Once I got my laughter under control and the two of us finished our meal do we begin to prepare for the next step. It is time to see if I can finally animate my first undead properly that will be able to aid me in my journeys to come.

  In order to prepare Elrich speaks up “Alright, Nicol go and grab coffin four if you would and bring it to the slab. Now for us Thomas let us wash up before we begin.” He orders motioning to the basin on the side.

  While the two of us wash off our hands we hear the dragging of the coffin by Nicol towards the center of the room. Once we properly clean our hands we turn back and make our way to the stone slab next to the coffin that was brought forward. On each side of the coffin are engraved runes designed to both prevent the accumulation of necrotic energy and convert the flesh into energy to repair any damage the bones inside sustained.

  Elrich moves forward and waves his hands causing the runes to flicker and fade. Then he unlatches the clasps on the coffin as I stand near the foot of it and when he is done nods toward me. With ease of practice I grip the sides of the lid and move the wooden cap off revealing the corpse within.

  With the aid of the runes and the three weeks it has been sitting the corpse is now nothing but loose bones sitting on a grey fabric lining. Despite the runes effect small signs of freshly repaired structure are seen in the skull and forearms of the skeleton are still visible.

  “Alright lets get him onto the slab Nicol grab the fabric near the skull Tom the feet I’ll support the center.” Elrich’s voice breaks the silence with his orders.

  Reaching down I grab the grey fabric carefully not to jostle the bones on it. Without a word we begin to lift the bones slowly drawing the fabric up and outwards to expand it to a flat surface. The bones shift slightly from the movement with the toes and fingers being the biggest offenders before we successfully have removed the corpse from the coffin and I step to the right sliding the fabric onto the stone slab.

  During the process Elrich speaks, “Easy now keep it steady. Alright gently lower the bones onto the slab you two.” Soon Elrich takes a step away and moves the coffin out from the side as Nicol leans over and we place the skeleton squarely on the slab.

  With a sigh I let go and step back before looking at Elrich, “Well now the hard part is complete, how should we begin.” I ask while Nicol steps away and seals the coffin back up.

  Elrich looks at me and smiles, “Well considering tomorrow you will receive your class, I think it's time for you to begin to discover your own methods. I taught you the basics all gravetenders follow for preparing bodies, and with the knowledge I had from being taught by the Vallin family necromancers you are as prepared as you could be. It's time to discover your own method of preparation and reanimation.”

  At his words I begin to tense up and speak, “Wouldn’t it be best to follow the methods that were established Elrich, what if I mess up or I am unable to properly control the skeleton?”

  Elrich begins to shake a bit with restrained laughter, “Tom I never said I would leave, I’ll be here to ensure nothing goes wrong. As for the established methods,” He makes a dismissive wave with his right hand. “Those are all designed around teaching students in an academy style not an apprenticeship. All those who go far in this art form their own style of casting unique to them. It would be best for you to develop your own methods early to set yourself on your own path.” He lectures with his usual gruff tone.

  Gulping I look at him and turn my head towards the bones in front of me. “Alright, I suppose that makes sense.” I say unable to hide my nervousness.

  A hand is placed on my shoulder, “You will do fine Tom just remember the basics and find a path that works for you from there. And remember your affinities are part of who you are, do not hold them back, use them.” Elrich’s voice softens before patting my shoulder twice and he steps back and sits in a chair with Nicol at his side.

  With a frown I keep my gaze on the skeleton and step forward. Going over the process of preparing the bones in my head. Considering they are already cleaned and stripped of flesh next would be tempering the bones in my magic. When I was taught the basics by Elrich I was told to only infuse them with my death affinity. Walking around the side I find the spine of the skeleton and reach forward placing my hands on the collection of vertebrae. Steading my breathing I lean forward and begin to call upon my magical affinity for death magic.

