My thoughts raced. How long had she been able to do that? Did she give my other undead any commands? I was still in the training area, so I hurried back to my room.

Once I had privacy I stared at Nyx, curled up in her box.

“Nyx, we have to talk.” I said.

One eye lazily opened and stared at me. I picked her up and held her in front of my face. “This is serious!” I insisted.

The second eye opened.

“Can you talk?” I asked.

“Meow.” She replied.

“I meant with words! Can you speak our language?” I inquired.

Silence was my answer. I stared at her. She stared at me. Then she yawned.

The door opened. Both of us looked and saw Helena enter. “Huh? What are you doing?” She asked.

“Nyx commanded my undead!” I replied.

“What? This is great! She can command the frontlines! This will improve your army!” Helena sounded excited.

“Uh… sure. But that is not the important part! It means she is more than a tier two!” I replied.

“I mean, wasn’t that obvious?” Helena replied.

“Yes. But she was not really a tier three either. She does not talk.” I pointed out.

“Meow.”

“She does not talk in our language.” I corrected myself.

“Maybe she only speaks a foreign language? Does being a tier three come with the power to speak all tongues?” Helena inquired.

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“But she understands us.” I protested.

“Hm. You have a point.” We both stared at Nyx. “Maybe she just understands enough from our tone and gestures? Or maybe she understands things through your bond? Maybe she has not figured out the magic to form words?” Helena theorised.

“Maybe. She hasn’t used the bond to communicate but I am not sure if necromancers can use their link to talk to a sentient undead.”

“Does she have a core?” Helena asked, suddenly.

“Hm.” I focused on Nyx, who was still in my hands. I focused on the link I had to her. I tried to follow the mana that was flowing towards her. My eyes widened.

“I feel a core! A small one, but a core!” I exclaimed. “I don’t think that was there before…”

“Maybe she is evolving. Do you think killing that mage triggered something? She did dissolve his flesh. Maybe she absorbed some of his magic?” Helena wondered.

“I have no idea.” I responded.

“So, what did she command your undead to do?” Helena asked.

I placed Nyx down and pointed at the box. “She ordered the armadillo to make a box.”

Nyx jumped back inside the box. She stretched and cured up again.

Helena sniggered. I looked at her.

“Hey, it’s funny.” She replied.

I sighed. “If Nyx has a core, she is definitely a tier three. But is she evolving into one, or was she always one? She was an existing undead sealed in those bones. Was she just weakened before? Is she recovering, or evolving?” I wondered.

“That is an interesting question. But in the end, she is bound to you. And she has been doing a good job of protecting you. Either way, seems like a win if it means she is getting more powerful.” Helena pointed out.

She was very pragmatic about that, but I was still curious. I thought about my lessons on undead. They could evolve over time but Gronir made it sound like that was a thing over decades. It would help if I knew what type of undead Nyx was. Clearly some sort of skeleton. And she had a water affinity. Was that purely my doing, or did she have it before? Did I simply bind an existing undead, or did I change her as well? Could my binding have started the evolution of an existing undead? Was the undead naturally close to evolving before I bound it? Was…

“Hey, are you still there?” Helena asked.

“Oh, sorry. I got lost in thought.” I must have blankly stared ahead as my mind was racing.

“Nyx does seem rather tired, even for a cat. I think her ability is likely new. And maybe it took a lot out of her.” Helena observed.

I stared at the sleeping undead. “You have a point.”

“Why don’t you tell me about your class? And our armadillo.” Helena suggested.

I told her about the lesson and the duel.

“We made a lesser vampire? Awesome!” Helena cheered. “We should make more! Get more corpses, build an army! Hey, could you make a true vampire, to lead a vampire army?”

“Nyx aside, I have no idea how to make a tier three and it would be a big risk. What if I fail to control it? It could kill me, you know.” I said.

Helen pondered that. “I suppose you would need protection while doing it. Have you asked Gronir about it?”

“No. I have a feeling he wants me to try less advanced magic. Maybe I should focus more on the basics.”

“You are going to be an archmage, think big!” Helena insisted.

“You know, we might get even more extra classes if we keep this up.” I said.

Helena hesitated. “But… but we already know how to do a lesser vampire! Nothing would stop us from doing that again, right? And there would be no reason for more lessons. Making more undead could be the lesson! We should get more corpses!”

“First, I want to figure out Nyx.” I said, looking at the sleeping undead.

Helena snorted. “Figure out a cat? Creating a vampire army would be easier.”