Hungry Necromancer

I wasn't expecting this much. Not at all. In fact, I thought she'd be reasonable, I truly believed she'd be reasonable.

But I've obviously underestimated history. The history of Necromancers in this world, specifically the last one. What sort of atrocities did they commit to have the entire continent against them?

And why did they commit these acts? I mean, I can understand raising the dead that lie at your feet in battle or rigging corpse to blow up and I can even stand and argue the benefits of using a spell like Create Undead  to create a ghoul out of a corpse. 

But…killing nations, cities, towns. All just to fill up your ranks…it doesn't sound very wise. But…if I know that, then that means she knew that too. So what urged her on to keep up the fight? To keep raising more and more dead, to terrify the continent?

Maylin is still screaming at me, but I can't really focus on her words anymore. She's been the first to accuse me of wanting to create an army of undead for…selfish reasons. But all I've done since I got to this damned world is hunger and thirst and help the helpless.

I can't say I haven't thought about it, but it's not feasible, it's not something I could pull off or see myself pulling off. For starters…where would I get all the corpses?

Even if I went batshit crazy and murdered a town and a city, I'd need a way to store these corpses so they don't rot and lose their usefulness. I've never raised a skeleton but I know it's not as valuable as a zombie you can rig to explode or a ghoul you can sic on enemies.

And even if you somehow managed to get some giant freezer to store the corpse, you'd still need a ridiculous bit of mana to bring them to life, to make them move, to make them an army of worth and not just a heap of corpses.

I don't have that sort of mana.

But that's all by the way side. I don't want to raise an army of undead and make the world my enemy…but truthfully, that's just because I don't believe I can take on the world on my own.

Slowly, looking at Maylin jabbing her finger at me, I think.

Would I raise an army of undead and take on the world if I knew I could?

My goal all this time has been to create a nation, and my class as a Necromancer is what gave me confidence that I could pull it off. I realize that I've never actually seriously considered that in some way or by some miracle or hell even by the aid of a god…I could become strong enough to take on the world with just Necromancy.

With just Necromancy? No. I haven't seen the end of the spell list nor have I grown strong enough to explore all the possibilities of my class but I know enough to say quite firmly…Necromancy will not be enough.

"I'm too weak for that." I say, cutting Maylin off in her rant. "I'm far too weak to pull off something like that, Maylin. I'm not strong enough to save my…friends, much less take on the world."

I snort and slap my hand to my face to cover a laugh, "It's ridiculous if you think about it isn't it? Maylin, my life is threatened already by so many people and in a paradox…my own Patron." 

It's true. The Synagogue wants me dead as nails and so does the Kingdom, and perhaps every other human who enjoys trampling on elves once I start what I'm trying to do. 

Most concerning is Lotar, the hunger I feel…I know now two weeks with it, that if I let it go unchecked any longer, I'll go insane. What can an insane Necromancer do? Nothing.

"I'm far more harmless than the people I'm fighting against Myalin, take your motherly concern for Kaylin out of this for a second and think!" I yell, the more I rationalize my position in this world the more absurd it becomes. 

Everything is uncertain, but from where I'm standing, the kind of power she fears I'll attain…that's just wishful thinking.

"Am I really the most threatening thing out there? Am I the one who poses the most danger to the world? A fallen god is terrorizing this Kingdom and you're worried about a single hungry Necromancer?"

She glares at me for a moment, piecing my words together and hopefully coming to the conclusion I want.

Then, she speaks, "Phien may be a dangerous being, but he's being handled, the Synagogue surely knows what they're doing but even if they don't, my concern is making sure my daughter gets to live a long and fruitful life. Perhaps I misread Vuius' judgement." She hums.

Vuius…the Goddess of the elves. I can't help but roll my eyes at her mention, the so-called Goddess demands so much of her followers and gives so little…if anything at all.

According to Kaylin, most elves living in captivity have long given up their faith in the Goddess. She spoke of this like it was the craziest thing to do while it truly is rational. 

Vuius can't even liberate her people, what use is she to the elves then?

"Kaylin hasn't come under any harm in my care, isn't that what you wanted?" 

"At the rate you're going she's going to be coming under harm sooner rather that later!" She screams, "Can you think of no other way to help elves? If you have that much funds then help me down here! Help me build a proper place for the elves to call a home. Don't throw them into another war!"

"Maylin!" I can't hold it back anymore, my hands slam on the table, the cups and cutlery jump and jingle from the impact, "Here's an old idiom; give a man fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. The elves must learn how to fight again!"

She bites her cheek at this, falling silent. I take a deep breath and settle back into the chair. We stare at each other for a while, the sudden silence used to reflect and glare.

Finally, she breaks it, her voice is soft and uncertain, "And you'll be the one to teach them? You?" there's a bit of condescension in there too,

I scoff and cross my legs, "You clearly aren't up for it, otherwise, why would you be here, holed up below ground and away from sunlight. Hiding like prey from humans you can easily take on."

"But not without risking everyone I've built this place for! Not without sacrificing their lives, dreary and mundane as it is, it's peaceful and peace is what the elves need."

"The Elven North certainly doesn't think so."

She gasps, her mouth hangs agape and her eyes saucers. 

"You…you've met with them?" her voice barely a whisper now, "They're radicals, they're suicidal and arrogant. They value their pride more than their lives."

"They value their dignity. They don't want to live licking the underside of a human's boot for another hundred years."

"You don't know what you're talking about, Asher, you have no right to speak on behalf of the elves, you have no right to tell us what we should want, what we should strive for. You're human."

"All the more reason then." I smile, "We've argued enough don't you think? I don't think I can convince you that this is for the elves, but do you at least believe me when I say I'm not evil? That I'm not like the last Necromancer?"

She sneers at me, "From what I heard all those years ago…you're exactly like her. Unrelenting, stubborn and unmoving."

"I could say the same for you."

"Hmph!"

I could chuckle at how cute she looks being stubborn but it isn't to my benefit. "You said Kaylin won't leave my side, she knows this is necessary."

"She doesn't know anything, she's almost as ignorant and foolish as you are, but she;s a child, she will learn."

"You can't keep her here forever, it's not safe in Aste to begin with." 

"I know that."

"…"

Yet another cold silence falls over us. But this isn't like the others, this one is a compromise. She doesn't agree one tooth with my actions and ideals and she hates that Kaylin wants to come with me, but there's nothing she can do about it.

"Arguments aside…I actually came to talk to you about something else, something…terrifying."

"The Cult?" she says, giving me a side glance as she pours herself some tea.

"Yes, the Cultist we met at Carbina…the scene…the mana."

She nods and gestures at the teapot. I nod and she pours some into a cup and sets it on the table for me.

"The Beta Warrior…Kaylin told me about that too, another reason why I'm worried about her staying with you." She sighs…resigning that arguing will get her nowhere, "What do you want to know then? If this knowledge can help you protect my daughter, I'll give it willingly."

I sip my tea, it soothes my coarse throat from all that yelling, and a smile crawls onto my lips.

"Well first…"