My Necromancer Class

Chapter 322 First Command

The skeleton had chunks and chips of bone missing.

Much of its rib cage had been eaten, and some of its harassers were still clinging to its body.

Short, yellow curved beaks, shaped like parrot beaks, had dug into the bones and stuck there while trying to chip off whatever they could. Their bodies were long, black and slimy like eels. They were skinny though, about as slender as an arrow shaft while their beak-heads were about the size of a sword pommel.

All of their bodies had been severed by the bone weapons, so it was hard to tell how long these creatures grew to, but it wouldn't matter if there were hundreds of them, and about fifteen of their corpses clung to the skeletons body.

Ugh, gross little things… Jay thought, stepping back from the water and the skeleton coming out of it.

While it was a sub-construct of Blue's, he found that he could un-summon it.

Jay gathered the bones into his gauntlet, and released a few fresh sets so Blue could summon its sub-skeletons back. Blue would need some time to recover its mana, but at the moment they had time as they waited for the other skeletons to complete their mission.

On the swamp island, the dark waters rippled as a small skull slowly rose out of the water, only showing its glowing green eyes above the surface.

As per its masters instructions, Archers kept most of its body in the water, and covertly slid itself slightly onto the muddy bank, hiding its head behind a rotted log and some swamp grasses. While stealthily traveling underwater it had gathered some handfulls of muck and decaying black leaves which it piled onto its body, to hide its ashen gray bones. Its bones were already a few shades darker from the black water.

After it was sufficiently concealed on the edge of the woman's island, it let its eyes go dim, hiding its presence completely.

Further behind it, Sweeper lurked below the waters, ready to fend off any more of those bone-eating eels which may try to eat Archers lower body before it completed its mission.

Jay sensed them stop moving, so he guessed they must be in position. He briefly used the [Host] skill on Archers, and while looking through its eyes, he saw it had a good view of the front door of the woman's rotting cabin, and happy with its positioning he ended the host skill.

Jay glanced at Asra, seeing her wincing in pain.

"I'll get you fixed up soon, Asra. The lights don't come near this area, so I'm sure she'll have answers."

"Mmh, She?" Asra raise a brow, trying not to show any signs of pain as she wondered what Jay was talking about.

"Oh… the lights throwing fireballs had stopped chasing us when we got closer to this swamp." Jay pointed across the water, "just past this fog and over the water, there's a woman living on a small island… a large, beastly-looking woman. I'm betting she knows something about this wound you have. The lights are avoiding her, after all."

Asra still frowned in pain, but against Jay's expectation, she didn't show any doubt in him or question anything. Instead, she nodded, accepting his plan and trusting him as she closed her eyes.

Jay raised a brow. She… trusts me? Even while she's in pain she doesn't lash out at me or put me down?

Jay wasn't sure what to think as he glanced at her, watching her for a moment. She seemed so different to the humans he knew, and he wondered if it was a vampire-thing or an Asra-thing.

I suppose I'll find out when I meet other vampires… If I meet them at all.

While Jay wanted to venture into the clutches of a vampire academy, and feast upon the knowledge of vampire-style necromancy, he couldn't be sure of his safety. He wondered if, if he decided not to go in, what would he do with Asra?

Of course, there was always the option of becoming so powerful that he could send his skeletons to storm the school and take whatever he wanted, waiting in a safe location, yet that would come with its own difficulties - Jay didn't want to make himself an enemy of an ancient race of vampires who would, perhaps, be proud enough and have long enough memories for vengeance. And these ancient beings would certainly have their own high-level powerhouses which could take decades to catch up to.

Yet for now, his priority was to help Asra.

With Archers in position, they waited.

Jay had commanded Archers to give Red a signal when it saw the swamp woman again, but now he was just waiting.

Within ten minutes, he was sitting down in a bone pile, running his fingers along his sword. Releasing a small amount of mana from his fingers, about the size of a candle flame, he traced them along the blade, while manipulating the mana to squeeze and sharpen the edge.

Jay sighed as more time passed and there was still no signal, so he gave the skeletons something productive to do.

(Dark, Lamp, Handy. You can go out and hunt some lights) Jay waved his hand, shewing them away. (Blue, send the sub-skeletons to assist).

The three skeletons crept off into the fog, each of them taking different directions. They left slowly to keep their noise to a minimum.

Blue nodded to Jay and commanded the sub-skeletons. It pointed its skeletal finger into the fog, and all seven sub-skeletons left - Blue's five and Red's two guardians.

Huh… Blue can command sub-skeletons of others? Jay raised a brow. The commander role seems quite useful. I wonder how the chain of command would be affected if there were another commander.

Jay decided to test something.

(Red, bring your sub-skeletons back.)

Red glanced at Blue and then looked into the fog, and within a few seconds Jay sensed the two guardian skeletons coming back.

(Alright, let Blue use them for now.)

Red nodded, and went back to its normal guard stance, keeping its gaze over the black swamp in case anything sprung out, and its two guardian skeletons disappeared into the fog again.

I see… Red's commands take priority over Blue's orders, but Blue can give them orders while Red doesn't need them, he nodded, scratching his chin.

Quite an efficient system as an elder skeleton like Red can decide for itself if it needs them, and any surplus troops can be used by the commanders.

Blue waited by Jay's side, and he gave it one more order.

(Try to bring some of their bodies back. I want to see what these things are.)

Blue nodded, and Jay hoped they would bring something back that wasn't mangled beyond recognition.

I wonder what their bodies look like? It seems that they float and at least part of them are made from flames, or at least they emit flames from a part of their body, Jay thought, wondering if the burned tree trunks were like their homes or nests.