The Shadow Portal

Ojero was currently in his room's magical chamber, where you could practice your magic without fear of destroying anything. Special runes were engraved into the walls that transported magic when they were hit. These were made by the same person who made the arena's teleportation portals.

The room was a twenty foot by twenty foot room that was sixteen feet high. It was this size to allow movement for magic, and allowed longer range mages to practice their magic too. There was also a way to expand the room at will, however Ojero kept it at the default size for this specific session.

The shadows at his feet were constantly moving and fluctuating as he managed the mana inside him, pushing it through his hands and out into the greater world to control the darkness around him. They coalesced into a space only a few feet in front of Ojero, as he commanded them to rise up according to his will.

The inky black substance slowly began to rise as sweat started to form on Ojero's forehead, the effort required to summon the portal being too much for Ojero to exert at this time. Still, he kept pushing on, determined to accomplish this goal and move forward with his training.

His breath started coming out in shorter gasps and his body started shaking with the amount of force he kept trying to push into the growing block of shadows in front of him. It was now almost three feet tall (About one meter), and still growing every second. The dark expanse of shadows seemed to be wiggling and reaching further up, as if it wanted to grow more and be given more mana.

However, Ojero felt himself losing consciousness as his body lost more and more energy that it needed to function properly. He started having trouble breathing at all, and his vision turned blurry. As he started to lose himself, the grey ring on his finger started glowing, strange runes starting to appear across its surface.

Ojero, in this state, did not notice these changes, but he felt himself falling faster into the soft embrace of sleep. As the ring grew brighter, the runes started to shift off of its smooth surface and began to seep into Ojero's skin. After the runes, the ring itself started to meld into Ojero's skin, and the last of his conscious faded away.

He felt something warm and comforting spread throughout his body right after he lost all concept of being awake, and he enjoyed it. He sunk deeper and deeper into this feeling, and then suddenly snapped back awake.

In front of him was a giant wall of darkness, and his hand was still extended towards it. He had stopped shaking and he felt rejuvenated, however something about himself felt different. He felt… happier, more accepting of his current place. The ring had somehow directly integrated itself, and its effects were bolstered.

"Master, what just happened?"

Ojero heard the Night Demon speak in his head, a tone of wariness clouding his words.

'I don't really know, but whatever it was, did something to help me out.'

"I would be very careful, master. A good thing seldom comes without a cost."

Usually Ojero would investigate further, but something in his mind kept him back from doing so, as if it refused to be found. The ring did not want its wearer to know of its continued existence and effects.

Before Ojero knew it, he had almost entirely forgotten the situation. He began to walk around and inspect the giant slab of shadows in front of him. It was about six feet tall and one foot thick. It was pitch black, and even seemed to pull some of the nearby light into it.

'Is this it? A portal to the Shadow Realm?'

"It is, master. I congratulate you on your progression to this moment. It is within this realm that you shall learn the secrets inside Necromancy."

'So this is it. This large black doorway is the path to growing in power.'

Something in Ojero held him back from walking through just then, some part of his mind wondering if this was what he really wanted. To start on a path that gave up his humanity, everything that made him human, for power.

Necromancers lost many things on their journey to power, most of them have to forsake any current and future family, leave their friends, dedicate everything they own to the pursuit of power.

Ojero could feel the Night Demon carefully awaiting his decision, carefully awaiting his choice for his future.

'Peace or power?'

This question radiated throughout Ojero's mind time and time again, but then he remembered something his father once told him.

"Ojero, when life gives you a choice, always remember this; Most people prefer the peace of stagnation rather than the risk of advancement. It is at that moment you must pick which you wish to be."

This memory gave Ojero the closure he needed, as he inhaled deeply and stepped into the dark vortex in front of him.

***

The Book of the Known Undead

Chapter 13: Skeletal Knight

The Skeletal Knight is an uncommon undead variant and often makes up a good portion of a Necromancers army. They are made from former knights who died with rage deep inside their hearts, leading to them being reborn as undead killers. They wear heavy steel armor and wield both a longsword and a shield, their strength being much more than a normal humans.

Skeletal Knights take little mana to maintain, however it is recommended the Necromancer have experience before summoning one as their rage can be hard to keep back.

Element: Undead

Class: Knight

Family: Skeletons