Chapter 7

An Army of One

Ten days after I posted the notice, I hosted the first meeting of the Undead Enhancement Club. It took place in my classroom. There were plenty of dedicated club rooms I could have used, but I wanted to be closer to Kathrine in case something happened. Eighty-two necromancers signed up and I watched as the last one entered the room followed by a zombie wearing a stylish dark blue robe. He directed the zombie to the back of the room, where the other were waiting, and found his seats.

His display of control was appalling. A thought was all it usually took to control undead, but some of the students couldn’t even do what he’d just done. They had to keep their undead next to them to remain in control and I noticed several zombies staring at the students with an intense hunger.

All the necromancers at Darksmith were from Necropolis, a nearby city in North Murdell. It was the only place in both kingdoms where Necromancers weren’t treated like second class citizens. The more I learned about the city and its citizens. The more I respected it.

Necropolis was run by a group of families called the Grave Digger’s Society. As far as I could tell, they were old necromancer families who shunned the actions most necromancers were known for. The had strict rules that curbed their people’s darker tendencies. They enforced these rules to the extreme, leaving their people in constant fear of drawing their attention. The students’ inability to control their undead was a byproduct of their mindset.

It also led to the necromancers being some of the politest and well-behaved students at Darksmith. Of the two hundred that attended the academy, eighty-two had signed up for my club. That was more than I expected, even though the school didn’t offer many extracurricular activities for necromancers.

I stood up and cleared my throat, causing instant silence. I liked how afraid of me they were.

“Welcome to the first meeting of the Undead Enhancement Club. I’m glad some of you read the signup form correctly and brought along your own undead. However, for future reference, any undead that cannot maintain muscle coherence is not permitted. Necromancers have a bad enough reputation as it is without us being constantly surrounded by the putrid smell of rotting flesh.”

Lidia, the eldest daughter of one of the leaders of the Grave Digger’s Society, blushed from the third row. “I brought Mr Bity because I wanted to learn how to get rid of that issue.”

The red zombie snake sitting on her desk hissed at me, before snaping at the person at the desk below. Mr Bity’s head struck the barrier, the student had put up after the first attack.

“I’ll cover muscle cohesion at our next meeting, and please raise your hand before speaking. Right now, I want a general understanding of everyone’s capabilities. Does anyone here not have the create undead skill?”

I could see and feel what most of them were capable of, but I still needed to go through the motions.

Everyone looked at each other, but no one was indicated they didn’t.

“You will not be asked to leave. The minimum requirement for this club is access to death magic. So, who doesn’t have it?”

Several hands went up.

“Who here has access to create undead skeleton?”

Thirty-two hands went up.

“Who here has access to create undead zombie?”

Eighteen hands went up.

“Does anyone have access to anything more advanced?”

One hand rose.

I pointed to him, indicating he share it with the club “I’ve access to create undead zombie warrior.”

“Does anyone think this gives him an advantage?”

Everyone nodded.

Several of the poorly controlled zombies nodded too.

“Good. You all have common sense. This club is not going to involve a lot of lectures, so bear with me as I run over the basics. There is a long list of undead creatures that a necromancer can create, but for practical purposed everything that isn’t a skeleton or zombie should be created by the other the branches of magic in an alternative form, because it requires a lot less fuss than what we must go through. This is why necromancers generally stick to these two forms, despite having a wider array of options than any other branch. Both of these forms have practical combat applications, but for combat purposes skeletons are superior.

Lidia’s hand shot up and I nodded. “Professor, zombies are better.”

I was expecting this. “Are you speaking in a summoning sense or in a crafting sense?”

“Both.”

“When you’re on the battlefield and you need cannon fodder to protect you, summoning a zombie from a corpse makes perfect sense. Zombies have flesh which makes them both stronger and more resistant to damage, but summoning a zombie is not the same as crafting one. For the same time and resources that it will cost you to craft a zombie, you can craft three skeletons. In a situation like that, the skeletons win.”

“Only because it’s three vs one. In a one-on-one fight, the zombie wins.”

