Final Task: Start!

The next morning, Alesha and Seth packed for a day trip while the rest of the Examinees started the Final Exam. They had all taken the Third Task of the test while Alesha had been evolving and, due to Alesha's "special circumstances," Seth was being given a different Final Exam from everyone else. 

The details were explained to them in a letter they'd received first thing in the morning. While other students were required to choose between hunting beasts in the Owlbear Forest and having their demons fight to the death, Seth's assignment was to take Alesha to deliver a letter to a reclusive Dark Spiritist who lived deep in the woods. Dark Spiritist Xavier Thulgood hadn't contacted the Academy in several months, despite having been hired as a Dark Spiritology professor. Therefore, Seth was to take Alesha and two older students of his choice on a day trip to deliver a letter requesting he report for duty. Seth had chosen to take Flynn and Delilah (surprising no one).

Alesha had questioned the wisdom behind sending students for such a task. If the professor had been out of contact for that long, didn't it mean that something bad had happened to him? Delilah, however, had laughed off her concerns. "Alesha, Dark Spiritology is the most soul-crushin' of all kinds o' Dark Wizardry. It's super common for Dark Spiritologists to be depressed for well over a year, let alone a few months! Ya lil' worrywart!"

Still, Alesha had a bad feeling about the trip. 

She hoped she was wrong.

Alesha squirmed in the saddle, her new, still-unfamiliar tail being pressed painfully upward by the shape of the leather. "I don't think this is gonna work," she grumbled. "This hurts."

"Hmm," the burly stablehand said, stroking his chin in contemplation. "We've never had to provide a saddle for a tailed demon before. Usually tailed demons can keep up with horses in other ways."

Alesha looked at him with an unamused expression. Feeling grumpy from a poor night's rest, she remarked sarcastically, "So what you're saying is, I'm too weak and that's an inconvenience for you. I'm very sorry to be a bother."

Looking surprised, he hastily replied, "That's not what I meant! I spoke thoughtlessly, please forgive me, noble demoness. Do you have any objections with sharing a mount? You could ride side-saddle if that suits you better."

"No," Alesha snapped. "That sounds embarrassing. Can't I, like, ride in a small wagon or something? Or do you guys have some sort of magic that could help?" She directed the last question at Flynn and Delilah.

Flynn piped in with, "I can help! If you don't mind riding on an undead, you could travel piggyback on my Undead Werewolf. I know it isn't the most dignified, but at least it wouldn't be painful for your tail."

Alesha grimaced, but given no better options, she agreed. They departed soon afterwards.

Half an hour later, Alesha found herself clinging to the Undead Werewolf's back, trying her best to ignore the unpleasant mixed smells of decay, dirty canine and dried blood. Her enhanced sense of smell from the evolution was proving very unfortunate at the moment. 

She found herself striking up a conversation in order to distract herself from it.

"So Flynn, how many Undead Summons do you have?"

Riding on a copper-toned horse nearby, Flynn looked over his shoulder and back at her to reply. "I have 13 undead in my squad. They're not summons, though. As an Undead Commander, not a Necromancer, my focus is on finding and recruiting or taming naturally-occurring undead rather than summoning and/or creating them. The big guy you're riding is called Harold. He was one of my first!"

"Really?" Alesha asked, interested. "Where'd you find him then?"

"I found Harold in the Undead Breeding Grounds -- sounds counterintuitive, right? Well, that's where Dark Energy specific to Undeath comes out in a natural flow from a portal to the Netherworld. It's quite far from here. Anyways, it's called the Undead Breeding Grounds because anything that dies there rises as an undead. When I asked him to join me, Harold told me the story of how his family were all killed by Lycanthrope Hunters, and that he'd barely made it to the Breeding Grounds before he died. He said he'd join me if I helped him avenge his family. I agreed, we killed the Hunters responsible and here we are!"

"Wait, if they were strong enough to fatally injure Harold, then how come you could help avenge him?" Alesha asked, confused. She scratched her cheek, leaning back a little as she tried to ignore the itchy fur as it rubbed against her.

Flynn laughed. "Well, that's where I cheated a little. Harold was fine with it, though, so maybe it wasn't quite cheating. Anyways, I got my family's help for that. Ah, you probably don't know this since you're from another world. My family, the Lockjaw family, is quite famous for being elite bounty hunters and assassins. I'm kinda the odd one out since I want to become a well-known Undead Commander and Trainer. I'm also gifted in helping various Dark Beasts become stronger, so I might do some of that on the side."

"That's really cool!" Alesha was surprised to hear that his family was famous for like assassination and bounty hunting, but it made this world seem like a fresh adventure once again. It was kind of awesome.

What wasn't awesome was the continued stench and itch of the Undead Werewolf she was riding. Harold was cool to think about and awesome to look at. 

Not so enjoyable to ride.