I had ripped a rather large chunk of the fungus off and was absentmindedly chewing on it as we walked back to the cave. It really was good.

“Um, Tio? Que dia é hoje?” asked Joaquin.

Shutan was about to translate, when I held my hand up. “Hang on, Shutan. I think I understood him that time.” Turning to Joaquin, I said, “Joaquin? You want to know what day it is, right?”

The young man nodded, so I took out my phone in order to check my calendar.

“Initiate? I told you there was no reception here. Why is your phone out?” asked Katira.

“Hm? Oh, I was checking the date. I don’t need reception for that. By the way, Joaquin, the date is April twenty-seventh.” I said.

“Ah! Is my day!” he said.

“Your day? What do you… Oh! It’s your birthday? Today is your birthday?” I said.

“Sim!”

“Well, Happy Birthday, Joaquin!” I said, and was joined by everyone else, including their familiars.

“Thank you all. After I fall, mind not very good. Not know day,” he said. Shutan placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze.

“Eu gostaria que não tivéssemos nos unido dessa maneira, mas estou feliz por termos nos unido. Joaquin, você é um jovem fantástico, e tenho certeza que com a ajuda de Ivor e Katira,” -he motioned to myself and Katira, in turn- “você pode se tornar um dos maiores Necromantes.” Shutan said to Joaquin, who smiled and blushed.

I smiled, not understanding a word of what was just said, and simply nodded. We all made small talk as we walked to the cave, Drake perched on my shoulder.

Once we got to the cave, we all took out our Grimoires, turning to our sections on reagents. I organized mine by alphabetical order, and began leafing through it. Several times, I came across a reagent that had had notes or updates drafted onto the page in an obviously different style.

“Um, Instructor? Would you help me understand something?” I asked Katira, who was sitting in her spot on the wall.

“Certainly. What do you need assistance with?” she asked as she walked over to me, hands clasped behind her back.

“Well, it’s these ‘notes’ here. I thought when a reagent is added, the page is….uh full? And not able to be altered. How was this done, and why?” I asked.

“Good observation, Initiate. What has happened is one of the previous owners of the Grimoire discovered another use for a reagent. Or, in this particular case, this specific reagent reacted poorly to their essence. That can happen sometimes. It isn’t normal, but it does happen. A mere handful of Necromancers have had this happen over the millenia. Finding new uses for old reagents is definitely a field worth studying. Never be afraid to try something. Even if it sounds stupid, as long as it is safe, try it. For example, open your entry on Belladonna, everyone.” she said, and we all opened the entry we had.

I opened mine, finding a striking image of the plant, along with its scientific name, Atropa belladonna. There was a list of effects it would have in combination with various other reagents, regardless of essence. There was a bright red warning across the top that said “Warning! All parts are toxic! Do not ingest under any circumstances.”

As I looked at the other Grimoires, I could see that Robert was flipping through his list, and could not find the entry.

“Instructor? I don’t have an entry for Belladonna. What should I do?” he asked.

“Excellent. Let me look over the other entries,” she said as she scanned our Grimoires. Pointing at Joaquin’s, she said, “Initiate Madras’ seems to have the most amount of information. However, it lacks the warning I see on Initiate Merideth’s. Perhaps the knowledge of the plant was simply expected to be known. There may be several entries like this. So, what we will do is this: Robert, turn to a blank page. Thank you. What you will do is prepare your essence, then place the other hand on the entry to be duplicated. However you managed to change the amount of essence in your blood is the method you will use to copy the information. For example, Initiate Merideth uses intent as his method. He will fix his intent on copying the information, place his essence to his blank page, or existing entry, while physically touching the information to be copied. In this manner, he will copy the information.” she said, receiving a confused stare in response. “Initiate Merideth? Would you be so kind as to demonstrate?” she asked me.

“Uh, sure. So, I just need to reopen the wound on my finger -gods, that will be so swollen by the end of the week- and touch the paper with my essence while intending to copy information to my entry while simultaneously touching with my other hand the entry from Joaquin’s Grimoire, correct?” I asked, and Katira nodded.

“Okay. Here we go,” I mumbled and dug into my finger with my thumbnail. I winced as the blood welled up easily, and I touched Joaquin’s page with my other hand. I fixed the intent in my mind, and touched my entry, watching it shift as new information was added to it, and I felt a vibration in my Grimoire. I removed my hand from the other Grimoire, and stuck my wounded finger in my mouth. I turned the page, and found that there were three more pages of information that had been added to my Grimoire.

“And now, Initiate Madras, you need to do the same, as you need that warning. Or, alternatively, you could add it to your own in your own manner.” She turned to Robert and said, “I hope that helps with your confusion.” Robert nodded thoughtfully.

“Hey Stu, let me see if I can copy that entry real quick,” Robert said, and reached for my Grimoire with his unwounded hand.

I nodded, and turned it towards him. He placed his hand on my Grimoire, then reopened his own wound and closed his eyes, touching blood to blank paper.

