as much as the others. The trio split the task into three. Thracian would get half the city since it was much easier for him. Ignis and Azrael both possessed their familiar and sent them into the city. At first, they tried to etch the mark into the wall using curses. It worked, but it was pretty slow as it took time to control it precisely. Next Azrael proposed to use chalk, which Ignis found sounded like a terrible idea, and yet after trying, they quickly found it was strangely easy, as easy as to possess and move a skeleton maybe. By the time the sun rose, they pair still wasn¡¯t finished. With people on the street and tired by their long night, they abandoned their task and slept for two hours; this was the most they could stay in their room without renting it for another day. By the time they went down to take their breakfast, there was a buzz in the street. Curse words and accusation were fusing left and right but there were simply too many marks to take them seriously and it was like a cold shower and a wake-up call for many who had abused the system for their own gain: they weren¡¯t safe, no one was. 32 Since they were on their way back to Oto, it was natural for them to spend the night in Laeticaea¡¯s Inn. Just to see if she was alright. Bergula was on the way, and it wasn¡¯t dereliction of duty because they were without job at the moment. Ignis thought had been going back on forth like that for a long while. Even if he were on a job, no one at the church would fault him if he spent one night at an acquaintance¡¯s pace¡­ or with said acquaintance; they weren¡¯t clergy after all, it was expected they¡¯d marry and have children of their own, or whatever struck their fancy as long as they were discreet about it. Rather than his duty, sis hesitations were caused by the fear of what he¡¯d find upon arriving there. As a boy he didn¡¯t have time for girl, and as a man he had even less. Always on the move and wielder of a power that struck fear in others, it was pretty rare to have time to develop such a relationship, which was why he was so fond of her, and so afraid to find out what happened to her. Thracian didn¡¯t remember the girl, and even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t give a damn. On the other hand, the young mage agitation and constant mumbling were getting on his nerves ¨C metaphorically. Azrael wasn¡¯t sure what was going on either, but since his master was getting more and more agitated as they drew near the eastern capital, he thought it was related either to the state of the church, or the well-being of his acquaintances. That¡¯s why, when a bunch of malnourished men holding makeshift weapons and bows blockaded the road, it came as a welcome diversion for the trio. ¡°Drop your weapons and money.¡± Ordered the leader. ¡°Your food too!¡± Thracian erupted in laughter at the unmenacing menace. ¡°Damn, you¡¯re going to kill me with laughter, knaves.¡± Ignis was in agreement, if they wanted to kill them, they should have shot them dead from afar when they had the element of surprise working for them. Considering the quality of their bows, it wouldn¡¯t have worked against but they could have hurt Azrael. As for Thracian, well even without his armor, he didn¡¯t¡¯ have much to fear from normal weapons.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Drop your weapons,¡± Screamed the leader nervously. ¡°Or we¡¯ll shoot.¡± An instant later, and axe flew a hair from the leader face before reappearing in the knight¡¯s hand. ¡°Why did you do that, brat?¡± Ignis¡¯ spell had deflected the ghostly axe, although not on purpose. He wasn¡¯t going to go and admit it though. ¡°These men are desperate and starving, they haven¡¯t hurt anyone¡­ yet.¡± They didn¡¯t seem to carry grudge on them, but considering the current state of the world it wasn¡¯t perfect proof. The leader dropped his weapon. They¡¯d been desperate enough to attack the trio, but he¡¯d barely escaped death and a knight in full armor wielding a magic weapon was simply too much for his nerves. ¡°I can give you some food,¡± He had about ten marks on him, and another forty and something in his bag, adding the three hundred he had in a bank in Oto giving them a few wouldn¡¯t hurt him. ¡°and this.¡± He dropped some jerkies and smoked hams from his bag, as well as two marks. On mark was enough for a single man to eat frugally for almost two weeks. Adding the food, they could make by, assuming they hunted or gathered. ¡°That¡¯s very kind of you, master.¡± Commented Azrael happily. Just like his master, he¡¯d seen them without curse, but unlike him, he¡¯d assumed it was definite proof they¡¯d never killed anyone. ¡°Take what you¡¯re given.¡± Declared Ignis. ¡°But know there won¡¯t be a next time, if we hear you¡¯ve robbed someone else, we¡¯ll come back for you!