When I finally awoke I was propped up against a tree with Robin looking peeling my eyes open to examine my pupils.

  “He looks fine, no concussion or anything like that,” She announced to the others, before allowing my eyelid to close. I shuddered at the snap impact. “And he’s awake.” She finished.

  “Crowley, what the hell happened?” Harald practically barked.

  “I have no idea,” I replied slowly, “One moment I was casting spells and the next I’m waking up sitting here.”

  “It sounds like you exhausted your mana supply,” Harald scowled, “Pay more attention next time, will you?”

  “Yea I’ll make sure to,” I agreed, attempting to stand but failing and sliding back down the trunk of the tree. Before I hit the ground however, a few sets of small blood coated hands grasped me under my arms and hoisted me up.

  I glanced down at the results of using animate, three undead goblins stood at attention next to me. A small smile played across my lips. The little guys were proving helpful already.

  “Ugh,” Tyriel exclaimed, “When did you have the time to make those abominations?”

  I shrugged.

  “Well get rid of them, they smell,” She continued to bemoan.

  “No.” I answered, “I don’t think I will.”

  She looked to the others for support but none came, quite the opposite in fact.

  “How long till you can raise the rest of the corpses?” Harald questioned.

  “I dunno, let me check,” I held up a finger while a box of text appeared in front of me.

  The notification of my level up remained as well as the racial trait, so I prepared myself to go through them.

  Class [Necromancer] has reached level 4.

  Attribute points earned. Class attributes assigned. 15 free points remaining.

  Skill Selection and Upgrade available.

  Racial Trait [Limbo] has been revealed.

  I nodded along.

  “And?” Harald prodded.

  “Hold on, my class leveled up, I have a couple boxes to go through,” I replied, irritation creeping into my tone for being interrupted.

  “I think I got something like that too,” Eustace added.

  Harald frowned but nodded his ascent, “Robin, Tyriel, take watch with me. Robin switches out with Eustace when he’s done, then you Tyriel with whoever finishes first. I’ll go last.”

  The group took their positions while Eustace and I began our examination.

  First things first, I need to look at my attributes.

  Attributes

  Strength 12

  Agility 12

  Constitution 16

  Endurance 11

  Spirit 26

  Intelligence 15

  Perception 10

  Willpower 19

  I frowned, three of my attributes had changed and I hadn’t put any points in. Maybe it was the already assigned points. I decided to focus on that next.

  Class [Necromancer] receives 3 points to Spirit, 2 points to Constitution, and 2 points to Willpower per level starting at level 2.

  The math wasn’t adding up after I thought about it for a moment. The answer was in my next inquiry.

  Racial Trait [Limbo] Your unique state of being has earned you the unique racial trait Limbo, finalizing your abandonment of the mortal coil. Arise or descend, choose your steps wisely in this new life. Gives a ten percent bonus to your Spirit and Willpower attributes.

  My frown deepened, my unique state of being?

  I focused on another box of text.

  Name: Crowley

  Race: Wight

  Class: Necromancer 4

  Wight? What the hell was a Wight? Why aren’t I human?

  Race [Wight] A supernatural being with a deep connection to the underworld and its denizens. Neither living nor undead, a Wight lives in Limbo.

  “Yea because that helped,” I muttered.

  “Hmm?” Robin inquired, looking past the boxes in front of her.

  “Nothing. Just thinking out loud,” I answered briskly.

  She just nodded and went back to whatever it was that she was looking at.

  You know what, I’ll worry about that later. I went back to the attribute screen to decide how I was going to assign fifteen points. With a natural boost to what appeared to be my primary abilities I wondered if I should invest in the physical stats. I might’ve with no hesitation if I was alone, but being in a group where I was obviously in some kind of support role. I decided on a little physical but mostly in the spellcasting stats.

  Updated Attributes: Agility 15; Spirit 31; Intelligence 20; Willpower 22.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  I sat back and looked at the numbers, it was nice to actually see the growth broken down like this. I gazed at the box for a long moment before moving on to the skill selection and upgrade portion of the notifications.

  A wider box of text confronted my vision, four skills hovering at the top and three hovering at the bottom.

  Skills available: Create Ghoul, Create Shade, Banshee’s Wail, Spectral Scythe.

  Skills available for upgrade: Soul Sight, Animate, Death Bolt.

  Interesting, I decided to go one skill at a time.