Immediately, the data from the entry in my Grimoire began to flow into his. We all watched as over the course of a minute, the entry was faithfully copied over, warning and all.

“Wow. That’s awesome. I wonder what else I’m missing,” he said.

“Initiate Merideth? May I speak to you? In private, please,” Katira said, walking away. “The rest of you, please continue.”

I got up and walked with her out of the cave, to a point several hundred yards away. Drake followed us to the mouth of the cave, then turned around, watching the rest of my friends. It seemed he was intent on making sure we weren’t followed or spied upon.

She stopped and turned around, a tear in her eye. “Master, I’m sorry for upsetting you. Please don’t be angry with me,” she said softly.

I looked at her sternly. “Katira, I am not mad at you. At all. I’m upset with myself for not keeping a better handle on my emotions. I don’t understand why you felt the need to stop and apologize now, when you could have waited til we went to bed. Listen, I’m fine. I had to let the pressure out, and it worked just fine. There are some things I would much rather stay in my past. That’s all,” I said gently.

“Yes. I understand that. However, knowing why you react a certain way will go a long way towards helping me help you. I’m trying to keep you alive. I told you. I don’t want to lose another,” she said quietly.

I sighed. I wasn’t being very fair to her. My past history with expectations being placed upon me was extensive and difficult to deal with. “Look. It’s not something I want to relive.” Before she could open her mouth, I held a hand up. “But. I will do so. For you. For me. For us.” I sighed. “When I was a young child, I was found to be more intelligent than the rest of my classmates. I understood things easier, I read at a much higher level than the others, certain things came naturally to me, and as a result, I was simply held to a much higher standard than the others. I was placed in advanced classes and special courses in school for a few years.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

“That lasted until it just became too much. Everyone kept saying how smart I was and how I’d grow up to do amazing things with my intelligence, and this and that. I kept getting asked what college I would go to, whether or not I’d join the military, or if I’d join MENSA, or, or, or, or…” I stopped, trying desperately to pull my mind out of the hole I was digging. “And I gave up. It was way too much pressure to be putting on an eleven year old kid. I had been dealing with it for almost four years by that point. Hel, I just wanted to play with my Ninja Turtles and watch cartoons. When I had had enough and just stopped trying, stopped wowing everyone, I kept getting asked why I wasn’t doing as well. If it was just a phase where I’d grown faster in some areas, and now everything else was simply catching up. I slacked off in school, making just passable grades. Eventually, everyone was disappointed in me, but it had the effect I’d wanted. They stopped asking me all those questions. Stopped expecting so much out of me.

“Trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations was killing me inside, Katira. It was too much stress. Especially for a kid. I’ve never been able to shake that guilt of failing everyone, and it’s just followed me for the past thirty years. I don’t know what to do,” I finished.

Katira wrapped me up in a tight hug, and just stood there, holding me close. “I understand. The only expectation I have for you is to not die. And to do that, you simply need to learn what I can teach. And, as it turns out, you’re also becoming a rather efficient teaching tool. You’ve already given me the opportunity to show the others what not to do, and that, actually, is more important than showing them what to do. You’re also helping the others by being able to grasp what I’m showing and distilling it down in a way they can understand. You’re still that smart, clever kid you always were, it’s just that here, in this environment, you don’t have to try as hard. And like I said before; the only expectation I have for you is to not die. I’m pretty sure that is one expectation that you have for yourself, as well,” she said.

I squeezed her tightly, thankful that she got it. “Thank you, Katira. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, and we will all survive this, and be better for it. Let’s get back, yeah? They might start talking, otherwise,” I said, waggling my eyebrows suggestively.

Katira laughed and playfully swatted my arm. “I’m doing as you said, Master. I’m keeping myself under control here. I’m hoping you don’t add to my desires before the week is up,” she said, biting her lower lip.

“No promises, Katira. I still don’t know how I’m going to react to you when we go to bed,” I said, smiling.

“We will see. Now, come on Initiate. I believe we have finished talking,” she said, heading back to the cave.

*********

We spent the next few hours searching through our reagent lists, and copying what we needed. As expected, I had very few entries that needed to be copied or amended. My list was copied by everyone at some point or another. Once we had finished, Katira spoke up once again.

“Excellent job, Initiates. Now. After having gone through your lists, does anyone want to attempt to raise their squirrel?” she asked, then looked at me. “With their physical essence, I mean.”

Robert raised his hand. “Instructor? Uh, I saw several reagents that were listed as being useful for reanimations. How many do we need, and how would we go about doing so?” he asked.

“Good question, Initiate Grimes.” She clasped her hands behind her back, and began pacing. “There is, unfortunately, no absolute answer to that. What I can tell you is that you will only need three reagents for the proper reaction to occur. Most things you will try to do, will need a mixture of one, three, five, seven or nine reagents. The difficulty climbs exponentially with each different amount of reagents. Reanimation of a corpse requires three, while calling and banishing a spirit requires seven. Crafting a single-use message stone requires one. One of the most powerful actions you can take as a Necromancer will require nine reagents. I cannot reveal what that is, so please, do not ask, as it will only be done at certain times in a Necromancer’s career. Most of the experiments you will undertake will require three or five different reagents. Certain things are the same, no matter who does them. The message stone, for example, is one of them. You will simply need two stones, and any member of the Mint family, preferably peppermint. The method for crafting them is in everyone’s Grimoire.”