¡± It was an empty menace obviously, but after his disciple comment, he had even more reason not to back down. ¡°Waste of time and money.¡± Remarked Thracian begrudgingly. ¡°It¡¯d be faster and safer to kill them.¡± To underline his point, he threw his ghostly axe twice in a row, between the legs of two of the nearest men. ¡°See? I could get them all in a heartbeat.¡± Internally, the necromancer agreed, but his pride demanded he continue on the path he had set inadvertently¡­ and more importantly: he loathed being in agreement with the ancient king. ¡°Not everything need be settled by murder, old man.¡± ¡°You are wrong brat; death solve all problems.¡± ¡°Sorry to contradict you, old man,¡± He said snidely, although he truly wasn¡¯t. ¡°but one of mines keeps on creeping up despite being dead. Did you forget what our job is by the way? Your helmet must be even emptier than I thought.¡± ¡°How could I forget: your job is to be a whiny annoying smartass about everything, right?¡± Ignis clicked his tongue and answered in a falsely surprised. ¡°What? It was mine? I thought it was yours, because you keep on doing it in my steed.¡± The unsuccessful highwayman couldn¡¯t do anything but the stare at the exchange, the trio was distracted right now, but they were rightfully terrified by the man in armor.¡± ¡°Thracian, please.¡± Begged Azrael, and that was enough to seal the deal. The next instant they were on their way. 33 AS the trio made its way to Bergola, it came across a number of damaged inns, homes and brothels, which was to be expected had happened early at night. Who or whatever was responsible, assuming there was a culprit, might have tried to reduce the collateral damage by selecting a time when most people were home, but it was still a lot. As they saw more and more sites, and witnessed a lack elemental power and new spirits, Ignis became increasingly certain the null element was somehow involved¡­ it¡¯d explain the apparent randomness of the victims and destruction. The existence of the bull element was known by many, including the upper echelon of church, but not actively taught due to its dangerous and uncertain nature. Ignis himself only used it from a safe distance, and then again, only after ascertaining the risk. This is why he never referenced it, or made any attempt to use it to remove the contagion and evil spirits near Azrael hometown. Although it would have cleansed the area for sure, the trio¡¯s chance of survival in the worst-case scenario would have been nil. More importantly though, considering places with travelers where at higher risk, he feared for Laeticaea¡¯s well-being. As small as her village was, it was on a route that saw a lot of traffic. When they finally reached the place, the two destroyed inns were the first thing sights he caught. Abandoning all pretense, he ran to the heavily damaged building. The upper floor and living area hadn¡¯t been harmed, but the common room downstairs was in ruin. The stable was empty and there was no one minding the counter, as though the place had been abandoned. He called. ¡°Is there someone here, I¡­¡± He hesitated for a bit then ended with the following. ¡°¡¯I¡¯d like to rent a room.¡± Laeticaea descended the stairs looking tired, her two parents were hurt and the inn hadn¡¯t seen a guest since the incident. No one wanted to be near stranger, even in a place that had already been struck once. The girl couldn¡¯t help but wonder if she was cursed as first there¡¯d been the knights¡¯ blockade and now, that. It was a stupid thought, she was far from the only victim, and all thing considered she didn¡¯t suffer from it as much as others did. She knew that, and yet, she still felt that way. Losing the inn was harsh, but she had long dreamed of leaving this place for good. She was thankful her parent had given her a job as it wasn¡¯t so easy for girls in a small village but she had still wanted to leave for a long time; it was her father¡¯s inn and he¡¯d made it abundantly clear: the day she¡¯d inherit it, would be the day he died.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Upon seeing the familiar face, her own drew an awkward smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see you so soon, did you encounter some problem?¡± ¡°The same as everyone else, as you¡¯d expect. It¡¯s hard for strangers to stay anywhere nowadays, and believe it or not, but the event took care of our business for us.¡± She didn¡¯t know much about magic, but the incident had changed a lot of things and killed a lot of people. ¡°It¡¯s been hard on everyone; people fear getting close to one another¡­ just in case it happens again.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you have nothing to fear.