Putting the old priestess and her words out of his mind, Keir turned his attention to the children and teenagers who were coming to a stop before him. They were looking at him with wide eyes, some bowed their heads when they saw him looking. The oldest boy hobbled up on a crutch, then fell to his knees, his lame leg stretched awkwardly behind him, and looked at the ground.

From their stained leather clothes and their awe struck looks, he guessed they were Lleial. It made sense that his maids would go to their peoples children first. And those children would be most interested in learning magic from their supposed saviour.

More children and teenagers were coming as well. They came more hesitantly, clutching their ragged cotton clothes, the smaller children hiding behind their older peers. Only one of them looked him in the eyes, a girl who couldn't be older than fourteen, holding a babe to her chest, while two other young children clung to her skirt.

He took a moment to study her. Her eyes burned with hatred, he didn't think it was directed at him. He'd seen many people who wished him tortured and dead, this was a hatred at the world. She'd been hurt and wanted to share it. Hiding his smile, he decided that even if she couldn't learn magic, he'd find something for her to do. People like her were always useful if they could be properly trained, or at least pointed in the right direction.

Staying seated, he waited for more to show up, studying them, noting who was impatient, who was fearful, who paid attention to what was going on around them, and who stared dumbly at the ground. Several minutes passed and more young people came up alone, in pairs and in small groups. None of them spoke to him, they'd heard the stories, heard how he'd fought the demons, it gave him an aura of strength and menace.

When there were a little over thirty young people standing, sitting and kneeling before him, he rose to his feet.

“I am Mage Keira, formerly Master Keir of the Necromantic College,” he said. “In the last battle against the demons, necromancy proved itself against the horde, allowing our forces to prevail. However, while I am very powerful, I cannot be everywhere at once, and one man cannot fight an army alone. I am offering some of you a chance to learn necromancy under my tutelage.”

He paused, letting his words sink in. A few of the children turned pale, but none left. Satisfied, he continued with his speech.

“If I choose you as a student, it will not be easy. We don't have the time to try gentle methods. You will learn even if I have to beat the spells into your head. By spring, all of you will know enough spells to march with the army and support it in battle. If you don't believe you can handle that, leave now.”

Again he paused, this time a handful of children left. He nodded in satisfaction, they'd mostly come from the scared and uninterested groups.

“Good. Make three lines of ten, youngest in front,” he ordered.

The group quickly got to their feet and sorted themselves out. The girl who was caring for family, handed the baby to her siblings and made them sit off at the side. The lame boy struggled to get to his feet, keeping his head bowed as he got into line.

Altering his sight to see magic, Keir studied the first row of potential students. The magic that ran through their bodies shone brightly, hiding their physical form. Most of them shone with a dull yellow light, showing they had neutral magic. It was the most common, and could be easily shaped and woven to fit any type of spell.

Two children, the smallest ones, surprised him. The magic of the boy and girl was filled with black flecks, that moved lazily through them, flowing like blood through their bodies. The children were attuned to death, he had seldom seen it in his own time. Finding two of them in such a small group was practically unheard of. While young children's magic would sometimes attune to the magical energy around them, it was usually life magic, or something they interacted with, like a smith's child attuning to fire or metal, or a fisherman's child connecting to water. Death was usually not common enough.

He shook his head at his foolishness. While in his day, death on a large enough scale to affect children was uncommon outside of famines or a plague, now they were surrounded by it. Looking at the sky, he realized that the air was tinged black with the dark magic.

“Well this will make things easier,” he muttered. Pointing at the two children, who looked to be brother and sister, he said, “You're chosen. Stand off to the side.”

Looking at the rest of the line, he picked two more children who glowed particularly brightly with magic. The six remaining children were sent away, and he turned his attention to the next row.

One girl who had just started to become a woman, showed signs of death magic. Despite that, her magic was small, barely glowing at all. Frowning he passed her by. Only one child from the second row had enough magic to be worth his while. The boy was sent to join the first four.

The third line had four teenagers in it. The first girl was particularly bright, but her magic was the brilliant green of life. While he'd love to teach someone with her level of power, the life magic would interfere with necromancy.

“Go find Sister Kaja and tell her the priesthood is to start teaching you healing spells,” he told her. “Tell her that Mage Keira insists on it.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“But-” she started to say.

“If you study you'll be a powerful healer. But no matter how hard you try, you'll be a horrible necromancer. You should have already been tested and turned into a student,” he said. “Now go, if they don't accept you, let me know and I'll deal with it.”

She bowed her head then walked away, hopefully to find the priestess.

The lame boy was next. His magic was middling. He'd make a decent student for a regular teacher, but he didn't need decent, he needed the powerful.

The third potential student had what looked like red flames dancing through his magic. Keir told him to join the other chosen immediately, fire and necromancy could do some interesting things together.

The last one was the girl with the family. There was a hint of blackness running through her, she was starting to become attuned to death. She wasn't very powerful, but combined with her obvious anger and being attuned, she was worth training.

