2 Jack's Student

The time looked like frozen deep in this cold cave where a skeleton and a young girl were studying each other. The skeletal being was staring his first human encounter since a long time with great interest while the other was looking at him with melancholic eyes, waiting for something to happen.

The young girl was barely 1.30 meter high with long blond hair and dark blue eyes. Her small and angelic look was broken by her emotions which were written on her face, either indirectly or literally as there were trails of dried tears through the dirt on her face. Seeing her this badly broken, hardly standing up and remaining conscious, the skeleton spoke with fake joy:

"Young girl, what have I done to deserve the visit of such a cute being?"

Jolting out of her daydream, a spark of energy appeared in her pupils when she realized that this skeleton was indeed real and could speak. Yet, she wasn't afraid at all and replied with a small raspy voice as she had probably broke it after crying too much.

"My family has been... attacked by some orcs... After running through the mountains... And losing myself in the caves... I tried to find somewhere to sleep and... Here I am. Tell me Mr. Skeleton, am I still alive or is this... Is this a dream?"

"This is no nightmare young girl, just the harshness of life. Welcome in hell, or like some call it Kaneoldor. Hold it together tiny one, you are only grazing the top of what we call despair." The skeleton said in a darker voice than usual, his soul fire flickering painfully.

"If this is only the start," The little girl sobbed, "why should I go out and anyway, where could I go? I have no more house, no more family.." Her voice broke at this point, making the frozen heart of the undead ache a little. "Tell me, what should I do?" She asked, gazing at her last strand of hope, the last person she was willing to lean on before breaking completely.

"It is not up to me to decide of your future, young one. It's your life, not mine and you should live it in order to fulfill your wishes, be it avenging your family, creating one yourself or becoming the strongest being of the world in order to create peace everywhere." The otherworldly voice held no lies nor hidden meanings.

"Avenging my family, picking my own choice.." The little girl muttered while wiping away some tears. " And you Mr. Skeleton, what is your wish ? What are you doing in this weird place?"

"My wish isn't something that one should tell to a child, and for why am I here.. I am simply stuck in this god forsaken place. " The undead grunted. Noticing that his mana was full again, he threw a Bone Arrow on the half broken pillar that he has eroded during his stay.

Having small stars in the eyes, the young girl's expression changed for one of utter wonder. She seems amazed, and looks at the skeleton with a brightened look that surprise him.

"Was that magic Mr. Skeleton? And how is it possible for your arm to reconstruct itself like this? Can you do it again? What is your name by the way? " She spoke fast, nearly making small bounces of excitement and looking like another person from the girl five seconds ago.

If the undead could raise an eyebrow he would have done so but since he was a skeleton, he simply and literally dropped his jaw on the ground, making the young girl chuckle at his performance. Putting it back, he replied :

"Yes, it was magic. My body reconstruct itself since I am somehow immortal. I could cast the spell again but am limited in mana right now. As for my name... It should remain in the past, I guess... For now I don't have any. You seem pretty interested young miss, perhaps would you like to learn magic or maybe you know something about it?"

'This way I can use her to get outside and get a trusty sidekick to manage all the human's interactions for me. I'll have to recover my magical circuits and my heart first and I fear they are heavily secured, I will need all the help I can gather. Furthermore, a child is basically an innocence insurance for every kind of check... And beside, wouldn't it be funny to have a daughter after all this time?' His last thought brought him in some kind of nostalgia but his bubble exploded with the girl's answer.

"If you don't have any name, how can I call you... Do you like the name Jack, like the jack-o-lanterns since you have some weird fire in your eyes? " She asked while smiling innocently.

"Jack it is then. And you, young miss?"

"Evelyn..." She said with a tinge of sadness in her voice. " Would you... Would you be kind enough to be my magic's teacher Mr. Jack? I have no money to pay you, nor anything else to give..." Maybe she asked to secure some company for her, or maybe was she really interested in magic and wanted to immerse her into it to forget her pain. The immortal didn't knew nor wanted to know as he quickly secured his deal.

"Just call me Jack, it is enough. And for your payment, would you be kind enough to get me a few components outside? If you need some water I can produce it for you. After you bring me back what I want, I swear that I will seriously teach you magic and help you in your goal."

She wanted to hug him but he had to stop her, explaining the formation to her. A few testing with a stick taught them that only a fully entered body was stuck inside, she could pass an arm or a leg without troubles. Seeing the girl fighting back tears after drinking some water that Jack created made him feel quite bad for using such a naive and innocent young lady. After sending her on her way with a few advice and the list of the things he needed, the skeleton found himself in a mental struggle.