  Skill [Create Ghoul] Transform a corpse into a grotesque creature known as a Ghoul. An agile and strong minion capable of creating more of itself through its skill [Infectious Bite]. Ghouls created in this way are directly linked to the master of the original ghoul. Ghouls possess an average intelligence and are capable of learning and adapting without the casters direct intervention.

  I liked the sound of the skill, there was no two ways about that. It sounded like a direct upgrade to Animate but I’d imagine they cost more mana to create. Which brought up the question, did I have to use mana to maintain my undead minions?

  Answer; Basic undead like zombies and skeletons require upkeep from the casters mana reserves to stay functional. Ghouls do not require mana but do require food and water.

  What about Specters? I thought the question to the System.

  Answer; Specters require upkeep from the casters death energy reserves.

  Doesn’t that mean I need to be constantly around death to recover that energy? I once again thought the question.

  Answer; For mortal necromancers that is the case but with your direct tie to the underworld as a Wight, you can draw on the ambient energy in the immediate area.

  I nodded, as confused as I was by the whole race change situation, that was a definite upside to it. I turned my attention to the next skill in the list.

  Skill [Create Shade] Inscribe a set of runes upon a corpse to allow a soul to inhabit the corpse, creating a unique undead. Capable of hiding in and traversing shadows. Unlike typical undead these creatures do not die upon being defeated and instead reform in the casters shadow, drawing on mana to reconstitute their physical forms.

  Much like Specters I thought, though using mana instead of death energy. Which one was going to be more abundant?

  Skill [Banshee’s Wail] Let loose a haunting howl, making the blood of your enemies run cold. Apply the [Fear] Status Effect on nearby targets. As well as [Dread] causing them to take [Necrotic] damage over time.

  Skill [Spectral Scythe] Summon the Reaper’s tool and harvest the souls of your enemies. The Scythe is considered a two-handed weapon and benefits from buffs and perks affecting two-handed weapons. This weapon induces [Dread] when wounding an enemy.

  So I was being given the choice of another minion skill or some sort of direct damage with benefits. I glanced around at the group, I would need some kind of weapon to defend myself in close quarters eventually. But I wouldn’t want it to be a scythe, maybe a hand axe or something similar.

  They were easier to use than swords or in this instance, a scythe. I waved my hand, dismissing the spectral scythe box of text. Banshee’s wail could be promising though, it was between that and create ghoul for me. A more advanced physical minion would be helpful, especially since they could reproduce on their own. I wouldn’t have to worry about keeping track of corpses for zombies or skeletons.

  I paused in my deliberations, why was I so all right with this? If I had been offered the choice of being a necromancer just a week ago, I would've given a whole hearted hell no. But here I was thinking about the effectiveness of ghouls over zombies.

  “We’re going to be heading out soon Crowley,” Harald broke through my stupor.

  I looked up to see that everyone was done with their boxes of text.

  “Do you need some help?” He asked me, “I imagine yours is a bit more complicated than ours.”

  I thought about it for a moment, “Yes actually.” This would affect the whole group, not just me.

  Harald sat down next to me while the rest continued to watch our surroundings.

  “All right, what’re your options?” He asked, getting comfortable.

  I explained how I was torn between create ghoul and banshee’s wail.

  He sat in thought for a moment before speaking, “Well better physical minions would be a boon to the group. Not to mention that debuff and damage over time the other one can do. I can see why you’re taking so long now,” He paused in his mutterings and glanced over at Robin and the others, “As of right now Eustace and I are our only dedicated melee combatants. And I’m not sure how zombies would perform if you have to give them constant direction.”

  “So create ghoul then?” I asked.

  Harald nodded, “More melee and they can adapt to the situation easier.”

  I chose create ghoul as my new skill, but I still had the upgrades to go through.

  “All right it’s time to head out,” Harald stood and repeated the command to the others.

  I closed my boxes of text and stood, I guess I could look at the upgrades when we set up camp. We had already wasted enough daylight.

  “Crowley, go ahead and create some ghouls if you have the mana for it.” Harald called out.

  I gave him a thumbs up and wondered how I could check my mana reserves. I hadn’t gotten this far when I was studying magic in my old life.

  Notice: Due to significant requests the System will now update.

  Update completed.

  I raised an eyebrow and opened my attribute screen to see what was updated.

  Name: Crowley

  Race: Wight

  Class: Necromancer 4

  Health: 120 of 120; Stamina 160 of 160; Mana 250 of 319; Death Energy 75 of 269.

  “Huh,” I thought aloud, “That’s convenient.”

