Chapter 22: Path Of Necromancy

With a grabbing motion, an orb of bluish light floated out of each of the creatures, they moved towards his hand, then flipped his hand making his palm face upward where the orbs slowly started rotating in.

Stunned Zazi looked at those beautiful orbs of light, with little shadowy figures floating inside of them which resembled the creatures lying on the ground. It took her a moment but something finally clicked. 'Those are souls', she thought in shock of this revolution. 'To be able to tear the souls out of somebody with just a simple gesture, this kind of power...' Zazi could help but stop her train of thoughts in fright as she considered what could have happened were they hostile towards this man.

"You reek of fear", Suddenly a voice brought her back to reality. Zazi looked up to see Lorthic staring at her with a slight smirk on his face, but it wasn't as terrifying as she thought, there was a sense of mischievousness in it something one wouldn't expect in such a terrifying existence. He was toying with her!

He could clearly have just absorbed the souls and been done with it, but he purposely made a spectacle out of the entire thing, this thought left Zazi quite irritated, but still, no matter how casual he appeared he was still not an existence she could rival thus she remained a respectful posture in his presence.

With a sigh, Lorthic face turned expressionless again, " As I have said there is no need for such a respectful attitude, honestly your so stiff it appears as if you're facing a vicious beast instead of little old me." Lorthic said in defeat.

Zazi's lips could help but twitch when she heard him call himself "little old me" but she still replied, "I will try".

"Good, now if you would permit it please show me to these tombs you have on necromancy", Lorthic said as he exited the room, turning his head once more to the creatures on the ground before exiting through the doorway and under his haunting gaze they became dust and strings of life force moved out of there body's and entered his.

Outside the room Lorthic checked up on Annabel, seeing that she was still sleeping peacefully he left her to her dreams, according to his calculations the weak sleeping spell he used on her would last for about two hours.

Zazi followed him out of the room, to which she explained the situation to the others. They of course were thrilled, Xaszix was even trying his best to hide his tears, thought failing bitterly causing Iphy to poke fun at him.

Lorthic could help but have a smile appear upon his face when he saw this, it was truly a joyous scene, one he had not seen in a while, it depicted the rekindling of hope and the strengthening of bonds.

While the rest of the group were reveling in the good news, Zazi brought a wooden crate filled with books to Lorthic, placing it down right in front of him.

"These are all the books on necromancy we have, the crate also holds information on formation as well as the formation that Rei created, there are also a few healing magic and earth magic books if they interest you" Zazi said, her expression was completely sincere, and as she promised she had eased quite a bit in his presence.

Although she had improved much there was still a small bit of tension in her heart when she faced him, it just could not be helped, if he was any other sort of mage it might have been easier, but because of his connection to death he had an eerie disposition which made the living uncomfortable, it was not something one could get used to in just a few days. Luckily thanks to Annabel sleeping next to him for so many nights she had unconsciously grown accustomed to it, or else she would still be somewhat distant.

"Than you", Said Lorthic as he pulled the first book out of the crate, it was titled "Zirkus studies on the necrotic arts", opening it Lorthic found it to be a personal journal of a necromancer named Zirkus, it contained many of his insights as well as personal spells of his creation with detailed annalizes on how and when it was most optimal to be used. To call it a journal would have been incorrect it was more of a legacy left behind by this person.

"Was this Zirkus the ancestor you spoke of", Lorthic asked as he sat down against the cave wall next to the sleeping Annabel.

"Yes," Zazi answered, "He was my grandfather's grandfather, it was said that his knowledge of necromancy was worthy of honors of the highest grade within the Guild of Arcana, but sadly since necromancy is shunned and labeled as heretical and unholy just like dark magic and demonology, this was not considered to be something worthy of honor but instead despised as an act of evil. He was shunned by many races and in his last adventure he was assassinated, luckily he would always leave behind all his studies and knowledge within the family library for his disendants to peruse and to spread his teachings through the lands."

"I see, I can tell that this ancestor of yours was a man of great wisdom, there are very few mages that would willingly give away their hard-earned secrets, "Lorthic said as he read through the book.

In all honesty, Lorthic found the knowledge quite basic, there were no mind-blowing theories of earth-shattering spells within this book, but what made Lorthic respect this necromancer was the dedication he put within his work, just by reading this tomb Lorthic could tell that this man was obsessed with the knowledge he wrote down.

The necromancer wasn't any kind of powerful being, in fact, in the world, Lorthic came from he would only be a novice of the arts, but the novelist of his world wouldn't have much in dept knowledge of the basics, this is where Lorthics admiration came from, this mages knowledge of the basics could have been compared to an "Arch Necromancer".

If you were to look at the ranks given to Necromancers it was from lowest to greatest, Apprentice, novice, master, arch, keeper of the Sacred tombs (Which would be Death, Decay, Flesh, and Souls) And finally when one has mastered all four Sacred tombs one would be elevated to Pale Master and then after imbuing oneself with death for long enough the end would be a Pale God or death god as the mortals called them.

'Unfortunately, the Pale god is a myth' Lorthic thought in defeat but his mind was set on these two words 'Pale God'. Finishing the first book he closed it gently and gently put it down next to him, before reaching into the crate for another one.

'Still, this is a good read, its always enjoyable to go back to your basics, who knows this young mage might surprise me and give me something good might even strengthen my foundations, as my master use to say, never disregard another's wisdom due to your own thoughts of superiority it will only lead to ruin or worse arogance.'

"uh..."

Lorthic was just about to start reading when he sensed movement next to him, turning his head he saw Annabel slowly waking up. 'Two hours had already passed?', Lorthic thought a bit surprised, 'Seems I shouldn't let my thoughts wander so much, I might just go into a century-long contemplation, Lorthic jokingly thought.

"Hello sleepy head", Lorthic said gently as brushed a few strands of messy hair away from Annabel's face.

"H-hello", Annabel said confusedly still a bit sleepy but her thought cleared up soon, then she remembered what happened and she could help but fume as she stared angrily at Lorthic, before looking away with a pout, causing Lorthic to smile wryly.

'Seems I'll have to do something to appease this little ancestor', he thought wryly but was suddenly jolted with surprise. 'Since when have I began caring what she thought of me. No matter, it's not like I dislike caring for this child, I'm just surprised I still hold such feelings within this dead heart of mine. I might still be human', he thought wistfully.

Just a tiny bit human...