We continued drinking and discussing the plan. Skadi volunteered to negotiate for the bones. Not now, of course. She would try it another day. We were all a bit tipsy but the plan seemed better by the minute.

Skadi would organise the materials, Cassie would make the bombs and Helena would help where she could. With a skeleton we could not do the same water trick, sadly. Then again, we were not going for fancy undead anyway. All they needed to do was run. Draugr chickens would have been overkill.

We left the beer garden sometime in the afternoon and made our way back to the academy. Somehow we ended up drinking more in the evening. The next morning I had a slight headache.

“Ugh. Is this what they call a hangover?” I asked my friends at breakfast.

“Probably. Dwarves are a lot more resilient.” Skadi said. She was the only one without any signs of discomfort.

“I wish I were a dwarf…” Helena groaned.

Skadi nodded. “We are awesome.”

“I need to create a potion against this…” Cassie said.

“Healing does help. Also, hydration. Next time, drink more water.” Skadi suggested.

“You could have told us that yesterday.” I complained.

“True. I always forget that not everyone is a dwarf when it comes to drinking.”

“Healing potions are expensive, I need to find a cheaper solution.” Cassie mused.

“Or Skadi needs to learn healing! I am sure blood magic could help.” Helena suggested.

“I won’t learn that this year though.” She responded.

“Anyway, we are sticking with the chicken plan, right?” Cassie said.

“I will use today to negotiate some deals. Tomorrow we will have classes again. I want it done before that. Maybe we can arrange a collection every Solday.” Skadi proposed.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Meow.” Nyx was sitting on the table and looking at Skadi.

“I will try to get some bones for you as well.” She said,

Nyx curled up, looking satisfied.

“We still need a way for the undead to trigger the bombs.” Helena said. It was an interesting problem. “We can’t strap them to their heads and have them run into things. That would make the explosives too vulnerable.”

“Will they even have heads? Wait, will they have feet? The feet are not served in a restaurant.” That was not something we had considered yesterday.

“I am sure I can get them from a butcher.” Skadi said. “Otherwise we will have to strap something to their legs. We have those.”

Was our idea really that great? Yesterday it sounded a lot better. Oh well, at least it would be good training to animate all those skeletons.

“I think once Koyuki animates the first chickens we have to try a few different designs and see what works.” Cassie said. “Ideally, we place something inside the rib cage to keep it protected. Then we just need a way to trigger it. Will the chickens be able to use mana?”

“No idea.” A normal skeleton did not have magic. There was a way to create a true skeletal mage, but I did not know how. And it would be more expensive. Certainly a waste for a minion carrying a bomb. A natural ability, like the draugr’s frost armour, was more feasible. It would be magic but in a limited way. And I only had a water affinity. Not the most explosive element.

“Could water trigger an explosion, somehow?” I asked.

“Water does not generally explode.” Helena said.

“There are things that explode with water.” Cassie corrected her.

“There are?” Helena sounded surprised.

“Yes, but they are not very popular. Most alchemical bombs are based on fire and air. Actually, you are probably not familiar with basic designs, right? Do you know why I throw potions and they trigger on impact?” Cassie asked.

“No.” Helena admitted.

“Ok. There are several ways to design that. First, a potion you have to prime. You need to insert mana, then it triggers a few seconds later. Not a popular version because it can only be used by a mage. You can also use a fuse. Everyone can ignite that, in theory, but it can be tricky in a battle, unless you are a fire mage. What is more common is an impact trigger. There are a few different ways you can achieve that.”

Cassie took a sip of water, then continued: “First, contact with the air. This means you need an airtight container to store it. They can be a bit tricky to manufacture without blowing yourself up but they work very well. Another method would be two substances that trigger when mixed. So your bomb has two compartments, on impact they blend and… boom!”

She mimicked an explosion with her hands.

“There are also more complex triggers. Some that need a certain force to go off. Or they need to come in contact with something specific. There are monsters that emit a gas cloud and potions that trigger inside it to combat them, for example.”

“So, if you trip, what are the odds of you exploding?” Skadi asked.

“I know how to store my potions. Alchemists have proper pouches with cushioning. But I would not recommend stuffing one in your back pocket, or something like that. Also, I use a mixture or bombs that need mana infusions and air triggers. The really nasty stuff requires infusions. Since I make them for myself it’s not a problem.”

“So, what determines which bones a skeleton can move? Just instinct? It’s not like they have muscles.” I wondered.

“You are the necromancer.” Helena pointed out.

“True. I am just wondering. Could I train the chickens to squeeze their ribs? We put the bomb there and they crush it?”

“That could work!” Helena said.

“Certainly worth a try.” Skadi agreed.

Maybe we could make the idea work. For now we had to wait until Skadi organised some bones. Also, my headache was getting better. The food seemed to help.