The Necronomicon

"The dead do not lie where it was put to rest, nor are they set free in the moment their souls lose its connection to the material corpse. It is somewhat different, they actually lie in the shadows of our realm. Not just the literal ones, but also the shadows that haunt the conscience of the living.

When fear is known and doubt emerges, the Damned their way into the Material Realm. Whether it surges due the doubt of leaving your house door unlocked, or the fear of being haunted by those you wronged, the souls that have unfinished matters find their way through those cracks in reality due to the uncertainty. Then, they haunt, lurking in the now Material shadows, may it be in someones consciouness, in the crack of a slightly opened door or your own feet, and they feed on it, growing stronger for each passing second.

But, not all dead really want to come back. After death, they are bound to their bones and now decaying flesh for some amount of time, and if they have no reason to try and bound themselves to something once more like the Damned, they truly rest, leaving this Plane.

For either of the cases, may it be a foe or friend that just died or a spirit that haunts your thoughts, the Necromancer knows how to harvest it. Of course, they have its difficulties and differences, the occasions of death and how much time it has been since they died. Every aspect, no matter how big or small, impacts how a Risen's strength, how it works, what skills they have and other more."

This is the beginning of a Book found by Akuji among old family collections when he was younger, which was very strange, because none of their ancestors is known to have used such arts. Not only that, but many of the pages are written in an old, forgotten language, which he has yet to find any information about. This piece and some others scattered among the rest are the only translated pieces which he can understand.

Akuji found the Book when he was about 10, and never really told his family about it, afraid that it was going to be taken from him due to it being a Death Magic book. He started to train and use the book in that age, and began studying about it, with most of the time going out of his way to find small pieces of old research. It was harsh to actually get something, but he endured.

The beginning was difficult, reading the rituals' symbols and understanding what was needed to summon them, as much of it was in the elder language. The researches he found where of scattered knowledge that barely helped him, but even so, as the years passed and Akuji matured, he started to understand the symbols better, what they meant, how each part of what shown and drawn related, the differences and similarities of the symbols.

As the boy reached 15, beginning to now engage in basic Linguistics and understanding how to better find what he needed in libraries and local universities, his magic started to finally show its face. But, because of his age, his family worried. Magic was normally chosen earlier and practiced in school, specializing in what fit best the person's talents, but Akuji didn't show any interest or talent in any of the conventional magic.

Yet, with his family trying to find him tutors, which was kind of difficult, due to the family not being very wealthy, the boy mantained his studies in secret. He manipulated the shadows, and could hear a little bit of the Whispers of The Dead, even though it sounded unrecognisable. Akuji now understood the nature of things much better and knew his way through Linguistics, which allowed him to better understand the nature of Dead, how the Damned manifests and what bounds them to the Material Plane, and how to Bound them to him. Of course, he was not very strong, he was a beginner mage in a Mage School that no longer had teachers, material or ongoing research, but he put in effort, and now, he has a Risen of his own.

It was a small, Shadow-infused skeleton of a bird. Akuji had the luck to find the unlucky dead bird recently dead on his way home, as he left the local library. He got it in his hands and found a more reserved place and used his knowledge, drawing his known symbols in a way that he could interpret and understand, and soon, the Soul that was still bound to the bones consume the decaying flesh and became animated once more.

The eyeless skeleton stared at what bound him to the Material Plane once more, Akuji, that felt proud, almost saying outloud that he is a Necromancer, which meant he was really excited, as he normally is not a very talkative person, and much more a introvert. "You are going to be called... Prime." Akuji said as he stared the bird, that now felt the need to serve its summoners' commands.

Prime was the first, the small and unlucky innocent bird that died close to Akuji with a bad timing. The bird didn't have much of a counsciousness or strength to resist the summoning, nor did it feel uncomfortable to be a Risen for it. It was just how it was going to be from now on. Akuji hid him inside his bag, which he carried a lot of papers with his own work and research or other papers that he found, alongside the Book that started it all.

As time went by, with his family getting more worried, Akuji reached 18 years old, the age known to be not only when someone reaches maturity, but also the age you could enter the Admission Test to the Magus Imperial Academy. This test was done by people around all kingdoms, no matter the race, style of magic and faith, everyone could try and apply to enter one of the classes every year.

And so, Akuji reached to his parents about his plans. "I'm entering the Admission Test this year." He said as soon as he reached home and sat down by their dinner table, where his mother Aria, his father Klaus, his little sister Dora were. As soon as he said it, all of them stared at him for some time, with an awkward silence dominating the air. "But... You don't do any magic, do you?" said Dora, his little sister, with a tone of distrust. Dora was around 15 years old. She was average height, about 1,70m, with ginger hair and a tanned skin, and wore something that looked like an uniform. "I-" Akuji started talking, but was suddenly interrupted.

"We gave you opportunity of studying with good teachers all these years, and you refused all of them, now you want to be a Mage?" Klaus said, harshly. His father was muscular and tall, with a big brown beard and hair, around 2m, he wore simple t-shirt and pants, made of a simple cloth and had a very tanned skin. "No, I have been studying by m-" The boy tried to talk once more, but now his mother Aria spoke. "What magic? You never told us about it, never once looked for our help, and made us worry about your future." She was a little bit abovr average, around 1.65m, with ginger hair

"Well, you guys never really asked and neither did I." Akuji finally finished his own sentence without an interruption. Klaus looked at him with a closed face, as he always had. His face looked harsh, with some scars around it. All of its feature looked big, his nose, lips and bone structure. His father never looked very warmful, probably due to his years in the military. His sister, Dora, looked a bit confused and didn't seem to trust his choice. She was always top of her class and showed profienciency and magic, and never understood why her brother never got to accept their parents offers like she did.

His mother looked worried, with a tired face, she seemed to expect that this moment where her son had to take a big step after not accepting their offers would never come. Among all three, the only shared feeling was anxiety, being it showed in their faces or not, they all worried about the future of Akuji, the member of the family that they deep down knew to never been shined down with the grace of talent.

Akuji understood a bit of atmosphere there. They now expected a answer. 'What magic?' They ask or, better, demand. He reached to his bag and put above the table the skeleton of a bird, taken by Shadows, that soon started to move by its own. Akuji's family faces looked confused at first, not understanding what was happening, and as soon as it moved, they understood what it meant. Their feelings? Conflicted. The anxiety grew stronger, many feelings started to rain down on down. Confusion, worryness, despair. 'How did he do it?' And 'How has he already reached far enough to call upon a Risen?'. They knew Akuji went far enough and meddled with the matters and affairs of Death itself.

The family knew there was no coming back now. He was not a beginner, but a Scholar of the School of Death, among its very few learners and teachers. They were aware how far he went not only to find whatever he found, but to understand, manipulate and interpret it. He could now be called a Necromancer, and he was going to Rise.