Chapter 5. The first skill activation

Driven by anxiety, Michael jumped to his feet and grabbed the scythe and shield from next to the bed.

To say he was panicking was an understatement, as his mind kept conjuring possible scenarios after activating the Raise Skeleton skill.

First, he could summon either one or more Skeletons out of thin air or maybe the ground and scare the crap out of the sleeping old man. Also, judging from how calmly Al treated him after knowing he was a 'Wanderer,' it meant that this old man had some background. Maybe he was even a hidden bigshot!

'What if upon seeing the Skeletons, he starts blasting me with Fireballs or Ice spells!? What if he hates the undead and begins yelling to gather the villagers? I don't want to get lynched!!! Or what if I fucking summon his dead wife somehow!? That's a certain recipe for disaster!!!'

Secondly, there was also the possibility of the Skeletons acting up against his orders.

'What if the Skeletons don't obey my commands due to my lack of necromancy knowledge and automatically attack the old man? Or what if they are programmed to attack the living and start massacring the villagers? I don't want that on my conscience for the rest of my life! Not to mention that this old man's son is rich and affluent in a big city. What if he puts a bounty on my head after learning what I did here!?'

The short version was that he was most definitely overthinking things. By now, old man Al had already awakened and was looking at him with a pitying glance that made Michael almost keel over.

[Don't worry, child. You're safe. Nobody is attacking you here. I don't know what you went through to have such nightmares, but time heals everything.](Al)

"Nightmares???"

[Mhm... It's not the first time. You've been screaming in fright for the past four days when you were unconscious, making both me and that lass Martha wonder what sort of hell you went through before reaching us...](Al)

Michael drew a blank. He didn't know what answer to give to the old man's assumptions and was even more puzzled when he noticed no Skeletons in the cave.

It should've been successful because of the information he gained when activating the skill. But if it was, where are the minions?

Also, wait! He's been screaming in his sleep for the past four days!? How embarrassing!!!

"My deepest apologies for disturbing your sleep, old man..."

[Don't worry, child. At my age, I don't do much but sleep. So it never lacks in quantity!](Al)

Seeing the old man laugh so heartily, he nodded and placed down his weapons while still eying his surroundings warily. What if the skill is delayed, and the minions would pop up later?

With that thought in mind, he remained wide awake until the first rays of the morning light hit the cave, making old man Al shift under his covers. Now he was feeling both energized knowing nothing terrible happened and mentally tired from keeping his eyes peeled the entire night.

He was more confused than when a girl asked him out for the first time, not knowing that it was an option to begin with.

One vital tidbit to mention was that upon mental activation of the skill, something similar to an electric impulse would travel between his brain and what he assumed to be his soul, where this one single rune was already etched. From the looks of things, that was the rune for his Raise Skeleton skill.

'The impulse carried all possible information about the skill, and it was automatically activated even if I lacked prior knowledge of necromancy. Furthermore, it did provide me with quite the details about... OOOOOH! I see! Corpses! There are no Corpses nearby!'

According to the information imparted upon his mind when activating the skill, Necromancers have an innate connection to corpses and souls. They could use said Corpses and raise Skeletons to fight on their behalf, while the more powerful and well-versed in necromancy could even stitch corpses and souls together to form a Golem.

A Golem was much more powerful and more buffed up than the Skeletons. It also had a budding intelligence thanks to the souls used to forge it, enabling it to use specific skills. That, coupled with its high health, made it the perfect meatshield, while the Necromancer threw bone spears and other curses from behind it.

'Crap! I am swimming in an ocean of knowledge, and it feels that I don't have enough time or brain cells to process everything... The good news is that I won't randomly summon Skeletons by mistake, so it's one less thing to worry about.'

Also, with these four possible minions, he could finally see an easy solution to his first quest. Four unfeeling and unliving minions could easily take care of ten wolves at once. Surely!

The only problem was, where should he find fresh Corpses from? It was taboo to go to people's cemeteries and turn their loved ones' flesh into mush, only to make their skeletal structure get up and run around the village.

[You're up, child? You don't seem to have slept a wink last night... are you alright?](Al)

"Don't worry, old man. I've been sleeping for the past four days, and my body is full of energy. It makes it rather hard to embrace the bed. I've been using that time to figure out how to solve your request."

[Hmm. You seem to be stuck at something?](Al)

"Yeah..."

[If you're worried about fresh corpses, some animal remains are in the pit. Various diseases plagued them, and they were only small animals, but from my limited understanding of your class, the corpse itself is just an offering to summon the real deal, right?](Al)

"Eh?"

Leaving aside the news about how his summoning skill works, the fact that this old man knew about his class and seemed okay about it was suspicious as hell. What is he planning? How did he know?

"Old man, how did you know I'm a Necromancer?"

[Huh? What are you talking about, child? Everyone in the village knows.](Al)

"What? Everyone?"

[Of course! What other class would use a scythe as their primary weapon except for Necromancer? Also, you are as pale as they come. It looks like you've lived through winter only, not seeing the summer sun even once. There are also tattoos on your neck and upper back, used by Necromancers to become more attuned to Death.](Al)

Michael felt like a hammer hit his forehead, making his entire brain buzz. From the beginning, these people knew he was a Necromancer, even if he didn't realize it until last night!?

Seeing the delight in the old man's eyes, obviously enjoying his embarrassment and confusion, he wished a hole could open and swallow him then and there.

Furthermore, they don't seem very disturbed by the idea of having one such as himself or the children around them, making this situation even stranger. Did he overthink the whole thing? Are Necromancers not frowned upon in this society?

