For some reason, when Sage asked Bori to teach her the old man agreed without any qualms.

A week had passed since then. During that entire time she spent most of it being tutored by the old man.

The writing language of this world was not difficult. In some ways it was similar to the Roman alphabet used by most of the world back on Earth. She was able to grasp it quickly. A few more lessons and she would be ready to browse through the books in the study on her own.

Bori also tried to teach her numbers but that proved unnecessary when she saw them. It turned out that the people in this world used the same Arabic numbers that were used by everyone in her former world. At first, she was surprised to find that out, but after thinking about it a little she calmed down. The arsehole in the dark did say that he had reincarnated others into this world. It was hardly surprising that these people had been active in this world.

Speaking of the world, apart from reading and writing, the other lessons Bori offered her were those of Geography. The old man explained that the tower they were in was located in the Trenton Highlands, which were found in the north-western part of the supercontinent Rekke. From what was described during the lessons this continent was twice the size of Eurasia. It was one of three continents on a planet known as Aran and the only one of the three that was inhabited by humans. The other two were called Nosha and Sausha. These were two ice masses where the north and south poles could be found.

The Trenton Highlands were a treacherous border that divided the two rival kingdoms of Lethia and Ysh. According to Bori the tower was located on the side of Ysh in the south-east.

This country was ruled by the magical elite who used their power to rule over the people. The nation boasted great might and had no equal for thousands of leagues. Even their rivals, the Warrior Kingdom of Lethia, had to ally with neighbouring nations to match its strength.

That was not to say that Ysh was the most powerful nation on the continent; it was actually well down the hierarchy. The strongest nations in Rekke were the Ethereal Kingdom of Methos and the Shean Holy Imperium. Apparently these were each capable of unifying the continent and would have done so if not for the other’s existence.

“In truth, those are just the foolish ramblings of ignorant snobs,” Bori had explained. “There are many places on this continent which neither country would dare to set foot on, even with their strongest forces.”

One such place according to Bori were the Drakenburg Range. This mountain range was the nesting ground of dragons. Yes, Sage had guessed it a while back. Dragons existed in this world and, from how the necromancer described them, they were extremely dangerous and far from the friendliest entities around. All nations considered the Drakenburg Range forbidden territory.

It was worth noting that humans were not the only creatures who had formed nations on the continent. Various nations of elves, dwarves and orcs were spread just as wide as the human lands.

Another forbidden territory was the Evergrowth, a forest found in the very centre of Rekke. Few who stepped within its confines ever returned; those who did never wished to return. Rumour had it that those who entered the Evergrowth would become the target of all its inhabitants, flora and fauna alike. When trespassers appeared in the Evergrowth, rival animals would cast their rivalries aside to hunt down said intruders.

What a scary place, Sage thought as she lifted her pot of stew from the stove. She was careful to wear mittens when she did so. On one of the previous occasions she had learned a painful lesson that, being an undead, her skin was flammable.

Ever since her first morning after being summoned she had been cooking the meals in the tower. After that horrible slop the skeletons had fed her and seeing Bori gulp it down like it was ambrosia, she had decided to show the old fart what real food tasted like. Not that her cooking was good mind you, but compared to what the skeletons were making it was a five-star cuisine.

The two skeletons were still in the kitchen. They still had their uses, like carrying the food and washing everything after the meal. She had tried to teach them how to cook proper meals but they were like old dogs.

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That phrase should be changed to you can’t teach a dead dog new tricks, she thought, giving the pot to one of the skeletons so it can scoop the stew into bowls.

Minutes later Bori came downstairs and joined her at the dining table.

The old man had a light-hearted air about him, completely different from the gloomy aura he presented when they first met. It all started with when she told him his mana had increased. Now, even as he took his bowl and dug his spoon into it he could not resist beaming. The old fart had been wearing the same expression for the better part of the week now.

The annoyance of it made her want to kick his teeth in.

“You must be having fun learning new spells,” she commented as she watched him eat.

