The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 200

Chapter 200 – Undead and Familiars

An hour later, my apprentices had returned from their various errands. The four who had helped in stripping the skeleton of its flesh suit were looking much better, instead of appearing as though they’d stepped out of a horror movie. All six of them, though, had slightly queasy expressions on their faces. Understandable, given what they had just experienced.

“Magic, my disciples, is affected by the mind, by your will made manifest. Part of this is simple willpower and unwavering resolve, but symbols can ease the way. There are many kinds of symbols. You have items, images, Names, titles, and actions. When conducting ritual magic, these symbols help the magic flow more easily through the arrays you may be using, and, should you be conducting a ritual with other participants, those symbols will help your mana mesh with theirs into a harmony, rather than clashing melodies.

“I am sure that some of you have heard that some magical ingredients and the like work better when you gather them yourself. The reason most people give for this is that they are sure of the freshness and quality of the ingredients before they begin their work. This is not entirely wrong, but it isn’t wholly right, either. The truth is that going and selecting and preparing the materials yourself is a symbol, subtly aspecting those materials to your mana.”

I focused my gaze on the ambassador’s daughter. “Preparing the corpse yourself, Lucia, even with help, is a symbolic action. If you just hacked away the flesh, not only would you have likely damaged the bones underneath, but the symbol of doing the work yourself would be weakened. And a weaker symbol makes for a weaker undead.”

I motioned her forward, to the circle where her skeleton lay waiting. The array was a simple one, with an octagon inscribed inside the circle, representing the eight elements. Around the outside were words written in a script none of them could read without assistance.

“This is the most basic ritual to create an undead warrior. The language written here is High Athelian, but, once you know more, you can use Latin, or any other language you wish. But remember, using a tongue you would speak with in regular conversation to do magic risks your magic spilling over into your normal conversation, whether you wish it or not. The same is true for ritual circles, but with the added problem that anyone who knows the language could activate the circle without meaning to.”

With a small flex of my power, I caused a cart in the corner of the room to roll forward. On it, there was a silver dagger on a simple cushion. “This is an athame, a ritual dagger. It can be used as a weapon of last resort, but it is primarily used as a focus during rituals and blood rites. It also has a translation enchantment embedded in it, so that, while holding it, you may read High Athelian, and your spoken words will come out in that tongue, rather than your native one. Naturally, it is not something you wish to carry around all the time.”

There were no laughs at my statement, though I saw a couple grins, showing that my students were taking this seriously. That was good, as it was not a joke, even if I made a bit of jest at the end. I stepped to the side, so that there was nothing between my students and the circle. “Now, Lucia, step forward, and take up the blade. You will need to offer your blood as part of the rite. Cut your palm, and let the blood drip into the circle as you begin speaking the words. Once you begin, the circle will guide you through the rest.”

Lucia hesitantly took the blade, and stepped forward. A pause, a breath to steady her nerves, and then she slashed her palm with the silver blade. She didn’t cry out, despite the obvious pain, which was a good sign. And then she began speaking the words.

Ebon light glowed from the chalk circle as Death mana filled it, channeled through preset lines to flow into the skeleton that my disciples had faithfully prepared. Her mana infused the skeleton, knitting the bones together with invisible threads of magic, and causing it to stir. The magic lifted the bones up, into the air, and set the skeleton on its feet. As she finished the ritual, dim blue flames lit in the skeleton’s eye sockets.

“Well done,” I said, as I cast the simple healing spell to repair the damage to her hand. Something like that was within any mage’s capabilities, even if they did not have Life as an element, but it was easy for me, as Heroine of the Elements Undivided. “Now, cleanse the blade and place it back on the cushion. A mage should never leave samples of their blood lying around, after all.”

When that was done, I nodded, and said, “This skeleton is currently the lowest form of undead. Mindless, and only able to respond to its master’s direct spoken commands. Not much good as a guardian, as it is now, until Lucia gains more practice, and learns to control her undead mentally. However, binding it as a familiar will grant it some intelligence, and will hasten how quickly it grows. Come, and bring your skeleton.”

We left the room, and went to one next door, where another ritual chamber was prepared. There were four chalk circles here, in sets of two, linked by lines. In one of the four circles, there was a black-furred female panther in a cage. It was not quite to the point of becoming a monster, but it had been infused with Shadow mana, which made it perfect for bonding with Won.

“Lucia, direct your skeleton into the circle next to the cat, and then both you and Won stand in the circles connected to your respective familiars. Make sure not to smudge the circles, or the results can be… unfortunate.”

As the two did as they were told, I looked to the other apprentices. “The process of binding a familiar takes another creature, and links their body, magic, mind, and soul, if they have one, to your own. For a living familiar, like the cat, this link will help to mold the familiar’s personality, and ensure that master and familiar can communicate without spoken words, though at first the familiar will have a limited vocabulary. Their vocabulary may be childlike, at first, but you would be gravely mistaken to treat them as a child.

