Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 335: Light Magic and Undead

When I asked Gronir about light magic and undead the next day he told me to wait for the upcoming lesson. I was really looking forward to it so I was slightly distracted during my other classes. Finally the time arrived and I rushed towards the classroom.

Garm followed me with Nyx riding on his head. Hatsumi and Kaito followed slightly behind while the other cats were with my friends. Or maybe they were lazing around somewhere, who knew.

I was the first to arrive and took a set. Garm sat on the floor next to my desk while Hatsumi and Kaito refused a seat. They stood behind me with perfect posture.

The next to arrive were Tim and Tom.

"Is it true that you fought a light magic assassin?" Tim asked, as soon as he saw me.

"We heard Hatsumi drank him!" Tom added.

"Hatsumi was awesome, she totally kicked his butt." I confirmed. I also looked at Hatsumi and noticed a slight smile.

"Did he carve through undead like butter? Was it Leo's knight who weakened him first?" Tim asked.

"Uh, Leo's armoured skeleton did nothing, other than crumble. He got one of mine too. Or I should say, he got Hatsumi's undead. Light magic is scary but today's class should focus on it! I talked with Gronir." I said.

"Wow. Our undead would not stand a chance then." Tom said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"But we are taking joint casting lessons! Being twins seems to help a lot, hopefully we can create a cool undead too at some point!"

Of course, if they wanted a tier three they would need a licence and it was uncertain if they would ever become senior mages. The majority of magic users were normal mages after all. Then again, the military academy might have a higher percentage of talented students. But I did wonder if there was a special licence for joint control of a tier three? Was that possible?

"You need to be a senior mage for a tier three but if twins can do joint magic better, maybe you could jointly own a tier three? Maybe the spell could be modified in such a way…" I mused.

"You think so? That would be awesome!" Tom said.

"I am just thinking out loud. You would still need to convince the authorities to give you a licence, even if you find a way. Do not break the law." I cautioned them.

Tim nodded. "Don't worry, we are not that reckless."

The door opened and Leo strode in, followed by two skeletal wolves. Garm looked at their spikey collars and shook his left head.

Leo gave me a nod, then looked at the two tier two cats Tim and Tom had with them. "You two need to focus on combat undead. The recent attack at the party shows that Ilestria is targeting more necromancers. You need to be prepared."

Tim looked at his cat. "I doubt raising something bigger would have helped."

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

"Didn't your undead fail too?" Tom asked.

Leo's gaze darkened. "Yes, it shows that you need more. Sadly I haven't found a replacement corpse for a pack leader yet." His expression changed into a sinister smile. "But the useless adventurers have been apprehended. They lost my corpse and they will pay, one way or the other. And I intend to get every piece of coin from the assassins at the party too. Koyuki got a few skeletons so any other available compensation should be mine."

If there was a bounty on those I would want a cut but I had no problem if Leo got compensation for the undead he had lost. Not that it would change much. Had he raised Garm as a tier two he would look impressive but he would not be nearly as powerful as he was now.

The door opened again and Gronir strode in. "Hello students!"

He waited until everyone sat down, then he continued: "Today's class will focus on light magic and undead. Death magic is very effective against the living and light magic can be rather devastating against the undead. So, what can you tell me about light magic?"

"It can create illusions and make you invisible." Tim said.

Gronir nodded. "That is a common specialisation, yes."

"It can heal." Tom said.

"Light mana is among the best when it comes to healing, yes." Gronir confirmed.

"Back when I fought the fake Eve she used a light cage. The assassin we fought recently used light blades." I said.

"As you can see, light magic can be quite versatile, just like any other element. Most mages specialise on something because you will have trouble remembering too many runes and you want to be able to recall them perfectly during battle. Most light mages we have inside Neth are focused on support powers. Ilestria has quite a few more undead hunters. They have specialists to fight necromancy." Gronir explained.

"So Ilestria tried to kill me." Leo stated.

"Not necessarily." Gronir said. "While they keep some of their spells a secret - only taught to their elites - they offer courses for adventurers. Normal light magic attacks are similar to fire in some way and cause burns. However, specialised attacks against undead add their healing properties to attack the death mana directly. Sometimes they call it holy fire, despite the lack of actual fire mana. It will simultaneously try to burn the undead while disrupting the death mana inside the undead."

"But if they hit a living creature they would burn and heal it at the same time!" I said.

Gronir nodded. "They use that for torture but if they attack the living they simply use normal light magic that only burns. Combining the two effects is advanced magic, another reason why those mages are not too common. I guess I should add that the healing element of their holy fire can be used against death mages. Instead of simply healing you the mana tries to enter your body and disrupt your own necrotic mana. So it will burn you while trying to interrupt your own spellcasting."

"How do we defend against that?" Leo asked.

"The good news is, death magic is rather good at killing the living. If you hit them with necrotic spells they will have to focus on keeping themselves alive. Distract them with your minions and try to get a good hit in. Which brings us to your undead. Sadly, light magic is a weakness but it does not affect all of them the same way. Dual affinities can limit the effect, especially since you can use the other element to block. A draugr could cover itself in an ice shield, for example. Gear can help as well and then you have the simplest method: overwhelm them with numbers. They will suffer from magic fatigue like any other mage. There is just one type of undead you should really keep away from them: Vampires."

I blinked, then I looked at Hatsumi, like everyone else.

Gronir stared at Hatsumi as well. "You see, vampires are the most vulnerable to light magic. It is fascinating, since they have earth and water mana too. Normally other affinities should help but vampires are rather special. In many ways vampires are the closest undead to a living creature. Their bodies have blood, they even look relatively normal, just a bit pale. It is theorised that the complexity of a vampire makes them especially vulnerable to the disruptions of light mana."

"But you have told me in the past that an undead can have light magic." I said.

Gronir nodded. "I also said it is rather rare. An undead who can use light magic is something rather special, it usually means you kept the original soul when raising them and their body has a certain resistance to light mana. However, no vampire has ever wielded light magic, to my knowledge."

"Then why did Hatsumi defeat the light mage?" Tim asked.

"Her body used to be a light mage. I had assumed that element was purged as she was turned into a vampire but perhaps something lingered. It would be rather fascinating. There is also the spellblade aspect. Her body has been strengthened beyond that of a normal vampire. Also, it's not like vampires have never defeated an undead hunter. It all depends on the relative strength. That is perhaps the most important lesson: The right element gives you an advantage but strength and skill matter. A powerful fire mage could have simply incinerated your undead." Gronir said.

"Is there a way to find out more about light magic and my potential resistance?" Hatsumi asked.

"Ah, I was hoping you would ask! I just so happen to have some experiments planned. Perhaps you undead could join as well?" Gronir asked.

"As long as it does not hurt her and she wants to." I added.

Gronir nodded. "Of course."

"I would be happy to help." Hatsumi said.