novelraw CHAPTER 322: Commands
CHAPTER 322: Commands
Lady Nanami's visit had been short but it had been noticed by some students. The next morning at breakfast the rumours and speculation started. Some had even seen Kotara and thought he was one of mine. Which had the expected outcome…
"Morning, Koyuki. I heard you have another undead." Leo stated.
I was sitting at a table with my friends as he approached holding a tray. Thankfully my undead took up a lot of space so he could not easily sit down next to us.
"No, that undead belonged to a visitor, Kotara is a tier three though." I replied.
"A visitor? Perhaps one of your relatives?" He inquired.
"Just a noble from Kitara." Helena replied.
"We educated them on the local fashion." Garm added.
Leo stared at the orthos and his bow ties. "Such a beast deserves a proper collar, perhaps something with spikes. You have been gifted with such a strong corpse and you mock it."
"Wow, that is stupid." The left head said. "A spiked collar clearly does not work with two heads. I would poke myself." The right head explained.
"The bow ties are a lot more civilized as well." Kaito added.
Hatsumi smiled. "We are a rather cultured group, unlike some."
"For someone spending a lot of time criticising the undead of others your own seem rather lackluster." Helena commented.
For once Leo did not look angry, he smiled instead. "Just wait, I am working on something."
"Manners, you should work on manners." Garm's left head said. "However I am still offering fashion advice for your undead, if you succeed at a tier three."
Leo shook his head. "You could have been a fine beast leading my pack. Such a waste…" Then he left.
"Should we be concerned?" Skadi wondered.
I frowned. "He still does not have a licence, as far as I know. Maybe I should tell Gronir."
"That is a good idea." Cassie agreed.
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After breakfast I was busy with other classes so it was afternoon until I managed to speak with Gronir.
"Ah, Koyuki! I heard you met Lady Nanami and her undead. A fascinating creature, sadly I was not able to join you yesterday."
"You know her?" I asked.
"No, I have not actually talked to her. I did run into Kotara though, while he was waiting for her, and we had a quick chat." Gronir replied.
"Ah. This is not about Lady Nanami, although I would like to hear your opinion on guardians. This is about Leo, he hinted that he is working on a tier three…" I reported.
Gronir nodded. "Not too surprising, he is ambitious and has a reasonable amount of talent. He is also rather impatient, I believe your success is making him envious. However, unless he actually raises a tier three I can't do much about it. I think he made some contacts during the conference and he might be planning a joint casting. The guards are keeping an eye on any other large monsters, or monster corpses, being brought into the city. But I also have to add, it is quite possible that Leo will become a senior mage at the end of the year. He might simply be preparing for that."
Our conversation was cut short since the lesson was about to begin. I had intercepted Gronir on the way to the classroom from his office and we had walked together. As we entered I quickly took a seat; all of my undead followed since it was necromancy class and they might learn something.
It was a bit funny, since my group took up the majority of the room. My desk was filled with cats, Hatsumi and Kaito stood behind me, refusing a seat, and Garm took as much space as a table. Tim and Tom liked to pet Garm, which he enjoyed. They were now contemplating raising a dog.
Leo was still looking a bit envious but he tried to hide it. Maybe his talk about a new undead was just talk and he was simply trying to look more skilled?
Gronir began his lesson: "Hello class! Today we are talking about commands! As you know, raising an undead creates a link that feeds them mana and allows you to command your undead. But have you ever wondered how that works?"
I frowned. I had not really pondered that. It was not telepathy, since we could not really talk, but we could send emotions, in a way.
"Many necromancers simply tell their undead what to do, with words. That works, assuming they are close by. However, when you use the bond you are sending the command with mana. It is not a true spell and every necromancer manages to instinctively work it out, but you can improve that." Gronir explained.
"How do you improve that, if they already follow our commands?" Tom asked.
"Ah, now that is the question, is it not? Koyuki, what do you think?" Gronir asked.
I scratched my head. "I am not sure, it is not about mana, right? I don't think I have ever felt anything when commanding my undead."
"Mana is not the issue, the amount is tiny." Gronir confirmed. "However, what else could be more efficient?"
"The orders themselves." Leo suggested.
"Yes!" Gronir said. "What you can learn is how to prepare a set of orders for a larger group and then send it during battle. You can package a more complex manoeuvre into a single command, which is important for lower tier undead, especially tier ones. A tier two has some instincts, which means they need less guidance. If you tell them to attack they will even make use of their abilities, unless you commanded them not to. They will understand what defend, or protect, means. But what about tier ones? Attack means they will just go after the enemy until you tell them to stop, mindlessly trying to kill them. What if you want them to attack, but stop at a certain distance? What if you want them to attack a flank until it breaks, then have them turn around and reinforce somewhere else?"
I had to admit I did not use tier one undead much, even in combat I usually created tier twos these days. Additionally I had my tier threes, who helped me manage my troops. However, not everyone had that privilege.
"If you open your book on page 63 you will find the basic spellform to create a command. Depending on your skill you can combine multiple simple commands, so a tier one can understand them, and create a more complex order. This is advanced magic, so don't expect miracles. At first just try to combine very simple orders." Gronir said.
Tom raised his hand.
"Tom."
"Does this mean I can make my undead more intelligent?"
"No, they will not become more intelligent, they will simply be able to perform more complex tasks, assuming you can break it down into simple steps. That will allow them to act a bit more intelligently in specific situations, if you get your command right." Gronir replied.
Maybe I could come up with some better commands for Frank or Chariot, but so far they had performed rather well. But it might open the door to have some more specialised tier twos. I would have to give the idea some thought.