“Of course, it goes without saying that you should not abuse your familiar. They may be bound to you, and incapable of harming you directly, but a familiar knows all your secrets, and, should they be resentful enough, you will find many ways that they can stage minor rebellions without going against the binding. Even something as simple as just… not telling you about an attack that is about to come, for instance, allowing some other party to end you for them.

“On the other hand, nonliving familiars, like undead and constructs, take on facets of their owner’s personality to begin with, and then grow from there. They will be able to understand their master’s mental commands, and communicate with them in turn, but, unlike a living creature, their communication will be primarily in images and impressions, until they grow in power enough to learn languages, and if you want them to speak out loud, you will need to teach them to use their magic in that way.”

Looking back at my two witches, I said, “The familiar binding ritual is deceptively simple. However, when binding two creatures together, as you are, you must take care to follow the steps exactly. Otherwise, you may end up with any number of unfortunate ‘accidents’, such as the would-be familiar becoming the Master, or your souls switching bodies, or even finding your two bodies merged together. All that and more is possible.”

Lucia’s eyes widened. “You mean like what happened to the Heroes of Light when you were undoing the seals?”

“Similar, yes. Though far more likely to result in some horrific abomination that may not be able to survive without magic actively sustaining them than some kind of angel knock-off. And, even if you were combined with a soulless creature like your skeleton, there, and avoided having your soul merged with another, your soul would still be damaged by the experience. Indeed, any undead’s soul has been damaged, and altered, in some way. A lich, for instance, finds that their capacity to feel human connections has been muted, meaning that one such as I has to actively work to feel any emotional connection to the living. It is not something I would recommend for any of you.”

María raised a hand. “What about vampires, Mistress? How is my soul damaged?”

“That is simple. A Vampire is a creature of thirst. Thirst for sensation as much as blood. More importantly, you are a predator, and you know it, deep in your bones. Other than those humans who are connected to you in some way, how many mortals have you looked at, and not thought of how they would taste, or how they might fuck? And how many would you actually care about if they did not survive the night with you?”

The vampiress ducked her head slightly. “I thought that was just part of adjusting to everything, once I got free.”

“Your mind adjusting to the new reality is certainly part of it, but you could say that your soul is ‘slanted’ that way, now. It is not impossible for a vampire to find an actual loving relationship, as well as friends, family, and the like. Certain attitudes and feelings come easier to you than others, but you are not bound to them, or programmed by them. You still have a soul, after all, even if it has been changed, and the free will to find your own path.”

Looking back to the two apprentices in the circles, I nodded once. “Now, I’ve worked with both of you on this spell, and checked over both the circles you drew to ensure their accuracy. You know the image, of your soul linking with your partner. As with Lucia’s raising of her skeleton, once you begin, the circle will pull the magic through you. You need only open yourself to it. And, at the end, you will give your familiar a name, which will bind it to you.”

The two apprentices took a breath, and began to speak. As with the previous ritual, once started, the magic began moving through the circle of its own accord, drawing from them. That was the biggest danger with magic circles, of course. They did not care who started putting mana in, once the process began, it continued until the end, or the caster died from being drained of all their mana. You were riding the wave, not controlling it.

Fortunately, I had double and triple-checked these circles, to ensure that there were no mistakes. So long as the two held the proper image in their heads, and properly powered the ritual to the end, they would succeed. However, it was important to put the proper amount of fear and respect into a young apprentice when they were just learning, because larger, more intricate, more advanced rituals were far less forgiving. One needed to have a cataclysmic lapse to fail in the familiar binding ritual, but the more powerful rituals could spiral out of control with the smallest of mistakes, or could cause fatal flaws that you could not see until it was too late.

Indeed, Murena had guided me to one such ritual in the other world, a rite that had been purposefully sabotaged, but in a subtle way. Oh, the spell had created a barrier that kept the demons out of the city of Greenfield, but the court mage had slipped in a few lines, which caused all those under the barrier for more than a moon to become his slaves. The city itself was like one giant Slave Collar, and no one could object, because by the time anyone uncovered the truth, it was already too late.

Naturally, after I passed through on my way to destroy the Demon King, Greenfield was renamed to Barren Hold. Nothing would grow there for a hundred years or more, and the souls were released to freedom in the afterlife. The corrupt court mage, however, had his soul ripped apart to fuel more enchantments for my army.

“Nolan!” “Geulimja-baltob!”

As one, the two finished their spells. A mark like a skull and feather engraved itself on the pelvis of the skeleton, while a single crescent of the panther’s fur turned silver, on her left flank. That mark would become their ‘signature’, in many ways. It was like a maker’s mark on a crafted item, but for spellwork.

“Well done, my apprentices. Now, let us see about getting ‘Nolan’ some gear fit for a Skeleton Warrior. Oh, and Won, you will want to talk with Shadowclaw about accessories and armor, and see who you might commission for the work. At the very least, giving her a collar which can function as a Shield charm, and teaching her to use it properly, will help.”