“No. This is where the art of undead enhancement and summoning undead differ. Because skeletons are easier to create, it also means they are easier to enhance. Everyone in this room has the talent to create a skeleton death knight, but only a few of you has what it takes to craft the zombie version. A skeleton death knight will defeat a zombie knight, even though the two share the same resource costs, difficulty to make, and time costs to craft. When it comes to crafting and enhancing undead, skeletons are king. Summoning undead and crafting undead are two entirely separate disciplines and need to be treated as such. Does anyone not understand?”

Half the hands went up.

“Let me put this another way. The difference between summoning undead and crafting undead is like the difference between casting a spell to fly and enchanting an item to make you fly. One is a temporary tool for a temporary solution and the other one is a tool you intend to use long term. Yes, as you grow more skilled at summoning undead, they gain more independence, power, and capabilities, but this is a mere shadow of what crafted undead are capable of, which is why these are separate disciplines.”

Baris raised his hand, scowling. He was one of my better students and tried to engage me during my occult classes. “Is crafting undead similar to crafting in general?”

“Yes, and if anyone has a problem with that, they’re welcome to leave.”

Baris stayed, but a third of the room left. They were rich kids and unwilling to dirty their hands with what they viewed as labour.

I waited until they were all gone before continuing. “While skeletons are preferable for combat. Zombies are more intelligent. This makes them preferable for leadership roles.”

Baris raised his hand again. “I thought the leadership position is given to the necromancer.”

“How many undead can a necromancer typically control at once?”

He frowned. “It depends on what tier of magic they practice I think.”

“Correct. Someone who practices advanced magic can typically control around thirty undead. If you craft thirty intelligent zombies that were capable of directing twenty undead skeletons each, you would effectively be able to control six hundred undead. This is the main benefit of crafting undead and why everyone who left is an idiot.”

Baris blew out a breath. “Is that how necromancers raise armies that can topple towns and villages?”

“Yes. Some of them use items, or make dark pacts, but the rest of them crafted powerful undead minions and used those minions to control others. This is why everyone’s afraid of us.”

Baris glanced at the other students uncomfortably. “I’m not sure you’re allowed to teach us this.”

“Crafting an undead army takes time and dedication and usually ends with the creator being hunted down and executed. You’re all at Darksmith to learn how to become dangerous individuals. There are a hundred ways you could become monsters from what you learn here, so I’m just giving you one more.”

“I supposed.”

“Let’s get back to my lecture. Zombies also have one other advantage over skeletons. Because they can be more intelligent and have all the flesh that’s needed for fine motor control, they make good assistants. An intelligent zombie can be taught to perform practically any repetitive task. This is useful, because you all have to be concerned about spies or assassins in your households. So, if nothing else, this club will help you improve your own personal security. Does anyone here know the drawbacks from crafting undead out of dungeon monster parts?”

Every hand shot up.

I picked a random young woman because she seemed the most excited.

“Dungeon monsters need a magical rich environment to survive. Outside of a dungeon their bodies deteriorate. This deterioration also occurs when they’re turned into undead, but not when they are turned into enchanting materials.”

“A perfect textbook answer. With the exception of dungeon monsters that contain death magic cores, undead made from dungeon creatures cannot be enhanced to survive outside of dungeons. Those that can be, are usually inferior to undead made from materials from the surface, because they require far more mana to maintain them. However, while they remain in dungeons, they are significantly stronger. For those of you who have crafted a basic tier undead skeleton before, please collected an instruction sheet from my desk and the bones I’ve provided in the storage bags. For those of you who haven’t, please wait until they’ve collected what they need and join me at the front. I’ll walk you through the process.”

I was down to Fifty-eight students. Fifty-seven of them came forward to collect the instructions and bones they needed before returning to their seats. Baris was the only one who didn’t know how to create a basic undead skeleton and came down looking slightly embarrassed.

My defence against the dark arts class was a theoretical class and this world didn’t reward me for theoretical teaching. My educator skill wouldn’t level from that sort of education until it reached level ten. To work through the lower levels, my students had to achieve tangible results which was half the reason I’d chosen to create this club.

I gave Baris a friendly smile. “Your family doesn’t practice death magic, I take it?”

He sighed. “We do. It’s just not the only thing we can practice, so we tend to ignore it.”

“You don’t sound like you want to be here?”

“I don’t. Death magic is nothing but trouble. But my lack of skill is affecting my ability to strengthen my core.”

