“Finally!” Alaster shouted, jumping to his feet and throwing up his arms.

“Well done.” Lezrem calmly congratulated. Despite his calm sounding voice, he was extremely impressed. He had been helping his new master with this project to help him improve his Weaving and Necrotic capabilities. He had not actually expected it to work.

Now, where he had only seen a single master, he now saw two. A Lich’s eyes were Mana Sensitive first, and physical second. While his physical senses were telling him that they were two distinct beings, his Magical senses were screaming at him that it was a single person.

The project Alaster had been so focused on for the last year was a second body. When Alaster had first learned how to [Bond] with his Minions, he was fascinated with the capability to use it to do his work while his real body was safely hidden far away. So, if his current body was destroyed, his real body was still safe.

But [Bond] had several limitations. First, it had to be one of his created Minions. It could not be one of his Summoned or Woven Minions. There was also a distance limit. He could not use any of his Abilities and was entirely limited to the capabilities of the Minion itself.

Alaster had sought to change that, and when he learned of Weaving, he started working out a way to make it possible.

Standing before him, was not a Minion, but a vessel that his soul controlled. Its easy to make such a vessel, but Alaster did not want to move his soul into the vessel. Doing so would have killed his original body. Alaster wanted a vessel that would temporarily house his soul and if the vessel was destroyed, there wouldn’t be any harm to himself.

That was why he struggled so much with the Weave. Because while Abilities allowing the soul to split existed, Alaster did not have any. So he had to include the splitting of his soul into the Weave. Which was very difficult to achieve for an Expert’s soul without irreparably harming it, or even tearing it apart.

However, through extensive trial and error, and Lezrem’s help, Alaster was able to make it work. At least most of it. In order to allow the vessel to use Alaster’s Abilities, the soul would have to bond with the body. This meant that if the vessel was ever destroyed, it would damage his soul, causing severe pain and backlash, but nothing permanent. He could recover from it within a few weeks, maybe a month or two if he couldn’t rest to heal.

Alaster could have modeled the body after himself, or more specifically, after his Pact Armor, but why would he do that? Because it was technically a blank Undead Minion, Alaster could make the body colossal in size, towering over a dozen feet tall. But why would he do that?

Sure, a giant Undead could do a lot of damage, but so could a couple [Dead Bombs]. Alaster wanted his second body to be more surgical, while still being durable and powerful. Height was a powerful advantage in any close combat. In the end, Alaster spent a lot of work on the detail work.

Similar to Nightmare, the Second Body had two forms. The first was quite normal. A large, not but exceedingly so, man clad in intricate black armor. This form was imposing, but was possible to blend in well, at least among adventurers or Knights. Which it was meant to do. Alaster wanted to use this form to blend in and scout before his real body arrived.

The second form was what truly took the most time. Despite being the one to craft it by ‘hand’, it still sent shivers down his spine when he looked at it. Which was the point. Alaster spent countless hours working on making it as intimidating as he could, while not sacrificing its functionality.

Its second form was more reminiscent of a Skeletal Demon Wolf. Nine feet tall, double-jointed legs, long fangs, and sharp claws. Still clad in black armor, but with glowing bloody red between the armor plates as well as glowing eyes. Instead of a single tail, it had four Mana Tendrils consisting of the disturbing Black Mana.

While the first form was meant to blend in, when it was time for action, Alaster wanted his opponents to quiver in fear and flee. Fear was a powerful weapon and tool, and as a user of Death, he naturally had many ways to utilize it.

Both forms could make use of his Abilities, and in truth, it was as if Alaster was controlling both his real body and the Second Body at the same time. That took roughly two hours to get the hang off, at least while they were both still standing still, but Alaster was already used to his perception being split due to [Seeker Sight].

It took him another hour to be able to make small movements with one body while the other did something completely different. The young man suspected that it would be another few hours before he could operate both bodies at the same time using normal movements. Many days of dedicated practice would be required before he could fight using one of the bodies, let alone both, especially if he used the second form of the second body.

