Necromancer's Craft

"Let's talk more about it," Jake said. He didn't want his answer to be so easy when he had not gathered some much-needed information.

He opened the door and let them come in. Deer's eyes lingered on Ophelia when she walked in, but after a few seconds, she looked away.

Seeing the guests that had come in, Ophelia hid behind Crypt.

Rion and Seer stood inside the room while Jake sat on the bed, his hands folded.

"My name is Jake, he is Crypt, my summon, and she is Ophelia, the girl your dog was trying to kill." He casually introduced them all.

"Summon? Does that mean you are a summoner?" Rion asked. His eyes lit up as he spoke. Seer immediately hit his head with her fist.

"Forgive him, he gets heated up when it gets to magic and things like that. But that being said, I too want to know about this summoning. Are you a summoner? And how are you able to summon a humanoid creature?" she asked.

"I'm not a summoner. I'm a necromancer of sorts," Jake said. Her eyes lit up immediately when she heard that.

"A necromancer? Then that means he is an undead?" she asked, a sense of urgency in her voice.

"Yes, Crypt is an undead. I didn't plan to tell anyone that, but because we are looking towards working together, I've decided to tell you.

That being said, now that you know about it, you can't leave here without agreeing to my terms, or I'll have to silence you," Jake said with a smile.

'This brat, he is trying to turn the situation on us. How dare he threaten me?' Seer got pissed.

"Your summon is strong, I'll give him that, but against the two of us, you won't be able to win. So even if we attempt to get away, there isn't really a way to stop us entirely," she said with a smile.

Jake nodded slowly in response. "Valid point, but there exist two issues in your thinking. First, you greatly underestimate the strength of Crypt, and secondly, you forget that Crypt was once a human that I killed.

The fact that his undead body is still in one piece tells you that he was killed in one attack, and that means what killed him was immensely stronger than him. You already get what I'm saying, right?" Jake asked with a smile.

'This brat... he is trying to tell us that he has something stronger to kill us. Shit, I can't call his bluff. He isn't one to joke around after seeing what he did to those dogs of mine.

Shit, I hate this feeling—being backed to a corner. Still, I've never once allowed someone to ride on me. I'll take the reins in this situation,' Seer thought.

'I'm sure she has seen what I'm trying to do, but I doubt she'll let up that easy. Either way, my plan was not to fully control, it's to make sure we have a level ground that can avoid anyone being used,' Jake thought.

"You might have something quite strong, but there's no way you can use it repeatedly without sacrifice or drawback, or am I wrong?" she asked.

"You might be right, you might be wrong, but I'm guessing you don't want to find out, so let's leave it that way for now," Jake said with a smile.

'So this is what he was going for—trying to make me cautious of him. Tsk, smart brat. I'll agree for now,' she thought.

"Urghhh, can you two already stop with the mental war? Let's get straight to the point. You'll be adventuring with us. Every resource gained together will be split equally, unless one person evidently did more than the other.

And for the duration of our time together, we will fight with each other's side and protect each other. But our deal and agreement will shatter the moment the trials begin, and we can try to kill ourselves then," Rion said.

Jake and Seer exchanged looks and nodded at each other. "That works fine for me," they both said.

"Now that that is aside... Jake, necromancers are rare. The ability to tamper with the dead isn't something to take lightly, and most of the time they get a bad name as many necromancers commit mass genocides for their craft.

What makes it worse is when a necromancer becomes a Chosen. The mark of the Chosen is a call—a call to become the one true guardian of the world for the next hundred years.

The one who becomes is seen as a god, possesses the power of a god. Many people don't wish to become Chosen, as they fear that when they do, they will turn into monsters. Necromancers already have a grey mindset. The mark is their key to let it all go black," Rion said.

Those words resonated within Jake. He felt as if he could also become like that as well if he didn't act carefully.

"Is there no law to stop them—to stop those that carry the mark from doing whatever they want?" Jake asked.

"Laws are only to guide those that can be bound by them. People that have been Chosen are on the path to godhood. There is no law for such a person, there is only the path created by the trials," Rion said.

"Jake, from the questions you ask, it seems you know very little about all this," Seer suddenly said.

"Yes, I do. Very little to be precise. I come from a corner not even on any map, far from all the havoc—until one day, I got the mark.

The only person that knew about the mark was the chief, and he begged that I leave. I would bring chaos and havoc to them.

So I've been on my own journey, gathering information on the life that I have been thrown into," Jake explained.

"For you to be this smart and come from a small village, I wonder what would have happened had you grown somewhere like Lumerg. You would be a mighty force to reckon with," Seer said with a small chuckle.