I stretched out on the hard ground, Grigori and the other undead had yet to return with the animals necessary to obtain leather for the tent Robin was going to teach me to build. It was decided that I would live on the outskirts of the village to appease Tyriel and anyone else who might show up to live in our little village. And it worked out for me, I could practice my necromancy in silence and without gaining some horrid reputation for making things go bump in the night.

  Plus I was now in charge of watching the frontier around the village. Since we were against a rather massive river, Harald had estimated it to be about twenty meters. So we really only had the one direction to worry about tactically. Unless there are monsters in the river or things that can fly decide to check out the place.

  But for right now the only known threat is goblins and they’re land creatures only. Once the tent was done I would send out Grigori to scout and keep an eye on things, and I should probably start experimenting with specters. I had quite a few things to do and it felt as if I didn’t have enough time. So I decided to finally look at the skill upgrade options I had set to the side days previously.

  Skills available for upgrade: Animate, Soul Sight, Death Bolt.

  Skill Upgrades [Death Bolt]

  [Mark of the Hunt]: Hitting enemies with Death Bolt now also marks them with the [Hunted] condition. While under this condition, they take extra damage from all sources and become significantly easier to track.

  [Piercing Shriek] The bolt is now imbued with a haunting shriek that inflicts the [Frightened] condition on the target.

  I blinked, now those were upgrades. I could think of several uses of Mark of the Hunt immediately and Piercing Shriek. Like Banshee’s Wail, being able to cause enemies to flee and potentially break formation would be an invaluable tool. Meanwhile Mark of the Hunt had several options, it would certainly help with any mop up after a battle.

  “How many skills can I upgrade right now?” I asked the System.

  Answer; At this time only one skill is eligible to be upgraded. Choose wisely.

  “Better look at all of them and make an informed decision then,” I muttered and focused on the next skill.

  Skill Upgrades [Soul Sight]

  [Spectral Echoes] Soul Sight now allows the user to see brief glimpses of past events in an area.

  [Prey’s Trail] Soul Sight reveals a shimmering trail of a target’s life force even after they’ve moved out of direct sight or behind solid cover.

  I nodded as I read, again these would be extremely useful. It made me more excited to check out what kind of upgrades Animate would have.

  Skill Upgrades [Animate]

  [Spectral Reinforcement] When an animated undead is destroyed, a small portion of its essence lingers and can be reabsorbed.

  [Bounding Hounds] Allows the reanimation of beasts as a hybrid of corporeal and incorporeal. Gaining new passive skills.

  I sat back and thought, I could only pick one and all three would be such amazing choices. If I picked one would the others disappear forever?

  Answer: Currently available upgrades will be able to be redeemed at a later time when one is chosen.

  Please note that after level 5 upgrades will organically develop without choice options.

  I blew out a breath of relief. It was truly helpful that the System was able and/or willing to answer questions like that. I don’t know what I’d do if it was just silent and made me guess all the time. Now then, what kind of priorities do I have right now? First, I’m in charge of defending the frontier of the village.

  To do that I’ll need more minions, the bounding hounds upgrade would work beautifully for that. But it would be helpful to be able to keep track of everything and the reconnaissance I could do with the Spectral Echoes upgrade could be invaluable. And that also leaves the options I had with Death Bolt. Too many good choices.

  “Perhaps I could be of assistance in the mental struggle written on your face?” A voice asked.

  I looked up from my mutterings and saw a soul floating in front of me. “You guys can talk?”

  “Indeed. Though it requires a great deal of energy,” The voice responded, “How about we form a pact and continue this discussion?”

  I frowned, I had been wanting to try out Bind Specter.

  “What are the conditions?” I asked.

  “Simple. In return for serving you, I would like a favor to be named at a later date.” The voice responded.

  “That doesn’t usually end well.” I replied dryly.

  “I can teach you about the class you now hold,” The voice added, sweetening the pot.

  “That would be helpful,” I conceded, “What would be the gist of this favor?”

  “Settling a personal affair.”

  “I suppose I could live with that,” I mused.

  “Excellent, now then, focus on your skill and direct it towards me.” The voice instructed.

  I did as it asked, the familiar energy coursing through my body and flowing outwards, I felt a momentary resistance to the skill but it fell away. No, that's not right. It was like pushing up against a door and then suddenly it opened on its own accord.

  Wandering soul, Elden, has been bound.

  A spectral man stood in front of me, wearing a torn robe over leather armor, a hood shrouding his face.

  Elden stretched and rolled his shoulders, “It is good to be in a physical form again,” He said, “Thank you for this, Crowley.”

