The priest of death and the necromancer (part 2)

"What's done is done. Alright. Let's focus on not letting you die because of the directed malice. But my teacher didn't tell me anything about your case, so how exactly am I supposed to supervise you while you try to break that bond?"

He added and inquired.

"I believe he would cast a Skill called Prayer on me, and then I would try. He would also wait to see whether there weren't any complications... although he never explained what those could be."

"And he would cast it on you? Not the undead?"

The hooded youngster took a deep breath and explained, having Zorey asks him instantly to make sure.

"Y-yes. Yes, that's right."

The young necromancer fidgetted and started rubbing their arm awkwardly but ended up nodding in confirmation.

"I do not have the Prayer Skill yet – only lesser Prayer – but if you are okay with me trying to imitate my teacher, I can at least cast it on you. Can't promise anything other than that, though. And in case you're wondering, my teacher will be back by tomorrow, so you can show up then."

Zorey pointed out, making a disclaimer and leaving the decision to the necromancer.

"Umm... it seems that each attempt makes the next one slightly easier, so if you don't mind, I would like for you to help me."

The hooded youngster shifted his weight from one leg to the other, tilting himself from side to side, and said while awkwardly twisting his fingers, greatly troubled.

"Lesser prayer."

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

"...umm..."

Zorey nodded and casually cast his Skill... that ended up failing, making the hooded necromancer fidget awkwardly while looking at their body that should be basked in bright light but wasn't...

"It does have a smaller success rate than Prayer. Lesser Prayer!"

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

The black-haired boy sighed and nodded towards the other youngster apologetically and instantly tired again.

The chain of failed attempts drained all of Zorey's mana, and the boy resorted to waiting for the MP regeneration to catch up with the rate he spent the MP.

"..."

With each try, the hooded necromancer seemed to be shrinking as they were cowering more and more, clenching their hands together.

"I... I'm sorry for being a bother like that..."

They apologized, sounding very ashamed of themselves.

"Hmm? Nah, nonsense. It's training too. Even when it's a failure, I get a small amount of EXP that will eventually raise that Skill level. Lesser Prayer."

Zorey raised his brow and laughed it off with an encouraging smile, continuing to use the spell as the amount of his MP recovered to an adequate degree.

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

[Skill – lesser prayer - level up]

"Oh! And speaking of!"

"...!"

Another attempt might have been a failure, but there was a bright side to the situation, too, and Zorey didn't hesitate to announce it with a bright smile, making the necromancer all jumpy.

"This should make things at least a tiny bit easier, you see? Lesser Prayer."

*haaaa~*

Zorey boasted and used the Skill again as soon as he could.

"Oh...?! Hey, it finally wor...!"

"SCREEEEEE! x17 (IT'S YOU!) (KIIIIIIL) (DIE! DIE FOR YOUR SINS) (WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!) (WHYYYYY?!) (YOU WILL REGRET EVER PUTTING YOUR HANDS ON ME!) (WHAT DID I DO TO YOU?!) (I WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!) (YOU SCUUUUUUUM!) (YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!) (I DIDN'T WANT THIS!) (I WANTED TO LIVE!) (DEATH IS TOO GOOD FOR YOU!) (YOU MUST SUFFER AS MUCH AS I DO!) (CURSE YOU...! CURSE YOUUUUUU!) (WITHER AND PERISH WHILE DROWNING IN REGRET, YOU FILTH!) (PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!)"

The young priest of death let out joyful gaps, but before he managed to finish his sentence, a choir of horrible screeches screamed out from behind the last door in the basement, and his brain was assaulted with seventeen voices screaming their lungs off loud enough to blow his head off.

*splurt* *thump*

"Huh?! Mister priest?!"

Zorey's head jolted back, and blood spouted from his nose before he limply fell to his knees, scaring the hooded necromancer half to death.

"...?"

Zorey's unfocused eyes rolled around as the horrible sensation was exceeding his resistance and actually causing physical damage.

[Name: Kaipo's experiment

Race: Undead (Artificial Rat King – temporarily contracted)

Rank: E

Level: 2

HP: 30 MP: 177 (127/177)

ATK: 2 MAT: 47

DEF: 2 MDF: 19

SPD: 3 LUC: 1

Skills:

Rapid bite (active) (level 2)

Lesser poison fang (passive) (level 1)

Soul-breaking screech (active) (level 1)]

Shockingly enough, the Status Window of the undead monster showed up not because the creature managed to burst out of its confinement all of a sudden but simply when the black-haired boy's gaze landed upon its owner and creator – the young necromancer.

