Academic gathering with Lich colleagues

Mr. Dragon said quietly, "Fifty years ago, the Crusades..."

"Huh?!" I remember the Crusades were supposed to be aimed at Muslim-occupied territories, a religious and military campaign to combat heretics. How could it have led to the extinction of dragons?

“I remember, sir, historical records show that the Crusades were against infidels.”

"That's just something to fool you. As the Church's power expands, the influence of the Holy Light continues to grow. Some rare and magical creatures have appeared under the Holy Light. The Holy Light, which is human-centered, promotes human purity from the bottom of its heart. They believe that humans are supreme. So, do you think they will be hostile to human heretics who might be educated, or to those beautiful and strong alien creatures?"

"Those damned church members, if they had actually gone to kill those damned heretics, that would have been fine, but instead they all went to slay dragons. Those are dragons, the most powerful creatures at the top of the food chain, with long lifespans and magnificent physiques. Dragons possess intelligence no less than that of humans. Given time, those beautiful creatures will surely replace us as the rulers of the world. No, they have always been, the supreme rulers. Those fools of the Holy Light, for the sake of mindless glory, inflicted violence on such a species and even swaggered over their corpses. Although, to avoid panic, this massacre was whitewashed as a war against the heretics, those mournful dragon bones are still hanging properly in the homes of those bastards, those damned scoundrels."

Listening to Mr. Dragon's inhumane remarks, Lyle fell silent. He always had the feeling that the Holy Light was always the scapegoat in this era, but the Holy Light's ability to take the blame was undeniable. After all, it was a dragon. The Crusades wiped out the dragons. Lyle became more determined not to be exposed by the Holy Light.

Lyle felt he could understand the church's attack on the dragon.

That's a dragon! If I had the ability, I'd be a dragon slayer and hang the dragon's head in my living room. How wonderful!

Seeing that Mr. Dragon couldn't help but stand up and spout nonsense, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws, he cursed the ancestors of the Holy Light for eighteen generations.

Lyle felt he had become part of Andrei's life.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Spirit Summoning

The intimate conversation with Mr. Dragon lasted for nearly an hour. Seemingly realizing that the time was up, the enthusiastic Mr. Dragon switched to teacher mode, which was originally the gentle elder mode.

He led Lyle down the castle corridor, explaining things along the way that were related to the upcoming lessons.

"Our classrooms are on the first basement floor of the castle. Andre's open-recruitment professors are different from ordinary master-apprentice relationships. We will conduct classes strictly according to the schedule specified by Andre, and the schedule will be distributed to individual members. As for those who have joined the club, senior members will inform you. The open classes will cover some relatively simple knowledge. Of course, this does not mean that it is not important. It is the foundation and the cornerstone for your future."

The basement of Andre Castle was rather eerie. Instead of light bats for illumination, primitive torches were used, and heaven knows what fuel they used. The flames emitted a sinister blue light.

Lyle felt a little scared.

Mr. Dragon pushed open the classroom door.

The room was already full of people, standing straight in their places, orderly and motionless like puppets. Lyle was startled by the silence of his classmates.

In particular, as the creaking sound of the door opening broke the silence inside, all the students' masks turned towards Lyle, shifting with his movement.

Mr. Dragon did not react excessively to the scene. He led Lyle to the podium and put Lyle in a seat near the podium. The students who were standing there did not say anything and silently made room for Lyle.

Lyle was about to express his gratitude, but he almost bit his tongue. On his desk lay a skeleton, which looked like the skull of a small dog less than half a meter long.

Why are there bones on the seat?

Lyle looked at the classmate to his side, wanting an explanation, and his gaze fell on the front of his desk, where there was also a skeleton, a rat's.

Lyle looked behind him and saw a rabbit skeleton, a snake skeleton, a chicken skeleton, one in front of each student.

This was definitely not a student's prank, Lyle thought, looking at Mr. Dragon walking on the podium.

These are the teaching materials.

"Spiritualism is the study of attaching a soul to the physical body. I am the dragon, your instructor. Today, we will have our first lesson in spiritualism, which is to awaken the soul that has been left in the physical body..."

