Explorer of Edregon

As far as first dates go, this is kinda weird, Vin thought as he and Lumel walked out of the surprisingly harmless dungeon and into the bright light of the grassy fragment. The dungeon connecting this one to the Underside was filled with incredibly slow moving but difficult to navigate around slime monsters. Vin didn't even have the first idea as to how he'd fight those things on his own, but thankfully, he didn't have to.

It hadn't even occurred to him before this as to how Lumel managed to use the Underside to move around Edregon when she herself had admitted to having no combat skills whatsoever, but the solution was rather obvious in hindsight.

She just teleported herself straight to the dungeon exit.

New dungeon discovered! 5,000 exp gained.

"This is the fragment filled with necromancers?" Vin repeated, looking around the serene landscape. He'd anticipated dark, stormy skies and dead lands as far as the eye could see. Instead, the grass was thick, the sun was shining, and everything was downright peaceful. "I've been here before!"

"I thought it was strange I didn't have to bypass any of the Underside barriers for you," Lumel commented, pulling up her hood and looking around. "When were you here?"

"When we were on our way to and from the library to get Alka a new body. This is the fragment with those distant strangers that had jerky movements. The one Shia said tasted like death mana," he said, immediately putting two and two together. "Oh God damn it… Those were undead, weren't they?"

"Yepp," Lumel giggled, leaving the dungeon behind them and motioning for him to follow. "This fragment houses a small village, more of a compound than a village honestly, and most of the people living within are necromancers. Usually, one mage will have a small group of personally raised undead with them, and they use them to hunt monsters and animals alike. I was told they even use undead to till their fields and handle most of the annoying tasks people don't want to do themselves. It's surprisingly peaceful."

"Well that sounds nice. And you think they'll be willing to teach me death magic?"

"We won't know until we ask," Lumel shrugged. "They don't actually let outsiders within their compound, and I didn't spend long chatting with them the last time I was here. These people were strangely accepting of my appearance, except…"

Lumel sighed, pulling her hood a bit further over her face and hiding even her mouth from view. She even went so far as to tug her gloves on, completely hiding any hint that she wasn't just a regular human.

"…I'd rather not talk about it right now."

The two of them walked side by side toward the center of the fragment, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of the janky, roving undead. Vin wondered if now would be a good time to bring up the whole kiss thing, but before he could come to a decision, Lumel spotted something.

"Found one!" she grinned, pointing off into the distance. Following her finger, Vin realized she had indeed spotted one of the groups, and the two of them adjusted course.

The last time Vin had come through this fragment, he'd been in something of a rush. His team hadn't made any efforts to catch up with these distant groups or speak with them, and the strangers hadn't made any attempt to meet up with them in turn.

This time around, things were different.

As soon as the group of people spotted them and realized they were heading straight for them, they stopped with their jerky waving. Instead, most of them stood at attention, and a few even drew weapons in preparation.

Once Vin and Lumel got closer, a smiling man wearing a light brown robe and looking to be in his mid-thirties called out to them, raising his hand in warning. He had a book tied to his hip and a friendly air about him that seemed counter to the undead he was surrounded by.

"Hello there, travelers! Please, don't be alarmed by the undead assisting me with my tasks!"

"Don't worry, we're not bothered by it!" Vin called back, peering at both the man and the undead he had guarding him. As far as he could tell, the man appeared to be a regular human, and a quick check with Common Ally proved that to be the case. As for the undead minions, Vin had been expecting to see horribly decaying zombies like in any of the slasher flicks from back home. To his surprise, the corpses were actually exceptionally well maintained.

The only real indication that the guards surrounding the man weren't alive was their pale white skin, unmoving eyes, and complete stillness. They didn't moan, didn't slouch, and didn't even smell. Honestly, if the necromancer had fully equipped them in armor, covered their eyes, and made them fidget every now and again, Vin would have believed they were living people.

"Well that is a relief," the man sighed, giving them a warm smile. "In that case, what can I do for you both?"

"So… It's something of a long story," Vin said, realizing he hadn't actually planned ahead to how he was going to ask these guys to teach him death magic.

"My friend here wishes to learn death magic," Lumel cut in, nodding toward Vin. "He is an incredibly fast learner, and is quite enamored by your undead. Is there any chance you'd be willing to teach him some of your more basic spells?"

"Why, I would be delighted to!" the necromancer beamed, peering at Vin past his undead guards. "Is there a spell in particular you want to learn?"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"False Life," Vin replied honestly, caught off guard by the mage's eagerness. "Wait, just like that? You'll teach me?"

"Of course," the man chuckled, giving them a knowing look. "Death magic is capable of many amazing things, and nothing brings us more joy than spreading its use."

"Oh. Well, great!" Vin turned to look at Lumel, dropping his voice to a whisper. "I'll be honest, I was expecting to have to do some sort of quest for these guys or something. It's not normally this easy."

"You live a strange life," Lumel said, giggling.

