We stripped the body and Helena took the clothing to an incinerator. I was not sure what it was normally used for but it came in handy. Meanwhile, I started with my spell. Thanks to the mana circulating my body I had a decent understanding of humanoid anatomy. Well, I just assumed a human would be similar to a foxkin.

I needed to target the flesh without harming the bones. Maybe I could pump death mana through the body using the small pipes that usually carried blood? Could I mix death mana into water? I did have a water affinity.

But that was not how Gronir’s spell was supposed to work. As I studied the corpse, I did my best to ignore the fact that it was a dead human. I tried to treat it as an object. I focused on the problem in front of me.

“Something wrong?” Helena asked. She had taken care of the clothes and was now watching me.

“I am trying to figure out if I can improve the spell from Gronir. Maybe it’s silly.” I was only a student after all.

“Well, you do have a dual affinity. That changes things compared to a normal student. It allows you to do things differently. Since there are not that many necromancers, it makes sense that they do not have specialised spells for your situation.” Helena said. Then she looked at Nyx, who was curled up on the floor next to me. “So far, your instincts have worked out.”

“I was considering infusing death mana into water and using that to get rid of the flesh…” I said.

“Sounds cool. Can I help?” She asked.

“Hm. What if you take care of circulating water through the body? Then I try to infuse it with death mana.” I suggested.

“Sure. You want me to base the flow on your mana circulating technique?” She asked.

“Yes, that is the idea.” I confirmed.

Helena got a bucket of water and then manipulated it into the body. She used a simple spell which made water flow in a way you wanted it to. Normally, it’s main use was for things like showers. Enchanters used the spell to direct water through pipes.

“Can I even add death mana mana to a spell you control?” I wondered as I watched Helena work.

“Well, you manipulated mana inside my body. Maybe this is similar?” She suggested.

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I touched the body. I could feel Helena’s spell. I recognized her mana somehow. Maybe teaching her the circulation technique had side effects? I pulled mana into my body and turned it into death mana. Then I tried shoving it into the water. It did not work well. The water did not want to hold the mana.

“Ugh. That feels nauseating.” Helena complained. She made sure not to touch the water directly. But apparently there were some mental side effects.

“You felt that? I tried to push death mana into your spell.”

“It feels… rancid. It makes it harder to keep the flow going. I instinctively want to reject it.”

“Can you… not reject it?”

She sighed. “I will try. If I barf all over your corpse, it’s your fault.”

“I don’t think it would matter. It already smells pretty bad.” The stench of the corpse itself was not helpful.

“Why are we doing this again?” Helena asked.

“Science! And you volunteered.” I answered. I had to admit that it seemed like an overly complicated way to get rid of the flesh. But now I was just curious.

Helena managed to allow me to push some death mana into the water. Slowly I could see a change. The flesh began to turn darker. Suddenly, I felt something on my head…

Oh. It was just Nyx. She had relocated herself. But the sensation made me lose focus. As I tried to concentrate on the flow of mana again, I paused. I looked at the corpse. I stared at the head. Why was I going for a skeleton? Some part of me told me to try something else. I prepared the spell to raise an undead. And I channelled my water and death mana into it. Helena noticed something.

“What are you doing? Please don’t make it worse.” She looked rather pale.

I did not answer. Instead, I completed my spell. Mana poured into the rune in my mind. The body changed. The black flesh stopped decaying. I could feel the corpse awaken. The wounds Nyx had inflicted when she had killed the man disappeared. Its head turned and it looked at me.

“Maaaaaster…” A deep voice said.

“Wahhh!” Helena jumped backwards and put her hand on the hilt of her sword. “What did you do?” She asked.

“Um… I changed the plan and animated the corpse. It sort of felt right…” I said while feeling slightly embarrassed.

Helena calmed down and took some deep breaths. “Is it… is it intelligent?”

I looked at the undead. “No. Just a tier two. It can follow simple orders but not really think for itself.”

“Why did it speak?” Helena asked.

“I… I don't know.” I admitted. “Maybe zombies can speak? That is not a topic we discussed in class.”

“So, we did all that water stuff for nothing? I almost vomited and you decided to just go for a zombie?” Helena said, not looking too happy.

“It’s not like that! When Nyx jumped on my head, I briefly lost focus and had an idea. It kind of felt like animating the body was a good idea. Look at the flesh. Our experiment did make a difference. I… I think the water is still circulating. I am sure this is not a normal zombie.”

We examined my creation. The undead looked still like a person. The short hair used to be brown, now it was grey. He had a full grey beard. The skin used to be bronze, now it was black. The eyes… I did not check them before but they were white.

“He needs clothes.” Helena concluded.

“Um, yes. Maybe armour too. We can use the stuff we looted I guess. If he could wield it alive maybe he can still use it while undead.” I suggested.

I commanded my new minion to stand. How could I figure out his abilities? Could he do magic?

The black skin suddenly looked wet. Then a layer of frost formed on top of it. Soon the undead was covered in an armour of ice.

“Ok, that is cool.” Helena said. “Did he use the magic water we put into him for that?”

“Maybe. But look, you helped me create him!” I said.

Helena smiled. “True. We are awesome.”