The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 199

Chapter 199 – Corpse Preparation

Lucia did her best to breathe through her mouth as her Mistress led them into one of the ritual chambers beneath the castle. She could smell decay in the air. Not as bad as a body left out in the heat, perhaps, but there was something dead here, that much was certain.

A dim orb of light blinked into existence in the middle of the chamber, casting a spotlight effect on the ritual circle. And the body inside it. Clearly human, and male. Asian ancestry, though she couldn’t tell what kind. Tattoos on both arms. Cause of death was clearly the gash across his neck. Someone slit the man’s throat. And now, his corpse was here completely naked.

Her Mistress walked counter-clockwise around the circle, until she was facing them all. She was in her human form, but when she spoke, there was magic in her voice, like when she went full Lich Queen mode. “Some of you have seen death before, up close and personal. Some of you have been fortunate enough to avoid such an experience. However, a mage, no matter their element, needs to be comfortable around gore. Unless you have certain rare talents or knowledge, like my own knowledge of Soul Magics, which can rip a creature’s soul from their body while leaving the flesh unharmed, your magic is not going to be like something you see in the movies, where a ray of light strikes your target, and they crash against a wall before crumpling to the ground, leaving behind a corpse that is intact enough that you won’t go past a PG12 or maybe an R15+ rating.”

Her eyes focused on each of them in turn as she spoke, before finally resting on Lucia. “When you use a Firebolt spell, you will become intimately familiar with the scent of human flesh as it cooks. A Wind Blade spell will leave people without limbs, blood spurting from the wounds. A Shadow Bolt spell will punch a hole in someone’s gut, allowing you to see through to the other side. A Necrotic Ray spell will cause the flesh to decay giving off the unmistakable aroma of human decomposition. This is the true face of combat magic.

“Of course, even if you do not use your magic offensively, you will still need to be prepared for horrors, when you go out in the world. If someone is grievously wounded, and there is no Life mage about, and you cannot spare the mana for a healing spell, then a Flame Sorcerer might cauterize a wound with fire. An Aeromancer may find himself pushing back against poison gas attacks, stepping over those he could not get to in time. The Shadowbringer may find themselves having to cloak a scene in shadow to keep the innocent from witnessing it, but their shadows will not block their own sight. And any practitioner of Death magic will find themselves the first line of defense when a plague threatens to ravage a land.

“To be a Mage is to look at these hard truths, and knowingly take them on. If you cannot do that much, then you are no better than an academic sitting in a tower, like one of those armchair generals who believe that, because they’ve read books, they know better than those on the ground, with years of experience. And no disciple of mine will grow into such a person.”

Her Mistress took a breath, and said, “Before you is the body of a criminal. His name is not important, nor are his crimes. Two days ago, he was killed by members of a rival syndicate during a territorial dispute. His only biological family has disowned him for his activities, and his criminal ‘family’ have washed their hands of him. This makes him the perfect candidate for this lesson, on the proper preparation of a corpse for creating a skeleton warrior.”

A tendril of shadow slid out from her Mistress’s finger, trailing off into the dim darkness outside the spotlight, and she swiped it gently to the side. There was the sound of wheels upon stone, and a metal cart rolled into view. Upon it was a collection of blades, saws, and other such instruments. Lucia gulped. Her Mistress had said that she would get a corpse for her, when she told her that she wanted a skeleton as her familiar, but she still wasn’t sure she was ready for this.

“As you can see, the skeleton to be is still trapped within its dead flesh. As a Death mage grows more practiced in their craft, they eventually learn how to cause a corpse to shed that flesh as the newly-animated skeleton rises up. However, none of you are at that point, yet. Think of it like math. When you are just learning new things, you need to go through the steps, one by one, showing your work as you go. As you grow more practiced, though, you can begin skipping and combining steps, going straight from 3X5=15 to X=25, without going through the intermediate steps.”

Her Mistress locked her gaze upon Lucia, and said, “This is your task, Lucia. You wished to have an undead as your familiar and protector. But you must earn the privilege. On the cart are blades, and trays. You must pull all the flesh, including all the organs, from the skeleton, so that you can be ready for the next step. However, you need not do this alone. You may ask your fellow disciples for help, if you like, but I will expect you to compensate them fairly for their time. The particulars of that compensation will between you and them.”

Lucia took a deep breath, but before she could say anything, María was standing next to her, a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, chica,” María said. “I’ll help you. After all, I’m going to need to do this at some point, too, yes? And you’ll help me when it is my corpse on the slab to cut up.”