“Why join my club then?”

“I like your defence against the dark arts class. You treat the occult more seriously than anyone I’ve ever met, and I figured this sort of sensibleness would crossover to your death magic lessons.”

“Let’s clear up a misunderstanding you have then. The occult is inherently evil in nature. Death magic is not. However, the reason most people view death magic as evil is that it has very few applications that are practical in nature. Most of what you can do with it is destructive. Which means that, the only time most people hear about or see death magic used is in a negative fashion. Death magic is no eviler than the other elemental magics.”

“I strongly disagree.”

“I look forward to changing your mind.”

He smiled. “Where do we start?”

I passed him the instructions and pulled a rib bone that weighed close to a pound from one of the storage pouches. “It’s a common misconception that human shaped undead skeletons require human bones. They don’t. However, sapient skeletons do require their bones be from sapient creatures. And certain creatures like lich and dracolich can only come from humans and dragons. Any questions so far?”

“No, professor.”

“Good. The first step to crafting an undead skeleton properly is making and enriching bonemeal. This is done through the basic bonemeal spell. You will find the spell on the handout.”

“Does using human bones make stronger undead?”

He asked good questions. “It’s easier to strengthen undead crafted from human bones, especially bones of someone who had a magical talent, but it’s not necessary to use them. Outside of making sapient undead, the skeletons made from human, animal, or monster bones have the same maximum limit to their strength.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Is the same true for zombies?”

“No. Material are incredibly important when it comes to creating zombies and explaining that topic would involve weeks of lectures. So, I won’t be explaining any of that today.”

I placed the rib bone on the desk in front of me and cast the 1st rank bonemeal spell. It crumbled to a sand like consistency. I pushed it into a pile with my hands and then cast the spell two more times at the 2nd and 3rd rank, and then three times at the intermediate tier ranks. Then three more times at the advanced tier ranks. The bone fragments changed with each spell, finally becoming a fine white powder.

Baris frowned. “Why did you cast the spell nine times?”

“The bonemeal spell, like the bolt spell, has fifteen different rank variations for the spell. These go all the way up to the peak of the master tier, though few know those master rank spells anymore. Each spell builds on the previous one, and while it costs more mana, performing each variation of the spell makes the materials more refined and enriched.”

I pulled out another rib and repeated the process.

“Why enrich it?”

“There is always magical leakage when you create undead. The material we use isn’t suited to death magic. Enriching or enhancing the material before you make your creation requires more work, but the end results are a more powerful undead creation.”

“Is that why some necromancers destroy their undead?”

“Yes. Each time you turn a corpse into a zombie the materials become slightly more receptive to death magic. The same is true for skeletons.”

“Why not do that then?”

“Why not do both?”

His eyebrows rose. “You can do both?”

“Yes. The skeleton everyone is crafting today is going to be used over and over. Each enhancement will make it slightly stronger, until it becomes something none you ever thought possible.”

Baris didn’t seem to like my answer. “Why make it out of dungeon monster bones then?”

“This club is here to teach you how to craft undead. If you know your creation won’t be leaving the academy with you, then you won’t be concerned about pushing the boundaries.”

“It seems like a lot of wasted work.”

“It’s called practice and good practice occasionally results in failure. Would you consider the mana you expend practicing a spell wasted work or would you consider it practice? Just because there can be lasting results, doesn’t mean they need to be kept, and sometime the fact they can be kept slows the learning process.”

Baris watched in silence while I finished making nine pounds of bonemeal. Eventually, a large pile sat in front of us. “Now what happens?”

“Now we put it back together in the shape we want. There are two ways to do this. There are the fifteen bone stitch spells that require you to make one bone at a time and can be performed through the ranks to enhance what you’re doing. Then there is the form skeleton spell that allows you to do it all at once which also has fifteen ranks. Knowing what you do which method do you think is better?”

Baris grinned. “Trick question. You use the form skeleton spell to get the proportions right and then you break each bone down with the bonemeal spells and use the bone stitch spells to reform them.”

“There are 206 bones in the human body. That is 1,854 basic, intermediate, and advanced spells to break down the bones with the bonemeal spell and the exact same number to recreated them with the bone stitch spell. Do you think this is an appropriate use of your time?”

