The ghostly form hovered over both of us, the spectral flames acting as his eyes being the only thing we could see of his face. My fingers squeezed against the scythe I was holding, and I instinctively took a step back.

  The green flames exploded, turning into a swarm of sparks. The sparks coalesced together at the ground floor, standing in front of Noel and I. The phantasm continued to stare at us both.

  The flames in the chamber crackled, and besides our breathing, there were no other sounds. Finally, I stepped forward.

  “How do I make a zombie smart enough to do something more complex? Like… harvest a crop?”

  Noel exhaled, turning his head slowly to face me. His eyes scrunched again, and his mouth opened for a quick moment, before immediately shutting. He just shook his head.

  Levan turned his attention away from the both of us, to just stare at me directly. The green flames of his eyes looked over my body, before locking in place with my eyes.

  “Quaint. Daughter. Of. Rhyvesta.” the spirit said. Each word was laborious and slow, sounding like it had to be prepared beforehand. The words didn’t flow together, the enunciation and punctuation being random to my ears.

  “It’s an honest question…” I responded back, and the spirit’s body heaved back and forth. If there was any sound, it’d almost look like it was chuckling.

  “Yes. I. Know. How.” it responded, before turning to look at Noel. “What. Is. Your. Business. Here. Son. Of. Danu?”

  “I am with this one,” Noel responded quickly. That wasn’t the entire truth, but I wasn’t going to correct it.

  “I. See.” The spirit’s attention shifted back towards me. “You. Wish. To. Harvest. Crops?” The way it said harvest was far more “excited” than the word “crops.” It felt like someone took a moment of speech and played it back without context.

  “I. DO.” I repeated, stressing out the “Do” for some odd reason.

  Noel groaned, but this amused the spirit.

  “Amusing.” His focus was solely on me. “What. Have. You. Learned. So. Far?”

  I froze in place at the question, unsure of how to answer it. I pulled out the Mortis Agrariae from my inventory, and handed it to the spirit. I was half expecting it to fall to the ground, but Levan took it from my hands and flipped through the pages.

  It continued to page through it, finally stopping at what looked like my table on crops and prices.

  “Interesting. Very. Interesting,” the spirit said. “This. Will. Do.”

  His hand waved forward, and a spectral table was set. He placed my book on one side, and from his robes, pulled out another. He handed it to me.

  I looked down at it, and read the title. Liber Sanitatis. The Book of Healing? I could tell Noel was looking at the book too, so I eased it closer to him so he didn’t have to crane his head.

  “Do. You. Know. Where. Necromancy. Comes. From?” the spirit asked, drawing my attention from his book.

  “Rhyvesta?”

  The spirit chuckled. “Rhyvesta. Is. The. Nursemaid. Of. The. Gods.” It paused, longer than usual. “She. Brings. Life. And. Death. She. Is. Not. The. Creator. Of. Necromancy. Nor. Am. I. All. Magical. Schools. Are. Made. By. Man.” He paused again. “Or. Woman. Lady. Hart.”

  “You know my name?” I asked, confused.

  “You. Wrote. It. In. Your. Book. Ashley. Hart.” the spirit responded. “Do. You. Know?”

  “How was Necromancy made? No.”

  “Good. Too. Many. Of. The. New. Ones. Of. Our. Profession. Lie.” the spirit stated, and then beckoned me to open his book.

  My fingers hesitated, unsure of the effects. Some grimoires could change an entire person’s perception of reality. Others could awaken a hero class… or bind their souls in the nether.

  I touched the edge, but felt no magic. I narrowed my eyes at that, and concentrated. I could hear the Dirge all around the spirit, but the book itself was noiseless. I quickly opened the first page.

  “I. On Infectious Diseases

  And how to Cure Them.”

  “This… is a medical journal.” I blurted out, reading the entries. There were notes on how to cure things like “cold” and “flu,” and even more exotic ones like “Dragonpox” or “smallpox.”

  Well, cure was too strong of a word. Most of these were treatment notes, alongside heavily detailed diagrams.

  Wait.

  I put the book down, and then opened the Mortis Agrariae. Outside of the contents, the actual… work was the same. Highly detailed notes, assumptions, and a very academic process towards figuring out mysteries.

  “Well. Acolyte?” the spirit asked me.

  “...Is necromancy just the application of academics to the real world through magic?”

  “No.” It quickly responded. “Good. Hypothesis. Lady. Hart.” The way it kept saying hart really sounded like “heart” to my ears. “It. Is. The. Domination. Of. The. Divine. Through. Science. And. Arcane.”

  I shook my head at the statement. “What?”

