The remaining evening went without incident. As I went to bed Nyx joined me and decided that my tail was a great place to sleep. I did not mind. It even felt comforting having her close.

The next day we had combat practice in the morning. Sadly, Skadi was not in the same class but at least Helena was with me. Nyx had become somewhat famous overnight. The other students eyed her with interest. Well, mostly. Archibald’s group stared at us with hatred.

“Morning class.” Our instructor Peter said as he arrived.

“Congratulations Koyuki on raising your first undead. That is quite the achievement! It will also make this class more interesting. Since Nyx is more than a tier one undead she is capable of learning and therefore training herself. Just like one would train an animal for battle.”

“Sir, is that not dangerous?” Elandir asked.

“Yes. Safety is an issue. Especially since Koyuki has no experience controlling an undead. That means two things. First, I will test Nyx to see what she can do and how dangerous it is. Second, Nyx will be fighting Koyuki until we are sure she can pull her punches.”

My eyes widened and I stared at Nyx. She was currently the size of a regular cat and seemed unconcerned.

“A controlled undead will not kill their master, on purpose at least. Unless they are ordered to do so. And Koyuki can always use her connection to force Nyx to stop. Further, they will be fighting together in the future. Duelling allows them to get used to each other's powers.” Peter explained.

“Now, let’s see what your little kitty can do. I will make sure not to destroy her. Undead do regenerate over time. They can also be healed with death magic but that is not something Koyuki has learned yet.”

I nervously glanced at Nyx. How much could she understand? “This is training, not a fight to the death. Show him what you can do!” I was more concerned for her than Peter to be honest. As a teacher he was at least a senior mage and likely had a lot of combat experience.

Peter chose a one handed hammer as a weapon. It was made of metal and not a usual practice weapon. For armour he wore chainmail.

“Blunt weapons are good for fighting skeletons, It allows you to crush bones. Cutting works as well, if your blade is sharp enough. But there is no flesh to stab, that reduces the effectiveness of a spear, for example.” Peter picked up a shield. “Defending against a monster can be problematic, especially if the strength is unknown. But I am a spellblade using earth magic. I can block most things.” He said with a smile.

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Nyx approached the duelling area. She slowly grew to the size of a tiger. The blue lines on her black bones glowed softly. I was amazed just how much she seemed to understand about the situation. How intelligent was she?

Peter was readying himself as well. I saw the runes on his flesh glow. “Ready.” He said.

“Go Nyx!” Helena cheered.

Nyx charged. She was fast. I had trouble following her movements. Peter simply blocked the skeletal paw coming for him. Then he counter attacked. Nyx jumped back to avoid the swing. But he followed her. The strike connected and Nyx was thrown back a few metres.

I heard snickering from Archibald’s group but ignored them. My undead kitty seemed fine.

Nyx shook herself, then she glared at Peter. The blue lines on her bones glowed, she opened her mouth and a white mist appeared. I could no longer see her, or our teacher. But we could hear sounds of fighting. Bones clashing with steel. And the mist changed, it became darker.

Shin, being curious, approached the cloud.

“Stop!” I shouted. I could feel the death magic inside. I had no idea what it would do to an unprotected person. He froze. Then he slowly stepped back again.

The cloud dispersed soon after and we could see the combatants again. Both were fine, but Nyx looked a lot more worn than Peter.

“I guess that is enough.” He said. “Your undead is rather strong. She could easily overwhelm regular soldiers, unless they have a lot of magical equipment. She needs more training to fight a proper combat mage though. Tell her to not use any magic when you spar with her. That is something we will train later.”

“Good job Nyx!” I told her. The undead feline looked at me sceptically.

“Yeah. She valiantly hid in a cloud.” Simon mocked.

“Ignore them, you are awesome!” Helena said.

“Time for some sparring. Koyuki, you will fight your undead. The others, pick a partner and fight them.”

Helena gave me an encouraging pat on the shoulder, then she left looking for an opponent. I walked to an open spot for my training. Nyx had a playful look. I was not sure if that was a good sign.

“So, we are training. I am not as strong as Peter.” I told her. My weapon was a staff.

On the bright side, Nyx was actually careful to not harm me… too much. But she was clearly a better fighter. I had no experience in a battle against teeth and claws. I got smacked by her paws a lot. She also tackled me on occasion. After we finished I was bruised everywhere.

“Getting beaten by your own undead, ridiculous.” Archibald commented. “Clearly she can’t handle whatever artefact they gave her. Nobody would ever believe she truly raised that undead thing herself.”

“You should be the one having a minion!” Eva said.

I ignored them. Helena was finished as well and I walked over to her.

“How was your fight?” I asked.

“Shin is really quick and nimble. It was good training.” Helena said. “But I want to fight Nyx too!”

“Are you not concerned?”

“Nah, she is your undead. I trust you.”

That was more trust than I had myself. Meanwhile, the undead in question had shrunk once more. She jumped onto my head and curled up.

“Maybe you can fight her next time.” I said. Morning practice was over. It was time for a shower and some food.