He gave me an unhappy expression. “No.”

“Wrong. This club is about learning undead enhancement and the best way to learn that is to practice.”

He ran his hand through his hair, exasperated by my comment. “Do you have any idea how long that will take?”

“Do you have any idea how much your spell efficiency will improve if you practice that much?”

He shook his head.

“Every bone in the human body has a unique shape. That is 206 unique shapes you have to create nine times using different spells. If you successfully reach the advanced stage, you will have the sort of control that literally halves the mana cost of any death spell you cast. If you reach the expert stage, spells will cost you a third. If you reach the peak of the master stage, you will have enough control to cast any spell with the minimum required mana.”

“So, it’s going to be tough?”

“No. It’s going to be excruciating.”

Baris began to smile again. “But the reward will be worth it. That sort of efficiency is something only an archsorcerer is capable of.”

“Only if you practice.” I brushed the bonemeal into one large pile in the middle of my desk, so we could move on. “The form skeleton spell creates a replica of your skeleton, or the skeleton of someone you are touching. It will interest you to know that this spell is one of the few death spells that has a practical medical application. If someone has a fracture of minor broken bone, you can use this spell to repair the break.”

His eyebrows rose. “You can heal a broken bone with death magic?”

“Yes, but only if it’s a fracture or minor break. You can only use the 1st rank spell to do so and have to draw the death magic out of the patient once the spell is complete, so they don’t become sick.”

“Why can’t you heal a major break?”

“Because the bones will pull back together even if muscle is in the way. This can cause a lot of damage if there are bones shards throughout their muscles.” I could see he didn’t understand. “It’s easier to understand if I show you.”

I gathered my will and cast form skeleton nine times.

The bonemeal flowed like water forming a replica of my skeleton on the desk. Despite teeth not being bones, the spell didn’t differentiate and my sharper than normal canines appeared in the skeleton’s mouth. I hadn’t expected that to happen.

I quickly picked up one of my leg bones and snapped it into pieces.

Baris raised an eyebrow. “You invested is strength?”

While he was distracted, I cast the bone stitch spell and changed the shape of my fangs to normal canines. “The necromancer class gives three more attributes than the sorcerer class, despite them both being a basic practitioner class. This is to balance out the limitations of our class. Investing those attributes into your physical capabilities is not something most will regret and isn’t encouraged enough.” I laid out the broken shards of leg bone on the desk leaving a few inches between them. “This is why you don’t used the form skeleton spell to repair major breaks.”

I cast form skeleton again.

The bone shards pulled together with a violent snap.

I pointed to the repaired bone. “Imagine what that would look like with muscle in the way.”

Baris winced. “I see your point. You would have to alter the spell to be gentler in order to repair major breaks.”

“Do that on your own time. This is an undead enhancement club, not a medical studies club. Normally, I would suggest you begin studying the spells in the handout, but I’m about to do something you likely won’t see anywhere else. With enough practice and a larger core, you can replicate my feat.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Just watch.”

I stared at the skeleton as I accelerated my focus. The room slowed down as my thinking speed sped up. Everyone began to move in slow motion as I allowed my agility to stretch to its limits.

I hadn’t been exaggerating when I told Baris that creating a skeleton this way would improve his spell efficiency. Mine was currently atrocious and I’d adapted this method for myself, not for the class. I would have done this alone, but I wanted to improve my educator skill.

As I began casting spells, I pull in ambient mana to offset the mana cost. Switching between the bonemeal and bone stitch spell wasn’t easy, even though I was casting each spell slowly to be as effective and efficient as I could. Between each spell, I assessed what I was doing and tried to make improvements based on everything my memories told me.

Everyone’s body reacted slightly differently when they performed a spell. Longer arms and legs meant mana had to travel further or shorted distances, before escaping the body, and this resulted in different timings for each spell. In addition, there was your mana network and core that affected everything, so just because I had memories of sorcerers who had been able to perform spells at only a third of the traditional mana cost, didn’t mean I could. But I could learn, and lifetimes of practice shrunk the learning curve.

One by one each bone crumbled into bonemeal before reforming back in their original shape. Someone with the skill I claimed to have, could cast a 1st ranked spell in under a second, so the bonemeal had barely fallen apart before it was forced back together.

