"Was he your eye? Then how did you restore your eye?"

"The same way I restored your legs, idiot. I used sealed spells in spheres. One of them was used on you. So, no stupid questions. Better go rest. And I'll have a talk with Glazik about a couple of things."

Huh? He...she only has one eye? As he retreated to his room, one question spun in his mind. Settling comfortably on the bed, he summoned a book and began reading where he left off yesterday.

Before sleeping, Vallynor always summoned a book to read. It had become a habit, or rather, the habit had returned. When he was on the ground, he spent at least one hour reading every day before sleeping. But due to the recent events, Vallynor had to train and be on guard, and this habit was forgotten. And when he got the house, the bed, and so on, he found a chance to renew it.

He began to remember his parents, brother, and a few of his friends who stayed with him. He regretted many times that he didn't spend more time with them and often drove them out of the room. And then he moved to the capital altogether.

Damn, he really wanted his mom to nag him again. They call every day, in the morning and in the evening, asking what he did and what he ate today?

Sigh, it's all in the past now. He must not forget them. But he doesn't think they want him to suffer from not being able to see them anymore.

Stop thinking about the past. Start reading the book. The book, even if it's called Necronomicon, is considered a grimoire for necromancers.

It, damn it, has an enormous amount of knowledge not related to necromancy. It even has a section dedicated to white magic and healing. And he can justify this choice by reading other books on magic.

Right now, Vallynor was reading about chimeras and the various conditions for their creation. While he read, he already had many ideas about creating such chimeras as a human with horse legs and a snake head. And so on, as he learned what could weaken or strengthen them. He didn't even realize he was slowly falling asleep right over the book.

The door opened and closed five seconds later. Baba Yaga nodded behind the door and stepped out of the hut.

"He's asleep. So don't be afraid and speak," said Baba Yaga.

"...I...I won't be able to hold on for long...I ask you to help him and..." the old woman spoke very quietly, stuttering and stopping for several seconds at a time.

The relaxed aura of a cheerful grandmother disappeared like the wind. There was nothing left but coldness and calculation. After thinking for a while, she replied:

"I will send him to you in a few days. I'm almost finished. And I can give him the things he needs to pass on to her. Then he will be free and able to come to you...I will give him ashes. I don't know if it will help him or not, but I can't do more than that."

"Tha...nk you," came the quiet voice of the other person.

"I'd better be quiet and sleep until he comes to you," the old woman continued.

"Don't...worry," the other person mumbled.

"I won't tell him about your past. You'll tell him everything yourself. I have no right to decide for others...And now I'll be quiet. I feel like he's breaking my curse," Baba Yaga added.

After a brief pause, the other person's voice spoke again:

"...Okay..."

After that, Baba Yaga turned around and went back into the hut to continue her business.

***

"What? What happened? Did I fall asleep?... This dehydration. Have I been cursed? That old hag..."

"What did you say, little one?" Baba Yaga unexpectedly entered the hut, kicking the door and holding a club in her hand. "What did I tell you? To sleep. And yet you sit every day with books. Did some nerd bite you, that you'll turn into one? You're exhausting your non-living and not-dead body, mind, and soul. You're only accelerating the process of falling apart. And your torn soul needs rest. You need sleep, like dragons who can sleep for thousands of years. So sleep, or I'll knock some sense into your head. Got it? I'm watching you."

After that, Baba Yaga left and miraculously closed the door behind her. And Vallynor began to search for that rat named Glazik with his eyes.

The next day, Vallynor sat at the table, looking at Baba Yaga who was sitting across from him. She was looking at him seriously and tapping her fingers on the table one by one, starting with the pinky and ending with the index finger.

The room was filled with complete silence, only the sound of her cloak hitting against the wood could be heard. Vallynor sat and tried to understand how he ended up here. He began to remember how it all started.

I woke up and, not seeing anyone, went outside to practice necromancy. I summoned dozens of skeletons and decided that they were too weak. I decided to combine two different spells that Baba Yaga had taught me. I combined the skeletons and a fireball, and as a result, I got fiery skeletons. It was a bit difficult to control them, but in the end, I managed. Then I tried to understand how they would attack. And it turned out that they could throw fireballs or create a fiery bow with arrows. Of course, I tested them using the second option.

When the first skeleton tried to shoot, it couldn't reach the middle of the bowstring. It burned and turned into ashes. Repeating the experiment, I realized that I didn't have enough mana. After all, the spell to create skeletons was of a low level.

