Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 350: Helping Out

At the beginning of the next week Leo returned to our classes. He did not talk much about the event, perhaps he was still processing it. The way he looked at Rose was interesting as well. I was not sure if it was fear, anger or envy that he felt? Perhaps it was a combination of all of those emotions. He did not make a scene, which was nice.

It allowed Rose to relax and focus on finding her place. She did seem rather interested in magic and started practising in her free time. It also allowed me to focus on other projects and the end of year exams. There was also a promise I wanted to keep, so I found myself on a Solday in a lab with Tim and Tom.

"Morning." I greeted the two.

"Morning, thank you for helping us!" Tim said.

"Yeah, thank you Koyuki!" Tom said.

"No problem. Nyx, Rose and Garm are here as well. Rose and Garm are interested in the magic and Nyx…" I scratched my head. "Who knows what Nyx thinks."

"Meow." The feline commented from Rose's arms.

The twins nodded at the undead, then they showed me a cat skeleton inside a box. "We have asked Cassie for help and she gave us a salve. We cleaned the bones and then applied her mixture." Tom explained.

"Can we give the skeleton an element?" Tim asked, sounding hopeful.

"I don't think that is a good idea. I could try to do a joint casting with you and add water but we don't know each other that well, it could complicate the magic. For now let's just do some necrotic enhancements." I suggested.

"For stronger claws and teeth?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, but I have been thinking, maybe we can add a necrotic poison of some sort? It would make the cat quite a bit stronger." I proposed.

"Wouldn't you need another element for that? Can you do poison without a liquid?" Rose wondered.

"That makes it easier, yes. I guess it would not be a real poison; just an injection of death mana into the body. For a non-mage who cannot vent that would be really bad." I explained.

"Will it have enough mana for that?" Garm wondered.

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I scratched my head. "I suppose that could be a problem. I am hoping since they raise it jointly the cat will be a bit stronger than a standard tier two."

"Are we using the same enhancement for the claws and the teeth?" Tim asked.

"No! I have a great idea for the claws!" I announced. "Death magic can disrupt other spells. I think we want to focus on that for the claws. Essentially we will enhance the claws to better penetrate a magical shield and the teeth to better kill its target."

"Is it possible to use death magic against normal armour?" Rose asked.

"I don't think so. Death mana does not do much to metal I am afraid. It might work against wood, I suppose. Perhaps it could rot a wooden shield?" I wondered.

"I guess we will have the hardened bones and claws from Cassie's salve. They should be ok against some armour, right?" Tom asked.

I nodded. "Oh, and if the enemy has natural armour, like scales, death magic might help as well. Monsters often have magically reinforced skin too."

"Ok, how are we going to apply those enhancements?" Tim asked.

"I did some experimenting myself and came up with the runes." I said, while pulling a few sheets of paper from my bag. "See, this is the normal rune for a tier two. But we can modify the spell! I have added another circle here and here." I pointed at the modifications. "I think during your joint casting one of you can focus on the main spell and the other one focuses on those modifications." I took out another sheet. "Those are the runes for the second person. You can see the two spells should combine in a joint casting."

Their eyes widened as they studied my drawings.

"Those look complex." Tom said.

"It is a bit advanced but you are doing it jointly. Didn't you say that being twins made this easier?" I asked.

"Sure but it still takes some concentration…" Tim muttered.

Nyx jumped from Rose's arms and walked over to the skeleton, then she sniffed it. I was slightly nervous as she licked it but Nyx was not generally mean. Not even she was gluttonous enough to eat the twin's project.

Nyx nodded, then walked over to my drawings. "Meow."

"I think she approves." I mused.

"What is this triangular rune?" Tim wondered, studying the drawing again.

"Oh, this is a small modification for commands! It is a bit experimental but it should work. You will still have a tier two but you can give it some routines. It should allow the cat to be slightly more cat-like. The idea is that your undead is not just sitting there unmoving but will pretend to be more independant." I explained. "You could also give it some combat commands. The modification should simply help with a more complex command."

"Awesome!" Tom said.

Casting the spell itself was more complicated than I had anticipated. The two failed on their first try. I did consider helping them with the joint casting itself but it was supposed to be their project. They would not be able to get the full credit in our necromancy class if I used my mana to help. So I limited myself to encouraging them.

When we missed dinner Hatsumi appeared with a plate of snacks and drinks. We chatted a bit and then the twins continued. While they tried to create their undead I taught Garm and Rose some magic. Nyx supervised the twins, or at least she stared at them encouragingly. Somehow she took the raising of an undead cat seriously.

"We did it!" Tim shouted.

I looked at the skeleton. The white bones had a grey tint while the claws and teeth were pitch black. Nyx immediately approached it and began her inspection. She sniffed it, poked it with her paw and ultimately gave it a nod. It was still a tier two but an improved one. The twins certainly looked happy with their accomplishment, they also looked rather exhausted.

Tim took a step towards the skeleton, then he stumbled and almost fell. Rose ny myself hurried towards the twins to steady them.

"Easy, have some water and take your time. Creating an undead can be exhausting." I said.

"Really? You get tired too?" Tom asked.

I nodded. "I have had similar experiences."

The twins sat at the floor and simply had their cat walk towards them. While they examined their new undead Garm approached. "Have you considered appropriate neckwear?" He asked. "I do have some suggestions…"