¡± Hearing him so sure, her face betrayed her hope: could it be that he knew what caused it? Why? Ignis soon realized he¡¯d said too much. She herself, had nothing to fear but he didn¡¯t take into account her job. Even then, he knew nothing of the source of the terrible incident¡¯s origin, it might happen again at a later date, or something entirely different¡­ all he had were assumptions about who and what was targeted. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve said too much. The event targeted bad people and bad places. Well, it might be more just to say, death and resentment¡­ not all hated people are deserving of it.¡± Rulers who had to take hard measure were usually victims of their subject¡¯s resentment, even if their policies were right and for the benefit of all. ¡°Is that what happened?¡± Then angrily. ¡°How can you say I¡¯m safe, this is a inn, do you think we¡¯ve got a good person only policy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I should have thought more before talking.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry too, but doesn¡¯t that mean everyone¡¯s fear of strangers is entirely validated?¡± He¡¯d dug himself into a hole, he couldn¡¯t explain without revealing about himself that he wanted to¡­ he¡¯d tried anyway. ¡°It takes time for this kind of energy to build up again, we should be safe for months, maybe years.¡± ¡°For real?¡± Answered the girl excitedly before realizing it was an acquaintance mage¡¯s theory, no one would believe it without proof. Her expressive face told him everything he needed to know about her thoughts. ¡°The church of the elements probably knows about it. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll make an announcement pretty soon.¡± Thinking it might be the occasion she¡¯d been waiting for a long time, Laeticaea unsubtly spoke her thought. ¡°Ah¡­ maybe I should find some work in the capital, with the inn in this state my presence hurts my parent more than it helps.¡± ¡®It¡¯s my chance.¡¯ Thought the mage ¡°If you need help I¡­ I¡­¡± What he finally said wasn¡¯t what he had hoped to say. ¡°know some people in Oto, I could help you find work.¡± She liked him and had a good impression overall, but she didn¡¯t love him¡­ they barely knew each-others after all. Unbeknownst to him, his answer had been, a proposal would have been too much too quick while this pushed him out of the friend zone and into the potential suitor category. ¡°Really? You¡¯d do that for me?¡± ¡°I live in a dormitory in Oto, they were looking for personnel last time I was there.¡± They hadn¡¯t, but if need be, he¡¯d pay for her wage himself. Considering it came with food and lodging, it probably wouldn¡¯t be more than half a mark¡­ maybe one and half if he had to pay for everything. ¡°We¡¯ll have to talk to your parent first, obviously.¡± ¡°Ah¡­¡± She¡¯d forgotten about them. ¡°Obviously.¡± 34 Even though he had the matter with Laeticaea in mind at all time, Ignis was professional enough not to forget his priority, and as soon as they arrived in Oto, he went straight the cathedral to report. Azrael on the other hand, had no such duty and Thracian could not care less about the interest of others, so they went straight to the dormitory. Since he¡¯d have no opportunity to devour other spirits for a while, the ancient king decided to preserve his energy by dissolving his semi-material appearance and going to sleep inside his ¨C for a lack of a better word ¨C master. Vanati was out that day, which was to be expected as the church ¨Cthe high clergy in particular ¨C were considered well versed in all sorts of magics, ancient or current. That didn¡¯t mean that without a supervisor around, the necromancer was free to go; he had travelled a long road and was coming back from Hades, probably the area that had suffered the most from the incident. As soon as he set foot in the building, a cleric rushed to him and brought him to a more secretive area. ¡°Sir, I know you¡¯ve only come back but could you please write a report on what you¡¯ve seen and how the population is affected in the area you¡¯ve travelled?¡± Well, he had expected as much and written his thought and observation on the way here. It wasn¡¯t a complete report, but it still contained a lot of pertinent information. ¡°Here you go. If you have specific question, I¡¯ll be glad to answer them.¡± ¡°As expected from a number,¡± Commented the cleric. ¡°always well prepared.¡± He read a bit through the papers before asking with downright horror. ¡°We expected some damage, but to think Thanatopia is in ruin¡­ What of the population?¡± ¡°There was a strong divide between the north and south before, and the event did nothing to bridge it. The northerner survivors have had a long tradition of blaming the southerner for all their problems. As is stands the north lost most of its leader and population. I doubt the south will start a war in retaliation for what¡¯s been done to them over the centuries, but they sure as well won¡¯t do anything to help... there is just too much baggage between the two.