The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 46 (Patreon)

Chapter 46 – Reaper

I summoned teachers for my other students from my army of the dead, and commanded them to move to other areas of the compound, so that they would not interrupt or distract us, and vice versus. This was one of the most important part of the training, after all, the foundation. If you built a solid foundation, then they could grow at their own pace with little worries. A cracked foundation, however, might allow for poor methods, or having them bite off more than they could chew.

Turning to look at my young apprentice, I said, “Your element is Death, and you are a Sorcerer. You have seen my lectures. Tell me, what do you think that means?”

Naya took a breath, and said, “A Sorcerer uses their force of personality to make their will manifest in the world. They tell the universe how they want things to be, and it complies. Death is the element of curses and the one that governs undeath, but it isn’t used in the creation of plagues or other such things.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “But the most important part is that Sorcerers often incorporate parts of their element into their physical form. Not intentionally, of course, but as a natural consequence of practicing their art. Drawing upon the element with their will alone, it is only to be expected that the element would color their body and soul.”

Naya frowned slightly as she worked through the implications of that. “Does that mean that learning magic is going to curse me? Or turn me into an undead?”

I sighed. “Perhaps. If you delve the depths of magic too greedily, and too deep? Almost certainly. Oh, it isn’t all bad, of course. Because Death is used to quell diseases, I can promise you that, once you have grown into your power, only magical diseases will have any chance of touching you, and cancer, of any kind, is completely out of the question, which are concerns that Animators deal with constantly.

“But there is definitely cause for concern, and for caution. Magic done through foci and willpower can fail or backfire if you get distracted, just as it can with a CAD. But when you’re channeling the essence of Death, that means you may find yourself rebounding a hex upon yourself, and it naturally sinks into your aura. Or you might find parts of your body necrotizing, becoming like the undead creatures you will learn to create.

“And this is where the greatest danger for you comes in, my apprentice. For you are a woman, and, to put it bluntly, a large portion of your body falls squarely within the domain of Life.” I nodded as Naya’s eyes grew wide, and continued, “Yes, Reapers, out of all the types of Sorcerers, have the hardest time becoming pregnant, because their bodies are used to harnessing death. After a certain point in their training, it becomes impossible for them to create new life without magical aid.

“Young reapers are told, as soon as they have their first period, that if they go more than five or six years in this training without having a child, then it is likely they never will, without help. Even if you use the incredible fertility of an Animator to try and get pregnant, it would still be a difficult process. And even after, there can be complications, because of your own mana affecting the unborn child.”

“What do you mean, sensei?”

“When a reaper’s mana corrupts their unborn child, one of three things can happen. One, the mana is too much, and snuffs out the young life before it could ever be born. Two, the mana weakens the child, causing them to be weak and sickly at birth, though they may recover after. Or three, the child is ‘born’ as an Atropal, an undead creature that will often act as a familiar to the mother that birthed it.”

Naya shuddered in revulsion. “H-how likely is that?”

“In the rare case of a reaper in their twenties or older getting pregnant? Roughly one in ten becomes an atropal, while two out of the same ten are born healthy, and without issue, and another four are born sickly. Three out of every ten reaper pregnancies end with the mother losing the child completely.”

Naya looked like the world fell on her, and I had to admit that, if I wasn’t already undead by the time I learned that, I would have been in the same boat. “Now, because you are later in starting your studies than those young reapers would be, and you do have the foremost expert on Death magic in your corner, I think you might be able to beat the odds. But, even so, if you wish to have children, it is best that you hurry up and have them before your magic makes it too difficult.”

“Did they really teach it like that in the other world, telling girls to go out and get pregnant as soon as possible?”

I chuckled. “Actually, yes. Of course, that wasn’t so much different from normal girls, either. Or the boys, for that matter. The life expectancy of a peasant was thirty years, give or take, and infant mortality was no better than that of medieval times in this world. The wealthy, and those who had magic, had it better, obviously, but still,” I shrugged.

Naya nodded slowly. “And where did mages fit into this?”

“Someone with a mage’s talents would be brought up to the minor nobility, if they weren’t already, especially since the talent was at least partly genetic. Tying the mage to the kingdom would increase the kingdom’s power. Not just in war, mind you, but in all facets of life.”

“How so?”

“Well, Life mages were always sought out to help in healing wounds and ensuring that both mother and child made it through childbirth. They also had some ability to enhance the yield of crops, and make livestock more fruitful. Simple things like that could make all the difference in times of trouble.

“Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Light all had similar utilitarian uses, that I’m sure a clever girl like you could figure out. Darkness was a bit of a special case. A practiced Shadowbringer could make the shadows around them have physical form, allowing them to do any number of tasks equal only to the limits of their imagination and their stamina. However, they were more often used as spies, assassins, and thieves, for obvious reasons.”

“And what of Death, sensei?”

“Ah, Death. Well, whenever there was a plague, be it locusts or disease, a Death Mage was called for. Death mages would work hand in hand with Life mages, sterilizing equipment and keeping parasites and disease at bay while they set about healing a patient. Even without a Life Mage, a Death mage could kill an infection in a patient, put a ward up to keep them from getting reinfected, and then use the traditional healing arts to help the body heal itself naturally.”

I paused. “And, of course, there’s the art of creating minions. Each of the different elements has their own kind of minion, and for Death it would be the undead, whether they be soulless husks intent on devouring everything in their path, or a fallen soul yanked back from the afterlife and stuck in their rotting corpse, or whatever. As part of the study of Necromancy, and creating the undead, you will also learn Soul Magic, one of the most dangerous and terrifying branches of magic.”

Naya looked like she was about to say something, but I just shook my head. “You know a fraction of my abilities, how I can rip a man’s soul from his body with a gesture, yes? And how I can then bind that soul into an enchantment, burning it away until it is wholly spent in empowering a magic item? If that was all Soul Magic did, it would not be so feared. Oh, people would still fear it, but only as much as you would someone with a gun that shot bullets that electrocuted people as they died. Yes, it is gruesome, but if that’s all then it is just a bit more sadistic way of killing someone with a gun.

“No, the true terror in Soul Magic is that you can manipulate the soul itself. This can create bindings, like you see in Slave Magic, or it can force a connection between two beings, like in a Familiar ceremony. It even forms the basis of the Hero Summoning ritual. And a skilled practitioner can alter a soul.”

My apprentice had the sense to be horrified by the implications of what I just said. “Yes, I can see that you understand, at least somewhat. Through soul manipulation, you can change everything about a person. Memories, morality, who they love and what god they follow? All of it can be altered, either by smashing the soul apart and putting it back together as you see fit, or by making careful edits, one after another until it is impossible to know what is true and what is a lie.”

“How can anyone be allowed such power?”

“The number of Death mages that actually progress to that point are few, maybe one in every thousand or ten thousand, and, thanks to the trouble they have passing on their genes, Death mages were never the most populous element to begin with. Most of those who did seek out that power usually do something stupid, like trying to take over a country by force or raise an undead army, and end up getting hunted down and slaughtered before they can become too powerful. And Undead mages are hunted, more often than not, because everyone knows how dangerous a lich can become.”

“But how did you…”

“How did I survive, as a lich who clearly has delved into soul magics?” I chuckled. “Well, Athelia devolved into civil war after the royal family and most of the heroes died. As a newborn lich, I gathered the bodies of the fallen, and raised them as my army, keeping out of sight while the nobles bickered and fought. When the time was right, I crushed them, and added their corpses to my army.

“Then, I spent years training, and preparing, building up my army so that it was the strongest fighting force on the continent. My neighbors were all content to leave well enough alone, since they could perform another Grand Summoning until all the former heroes had either died, or left the world, and I was still there. They had their hands full with the Demon Lord’s army, and could not afford to open a second front at their rear.”

I chuckled. “Actually, it was in hopes of opening a second front that would effectively end the war that the Demon King approached me, twenty years after the summoning. By that point, I felt my forces ready, so I began my long war against the Demon King. By that point, I was far too powerful for anyone to do anything about it. Outside of the ancient dragons, there were none on the continent who could match my power.”

With a smile, I sighed, and put away those memories. “But now, my young apprentice, it is time to begin your training. And we will start with the two most basic spells that any Death mage can learn, a Death Bolt and a Death Shield. Despite their names, these are just the Death element version of the magebolt and mage shield spells. One sends a blast of magic at a target, and the other creates a dome that protects you from harm.”

“I understand,” Naya said, taking a deep breath. “How do I begin?”

“You have learned to draw mana into you, and pool it within you. Now it is time to unleash it. We will start with the Death Bolt. A simple attack spell.”

I took a breath, and then said, “Now, picture your magic gathering in the palm of your hand. Gather it up into a ball, and set it spinning, faster and faster, coalescing together. Once you manage that, then we can begin.”