So I ordered one of the skeletons to attack and poured more mana into it. When the skeleton fired, due to my carelessness, a huge fire arrow flew out, which went straight to the house.

Now I'm looking at the hole in the roof of the house. It's even brighter than before, and I can feel the fresh air, even though I have no sense of smell. I also feel the smell of age in the house.

"Vallynor... What do you want to achieve in life?" she asked him unexpectedly, instead of reaching for her club to hit him.

"I want to become a powerful mage," he replied immediately.

"You want to become a mage, not a necromancer?" she asked, surprised and making a puzzled face.

"I like necromancy, and I want to make it my main strength, but it has its limitations and weaknesses. By becoming a mage, I will be able to use all kinds of magic," Baba Yaga explained her thoughts.

"Your mind works well, but you are dying as a person. Your soul cannot recover and withstand the power that you are growing. Only thanks to the soul of Farfala, which you recently assimilated, the process has slowed down. I cannot help you, but that woman can give you what will solve most of your problems," she said.

"And what is that?" Vallynor asked.

"When you are with her, she will tell you herself. I am not allowed to. And now I am giving you a few gifts: here are the knowledge of all my curses and the techniques used to protect yourself from the backlash," she tapped him on the forehead with her old finger. Unnoticed by Vallynor, he understood that her hand was bonier than before, but not much, so he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

"First of all, the soul is a cruel thing. And you have chosen a very difficult path of development, where you need to maintain balance in three spheres. None of them should dominate the other two. But your soul is wounded and develops more complexly. You may find that you have developed in the area of the body or mind, and your weaker soul path will start to destroy you from within. The stronger the rift, the stronger the force of destruction, which can destroy you. I have created a curse for you that will seal the paths you need to the required level. If you need to survive, you can dispel the curse and use all your power."

"This curse will seal your level and part of your strength, so be careful," she tapped Vallynor's forehead with her finger again.

"And thirdly, this small bag of dust and the ring with the ingredients," she said, placing them on the table and handing them to Vallynor.

He was shocked and couldn't understand what was happening. Were they kicking him out? Would his personality disintegrate?

"Now it's your duty," she continued, placing the pendant on the table. "You will see one day that this pendant will begin to glow during your journey. It means that the person to whom you must give the pendant is near. It will fly out on its own and head towards that person, five meters away. When you give the pendant away, ask them to teach you blood magic on my behalf. And now, take your things and head east. In a few days, a mountain will appear. Look for the cave - that's where the fool is waiting for you," she snapped her fingers and Vallynor felt that he was cursed. "It's insurance so that you'll give away the pendant. And now, scram and don't forget to take Annino and Glazochka with you."

"What?" was all he managed to say before he found himself outside the door.

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Looking at the forest, Annino, and Glazochka, Vallynor noticed that they were not looking kindly at each other. Then he turned and looked at the closed door.

He sat for a few minutes, then began knocking on the door. After a short while, he heard from the other side:

"You haven't left yet?" There was surprise in the woman's voice, as if she thought he had left long ago.

"You old hag, what does all this mean? You give me the things and kick me out just like that? We didn't even say goodbye properly," Vallynor protested, feeling offended.

"What things of yours? They were mine, to begin with. And I gave them to you. You could at least say thank you...But say goodbye? Why bother? Gifts are enough. Preferably expensive ones," the woman replied.

Vallynor thought for a moment and began to look at what he had in his rings. There were ingredients, corpses, an army of the undead made up of skeletons and zombies, and weapons that the old woman from the city had brought him, as well as many other cursed items. All of these objects were the results of his training and experiments.

He noticed the pendant between the piles of objects - it was his first cursed item. It brought thoughts of suicide and depression. Taking the pendant, he changed a part of the curse. When someone wears it, whether they like it or not, they will always remember Vallynor. Then he placed the pendant in front of the door and knocked a few more times.

"What do you want, me to throw you out with a broom like a stray dog? I said 'shoo'. What don't you understand?" shouted the angry old woman. It was clear that she was angry, but he knew she wasn't really. If she were really angry, she would have cursed him. But still...

"Do you want me to curse you?" he thought directly at her. And she was able to read his thoughts.

"I can read them," she replied.

"Damn," he thought. "I'll leave my first creation, but it'll be slightly modified. I'll leave it at the door... Granny, I'm very glad I met you in this world. And I'm very grateful for your help... And for not eating me. I wanted to say goodbye properly, but..." The door opened, and Baba Yaga hugged him, slowly stroking his head and then his back.

