RSTUM 96 (Patreon)

96: Necromancy

Vadim couldn't stop as he ran away from the chasers. A Dwarf is never the fastest person one may see out there but Vadim used every dirty trick in the book to keep his chasers busy with him.

Rather than speed, what he needed was Stamina. He entered the forest not too far from the road and kept using Combat Magic in order to Rush and Leap and perform all the tricks he knew.

"Search for the Dwarf, return with him alive!"

Vadim watched as a knight gave orders to his subordinates and soldiers. They had hounds, crossbows, and military-grade equipment. He had to abandon the Bison back at the Caravan and rush through a score of those guards just to draw this much attention.

However, they will figure out his purpose soon and tighten the watch on the main road. They could have even figured out the situation from the start judging by the fact that Conri Marth is not pursuing him personally and just sent a lieutenant.

"Stay safe, Leon." Vadim trusted that Leon could take care of himself but he was still worried.

Still, trusting Leon with himself is never a bad decision.

Back at the Pilgrims' Caravan, the situation was chaotic at the most optimistic estimation. All the pilgrims were rounded up and surrounded by the Baron and his men and were ordered to submit to a very personal search.

"Lord of this land, I announce my name as Minister Minerva, daughter of High Minister Alden, servants of the Light and the Holy Mother." She spoke while stepping forward.

"A minister?" The old baron looked down from his horse at the woman, "You're too young to be a minister."

"You doubt the Light's Holiness, Lord of this land?" Minerva pushed against the man with another step standing just beside the head of his warhorse.

"Alright, sister of light." The Baron became unamused rather than dismissive, "What do you want?"

"You treat the worshippers of the Light like prisoners, Lord. This is an insult to the Temple!"

"And this is the Border of the Royal Realm!" The Baron shouted, "Your Caravan was harboring criminals… enemies of the Crown of Amber! You Light Folk have dirtied your hands when you cooperated with those."

"We are a caravan of simple pilgrims and I am on my way to fulfill an assignment granted to me by Her Holiness, the Supreme Anchorite! Not only have you mistreated the children of light but you have hindered my mission."

"Quit beating around the bush! What do you want?" The Baron asked.

"Release the pilgrims at once!" She said.

"No can do! Unless their identities check out as non-criminals, you are all staying." The Baron replied.

"Then rather than criminals, treat us like guests. Allow us to set camp." She demanded, "And you have until tomorrow morning to let us go or help me, Light."

"Quit it!" The Baron seemed to be pressured enough by the woman, "You'll all be searched and accounted for before allowing you to set camp."

"And I honor the wishes of the Lord." Minerva replied with a strong look in her eyes.

A Minister is a force to be reckoned with and a Baron is still a noble of the land. The more they clash, the worse this becomes.

"Search everything and everyone!"

With the soldiers given the command, they spread like mad dogs and searched the caravan. The food sacks were stabbed with spears, the men and women were told to line up with their identities, and even the food wagon and the luggage were stabbed and searched, all until they reached Diesel the Bison.

"Lord! The bull is raging, we can't search its cargo." A soldier reported.

"Kill it!" The Baron said.

"By the Light, no!" Minerva rushed between the soldiers and the Bison, "It's a pure soul made of light. Hold your weapons unless it is for honorable slaughter."

"That's the animal that Dwarf rode." The Baron said, "We heard that you've been talking to the Dwarf too. I am starting to not like you, Minister."

"The man was most generous to our caravan though I can now see the reason for his generosity. Let me pacify the beast for you and you can search its luggage."

Minerva seemed adamant to be a pain in the ass for the Baron and he was already fuming from her actions. Still, she calmed Diesel with a few magic words and it was searched thoroughly.

"What have the Dwarf done for you to unleash your men like rabid dogs?" They are vicious killers and rebels against the Crown.

"So, the Crown of Amber is so carefree to search for rebels while the capital is packed with them and burning every night on fire?"

Minerva's question was sharp as it made the Baron almost lose his cool.

It was true. Karanberg is packed with rebels and the news spread that there have been fire outbreaks in the capital every day for the past few days.

However, the Baron jumped off his horse and stepped toward the Minister as he held her arm and pushed her out of his soldiers' way.

"They! Killed! My Son!" The Baron said every word with all the hate in the world.

Even Minerva was shocked by the man's spirit and thirst for revenge. He walked away not riding his horse and started organizing his men for the next step in their search.

"Senior." Minerva's companion, the Cleric whose name is Milla, approached Minerva quietly.

"Don't start." Minerva said.

