BEYOND THE CLEARING

Bori woke up feeling refreshed. It likely had to do with the fact that he had not done anything yesterday, opting to spend most of his time in bed while being served by the skeletons. It was the perfect leisurely day for someone of his age and it was well-deserved too.

In the past month he had finished Sage's reading lessons and coaching on magic. The phantom girl had absorbed all he had to teach her about letters and now spent most of her time engrossed in the books in his study. When she was not doing that could usually be found in the clearing outside the tower trying to learn a new spell.

Being Darkborne, her talent for magic was unbelievable. In this short span that she had been in the Main Plane she had already managed to advance her magic to the 4th Order. Bori did not know whether to be proud or jealous of that fact. It had taken him took over a decade to match her accomplishment.

With a sigh, he stepped onto the floor and ordered one of the warrior skeletons to bring him his finest robe while the other brought him an empty basin. Using 2nd Order spell [Create Water], he filled the basin and dipped his cloth inside, using it to wipe his body. When he was done he took his exquisite black robes from the skeleton.

The day before yesterday he had decided. Now that Sage no longer needed his tutoring he would go meet up with his old peers and see if he could obtain a 7th Order spell model from them. This was something he had been keen about for a while.

Quickly getting dressed, he went downstairs where he found the undead girl plopped in the armchair with a thick leather book cracked open in her lap. The study was too dark for anyone to read anything but that did not seem to bother Sage. His footsteps had probably alerted her of his arrival because when he reached the bottom of the flight she took quick glance at him before her eyes returned to her book. This had been the situation since she stopped requiring his tutelage.

"Good luck with your journey," she said noncommittedly. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

Bori grunted a response, not sure if the girl was even listening. He was about to descend the next flight of stairs when Sage called him.

She set the book aside and glared at him.

"Make sure to bring back some new clothes for me," she said. Then, with a scowl, she pointed at the robe she was wearing. "I'm sick and tired of wearing your old man clothes. They all look the same and smell of decay."

"I will see what I can get," he responded, not in the least bit bothered by her rudeness. After spending so much time with her he had gotten used to it.

Continuing to descend the stairs, he soon reached the kitchen. On the table he found a roasted bird wrapped in paper. It was clearly meant for him. With a smile, he took the meat and stuffed it in his robe pocket. Then his hand went into the other pocket. The space in this pocket rejected common sense as his entire arm disappeared within it. He searched around it until his hands grasped the familiar draws of a purse-string and the edges of his magical notes. Everything was there.

When he got outside he stopped for a while and looked back at the tower.

Then he sighed. I hope she doesn't do anything reckless while I'm gone.

Although Sage was a diligent student, with her personality she did not strike him as someone who would stay put. Honestly, when he first had first met her he had been certain that it would not take long for her to cause trouble. The fact that she had spent a month in his tower without acting up could be considered a miracle.

After uttering another sigh, he cast the 3rd Order spell [Flight] and lifted off the ground.

I hope she does not leave the tower while I'm gone. Things would be really bad if others found out what she is, he thought to himself as he took off.

***

That answers my question about the secret path the old man uses to leave this place, Sage thought as she watched the necromancer fly away. There is none.

Of course she had already guessed after learning of the existence of the spell [Flight]. However, it was good to have confirmation.

She kept watching Bori fly away until he was but a small speck on the horizon before she finally left the side of the window. She did not return to the armchair to read though. Instead, she began to climb down the stairs. Now that the old man was gone she was certainly not staying here.

She had been meaning to check out the surrounding for a while now, but she had been certain the old man would try and stop her. Not that he could stop her if she was adamant, but she wanted to maintain a civil relationship with him. Over the past month, as her magic knowledge improved, she had learned that her contract with the necromancer is the only thing that is keeping her in the Main Plane. If, by any chance the bond between them is broken she would be flung back to that desolate wasteland known as the Deadlands until someone sends another summoning circle her way.

She was determined for that not to happen. That was why she had to keep a good relationship with him. It was also the reason why she was voraciously leaping through the Orders. Maybe when her rank was high enough she would be able to find a way to keep herself tethered to this plain of existence.

Compared to what the old man had implied, advancing through the ranks had been pretty easy. Whether it was from tomes, scrolls or just Bori's illustrations; she had been able to pick up all the spells she wanted to learn without much difficulty.

The elemental spells were the only ones that seemed to give her trouble, especially the Fire and Wind element spells. Whenever she tried to learn spells of these elements she would always be met with some disruption before a new but almost similar spell is presented to her. When she cast these altered versions of the spells they would always contain an attribute of Darkness.

She had no trouble learning Earth Magic. Water Magic though… she was only able to ingrain those of the ice variety for some reason. As for Light Magic, she did not learn any of it. Bori, being a necromancer had no spells of the attribute. Even if he did she would never try to learn them. After all, she valued her life.

Right now Sage had already ingrained six 4th Order spells. They were [Dimension Door], [Incinerate], [Thunderbolt], [Force Wall], [Ice Spear] and [Dark Drain]. With these learned she only needed to find a 5th circle spell in Bori's study and she could advance to the 5th Order before the day was over.

But that could wait. For now she wanted to explore.

Moments later she exited the tower and stopped in the middle of the clearing, eyeing the tall peaks that surrounded her.

Ever since she had been summoned she had not taken a single step outside the clearing. Her entire month had been spent here. This place was completely lifeless, Sage was not sure if that was just the usual vibe or if it was because it was home to a necromancer and his skeletons.

The fact that nothing good to eat could be found here was another reason why she wished to explore the world outside this tiny clearing. The only food in the tower larder was maize meal which should have been thrown out decades ago. It was what the skeletons had been using to make their horrible slop. Fortunately the old man had stored some spices with which she had been able to flavour the birds she plucked from the air with stones whenever flocks flew by. But after weeks of fowl meat she was getting pretty tired of it. In fact, she had tired of it long ago. The only reason she ate was to savour the flavour and that flavour turned blend weeks ago.

I want red meat, she grumbled internally. She could no longer tolerate bird meat.

This was what was on her mind when she cast [Flight], the same spell that Bori had used to leave this place. There was no way that Sage would have missed out on such a neat spell. Having come from Earth where everyone dreamt of flying without the aid of props, this spell had been the most attractive to her. It was the first 3rd Order spell she had learned. Unfortunately, until now she had only been using it to levitate off the ground when she did not feel like walking.

She had gotten tired of that pretty quickly.

She rose above the ground, passed the tower's height and she soon hovered above the mountain peaks. She looked down and saw green trees in forest that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Having experienced the bleakness of the Deadlands and the seclusion of the tower, this was the most beautiful sight she had laid her eyes on since being reincarnated. She could not help but be dazzled.

Now this is a land worth being sent to, she thought before scowling. Not that dead place I was sent to by that fucking arsehole.

Honestly, if that guy had sent her here she would have been less critical of him.

Looking at the dense forest, she began to descend for a closer look.