¡± ¡°And what about Thracia, did you see any that would lead you to believe they¡¯re making preparation for war?¡± ¡°Not that I have seen but¡­ Do you have any reason to believe they do?¡± ¡°I wish it were this clear cut. We have reason to believe some nobles wishes to annex northern Hades under the pretense of helping but we don¡¯t have as much information as we¡¯d like, Your report makes it clear that Hades stopped working as a country though, and considering the state of the capital and its surrounding, there¡¯d be no one to stop them. In fact, it might even be considered a good thing by the citizen.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Ignis wasn¡¯t versed enough in politic to judge, but if people had to choose between food and shelter or self-governance, most would choose the former.¡± The cleric continued reading through the report, his face becoming a shade of gray as he read the part about Phillopolis. ¡°We¡¯ve seen case of unrest and citizen throwing accusations around, but nothing to that extent. You wrote you believe it¡¯s the result of a losing their leadership combined with a total distrust for the administration, but¡­¡± Ignis thought about it for a while before offering Thracian insight on the situation. ¡°Someone I know suggested it was caused by a select few wanting to profit from the situation. Something about mob being unable to persist without a guiding hand.¡± ¡°I see. Do you know if that friend of yours was hinting at criminal elements, or something else?¡± ¡°We¡¯re no friend, but I¡¯ll ask if you want.¡± Remembering the large pleasure district and the hand the local lord had in its growth, he added. ¡°I think there was a strong criminal element in this city, I remember hearing the deceased lord forced many to work in the red light district against their will¡­ although I know nothing of the methods or the validity of the claim; this is something I heard in the next city down the road.¡± The cleric wrote down these last bits of information before going through the rest of the paper. ¡°You¡¯ll be glad to know that while it does exist, the fear of one¡¯s neighbor isn¡¯t as strong in Oto. There were obviously case of people being killed or hurt by the incident, but not as much as in other regions.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea of what caused the incident?¡± ¡°None whatsoever. It¡¯s been hinted that the null element could have something to do with it but¡­¡± The comment was a much to show he knew about as it was to ask Ignis for confirmation. ¡°This is also my guess. The lack of elemental energy is unmistakable. I cannot say if it was human or divine intervention, but the low ratio of damage makes me think it was somehow guided: the null element is unpredictable at best. However, I can tell from experience that its usage is destructive more often than not. I¡¯d say it¡¯s on a three out of five ratio.¡± ¡°The other numbers in the know told us the same thing: the damage is unnaturally low.¡± ¡°Still too high in my opinion.¡± Spit Ignis wryly. Yet, even though he said that, the situation in Hades and in other part of the world might have been terrible enough to warrant it. At the very least, Azrael and his former companion seemed to be of that opinion¡­ Even Thracian was of that belief, despite the fact the vent had deprived it of its preys. ¡°Let me warn you, the opinion is very divided in the church, there¡¯s been a lot of fight amongst those who consider it, a necessary divine intervention and others.¡± ¡°Which are you?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t say, and you too should keep your opinion your own.¡± Ignis grimaced. ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± The cleric nodded gravely. ¡°Remember, there are some who lost friends or family to the incident, whether it was necessary or not, you cannot expect them to approve. There are even some who have left us to look into who was responsible and bring them to justice.¡± It immediately made the necromancer think of Azrael and Thracian, the former was pretty discreet and thoughtful ¨C most of the time ¨C however the later had no concept of delicacy. ¡®Let us hope they¡¯ve kept their mouth shut.¡¯ Although, when it came to the ancient king, it was probably too much to ask. 35 After finishing his report, Ignis went straight to the dormitory to discuss the matter of Laeticaea with the matron. Since he had kind of expected it, he wasn¡¯t surprised to learn that there was no need for more personnel at the moment but he nevertheless put forward her good traits, notably the fact she worked in an inn own by her family. ¡°Even if you tell me all this,¡± Answered the woman. ¡°there isn¡¯t much I can do. We have simply no need for more hands at the moment. And before you ask, I do no know of any opening anywhere.