A voice cut through the silence of the ruined city.
"Who enters my domain?"
Kai spun toward the source.
A figure erged from the shadows of a crumbling archway.
An old man. At least in his fifties.
He walked with a slight limp, supported by an elaborate cane that clicked against the stone path with every step. His robes were tattered but intricate, layered in dark greys and deep sapphire.
An ornate blue-speckled opal sat embedded in the chest of his robe.
A hood covered most of his face, but beneath it, Kai caught a glimpse of glowing blue eyes. Similar to, but different from, his undead minions.
The stranger tilted his head, studying Kai with mild interest. "Do you have a death wish, little one?"
Kai’s fingers twitched, readying a spell. "I ca here to escape death, not accept it."
The man let out a low chuckle. With a flick of his hand, the mana swirling around Kai dissipated.
Kai hesitated before continuing, "A traveler told to co here if ever I was being hunted by the church."
At that, the man’s head lifted slightly.
"The church?" A pause. "A traveler?"
His cane struck the ground with a sharp tap.
A sudden gust of mana rushed through the air, swirling like a maelstrom.
Kai’s hair and ragged clothes fluttered in the wind.
Kai stiffened, his instincts screaming danger.
The old man’s glowing eyes narrowed in delight. "Ah, yes."
"A Rank 9 Necromancer."
Kai barely processed the words before the man continued, voice smooth, "I would need to rank you up to perform the services I require, but that will take so ti. You’d need to grow in strength. Build your numbers. Learn a few tricks."
Kai blinked. "Excuse ?"
The old man ignored him.
"I will have to figure out where you stand in terms of abilities and spells. And if you are able to perform said services, you will need the skills, knowledge, and items necessary to survive in a world that wishes to eradicate necromancy and the Old Ones."
Kai bristled. "EXCUSE !"
The man sighed. "Oh, were you talking, little one?"
Kai’s patience snapped. "My na isn’t ’little one.’ My na is Kai Tensen. And I want to know what you know about ."
Another pause.
Then, with a slow nod, the man said, "My apologies, Kai Tensen. A pleasure to et you. I am Orlin. The master of this city. Of Mirth."
He gave a small theatrical bow.
"My other nas have long since disappeared from mory. Of myself and all others. What do you wish to know?"
Kai exhaled sharply. "What do you know about necromancers?"
Orlin’s lips curled into a smirk. "Everything. My master was one."
Kai frowned. "Your master?"
Orlin lifted a hand. "Hold on, Kai Tensen. Let’s get a little more comfortable."
A flash of blinding light.
Kai flinched, instinctively raising his arms.
And when the light faded, they were sowhere else.
A lavish living room stretched around them. Velvet-lined chairs, an ornate wooden table, bookshelves cramd with ancient tos. A large fireplace crackled with warm orange flas.
Kai’s eyes widened.
Orlin sighed. "Just so simple teleportation magic. Nothing too fancy."
Kai scowled. "Nothing too fancy?"
’Is he showing off? Or does he actually think people can just teleport around like it’s nothing?’
Orlin waved him off. "Right. You wanted to know about my master."
Kai listened intently.
"The greatest user of magic the world had ever seen. A necromancer. He used the undead to build the Citadel and deforest the lands for the eight provinces. Almost killed a divine being but was betrayed."
Orlin paused. "Did I leave anything out? No. So, now... answer my questions."
Kai’s head swam with the sheer weight of the information.
’What the fuck did I just hear?’
He barely had ti to process before Orlin continued.
"What spells can you cast? My eyes of inspection won’t show any more than your na, class, and rank. With the powerful inhibitor cast upon you, I’m surprised I could see that much."
Kai frowned. "Inhibitor?"
Orlin wagged a finger. "Now, now, Kai. Proper etiquette says you answer my question first."
Kai exhaled sharply. "I can cast Fire-"
Orlin’s cane slamd into the floor. "No, not those! Necromancy spells!"
Kai hesitated. "Oh, um... Mass Raise Undead, Wither, Gravebound, Raise Undead, and Tether the Fallen?"
Orlin humd in thought.
His fingers drumd against his cane. "Hmm..."
Then, just as quickly, he scratched at his chin, or rather, at the dark void beneath his hood. "You’re a little further behind where I would like you to be."