[Eh? Child, did you grow up in the wilderness? Did you think we would shun you just because of your class? Hahahahaha! Child, have you ever visited any cities or other villages until today?](Al)

"Honestly, I didn't. I've been studying under my master's for most of my life, and wilderness is all I know. Also, from the ancient books I've read, Necromancers were not very well received in settlements, especially by the Church and those faithful."

[Hahaha! That is from thousands of years ago. In the meantime, even the common folk have heard about Nephilim. Lord Rathma's story still echoes in my ears to this day. People understand that classes are just means-ends at the end of the day. There were many stories of corrupt Paladins and Priests, just as many as about bloodthirsty Barbarians and shifty Rogues. If anything, the Necromancers have the least troublesome characters among the lot.](Al)

"I see."

[It's just the typical case of misunderstanding. Necromancers are just like Sorcerers: scholars by nature. Therefore, most of you keep to yourselves and don't like interacting much with others. So it was that mysterious aura around your class, plus the corpses and Skeletons, gave rise to rumors. Though, you wouldn't hear even the Church complaining about the Necromancers these days. After all, they need all the help they can get.](Al)

"Hmm? What's that about?"

[*Sigh* Demons. There's been much activity, and people are whispering about another upcoming war between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells. There have been quite several demons spotted all across the continent, and many villages were outright slaughtered as a result. Do you still think the Church of Light has time to bother with Necromancers while their clergy members are the prime targets of these terrors?](Al)

"Old man, you're amazingly well informed. How come?"

[What 'well-informed'? It's just gossip. My wife loved to hear gossip when bedridden in her final years, and my son often made his way home with bits and pieces of such news to keep her happy in her last days. This habit of scouring for information somehow remained ingrained in my and my son's blood even after her passing. Every now and then, when he comes by carrying goods for our village, he also tells me the latest gossip from Kyovashad.](Al)

Breakfast followed, with the old man poking fun at him now and then. Soon after, Michael found himself followed by the entire village to the pit previously mentioned. Due to the winter and snow on the ground, it didn't smell bad, though old man Al said it's a different situation during spring and summer.

As for the cohort of onlookers...

[*Cough* Well, none of us ever saw magic being performed. The only Sorcerers we've heard about are the Horadrim, but they are the elite few hidden from society. As for Necromancers, they are even rarer.](Al)

[They say that you can open the gates to the Burning Hells. Is that true?](?)

[What Burning Hells, you dumb brat! If he could do that, the world would be already gone by now. Forgive them for speaking out of turn. They're just curious as well...](Al)

"Don't worry about it, old man. I grew up in a village as well. My childhood was filled with stories and rumors to pass the time. I only hope not to disappoint you all..."

Muttering the last part to himself, Michael felt an entirely different form of stage fright, hoping not to 'underperform' because of the pressure. The children's eyes were filled with expectations, while the older folk seemed interested in finding any source of entertainment possible to pass the time.

The pit was... well... a hole filled with garbage and different animal remains. However, Michael instantly focused on some of the strange objects only he could see. They looked like heaps of fresh meat, but the weird part was that he could see them through the mountains of garbage and other things covering them as if he had an infrared vision.

'So this is the 'innate connection' to corpses the skill referred to. It feels like strings connect me to them, but I can't see them. They are there for sure, though...'

Sitting silently for a few minutes, Michael felt his mind giving up the controls, letting instincts take over.

Remembering the tall dude in the sacrificial chamber, he followed his example and beckoned with his right hand.

"Rise."

A simple vocal command that wasn't necessary. It was more the inner child in him acting up, and he felt his cheeks heating up upon remembering that some tens of people were curiously watching his actions.

Deciding to thicken his skin, he didn't turn around. Instead, he watched intently as over twenty fresher carcasses exploded in motes of red light, only to begin reforming in the next second.

The transition was fast, and in less than five seconds, four Skeletons sporting a long one-handed sword began climbing up towards his location.

Michael wondered if he would be initially scared of these creatures, but he found himself mentally connected to them, giving him a higher sense of closeness than the humans behind him. It made him understand why Necromancers seemed to be the introverted type, as whatever social bonds a regular person needs could be easily solved with the help of a Skeleton or two.

'Well, except for more complicated stuff like conversation and skinship. From what I can see, there's not a lot of skin to go around...'

The two-meter Skeletons calmly waited for orders in front of him. He stepped forward and began touching them and inspecting their bones.

He was surprised to find only a musky earth smell around them, but nothing unbearable. His hands moved to the steel sword, and he was amazed to see it was real and didn't dissipate once taken out of their hands.

'I was honestly expecting something along the lines of 'made out of energy,' but I guess the old man is right. They did seem to have used the corpses as a gateway to cross over from whatever realm they were in initially.

They require sacrifices to open... the gate to this world? Wait a moment... why does that sound very similar to what Lilith used to cross over? Is she an undead on top of being a demon? Is that why she could see or locate me in the chamber? Or is it just that she's too powerful, therefore, the result?'

Theories once more threatened to turn his brain into mush, but he was luckily brought back to reality by the gasps of the children behind him. Turning around, he saw the children with tiny stars in their eyes rather than fear.

The adults also seemed to be impressed by the tall Skeletons, some of the men making bets among each other to confirm if they could take one down in a one-on-one fight.

'It does look like I've been overthinking things. However, I have no brawn to count on in this world, so I need to use my brain as much as I possibly can if I want to survive. Nevertheless, the quest will become much easier to complete with these four strong helpers.'