Practice Makes Perfect!

Master Lowry paced around Alice with a look of unreserved admiration. Her posture, firm yet slightly awkward, betrayed her unease as she clutched her sword. A few paces away, Elliot stood with his arms crossed, a clear look of impatience etching his features.

"What do you make of this?" Elliot finally burst out, as he observed Master Lowry stroke his beard, lost in contemplation. "Why is Captain Alice resurrected in such a peculiar state?"

Lifting his gaze, Master Lowry fixed his lord with a solemn expression. "I'm at a loss," he confessed.

Elliot's brow furrowed, irritation bubbling as he stared at the wizard's vexing expression. Yet, before he could voice his annoyance, Master Lowry pinched his chin, casting another thoughtful glance at Alice. "There seems to be a fault within the resurrection spell, my lord. It appears that Captain Alice exists now in a liminal state; neither fully alive nor entirely dead. Observe."

With the fluidity of age-old magic, he extended a hand, gnarled like ancient wood, and snapped his fingers before Alice's face. To Elliot's astonishment, a gray mist billowed from her features, coalescing into a swirling orb of fog around her cheeks. Alice, unfamiliar with the magic, flinched initially but regained her composure under Master Lowry's steady gaze.

Elliot, his voice tinged with confusion, muttered, "What is this phenomenon?"

"This," Master Lowry began, his voice deepening, "is ghostly magic extracted from her body. Necromancy, like any magic, manipulates energies of a certain nature. The necromantic resurrection spell essentially weaves ghostly magic into the corpse, animating it as a magic-driven entity."

He paused, his next words measured and cautious. "Lord Elliot, consider this; since her resurrection, Captain Alice's heart has ceased to beat. No living being survives without the heart's pulse, which circulates blood and sustains life. I suspect that instead of a heartbeat, another force now animates her body, driving her blood, muscles, and bodily functions..."

"Ghostly magic?" ventured Elliot, connecting the dots.

"Exactly!" Master Lowry confirmed emphatically. "The spell you used infused her with ghostly magic. Now, her actions are fueled by magical energy rather than physical sustenance. In essence, her means of survival mirrors that of the undead, and despite the oddities, the spell retains its intended effect."

Master Lowry, visibly troubled, let out a deep sigh as he continued his contemplation aloud. "But what perplexes me further is how Captain Alice retains emotions, memories, and volition like any living human. Ordinarily, when a person passes, their soul vanishes entirely. Magic might reanimate a corpse, yet the restoration of a self-aware soul is beyond its conventional reach..."

His words swirled around Alice, confusing her more than enlightening. The captain of the guard, a lifelong swordsman, had little grasp of such complex magic theories.

Seeking some clarity, Alice turned to Lord Elliot, only to find him equally engrossed in thought, mirroring the old master's ponderous frown.

"These bookish magicians," Alice muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes in silent exasperation.

Before she could dwell further on her frustration, Master Lowry's voice snapped back into focus, his tone sharp with urgency. "Furthermore, I've uncovered another, perhaps even more critical anomaly!" He swung around to face Elliot, his eyes boring into the lord with intense scrutiny.

Caught off guard, Elliot stammered, "What... what might that be?"

"How well did you perform in your final examination at the Mage Academy?" Master Lowry's question seemed to pierce the air between them.

A memory stirred in Elliot, vivid and clear: The Mage Academy's grand hall surrounded him, its walls lined with stern-faced wizards in towering hats and flowing robes. In the center stood a towering blue crystal ball, its surface smooth and shimmering with the light of countless candles. The crystal's inner lattice of threads pulsed under the gaze of the assembled magicians.

Following the directive of a venerable, white-bearded wizard, Elliot had placed his palm on the crystal. Inside, the filaments danced and flickered until the display ceased. Most threads dimmed, but a few shone brightly, resilient like threads of silver.

"One thousand and twenty-four Pat," the elder wizard had declared, tallying the lit threads before announcing, "Level 2!"

Snapping back to the present, Elliot looked at Master Lowry, realization dawning. "I remember now, I am classified as a second-level mage."

Master Lowry nodded gravely. "Consider this, magic is stratified into nine distinct levels, each leap in rank amplifying one's magical potency tenfold. You stand as a 'primary wizard' of the second level, whereas I am a 'primary mage' of the fifth level. But are you aware of the minimum magical threshold required to wield the 'Ten Forbidden Spells', among which is the Resurrection Spell?"

"Second level?" Elliot pondered, somewhat reassured by his prior success with the resurrection spell, "Surely, if I can cast it, the spell's requirements can't be that high."

"It's level seven! A senior magician of level seven!" Master Lowry exclaimed, frustration evident as he thrust a finger towards the numeral as if it were an accusation. "No magician below level seven should be able to cast such a complex, master-level spell like resurrection!"

Elliot, still baffled, responded, "But... I did manage to resurrect a cockroach back at the academy!"

"Do you honestly equate resurrecting insects with resurrecting humans?" Master Lowry shot back, his skepticism clear.

Elliot fell into a thoughtful silence. Reflecting on his past, he recalled his casual experiments with forbidden magic during his school days, driven more by curiosity than ambition. Indeed, such spells demanded immense magical reserves, and his modest second-level abilities were hardly sufficient.

Recalling the resurrection of the cockroach, he realized it had depleted all of Elliot Igor's available magic power...

Now, using the resurrection spell on Alice had been an act of sheer desperation, without considering the immense power typically necessary for such a forbidden incantation.

"Then..." He turned to Master Lowry, genuinely puzzled, "How did I, merely a second-level junior wizard, manage to resurrect Alice?"

Master Lowry eyed him as if he were an enigma, an anomaly that defied the laws of magic itself. After a long, contemplative pause, he admitted, "I have no idea!"

In that moment, Elliot's frustration peaked, tempted to dismiss his chief mage for his ignorance.

However, Master Lowry's demeanor shifted as he suddenly seemed struck with inspiration. "But, I've devised a way to delve deeper into this baffling mystery!"

Both Elliot and Alice exchanged wary glances.

"And what might that be?" Elliot inquired.

With a mischievous glint in his eye, Master Lowry shared his revelation, "From my extensive experience, I've learned one crucial lesson: 'Practice makes perfect.' We need to observe your spellcasting firsthand to unravel what truly transpired during your attempt to resurrect Captain Alice! My lord, if I recall correctly, aren't there a few deceased guards back at the camp?"

Alice, taken aback by the suggestion, could only stare in disbelief.

"You possess a rare knack for the study of forbidden magic," Elliot remarked, a mix of admiration and concern in his tone.

Blushing slightly at the praise, Master Lowry modestly replied, "Well, I know a bit, just a bit."