Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

After lunch I quickly headed to Gronir's office to report the situation. He told me to attend classes normally and come back later, which I did. When I returned in the evening he was studying a rather large tome.

"Ah, Koyuki. I have talked to some colleges and refreshed my memory a bit about masking spells."

"What are masking spells?" I asked. I should have probably included a 'sir' but I tended to forget those around Gronir. He did not seem to mind my lack of formality.

"There are multiple spells to track someone. You could mark a target magically, for example. There are also spells that use blood, or even the scent. How good they are depends on the situation and how powerful the mage casting them is. However, masking spells can counter tracking spells. I believe your undead has been masked so you cannot easily find it. I am looking into ways to counter that." He explained.

"So you think I should not just break the link? Would I be in trouble if they used the Iron Beak for a crime?" I asked.

"Generally necromancers are responsible for the acts of their minions, however the law is not unreasonable. If someone picked up your undead and threw it at someone it would not be your fault, unless you helped in some way. Your Iron Beak was a gift, a rather public one, meaning Valeria would be responsible unless she could prove you gave it some orders. The theft was also reported. It would be hard to cause any real trouble for you." Gronir replied, then paused.

"Well… It would be different if you were an unknown commoner. But you are a student at the Royal Military Academy, with a tier three licence and royal backing. Also, Valeria is the heir to the Barkworth Duchy. No, they could not realistically cause you trouble that way. I presume they are simply interested in your undead."

"But it's only a chicken skeleton…" Despite Kaito's flattering I was still not convinced it was that special.

"Koyuki, how many archmage necromancers do you think we have on the continent?" Gronir asked.

I pondered that. We did not have one in Nethena, I knew that much. Ilestria certainly did not have one either. Thorus? I had no idea how many archmages they had, or how powerful they were. I mostly knew about their talented smiths and love for drinks. The desert in the south had multiple tribes. There was some trade with them but I had never heard much about their military power. Beyond Ilestria was a small elven kingdom and there were two more human centric nations, as far as I knew. Nations we did not share a border with had never been a huge part of my education.

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"Two?" I guessed.

Gronir shook his head. "Officially none. There are a few rumours of powerful necromancers, possibly undead themselves, but nothing has ever been confirmed. Nethena has one grand mage necromancer, Albert Reaper. There are probably less than ten on the continent. Albert is not going to become an archmage. While he might still be ahead of you I suspect your core will outgrow his in the next few years. And your talent for necromancy is unmatched. Being able to study one of your undead is definitely something a few people would pay money for."

"Do you think it's the Brotherhood?" I asked.

"It could be. It could also be a curious adventurer, or a noble, or even Ilestria trying to find better ways to counter you. Although I doubt Ilestria would actually study an undead, that would be way too smart for those zealots." He chuckled at his last remark.

"So, what shall I do? Can you teach me a way to track it?" I asked.

"This is neither water nor death magic. No, we are going to have someone else do the tracking with you as a focus. But I will have to organise that with the guards. We will immediately raid whatever location the spell finds." Gronir replied.

"Can I join the raid?" I asked. I wanted to see those undead snatching thieves for myself.

"I think that can be arranged. I assume you would like your friends there as well?" He asked.

"Yes! And my undead…" I replied.

Gronir smiled. "Naturally. Hopefully we will be ready tomorrow. There is always a chance that they will destroy your undead and the trail goes cold."

After my talk with Gronir I told my friends.

"Tomorrow? Good thing I have some potion prepared. A shame that I can't make more…" Cassie said.

"Woohoo, we are going to kick some ass! You can even make more undead!" Helena cheered.

"Um, we don't know who stole it yet, maybe there won't be any killing and they surrender?" I argued.

"Not with our luck." Skadi replied.

"Ah, I shall look forward to trying my frostfire in combat. I have been curious how it fares outside of training." Kaito mused.

"I can protect the mistress, if you want to take the offensive." Hatsumi offered.

"Meow." Nyx added.

"A most generous offer." Kaito replied. "Shall we ready the troops, Koyuki? Do you intend to take the whole horde?"

"Uh, I don't think so. Just the tier three, Frank and Chariot, probably. Unless the guards want more? I suppose we could use the undead to surround a building. Do you think we will be allowed to?" I wondered.

"It would not hurt to ask. You should use this opportunity to show your strength. If possible it would be ideal if the guard would only observe while we handled them." Kaito suggested.

"We don't know anything about their strength." I pointed out.

"Between us and the undead I think we have most thieves covered." Helena replied.

"Yeah, you are a senior mage, Helena is a senior mage, Cassie is a crazy alchemist and I am a spellblade. Add all the tier three undead to that and your goblin army…" Skadi said.

Cassie simply grinned at her description, which only reinforced the crazy part. But Skadi made a point. We were actually rather powerful. And Gronir did say I could bring my undead.