The youngster panicked and kneeled by the fallen priest of death so fast that their hood fell down, revealing braided greenish-blond hair and a face of delicate features that could have him easily mistaken for a girl.

The most peculiar part of his appearance, though, were his eyes with irises that, instead of being round, were shaped akin to a five-petal violet flower – clearly indicating that the youngster wasn't completely human.

Still, it wasn't something that much of interest to Zorey, who received a heavy blow from the Soulbreaking screech Skill that was meant for the greenish-blond-haired necromancer but ended up following the mind-link that the lesser Prayer created between the monster and the young priest of death.

"Mister priest?! Are you alright?! That never happened when the other priest used his Skill!"

The greenish-blond-haired boy cried out in panic, not realizing what happened and in how much danger he and Zorey were, and pulled out an expensive-looking handkerchief to try and stop the black-haired boy's nosebleed.

"...!" *grip*

"...h-huh...?!"

Having somebody who wasn't Vernlily get so close to him made Zorey regain his senses, and he shook his head, splattering the droplets of his own blood around, as he grabbed the necromancer's hand, using the other boy as a support to stand up while startling him.

"It can use that Skill two more times – I will not survive that. I can't let it use it again...!"

Zorey gritted his teeth, standing up and stumbling his way toward the last door.

"Huh?! Wait, what?! It attacked you?! Huh...?! Subject's Status! Ah! It did! We must get away from here!"

"You back off!"

The necromancer cried out in confusion and checked his undead's Status Window before gasping in realization, trying to grab the priest of death and pull him away, but ended up getting pushed away by the angered Zorey with his hand on the latch.

*thunk*

"SCREEE...! x17 (KIIIILLL...!) x17 Screee...? x17 (Wha...? You're not the one...!) x17"

The black-haired boy unlocked the door and opened it, facing the monster that screeched in a fury but stopped right in its track upon realizing that it wasn't facing the necromancer.

"...ghhh...! Why don't you shut up, you DUMBASS!"

Zorey faltered, clenching his forehead with one hand as the choir of far too many translated voices resounded in his head.

The Artificial Rat King was a disturbing sight to see – it was a single entity that consisted of seventeen half-rotten dwarfs lesser rat corpses connected together at the end of their meaty tails.

The mangled fur, exposed blue flesh, and yellowish bones sticking out from where they should not be created a nauseating sight, and considering that each separate rat's corpse was wiggling around and screeching – giving the creature's appearance of boiling flesh - it was something straight out of a nightmare, capable of giving chills to even seasoned adventurers – especially when encountered in an eerie basement...

"CRETIN! IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A LIFE THAT YOU WERE ROBBED OF, JUST RESPAWN! LESSER PRAYER! APPEASE UNDEAD!"

Zorey roared, reaching his hand towards the conjoined creature with a combined size equaling that of a Stone Fang Dog and activating his skills.

*haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skills failed]

[EXP points granted]

...but both ended up failing...!

"SCREEE! x17 (YOU! ENEMY!) x10 (DIE FIRST, THEN IT WILL BE THE TURN OF THE ONE WHO MADE ME LIKE THIS!) x7"

Zorey's actions worked on the Artificial Rat King like a taunt, and the black-haired boy became its primary target!

But that was within Zorey's expectations!

Having in mind that the undead rats aren't the brightest, Zorey's decided his best chance was to directly attack it, forcing it to turn to physical attacks that were much weaker and actually possible for him to handle.

*squish*

The hand he was reaching out wasn't there to help him aim the skills – it was the preemptive strike that reached its target – the knot created by the entanglement of the meaty tails that Zorey grabbed firmly, picking up the monster and raising it over his head.

"SCREEEEEEEE! (LET ME GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!) x17"

*CHOMP* x17

The undead monstrosity let out a bloodcurdling screech, and just as Zorey wanted, turned to its bare instinct and activated the physical Skill - Rapid bite – swarming around the boy's arm like the creepiest fleshy sleeve.