So it was not even five minutes later Vin found himself sitting in front of the wandering necromancer, listening eagerly as the man explained the inner workings of death magic. His minions were standing just off to the side, keeping an eye on their surroundings to ensure nothing surprised them.

"Like just about any affinity, death magic builds off of two primary spells," Groth explained after introducing himself as a Resourceful Necromancer. "Sense Death and Decay."

"Wait, what?" Vin blinked, recognizing that second spell immediately. "I have a friend that uses nature magic, and she knows Decay. It's not a nature spell?"

"Not all magic falls so cleanly into one affinity or another," Groth smiled. "Take the common spell Shatter for example. You can learn the same spell via the earth affinity, or the vibration affinity. Decay is the same. Two different runic formations can both result in the same effect, and affinities are not nearly as important as the base structure of the spell as many think. They are more like additions. Supplements to enhance the spell via the mage's own power."

"Yes, I figured that out for myself actually," Vin admitted, thinking back to his breakthrough that earned him his Flexible Formations Capstone. "I've been learning spells of all different affinities, and I realized I could use parts of the runic formation from one spell to help with a spell with a totally different affinity."

"Did you now? That's wonderful!" Groth exclaimed, clapping his hands. "So many promising mages are content to simply accept what the System gives them, and even the few daring enough to try mastering runic formations on their own rarely deviate from the simple act of replication. What a pleasant surprise this encounter has been!"

"I have to ask, are you a scholar?" Lumel finally spoke up, keeping her features carefully hidden from the Necromancer. "You sound far more well spoken than the last member of your compound I spoke with."

"Yes, I spend most of my time conducting research and attempting to find ways to better improve our uses of death magic," Groth nodded. "It is how I earned my prestige, in fact. You would be amazed at some of the things you can accomplish with nothing more than a small handful of skeletons at your disposal and enough creativity."

"I don't know if I'll ever get around to reanimating the dead to act as minions, but your guards are impressive," Vin admitted.

"None of my guards' bodies were used without their consent," Groth said, looking lovingly at his undead. "The beauty of our compound is in how everyone works together and understands that we need to help one another. In exchange for a long and happy life, we willingly give up our bodies to be used by the next generation however they see fit. Anyway, we are getting off topic. Sense Death and Decay. Those are the two spells you'll need to learn before you can master False Life."

"Would you mind showing them to me really quick?" Vin asked, eager for the additional experience. "…and let me see the runic formations?"

"Of course," Groth chuckled. "My, I do wish my students were quite as eager as you are to learn. I don't have an unanimated corpse on hand to show you False Life, but I can at least demonstrate the first two."

New spell witnessed! Tier 0 Death Spell (Sense Death). 500 exp gained.

New spell witnessed! Tier 1 Death Spell (Decay). 1,000 exp gained.

While Vin couldn't actually see Sense Death do anything, he could certainly feel the magic reaching out from the Necromancer.

Decay on the other hand was rather noticeable, as Groth plucked a blade of grass from the ground and caused it to wither away and fall apart in his hands.

"As much as I would love to stay and help a curious student learn more about the undead arts, I am afraid I have a prior appointment with a fellow lover of knowledge that I simply cannot be late for," Groth said, offering an apologetic smile. "Tell me, do you have the Iron Mind passive? Or another method of capturing runic formations for future study?"

"Yes, I do!" Vin said eagerly. Just by thinking about the passive he could tell he'd be pushing its boundaries by trying to keep four different runic formations locked away all at once, but for now, he could manage.

"Splendid," Groth laughed. "In that case, here is some homework for you."

The Necromancer quickly created the three different runic formations with a finger clad in black mana, smiling all the while. "In exchange for giving you this knowledge, I only ask that if anyone else expresses interest in death magic, that you either go ahead and share these runic formations with them, or direct them to our compound so we can take them under our wing. It is my firm belief that all knowledge should be shared with the world."

"That is a lovely sentiment," Lumel said. "I suppose I have to ask… Are you aware of the floating library adjacent to this fragment? For someone who enjoys learning as much as you seem to, I think it would be perfect for you."

"My dear, I am not only aware of the floating library, it is where I am headed next," Groth admitted, earning shocked looks from the two of them. "In fact, I have visited the library quite a number of times over the past few months. I would even go so far as to call the Librarian a friend of mine after all this time. Though I will admit, she does not initiate conversation frequently."

Despite the hood covering her features, Vin and Lumel somehow shared a quick look, and Vin was pretty certain they were thinking the same thing.

Should we ask if the librarian still wants to kill us?

"Well… Never mind then!" Lumel chuckled nervously, seeming to decide not to bring it up. "Thank you again for helping us with your death magic!"

"Think nothing of it," Groth smiled, gesturing lazily with a finger and summoning his guards around him once more. "Again, do feel free to come back if you ever want to learn more death magic."

The two of them waved the scholar off as he continued on his way to the library. Vin stood side by side next to Lumel as they waved, waiting until the friendly man was out of earshot before he leaned down and asked the question that had popped into his mind the moment Groth revealed he didn't just know about the library, but made frequent trips to it.

"…How the hell does he get up there with death magic?"