"Grandson, I was a little angry about what you did to me and my hut. Sorry for being an old fool. Remember, never give up. Even if your enemy is a god, kill him if he stands in your way. You must never hesitate when killing your enemies. Until now, you have killed mindless fallen ones, but eventually, you'll encounter sentient ones who'll try to plead for mercy..." She stroked his head and his black-gold hair, which slowly turned blonde. The color of his eyes, which was once unusual, turned blue like ice. It was a sign of the love of a necromancer - cold and death.

"You must always think of yourself first. And then of others," she said, taking the pendant and putting it on immediately. "Go, that fool is already waiting. My little necromancer, you'll find clothes that are better suited for your journey at the end. Go and change."

Vallynor quickly disappeared into the trees and then returned in black leather armor. Moving his arms and legs into various positions, he confirmed that the armor fit comfortably. After that, he hugged the old woman, who slapped him a few times on the back to get him to release her from the embrace.

"Take Glazik with you. She'll be very useful to you. She can watch over anyone, even lower gods. But she needs to restore her powers for that," Baba Yaga said.

Glazik approached Baba Yaga and enlarged to the size of a head, then made a few pitiful sounds and moved as if it didn't want to leave her. But if she wants it, Glazik will comply.

Baba Yaga began stroking it for a few seconds, then said, "Go," entering the house and closing the doors behind her.

Vallynor pointed his hand towards Annino and Glazik, motioning for them to follow him, and they slowly moved away from the small house where they had lived for some time – some for a few years, and others for their entire lives.

Baba Yaga sat down at the table and placed her trembling hands on it. Her hands quickly began to turn gray, which then turned into ashes.

"This doll is on the verge," she continued, raising her head. "I gave my ashes to him. Everything else is for him and for you. I wanted to be your old friend..." But she didn't finish her sentence as her mouth turned gray and became ash. Old Baba Yaga, completely turned into gray ash, scattered and disappeared.

"Goodbye, my friend. Soon..." the old woman fell silent.

***

Deep beneath the ground, a humanoid Lion walked slowly. If Valinor had seen him, he would have recognized him. This was the same being, if one could call him that, who gave him his first spatial ring. He was full of weapons and even three books, two of which were useful, and the third had turned into a pseudo-light novel. The magical book, with its cursed soul, could attack, but the Lion ate it and gained some energy for the development of his soul.

The second book taught him to understand his path in war and to use weapons in battle, while the third turned into a pseudo-light novel.

He walked down a long corridor, where almost nothing was visible except for stones that clung to the walls and emitted almost no light. It seemed that the energy in them had almost completely drained.

Looking on both sides, one could see prison bars. As he walked, sounds of chains, cries, and... prayers could be heard from either the left or right.

When he passed by one of the cells, a stone flew at him, hitting him right in the head. The Lion stopped and turned to the culprit.

"You deceived us!" said a melancholy young man sitting next to the prison bars.

"I did not deceive you. We do everything we can for everyone," the Lion replied without a single drop of emotion and turned to leave.

"Holding those who fall in cages like animals. Those who became legends, saving or destroying worlds... You turn us into fodder for your poor daughter. The first son became the leader of the opposing faction. The second, like a rat... What am I saying, he really is a rat, not only by race but also by soul. He ran away into the forest and disappeared. Only one daughter remained, who, due to her young age, quickly fell, and before she could completely fall, ran away into the once eternal forest."

"Shut up!" he shouted angrily at him.

"Alexander! Maybe you were once the commander of the entire army, in which I was included. But do not forget that no one in this world is stupid unless they have fallen. We have all been living for millennia, and everyone in these cells, if they haven't fallen, knows that they are experimental rats and fodder for your daughter," the soldier said angrily, looking at him. He was speaking angrily to the one whom he had respected all these years, and who had now fallen so low.

The soldier wasn't against being in prison. After all, he will fall soon, and when he falls, he will start attacking others. As a military soldier, he couldn't accept that. But what filled him with anger was that as soon as he was put in the cell, he was no longer considered human. For them, he was a lab rat, and then became food for his fallen daughter.

To become food for others to survive was not a problem. But to become fertilizer for the dead is too much. It's like pouring water in the desert instead of watering trees.

Moreover, their relationship had changed. He had become almost like a homeless person on the street to him.

Alexander angrily approached the soldier and, reaching through the bars, shouted, "How dare you say that? You don't understand anything."

"Yes, maybe I don't know anything. But I know what you want to do with my soul... a madman who still hopes to regain his lost daughter. Even the Lord, if he were with us, is not sure he could do anything. And as for you... ARG!" - Alexander didn't want to listen to this nonsense anymore and threw him right into the wall. Upon contact with the wall, it filled with runes that quickly disappeared.