¡± While she knew the owners of a few inn and restaurants, it was only to the level of acquaintances, there was no way she could recommend them some new personnel, even less a girl she didn¡¯t know herself. It seemed a bit early in the discussion to thrown his joker. ¡°I¡¯m willing to pay for her salary.¡± The matron who wasn¡¯t sure what he meant by that, asked for clarification. ¡°Do you intend to employ her as your personal maid or¡­¡± She left the sentence hanging. ¡°No,¡± Interrupted the blushing mage. ¡°nothing of that¡­ nature. Her inn was damaged by the incident, and see very little passage as a result. She thinks she¡¯s a drain on her family¡¯s finances and want to move to the big city.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Nothing he said so far was particularly convincing, it was the kind of story you¡¯d hear from any new hand, apart from the facts she already had a job and was the heiress of an inn.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°What I mean to say, can you let her work here? I¡¯ll pay for her salary and accommodation while she looks for a better job.¡± While she didn¡¯t need more personnel, she wasn¡¯t about to refuse one who¡¯d work basically for free, and judging from the youth interest in her, there was no small chance that she might become his wife or lover down the line. Accommodating the agents of the church, and the numbers in particular was part of her job¡­ at least as long as it didn¡¯t put a strain on her limited budget. However, she still had to meet the girl first before making her decision. ¡°I¡¯d like to meet her first, and see how she works. Even if you¡¯re paying, I won¡¯t allow someone useless to tarnish my records.¡± ¡°It goes without saying.¡± ¡°How long will you be staying this time?¡± This too was important as he¡¯d have to provide for the girl if she didn¡¯t pass her standard: there was no way she¡¯d take on that responsibility. ¡°I cannot say for sure, but it¡¯s very probable I¡¯ll be asked to take on some teaching duty for the foreseeable future.¡± That was a good guess and it did make sense as for the first time in many decades, they weren¡¯t overwhelmed by work. ¡°I see. I look forward to meeting your sweetheart then.¡± He blushed slightly at the words but didn¡¯t deny it. It wasn¡¯t like that¡­ but this was also what he hoped for. After that discussion, he went back to his room to prepare since he¡¯d have to go fetch Laeticaea tomorrow. Not a long road, but still more than three days of travel at a reasonable pace. Well, that¡¯s what he hoped to do, but before long he was called to the cathedral to report again. Obviously though, the content of his report didn¡¯t change. It was simply a desire for the higher-ups to listen to the content of their own two hears and ask their own question. In light of the recent tragedy, any information was desirable, no matter how insignificant as it sounded. 36 ¡°Your majesty, here are the document you¡¯ve asked.¡± ¡°I told you to call me call me Alessa.¡± She went by this name to honor the one who had sacrificed and life and body for her. Despite her strong interest in the null attribute and the multiple, the urgency of the situation didn¡¯t leave her with enough time to research it. She had to first impart her knowledge to her new disciple, learn of the current world politics, and above all make allies. Even so, as soon as she had learned of detail of the ritual used to bring her back, she had known the null attribute would be key into defeating the legions of wights raised by the foolish youth. Abner, her dear old friend, wasn¡¯t a Genius like the other lord, but he more than made up for it with his hard work. The multiples weren¡¯t a thing during her time, same the null element. To begin with, it wasn¡¯t like the attributes were understood, they had suddenly appeared in six separate regions of the continent and those who had them quickly rose to power. Even stranger, despite having no physiological difference, there were some like her and Abner whose life-span was many times longer than normal people. These individuals fought for ¨C or in hers and Abner¡¯s cases, were elevated to ¨C power. In those were tumultuous time, peaceful contact between people of different countries was almost unheard of, but it had not been the case for a long time now. She suspected these contacts of intimate nature were the origin of the multiple. It had long been proved that even if only a few could manifest them, attributes were present in every single person. The reason why some could and some couldn¡¯t, was still unknown. However, there was no doubt in her mind that the mingling of different population was the reason for the multiple as suggested by the fact they were the most common in Aether ¨C the life lord¡¯s ancient territory ¨C and northern Hades ¨C the two places that had welcomed refugees of war from other kingdoms during her time.