“Of course,” the man beamed at her. “For a long time the idea of learning new spells had been a distant dream. I was bound to be stuck at the 6th Order forever unless I did something drastic. But now, I can learn spells again. I have just managed to learn my thirty-sixth 1st Order spell.” His eyes were wide and veiny as he put down his spoon and stared at her. “Do you know what that means?”

“No,” she grumbled. “You haven’t started teaching me magic yet, not even the basics. So how would I know?”

Over the last couple of days she had been tempted plenty of times to browse through the old man’s tome collection. However, she held herself back because she still was not proficient enough to read the lettering. The last thing she needed was to misread one of the tomes and fuck up. So she decided to wait for the necromancer to teach her.

Unfortunately, the geezer had been focused on his own magical attainments. Whenever he was not teaching her this world’s alphabet, he was nose deep in the spell tomes he had yet to learn. It irked Sage just a little. After a compilation of similar experiences she was near her breaking point.

“It means I will not only be able to learn 7th Order Spells but I will be able to reach the 8th Order as well,” he ranted on as if she had not spoken. “Can you believe it? Me, an 8th Order mage? Who would have thought? My peers will be shocked to learn that.”

“What about teaching me magic?” Sage asked impatiently. Honestly, if this geezer continued to spout bullshit she would reach across the table and wring his neck as hard as she could.

“Oh,” Bori seemed to come out of his rambling state and looked at her with a gentle smile.

Seeing that grandfatherly smile, the corner of Sage’s lip twitched a little. The old man had been giving her the same look since she told him she was Darkborne.

“We can start after the meal,” Bori surprisingly announced.

Hearing this, Sage put down her spoon and scrutinised him.

“Excuse me?” she did not know if she was hearing him correctly so she asked for verification while trying to keep the excitement from her voice. She failed at the last part. “Are you saying you will begin to teach me after we’re done here?”

“Yes,” the necromancer affirmed. “Your reading lessons will be ending soon. You have mastered lettering and only have to memorise certain pronunciations. After that you can browse through the books in the study alone and won’t need me unless you come across a difficult word.” He put down his spoon and looked at her meaningfully. “It’s about time we started you off with the basics of magic.”

“Great!” she exclaimed, pushing her bowl away and getting to her feet. “Let’s go now.”

She was ready. She had been ready for a while now.

“Why don’t you wait for me to finish my meal first,” Bori killed her enthusiasm. “Unlike you I actually need the nutrition.”

Hearing this, she sat down with a begrudging look. “Okay.”

Now that she was an undead she kept forgetting that Bori, a human, actually needed things like food and sleep to keep him functioning. The only reason she still ate food, apart from savouring the taste, was because she had discovered that it boosts the rate at which she recovered her mana. This was something she had learned after one of those nights when she spent {Blink}ing around to kill time with only the starry sky to keep her company.

An interesting thing to note was that Aran had no moon revolving around it. This was something she learned when she made a random comment about missing the moonlight, to which Bori asked what moonlight was. That experience really solidified the fact that she had died and been reincarnated in another world.

“By the way,” she began, gaining Bori’s attention. “Why did you suddenly decide to bring up your schedule to teach me magic? You were quite adamant that I completely master reading before I begin with magic.”

“After learning my most recent spell I can feel that I can only learn one more 1st Order spell,” Bori responded, scooping food into his mouth. After chewing for a while he swallowed and continued. “Also, since I was able to add to the number of 6th Order spells I previously had I am now eligible to Advance to the next level. However, since I don’t have a 7th Order spell model in my possession I will have to go away for a while.” His look turned firm as he uttered the next words. “I wish to at least let you learn a few spells before I leave.”

“Oh,” Sage responded, not knowing whether to feel about it.

Obviously she could not go anywhere looking as she did right now. She would attract too much attention. Not that she felt the urge to go with anyway. If she did so she would be forced to interact with people and to be honest she hated people. She never made an effort to mingle with them unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Okay,” Bori said after a while, setting down his spoon next to his empty bowl. He stood up and looked at her.

“Let us begin.”