It took me less than five minutes to go through the entire skeleton with the 1st rank spells and my efficiency had improved by the end of it. Moulding my magic to each shape was significantly more difficult than performing the exact same bolt spell over and over again, which was why I was seeing more improvement.

I began casting the 2nd rank versions.

This method for enhancing skeletons was developed by Contessa. She hadn’t created the original method, but she had expanded upon the original creators’ theories, and proven them to be true. Casting the bonemeal spell at each different rank before you created the skeleton made a layered structure in the bone that was sort of like rebar used in concrete. Breaking each bone down and then bone stitching them back together strengthened each subsequent layer, providing more reinforcement.

When I finished the 2nd rank, I moved on to the 3rd, by the time I reached the 4th most of the class had stopped what they were doing to sit and watched. By the time I reached the 5th, they were all watching. I reached the 7th rank before the end of the first hour and 9th rank just after the end of the second.

As the last bone flowed back together, I stood up and looked at the class. “Are there any questions?”

Every hand shot up.

I pointed to Lidia.

“How much of a difference will what you just did make to your skeleton?”

“If I make no other alterations, the base attributes of this skeleton will double. However, this enhancement is just the primer to larger enhancements that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. This skeleton has far more potential than most.”

I pointed to another student.

“Professor, how big is your core? That was insane.”

“I’m not going to answer that. Are there any question about what I just showed you?”

“Sir, why did your spell efficiency improve while you worked?”

I was hoping they wouldn’t notice that. “As you master each rank of these spells, you will become more efficient at casting death magic spells. I wanted to demonstrate what mastering this method would look like, so you would understand what sort of improvement you should expect.”

My answer seemed to intimidate them because they dropped their hands.

“I will now be using the create undead skeleton spell, using a spell variation of my own creation. Do not attempt to replicate this method as the backlash will kill you.”

I held my hand above skeleton, multicasting all nine ranks of the create undead skeleton spell simultaneously, layering them into each other so they reinforced each other’s structure. I’d learned this layered method from studying the enchantments Lavire had used on my equipment.

This layered spell technique was why I went through the trouble of breaking down and rebuilding everything. Those steps would theoretically allow me to layer the same spells over each other more easily, enhancing my undead creation.

As my magic infuse the bones, black orbs filled its bleached white eye sockets. A moment later, a prompt appeared.

You have mastered your Create Undead skill.

You have mastered create your Undead Skeleton skill.

Your Enhance Undead skill has increase to level 10.

You have mastered your prodigy skill.

I smiled happy to see I was right.

I’d been hoping my vampiric thirst skill wouldn’t stetch into these skills, and finally allow my prodigy skill to level. The memories my vampiric thirst skill had given me had nothing to do with creating undead, but I wasn’t sure how much that mattered.

It had managed to cross over into my regular spell work, because of the similarities between all schools of magic, but this was different enough that it didn’t count. If this hadn’t worked, then I would have been cut off from making any progress on the prodigy skill with magic.

While my efforts weren’t as impressive as Davina’s, they were still impressive enough to master the prodigy skill.

I willed my new creation to climb off the table and stand behind me. Now that I had shown them what they were aiming for it was time to motivate them.

***

Two weeks later, I looked around Darksmith’s basement and saw nothing but grinning faces. Some of them had been here for hours and were already drunk. The undead they’d crafted stood against the far wall completely under their control, which was a good improvement.

I rolled my eyes at the crowd. “I see a lot of new faces today which tells me we need to go over the rules again.”

Several necromancers snickered.

“The first rule of Undead Fight Club is you do not talk about Undead Fight Club. The second rule of Undead Fight Club, is you do not talk about Undead Fight Club! The third rule is the fight doesn’t stop until the complete destruction of one undead. Fourth rule is only two undead to a fight, unless it’s a demonstration fight. Fifth rule, only one fight at a time. Sixth rule, the fight is between undead only, outside influence is strictly prohibited including using enhancing techniques or spells that are beyond what I’ve taught you in Undead Enhancement Club. Seventh rule, beer and betting are not encouraged, they are required.”

