Yes, it was the death knight we killed, back from the dead, but how? I know they are undead, and some have a habit of coming back. Being literally a walking and talking dead person gives that impression. But once you get the experience points, that's it; you're dead. Barring some major resurrection magic.

  But in complete opposition to this immutable rule, there he was. Standing before me, looming over me with deadly intent and weapon drawn. What was weird is that he had his sword and armour. I was pretty sure I had looted his corpse.

  "Marius, what is happening?" I frantically questioned the most likely culprit.

  "I do not know; I think I summoned him."

  His answer didn't help at all as the death knight raised his greatsword to swing down and cleave me in two. By reflex I jumped back, deftly dodging the descending blade. Narrowly escaping my death by a hair's breadth.

  "Call him off!" I demanded, wondering if Marius wanted me dead.

  It was entirely possible he did; he is a stranger, but he was so chill when I met him. Was it all a ruse? Did he just want to use me to level and then discard me? All these thoughts raced through my mind as I considered going after the summoner instead of the summoned.

  "I cannot; it is acting of its own accord." He gave an unsatisfactory answer as I dodged another strike.

  "What do you mean, of his own accord?"

  "The new spell song calls vengeance from beyond the grave to strike at its perpetrator. Nothing about commanding is in the description." He explained as he called one of his ghosts to attack the death knight.

  "So he is running on vengeful autopilot?"

  It made sense after I inspected it. Instead of the name death knight, they named it Vengeful Spirit, and it was a much lower level. Also, he didn't seem all there. He wasn't chatting up a storm, and he looked transparent. If he were a ghost, then direct attacks would not work, but I could try it.

  Backing up a bit, I thrust a palm out and activated my force blast skill. My aura extended past the limits of my body and narrowed to a small region on his chest. Even though the spirit was incorporeal, it would solidify itself at certain times. Otherwise, how else can he cut me in two?

  The wave of kinetic energy phased through the spirit's body before knocking out a chunk of wall behind him. Guess that proved our ghost was staying incorporeal right before he went all stabby. Then, I would just need to time my efforts. Instead of running, I waited for his approach.

  It didn't take long, but soon he was upon me, sword raised and ready to strike. Before the blade descended, I noticed a slight shimmer radiating across his body. Would that be his form solidifying into physical reality? I would soon find out.

  Raising a hand, I pushed my aura and blocked his strike in midair. Thus proving he was phasing in and out. With his arm immobilised, I drew my free hand aside and willed my weapon to my hand. The feel of the handle in my grasp was moments later, and a single thought activated the blade.

  Before he could phase away, I sliced his arm clean off. The appendage fell away cleanly and faded to nothing as it hit the ground. Not letting the moment go, I transitioned into a reverse blade cut. My blade performed its grim work and severed the ghost's head. Being fueled by mana, it worked on ghostly entities.

  When the ghostly death knight fell to the ground, it faded like its arm had. What accompanied the victory was nothing. Without any notification of experience points, it was like I was battling nothing at all.

  "I didn't get any exp for killing that dude?"

  "Perhaps he wasn't a true being?" Marius suggested while dismissing his ghost.

  What he suggested made sense; the death knight didn't even speak. So it wasn't a spectral bond, which requires a contract to be formed between summoner and summoned. Here, he just came out of nowhere and attacked me. Didn't stream out of his corpse like normal, just popped up for revenge.

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  "I suspect it was just a facsimile of the death knight, an echo if you will." I pondered aloud.

  "That is indeed possible; the ability description suggests it calls vengeance, not the actual victim."

  "So probably an echo of the person?"

  We both nodded, coming to the same conclusion. Still, I was pretty miffed that he sang just like that. He needed to be more cautious with his voice; that thing was deadly.

  "Maybe aim that voice of yours away from me when you try out new abilities?"

  Marius turned to me, a little sheepish with a creepy grin. I would have suspected he was a devious villain then and there, but he wasn't there yet. Needed to do way more evil scheming stuff before he could claim the good old BBEG title.

  "I apologise; it was not my intention. I can get swept up in the moment when I sing a new spell song."