  Soon the dark green light begins to seep out from my hands and into the bones of the spine. The energy begins to connect the spine back together forming ethereal strands of magic with a central column of raw energy flowing through forming a spinal column. As the column begins to form I think over Elrich’s comment on my affinities deciding to follow his advice I make a decision and begin to infuse the bones with my fire affinity as well. The bones begin to darken almost as small wisps of flame appear in between the vertebrae that slowly take on the green color associated with my ignite flame spell. Once the flames spread along the entire spine do I begin to add the earth affinity picturing an earthen shell containing the other aspects of energy similar to my own core.

  As the earth affinity begins to settle it causes the bones to begin changing. It begins with the bones becoming a light slate grey in color that darkens when it reaches the spinal column with burnt orange streaks throughout the bone. Finally it is illuminated by the deep green light emanating from the gaps between the vertebrae. Running my hand along the bone, I feel a change in them with a more rough stone like texture and the weight of their bones being much more almost double the weight it was before. But the other change is the most surprising: the bones are giving off a slight amount of heat not enough to burn but more warm to touch.

  At this I begin to smile and continue to infuse the bones that connect to the spine with the ribs being first followed by the pelvis. I skip over the skull in order to save that for last. As I finish the infusion of each piece of bone I begin to lay them out flat in line with each other spreading out the skeleton.

  As I continue I lose sense of my surroundings and time. Only occasionally do I stop in order to grab a drink of water off a table that was placed next to me. With the only light in the room being Nicols eyes, the few Torches on the walls, and the pulsing green from the spinal column, I begin to lose track of time.

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  Soon I place the last finger down and grab a hold of the skull and hold it in front of myself. As I begin to channel the energy my eyes lock on the empty sockets where a dark green flame begins to flicker. As the flame strengthens the skull gains weight turning the same mix of slate grey streaked with burnt orange as the rest of the bones. Soon I place the skull down at the head of the skeleton while the green flame dims to a low glow without constant infusion.

  I sit down for a moment taking several deep breaths as I check my mana reservoir. From all the infusions I have done and the earlier tests I can see my energy has dropped to around a quarter remaining.

  As I begin to rest I hear a quest scrape of a chair on the floor as Elrich walks besides me to overlook the skeleton laid out before us. “Incredible Thomas, simply incredible. The results of the infusion is even greater than what I expected. I expected the skeleton to alter slightly from your affinities but this is beyond what I thought. Once you are ready to animate it we shall need to test it against a traditionally prepared skeleton.” Elrich speaks his voice low.

  As he speaks Nicol begins to bring forth another coffin and opens it. With purposeful strides Elrich moves over and on an adjacent slab lays out a second set of bones. Soon he begins his own infusion as I watch. Unlike how I had infused the skeleton I was given he infuses the portions of the body in groups. He begins with the torso all the spine ribs hips shoulder all at once. It is soon followed by each arm and leg separately with the head being last.

  The entire process is both faster than my own and induces less change as Elrich only has a death affinity. That fact causes me to question him, “Should I come over and Infuse my earth and fire affinities to it as well?"

  “No need Thomas, I told you to use all your Affinities to help with your own path. Using only a death affinity like this is the traditional method and still used often.” He begins to explain before turning to me and continuing, “The reason I wanted you to use all your affinities is to help you gain a stronger foundation by combining your affinities. The few necromancers I know of who do so tend to have overall stronger undead creations.”

  Nodding along I begin to frown as I look over the ivory colored bones with green energy emanating from them. Compared to the light slate grey bones of the one I infused, the energy inside my prepared skeleton seems weaker.

  “Which skeleton should I animate first Elrich?” I question. “Also wont your affinity being stronger than my own make the one you infused stronger?”

  “You shall be animating your own skeleton Thomas. You also are right, my own affinity will affect the strength of this skeleton but not as much as you expect. Now take a few minutes to let your mana refill. Once you refill your mana fully you should be good to cast Grave Familiar on the skeleton.” He speaks as he moves back to his seat while Nicol is still moving around at the side of the room.