She stopped pacing, and turned to the skeletal familiar. “Shutan? Would you please go into your workshop and retrieve four sets of alchemy equipment? Thank you, my friend.” Shutan nodded and opened a trapdoor, descending the stairs. “While he returns, I will explain to you how to combine reagents and components. Reagents are what you add your essence to, components are what you add reagents to.”

Shortly afterwards, Shutan returned from his workshop, sporting two more arms, each holding a small box. He gave each of us a box, and his extra arms vanished. Odd. I decided to pose the question.

“Instructor? I thought you familiars couldn’t modify your forms beyond the one you have taken, and your ‘hidden’ form. How did Shutan gain those two extra arms?” I asked.

“Good observation, Initiate. We are bound to these forms for as long as you live. Our methods of being ‘hidden’, so to speak, are unique to each of us. They are formed with our first Bond with our first Necromancer. Taking on an additional form is extremely taxing for us. Modifying our form, while taxing, is something that we can do for short periods of time. An hour at most. After which, we will have to recuperate by doing as little as possible. Shutan added the arms, as it was necessary to remove the kits while being as efficient as possible. He was only gone for fifteen minutes, so it wasn’t that bad for him. He will recover shortly.

“Now, open your kits, but do not remove or touch anything. Inside you will find what looks like tiny toy beakers and tubes and pots. Spread out, and find a niche to put your tools in,” she said.

We all dispersed, finding that the niches in the walls seemed to resemble the outlines of our tools. I chose a spot near to where Katira usually sat, and waited while the rest of the group found their places.

After we had settled, Katira started again. “Your equipment will self-assemble the first time it is touched by a new owner. Place your box onto your niche, and touch any tool inside the kit,” she instructed.

As I touched the kit, I heard soft clinks and pops, and the apparatus burst from the box, sending it shooting painfully into my chest. Once the box was out of the way, the items assembled into what looked very much like an old-time alcohol still, neatly filling several spots in the niche in the wall.

I sat there, rubbing the spot on my chest where the box had hit me. Looking around, I found it. Or, rather, parts of it. I picked up the two pieces and looked over at Katira, who hadn’t seen what had happened. She was bent over Morita-san’s equipment, showing her the various parts. She made her way around to everyone, and then, finally, to me. She gave me a quizzical look when she saw me holding the box. She squatted down beside me to better see what was going on.

“Why did you break your box? You know how strong you are. You should be more careful,” she said.

“Y’know, if I had a dime for every time I’ve heard something like that, I’d be rich. No, I didn’t do this. When I touched the tools, the damn box shot out and hit me in the chest. I’m surprised nobody else got hurt,” I said.

“Show me.”

I tugged off my shirt, exposing a large red area on my chest, roughly the shape of the bottom of the box. Katira gently inspected the area, and upon finding no splinters or shards of metal, declared me to be fine.

“You’ll have a bruise, and your muscles might be sore for a bit, but otherwise, there is no lasting harm. The box, however, is destroyed. This kit will have to remain where it is. We will replace it with one of our own. We will simply keep this kit here as an emergency experimentation location. It will be fine once we replace the wards when we leave,” she said, not unkindly.

She spent the rest of the evening teaching us how to use the various pieces of equipment, and made an announcement well after dark.

“Excellent job today, everyone. Tomorrow, we will fire up the equipment and find some mint, and you will all make your first message stones. Class dismissed,” she said, and breathed a heavy sigh.

She walked over to me, and sat beside me, obviously tired. “I never realized teaching would be this exhausting. Or rewarding. I hope I’m doing a good job. It gets much harder from here on. What are your estimations for the group, Stu?” she asked me.

I sighed. “Well, it looks like Robert is used to asking questions, so I feel that he will be just fine. With Shutan translating, Joaquin appears to be grasping this fairly well, and Morita-san would do well to speak up more. I can’t tell if she understands much, or if she’s used to simply doing what she’s told,” I said with a shrug.

“And what of yourself?”

“Me? I’m an insufferable know-it-all who seems to have something of a knack when it comes to this Necromancy stuff,” I mumbled.

“Stop that. You can’t help what you’re born with. Embrace it, accept it, and move forward. If nothing else, you’re helping me become a teacher. I need someone who can absorb this information and regurgitate it in a way the rest of the people can understand. You’re filling that role perfectly. Now, stop worrying, get yourself something to eat, and go to bed. You’ll need your strength tomorrow,” she said.

“Sounds good. I’m kinda tired, though. I’ll see you when you come to bed, okay?”

Katira nodded, and I went into the tent.