(Aleksander’s POV)

I raised my hand, as instructed by the grimoire, and focused. I can feel the mana filling my bones, going through them making them hum lightly. I then chant the spell with my new deep and creepy voice:

(Aleksander): “Raise and serve me, creature of human bone! Raise Skeleton!”

A dark mist cones out of my hand and enters one of the stone coffins. The coffin is broken, so I can see the skeleton inside, broken due age and half dust. The mist makes the bones grow again and rejuvenates them, turning it back into a full fledge skeleton with white bones.

The skeleton comes out of the alcove, standing in front of me. I can feel that I control this guy completely. Excellent. I can also see through his eyes, although I can’t control him for real like I was inside his body. I can give him some orders, but he doesn’t seem to be intelligent.

I make some tests, giving him all kinds of command that I can think of. He is quite flexible and capable of making some quick and mostly precise movements. However, he is physically weak. He can’t lift a heavy stone that a normal human would be able to.

So, he’s a basic henchman, weak and made to work on groups. Whatever, I’ll just raise a bunch of skeletons. That is the advantage of being an undead, according to the grimoire. For a normal human, raising an undead is taxing, as the said undead is mostly “dark mana” that’s toxic to living beings.

Because of that, necromancers can’t raise as many undeads as a real undead, that is mostly made of black mana. So, as a skeleton mage, I can rise a fuckload of skeletons. Alright, time for the next spell as I raise my two arms, pointing it to the stone coffins.

(Aleksander): “I command the dead, and I order you to raise and serve me! Mass Raise Skeleton!”

A lot of dark mist comes out of my hand, entering the surroundings coffins, making more than 30 skeletons come out. I feel that my mana is depleted… I can’t raise more for the next two hours or so. Different from a normal necromancer, I don’t have to worry about controlling the undead all the time. They recognize me as a leader since I’m a more powerful undead.

I order the skeletons to spread around the catacombs. I don’t have to worry about them encountering anyone. After all, nobody comes down here. This place was made without any previous plans, being expanded randomly. Because of that, there are a lot of dead ends, and the catacombs expand really deep underground, going far beyond the limits of the cemetery.

I want my skeletons to spread out and to help me to get the ropes around here and help me navigate catacombs. I’ll also leave some of them sitting immobile on the corridors. That way, I can have them taking care of the tunnels and warn me if someone approaches.

I sit down on my coffin and just wait as my mana replenishes. There’s more things that I want to try. But for that, I will need a living being to test one. A rat would suffice. There a lot of those around here. As I lay on my comfy coffin, I revise in my empty skull want the grimoire told me about death magic.

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As a skeleton mage, Master won’t be able to use elemental magic or holy magic. The only magic that Master ha access to is Death Magic, which includes necromancy. Death Magic is mainly focused in instant death spells and decay.

If master manages to ascend to the Lich stage, he will have an ability called Decaying Touch, that causes accelerated decay. Right now, unfortunately, master has only access to basic necromancy and basic Death Magic, such as Blight Bolt.

The most powerful spell that Master has at the moment is Necro Disease, that infects a living creature, debilitating it and having a chance to infect other living beings. When an infected human die, they rise as an undead under the control of the Master. The undeads that were risen by the Necro Disease can infect living creatures with a bite. Master can make the disease disappear at will, preventing an unplanned outrbreak.

I don’t want to test necro Disease, I want to test another magic, Life Drain. And, at the perfect moment, a rat enters my chamber. Pointing my hand to it, I say:

(Aleksander): “Surrender your life! Life Drain!”

Immediately, all the life energy on the rat is pulled out violently and it falls down, lifeless. It’s lifeforce enters me, being corrupted and transforming into mana for me. It isn’t much, but it’s quite a nice feeling, like drinking something nice or making something that feels good.

Alright, next step. I point my hand to the rat again, chanting the next spell:

(Aleksander): “Lifeless shell, raise and serve my will! Animate Corpse!”

This time, black mist didn’t come out of my hand, and the body of the rat just twitched. Soon, it stood up without a sound. Yep. It worked. It’s an undead under my control now. This guy I will use to go to the city. Nobody will notice a rat after all.

I order it to explore the catacombs. I first have to find the exit, and then I will send it to the city. I also want to find a bird, it will be of much more use to keep an eye on the town. But for now, I must think about what I will do from now on.

After all, although I am an undead, I have conscience, and I need something to do. I think that the first thing is to get stronger and more powerful. Second, is to return to human society in any way possible. I still have a little sister to look after.

Oh, Ann. She must have cried a lot after I died. I want to see her soon. Taking the grimoire, I ask it:

Is there a spell to make me look like a human?

Yes. The spell is called Fake Flesh, and it gives the Master a human form. However, master will need to evolve to a Lich.

I see. So, getting stronger is a must. But dude, I can’t believe that I died. And stabbed by an asshole morherfucking cocksucker. I really, really want revenge. I can’t even think about it without starting to feel furious.

I’ll only get satisfied after getting my revenge on that guy. But just killing him won’t do. I need to do something worse. Much, much worse. I want to take his life apart. I want to see him suffer and break down slowly. I want to sink him in suffering beyond sanity.

But I’m being ahead of myself. I must first stablish myself. I also will need money if I want to go back to human society. Money is everything that you need to survive these days. I’ll need a lot of it, since I want to give a better life to my little sister.

After refilling my mana, I raise more skeletons, more 30 of them and order them to wander the catacombs. I want to map the place quickly. I also kill any rat that I come across and raise them as zombies. I take my grimoire and learn some more magic.

As the hours go by, and after mapping on the grimoire everything that I see from the skeleton and rats, something that surprises me appears on the catacombs. One of the skeletons finds a broken part of the wall, barred with wooden planks.

This broken section is quite far away from the cemetery, deep underground, near the city. Interesting… I order the skeleton to break down the rotten planks. He manages to break the planks, and what I see surprises me.

A cylindrical room without any roof, made with red bricks, old and broken, falling apart. There’s also metal rusty handles on the wall, forming stairs going upwards for a long way. Is this… a passage to the sewers?