  “Divine. Creates. Necromancy. Imitates. The. Divine. In. Life. Evocation. Imitates. The. Divine. In. Force.” He turned to Noel. “Transmutation. Imitates. The. Divine. In. Transformation.”

  Noel scowled at that statement. “You’re implying that arcane magic is just a mockery of divine magic!”

  The spirit tilted his head at Noel. “The. First. Necromancers. Were. Doctors. Who. Were. Not. Blessed. By. A. God. But. Had. To. Heal. The. First. Plague.”

  Noel immediately shot back, “What, did raising the dead solve the whole dying problem? Binding them in slavery?”

  Levan looked down. “Improper. Understanding. Of. Research. Bad. People. No. Different. Than. Inquisitors. Killing. Anyone. Suspected. Of. Heresy!”

  Noel didn’t respond to that, taking a moment to think. “Amaril has renounced and removed the powers of those who—”

  “Blackguards. Roam. The. Land. When. I. Still. Breathed. Do. They. Still. Exist?”

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  “What’s a blackguard?” I asked, turning to Noel.

  “Yes, they do. I’ll tell you later, Lady Hart.”

  The spirit nodded. “Then. Yes. We. Have. Vampyres. And. Other. Failed. Ones. Too. Except. Our. Powers. Come. From. Our. Selves. Can. Not. Be. Corrupted. Like. A. Blackguard’s.” He paused. “Or. A. Defiler. Druid.”

  Noel crossed his arms. “You know of Defilers, spirit?”

  “Yes. I. Do.” His attention shifted back to me. “You. Are. What. Rhyvesta. And. I. Would. Consider. Pure. Not. Trying. To. Dominate. But. Fix. An. Issue. Through. Understanding.”

  “Thank you, I think?”

  “You. Are. Very. Welcome. You. Are. Currently. Set. To. Make. Sustenance. Unique. Interesting. First. Necromancer. I. Have. Counselled. To. Do. Such. A. Thing.”

  I nodded again. “What is the typical one?”

  “The. Good. Typical. Ones. Are. Doctors. Nurses. Healers. The. Bad. Typical. Ones. Are. Those. Who. Become. Vampyres. And. Raise. Armies. To. Kill.”

  “...But isn’t that what the average necromancer does?” I quietly asked.

  “Unfortunately. Do. Not. Mistake. Us. For. Good. People. There. Is. A. Certain. Type. Of. Person. Who. Breaks. Taboos. Most. Are. Not. Good.” He paused. “You. Are. Not. Good.”

  I stared at the spirit, expecting some softening. It did not.

  “I. Am. Not. Good. I. Experimented. With. Many. Many. Living. Dead. Close-To-Dead. People. Bodies. To. Learn. How. To. Fix. I. Could. Not. Ask. Amaril. To. Cure. I. Had. To. Learn.”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. I. Tortured. Many. People. To. Learn. To. Take. Care. Of. The. Body. The. Secret. To. Stronger. Undead. Is. Preparation. Have. You. Built. A. Preparation. Room?”

  “A what?”

  “I’m sorry, did you just say you tortured many people to learn to make undead so you could learn to heal?” Noel intervened.

  “Yes. I. Did. Druid. My. Notes. Are. In. That. Grimoire. If. You. Study. It. You. Will. Become. A. Great. Doctor.” It responded, turning its attention back to me. “A. Preparation. Room. You. Will. Need. To. Learn. Medicine. My. Book. Will. Teach. You. How.”

  “Sure, but I don’t get what that really means?”

  Noel turned to me. “Your spirit is telling you something about arcane magic that is considered heresy by the Phoenix Queen. Arcane, by definition, is the will of man over the world. He’s making a claim that necromancy is just the arcane version of healing.”

  The spirit nodded. “Your. Druid. Is. Wise. As. Expected.”

  “I ain’t healin’ no carrots?”

  Noel groaned. “Healing is a very, very big sphere. It’s about the manipulation of life, which you are doing, if you are using arcane magic to create… carrots.”

  “I see. So, how does that help me make a better zombie?”

  “You. Prepare. The. Body. And. Soul. Souls. Purified. At. Rhyvesta’s. Altar. Or. Merged. Together. Bodies. Cleaned. Prepared. Reinforced. For. New. Purpose.”

  “...Could I make a vampire?”

  “If. You. Prepare. A. Body. And. Soul. To. Rare. Levels. Yes. But. Specific. Reagents. That. Thankfully. A. Farming. Necromancer. Makes.”

  “So, learn medicine, make a preparation room, prepare bodies, and fix souls.” I repeated, before nodding and taking both books. I also took the scythe.

  Levan’s ghostly hand reached out and touched my shoulder. His finger touched my skull.