Cancelling his magic sight, he looked her up and down. She was well tanned and solidly built despite the signs of hunger and malnutrition, probably a farmers daughter. Her dark eyes met his, challenging him. He could definitely use her, but he needed her to focus.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “I don't need a mother.”

“I'm not their mother, I'm their sister. And I can do anything you need,” she replied. Her voice was soft, but there was steel in it.

“I doubt that. I'm going to have you training from dawn until well into the night. You can't be my student and care for your siblings at the same time. Will you just cast them aside?”

She glared at him. “I can do both if I need to.”

He sneered. “You think it will be that easy? If you somehow manage to get through my training, you'll be marching to war. Do you think you can fight while caring for a baby?”

“I'll find someone to watch them. If it means I can kill the demons, I'll do anything I have to."

“Adria,” he motioned the old maid to come over. “This girls siblings are under your care. See that they're fed and clothed.”

“Yes, Regua,” the old woman said.

“What's your name, girl?”

“Katalia Del Campo,” the girl said.

“When you answer me, you will address me as Mas- Mistress. You're now my student until I decide you are done training, or you've proven yourself useless. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Mistress,” Katalia said.

“Good. As long as you are my student I'll ensure your siblings are cared for, now go join the others,” he said.

She nodded, took a moment to look at her brother and sisters, then joined his new students.

Looking at the lame boy he hadn't chosen, he said, “You can go.”

“Regua!” the boy said. “Please teach me.”

“You aren't strong enough to be worth my time,” Keir said.

“I can learn.”

“I'm sure you can, but I don't have time to teach someone who will merely be an average mage.” Turning away from the boy he walked over to his chosen students.

“Regua, I don't need much help. Just let me listen while you teach the others and I'll learn without asking a single question.”

Keir turned around to study him. The boy was wearing the red leather pants and pleated cotton shirt he'd seen the Lleial soldiers wearing. He was well built, except for his right leg which was atrophied and bent slightly at the knee. The scars on his hands showed he had been in fights before, and he held himself like a fighter.

“What happened to your leg?” he asked.

“I was scouting, looking for a safe route here, when brigands attacked. In the fight my horse was killed and crushed my leg,” he said.

“So you know how to follow orders and focus?”

“Yes, Regua.”

He pretended to think things over, but his mind was already made up. If the young man was telling the truth he could be useful. The leg would keep him from the front lines, but raising the dead to fight and directing them from a distance would be well within his capabilities.

“What's your name, boy?” he asked.

“Blau of the 10th Lancers.”

“You have one week to impress me, Blau. Get in line.”

“Thank you, Regua,” the young man said.

“You'll call me Mistress, just like the others,” he said.

“Yes, Mistress,” he corrected himself.

Looking over his eight students, Keir gave them a very small smile. They all had potential, he just had to make sure they reached it. He remembered his early days before the Necromantic College had been created, teaching a handful of students in an old barn. That had been an interesting time, hungry and cold, but interesting.

“Tomorrow morning at dawn we will begin your first lesson. I'll have uniforms for you to wear and if you need it, lodgings. Breakfast and supper will be provided to you,” he told them. This made the younger students grin. They weren't starving but most of them were painfully thin, and all of them were wearing clothes that were little better than rags.

“Today you will tell your family or friends that you are my students, and that you will be studying from sunrise until well past sunset for the next several months. You can stay with them at night, or you can stay at the school I'll be setting up.”

Waving his hands he wove eight ghosts into existence. They were simplistic things, shadowy figures with no real features, wearing white robes that had once been worn by instructors at his necromantic college. They silently floated over to the student, each one taking a place beside a child.

“These are your spirits. They'll act as a guardian and will guide you to the school tomorrow. As you learn you'll be able to control them, giving them new duties, changing their features, making them intelligent, and other things.”

He didn't bother telling them that he could watch each student through the ghosts eyes. It was a way to ensure they would practice properly, and wouldn't attack others without a good reason. He didn't want to explain why one of his students murdered a person or stole something, this was one way to catch a potential problem early on.

“Are there any questions?” he asked.

There was a mix of no's and shaking of heads.

“I want to hear, no, Mistress,” he said.

“No, Mistress,” his students said.

“Very well. I'll see you tomorrow at dawn, get a good night sleep tonight.”

The children mostly all headed in the same direction, nervously looking at their new ghosts, and talking with each other. Keir wondered what their parents would say when they told them the news. Katalia didn't follow the group, she went over to her siblings, who were sitting with his maids who had made themselves comfortable on a large rock. He walked over as well.

“Adria, can you find a room in the keep for them?” he asked.

The old woman nodded. “I should be able to. They're talking about moving some of the people in there, I can get them a small room before they get everything settled.”

“Good. I'll leave it in your hands then.”

“Elia,” he said to his second maid, “I need you to take me to whoever is in charge of the Lleial here in the camp. It's time I talk with your people.”

Following the teenager along the muddy path between the tents and shacks, Keir couldn't help but smile. Things were finally getting interesting.