"You felt it, didn't you? That foul thing!" Milla said, "Why haven't you told them the boy veiled himself in Darkness."

"I told you not to start it!" Minerva almost shouted, "It is a matter of the Temple to apprehend and take in the Children of Darkness. Don't let prejudice cloud your judgment and get us involved in matters we needn't worry about at the moment."

This was what even Vadim couldn't sense but those who were immersed in the arts of the Holy Light temple were trained to sense and trace the Mana of the foul Dark Element.

Those who practiced the Dark Element are not criminalized by the Temple but they get adopted and become under the Temple's supervision for the rest of their lives. The Dark Element is as rare as the Light among the people if not even rarer. It is not a burden of the Temple to harbor those individuals, others who find out they have an affinity to darkness never practice it for the rest of their lives and keep it a secret. However, if someone were to use the Darkness for their own villainous gains, then and only then the Inquisition pays them a visit.

The only exceptions are nobles who get to be free from the Temple's influence but must be under a certain level of surveillance as they live freely.

"Find out more about those Yafim and Ricardo fellows. Be discreet!" Minerva ordered Milla, "I want their real identities and to know what is going on here."

I'll report them once we get to the Regional Temple.

***

Far from the caravan and the search, Leon stopped somewhere remote to catch his breath.

"I knew this wouldn't work! I fucking knew it."

Vadim's plan of rushing things never sat well with Leon who was never that kind of operative. A planner like him likes to do it slowly, take his time, execute a flawless plan, and walk out without looking back at the explosion.

The place he ended up in was higher than most ground but was covered with enough trees to make it possible to scout through. It was dangerous to walk into an unknown territory like that, which is certainly inhabited by the local authorities at some of its edges, and try to sneak through it.

Still, there was a new tool in Leon's arsenal that he was eager to try.

The Book of the Dead.

Leon took the book out from his storage, opened the cover by imprinting the Ring of Horus against the Ouroboros seal (the snake biting its tail), and looked at the first page.

"Rhyme." He spoke and saw nothing happened.

Behind him, however, a presence ahead and crossed ahead to stand in front of him. He panicked a little by the spooky entrance but looked at Rhyme and let out a long breath.

"You are alone." Rhyme spoke, "Your short friend seems missing."

"He can take care of himself." Leon said, "I believe I am the one in trouble now."

"What do you require of me?" Rhyme asked.

"I need your help. I am alone in the woods and I want someone to watch my back." Leon said.

"Then I'll be of less help than you imagine." She said, "I can't provide asylum from death to the living."

"I see." Leon said, "Then… the Death Magic you have, can you tell me what it can do?"

"Why?" Rhyme asked.

"I read about it and I believe it can be of use to me." Leon said.

"It is a magic unsuitable for the living. Even I don't prefer to use it." She said, "But if it is your wish, you only have to insist. It is the closest magic to death and it will draw you closer."

Leon thought about it and could confirm her words with a little bit of thinking and focusing on the Knowledge of the Arcane Theory deep in his head.

The Death Magic, aka Necromancy, is one of the most shamed and forbidden practices but its true harm is that it deals with the negative plain where death is as prominent as life. Those who draw power from a negative plane will get inflicted by various hazards including Necrosis, ghoulification, madness, and becoming undead themselves. It is something similar to the Miasma which accumulates in monster habitats and causes serious hazards.

Still, Leon has the element of Light on his side, the element that can expel all these harmful effects by simply absorbing the Light through his signature Photosynthesis spell.

"Just explain to me the Death Magic and its abilities, the ones you know." Leon said.

"Your funeral…" Rhyme said and despite being reluctant before, she seemed as if she found it to be amusing now, "The magic of death deals with all the forces of death and even the ones associated with it."

"Like corrosion and decay." Leon said.

"Indeed but you can also include the semi-dead things like the dead eaters. It is a broad magic after all." Rhyme nodded, "The most basic archetype is Bone."

"Bones?"

"Yes. Once you can do the Bone Structure spell, you can do a lot of things." Rhyme extended a hand up and a few white particles started to come together from the earth and the atmosphere to form a long needle made of bone in a matter of seconds.

"Maintain that." Leon said and Rhyme kept the spell up while changing the forms of the needle to a dagger and then to a sword.

As for Leon, he simply muttered: "Read".

The percentage of learning and analyzing the magic went up fast and a message appeared.