Kai bristled. "Excuse ?"
Orlin waved him off again. "I’ll answer your question and be quick. I can’t see your information because an inhibitor has suppressed-"
Suddenly, Orlin scread.
Kai jumped. "What’s wrong?"
Orlin clutched his head, his entire form shuddering.
Then there was silence.
Orlin straightened, voice eerily calm. "Oh, it’s been a while since I felt pain. I apologise, Kai Tensen, but I cannot answer that question. There is sothing much stronger than out there that will not let . No matter how much I want to. No matter how desperately you plead."
Kai swallowed.
’Sothing stronger than him? Soone who can flick magic away and teleport people like taking a step through a door? That’s... not good.’
Orlin’s smirk returned. "But you may ask another question."
Kai hesitated. Then, slowly, "Is there a cure?"
Orlin laughed. "To necromancy? Afraid not. The mont you raised the dead, your fate was sealed. How old were you? Four? Five?"
Kai stiffened. "I was... seven months old."
Orlin stopped.
For the first ti, he seed genuinely intrigued. It looked like a smile appeared in the magical darkness.
"Oh?" A low chuckle. "Casting magic before you’re even a year old. That is promising. Very promising."
"Promising?"
"I believe my master was at least three years old. If you can surpass him... Nevermind that, how do you use your magic? Chanting? Magic circles? Just by thinking?"
Kai hesitated. "I-"
Orlin cut him off. "No. Show ."
Kai blinked. "But there aren’t any..."
Then, without a word, he turned and walked away.
Kai scowled. "What are you-"
"Are you going to follow , or not?"
Kai groaned. "This guy’s a little annoying."
Still, he nodded and hurried after him.
Orlin led Kai beyond the house.
Through a rusted back gate, into a cetery.
Gravestones stretched across the field, so old and crumbling, others still marked with fresh engravings.
Orlin gestured. "Choose any of the corpses here. Then you will fight it until it no longer has the capacity to be a threat."
Kai frowned. "That’s easy. If I raise it, it will follow my orders."
Orlin grinned. "Ah, but that’s the beauty of it."
His cane tapped the ground. "You will relinquish your power over it. You will create an undead with no master. And you will fight it using only necromancy."
"I can do that?"
"You can."
"How?"
"There’s an almost invisible magical thread between master and servant with undead. The stronger the necromancer, the harder it is to break, but at your level, it should be easy enough."
Kai’s stomach twisted.
No physical attacks. No other magic.
Just necromancy.
"But-"
Orlin smirked. "If you can’t do this... I won’t help you, and you’ll be on your own."
Kai stared at Orlin, trying to gauge whether this was a test or so twisted joke. But the old man’s glowing blue eyes held no amusent, only an unsettling, patient curiosity. But that patience seed to hide sothing else. Anticipation.
’He really expects to do this.’
Kai exhaled sharply, scanning the gravestones. The air was thick with decay, yet beneath it, sothing else lingered. Sothing unnatural.
Orlin’s presence alone made the entire cetery feel wrong. The sky, once a dull grey, seed darker now, like the light itself was being swallowed by sothing unseen.
Kai clenched his fists. ’I don’t have a choice.’
This was madness.
No, it was worse than that.
Orlin wasn’t just testing him, he was toying with him, dangling the possibility of survival and knowledge like a cat playing with a mouse.
Kai felt powerless before. When the church’s hunters had nearly cornered him or when he’d fled through the streets, alone, hated, despised. When his friends were murdered right in front of him and when his own sister tried to murder him.
But this was different. Standing there, in the graveyard, under the expectant gaze of a man who made reality bend with a re gesture was intimidation like Kai had never felt.
He stood before a devil.
Or worse, sothing that even devils feared.
But devils had knowledge.
And Kai needed that knowledge if he wanted to survive.
Even if this man is sothing far worse than I realise, what other choice do I have?
Kai took a breath, stepping forward. He stopped in front of a grave marked with a single na, its letters worn by ti. The body beneath had likely been dead for decades.
’Good. The longer they’ve been dead, the weaker they are when raised.’
He extended a hand, channeling his mana. The air trembled, the soil shifting beneath him.
’Raise Undead.’
Orlin watched in silence.
A hand shot out of the gravesite and the corpse rose.
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