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Maximilian?¡± Asked the death lord. ¡°What is it your¡­ Alessa?¡± ¡°The technique used by Abner to redirect the energy released by the null element into my revival¡­ how many people are left who can use it?¡± ¡°Four, my lady. It isn¡¯t that we lost any, but it is an ability limited only to those who can use the null element.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Mage were uncommon to begin with, multiple even more, and then only a subset of those could use the null element. ¡°We¡¯ll need more than this. If something happens¡­ or rather, when something happens to that necromancer king, we¡¯ll have two methods in front of us. Meet the wights with strength, or erase the spell that binds them to this world.¡± ¡°We are few, far from being any army, but I assure you we¡¯re all ready to give up our life for the cause, my lady.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather you and the others weren¡¯t so ready to die. Still, confronted with those numbers, I understand why you have little hopes.¡± She had sent a letter to the youth, hopefully he¡¯d stop increasing their numbers, but there was little chance of him actively cutting them. From what she¡¯d read about him, he was a man with a mission, just as fanatical about it than the people around her. Her missive was a dangerous gamble; at best she¡¯d have given them some time by making him ponders about a way to ascertain better control on his creations, at worst, she¡¯d made him rush his invasion. She asked. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible for the church of the elements to enter talks with me? Their rejection of Abner after his transformation was very definite.¡± ¡°I cannot say, my lady. The church of the element is not the army of the light. We know them to employ death mages, although not openly. We haven¡¯t been able to place a spy in their core, but their true tenet is to maintain harmony between the six attributes and cure the scares of the great war. They might not accept our methods, but they probably won¡¯t reject our help and knowledge.¡± ¡°You make it sounds like they¡¯re more trustworthy than our own neighbors.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t my intention, my lady, although now that you mention it, it might be the case. Our friends in the north have long functioned like rebels in their own country¡­ and old hatreds die hard.¡± ¡°Not too hard, I hope. Even without fighting amongst ourselves, there will be enough conflict to satiate everyone.¡± ¡°I do hope so, my lady. I really do.¡± 37 Windy was troubled, which also meant she was happy. She hadn¡¯t had that much difficulty with an opponent since Firis, and back then she had easily won once she used to her signature move. Unlike the young mage of the time, the response of the wights to her attacks was stiff and predictable, but what they lacked in creativity, they made up with number and resilience¡­ even her signature move was useless against them. She didn¡¯t care much for her employer, but she had to admit he¡¯d saved her bacon with his cowardice. Had she followed her desire and attacked the necromancer king, she would have died without a doubt. She gathered the wind into a whirlwind but was yet again broken by a wall of stone and a downpour of water. The gathered wind harmlessly(?) dissipated in a small tempest, deracinating the last few tree still solidly planted into the ground. Some of the wights got blown by it too, and smashed against the terrain, their flesh scoured and their bones broken, however this kind of damage was something they¡¯d soon recuperate from. She deflected a series of fireball, stones and ice spears. She laughed maniacally. ¡°You¡¯re relentless, I like it.¡± Then counterattacked with lightning from the sky. This, and physical using the debris around were the only attacks she could land without fail¡­ sadly, they were also the least efficient.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Since very young, she¡¯d been unbeatable facing people, and quickly earned the nickname of the one woman army. Tired of facing against opponent she could easily triumph over, she enlisted into the church in order to face ghost and monster, however, it didn¡¯t work out. Indeed, no matter what she did, her attribute was useless against those things¡­ and after observing a few exorcisms she quickly came to the conclusion that evil spirits weren¡¯t that interesting anyway. ¡®This is what I was born for.