The Necromancer

He was glad things were over and done with. After their talk with the Inquisitor, it seemed that Erlana and him were in the clear. A part of him was worried about what they might do to him if they found out he was from another world. Then again, with the way Erlana spoke about it, she made it seem more like it would be hard to believe. Regardless of whether they believed it or not, if they assumed he stole that corpse?

Things wouldn’t look up so well.

At the moment, Erlana and he were packing things from her room at the local inn she wasn’t staying at. It wasn’t anything fancy and she had rushed him through as best she could since most of the townspeople were off paying respects to the founder’s grave. While he sat on a bed and glanced at his clothes, the sight of dirt and grime clung to him still, he sighed and shook his head.

“Well, we’re going to be leaving, right? Do you have a place in mind where we can fix this little incident and get me home?” It was pretty brazen of him to ask, but he would rather confront the issue directly than later after everything that seemed to have happened. Not to mention that this town was starting to worry him.

“Don’t worry, Fumihito. We’re going to be leaving as soon as I’m packed. There’s not much we can do about the incident and the only way we’re going to send you home is if we talk to an expert. Luckily, I know just the one from my old academy back at the Great Center,” the plucky young woman smiled at last and pushed in a couple of more books and articles of clothing into a large burlap sack.

Strangely enough, it didn’t look like it ever seemed to grow bigger. It just looked empty to his eyes.

“There’s another question I wanted to ask as well, but what’s the problem with necromancy? That woman made it sound like it was…”

“Death.”

He could see Erlana pause and place her burlap sack onto the ground before taking a seat right beside him. Even then, he could see those bright vermillion eyes of hers blinking in and out with frustration before she raised her hands and planted them together.

“Magic is a universally accepted concept, that much is true, but necromancy is the only craft that people are wary of. It’s by no means evil exactly, but some people don’t necessarily believe it has a good side to it,” and what exactly was it that made it so terrible that the Inquisitor and even Erlana looked at it with disgust?

“Necromancy interferes with the way of life. Balance is disturbed, soil becomes rotten, and life wilts to bring back others, but it’s not true resurrection. People are dragged back as corpses, undead, spirits become rowdy, and then you have instances of enslavement.”

He was starting to see just how exactly it was becoming so monstrous, but the idea of being able to bring back someone from the dead. It was possible, wasn’t it? Maybe there were a few things out of place, but was it possible? The concept of death being made null by just the right person sounded like a dream.

His fingers itched, his body groaned, and he raised his brows at Erlana who sighed.

“Do you believe the same thing?”

She looked at him with an unsure look.

“I don’t know. Everything I’ve been told has taught me that it’s not a good craft and even though I wanted to summon the deity of it, it was just to perform research. It couldn’t have been the ritual though. Even if I stumbled on my words, nothing could have directly brought the Paladin back. I’m not…,” and for another time, he could see the hurt within those vermillion eyes.

In a way, it reminded him of how he looked at times. At least when he thought back to those memories of his childhood. The very same that seemed to haunt him.

“Nevermind that. Look, Fumihito, if we want to take you back home we’re going to have to talk to my former teacher,” and he finally had an answer to some of his problems. Mainly, the issue of getting as far away as humanly possible from this place and back to his world.

“Does that mean we can leave? No offense to this place or any of it, but I… I am not built for these things, Erlana. This entire place is outside my experience and I’d just like to go home,” and it wasn’t like he wasn’t intrigued. The idea of a new world sounded crazy and just as exciting as an adventure would.

But he didn’t want that. He wanted to go home, back to his studies, back to a life of everything being normal. Magic, creatures, and the idea of bringing the dead back to life? His thoughts wandered to that idea despite what Erlana said. Necromancy could bring people back. Sure, it sounded flawed when he considered the idea of a rotten corpse, but what if it was just because someone could not do it properly?

What if… What if he could do it right?

“...Erlana, by chance what does it take to learn necromancy?”

He didn’t think it would have been such a serious topic, but the worried look in Erlana’s eyes said otherwise. Part of him felt ashamed, but another part was just too curious about the idea of it all. What one could do with that kind of power in his hands? Nevertheless, the young woman strolled over to one side of the room and crossed her arms, and tipped her hat upwards, mainly so the two of them could meet with their eyes rather than hide away.

“Fumihito, it’s not that simple of a craft. Necromancy isn’t a monstrous craft, but it’s something that will disturb the natural order. There have been people who have tried and some don’t have the aptitude. Those that do are… Well, they’re shunned. It’s a useless craft to some, taboo to others, but learning it?” Erlana shook her head and glanced back at him with a soft frown on her face.