Spiritual communication.

The spells that awaken the soul of the dead and imprison it within their bones are undoubtedly among the most egregious examples of methods that desecrate the dead.

How did I end up becoming a necromancer without even realizing it?

"What's on your table are the animal carcasses I've collected. That's our main topic tonight. I'll explain the process in detail, and you'll do the actual work. Don't worry, it's not difficult."

"By the way, because these animals all died of natural causes, the chances of them being awakened are reduced by a level. Only the skeletons filled with resentment are the easiest to awaken."

“Let me emphasize this: although this is academic research, I will not allow you to torture animals to death in private and then conduct experiments, violating my rules,” Mr. Dragon lowered his voice, his throat sounding like a wolf grinding its teeth, “The consequences will be severe.”

Lyle shuddered, and the other students nodded eagerly. No wonder he was Mr. Dragon, an animal lover.

“Spells need a medium to be formed, and for you beginners, that is a staff.”

"That's why I taught the first lesson on reviving corpses, because the way a staff is made is very similar to this spell. As a member of Andrei, making your own staff is what truly marks the beginning of your journey."

"This is my suggestion, because the staff needs to have good conductivity..."

"Therefore, your best material should be human remains. Current data proves that the human bone staff is a superior staff..."

“Professor Dragon,” a student raised his hand, “I once read in a book that magical creatures like sirens and tree spirits have much better magical conductivity than humans…”

Mr. Lyle is certain that Mr. Dragon has smuggled in his own agenda.

“Those magical creatures are indeed superior, but they are also the most likely to go out of control. Only human remains are the most suitable for you as beginners.”

"Among them, staves made of finger bones are more suitable for precise magic, spine is suitable for energy conduction, leg bones are suitable for solidification spells, and hand bones are suitable for destruction spells."

“But Professor Dragon, I haven’t seen many predecessors wielding staffs in Andre.”

"That's because they've adapted to wandless spellcasting. Their affinity for magic determines whether you need a wand as an auxiliary medium. A wand is like a corrector and an amplifier. If you want to get rid of it, you'll at least have to become a great wizard."

“Mr. Dragon,” Lyle raised his hand, “excuse me, would a wooden staff be acceptable? I have no way of obtaining human bones.” Only a fool would use human bones to make a staff.

“Ah, Mr. Plague Doctor, the staff can be made of wood, walnut or oak, but the effect will be less, and you don’t need to care about the source of the material at all,” Mr. Dragon seemed to smile. “You can use my spine or thigh bone.”

……

I glanced subconsciously at the legs of Mr. Dragon's mascot costume, which I suppose refers to the thigh bones he collected, but it felt strange.

"Please excuse me for refusing."

"But, Mr. Dragon, you haven't explained the connection between making the staff and reviving the corpse."

"The staff is an extension of your limbs. In order to create a staff that is unique to you, we will place our own mark on it, which is a part of your soul."

"This involves a part of the study of the soul. The definition of the soul is actually quite general, but we only need the part that we are certain about, that is, the components of the soul, including memories and self-awareness."

"Memories may be forgotten, but they will not be lost; the self is different, it will change and disappear."

"The bones of the dead contain the soul of the living, that is, their memories and their self."

"Resurrecting a corpse involves a currently controversial point in necromancy."

"When a person dies, memories are engraved on the bones, which is a lock, and the self is the key. If you retain enough of your self after death, then this key will unlock your lock, and you will remember who you are, what you want to do, and then manipulate the corpse to stand up again. This is the lich."

"And the same is true of the resurrection of the dead. You use your own self to create a key to unlock someone else's lock."

"At this point, the corpse is under your control; even if it retains its memories, it will obey your commands."

"Currently, there are two controversies surrounding this spell in necromancy. One view is that the invading self stimulated the original self, causing the corpse to revive. The skeleton is just another person we have enslaved, which is why you have heard about the dead betraying us."

"One view is that our self is the true master of that body. It is our self that manipulates that body according to its memories, which is equivalent to our own clone. That's why it obeys your orders. As for the reason for betrayal, it's because your self has been influenced by the memories. Your self has been corrupted and turned into another person."