"You have already given up, even on your own child, when he fell, you killed him and sealed his soul in chains. How are you better than me? Maybe I'm hypocritical, but I won't give up until I disappear. I will always fight."

"You have always been so uncompromising, Alexander... Where have we come to? These cursed gods betrayed us, and as long as they are free, we are approaching the end of our days and will suffer. And you don't change. Mighty conqueror, maybe I don't agree with your method, but let it be as you want. Anyway, all my dear people have already fallen... Only one thing I cannot accept is that you have a chance. Even a tiny one, but still a chance, and all because you outrank us."

Alexander turned and left the soldier, who no longer understood his feelings. With his mind, he accepted his service and was ready to become food for the fallen, but his soul could not accept it and screamed with hatred. Why isn't his child sitting here instead of the fallen one? He hugged his legs and began to cry quietly, while cries from the fallen and those who had remained echoed from all sides.

Alexander opened the door and entered the room, which was filled with tables. On the tables stood glass flasks filled with different liquids. There were also papers full of scribbles, next to body parts of various creatures, including humans.

In the center of the working table sat an old man, lazily writing on a sheet of paper. But at some point, he stopped, shook his head, crumpled the paper, and threw it into the corner where there was already a huge pile of crumpled paper.

"Another failure?" Alexander asked, taking a stool from the ring and placing it in front of the old man. Then he sat on it.

"Yes, no matter how hard I try, I can't solve this problem... I think I won't be able to solve it. The Throne has started to decay. It's a sign that the world can no longer exist and it will decay. At most, in 10 years," he said, stroking his long white beard.

"What about my daughter?" Alexander asked, asking an important question for him.

"There are two news, one good and one bad. The good news is that her soul didn't completely fall. Maybe because she didn't consume enough souls. The bad news is that I can't help her. Even if we discard her soul in the River of Souls and purify it, her personality is lost, and as you know, we can't enter the River of Souls because of the seal," he continued, stroking his white beard.

"What can we do? I can't leave everything as it is," Alexander said.

"Alexander, I can't understand why you're trying to save her if everything will end in ten years?" the old man asked, waiting for an answer from his old friend.

"Do you remember that during the pursuit of my daughter, you met a man?" Alexander asked.

Nodding in response, he gestured with his hand to continue. Waiting to hear the thoughts of his old friend.

"I didn't tell you for several reasons, but he was a necromancer, even though he looked like a novice," he said.

"Alexander... I've known for a long time that you're not just the high priest, but also a prophet. So after your story, I immediately checked to find out who he was and whether he was an enemy. Since then, I have been closely watching him," the old man replied.

"You knew? But you kept quiet... You guessed, but if there was a chance, you kept quiet," Alexander said.

"Second chosen?" the old man asked Alexandra coldly.

"Yes, after the one who was considered chosen fell into madness, he now terrorizes the entire forest. And I don't want a second one. One madman who screams 'I am the chosen one' is enough," Alexandra replied.

"If you delved deeper into providence, you would know that every slightest movement can drastically change fate," the old man said.

"And all of this just for this newcomer-necromancer? He's just an ordinary soul. The question is how he ended up in this world. But you say he..." Alexander interrupted, not finishing his sentence.

"He can fulfill our dream. The one who came to this doomed world can somehow escape. Nothing is perfect. Even this seal did not hold everyone. It happened only because of the guard who protects us. No one could escape," one person said.

"Then why didn't we take him? It's been several years already. I wouldn't be surprised if he already fell. I gave him a ring with three books as a token of gratitude for catching my daughter. But he's too weak," another person said.

"As does the whole world, we ourselves become weak. And this boy must help someone now... I ask you for a favor. Go and get him. When you reach the forest, he should have already finished his business," the first person said.

"Where in this cursed forest can I find him?" Alexander asked, not really wanting to do it.

"At the queen's... If everything goes well, he can take a lot with him, not just things. But all conditions must be met," the first person replied.

Alexander, understanding the meaning of the old man's words, revived and immediately turned to the door, ready to go to the forest even now.

"Alexander, prepare yourself. You must teach him the way of war, or rather, the way of the body. This is one of the conditions to become his teacher, or rather, one of them," Caesar said.

"So he's a warrior? If what you said is true, I am ready for everything. I will leave for him tomorrow. And for now, I will prepare. I'm leaving, Caesar," Alexander replied.