¡¯ Dodging and deflecting attacks, she used her wind to gather large branches and impaled her downed enemies with them. It wouldn¡¯t end them, but it¡¯d stop them in place long enough to precisely target their heads. The ground opened under her, and a large mass of water appeared above her. ¡®Trying to knock me out and drown me? I don¡¯t think so.¡¯ She flew out of the hole, sideway and cut the head of one of the impaled wights while she was at it. ¡°One down. Four to go.¡± There were far more than that, but one those capable were of any concern to her, the rest were easy targets. ¡°Two¡­ Oops¡± She barely dodged the tip of a lance. ¡°You¡¯re pretty lively for being dead.¡± She cut through the lance then through the wight holding it, then summoned a tempest. Although not very dangerous, the normal one could still get in the way. ¡°And three! That¡¯s it for the undead skewers, now to deal with the lively ones.¡± After this, the battle quickly finished. The last two magic using wight had been powerful earth and water mage, but while their power had stayed the same, their knowledge and adaptability was lost to their transformation. Undead are powerful, persistent monster with uncanny resilience, but even so, they are no match for the true monster amongst the living. they could only show a tiny fraction of their former talent. 38 Ignis entered the dormitory, with a smile. Getting together with Laeticaea was always the highlight of his days. His current position was one of an academic and a teacher. He¡¯d spend his day between teaching classes and writing new teaching material based on his master methods. He still remembered vividly the day of the selection. All major necromancer working under the church, were brough under the church to discuss who would be given the position. Although literate, Ignis had no academic talent, and most of the assembled mages were his elders. It was within his expectation that the oldest among them would be forced to retire from active duty and given the office. However, contrary to the youth expectation, he became the first in line due to being the disciple of Firis. Even at that point, he¡¯d expected someone to step up on account that he was too young or something¡­ but his hopes were once again betrayed by the smile of relief on everyone¡¯s face. No matter how good the pay, or how prominent the position: it was a sedentary academic job, the complete opposite of the life they had up until now. Thinking back, it was probably the reason why Firis and Wendy had gone missing shortly after leaving active duty: teaching an apprentice was one thing, but teaching entire classes while writing new material was another one entirely. Still, he¡¯d gotten to appreciate the sedentary lie, if only for much time he was able to spend with Laeticaea. Speaking of which. ¡°Welcome back, sir. Will you be eating soon, or do you want some time to refresh yourself first?¡± Rather than a maid, she had been acting as his personal attendant ever since his position had changed. It was good since he had a lot of contact with her, but the situation made courting her quite awkward.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Please, don¡¯t call me ¡®sir¡¯, aren¡¯t we friend?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t do to call my master by his first name while on duty, sir.¡± Although well hidden, there was the hint of a smile on her face. ¡°You also call me ¡®sir¡¯ at other time, though.¡± ¡°Yes, I pride myself on my manners being impeccable at all time, sir.¡± As far as he knew, she didn¡¯t have serious suitors besides him, so why did she enjoys making him suffer like this? Furthermore, he could hear the other girls giggle while looking at him from time to time. Even the stone-faced matron couldn¡¯t hide her amusement! ¡°Why did I do wrong?¡± ¡°This one wouldn¡¯t know unless you specify the subject, sir.¡± Even Azrael, who was coincidentally going to the mess to eat looked at him disparaging eyes while passing him. ¡®What am I doing wrong, damn it? Why won¡¯t they stop looking at me like that and tell me?¡¯ It wasn¡¯t fault of asking, he did on many occasions, but the answer was always along the line of: ¡°Think about it by yourself.¡±, or ¡°There¡¯s no point telling you.¡± ¡®How should I know what to do? I lived outside normal society for more than half my life, damnit. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s normal and what isn¡¯t!¡¯ Whatever it was, it was important enough to make Laeticaea angry at him, without being so terrible as to antagonize her completely. If anything, it sounded like a load of fun for the other people. Defeated and dejected, he went back to his room to his to ponder on the subject. ¡°Yet another dud.