Liora glared at the glinting eyes of Rüdiger for a heartbeat before lowering her gaze again. “No. Necromancy… It is the desecration of corpses. I will not learn unholy magic. I just won't!”
Tears welled in her eyes as she glanced at her fallen friends.
Rüdiger shook his head with a sad expression, then straightened and eased his voice with sharp authority.
“You forget yourself, priestess. I am Margrave Rüdiger von Erlenwald, commander of one of the banners of the Crusade. If I order you to learn the spell in the name of the oath you swore to the One, you will obey or die.”
He extended his arm, and System text shimmered before them:
Class: Economist, Arch-Necromancer, Independent Lord
Liora flinched back as if physically struck.
Adarin rolled his eyes, watching the battle within her—duty and deference warring with disgust and fear. He seized the moment and spoke into her mind.
'Liora, this man is as dangerous as he is unstable. Don’t think about what happens if you obey him. Think about what happens if you refuse.'
Her spine stiffened. Her eyes flicked nervously.
'We could run,' she whispered deep inside her mind. Adarin felt her fear. Her uncertainty and how suddenly he, a strange voice in her head, was the last familiar thing in a word that had turned upside down. If I am the only thing she is clinging to, maybe I can use that?
Adarin shook his head and smiled tightly. No, girl. We are not running—I want to see this “magic” in action.
Out loud he said something different, silent but clear. 'We cannot run. He is too powerful, and we are surrounded by walking corpses. Do as he says. I will help you.'
Liora stood frozen in indecision as Adarin studied Rüdiger. 'He’s dressed like a clown. But he walks the battlefield like this—and holds authority. Either he’s an insanely lucky buffoon, or insanely dangerous. Best to assume the latter.'
Liora shifted nervously, then looked up. “Will you let me go if I learn the spell?”
Rüdiger smiled thinly. “I’ll let you go once the battle’s over—if you pretend to be my disciple until then.”
He held out a hand. She studied the pristine white glove.
Adarin felt her wavering—her fear. Then he saw it. The kernel of excitement she hid—the part that felt ecstatic using magic. Something stirred within him from that place. He shivered. It felt... familiar. Then it vanished—as if it had never been there, just as the strange entity had done the first time.
Adarin pursed his lips and ran several defensive scan protocols in his mind. Nothing. The two computronium cores still denied him all access and didn't seem to show any activity.
Liora swallowed, sweat running down her forehead. “Very... very well,” she whispered, the words breaking under the weight of fear and shame.
Her hand extended, clutching Rüdiger’s.
“And thus a compact is struck,” the necromancer intoned, smiling like a kind grandfather. He stepped back, pressing a flat hand over his own stomach—right where Liora’s gut implant should be.
Adarin remembered the intelligence reports: they shared the same implants.
Rüdiger’s hand grasped at his stomach and pulled something free. In his palm rested a strange sphere—foggy and glowing, shifting between purple, pale green, and icy blue. He stepped forward and held it out to Liora.
Adarin studied the construct. A nanonic construct with a holographic component of sorts... interesting. He began recording the visual feed for later intelligence analysis.
Liora gulped and stepped forward. “How do I...?”
Rüdiger turned his hand, tapping a series of tattoos on the inside of his arm.
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Select skill to impart.
“Raise Zombie” selected.
Confirm skill transfer at cost of 1 level. (Y/N)
Confirmed.
He pushed the glowing hand toward Liora, who hesitated before stretching out her own. Rüdiger opened his palm. Within it swirled wisps, each glowing a different hue.
Liora nodded.
“A lesser first-tier spell,” Rüdiger said. “Raise Zombie. The control matrix is primitive: follow, attack, hold. But you should have no difficulty with it.”
Liora swallowed hard. Adarin felt the old struggle flare within her again.
“If I take this within me... I accept it.”
Rüdiger rolled his eyes but spoke with forced kindness. “It’s not the weapon that’s evil. It’s the hand behind it. Do you think power alone makes you wicked?”
Liora inclined her head slowly. Rüdiger flashed a brief smile. She reached forward and grasped the wisps of light, trapping them like caged fire between her fingers.
The black tattoo on her inner forearm blurred. Like ink beneath skin, it formed words:
Spell received. “Raise Zombie” Lesser Tier 1.
Accept? Y / N
Liora shuddered. Slowly, she raised her other hand and pressed Y. Adarin watched and felt strange, familiar tendrils travel through her mind.
Rüdiger met her gaze.
“Place the spell over your necromancy core. It will do the rest.”
Liora nodded, eyes fixed on the ground, and slowly moved her hand toward her belly. The moment the wisps touched her skin, searing pain exploded.
She doubled over, shrieking as if molten iron had been poured into her gut. Every vein felt aflame, but surrender wasn’t an option. Waves of agony crashed through Adarin’s mind shell—but he endured stoically by focusing on a meditation routine.
Liora screamed, her senses flaring wildly from the pain. Adarin took a deep breath, having already adapted to the pain. After all, it's one of the first things we learn as children. Then something inside the body caught his attention. The wisps swirled around the implant, threading through her guts like roots. The roots pulsed as the implant core pulled the wisps in, one by one, growing—developing new structures on its surface.
Interesting. An analog computer, building larger matrices with every thread... Adarin smiled. This is familiar. Good.
Slowly, Liora came to as the pain eased. Rüdiger helped her up again and pointed to her arm. She touched the resting inked eye—and it opened.
Adarin felt a wave of intent from her, focused on the core in her gut. The inky eye blurred into words:
Due to Necromantic Core exceeding bounds of Tier 1 state,
spell Raise Zombie has been upgraded from lesser Tier 1 to early Tier 1.
Rüdiger whistled appreciatively.
“Well, your core has tremendous potential. I’ve only ever seen this happen twice—that a spell upgrades the moment it’s implanted. Ja, ja. Looks like we have an interesting future ahead.”
He pointed at the walking corpse of Annie and she collapsed limply to the ground. Her eyes wide open, she was lying before them.
Liora shuddered and looked away.
“Please don’t.” Tears ran down her cheeks.
Adarin barely held back a curse. If I actually stay in this body, I need to work the queasiness out of her. It’s just a corpse the mind has already departed. He modulated his voice, speaking quietly. 'What are you afraid of?'
'I... see...' Her thoughts were a whirlwind of guilt, shame, and… anticipation.
I can’t let her falter now. 'What do you see?'
Memories of her dead family flashed up—mixed with those of her fallen friends. She glanced over briefly, then averted her gaze again. Adarin pressed his eyes shut. This is a problem. Unless she gets moving, the lunatic might decide she is worthless.
He scanned the memories flickering through her mind. Dead animals appeared—but the strongest emotions clung to the humans. He spoke again. 'How would you feel about using a zombie dog instead?'
Liora closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.
'A dog?' Images of her family’s dog surfaced—warm fur, playful barks, the day it died in her arms. She stared at her feet for several heartbeats, trembling.
'Okay.'
She looked up at Rüdiger.
“Honored Archmagister, could I raise a dog instead?”
Rüdiger raised an eyebrow, his gaze unreadable.
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