  “Yea no problem, Elden,” I replied. The System had told me his name so I assumed it had told him mine.

  “Now what is this dilemma that you are looking so constipated over?” He asked.

  “Was that really how my face looked?” I flushed.

  “Yes.” He replied simply.

  “Right then,” I muttered.

  I explained all of the different upgrades to Elden who stood in silence, absorbing the information. He nodded his head at the appropriate times but that was the extent of his engagement during the explanation.

  “Those sound like rather specific upgrades,” He mused.

  “I thought that too, it all seems to lean towards hunting of one form or another.”

  “Seems as if the System is showing you a path to take,” He continued to think aloud, “Bounding Hounds would probably work the best for the current situation. You need to keep an eye on the frontier and having animals rather than zombies or even ghouls would make that job much easier.”

  I nodded along, he was making a fair point. As agile as Grigori was, it wouldn’t stand up to say a reanimated bird or wolves patrolling the area.

  I chose Bounding Hounds as my upgrade to Animate and felt a rush of energy pour into my body and a new box of text appeared in my vision.

  Skill [Animate] has been upgraded, affix [Bounding Hounds] has been added.

  Affix [Bounding Hounds] Reanimated beasts become spectral entities, partially incorporeal. Allowing them to phase through undergrowth and thin barriers.

  Passive skills [Pack Tactics] and [Aura of the Hunt] have been added.

  “Wow,” I thought aloud, “I think this was the right skill to pick.”

  “Oh?” Elden inquired.

  “They can phase through underbrush and thin barriers, and they have two passive skills.” I explained.

  Elden nodded, “Now you just need some corpses to test it out on.”

  “Agreed, Grigori will be bringing back some later today I believe.”

  “In the meantime,” Elden said, a smile in his tone, “We shall start your training.”

  “Oh no,” I stood and backed away slightly. The last time someone said that to me in that sort of tone, I was in a hellish boot camp for several weeks. I wasn’t always infirm and I’d like to blame that period of my life for causing it.

  After several grueling hours of meditation and analyzing my mana and death energy, Grigori finally returned with five corpses. They appeared to be deer but had fangs and were slightly larger. One caught my eye immediately due to its unique antler appearance. Rather than the racks that most deer have, it was more akin to ram horns that curved and jutted outwards.

  “Good job boys,” I praised my minions and set about examining the creatures they brought me. After I acknowledged the kills and sent Grigori to fetch Robin I received the kill notifications.

  The Hunt has borne fruit, your connection to your class has deepened. Experience gained for Deor herd.

  I nodded along with the notifications, so there wasn’t some sort of distance limit on the kills. I just had to acknowledge them. Handy information.

  I waited patiently for Robin and when she arrived we set to work. She taught me how to properly skin and butcher the creatures, and set the hides up for drying. She took the meat from three of them and the skull of the one that caught my eye, promising she’d return it after I professed my interest in it. But now I had five animal corpses and a new skill to try out.

  I focused on animate and the new affix and was surprised to see a box of text prompting me with choices. Apparently I didn’t require the actual corpse to make what I wanted. However, it was limited by the corpses available. I could raise three wolves, one bear, or roughly twenty birds with the available components. I ended up going with three wolves and it was a sight to behold.

  Spectral teal energy flowed from me and covered the corpses, the teal darkening when I added death energy to the mix. I would need to figure out how to draw in more when this was done. Instead of the boiling sludge that resulted during Grigori’s creation I witnessed the energy collide and thrive like a tempest. Forming true wolves, covered in black and brown fur, their eyes glowing teal. At times I could almost see through them, like they didn’t truly exist on this plane and I realized what I had done.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  These beings were in a similar state of limbo as myself, though they leaned more towards the spectral side. As the skill description stated. They looked at me with hesitation before something dawned in their eyes and they bowed their heads. I could feel a tether between them and I, I was aware of their presence. More aware than I was of the zombies or Grigori. Don’t get me wrong their tethers were there but these ones were much stronger. Spectral howls sounded in my mind, it was hauntingly beautiful and conveyed their wish to serve. I set them about patrolling the clearing for the time being, our true duties wouldn’t come until the day after tomorrow.

  As I watched them I grew more concerned about my casual indifference to raising undead. Sure all I’ve raised are goblins, made a ghoul, bound a soul to me, and now I have three half spectral wolves. But why was I so indifferent about it? It felt natural, when in reality I should have struggled with even the idea of it for much, much longer. But how could I feel disgusted by something that felt so, right? What am I becoming?

  Night came and went, my undead left me alone with my thoughts though it was clear the wolves and Elden were bothered by the turbulence in my mind. Which brought more questions to my mind. Was I closer to death than I was to life? I shook my head desperately trying to clear my mind. I didn’t want that. Did I?