“I’m afraid that’s something only a teacher could show you or stumble upon luck. Put it behind you though, Fumihito. We should go while we can. We’re lucky we’re not in trouble, but…”

Parts of him pushed Erlana out. For all the kindness and generosity she had shown him, something within him crumpled at the idea of not being able to reach that ability. What if it truly was just a matter of skill? If he could learn it, muster it, then wouldn’t it be worth the idea of exploring?

“It shouldn’t be any trouble. If we leave today, we can reach a close settlement that can… What’s that magical energy?”

That same feeling from the day he arrived here grasped at his chest and he swore he could feel something pulsating through his veins. His hands flexed briefly and he could feel something dancing across his fingertips. A sudden rush passed through him before his hands began to glow.

“F-Fumihito, what is…”

His eyes widened and he suddenly realized what he was doing. A sharp wail escaped the air before a sudden group of bright red ethereal hands clawed at his face and body. Hands grabbing at his shirt and face, nails digging into his body, into his flesh, and his frame shuddered beneath every subtle touch they made before he shoved his hands forward.

And as soon as the faces began to appear, faceless apparitions clawing at his body, they were shoved and pushed away. Even Erlana shrieked before their bodies flew through her and became nothing. The air was still crackling and his hands were pulsating with bright purple energy that seemed to spark and dance across the air.

The breath escaped his lips before he knew it and he fell off the bed and hit the floor, clawing at his chest for that sudden crawling sensation of pain and agony. It felt unnatural. It felt like everything had come hitting him at once. Like he could hear a thousand voices and more barreling into his ears and worming their way into his body.

Another spark danced across his fingertips before he looked up at Erlana with widened eyes.

“W-What was that?”

He would never forget the fear in Erlana’s eyes as she stepped back before he dragged himself to his feet and paused. That sensation was still running through his veins and every part of his body was unsure of what he would do. Part of him wanted to run, a small part of him was excited, but another part was horrified at that sensation, the voices and every single hand latched onto him.

“Erlana, I…”

“Fumihito… You…”

What was he supposed to say? His eyes were frozen with shock and Erlana’s were left stunned. Neither of the two knew what to say. It was why what happened next left him in absolute shock. His vision drifted and he could see a shape flying off from the distance of the floor window. There, right there, was a figure SLAMMING into the window at full burst and sliding across the ground with their feet grinding against the floorboards.

Erlana shrieked.

He screamed.

And the mysterious figure stumbled and suddenly flopped over onto his front with a shout.

“S-Stick the landing!”

Fumihito was left staring at the large blanketed body of a figure who came bursting through the window with absolutely no warning whatsoever. Erlana was in the same boat as him judging by the expression on her face when she looked back at them. He wanted to tackle the issue before, but he was concerned about the heavy figure picking itself off the floor and promptly turning around with a loud clank the second their foot hit the floor.

And they were hulking compared to him. He shivered the second the figure stomped over with each step making it clear he had weight and mass on his side. The college student scrambled back and tried to pull away, but his body only hit the wall right where the figure had erupted from above.

He saw them raise a hand and his eyes shivered at the sight of the thick rusted gauntlet that looked like it could crush his skull.

“You, you’re the necromancer, right?”

Only to raise his brow at the sudden hand thrust into his face.

“H-Huh?”

The figure’s cloak was starting to fall to pieces and he could finally make out the body. A large heavy suit of armor that looked like it was starting to corrode. Pieces of gold and silver had long since vanished and there were only splotches of the original color left behind. The heavy helmet the figure wore was flipped up and he could see something that left him horrified.

There was no face. To be more exact, there was no skin, no flesh, and no blood. Nothing but brittle bone and a pair of bright glowing pupils hanging beneath the skeleton’s eye sockets. They stared at him blankly before their jaw cracked and they shook their hand once more.

“Name’s Scrimgeour, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Do you mind if we leave so we can have a chat? I’ve had to evade about…”

And before either of the two knew it, a sudden chair SLAMMED into the skeleton’s head and knocked his skull right off. The undead figure shouted and Fumihito’s eyes were still as wide as dinner plates, still terrified as ever. Erlana stood right above him with the shattered fragments of a small chair in hand and the still-upright body of the undead paladin from before.

“I… It was… It was…”

“She knocked my HEAD OFF! What the heck’s your problem, huh?”

Erlana widened her eyes and Fumihito had to reach out once the young woman stumbled back and collapsed into him. He managed to snag her body close and wrap his arms around her waist. Her hair smelled of lavender, but that was the last thing on his mind at the moment as the talking skull, which had landed on the bed, stared at the two of them.

“Now, can we talk about things?”

He was beginning to believe that maybe necromancy wasn’t as sound as he originally believed…