  With a Nod I close my eyes and begin to steady my breathing to meditate and recover. Focusing on observing the regeneration of my Mana it takes a few moments to begin. Once my mana begins to regenerate I focus on my core noting a few things. First the earth and fire affinity sections seem a little larger with the earth section doubling in size. On the outskirts of the fire section new the core of death energy the flames have taken a slight green tint. While in the center of my core the depth of death mana seems the same in size but its density is much higher than before.

  Spending the next few minutes analyzing the change before I focus on how my Mana has regenerated and to my surprise it is already half full. Confused, I open my eyes and look around for a second before seeing what Nicol has been doing. The incense placed on the wall are being filled with mana root and lit. That plant is commonly used to create potions by alchemists to restore one's mana. But I was not aware of the effect when combined with incense.

  “Elrich, is Burning mana root as an incense really speeding up my mana regeneration?” I question turning to look at the gravetender.

  Elrich grunts before turning to look at me with a wide smile. “It is indeed, It is not as popular a method as using a mana potion despite using less of the plant. However it is still commonly used when casting rituals or in locations of magical experimentation due this effect. And unlike with potions you do not need to wait several hours before you can take another.” He explains simply.

  Taking a moment I process that before nodding my head. It makes sense in this scenario as potions act as infusion but taking too many in a short period can cause reduced effects. But a temporary passive boost to many regeneration is much more applicable to this location and is not straining on the body unlike a potion.

  Leaning back I take a deep breath a few more times and focus as my mana continues to regenerate. As my mana rises I keep my focus on the skeleton I infused taking in all the details among the bones. The light slate grey base with burnt orange streaks along the bones almost dancing, with the green light from within the spine and skull providing a contrast to orange causing both colors to pop. As my focus on skeleton continues I feel my reservoir fill up and I rise.

  Giving a nod to Elrich I step up to the skeleton and stand next to it on its right. Remembering how Elrich would place his hands on the skull for his own animation ritual I copy the motion before pausing. I keep my left hand on the skull but move my right hand above the skeleton near the center of its chest and take a deep breath. Then I begin to cast tapping into all three affinities feeling a stirring of energy within moving towards my hands and into the skeleton.

  As I begin to chant the words the spell provided the green light within the spine and skull flare to life. From the spine the green light seems to flow out in strands of energy before reaching the bones around it. As the strands reach the bones it drills within them revealing a green light inside each bone and they begin to move. Slowly the ribs rise and slide into place, the pelvis slides up and tilts drawing the leg bones into their sockets. As the shoulder blades move down beneath the ribs the body begins to slightly float. Once it reaches the hands and feet the fingers and toes begin to align themself.

  Once the entire skeleton is floating and connected by the strands of death aspected energy within the bones do wisps of flames and strands or amber earth mana form. They move in a web wrapping around the outside of the bones in interconnected patterns forming the musculature needed. As it forms the skeleton continues to rise, the energy pulsing and condensing in the spine and at the center of its chest right beneath my right hand. A orb or dark green flame ignites within its chest and in its head both connecting to the musculature and web inside the bones.

  Soon the light begins to shine brighter from the eyes and I feel it snap into place within my core, a connection to the skeleton in front of me. Then the body lowers back from the floating state onto the slab. As the room settles the crackling of fire from torches and my breathing are the only things I hear.

  Taking a step back and feeling my mana reserves down to only a quarter remaining for the second time today I speak. “Rise up and stand in front of the slab.” I command to the skeleton that is still on the slab.

  After I speak my mana begins to drain as the skeleton moves. It sits up and rotates its body to set its feet on the ground before standing on its own using my power. At just under six feet tall it is slightly shorter than myself. It moves slightly jerkily for a few steps before slowly smoothing its movements out as it moves and reaches the base of the slab. I walk around to stand before the skeleton. Its movements took around one percent of my reservoir to move to this spot but I still cannot help but smile as I stare into the green light.

  “Finally, I finally did it just in time to get my class.” I begin to laugh as my grin continues before I just start laughing in relief at my success. It is finally time for me to begin my journey.