  That was sincerity in his voice, at least I think it was. Not exactly the best judge of character. But also, I wasn't the safest dude when I experimented with primordial forces of the universe and beyond. So, I would give him a pass just this once.

  "No worries. Perhaps when you try out your next ability, give everyone a wide berth." I suggested for my sake and for any new companions in the future.

  Standing awkwardly in the centre of a throne room after he accidentally sicked a vengeful pseudo-ghost on me by accident. Well, yeah, it all became too awkward. Jenny chiming in with her lyrical wisdom didn't help.

  A soft and fragile guitar played in the background, accurately framing the music's namesake. Making the sound of silence a tangible thing for only myself to hear. I mentally requested that she cut off Simon's vocals, and she obliged.

  "What is next, my friend?" Marius shifted perfectly into the next step.

  "Yes, the next step. We should probably." I glanced around, trying to locate the mysterious next phase of our plan. "Actually, I do not know; probably just look around."

  Both nodding, we then explored the throne room in depth. Not much really; it was a typical decrepit place that old kings would hold court with their frightened vassals. Naturally, there is nothing much to steal or loot, as the adventurers call it. What was of particular interest was the only other exit, a small side door behind the throne. Probably the Lich's quarters, assuming he slept and did stuff other than sitting on a throne.

  We tried the doorknob, and it opened without a problem. I guess Lich's didn't lock doors, probably because people didn't have undead servants for intelligence. It was just a theory, but undead soldiers might not know how to unlock a door. Unless you explicitly instructed them.

  That way leaving everything unlocked but guarded seemed logical. Imagine if you command your undead servant outside your locked room to come to bring you something. He gets stuck outside the door because they can not grasp that a key goes into the lock.

  Shower thoughts in daily life, I sent them to the back of my mind as we entered. And what greeted us was a rather well-maintained study. Bookshelves filled with tomes I would loot in a minute. No bed naturally, but a bunch of desks sprawled with parchment and many magical implements. Ranging from alchemical beakers to something my Inspect called a soul jar.

  What really piqued my interest was the teleportation circle in the corner. How did I know it was a teleportation circle? Well, it is in the room's corner — a bunch of circular glyphs etched on a stone slab, glowing with a magical light, and my Inspect skill told me so.

  [Teleportation Circle. Description: An arcane circle to teleport the user between paired circles and across great distances. Status: Active.]

  "Score one for the semi-good guys." I raised a fist in celebration.

  "What is that?" Marius asked.

  "That, my friend, is a system-sanctioned teleport circle. Pre-made and super reliable, used mostly in dungeons, but some people can get spells to make them." I explained, vividly recalling one of my coworkers distributing these things across an entire planet once.

  "System sanctioned?"

  "Not up on the lingo, huh? That's cool; few speak system. Let this wise senior teach you." I tried to create the air of an old wise man, kind of hard from a bespectacled office drone.

  "Lingo?" was all he said.

  "It's short for linguistics, but that's beside the point. System sanctioned is any skill, ability, spell, technique or object directly created by the system. This includes system-generated loot and class-selected skills." I explained with a finger and waved in the air.

  I felt like a great teacher, and this young lad was my dear pupil. He was probably older than I, but age is no guarantee of wisdom. I stand by that, and no one can dissuade me, but I am open to discussion. Not a closed-minded kind of guy.

  "Class skills, like my Necrochanter abilities?" He asked, getting into the discussion.

  "Nope, you, my friend, are an esoteric; all your class abilities are your own custom crap. It's got its downsides. Such as your inability to get abilities from the system. But you have free rein to make your own within limits." He nodded clearly understanding my perfect explanation. "Martial and Arcane types get a skill selection based on the course their class has taken. It's a mixture of their own path and what the system offers."

  "Can they get skills only from the system?"

  "They can create their own, but it uses up a skill slot, so people typically choose a skill from a list of options." I grumbled that last part, lucky bastards.

  Well, it's possible Jenny might come up with some skills for me. But that will take time and a lot of energy. I would prefer her to hold off, don't want her to tap into her own reserves for me.

  "I think I understand, thank you."

  "In the words of a tattooed demigod, you're welcome. Now let's check out this teleportation circle." I directed him to my new fascination.

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