'Have I really stooped so low that I need help from a little girl? And am I really using a heartbroken being for my own shenanigans?' Dismissing the whole storm with a 'Since when does I have a moral compass anyway? I'll just do whatever I want and respect my words, as always.'

To kill the time, he mentally structured his magic course and weakened his pillar as usual. Since the girl took more time than he thought she would, he naturally started to worry and laughed at himself with a 'I'm really turning into a grampa, I need to fix myself.' Seeing her coming back safe and sound, he smiled and tossed all the berries, leaves and branches she brought him in the middle of the room.

Looking at her, he said : "Young one, while I'm working please step away and take a safe cover. Bear witness to true magic. Freeing myself is my part of the bargain and I shall start to teach you when we walk out."

She simply nodded, taking every of his words as an absolute truth and immersing herself in those magical moments to forget, or at least keep away from her consciousness what happened. Focusing her eyes on the skeletal magician in front of her, she saw him simply touching every item she brought and made them turn into dust.

after a few seconds, he started staring at the pile of ashes he was walking on and shook his hands weirdly. Then the ground started rumbling. His soul fire turned red and then a tempest of weird bloody ghosts started to form all around him, rotating faster and louder at every instant.

Even while knowing nothing about magic, Evelyn could feel that there was something very wrong about this spell. It seemed wicked and the tornado of wailing crimson ghosts scared her to no end. Yet, she still managed to see the golden membrane of the barrier appearing and fighting to keep it's integrity.

Then, she saw the first crack appearing. And the second. And the third. After a few seconds, a shattering sound resonated in the wind only to be washed by the tortured screams of the countless raging souls which rushed out. A few tried to get a hold of Evelyn only to be grabbed by a glowing blue skeletal hand and broken apart. When the vermilion horde went away, she saw her teacher battered and immobile on the ground.

Panicking, she rushed to his side and started to call him without any response. Even the weird fire in his head was gone. Slowly, she sobbed as she felt like history is repeating itself. Yet, when she felt like her despair was coming back, she heard a gasp and saw the skeleton moving like before.

"Master ! Are you alright? What was this weird spell?" Evelyn asked while worrying seriously.

"Yes, yes I am alright. I told you, I am immortal. Going through the Netherworld again wasn't a pleasant experience though. The spell I released is Spirit Storm and usually is a level 3 spell when cast by a normal spiritualist. Thanks to the items you collected, I managed to extract enough mana out of them to cast it while bearing a huge strain on my mind and soul but I still felt that it wasn't enough, so I mixed in a bit of forbidden magic and took those souls out of the Netherworld.

As you saw, they were... Powerful but a bit crazy. The strain put me out cold for a few minutes and I'll probably be unable to cast a single spell for a small week but it should be fine," the skeleton said while grinning. The pain he had felt while casting the spell was enough to convince him to never do that again but it still had been worth. Looking at the corrupted nacre inside of which ran veins of red, demonic energy and seeing the quartz structures smashed made him happy to no end.

'The rulers deep down also kept me for some time since I hadn't seen them in a while. They seemed disappointed of my immortality though, I wonder what they had planned for me...' Jack added inwardly while shuddering.

"In the end you are safe and out of there Master, that's the only thing mattering for me. By the way, what are those levels of spells? " Evelyn said while smiling, her joy radiating like a small sun.

"I wanted to ask you what you knew about magic and all those things but it seems that I'll have to work from scratch," Jack sighed. Seeing Evelyn trying to apologize, he quickly added : " Anyway, that's also a good news since you'll be able to absorb everything I'll teach you without having other knowledge, kinda like a blank page. The magic's levels are separated due to their power :

Level 0, it can wound a grown man.

Level 1, it can easily kill a man or wound a tougher monster

Level 2, it can erase a group of individual or kill a tougher monster

Level 3, it can destroy a small village or kill a group of monsters

Level 4, it can slaughter a small battalion or badly hurt bigger beings.

Level 5, it can make a city disappear from the map with its citizens.

Level 6, it can level a mountain.

Level 7, it may hurt an ancient being like a dragon or a millennial lich.

Level 8, it is a power never wielded by humanity nor witnessed by them, only found in the archives of the elder races.

Level 9, it is a power know to reach godhood. "

Seeing his student with her mouth wide open and her eyes filled with dreams, Jack inwardly smiled while continuing his explanation.

"During my time, human's archmage reached the level five, barely six. Few beings were able to wield such quantities of mana and power without letting it eat them from inside. Fewer were able to stay as a 'hero' and not as a 'monster' branded enemy of the kingdom but that's another story for another time !" Jack said while concealing pain in his voice. "What do you know about magic's types?"