Walking at a brisk pace down the mountain path, Kaz was engaged in a deep conversation.

“You’ve taught me to harness the three types of magical energy available to Necromancers, but what about the types of magic I can cast? seems to be an elemental magic while I have no idea what could be classified as.” Ever the historian, Kaz’s mind was already busy trying to figure out how to organize his repertoire of incantations.

{Nearly all spells available to a Necromancer falls under one of four categories. The first is Blood Magic. This type of magic is the manipulation of life energy. Practical applications involve stealing the life energy of others to replenish your own. For example, you can steal life energy from an enemy in the form of their blood. You can then absorb this blood to heal any wounds you might have.} Ahriman excitedly started explaining, it seemed that the ghost loved to talk. Whether this was because he wanted to teach or if he had been lonely for so long and finally had company, Kaz couldn’t tell. In fact, Kaz didn’t really pay that much attention to this as he listened enraptured.

{Blood magic is powerful indeed, but it actually is powered by an alternative energy type. Namely, a necromancer’s blood. To use any Blood Magic incantation, a Necromancer must cut themselves and use their blood as payment for the incantation. The central philosophy of Blood Magic is that Blood is Power. You must never forget that. Of course, the reason that many Necromancers rely on blood magic is because the benefits far outweigh the costs. What a small price it is to pay a portion of your blood, and in exchange power a spell that rots your foe’s blood from the inside?}

“Can I die if I use up too much of my own blood? I know this seems like a stupid question but I thought the same thing about Magic Power…” Kaz cautiously asked, wary of being embarrassed again.

{Well, besides the fact that your question is just less stupid than the other one, no. You won’t die directly from using too much blood. What happens when you bleed too much? You get woozy and fall on your ass. Or other parts of your body. A necromancer who uses up too much of their blood powering blood magic spells just faints. Then, they’re easy prey for anybody to just come up and slit their throat. It’s embarrassing, really, but I do know of some necromancers who have died in that fashion.} Ahriman casually flashed the memory of a Blood Magic spell to Kaz. It seems that repeated transfers of memory has created a mental pathway between master and apprentice, facilitating the easy transfer of thought and memory.

“Hmm..so what exactly does this spell do?” Puzzled, Kaz didn’t know what to make of such a bizarrely named spell.

{You sacrifice a portion of your blood at first, then over the next couple of minutes if heals you for twice the amount of life given. It’s an investment. Ideally you would want to cast this after you have been wounded but before you’re about to die. The healing you receive is great, but if used at the wrong time the spell can be more of a detriment than a benefit.}

As Kaz thought about blood magic, a particular thought came to him. “Would it be possible to use death energy to substitute for my own life energy?”

{As both are different types of energy, yes it is possible. However, life energy is much more potent than death energy. A necromancer would have to use much more death energy to achieve the same amount of power necessary to launch the same blood magic spell. Blood Magic is a shortcut. You can use some of the most powerful incantations in existence for a fraction of the normal price, but personal sacrifice is necessary.”

“But what if I used somebody else’s blood to power the incantation? Blood is blood right? It matters not from whom it comes from?” Kaz probed Ahriman in his interest for more information.

{I thought you would come to that conclusion} Ahriman sounded smugger than ever, and Kaz’s heart sank. {Blood is indeed blood, but magic is channeled through one’s own body. Like the way I wasn’t able to keep my Soul Collection when I was bound to your body, foreign energy is usually rejected once in another body. When a blood magic spell is used to drain the life from another person, it is converted at an unfavorable rate to heal the caster. Of course the caster doesn’t get the full benefit since the only way to get full benefits is to use one’s own blood. Using one’s own blood allows for even greater energy conversions. Magic, at its root, is the manipulation of energy conversion to do work. This is the basis of Magical Theory.}

“So since doesn’t require me to bleed, it must be another type of magic?”

{That’s right. is a low level Hex spell. Hexes are more commonly known by non-magisters as curses. Although such a crude term cannot possibly adequately describe the complexity of Hexes, I guess they all look the same to the commoners. Hexes are a class of spells that impair your opponent. They rarely cause direct harm, instead relying on more insidious methods. Hexes weaken your opponent in many different ways. I will teach you one of my favorite hexes right now. Clear your mind.}

Kaz felt another incantation flash through his mind. With a jolt, he realizes that incantations of different magic types flash different colors. Elemental Ice magic such as flashed a dark blue. flashed a deep, rich red since it was Blood Magic. flashed a bright green. All of these colors had been single colors, so Kaz was surprised when the Hex flashed a deep green with some purple flashing throughout. Like a child with a new toy, Kaz promptly forgot the packaging of the spell in favor of finding out what the incantation does.

{ is a very obviously named spell. It locks up all of your targets joints, rendering them unable to move. The spell duration depends on the victim’s resistance compared to your magical power. A peasant could be locked up for over an hour while this spell could hardly faze a powerful magister. I once used it on a mountain climber and watched him fall to his death, ahh those were the days…} Ahriman’s voice drifted off, remembering particularly devious instances where he caused harm to others.

“Yeah….I don’t think I’ll be harming innocents anytime soon.” Kaz pulled a face. The thought of causing unnecessary harm to others went against everything his parents had taught him. Justice, his father said, was the most important philosophy for any person.

{Oh he was no innocent, I can assure you that. But I still have two more types of necromancer magic to explain, so I will not elaborate further.}

Nodding to himself, Kaz listened as Ahriman jumped to the topic of Death Magic.

{Death Magic is the manipulation of Death Energy, as well as the creation of undead minions. This is the meat of all necromastery. All of the great old masters of our art were beyond compare when it came to Death Magic. Death Magic is powered by death energy. This magic is particularly interesting because it allows the creation of undead minions. A veteran necromancer will be able to create undead minions on the fly during any battle. Alternatively, Death Magic spells allows you to manipulate corpses to your liking. Making a corpse explode, showering the surrounding area with rotting flesh will be as easy for you as breathing.}

“This is all very interesting, but is there anything that allows me to protect myself from enemies in close range?” Thinking of the inevitable time when some close range foe would rush him, Kaz wanted some insurance.

{You’re thinking much like I did when I was a budding necromancer.} Kaz got the impression that Ahriman would be beaming at him, if he were not a ghost. {This is the last skill that I will bestow on you today.}

Kaz’s eyes flashed, and he saw a short incantation black as the moonless night.

{Death magic incantations are usually shorter because they lack the power coupling part of the spell. Normally spells are made up of two parts. First, there is the section that harnesses the caster’s power. Then there is the substance of the spell. By skipping the coupling part, Death Magic incantations are often the shortest spells in existence. Death Magic allows this bypass because Death Energy does not originate from the caster. This key difference is what makes Death Magic so useful. As for the spell that I gave you, allows you to jump to the pocket of death energy being used.}

“So in essence, I will be able to teleport to the corpse?” Kaz marveled at the sheer utility of Death Magic.

{The more interesting part of Death Magic involves the creation of undead servants. However, Soul Power is used to animate any undead servant. Since you only have two souls, we will not touch on this subject right now.}

Lost in thought, Kaz almost tripped over a pile of dead Janaro soldiers. He had arrived at his destination. For the first time since the invasion, Kazimir was back at the Blood Citadel.