We still had one week left until classes resumed. That left me with a nice amount of time to work on my newest skeleton. The next day I went into the alchemy shop to buy some ingredients. With the loot we got from those bandits I had some money to splurge.

First, I wanted a proper cleaning solution to ensure they were pristine. Then, I needed to strengthen them. I had talked with Cassie about it and looked into the alchemy book. I could do a strengthening bath and soak them overnight. It should even help with the water affinity I wanted to add. The mage had used wind against us. I was not sure if that affinity would remain. After reading through my necromancy books I decided to ask a teacher.

I found Gronir in his office and he greeted me with a smile.

“Ah, Koyuki! Working hard during your days off I see. I have heard about your new skeletons. And it seems you have mastered transforming zombies.”

“Yes! But it is rather hard. I can see why most people won’t bother.” I replied.

“True, true. Zombies are not that bad anyway, for a battlefield. So, what brings you to me?” He asked.

“I have a skeleton from the mage who attacked us. It seems like a waste to make a regular undead out of it. I am hoping I can create an undead mage, or something like that.”

“Undead mage? A true mage is something I would not recommend. A tier three with their own core is dangerous. A lot of things could go wrong during their creation, assuming you would manage it. Your Nyx is a bit of a special case.” He added.

“But I could create a skeleton than can use a few spells, right? Something like the draugr but as a skeleton.” I asked.

“Now that is a lot more sensible.” He chuckled. “For you at least, most first year students would not be able to do something like that. What affinity did this mage have?”

“Air.”

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“Not ideal. It is uncertain how much of that remains and you can’t strengthen it with your own magic. You can use your water affinity, of course. The fact that the body had mana will make a difference. The bones are going to be more receptive, even if you use the wrong affinity.”

He paused and went towards a shelf, then he retrieved a book.

“There are essentially two ways to create a magical skeleton. One is to use the affinity to create a stronger fighter. The magic will be focused on enhancing the creature and will likely result in powers like the ice armour your draugr can use.”

I interrupted him. “Sir, is there no way to give them specific powers?”

“Some people claim they can do that but nobody has ever published their method.” He shrugged. “In the end, it is not that important. Where was I? Ah yes, types of magical skeletons. The other way to raise one is to focus more on offence. You will have a skeleton with about one to three basic magical attacks. Like an ice dagger. It could include a defensive spell, if you are lucky.”

“What determines their spells?” I asked.

“A fascinating question that nobody has been able to answer. Having a better corpse will usually result in more abilities of the undead. Your own raw power will help too. But sometimes the resulting creature has just one very strong attack instead of multiple.”

“What type of magical skeleton would you recommend?” I asked.

“Well, you do have a draugr and normal skeletons for close combat. As well as Nyx. Having a magical skeleton with ranged attacks would be helpful. On the other hand, their mana is limited. Not having a core means they rely on stored mana. In a longer fight that can be a problem.” He explained.

“I could still order them to stab something, if their mana is gone.” I pointed out.

He chuckled. “True. But it would be a normal skeleton at that point until it recharges through your link. There is also the air affinity to consider. It could manifest in some benefits. Or not at all. Depends on how strong that mage was and how he was killed. At least the corpse is recent, that helps.”

“Nyx used a death magic breath on him.” I said.

“Truly? Show me the skeleton.”

I did not have it with me. Currently it was in a lab.

“I have already cleaned the bones but I have not applied anything else.” I said as we walked towards the lab. “I wanted to talk to you before I did more. I was planning on soaking it in a strengthening bath.”

“Not a bad choice. Soaking helps with water affinities too.” He replied.

Once we arrived he studied the corpse.

“Fascinating. Those bones have definitely absorbed some death mana.” He picked up a bone and studied it. Then he knocked on it with his fist. “This is going to make a great magical skeleton. It should be able to hold quite a bit of mana. It might even have a dual affinity attack.”

“A dual affinity attack?” I asked.

“You could raise a magical skeleton by only using death mana. It’s not even a bad option, generally. The advantage of adding an element is versatility. Death magic is bad at defence, for example. And anyone prepared to fight undead will be ready for it. But an additional affinity truly shines if the resulting undead can use both elements. Like an ice shield as defence and a necrotic bolt to attack. Even better if it can combine things. Necrotic ice is possible. Or adding death mana to a frozen mist. But you need a good corpse for that.”

Then he looked at me and smiled. “I think you have a good corpse.”