He was, however, very pleased with himself. It would be a lot of work, but the possibilities were truly endless. Now that he had made it work once, he suspected that he could do it again after only a few months of work, instead of the year it had taken the first time. Though, because he did not have an Ability that split his soul, he would only be able to do it twice more, once for each Tier he had achieved.

Alaster allowed himself to briefly daydream about what it would be like to have four bodies able to each do their own thing. Would they form their own personalities? Would it be more like a Hivemind? Or would the actions of the other bodies feel more like a dream?

Who knew?

Alaster wanted to, but he was more pressing matters to take care of first. His time in Galmore was nearly over, in fact, the City Lord was planning a party to send him off. Alaster did not quite understand why. He had intentionally avoided the Nobility of Galmore, especially the City Lord.

Azemar had taught him how Nobility functioned, using Galmore’s own Nobility as an example. Alaster was even more disgusted with the so called ‘ruling class’ now than he was before. He wanted nothing to do with them. In that way, he was exceptionally glad he had kept his identity hidden from them.

They only knew that their City’s Elder had taken on a student that wore cruel black armor. They did not know the man behind the helmet. Alaster knew that if he got involved with the Nobles of Galmore, he would get entangled in something.

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And nothing was going to stand in his way.

However, Azemar had told him how he expected Alaster to go to this farewell party and to treat it as a final test. Many Nobles would be there, and Alaster would have to act like a Noble. As Azemar had been discussing it with Alaster in the library, Lunaria looked up from her book with a beaming smile and reminded Alaster that it would involve dancing.

Alaster had to admit that the dancing lessons he had with Lunaria had helped him grow quicker, more agile, and more confident in his own body. But he still hated it. Or maybe he just hated dancing with Lunaria?

But then he looked at Lunaria, who made a funny face back at him.

‘Nope. Just dancing.’

Alaster left his second body at Lezrem’s as he returned back to the Elder’s home.

‘I need to come up with a name for it.’ Alaster thought to himself as he swapped with Shadow Assassin after Shadow Assassin.

‘Why? Its you.’ Belgroth dismissed.

‘It might be his soul, but it’s a different body. Not just a copy, but a very different body. What about when he makes another, this one as large as a house? He needs to be able to distinguish them in his own thoughts, it’ll become confusing otherwise.’ Sedall countered.

‘You Humans are so simple.’ Belgroth sighed.

‘We Humans exiled your entire race from this planet.’

‘That’s a low blow and you know it.’

‘Perhaps, but I stand by it. We might not be as in tune with nature or as intelligent as your kind, but we make up for it in other ways.’

‘The only reason you beat us is because you breed like rats and Goblins. Even your so called ‘Gods’ were only as powerful as our adolescents. You exhausted our people with pure numbers, hoping that if you threw enough bodies at us, we would drown in their blood.’

‘A sad reality.’ Sedall conceded.

‘Guys, I get that you are both really old, but can we please stay on topic? What should I name the second body?’ Alaster attempted to steer the conversation back.

‘Number two.’

Alaster would have thought Belgroth was joking, but his voice said that he was completely serious.

‘I vote we ignore any future naming suggestions from the irritable Demon.’

‘Agreed.’ Alaster admitted that his naming sense was poor, but Bel’s was just as horrible, if not worse.

‘Why am I stuck with the two of you?’

‘Must have done something amazing in your past life!’ Sedall continued to joke.

‘Any suggestions Sedall?’

‘How about Fenrir, it means wolf in one of the oldest and long forgotten Elvish Languages.’

‘I actually know that language. At least, I could recognize it. Only know a few words. Hard to learn the language of the people trying to kill you. But they screamed a lot so you learn to pick up a few words.’ Belgroth chuckled.

Alaster rolled his eyes but agreed to the name. While the second body, Fenrir, would be technically Alaster, controlling it in unison to his own body, it would make it easier to plan and speak about it.

Swap after swap quickly took Alaster back to Galmore, but before the final [Swap], the one that would take him back into the city, Alaster took a moment near the top of one of the ancient trees to look over the scenery cast in pale moonlight.

