A True Genius Worries

by Sophia Schmidt

  more.

  Lith's monster emitted an angry gurgle, drool flooding its mouth, right before the whole

  corpse dried out and collapsed on the ground, turning into ashes.

  "In your face, Mary Shelley." - Lith thought, casting all the healing spells he could manage

  before falling onto the ground, sprawled like a rag doll.

  After so much pain and struggling, Lith finally felt at peace. His vision blurred until everything

  went black. He could feel all his anxieties, all his fears and traumas fading away. The pounding

  ache from the wounds was reduced to a dull sensation, no longer important.

  He just wanted to sleep and forget about everything, but from a corner of his mind,

  something kept tugging at Lith's consciousness, refusing to give up. A part of him was fighting

  the stupor, knowing he would never wake up from that slumber.

  Solus tried non-stop to reach his mind through the numbing pain and exhaustion, but to no

  avail. He had gone too far, the wounds were too deep. The only thing she could do, was use

  her own mana to keep his conditions stable.

  Yet with only a yellow mana core to back her endeavour, she was just delaying the inevitable.

  Finally, light fusion was able to purify the wounds from the dark energy festering them,

  allowing all the healing spells Lith had previously cast to kick in.

  The bleeding stopped, the wounds were still severe but no more life threatening, at least for

  the moment. Lith was now able to hear Solus' voice, to grab the light of her will and use it

  with his own to finally open his eyes.

  Waves of searing pain were still ravaging his battered body, but he couldn't afford to heal

  himself. Not only he had little mana left, in his current conditions even light spells would add

  strain to his body, potentially killing him.

  Gritting his teeth to endure the agony of each breath, he used Invigoration, to both assess his

  conditions and gain the energy he needed to survive.

  "Comminute fractures all over the ribcage, comminute and open fracture of the right arm,

  minor internal bleeding, several bones cracked and open wounds. I doubt I would still be alive

  without light fusion's regenerating factor and your help, Solus."

  "Thank me later, first fix your chest. If any of the bone fragments pierces your lungs its over."

  ¨C

  Invigoration was an incredible tool, but it wasn't perfect. To use it, Lith required to remain

  still, focusing his mind and spirit to align the mana core with the world energy surrounding

  him.

  The slightest distraction would severe the connection.

  That was the reason why he couldn't use it during battles, otherwise he would have access to

  an endless supply of mana. Following Solus' advice, he used light and spirit magic to collect all

  the scattered bone fragments rebuilding his ribcage.

  The process was slow and painful, but he couldn't make haste, his own life was on the line.

  After that, he had to take care of the hunger. Invigoration could make up for the lost stamina

  and mana, but recovering from so many wounds required nutrients.

  The right arm was still a mess, but with the pain receptors disconnected it was bearable.

  Lith felt like he had been fasting for a week, his head light and dizzy. He took food out of his

  pocket dimension, wolfing it down as fast as his left arm allowed him to. Light magic was

  accelerating his metabolism to the extreme, the food digested as soon it entered his stomach.

  Time was of the essence, he walked up to Rodimas, removing her gag to get his answers.

  "Who sent you here? And why?"

  Chapter 114 Necromancy Lesson

  Breath after breath, the exposed humerus slid back under the skin and in its place, soon Lith's

  body was back to normal.

  Rodimas barely reacted to his voice. Seeing her comrades die, being helpless while Melia was

  tortured, all of it had been a terrible experience. But seeing Raghul's metamorphosis, smelling

  his stench of death and decay had been too much.

  She hadn't bit her tongue only because of the gag, but had screamed the whole time

  nonetheless. She knew that after Lith's death it would be her turn to be eaten alive. Her eyes

  only showed the white, the pupil rolled almost backwards.

  She had dislocated both her shoulders trying to break free from the restraints. Sweat, tears

  and mucus dirtied her face, making her hair stick to it like a filthy mask.

  The terror had completely broken her.

  Lith had to splash Rodimas with cold water to force her to regain her focus.

  Her voice was hoarse from the strain, but still clear. She explained how the request hadn't

  come through the official channels of the mercenary guild, but via one of their contacts in the

  black market of the city of Kandria.

  According to the books in Soluspedia, it was simply a market town, the nearest trading hub to

  the academy.

  The contractor was a merchant, but the odd request coupled with the high reward had made

  the mercenaries suspicious. After taking a considerable down payment, they had investigated

  the matter, discovering that the merchant was just a middle man.

  According to their sources, he served the powerful and noble Androse family, famous for its

  centuries old magical legacy. At that point, they only had two choices, return the money and

  back off from the job, or get involved in the political struggle.

  Sobbing, Rodimas told how she had voted for the former option, but had been outnumbered,

  because the pay was too good and the risks seemed minimal at the time.

  Lith didn't know what to do. Her story would have been much more significant, if he could do

  anything about it. The odd thing was that since he had created his own version of the

  Frankenstein's monster, the feeling of impending failure had disappeared.