¡± Spoke one of the caretakers. ¡°What do you expect, the odds have been raised to fifty to one.¡± ¡°It¡¯s so pathetic that at this point, if someone won, she¡¯d be accused of cheating.¡± ¡°There¡¯s some limit to being obtuse though. It¡¯s such a simple thing, how did he not realize yet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because it¡¯s such a simple thing.¡± Countered Laeticaea. ¡°It seems like a tradition for most mages to lack in common sense.¡± ¡°How long are you going to tease him like that though? It¡¯s clear to everyone that you like him?¡± ¡°Until his dejected face stops being funny, I suppose.¡± ¡°That¡¯s cruel, you¡¯re cruel.¡± Said the other girls while giggling. ¡°You¡¯re no very convincing, girls.¡± 39 Vanati was unsure as what to do with the information he¡¯d been given. First, there was no way to confirm whether the other party was lying or not and the tomes they¡¯d offered as a symbol of goodwill could not serve as proof. As far as he knew, they could have just discovered them recently and made copies. The Necromancer king though, was undeniably a threat for all life on the continent, and any ally, however shifty their origin was better than none. News from the north didn¡¯t come often, and for that alone, the so-called Death-lord and her minion were invaluable¡­ that is, assuming the information they fed them weren¡¯t ploys from said king. The name Janardan, was trustworthy, but that was only that a name. He¡¯d need to confirmation from the man in person. He looked at the tomes again; they seemed legit ¨C opinion the others cardinals seemed to share ¨C however his ¨C and theirs ¨C knowledge of the death element was limited. The only one who had the capacity to confirm their veracity were only Firis and to a lesser degree Ignis. The first, sadly, was lost. It¡¯d been a surprise to no one when the fickle man had run away from his duty ¨C he¡¯d always been that kind of individual ¨C but there had left them a blessing in the form of his only apprentice. ¡®Poor kid. It must have been hell to live with that madlad.¡¯ That thought always came to mind whenever he thought of the young man. It wasn¡¯t that Firis was an evil man, but you¡¯d be hard-pressed to call him a good one. There was another reason why the cardinals ¨C including himself ¨C hesitated on handing the tomes to him: he¡¯d been working for month on rewriting the church¡¯s curriculum, and if these books were really what the envoy claimed them to be, that work would have been for naught.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°My child, could I speak with you for a minute?¡± ¡°Cardinal Vanati? It¡¯s rare to see you there, what is so important for you to come personally to my study?¡± The reason was pretty obvious considering the heavy tomes under his arms, but politeness never hurts. ¡°I would like you to look at these and tell me what you think. We¡¯re unsure of their origins, but¡­ Well, you¡¯ll understand once you see the name of the author.¡± Ignis picked carefully one of the books and looked at the title. ¡°Of curses and how to void them. By Death lord Alessa. What with the lackluster name? Is that supposed to be a joke?¡± ¡°I understand your feeling, but please look inside.¡± Ignis was the first to acknowledge his lack of literary talent, which is why, he felt tired just from reading the preamble. ¡®What with? It¡¯s so well written and informative¡­ and everything makes sense¡­¡¯ It was only a few hundred words, but not a single word was wasted. He sifted the page rapidly to look at the rest and felt even more despair. It was crammed with information, design, comments and helpful annotations. Even if it was a joke and the content ended up being hogwash, the quality of the work was enough to make renounce teaching forever. ¡°What the hell have I been doing with my life over these past few months¡­ Tell me? Did you bring these to torture me? I spent days agonizing on content, carefully crafting sentences, and then you bring me that! Is it a joke to you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, child. We didn¡¯t know of the existence of these tomes until recently. It was sent by someone claiming to be the death lord reborn.¡± ¡°The one from the legends?¡± ¡°The very same. If the content is real and she really wrote these based her own knowledge, then reborn or not, I feel like she¡¯d merit the title.¡± ¡°I know you want me to read them to validate the content. I myself want to¡­ however, I cannot, at least not today. I never felt this empty, before. I¡¯m taking the day off. You don¡¯t mind?¡± ¡°Please do.¡± What else could he say under these circumstances. The content was so comprehensive and perfectly written that he¡¯d love to writer rewrite all of the church¡¯s teaching material¡­ even if the content was a joke.