Lucia nodded gratefully, and looked at the others. Tabia shook her head sadly, and said, “It is forbidden to desecrate a corpse by cutting or defiling it in such a way, unless there is some medical or judicial need. It is one thing to learn Death magic, both to combat disease and to use as a weapon, but I will not take part in raising another being into undeath. Not unless there is dire need.”

“That is fine, Tabia,” her Mistress said. “I will expect you to know the spells, regardless, but I will not ask you to act against your faith. While to the common folk a Death mage is most commonly associated with raising the dead, even in the other world there were many Death mages who had never even seen an undead, until my army came through their lands, and certainly had never raised one. You will, however, learn the spells to not just raise an undead, should there be need, but also to wrest control of them, if you find yourself facing one.”

“Of course, Mistress,” Tabia nodded. “If the corpse has already been defiled in the eyes of Allah, then the best any of the faithful can do is to turn them to a righteous goal. My faith limits what I might do, but too many have suffered because others tried to impose their faith upon them.”

“Mistress,” called Almir, “what of the rest of us? Can those who don’t have the Death element learn to raise and control the undead?”

“Yes, you can. However, you will always be at a disadvantage when using spells outside your element, just as any of the others would be at a disadvantage when casting Air spells compared to you. That said, I would encourage all of you to learn human anatomy. Whether you are healing or harming, that knowledge will aid you. So, those of you who are not participating in the dissection, keep a close eye on the proceedings, so that you know what is where.”

Lucia did her best to not think about what she was doing. María helped her, as did Nawai and Almir. Tabia and Won did not participate in the… dissection, but they did cast several cleansing spells, keeping the air clear and killing any diseases or bacteria that might be on the remaining… fluids.

Thankfully, the corpse had been mostly drained of blood, but there was still plenty of viscera and other unpleasantness. She did not want to know where the corpse had come from, or how her Mistress had acquired it. No, rather, she did not want to know for certain. It was already known that she had ties to the Yakuza here in Japan, so she must have reached out to them. She definitely didn’t want to know whether the man she was cutting up had been killed just so she could raise her first undead.

“Oh, dear, this guy was pretty well equipped, for an Asian man. Such a shame he’s not going to use it any more,” María said, as she was cutting his ‘equipment’ away. Lucia really didn’t want to think about that. She was no prude, but being an ambassador’s daughter meant she had to be extra careful about potential boyfriends. Plus, the boys at her schools, growing up, had been the typical arrogant rich crowd. So, she still did not have any real experience in that.

“María, don’t play with the deceased. Just because we are removing the flesh so that we can properly animate the skeleton does not mean we should be so cavalier with things. If you are feeling lonely, then you can see about getting one of your fellow students to ‘fill’ you, or we can see about a trip to Australia, to see how the Hero of Life is doing.”

“Uh, Mistress,” Lucia said, before she could stop herself, “is it true that the Troll Patriarch is the same size as an actual horse down there?”

The Lich Queen laughed. “Don’t be ashamed, Lucia. You are far from the first to ask that question. And yes, he is. Fifty-five centimeters, flaccid. According to what I heard, he is close to one hundred and twenty when fully erect. But I recommend that you find someone more ‘human-sized’ for a liason, if you’re interested. That’s not the kind of ride to start the festival with, after all.”

Lucia blushed, hard, but turned her attention back to the corpse. The knives her Mistress had provided made it easy to peel back everything from the bone, probably some sort of enchantment at play. Still, it was a lot of work, and she was sure hours had gone by before they were done, and left with a skeleton laid out in proper formation on the stone floor, with buckets (multiple buckets) of ‘mystery meat’ next to it. She was fairly certain she wouldn’t be clean for a month.

“Good work, all of you. The four of you who aided in the dismantling, go to your rooms, shower, and return. Ritual magics are dangerous enough without possibly contaminating things by accidentally smearing ‘juices’ across part of the spellwork. And since this method for raising an undead involves blood spilt, I believe the ambassador would much prefer it if his daughter didn’t potentially get blood poisoning from questionable sources.”

Her Mistress then turned to look at the two who had supported the process, but not actually assisted. “As for you two, place the buckets in the wagon, there, and take it to the kitchens. The ghouls will appreciate it. Oh, and before anyone asks, the chef had originally thought to do beef stew for dinner tonight, but I already told him that we would be doing okonomiyaki instead. I expect that will sit easier than a heavy meat dish.”

Lucia blanched at the idea of eating meat tonight. She wasn’t foolish enough to swear off meat altogether, but tonight was definitely a night for vegetarian. Or maybe eggs. Definitely not pork or beef.

“After you all get back, Lucia will raise her first undead, and she and Won will bind their familiars. In time, the rest of you will also get familiars, since they have a multitude of uses, but the sorcerers will need more control and the arcanists more knowledge before they can perform the spellwork properly.”