  "That's not all." Rodimas managed to say after some stuttering.

  "Since we managed to get in and out of the forest many times, after complimenting with us,

  our contractor gave us another task. We were supposed to deliver a package tomorrow."

  "The time frame is way off. I had more than a day to catch up with them, so why the need to

  rush? Still, the vision showed me that the academy is someway related to this. Whatever this

  thing is, it could be useful to change the course of the events. ¨C

  "It's in my dimensional amulet."

  Lith took out all the amulets looted, allowing Rodimas to recognize his own and take out the

  package. Since magical items just needed a thought to work, he didn't free her hands, just

  placed it on her forehead while setting up several protections with spirit magic, just to be on

  the safe side.

  Rodimas kept her word, materializing a wooden box the size of a briefcase. It had no

  particular markings or insignia, the only remarkable thing about it was the lock.

  It was placed along the narrow and long side of the box, and it consisted of an octahedron

  shaped stone, with several runes engraved all around it, forming a spiral. Using Invigoration,

  Lith was capable of examining its pseudo core.

  "It's nothing I have ever seen before. I bet everything I do not have that without the proper

  code it will self-destruct, explode or something. And if I really want to discover what's inside, I

  have only one shot." ¨C

  "I suppose you don't know how to open it."

  "No, I don't. Please, don't hurt me." Realis
ing to have outlived her usefulness, Rodimas cried

  in desperation, knowing it was useless to beg for mercy.

  "A deal is a deal." Lith double tapped her head and heart with bullet-sized icicles, making sure

  she wouldn't suffer.

  He was about to leave, when a thumping sound made him turn around, ready for combat

  despite his mental exhaustion.

  To his surprise, it was just the young Byk, again.

  "You do really have a talent for escape. How those hunters managed to corner you is a

  mystery to me." Lith said with an angry tone. Both times he had needed help, the Byk had

  disappeared leaving him in hot waters.

  In Lith's eyes, that made it persona non grata.

  "Dude, that's harsh! After you rescued me, I was scared sh*tless. Besides, you didn't seem to

  need any help. This time I didn't run away, I went for help. You have no idea how long it took

  to reach my mom."

  "Your mom?"

  "Yeah, according to your definition, she is my best friend."

  "And I wouldn't have delayed my departure for a mere human, if not for the fact that you

  saved my cub and was so stupid to lose control of your own necromancy spell. Hence, as part

  of your reward I'll teach you how not to endanger yourself and others with darkness magic."

  The Byk mother was an enormous beast, at least 1,8 meters (5'11") tall at the shoulder, with a

  weight close to a ton. Its fur was deep brown with shades of black all over.

  Lith was about to defend himself, explaining that it wasn't a spell, as much as an experiment,

  when he realized what had happened.

  "Delay the departure? So that's why I needed to make haste? All that's happened was just a

  step to speak with this Byk?" ¨C

  The Byk mother moved closer, sniffing at him with curiosity.

  "You look like a human, but there something different from the others I have met so far.

  What's your name, cub?"

  "Scourge." Lith deemed wiser using the name bestowed upon him by the Trawn woods' kings.

  If the Byk mother knew humans, he had to protect his identity.

  "Strong name for someone so young." It snorted. "A Byk name, even. That's a good omen. I'm

  Kalla, and that's my youngest one, Nok."

  Lith gave both a polite nod with the head.

  "Listen well, cub. There is a reason if light and darkness magic are so scarce in nature, and

  that is because they are the strongest elements. Light nurtures life, according to legends, can

  even resurrect the dead or create new beings.

  Darkness, instead, is the element of death. It's not evil by itself, it's just that all living beings

  are scared of death, so they fear it. And fear can easily turn in spite and prejudice."

  Lith inwardly scoffed at those words.

  "I have yet to meet someone, human or not, that doesn't consider the element they are best

  at as the strongest. As for light magic, is a great tool, but powerful is not the word I'd use to

  describe it. Convenient at best."

  "Whatever." Solus mind rolled her eyes. "Why you don't stay quiet and listen? When are we

  going to find again someone teaching us real magic?" ¨C

  Kalla stared at him for a second, sensing his disbelief.

  "Tell me, Scourge, how many magical beasts have you met that use light magic?"

  "None." He was forced to admit.

  "And how many capable of darkness magic?"

  "Just one. It was a Byk, a few years ago."

  "Zero and one, while there are countless beasts that use the other elements. Have you ever

  wondered why? Let me show you an old Byk trick."

  Kalla tapped the ground twice with her left pawn claws, dark energy swirling around her

  massive body.

  "Arise."

  Chapter 115 Necromancy Lesson 2

  The energy seeped into the ground, and countless skeletons, both human and animal,

  emerged from below. Their mouths were agape in a silent scream, fighting their way out of

  mud and roots.