  System Notice: Settlement [Grovatchen] has been established nearby. Occupants [Varied].

  I frowned, snapping from the rabbit hole of contemplation. A new settlement was established nearby? And it even would’ve told us the occupants?

  I turned to the wolves, their attention focused on me, “Find it and report back,” I ordered and then added, “On the return trip bring some more Deor corpses with you. I’ll expand the pack.”

  There was a jolt of excitement from the wolves at my last words before they bolted off into the forest, not even a leaf moved to reveal their presence. Objectively terrifying, subjectively in my twisted mind, I was happy at the observation.

  “Grigori, take the zombies and patrol the perimeter of the village. Elden you’re with me,” I continued to order, “Our job starts today.”

  The undead did my bidding without question and hesitation while I walked back to the village to see if anyone else had gotten that notification.

  The ‘village’ consisted of four leather tents and a semi-large fire pit in the center of them. I could see the group conversing and Harald gesturing to where my camp was located. Which brought my arrival to everyone’s attention. I gave a short wave and jogged to join the circle.

  “I was just about to send Robin to fetch you,” Harald remarked, “Appreciate you saving us the trouble.”

  “Yea sure,” I replied. My camp was only about five minutes away and I didn’t see how that would be much of an inconvenience. They put me there after all.

  “You got the notification too?” Eustace asked me.

  I nodded, “I didn’t think we’d get notified about something like that.”

  “Neither did we,” Robin agreed, “But now that we have, what do we do about it?”

  “Well obviously we should locate it and see what their disposition will be,” Harald said commandingly.

  “I’ve already sent scouts to do so,” I interjected, “They should report back in a day or two.”

  “You what?” Harald paused and looked at me.

  “I already sent scouts,” I reiterated.

  “Crowley,” Harald almost snarled, his brows furrowing slightly and then sighed, “Well good job.”

  I nodded, getting the feeling he wanted to say something else.

  “What should we do in the meantime?” Robin inquired.

  Harald began to say something but Eustace spoke first, “Let’s secure a perimeter around the village and get more established. We received blueprints from the system, correct?”

  Robin nodded, “We’ll get to work on that then.”

  “I’ll get to work securing a frontier perimeter,” I added, turning to leave the impromptu council meeting.

  “Wait one moment Crowley,” Harald ordered, “Report back immediately on whatever information your scouts are able to gather.”

  I nodded, departing for the frontier, which was to be my home for the foreseeable future. The council meeting, if you could call it that, was brief but revealing. It wouldn’t be long before it devolved into a set command structure. With Harald at the top, he just has that kind of personality. Maybe it would work out, and we could get some form of government settled before the village grew too much.

  It was a quiet trip back to my clearing, my head was burning with thoughts. I needed more undead, I needed more intelligent undead. And I needed to understand my abilities more. But truth be told, I was terrified of them. And the discordance within me was disturbing me greatly. There was no hesitation in ordering my new hounds out.

  But there should’ve been, I was eerily comfortable with the whole situation. Like this was my normal, when in reality my normal was. Well what was my normal, lying and dying in a bed? Unable to do much else but dream? I hadn’t pictured my life this way back then, I was supposed to be a knight and then a mage when my body wasn’t physically capable anymore. And instead, well I’m a Necromancer.

  Maybe that Fey, Sirus, took some humor in his assignment. Assigning a dead man to govern the dead. I’ll cease my thoughts on the matter for the time being, I doubt that’s what you opened this journal to read about.

  Elden and I were not idle in awaiting the Hounds return, my instruction into necromancy began immediately.

  “Firstly,” Elden began, standing before me with his hands clasped behind his back, “Necromancy as I knew it has changed with the emergence of this System, so I will teach you the basics and we’ll see how the System responds.”

  “Where do we start? I can already raise zombies, ghouls, hounds, and bind souls.” I inquired.

  “You can, but do you understand how you’re doing so?” He pointed at a zombie, “A novice with a month's worth of study could pull off this simple construction. It is a simple creature and often the only minion a necromancer needs.”

  “So we’re focusing on zombies first?”

  Elden shook his head and pointed at himself, “Whereas binding a soul requires years worth of study and practice, for a normal being. You, however, are not normal.”

  “You mean because I’m a Wight?” I questioned.

  Elden nodded, “Precisely, a being in limbo, neither above or below mortals. With your connection to the Underworld you’ll have a unique advantage utilizing your new abilities.”

  “So what does that mean? That Undead and Demons will bow to my will easier than anyone else?”