The city stretched out in front of him for miles, flowing with the ebb of the terrain. The plain was mostly flat, but it rose and fell in areas, and the city followed every contour. The city walls towered over the tall grass but were dwarfed by the ancient forest.

A calm wind danced past, gently caressing the leaves and grass and chilling those who felt its touch. Winter was approaching, meaning that his birthday was soon to arrive.

It was a calm and cloudless night, one of the very few where the inhabitants of the Forest left the city alone. Guards continued to patrol the walls in force, their multitude of torches banishing the darkness around them, if only for a few moments.

It was quiet and it was peaceful. As he watched the scene, standing atop the thick branch nearly a hundred meters above the ground, Alaster wondered how his actions, soon to be, would affect the scene before him. Whatever he did, whether he succeeded or ended up dead somewhere, was bound to have rippling effects.

No Expert could act without causing these ripples, but most were limited to just the extent of their cities. A rare few could affect their Kingdom. But Alaster was one in ten thousand that could affect the region. But would his actions help the state of Humanity, or would it doom it? Would Galmore even feel any of the effects, isolated as they were?

Alaster did not feel guilty, merely curious.

Idly scratching his cheek, he vanished from the branch, in his place, the darkness seemed to be slightly darker for a moment, before that too disappeared.

Alaster appeared in his room and immediately noticed that he was not alone. His muscles tensed, before he saw through his [Seeker Sight] that it was Azemar. As he turned to the man, Alaster berated himself for simply swapping into the room without looking in using [Bond] first.

Azemar sat in one of the two chairs against the wall. A small table sat between them, a chess game in progress atop it. Alaster occasionally took a brief break, and when he did, he found that reading or Chess helped to relax him. The City Elder idly fiddled with the black rook before he looked up at his student.

Despite the darkness in the room, only a sliver of pale moonlight sneaking through the curtains, Alaster felt his teacher’s gaze like a blade.

“Your training is over. The rest must be learned through practice and careful observation. The party will be your final test, but I doubt you will find it a difficult one. Though perhaps a tad annoying.” Azemar’s mountainous voice seemed to fill the room, despite the calm and quite tone.

“I thank you for your guidance.” Alaster bowed slightly, showing more respect for the man before him than he would have a King. Not that Alaster had much respect for anyone, especially High Nobility.

“Do you know why I chose to teach you, and not someone else?”

“I always thought it was because Aila asked you to do so.”

“No. I like her, but not that much. No, the only reason I agreed to teach you was the small chance that you might be able to help me. Your Class was the only reason I bothered with you. And while your own personality and willpower have caused me to respect you slightly, your Magic is what I want.”

Alaster narrowed his eyes as he sought to seek for every angle the man before him had, just as that man had taught him.

“In what way can I help you?”

Azemar dropped the rook and stood up, “Your Magic has a special connection to Death. What do you think?”

“There are many things one might want to achieve with Death. What is yours?” Alaster countered.

Azemar sighed, “Lunaria and I told you that her mother had died when she was young. That is not quite true. The reality is much worse. She was poisoned, but by the time I got there, it was already too late as it had destroyed many of her organs. When she was on the brink of Death, I used an ancient artifact from the Golden Age to freeze her in golden ice, preventing her Death but also preventing her Life.

Its been many years, I know that it’s a horrible fate, but I also cant bring myself to release the enchantment until I find a way to save her. I have been searching for one such method every moment since that cursed day.” Azemar stepped toward his student.

“I have read every book about every poison, magical and mundane. I have read every article and every study about various ways to prolong one’s life. And all my research has led me to one conclusion.

That I had failed before I began.

By the time the enchantment took hold, she had already reached the point of no return, for any method. I had given up hope and was working up the courage to release the enchantment, when I saw your Death Knights.

Before then, I had every intention on giving you impossible task after impossible task until you failed, therefore giving me reason to deny you, if you even survived.

But I saw you resurrect the dead into your Minion. Reserving their Abilities and Skills, but most importantly, preserving their memories and personalities.

I want you to do the same for my wife.”