  Several hands grabbed Lith's feet and ankles with an iron grip. In a few seconds he was

  surrounded by a small army of undead, each emitting an ominous aura that sent a cold shiver

  down his spine.

  Lith knew they posed no threat to him. A single lesser undead was nothing more than an

  annoyance, even that many couldn't harm someone like him. Worst case scenario, he would

  simply take off and attack them from the sky, leaving them no possibility for retaliation.

  But his body seemed to ignore all that knowledge. The only things he felt from their shiny red

  eyes were innate fear and revulsion.

  He kept his cool, keeping those emotions sealed in a corner of his mind, while exploiting that

  contact to use Invigoration on them and understand how did Kalla manage to do it.

  Lith discovered that each of the skeletons grabbing him had now a small red mana core.

  Invisibles to the naked eye, countless tendrils of energy departed from it, keeping all the

  bones together and allowing them to move and feel. Unlike normal cores, though, they had

  black stripes, pulsing and growing every time the undead moved.

  "In this world the dead outnumber the living by hundreds. An expert Byk will bury its preys

  and turn them into a weapon. The shock they cause and the sheer numbers can easily turn

  tables, if properly used."

  With another tap of her pawn, the skeletons crawled back underground, and through her use

  of earth magic, no trace of their passage remained.

  "Necromancy can be roughly divided in two branches: lesser and higher.

  Lesser necromancy, which I just used, allows to temporary turn any corpse into an undead. It

  doesn't require much energy, but the effects are short lasting, and its creations are incapable

  of thought, they can only obey simple orders.

  Higher necromancy, that you foolishly attempted, though, is an entirely different matter."

  With a flick of her snout, Kalla conjured near her the ashes of the Lith's monster, stirring them

  with a darkness imbued claw, biting her own other pawn to let some blood drip on them.

  Horror struck Lith when he saw the ashes turn into a semi liquid state, coiling around the claw

  and using it to stretch closer to the blood source.

  "That thing is still alive?" He unconsciously took a step back.

  "No. I'm just playing with the residual energies, just to show you how powerful necromancy

  is." As soon the Byk stopped infusing dark energy, the blob turned back to ashes, despite the

  blood still dripping on it.

  "Higher necromancy allows to create lesser undead capable of lasting forever, or even

  superior creatures, capable of independent thought. Yet no matter what you do, higher

  necromancy has a flaw compared to the lesser branch.

  After I called back my spell, the skeletons were still intact, and if I or anyone else were to raise

  them again, they would still serve their master. The same would have happened if I kept them

  around until the spell wore off.

  But when something is created out of higher necromancy, the unbalance is too severe.

  If the caster doesn't feed his creatures with the proper amount of light energy, the dark magic

  that animates them starts to corrode their bodies, until they turn into dust."

  The Byk sighed sadly.

  "I tried countless times, but my inability to use light magic prevents me from truly mastering

  necromancy. All my creations have the lifespan of a butterfly. Undeath is no life, to sustain it a<
br />
  price has to be paid.

  The better the necromancer, the less energy the creatures require. But no matter how little it

  can be, raising a permanent army would either drain the caster or require an external

  source."

  "Do you mean taking lives?"

  Kalla nodded.

  "Skeletons are simple, they require raw energy, it's irrelevant to them the source it comes

  from. Other creatures can be pickier, and require living flesh or blood to sustain their

  existence if the necromancer's energy is not available.

  And that usually means that lots of people have to die."

  "Wait, are you telling me that an undead army has to 'eat' regularly? Isn't that a

  contradiction?"

  "Contradiction?" Kalla snorted. "Have you ever found anything, alive or not that moves

  without needing energy? Humans need to eat, and so do plants. For a stone to roll, someone

  has to push it.

  Or else both humans and magical beasts would only fight with undeads. Imagine an army that

  does not rest, eat or fear, that grows in number with every battle. No, Scourge, that would be

  nonsense."

  "Kalla is right, otherwise necromancy would ignore the first law of thermodynamics, energy

  cannot be created or destroyed. Only be transferred or changed from one form to another.

  But that poses another question.

  Then how can magical objects never run out of juice? What is their energy source?"

  "The magician." Solus observed. "That must be the reason why the imprinting process is

  necessary before using one. Is not only a safety measure, but also a way to feed them. That

  would also explain why magical items can be reused after their master's death." ¨C

  "I have a question. According to what you say, undead should obey the necromancer. Why

  the creature attacked me?" Lith asked.

  "As I said, I haven't mastered necromancy, yet. But the most likely explanation is that your

  clumsy spell didn't bear your mark with it. Because of that, it didn't recognize you as its

  master, but only as a prey.

  Especially so if it hated you when it was still alive."

  "What do you mean with mark?" Lith was clearly lost. "And why should a dead man feelings

  matter?"

  Kalla snorted even harder, causing Nok to chuckle at his expenses.