It was already past ten in the evening when we returned to the academy. Thankfully, the labs were open during the night and we did not have classes tomorrow. We immediately started preparing to create a new undead.

Cassie and Skadi handled the blood. They collected it from both corpses and transported it to the alchemy station. Actually, I was not sure what Cassie did to the blood but it involved some alchemy. Maybe I should ask her at some point. Anyway, Helena prepared the corpse and froze the area around it.

We had an orange and a black cat. We decided to make the orange one a vampiric undead. With all preparations handled we began the process. Nyx was a lot more excited this time. She eagerly pricked my finger. Skadi was already circulating the blood.

I still felt nauseous but at least I knew what I was doing this time. Well, until Nyx jumped onto the corpse. I suddenly felt her pushing a tiny bit of mana into the blood as well.

“Ugh.” Skadi said. “What is Nyx doing? I am getting dizzy.”

“She is… helping.” At least I thought she was trying to help.

Fortunately, Nyx’ antics did not cause any discomfort to myself. Likely because she was my undead.

Overall, creating a new vampiric undead was easier than the first time. We knew what we were doing, sort of. I completed the spell and our new undead rose. I immediately applied some healing to it. Our process was clearly not perfect and did some minor damage to the creature.

As the undead rose I inspected it. The orange fur had become a bit darker and had a hint of red. I touched it, the fur felt strange but it was still soft.

Skadi was breathing heavily but she did not vomit. “It was not quite as bad as last time…”

“It was a lot better for me, strangely.” I replied. “I did not feel great but it was not nearly as bad as last time.”

“What did Nyx do?” Helena asked.

“She added some of her mana to the spell. Maybe it gives her better control of the undead?” I wondered.

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“But it’s still your undead, right?” Cassie asked, while she was offering Skadi some water.

I checked my links. “Yes, the new cat is connected to me and I can order it around. It’s also a tier two.”

Meanwhile, Nyx was inspecting the new creation. The cat just stood there, awaiting orders, while Nyx sniffed it.

“It almost looks like a real cat.” Skadi said, after taking a sip of water. She was a bit pale but seemed to recover quickly.

Helena touched the fur. “Huh. You can tell it’s not normal fur but I couldn’t tell you why.”

Nyx stared at the hand. Then she tilted her head.

“Ouch!” Helena said while pulling back her hand.

“What happened?” I asked.

“The fur stung me!” She complained.

I narrowed my eyes. “Nyx, what did you tell the new cat to do?”

Nyx, of course, feigned innocence.

Helena looked closer at the fur and touched it more carefully. “I think the vampiric cat can turn its hair into needles.”

“I think she coated it in blood.” Skadi observed.

“Interesting. But I doubt it will be a powerful weapon against a large creature. The hairs are simply too small.” I mused.

“But it’s blood magic. If she can connect to a victim's blood…” Cassie pointed out.

My eyes widened. “She is the perfect trap! If someone tries to pet her, she can pierce the hand! Who knows what she can do once the blood connects.”

“We have a cat assassin! She needs to learn a spell to make blood explode!” Cassie suggested.

“She can’t learn spells, she is a tier two. Actually, is she a she? Anyway, she is stuck with whatever abilities she got during her creation.” I explained.

“The orange cat was female. The black cat was male. Not that it matters for a tier two undead. We could just name them anyway we want.” Skadi said. “And exploding blood would probably need fire, that means three elements. Four in an undead. I don’t think you will see any exploding blood Cassie.”

“One day…” Cassie mumbled.

“You could freeze the blood.” Helena suggested. “That would be devastating inside a living creature.”

“True. So we got a possible cat assassin.” I mused.

“What about the black one? Should we create the draugr now too?” Helena asked.

“Hm. It’s getting late but I think I could do it.” I replied.

“No point in waiting then, the corpse is fresh and we have everything here.” Helena said.

“Sure, go ahead.” Skadi said, while making herself comfortable on the floor.

Cassie started cleaning up the alchemy station while Helena and myself got to work. This time we only needed water. Nyx was sitting in the tub with the corpse, intending to help once more.

Creating the draugr was easier for me. It did not involve any earth mana. Helena was getting slightly pale, due to the necrotic mana involved, but overall it worked well. Maybe it was our increased trust, or we were simply getting better with magic. Nyx provided some of her mana as well. Afterwards she seemed really exhausted.

“Our second draugr!” Helena cheered, despite being a bit dizzy. Then she hugged the new undead.

“The fur is a bit rougher and colder.” She remarked.

I studied our new creation. The cat was a bit slimmer now, the black fur had turned into a blue-grey color. But it was not immediately obvious that the cat was an undead. I was not sure if the new minions would be great spies but they could be a nasty surprise for anyone expecting a normal cat.