After the meeting my friend eagerly awaited my report. They were curious why I had been called to the headmaster's office.

“So, what was it about?” Helena asked.

“Uh…” I replied.

“Why is your tail swishing nervously?” Skadi asked.

Maybe I should have brought cookies, or something like that. Not that I had time to buy anything. Well, maybe I could frame it the right way…

“We, eh, we are getting special training! Because we are doing so well!” I tried.

“Special training?” Cassie asked.

“Like hunting monsters?” Helena asked, sounding excited.

“No. More like extra classes…” I replied.

“Why?” Skadi asked.

I sighed, then I sat down and told them about the conversation.

“Are those classes on our day off?” Skadi asked.

“Uh, maybe? Or in the evening.” I replied.

“Ugh, that is not fair!” Helena complained.

“Maybe I can have more alchemy classes…” Cassie mused. “Oh, but then I would have supervision while experimenting. That might limit my options.” She muttered.

“Maybe things will explode less often.” I suggested.

“Why are you saying that like it’s a good thing?” Cassie replied.

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“Did they say how long those classes will last?” Skadi asked.

“Not really. But if we are doing well we might be allowed to go on missions with the army!” I said.

“I suppose that is something.” Helena said, sounding rather unconvinced.

Our mood was not the best but maybe the classes could be fun. I did enjoy learning magic.

Two days later we had our first extra lesson. I brought ten skeletons, Frank, my mage and Nyx. It was late afternoon when we met our trainer. The man was bald and clean shaven. He had a tattoo of a wolf on his forehead. I wondered if it was magical or simply decorative. He studied us with his brown eyes.

“Hello students. I am Alwin and I will handle your group training. Some of my lessons will be for Koyuki only, others will include your whole group. The goal is to improve your coordination in combat.”

“Yes sir.” We replied.

“We are here inside a training room, so you can throw around some spells. Your opponents will be training golems under my control.” He explained.

I raised my hand.

“We are a small group, you don’t have to raise your hand. Go ahead.” He said.

“Sir, what are training golems?” I asked.

“Since you are first years you might not have encountered them yet. Essentially they are a mixture of craftsmanship and magic. Their body is a mixture of metal and stone. They are enchanted with runes and controlled by a mage. Their main downside is, they are unable to act without orders.” He explained.

“Aren’t there golems who are fully autonomous?” Cassie asked.

“You can bind something to a golem body to achieve that effect, like an elemental. But that comes with its own problems and challenges. Actually, you could bind an incorporeal undead to an object.” He said while looking at me.

My ears perked up. The idea sounded interesting. Could I animate a suit of armour? How did one create an incorporeal undead?

“But we are not here to discuss necromancy, I am the wrong teacher for that.” He said, to my disappointment.

“What magic is used to control a golem?” Skadi asked.

“It depends on the golem and what runes are used. Mostly earth or air. If you chain an elemental to it it complicates things. Then you are more focused on controlling the elemental than the body. You can use neutral mana to control golems as well but it tends to be more mana intensive.” He explained.

“Are there golem squads in the army?” I wondered.

“There are, but not many. A good golem costs a lot of resources to make. And you need to be very good at multitasking to get the most out of them. Now, enough talking. It’s time to start with the training.”

The statues at the wall started moving. I had falsely assumed they were targets for spell practice. Now I realised they were golems! They looked like people formed of stone with metal joints. They carried wooden spears and shields.

“We will use training weapons. We don’t want to destroy your undead, or my golems. In this class we will simulate various scenarios. The first will be a straight up fight between Koyuki’s undead and my golems. Position your undead as you think makes sense. You are facing a standard spear wall.”

My first lesson was very informative. Alwin was rather competent at managing his golems and they were a lot tougher than a human. They covered each other with their shields and exploited openings in my own skeletons. The only thing stopping my line from collapsing was Nyx. She seemed to enjoy tossing some golems around and was too fast to get cornered.

“Interesting.” Alwin observed. “Your cat seems to be really powerful. We might have to change the scenario.”

Then another golem entered the room. This one was probably about two metres tall. And covered in a lot more metal. The new arrival was certainly Heavy and Nyx was unable to toss him around. With her tied down my skeletons failed. Frank got surrounded and it was over.

After that, my friends joined the fight. With them backing up the skeletons we could hold the line easily.

“Good, there is some potential in you.” Alwin said. “Now let’s add some ranged attackers…”