I awoke with a headache. “Ugh.”

“Ah, you are awake.” I heard someone say.

I was still on the floor, in the lab. I looked around. Nyx was curled up next to me. One eye was closed, the other was watching me. Besides my companion, two men were in the room. Erik and Horas.

It was the principal who had spoken. “Sir Hailstorm, I… I don’t know what happened.” I said awkwardly.

“Horas found you on the floor, with your new… pet. He called for me immediately. I have some suspicions about what happened. Why don’t you tell us what occurred from your perspective?”

“Yes sir.” I was still sitting on the floor so I tried to get up quickly. Thankfully, the dizziness was gone and I managed to stand straight.

“I was preparing the bones for my first undead. Gronir acquired the skeleton for me from the adventurers guild and Horas provided me with the potions. Yesterday I cleaned the bones and today I applied the strengthening mixture. I had just finished with the skull when the undead awakened. I saw some runes in my mind and poured all my mana into it. I had to fight the spirit inside the bones, or something like that. In the end I won, and now Nyx is my companion.”

We all looked at said companion, still curled up on the floor. The second eye opened. They were made from purple… energy? Being a skeleton, she did not have real eyes. Wait.. she? Somehow that felt right. Nyx watched us carefully, and yawned.

“Fascinating.” Erik said. “Gronir told me you were a prodigy, it seems he was right.”

Meanwhile, Horas examined the potion. “This was tampered with. I will have to spend some time analysing how, but the colour is off.”

“Not surprising. This was likely an attempt to kill her while making it look like an accident. A young student overestimating their capabilities and getting eaten by their creation. Not that it would have fooled many, but with her being dead nobody would have looked too hard. Or so they might have hoped.”

“Sir, how can a potion animate a skeleton?” I wondered.

“Ah, it can’t. Not really.” Erik said. “I suspect there was an undead sealed within those bones. Somebody knew that Gronir was shopping for a skeleton for you and prepared a trap.”

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“That would make sense.” Horas agreed. “With a proper seal Gronir would not detect anything. Unless he was really looking and he had no reason to. Then they replaced my strengthening mixture with a potion to break the seal. They had the help of a decent alchemist.”

“So what is Nyx? And how did I suddenly know a spell?”

“We will have to ask Gronir to take a look at Nyx. He will be excited.” Erik chuckled. “As for learning a spell, that is not unheard of. How do you think people learned magic, before there were schools? Someone had to figure out how spells worked. But do not expect to discover many spells by yourself. Most of them you will have to learn, just like everyone else. There is a chance that you will discover something unique though!”

“He failed to mention a detail.” Horas said. “Most people who discover spells become archmages in time.”

“We already suspected that she had the potential for it. It just confirms it.” Erik said.

“Was that why I fainted? Because I discovered a spell?”

“No, that was normal spellcasting fatigue. That topic should be covered in your basic magic class. Now, why don’t you head over to Gronir’s office and show him Nyx? I will look into this incident.” While his tone remained relaxed, his eyes were a different story. He was clearly upset about the attempt on my life.

I was still unsure how I felt. This was a lot to process. Someone tried to kill me, again. But I got Nyx out of it. I looked at my companion. “Let’s go, I said.”

Nyx was not in a hurry. First she stretched, then she looked at me. I had no idea how much control I had. But I did not feel any danger. Suddenly Nyx started to shrink. I watched wide eyed as the panther was reduced to the size of a kitten. Then she jumped on my head and curled up in between my ears.

Erik watched, stroking his beard. “Very curious.”

Horas just shrugged.

Having been dismissed, I left. I had a lot of questions for Gronir. While I walked, I tried to pet Nyx. The bones felt surprisingly soft. I was rewarded with a purr. Soon I arrived at Gronir’s office and knocked.

“Come in.” I heard and entered.

“Koyuki?” He frowned. “Why do you have a skeletal cat on your head?”

I told him what happened, including Erik’s theory. Gronir’s eyes hardened.

“If that is true, I owe you an apology. I endangered you. After we are done here I will talk with Erik. The guild has some questions to answer. But first, let’s have a look at your new undead.”

I picked up Nyx and sat her on the desk. Gronir’s eyes flashed green. He studied the undead for a bit.

“Interesting. She has a clear frost affinity. And she seems a bit too smart for a tier two undead. That you had to fight her mind would further indicate that she is something more. But tier three does not seem right either.” He stood up and walked to a shelf, then retrieved a book. He showed me a spell. “Was that what you used?”

I studied the rune. “It’s similar but not quite right.”

“That would be the normal spell to control an existing undead. It’s possible that you discovered a slightly different version of it. I wonder if you not just controlled, but somehow modified the creature.”

We both looked at Nyx. She started licking her paw. With a tongue made of purple energy.

“Do I need to feed her? How do I control her?” Her ears twitched, when I mentioned feeding. Yes, she had ears. They looked like bone but were soft, somehow.

“Your connection supplies her with mana. Essentially she is using your core to feed herself. Nyx does not need to eat, but some undead like to devour living things. As for control, you can use your bond to push a mental command. Most undead simply do what you ask. Since she is smart she could resist, you can still force her if you mentally push hard enough though.”

That answered my most important questions. Gronir would have liked to study Nyx some more, but he had to meet Erik and discuss further steps in the investigation. So I left. Nyx decided to ride on my head again. I was looking forward to introducing her to Helena and Skadi.