  My head burned, as memories started pouring in. The hands weren’t mine, but my muscles twitched as they repeated the motion. Breaking and cracking bones. Applying dressing. Salve. Learning to mix and mortar. Taking care of the wounded. Aiding with disease. A lifetime of memory that wasn’t mine merged with my identity.

  I changed my role, since I would have to learn about medicine to prepare bodies to make stronger undead. Of course, this was in preparation to make things smarter and overall better. But that led to another question for me.

  “What about the current ones, how do I advance them to be better?”

  “Start. Again. They. Are. Tools.” Levan stated.

  “So… outside of Advance, I really can’t?”

  “Mistakes. Happen. Learn. From. Them. Hold. No. Concern. Over. The. Past.” the Lich counselled, and faded away.

  Noel looked at me and his frown deepened. “I do not like anything we learned here, Ashley.”

  “What I learned here! I even have an entire book to go over now.” I proudly beamed.

  “You were told to destroy your undead and make better ones. You don’t care about them?”

  “I mean… should I? They’re made for a task, not as companions.”

  He shook his head, but turned around. The both of us left the tomb with knowledge and information in our heads.

  He, once again, became a Roc and flapped his strong wings. The thundering echo burst over the lands as he lifted off.

  We landed back at Talbotton a few hours later, but I couldn’t find Jasmine anywhere. Noel stood beside me. His eyes watched the townsfolk bustle about, and the townsfolk watched him too. He looked completely out of place, and that’s how I often felt.

  “ASHLEY! COME QUICK!” A voice from the east yelled.

  “Jasmine?!” My attention immediately shifted towards her, and the urgency in my voice must have caused Noel to come to focus too.

  “IT’S THE KID! HE’S—” She stopped mid sentence, looking straight at the man. “I… could rub my hands against his chest and scrape my fingers,” she softly, dreamily let out.

  “FOCUS!” I told her, trying to get away from the other conversation.

  “RIGHT! This way! You too hot-naked-man!” Jasmine summarized very quickly.

  “It’s Noel,” he tried, but Jasmine was already off.

  We ran through the town and then into the farmlands. Here, I saw Dalliance sitting beside a granary.

  “Oh! Ms. Hart, you’re back! I did a bad thing,” the boy began.

  I glanced at Jasmine, who had her hands clasped and was shaking too. I then looked at Noel, who shrugged.

  I took a deep breath to steady myself. “That’s… okay, Dalliance. What did you do?”

  The boy began to cry, and I couldn’t see Topaz anywhere. Jasmine just pointed at the granary. I nodded, and Noel followed me.

  He opened the door, and hundreds of pounds of grain fell out.

  And then a headless body. Noel instinctively jumped back, but I just raised my foot so the corpse wouldn’t stain my shoes. I immediately crouched to look at it.

  It had ice all over it, preserving the freshness. Oh, and then the head tumbled behind it too, landing oddly close.

  I stared at that next, and it looked…

  Just like a man. He didn’t look like anyone specific to me at all.

  “You did this, Dalliance?”

  “Yes, Ms. Hart. I slowed him down so Parsimony ripped off his head.”

  “Who? And who is this?”

  The boy said nothing, but Jasmine reached over and touched my shoulder. She whispered in my ear, “That’s his dad.”

  I felt nothing at the statement, but realized the implication. “Okay. We’ll need to take a private carriage. I’ll store the body. People will come looking for you, so we’ll hide you out in my farm. Noel was coming anyway.”

  Noel looked at the body and the kid. “You killed Cadence Rather, lad?”

  “Aye, sir,” the boy stated.

  “Good on ya. Bastard had it coming.” Noel finished, rubbing Dalliance’s head.

  “So, we’re hiding Dalliance back to Oakheart, getting rid of a body… and learning necromancy.” I summarized it to Jasmine.

  “You figured out how to make better undead?”

  “Kind of. I think I’m a doctor now too.”

  Noel lifted Cadence’s body and slugged the headless thing into his own inventory. It was obvious if anyone inspected him, so he used [Wild Shape] to become a bird. He landed on Jasmine’s shoulder.

  Dalliance, Jasmine, Noel, and I found a private carriage, and headed back to Oakheart. This entire mission was a success, even if it ended up being a mess.

  ALso, if you haven't, I'd love a review/rating. I know a lot of people have, but on the back-end for me, I either have a lot of 1's for some reason (by people who don't get past chapter 5) or a lot of more normal ones.

  Likewise, a lot of reviews are very nice, but I find the major thing they often say is 'Ashley is a villain and not a charismatic girl!'. If you've read this far, Id love to hear your thoughts, and Im sure other readers would too. It motivates me, and helps build the community when others know that it's good enough to have a lot of people saying 'read it!'