The undead from before are now all cleaning things up. The remains of the vampires are piled up. Kralxak once again inspects the corpses. "Hmm," he said. "These spawns don't look very high quality. Must be very low rank. Of course, it has obviously been a long time. I wonder just how much has changed?" Meanwhile, the girl stands nearby staring at the lich. Kralxak then said while not even looking," Child, if you want to say something, then please say it."

The girl takes a moment to gather her courage before saying," I-is it true? Are you really a lich from the legends?"

"Indeed child, but to say such a thing can only mean what that spawn said was true. To think, I might possibly be the last of my order." The two just sit in silence for a bit before Kralxak said," I do not believe I have ever asked your name child."

"O-oh, it's Xelia sir."

"Hmm, well Xelia, please tell me. What knowledge regarding us liches is being spread these days?"

Xelia took a moment to think before saying," W-well, it is said that liches were powerful undead mages. That you could command legions of undead, and that you were heartless beings who would kill all to raise more undead. And that you had this thing called a phyacta that allowed you to revive yourselves."

Kralxak finally turns to look at Xelia in shock before letting out a sigh. "Of course, the blood-kin would spread rumors about us. Child, please pay attention, because what you know is partially wrong." Xelia suddenly had a look of interest. "It all started back in the beginning of our world. It may surprise you, but the gods themselves were once young and prone to the follies of youth. They did not know how to manage the magic of our world, and it ran rampant. Over time, they learned how to manage and stabilize the mana and elements, but there was one type they weren't able to control: necrotic. The first undead rampaged across the world, destroying all life. Then, the god of death alongside the gods and goddesses of the underworld had an epiphany. They needed people who understood the nature of death in order to stabilize the necrotic mana. And no one understood death better than the mortals. Thus, knowledge of how to utilize necromancy, knowledge the gods originally considered forbidden, was given. With it, the first necromancers were able to fight back the ancient hordes and stabilize the energy. Thus, the necromantic order established. We liches," Kralxak gestured to himself," are the highest members of the order. To further help stabilize the necrotic mana, we turn ourselves into undead by storing our souls inside a phylactery via a ritual granted to us by the god of death himself. To become a lich means to give up all the pleasures of flesh: the ability to feel, to smell the flowers in the field. To lose the ability to taste the finest wine and foods the world has to offer. To never feel the caress of a loved one. It is a great sacrifice, but we know the costs and are willing to pay it."

Xelia stared at the lich with wonder," Wow, I had no idea. The legends always stated you were power hungry individuals who sold away your souls."

"I will admit, there were a couple liches who would fit that description, but like I said, much needs to be given up to become a lich. And not many power-hungry individuals were willing to give those up. But that didn't stop them from perverting our ritual." Kralxak seemed to grip his staff tighter and looked down.

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Xelia tilted her head in response. "Do you mean the vampires?"

"Vampire, so that is what they call themselves these days." He lifted his head up. "Indeed child, the blood-kin I speak of and the vampires you speak of are one and the same. Like I said before, very few power-hungry individuals were willing to go through the sacrifices to become a lich. But they still wanted the benefits undeath granted us. So, they stole the notes on the ritual, and through knowledge granted by demons the gods keep imprisoned in the underworld, modified it. This blood-kin ritual would require a lot of blood, most coming from the self, but it would allow them to become an undead that could feel the pleasures of flesh and vainly retain their appearance. These were the blood-kin, the vampires."

Xelia stepped back in shock. "So, vampires are actually... by the gods. This will change everything."

Kralxak looked at Xelia with intrigue. "Tell me Xelia, why were those blood-kin spawn chasing you in the first place?"

"For learning how to become a wizard." The lich gestured for her to go on. "See, the vampires essentially rule most of the world now. Few nations and races have been able to stand up to them, so the majority of us serve under them. We... we're basically nothing but cattle to them. They keep us around and let us go about our lives, but they never raise a finger to help us when something like famine or a horde of feral undead attacks. If anything, they seem to encourage such things so that when it is time to pick a person to feed on, we're more venerable. The only other time they interfere is when we start doing things that seem like it will let us rebel, like learning magic." Xelia looked down as tears formed in her eyes and her fists clenched. "T-those wretched leeches took my whole family, draining my little sister dry and turning my parents into ghouls! I had to make them pay. So, I scrounged up what few tomes on magic I could find and began practicing. But my damn neighbors found out I was practicing magic and ratted me out, hoping to possibly become spawn as repayment! That guy leading them, that was one of my neighbors. It's not fair! My family were loving and kind, yet those leeches took them away from me! I-it's not..."

Kralxak rubbed his bony hand against Xelia's face to dry her tears. "It is alright my child. While death is a natural part of our world, that doesn't make it any less hard on the living." Xelia looked up and sniffled. "It is clear to me; you possess both a desire for revenge and a talent for magic. I also desire to attack the blood-kin. They have disrupted the natural order, and it is clear I won't be able to re-establish the necromantic order with them in power. If you are willing, I can take you on as an apprentice and teach you the ways of necromancy. It will be difficult, and there will be no going back. But I feel that you have no hesitation on this matter, correct?" Xelia just nodded in response. "Then we have much to do, but first..." Kralxak turned away from Xelia and shouted out," GRUNTER, ANDRE, EMILIA, COME FORTH!"

Suddenly the three undead who killed the vampire that ran came into the room and kneeled before the lich. Except for the zombie was eating what seemed to be the vampire's arm. The skeleton elbowed the zombie, making him drop the arm and get into kneeling position as well. The ghost then said," We have long awaited your return my lord."

Kralxak gestured to the three-kneeling undead. "Xelia, these three are the generals of my undead armies, each commanding their respective types." He then gestured to Xelia. "My generals, this is Xelia: the one who awakened me and now serves as my new apprentice. We have a lot of work to do."