The last rule was just so Undead Fight Club could have seven rules like Fight Club. But it made, the club a lot more fun. And made it easier for my instructor skill to level.

Enhancing undead without showing the students the differences in power was a great way to make everyone give up. Running a second club where the students could battle their undead while drinking and making bets was the perfect way to build their competitive spirit and validate their work. Suddenly, the painstaking hours they spent casting spells over and over had purpose and became entertaining as they dreamed of returning to the next Undead Fight Club and scoring that win. Hosting the club in the basement also meant I was on hand if anything happened to Kathrine.

All of the students who had left the Enhance Undead Club had returned, so they could gain access to the Undead Fight Club. And many students that hadn’t attended the first meeting now did. The Enhance Undead Club now met three times a week and every meeting was full. There wasn’t a necromancer at Darksmith who didn’t attend.

I had eight students I was working with personally, which was finally making my educator skill improve. And running these fights counted as combat practice, so I was improving my instructor skill. The three nights also covered the extracurricular activities I had to do, so everything, except Kathrine condition, was going to plan.

I glared around me at the smiling faces, until someone was smart enough to run forward with a beer. This made everyone laugh as my false anger faded. “Who would like to make the first challenge?”

Professor Fergus, the head of the necromancy department, stepped forward. “I challenge you.”

Everyone cheered.

My advanced skeleton was the reigning champion and more than a few were a little sour about this. Between each Undead Fight Club, I broke my skeleton down and repeated all of its enhancements. With two of these events each week, it was on its fifth generation.

Professor Fergus had showed up just before the third meeting, joining both clubs. Officially, he was my co-professor. In reality, he was man-child that wanted to battle undead for the fun of it.

I mentally instructed my skeleton to enter the ring and fight the other undead to the best of its ability. It gracefully walked into the ring, moving with smooth fluid motions. It was completely different to most the skeletons in the room which had slow shambling steps and movements. Only the students who had reached the intermediate stage had skeletons that could move like a normal person and none of them had the presence mine showed.

Professor Fergus grinned, sweeping back his dark fringe, before waving forward the massive crate he’d brought to the basement. The crate levitated off the ground and slowed hovered towards him. It stopped near the edge of the ring and the sides fell, revealing a huge intermediate skeleton. It rose to its feet, standing twenty feet tall.

“Cheater,” a drunk necromancers roared.

Professor Fergus continued to grin. “I haven’t cheated. I’ve just been a little more creative with my spells than the rest of you.”

“That thing is massive! How is that not cheating?”

I returned Professor Fergus’s grin and then turn to the drunk necromancer. “Professor Fergus used the bone stitch spell to make his skeleton, which is a spell everyone has access to. He’s followed the Undead Fight Club’s rules to the letter. How large you make each bone along with its shape has always been up to you.”

“We can do that. Fuck yeah!”

“Language.”

The drunk necromancer immediately sobered. “Sorry, sir.”

I turned back to Professor Fergus. “What are we betting?”

“A small keg of Cristoriazan Ale.”

I hadn’t tried it, but I heard it was good. “Deal.” I was going to lose so badly, but that didn’t bother me. It would encourage the others to try harder and give me more levels.

Professor Fergus nodded to his creation, and it stepped into the ring. The runes on the floor lit up, blocking our control, and sealing the combatants inside a barrier. My skeleton didn’t even come up to its waist.

What followed was a good old fashioned beatdown, where my skeleton ran around in circles, trying to dodge the giant skeleton, while hacking at its knee with only it’s fist. The first time my skeleton failed to dodge, it was kicked into the barrier and then it was all over. The next few minutes were filled with laughter as his skeleton crushed mine underfoot.

Everyone cheered as I stepped into the ring with a brush and shovel and began sweeping. There were a few catcalls and crude joke as I put the pieces of crushed bone into a bag, but it was all in good fun.

Professor Fergus, being a good sport, held the bag for me. “Are you going to warn them that making a skeleton that large makes them harder to control?”

I snorted. “Only a few of them have the patience to spend that much time refining bonemeal and they’re all aware of the difficulties.”

“You don’t seem upset?”

I grinned. “I was waiting for someone to get creative. Now we get to see what they’re really capable of.” I put the last of my skeleton into the bag and turned to the crowd. “Who’s next?”