  The rest of the group were doing the same from what it appeared, checking out the new update to the system.

  Now how much does Create Ghoul cost?

  Skill [Create Ghoul] Mana cost Medium.

  I should have enough then. I looked at my zombies, “Go and bring me three more goblin corpses.” I ordered.

  The undead scurried off almost immediately.

  It only took a few more minutes for my undead to drag three corpses in front of me, depositing them in a pile. I held my hand out and focused on the skill. I could feel the energy leaving my body in a rush and I wondered briefly what would happen if I put some death energy into the casting.

  My stray thought became reality, a different strand of energy came from my core and intertwined with the spectral fog wrapping around the pile of corpses. Giving it a teal hue. The mass bubbled and coiled, wrapping into itself. I could hear Tyriel throwing up somewhere, and what sounded like maybe Eustace or Harald too.

  The casting didn’t take horribly long, roughly three minutes or so of channeling.

  A creature emerged, covered in tattered clothes, a ragged hooded cloak accompanying the ensemble. It was truly mesmerizing to watch my creation raise itself out of the goop on all fours and stumble towards me before bowing its head.

  “What are your orders, Master?” A coarse grave toned voice asked.

  “Follow me for now,” I smiled and decided that I was going to name this new creation. It had the intelligence to speak and think, so it needed a name. “Your name from this point forward is Grigori.”

  I had named him after an older man I often talked to in the libraries back home. That man had taught me a lot about history and magic, even when it was discovered I wouldn’t be able to cast spells.

  Grigori nodded his head and stepped behind me. I noticed absently that the pile of corpses was just a pile of goop now and that somehow none of it was on Grigori.

  “That was terrifying and absolutely disgusting,” Robin observed sickly.

  “I wonder what it's abilities are,” Eustace pondered, emerging from a bush and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

  I shrugged, “Time will tell.”

  “Hopefully not too soon,” Harald added, “Now let’s get going.”

  We set off, my zombies trailing the group and Grigori out in front scouting. With orders to turn any goblin he finds until my mana was almost depleted. Unfortunately we didn’t run into any more of the little green bastards but we did start hearing the roar of a rushing river.

  It was dusk on that second day when we finally found the river and set up a camp on its shore. We had accomplished our mission and now the real one could start. Building a settlement. Which was going to be challenging as I had no idea how construction worked nor did anyone else. The person with the most experience was Robin and that was limited to setting up long term hunting tents. Which would do for now. But once again we ran into issues with Tyriel’s absolute disdain for me, especially now that I had Grigori and she had witnessed his raising.

  I’m not going to say that I blame her, I do understand her disgust and trepidation. I would probably be having similar thoughts. But, and I’m guessing it’s due to the race change, I wasn’t feeling any kind of disgust or dislike towards my undead. They were just extensions of my will, and Grigori was becoming sort of a friend. Don’t look at me like that, I know how that sounds.

  Regardless, that night I slept alone in a clearing underneath the branches of a particularly large tree.

  While I laid there I toyed with the idea of leaving and setting off on my own journey, to found my very own settlement. One where there wouldn’t be hostile eyes watching my every move. Tyriel would not be alone when everything was said and done, did I really want to put up with that? But before I could really get lost in those thoughts reality came crashing down. I don’t even know how to make a tent much less a settlement, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

  I let out a long sigh, maybe one day. When I finally fell asleep I was expecting to dream of the battle, or at least my arrival here. Some twisted part of my mind decided that tonight was the night that I’d dream of home. I dreamt about roaming the dusty library searching for tomes on magic, books on history, anything to get me some claim on what was once mine. To become a Sage would’ve been the ultimate goal, being a master of magic would open many doors in my previous life. I wouldn’t need my father anymore, I could have my own land, my own home. And my mother would never have to worry about me again. The only thing in my way was forming my own set of magical conduits within my body. But it was not to be.

  My frail body was unfit and unable to form the necessary conduits and my dream ruptured violently. There would be no inheritance. There would be no magic. There would be nothing but my encroaching death and confinement to that itchy straw filled bed.

  I awoke, heat seeping through my limbs begging for release. I sat up and looked at my unlit fire. I held out my hand and a flame sparked in the core of the kindling, my undead added fuel to the fire and I watched it roar to life. There were no such limitations on me now. I would not be confined to an existence filled with wanting and despair, this time, I will achieve my goals. I glared defiantly into the flames for several minutes before easing my way back into sleep.