Early lesson

"Malice is the very energy that creates undead monsters. As priests of death, we are responsible for dealing with it before that happens – or, in case it is too late for any preventive action, to appease the undead and return their corrupted data to the World System so they can spawn back in their original form. We are naturally sensitive to it. Even if you missed the black smoke, you would know about its presence because of the nightmares. Not only today but from now."

The blond priest said in a serious voice.

"Teacher, what's the difference between malice that comes from people and the one that comes from monsters?"

"...~"

Zorey asked a very good question that brought a smile to his teacher's face.

"They are mostly the same, although they differ in a certain aspect. When it comes from monsters, it is called Malice. When it's from members of the intelligent races, it's called resentment. Make sure to memorize that because it's considered incredibly rude to mistake both those terms."

"I will, teacher!"

Gael declared, and Zorey nodded with a serious expression.

"Malice is responsible for spawning basic undead. It takes over the bodies of dead monsters and corrupts their data, stopping that particular monster from respawning. It can affect the corpses of the beings of intelligent races, too, resulting in zombies, skeletons, wraiths, and so on – all depending on the strength of the Malice. Undead like that receive a brand new set of skills and don't keep the titles that their body amassed during its lifetime."

The priest of death continued his explanation as his apprentice was solely focused on him.

"Resentment is far more troublesome. It also corrupts the data of corpses, but it is more potent and actually spawns named monsters."

Gael expression darkened as even talking about the occurrence was giving him a bad feeling.

"Monsters that spawned from resentment are far more powerful than those that spawned because of Malice, mostly because they actually keep skills and titles that the living counterparts had. When resentment corrupts a body of the being of intelligent races, the monster will actually keep its Class."

"!!!"

The blond priest said, making the black-haired boy flinch in shock.

"Of course, basically nothing except their strongest negative feeling remains of the actual person in such undead – it is a monster whose status window shows up automatically without having to issue the – Inspect Status – command."

Gael added, waving his hand as if he wanted to get rid of the annoying smell.

"That said – this is why using – Inspect Status – is considered incredibly rude. It basically implies that you treat another person as a monster, so it should never be done without a valid reason."

"Ooohhhh...!"

The blond-haired man rubbed his neck while looking to the side as if he remembered at the last-minute that he should explain that detail from earlier in the day...

...although he wasn't particularly happy about it because it put priest Thiago in a peculiar position...

"Then the priest of death is responsible for defeating the undead."

Thankfully for him, the current Zorey wasn't someone who holds grudges and has already forgotten about the issue, even coming up with a brief summary.

"Not exactly. If we're talking about getting rid of the undead, then standard priest Class's healing can damage the undead, and a skill that they and paladin Class people have called Holy Smite can erase them completely."

Gael tilted his head from side to side and corrected the misconception that his apprentice had.

"Our thing is dealing with Malice and resentment. When the undead's Malice – or resentment - is appeased, their data will return to the system, and the visual effect of the black smoke will turn into spectral light... I don't actually want to spoil how exactly it will look because the first time you will see it, it will all make sense – you know, why our Class exists and all."

The blond-haired priest said with a smile, looking into the distance with a somber smile.

"And speaking of the reason for our existence, Class, like necromance, absolutely needs us. As people who deal with Malice and oftentimes resentment, they take the burden of all those negative emotions taking shape onto their own shoulders, which always leads to sickness and – if not treated – to death. This is the price they pay for being one of the most broken classes out there."

"...?"

Gael shook his head and scoffed as the sudden thought about necromancers had soured his mood, which made Zorey tilt his head, taken by surprise.

"We are invaluable for necromancers, but since there is around 70% chance that they will lose the undead under their control, they dislike us for being, as they call it – inefficient."

Gael breathed out through his nose aggressively and gritted his teeth.

"You see, 30% of the time – and around 5% in the case of named monsters – the undead regains the majority of their old self but choose to stay by their necromancer. Only appeased undead can be truly called the contracted undead. They do not attack the living and are considered true companions of the Classes dealing with death."

The blond-haired man shrugged his shoulders as if those odds weren't something that anyone should pay attention to, instead nodding his head and giving the black-haired boy a meaningful look.

"Teacher, in my status, I have something about contracted undead!"

Zorey perked up and gasped, reacting just in a way Gael had hoped he would.

"That's right. With the Pact skill, you can forge a bond between yourself and an appeased undead that stayed behind. At level 1, you only have one empty slot, but as you will level up, that will increase. There even exists a chance that receiving more slots will be a quest reward. Gluck."

Gael nodded and explained, having his mood improved. He also called out a command that Zorey didn't quite understand, but the mystery was soon solved.

"GTR!"

"!!!"

The next moment Gael's shadow became pitch black and extended outwards to his left, becoming some sort of portal form in which a large, managed canine-like monster crawled out, making Zorey stumble back.

[Name: Gluck

Race: Undead (Grave Hound – contracted)

Rank: D

Level: 25

Stats: (Under protection – high level Appraisal skill necessary)

Skills: (Under protection – high level Appraisal skill necessary)]

Even before the creature fully emerged, its Status Window popped up within Zorey's vision, answering at least some questions that the boy had about it.

The Grave Hound was as big as the Iron Fang Wolf that Zoemi caught a glimpse of when the caravan that brought him to the Grand Herbal was attacked by monsters, but this creature looked far more mangled. After a closer look, Zorey realized that the creature had its belly ripped open but lacked any intestines with loose bluish insides mixing in with the long blackish fur. There was also one more detail that became obvious only when the beast sat up and looked the boy in the eye.

Gluck didn't have normal eyes – instead, two black orbs seemed to be inserted in the originally vacant eyesockets, giving the creature an even more eerie look.

...and when it opened its mouth to start panting with its blue tongue out, two sets of thick gray fangs oozing with some sort of liquid glistened threateningly.

"This big dummy of a pup is my first contracted undead. Gluck."

Gael kneeled down and started casually patting the monster as if it was just an overgrown housepet and not something that particularly annoyed parents would try to scare their disobedient child with.

"Originally, she was a guard dog my family bought from a Tamer. She was killed when a bunch of robbers targeted our house and rushed in to do her job – being unable to fulfill her duty, she ended up bringing her back, and luckily wanted it that she chose to stay and protect me after I appeased her. It was around seventeen years ago... damn, how time flies... Whose a good girl~?"

"GHRAUG!"

The blond-haired man explained while patting his contracted undead affectionately, and Gluck responded with a sonorous bark that echoed through the building.

"She was the first appeased undead that wanted to stay that I encountered as a priest of death, but it doesn't mean that you should do the same. Unless you are lucky with the quests rewards, the soonest you will get another slot will be between levels 10 and 15 – and considering that we are not a combat-oriented Class, that will take you a while. So... you know. Don't fall for some Rotting Rat just because it chose to stay behind. Once made contract cannot be made a second time – canceling it means your undead will crumble into dust, and its data will return to the system. On the bright side, you can easily sell off an appeased undead to a necromancer or anyone who can take hadel undead familiars – it's completely legal!"

Gael added while the Grave Hound licked his face while wagging its tail like crazy – and didn't forget to include some advice.

"Alright, you big dum-dum. Back to sleep."

"Graugh!"

Gael smiled and nuzzled his cheek against the side of Gluck's head before patting her side and commanding – having her bark and dive back into his shadow.