< "Death Magic Lv.1" has been added to your Status! >

< You have learned "Bone Arsenal (★★)" >

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[ Bone Arsenal ] < Death Magic Spell - ★★ >

Reach into the negative energy of the world and materialize it into bone-like material. This material possesses a color that scales with its solidity and it can form all sorts of objects from the imagination of the caster. The size and quality depend on the caster's ability. Anything created by this spell will dissipate back into negative energy with time if not constantly maintained by the caster or a negative-energy-rich environment.

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Leon held his hand up and performed the same feat Rhyme did, there were no flaws according to her in his performance.

"You have read my magic. I know I should feel angry about it but… I don't." She said.

"You know about Reading?" Leon asked.

"I am familiar with the concept yet I don't have a recollection of the past. It is useless to try to pry into my memory anyway." She replied, "Anyway, you want to learn more?"

Bone Construct was a useful spell since he can make things made of bones. Even ammunition will no longer be a problem but he must leave no witnesses if he performs this kind of magic now.

"What are the other Archetypes?" Leon asked.

"Subjugating the dead souls is one thing all Necromancers should do. Usually, a Phylactery is needed to store the negative energy of the Dead since the body can't host it but you have the Book of the Dead. For now, call out one of the Wisps."

"Wisp, come out." Leon called.

One of the Will o' Wisps appeared in the vicinity the same way Rhyme did.

"The best Necromancy is to employ a dead soul and make it possess inanimate things. Of course, this depends on how strong the soul is and how skillful you are with Death Magic." Rhyme said.

"This is all nice and dandy but the reason I asked to learn Death Magic is this, Can the Dead Souls be my eyes and ears?" Leon asked about the thing he was most curious about all this time.

"Yes. But… it's no easy feat." Rhyme said.

"How so?"

"Having to maintain 2 spells at the same time is one thing, finding a suitable soul to a suitable body or making one your own is also another matter. It is a long process."

"But it is worth it." Leon turned to the Will o' Wisp that was hovering around, "What do I need to do?"

"Watch."

Rhyme channeled the negative mana from her core and then pushed it against the Will o' Wisp. It didn't seem to be resisting her since back in life, it was one of her subordinates. As she explained that, Leon was focusing on reading her spell.

< You have learned "Damning Stigma" >

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[ Damning Stigma ] < Death Magic Spell - ★★ >

Damn the soul of the living and the dead. A soul will experience pain from your direction until the soul's willpower is broken. In the case of living souls, they must die. A stigmatized soul shall submit to the caster and become undead. It will heed their orders until it is released by true death.

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Just as Leon learned that spell from Rhyme, he started to feel a bit woozy but still maintained his balance. He then decided to cast the "Damning Stigma" on the Will o' Wisp and make it his.

As it was Rhyme's soldier in life, the Will o' Wisp defied Leon's control many times and it made trouble and tried to escape. Rhyme wasn't happy with the fact that Leon was going to take a soldier away from her but she realized that he is the Ring Bearer whom she is supposed to assist and resisted her undead nature.

Once Leon managed to subdue the Wisp, a new change happened. Leon started to feel a strange connection between him and the Wisp. It was akin to the magic link which mercenary groups cast upon each other to maintain a psychic connection. Still, this one felt more dominant as the Wisp was moving according to Leon's wishes and he felt like he could make it do anything.

"What more should I do?" Leon asked.

"The last spell you need to learn is "Raise Undead". Simply, you must inject the dead spirit, the wisp, into an inanimate matter. Are you ready for it?"

"Yes."

Leon seemed ready but his head was already hurting from headache due to the constant use of magic. He called another Wisp from the Book of the Dead for Rhyme to use, she then started using the dead branches and leaves to animate things. Leon started to suffer from a strong headache.

"I think this is your limit for today." Rhyme said, "The Death Mana is very corrosive to the living and if you haven't noticed, you were drained faster than usual."

"Right!"

The cost of using both Death magic and Knowledge magic is the highest Leon has experienced but still, he managed to learn two spells today.

"There is one thing though." Rhyme added, "A Will o' Wisp has the ability to possess things on its own without the need to cast the spell Raise Undead."

"Really?" Leon looked at Rhyme with a tired face, "Why haven't you said that from the start?"

"You didn't ask." Rhyme replied.

"Fine." Leon looked at the Wisp he now controls and suddenly remembered something that made him smile.

He closed his eyes and reached out to the Wisp in order to make sure that he can feel what the Wisp feels. Just like how the Magic Link spell worked with the mercenaries, Leon could feel that the Wisp has some sort of sensory signal that tells it that Rhyme is at a certain distance from it while Leon is at a different distance and with a different signal which indicates that he is the dominant caster and a living being.

"Fantastic!" Leon could work with this level of feedback, "I know just the thing you can possess."