  “Undead will yes, if they share your nature. Demons however, are separate from the realms of the dead. You will hold no natural sway over them.”

  “But in my world Necromancy and Demonology were one and the same,” I began, “It’s part of the reason they were religiously hunted down.”

  “That may have been the case in your world, but in this one,” He paused, “In this new universe, they are vastly different and separate avenues of magic.”

  “New universe?” I asked, my attention fixated on those two words.

  “A topic for a later time,” Elden dismissed, “For now I want you to take a look at your Animate skill and feel around it. Feel the energy pulsing, understand how it does what it does.”

  I frowned, but compiled with his requests, plopping down to the ground and sitting cross legged. Focusing intently on Animate, feeling around it, attempting to understand it. What was its function? The energy pulsated and flowed in an unnatural flow. Its function was to bring undeath, to raise a corpse into a simple being meant for little else than following orders. But there was more, the howls of wolves, the heavy breathing of pursuit. The hounds bounded around the energy, corralling it, shaping it to their desire. I focused more intently, there was death energy, I could feel it flowing through the channels. And it didn’t fit.

  My eyes snapped open, the energy from the building skill falling away into the ground like water.

  “What did you learn?” Elden asked, sitting in front of me.

  “I think the upgrade I took for Animate isn’t truly compatible with it.” I answered thoughtfully, “It feels like it’s being forced by, well probably the System.”

  Elden nodded in acknowledgement of my observations, “Why doesn’t it fit?”

  I closed my eyes again and felt around in the skill for lack of a better description.

  “It seems like the upgrade isn’t meant for the state of undeath that Animate brings,” I bit the inside of my cheek and opened my eyes, “The Hounds are like me in a way, neither living nor undead.”

  “A state of Limbo,” Elden nodded, “Now, how do we fix that and bring balance back to your skill?”

  “I don’t know,” I responded, “Is there a way to do that? And is it really going to be so damaging to the skill if I don’t?”

  “I’m not sure if there is a way, but magic has a way of showing the path forward. Your first task is to separate that upgrade from the skill,” He paused and looked at me gravely before answering my second question, “Yes, it would be quite damaging. Maybe not right now but as time goes on the imbalance would cause the skill to rupture like any spell. This System can only do so much for right now. Maybe the answer will be different in a few centuries.”

  “A few centuries?” I blinked, what kind of being did you have to be to measure things in such a way. I mentally facepalmed at the thought, an undead probably.

  Elden nodded, “It’s an adapting force but adaptation takes time.”

  “What is the System?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. It was designed by a being with far too much time and madness for me to comprehend.”

  “What do you mean? You mean Sirus made this?” I asked, “That would make sense since he’s the one who gave it to everyone. But how does someone even do that?”

  Elden shrugged, “I knew him little in life and even less in death. But his reputation as the Great Sage preceded him in many aspects. He was a god in all but name.”

  “A god did this?” I shook my head, “I have so many questions.”

  “As you should, but I do not have all the answers,” He paused, considering something, “But, I do know he was an avid record keeper. It’s possible that you, we, could find the answers to your questions in time.”

  I nodded, remembering the book that he inscribed with my name and story, and the various other ones he had pulled out. “Well, I’ll have to add finding these records to my to-do list.”

  “But first,” Elden stood, “You have to figure out that skill and get used to the idea of being a Necromancer. Otherwise you won’t live long enough to entertain the idea.” He walked away towards the zombies. Probably to give them fresh orders to patrol the area.

  I did as he said and slipped back into the skill, watching the flow of mana and death, wondering how in the world I would separate the two. And what would happen to the Hounds after I did? I didn’t want to lose my newest minions, they were perfect for patrolling the frontier and I felt a bit of kinship with them. Perhaps that is foolhardy of me, to feel empathy or affection for my undead. But until it killed me, it felt like the right thing to do. Afterall, who wants to serve a cruel and uncaring master?

  Night had fallen swiftly by the time I had made any progress on my task, and to call it progress was generous. I had only deciphered the varying flows of energy and what exactly the incompatibility would do in the long term. But one step at a time, I had made progress no matter how small it was.

  I stood and walked around the clearing, stretching my legs and clearing my thoughts. Turning my attention to my job of maintaining and defending the frontier. And then I had a thought, I know I was just as surprised. Sometimes the gears turn correctly.

  I mentally pulled on the connection tying me to Grigori and Elden. It was time for a war council.

  We sat around the dying fire, a zombie shambling past us to add more fuel.

  “Let’s discuss how we can properly establish a perimeter around the village.” I started the discussion, “What do we need to do the job?”