"Regardless of the difference between the two versions, one thing is clear: the resurrection of a corpse requires you to infuse your soul, which is similar to making a staff."

"One is investing something that already has an owner, and the other is investing something that has no owner."

Chapter Twenty-Three: Alphonse, the Death Hound

"Preserve the integrity of the remains; if necessary, you can try to sew them up. Next, you need to prepare a five-petaled nightshade. Most nightshades have four petals, so a five-petaled nightshade means it contains the fifth element, spirit. It is said that this is the beloved flower personally cultivated by the goddess of death, and in the past, sects that worshipped the goddess of death would carry this nightshade as a sign of respect. It is the only material needed for our ritual."

Mr. Dragon took out a five-petaled nightshade as an example. It was more alluring than any Lyle had ever seen, with an unusually bright purple hue. "Place the flower in the mouth of a corpse, or inside the skull, as a guide."

"Next, the incantation..." Mr. Dragon read a short passage of text, almost like singing, which was unrecognizable and seemed to be a mixture of ancient Egyptian and ancient Latin. His words exuded a restless energy. If one were an observer listening to such language, there would only be one feeling: evil.

"Today is a practical lesson, so I need a student to demonstrate. Now, I'll teach you how to pronounce the Emmo language..."

Mr. Dragon began explaining the pronunciation details of the Emor language, as well as some tips. It wasn't difficult; for Lyle, who spoke Chinese, learning a short foreign language was much easier.

Ten minutes later, Lyle became the first qualified person.

“Excellent, Plague Doctor, you are so skilled that you don’t seem like a beginner! I’m pretty sure you’ll give everyone a wonderful resurrection spell.”

Not daring to disobey, Lyle's gaze fell on the small dog's remains on the table.

"I've prepared the materials for you. As for the staff, you can use mine first; it will definitely obey you."

Mr. Dragon placed the five-lobed nightshade on the table and took out a short cane less than a meter long from the bag.

This is completely different from the staff Lyle had imagined, so it doesn't seem unacceptable.

The staff is pure white, slender and clean, and looks like it's made of ivory. A palm-sized sapphire is set at the tip of the staff.

Lyle had imagined the staff to be a shaman's staff made of connected bone segments, topped with a skull, and perhaps adorned with many bizarre decorations.

Thankfully, it isn't. "Your staff is beautiful."

"Thank you, this is my thigh bone, it's been shaved down."

Is it still made of human bones? With resentment, I took the staff, but its beautiful appearance lessened my repulsion considerably.

The bone staff wasn't heavy, and it even felt somewhat soft to the touch. It was special; it was definitely not just a simple stick. Even through his gloves, Lyle could feel a warmth. He felt as if something had entered his head, and his senses extended like tentacles into the surrounding air, touching some invisible magic. Now, perhaps he could do it. He seemed to be omnipotent now.

Insert a nightshade into the puppy's skull, and the purple petals will be visible through the eye holes.

By hovering the bone staff above the puppy's skull, Lyle saw shadows clinging to the bone as if following his own will.

Then he chanted the incantation.

A chill ran through his mind, flowing down his body—neck, torso, arms, hands, finger bones, staff—until the bones on the table.

Bang! A sound similar to a bottle cap being opened.

The nightshade was ignited by the flame.

A pale blue, rootless fire.

Flames devoured the flowers, and tongues of fire began to lick the bones.

With a creaking sound, the puppy's limbs began to move, finally supporting itself to stand up. In the end, the flames in its eye sockets merged into two streams, becoming the eyes of this undead dog.

The undead hound turned its body towards Lyle and stared at him calmly.

Lyle could sense the connection between himself and the undead hound, and that he might be able to control it.

Should I bark?

The dog spoke.

The shrill sound echoed in the silent room, surrounded by pairs of silent eyes watching it.

“You succeeded, Plague Doctor, incredible! I was even prepared to comfort you. You are more talented than I imagined. You know, to succeed on your first cast is definitely a great start to your mystical career. And you were lucky enough to awaken a little dog with enough willpower.”

No, I don't think this is a dog. What dog can talk?