Chapter 214: Chapter 199 – To Each, Their Own Prize

"I had been a necromancer all my life, had dreamed of becoming one since I was a child, even. I reached my goal when I was fourteen, apprenticed to the locally stationed necromancer, a kindly old woman who always treated me like I was one of her grandkids. I still miss her even now.

 

When I was twenty she sent me to Tohrmutgent to study the art more. That I did, as I was fortunate enough to study under the Bone Lord's grand-disciple. I returned to my hometown, the coastal town of Andera, when I was thirty, a full fledged necromancer, and the pride of my family.

 

Life in Andera was quiet and peaceful for the most part. My task was to keep the beastial skeletons that were kept here as insurance charged with mana and to use them should an emergency require them.

 

Such an emergency happened when I was but thirty-four. One far beyond my paygrade, and had even attracted His Holiness the Bone Lord himself down to our little town, along with the Young Lady.

 

It was already an eye opening sight to witness the Young Lady being down the gigantic scourge all by herself, but what impressed me the most, the sight that I would never forget to the day I die, was His Holiness at work.

 

I have a new goal to aspire to, and while I doubt I would ever reach such heights in this mortal life of mine, what is grander than to pursue such an astronomical goal even at the near certainty of failure?" - from the Diary of Ambeng Onowuno, Senior Necromancer, dated 182 VA.

At dawn the eight day, most of the city had gathered to watch the Bone Lord at work, especially the necromancers who had arrived to help out. The city's own local necromancers, led by a man with tanned skin and a weathered look that was probably in his thirties or forties, watched the proceedings without blinking, while his hand was steadily poised, one with a quill and a scroll on the other.

 

The Bone Lord himself walked towards the massive skeleton without preamble. He stopped and seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment, before everyone - whether they be a mage or not - felt the thrum as mana flowed and gathered towards the skeleton.

 

Normally people who had neglected their magical gifts because they had so little or possessed little talent for it would not be able to feel the flow of mana, unlike trained mages who were especially sensitive to it. This movement however, was so massive in scale everyone felt it in the air.

 

Death affinity mana began to concentrate itself around the massive carcass. It manifested itself visibly at times, as black motes which clung to and slowly seeped into the bones. More and more of them seeped in, until slowly but surely, the entire skeleton was dyed jet black after a few hours of work.

 

Then the skeleton moved. It raised its massive skull and opened its jaws in a soundless roar, before it lowered its skull to the ground in a show of obeisance. The Bone Lord nodded, satisfied with his work, then gave a mental command to the skeleton.

 

The sight of a kilometer-long skeleton as it dragged itself back into the sea was a surreal one. The skeleton had not went far, only a couple hundreds of meters off the shore, before it dug into the sand and buried most of its frame under a thin layer of sand at the bottom of the sea.

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The only sign that it was there was the tip of its snout, which was positioned just slightly higher than the water level at high tide. It protruded out of the water like a small, black island near the shore.

 

Aideen watched as the Bone Lord explained to the locals that the town's necromancer garrison would be quadrupled. Usually the senior necromancer present and his five to ten juniors were plenty to patrol and keep a town that size secure.

 

That would be far from enough to keep the construct the Bone Lord created supplied even if it remained dormant, however, so he had arranged for another thirty senior necromancers to be assigned to the town on rotation, where they will recharge the beast's mana on a weekly basis and control it should an emergency call for it. The town itself remained the local's domain, but already Aideen heard talks about expanding the town and maybe building a military port there.

 

She had not put it in her mind, as she, together with the goblins and the Bone Lord, were returning to Tohrmutgent after another two days. What Aideen had not expected though, was that apparently the Bone Lord had arranged for a gift to be presented to her when she arrived.

 

Mimia and Éirynn greeted them at the cathedral. Aideen immediately noticed how the two of them wore a darkly vibrant dress that reached to the middle of their thighs which seemed to be composed of scales. The juvenile scales of the serpent, that is.

 

Both girls quickly dragged her away and presented her one as well. Apparently the Bone Lord had asked their help to craft Aideen a set of light armor with the beast's scales, sinews, and leather. Éirynn's skills were uniquely suited to such an endeavor.

 

The resultant armor took the form of a short-sleeved tunic that reached down to the middle of Aideen's thighs. It was made with the sea serpent's leather as base, and the scales were meticulously sewn into it using the sinews as thread. The result was extremely light - it barely felt heavier than a piece of leather clothing - and highly flexible armor that nonetheless had durability which rivaled masterwork plate armor.

 

They also gave her a pair of bracers which covered her forearms and hand, but left her fingers free to pair with it. Both girls revealed that they had made their armor with the same style.

 

All of them naturally knew that Aideen had mostly foregone armor when she fought, because she always outlasted her armor and heavy armor might even end up impeding her instead. Hence the gift, should there be a time where she needed to fight and could use more protection than what her unliving body already afforded her.

 

She couldn't help but feel moved by their thoughtfulness.

 

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