  “More undead,” Grigori answered simply, his voice just as disturbing as before, “We have a lot of ground to cover.”

  “That begs the question, just how much of a perimeter are we expected to cover?” Elden posited, “The village is just a clearing right now, a river to its back that would be extremely difficult to cross and forest surrounding the other three directions.”

  I nodded, “How much of the forest can we reasonably hold at our current strength,” I frowned, “That should be our first priority then, establishing the parameters.”

  “Regardless we’ll still need more undead,” Grigori reminded us, “Master, how many more can you control?”

  I pulled up my status sheet, “It’s directly linked to my Willpower so a max of twenty-two. And I already have eight, so fourteen more.”

  Elden nodded, his hand holding his enshadowed chin in thought.

  “Not nearly enough for what that brat of a commander expects of us,” Grigori snarled.

  “Agreed,” I replied, “I’ll need to get more levels under my belt and increase the maximum.”

  “We’ll need to decide what manner of undead would be the most beneficial in the current situation,” Elden began, “Wandering souls are abundant, so we already have a nearly limitless supply of Specters.”

  I nodded, “But Ghouls can self replicate. Not to mention the traversal options the Hounds have.”

  “And the Zombies?” Grigori asked.

  “Cannon fodder in their current state,” Elden dismissed, “They’re good for holding a line of defense, not active patrols.”

  “I’m kind of regretting sending out the hounds,” I said, “They’d be pretty useful right now.”

  “You can always get more,” Elden replied, “I’d say it’s between Specters and Ghouls for the current job.”

  I frowned slightly, biting my cheek in thought once again.

  “If I may, Master,” Grigori bowed his head slightly, I waved my permission to speak, “As biased as I am, Ghouls would not be ideal for gathering intelligence. Unless you perform the same ritual with each of them as you did for me.”

  I glanced at my Death Energy reserves, until I figured out how to keep my absorption consistent. I needed to hold on to what I have.

  “So Specters then?” I asked.

  “It would seem to be ideal.” Elden replied.

  “I’m not sure how comfortable I am with binding souls to my service,” I said, fidgeting slightly, “Feels a little too close to slavery.”

  Elden nodded his understanding, “If it helps in easing your conscience, most souls aren’t aware of their plight. Most think they are simply sleeping. You’d be giving them another chance at life.”

  “Why weren’t you asleep?” I questioned.

  “I studied necromancy.” Elden answered.

  “Fair enough,” I sighed, “All right let’s get some Specters to patrol the area. What else do we need to do?”

  “You’ll need to establish a reputation on the frontier as a formidable force, at least to the more intelligent monsters. And any humanoids that wander in.” Elden waved his hand at the surrounding trees, “No matter what we do this is a large area and the perimeter will only grow. You’ll need to work on your image as an imposing Necromancer and have that do some dissuading to would-be attackers.”

  I nodded my understanding, “We’ll need to figure out how to go about that.”

  “You’ll also need to establish yourself as an independent and powerful figure in the village,” Grigori said, “We can’t do our job if you have to answer to every little whim of that brat.”

  I nodded, “I’ll discuss it with Harald once we’ve accomplished some of our goals here.”

  “You’ll need to do more than discuss it,” Grigori growled.

  “That’s enough Grigori,” Elden reprimanded.

  “All right,” I glanced at the two of them warningly, “First let’s get some Specters and figure out just how much of this area we can control. I’d prefer some military souls for the job. Elden, is there a way to see what kind of person or thing I’d be bringing back?”

  Elden nodded, “There is but it would require a great deal of effort on your part. You lack the knowledge to do so without the aid of a ritual circle. Thankfully, it is not a complicated circle and we could get the ingredients relatively quickly.”

  “All right, what are the ingredients?”

  “We’ll need enough blood to draw a seven foot diameter circle, and we’ll need your blood in the center, preferably some kind of crest the souls will relate to you. A good amount of mana and death energy and it should work.” Elden replied.

  “Does any blood work or does it have to be from something specific?” I wanted clarification.

  “Any blood will do.” Elden replied.

  “All right,” I looked at Grigori who looked at me expectantly, “Go out and gather more deor or anything else you can get your hands on.” I ordered and stood, “Oh and you’ve been allotted four of my remaining minion slots, get some more ghouls.”

  “As you command, Master,” Grigori bowed his head before bounding off into the forest, his dark robes making him vanish into the night.

  “And me?” Elden asked.

  “Keep an eye on the clearing,” I said, “I’m going to get some sleep and then I’ll get back to working on Animate in the morning.”

  Elden nodded, walking away with two of the zombies on his heels, the last one positioning itself at my feet as I laid down for the evening.