The manor towered above as Kai stepped through the rusted gates that separated the building from the rest of the forgotten city.
The beauty of the manor depreciated over time, and Kai found himself looking over the details less after each day.
All of Kai’s limbs felt the weight of his exhaustion. His body and life essence were used to their limits.
The battle against the liches drained him, but his mind replayed every moment of the fight.
Every spell cast.
Every soul claimed.
Every step closer to the power he sought.
He took mental notes of his strengths and weaknesses. What he had to learn or improve on to make fewer mistakes the next time.
As he entered the grand hall, he expected silence or the hushed murmurs Orlin reading from an ancient text. Instead, he found Orlin waiting for him at the centre of the entryway, his cane resting in his hands.
The old necromancer stood still, his glowing blue eyes fixed on Kai the moment he stepped across the boundary.
No book attached to his bony fingers and no idle project to occupy his time, just the unsettling patience of a man who had been expecting him.
Kai frowned. "Uh... What are you doing? How long have you been standing there?"
Orlin tilted his head slightly, then spoke with eerie precision. "Four hours, thirty-six minutes, and forty-two seconds. Exactly."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "You counted?"
"Who’s counting? Certainly not me," Orlin smirked, his bony fingers flexing slightly around his cane. "Actually, I am always counting. You took your time. Was the battle difficult?"
Kai exhaled sharply. "Difficult? No. Tedious? Yes." He stepped forward, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off the weight of combat. "But I learned a lot. And I got stronger."
"Good." Orlin studied him, his expression unreadable. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, he tapped his cane against the marble floor. "Anything else?"
"I... Uh... Broke my promise to you and myself that I wouldn’t use my undead to fight until I enslaved the rest of the undead in the city. But..."
"You used them? Good."
"Good?"
"It’s foolish for a necromancer to rely only on their own strength. Sure, a necromancer needs to grow and develop their skills to protect themselves and their minions, but that’s all for naught if they die because they were too stubborn to use ever resource possible when their life is on the line."
"I see."
"Beyond that, Kai. You should start thinking about your future."
Kai narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"
Orlin sighed, his voice quieter now. "I won’t always be here by your side, Kai. Even I have my limits. You have goals—goals that will take time, power, and resources beyond what I can provide alone."
Kai clenched his fists. "I know."
"Then tell me." Orlin’s gaze hardened. "What is it you want, truly?"
Kai didn’t hesitate. "I want to save Mari and Peter from the church’s influence. I want to destroy the church. And..." He swallowed, but his voice remained firm. "I want to bring my parents back to life."
For a moment, silence stretched between them. Orlin chuckled softly, breaking the silence. He shook his head. "Ambitious, dangerous, and foolish, even. But, at this point, how can I expect anything else from the 8-year-old necromancer that is stronger than half of my companions from an era forgotten to the ravages of time?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "If you are truly serious about gaining the strength you need, then I have a suggestion. You should join an academy for magic."
Kai blinked. "An academy?"
"Yes. Despite how much the world has changed, magical institutions still hold valuable knowledge. You would be surrounded by potential allies, have access to resources you couldn’t acquire otherwise, and, most importantly, receive protection."
Kai scoffed. "Protection? Against what?"
"The gods, their pawns, and everything that will hunt you once they realise what you are," Orlin said simply. "You may be powerful, but you are still one man. Infiltrating an academy would give you access to modern advancements in magic that even I cannot teach you. Not necromancy, but still... There is power in knowledge."
Kai mulled over the idea. He had spent so much time fighting in the shadows, growing in strength on his own terms. Could he truly afford to immerse himself in an environment built by the very people he would one day destroy? But if it made him stronger...
"You’ve given this a lot of thought," Kai said finally.
Orlin chuckled, the sound hollow and sad. "Of course. I had a family once, you know. A kind one." His glowing eyes dimmed slightly as he turned his gaze away, lost in old memories. "They were butchered by the gods and their pawns over five hundred years ago. I, too, once thought I could bring them back."
Kai stiffened. "And?"
Orlin sighed, tapping his cane absently against the ground. "Not even my master could truly resurrect a person. Moving souls into objects works fine, but objects cannot speak. I tried mannequins. Hoped that, somehow, their souls would endure within them. But..." He exhaled slowly. "Housing a soul for extended periods destroys the vessel. Their minds deteriorate. They lose their sanity. And still, they cannot feel. They cannot live."
A heavy silence filled the room. Kai didn’t speak. He simply stared at Orlin, seeing not just his mentor, but the man beneath the centuries of magic and suffering. A man who had once been just like him.
Orlin shook his head, dispelling the weight of the past. "Still, you are not me, Kai. Your path is your own." He met Kai’s gaze, a faint smirk tugging at his skeletal features. "So I wish you luck with all three of your desires. You’ll need it."
Kai inhaled sharply, steeling himself. He would succeed where others had failed. He had to. "Thanks, Orlin."
The old necromancer simply nodded, his smile knowing. "Don’t thank me yet. You have a long road ahead."
A sudden noise rang out through the manor and ended their conversation.
A deep, reverberating chime, unnatural in its tone. It seemed to seep into the very walls, sending a pulse of magic through the air. Kai’s breath hitched as he turned his head toward the source.
Orlin froze.
"What was that?" Kai asked, tension creeping into his voice.
Orlin didn’t answer immediately. His grip on his cane tightened, and for the first time, Kai saw genuine concern in his mentor’s eyes as the glow flickered wildly.
"...It’s impossible for someone to enter the city," Orlin murmured. "Unless... they’ve sent people to look for a runaway necromancer."
Kai’s heart pounded. "Someone’s here? Looking for me?"
Orlin exhaled through his nose. "Divinity, obviously." He met Kai’s gaze. "Since they’re here for you, go meet them."
"Meet them? You know I won’t just be meeting with them."
"What you do with them is your own concern. A good person takes responsibility for their own actions."
Kai swallowed hard but nodded. Without another word, he turned and stepped toward the grand doors of the manor. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, a chill ran down his spine. Outside, something was waiting.
Several somethings.