“Well then, if you would follow me, I’ll get the 2 of you enrolled into the academy.” Drigor said, turning around while keeping his hands behind his back and walking towards the palace.

Varn and Kiefer looked at each other and then shrugged, a little surprised at the drastic change in the master’s attitude from a warm welcome of sorts to a sudden cold uncaring attitude. They simply followed behind the master, walking for a good 15 minutes before finally coming to a stop outside a large study room in the palace.

The 2 of them noticed something peculiar along the way. It was almost as if the servants in the palace were actively avoiding the master. Kiefer was sure he even saw what he assumed to be the princess of the royal family suddenly come to halt at the far end of the corridor and abruptly turned around in the opposite direction upon seeing the master.

The master said nothing along the way, just silently walking through the long hallways without as much as a footstep. Finally, when they arrived at the study room, he entered the room and signaled for the 2 to follow suit. In the room, he turned around, and from within his cloak, procured 2 medallions.

Passing one to each of his students, the medallion shimmered in the sunlight that flooded the room through the oversized windows. It was the size of Kiefer’s palm, shaped like a kite shield. Made out of gold rimmed platinum, the medallion must have cost quite a bit of money.

On the silver platinum surface, embossed in gold and black steel was a picture of the front of a dragon’s head with its mouth wide open. Within the dragon’s maw, was a human skull and what looked like misty orbs orbiting it. The dragon’s head was black, contrasting with the silver background, while the skull and orbs were gold.

While Varn looked disinterested and quickly stowed the medallion away in his pocket, Kiefer kept inspecting it. Sending out a tiny mana wave into the medallion, Kiefer felt a mana link between the medallion and the titan standing in front of him. He immediately understood the true purpose of the medallion. It was not just a proof of enrollment within the academy as Drigor had described, but instead it also doubled as a tracking device, informing the titan of the medallion’s position at all times.

While Kiefer was still busy inspecting the medallion, Drigor had motioned for them to get seated which Kiefer did not catch. Nudging him in the side, Varn silently gestured for Kiefer to pay attention as he sat on the wooden chairs provided. Both the chairs for Varn and Kiefer creaked loudly as they sat down, threatening to break under the weight of all the armour.

Looking at both his students paying attention to him, Drigor finally began his speech.

“Now you will listen while I talk. Any questions should be reserved till after I finish. First, you may call me ‘master’. Since you are the only 2 students this time around, I will be able to give you individual attention unlike my previous batches. The sole purpose of this academy is to train new necromancers to be deployed out in battle. As you know, humans have had the edge over the demihumans recently due to the inclusion of necromancers. The undead provide a free expendable and reliable army. There are several phases to this training regime before you are deemed suitable to be deployed. As to when you are able to proceed through the phases, that will be determined by me.”

Kiefer and Varn just sat silently, nodding their heads. They had many questions regarding the training and contents of the phases, but they were sure they would know in due time. Then, Drigor continued speaking.

“The first phase of training usually takes the longest, ranging anywhere from a week to half a year. In this phase, you will focus on expanding your mana capacity. To do so, you will spar with each other or against me until the point of mana exhaustion. Then you will rest overnight and repeat the process daily.” Drigor paused and looked at Varn closely. Then, addressing Varn specifically, he continued.

“It looks like your armor is not designed to help you improve in my academy. As such, I will have a piece of armour of your choice crafted out of mithril. It is mandatory as that will help you recover mana so much fast and shorten your time in phase 1. Of course, it will not be free and will be deducted from your pay when you are deployed. Naturally, you have no say in this as it is crucial you possess the mitril armor tailored specifically to you. Your fellow classmate is undoubtedly rich, he already possess a full set of mithril armour so there is no need for me to craft one for him.”

Varn looked like he was about to voice out a complaint, opening his mouth, but then decisively shutting it again, making sure he did not offend his instructor. His face on the other hand showed clearly how he felt about it and Kiefer could tell that there was a hint of envy and jealousy coming from Varn’s eyes.

“Now once I’ve determined that you are prepared to move on, you will be taught the spell in phase 2, along with the mechanisms behind the spell. It will take you some time to successfully invoke the spell since it is quite complex, but once you do, you will have permanent access to the netherworld. However, this comes with a price as your mana recovery rate will be diminished greatly, hence the need for the mithril armor.” (Drigor)

At this point, Kiefer was already bursting with questions, not for the master, but for Drigor. “Why do you need to train necromancer? What do you stand to gain out of the war? Why not do it yourself? How are you going to determine if we are ready? What will you do if I refuse to go to war? What is the netherworld?” These were just some of the questions racing through his head. However, as Drigor had instructed at the beginning, Kiefer kept the questions to himself, still troubled that the titan was keeping secrets and withholding information from him.

“Finally, once you are able to establish and stabilize the link with the netherworld, we will practice summoning the undead from the netherworld. This is the last phase and if the quantity you are able to summon is sufficient, you will then graduate and be deployed into the field where you will make a difference in this war.” Drigor concluded. Without waiting for Kiefer or Varn to ask any questions, Drigor had called in 2 servants and led the students to their various rooms, but not before showing them the training grounds where they would be sparring.

They rested in their individual rooms that night, Kiefer mostly glad to be alone because he could finally take off his armour that had been starting to feel very suffocating. He arranged them neatly in one corner of the room, not using his PD in case someone walked into his room and found it suspicious that his armour was nowhere to be found.

Kiefer did not sleep that night, trying to come up with excuses and reasons to explain his own existence to his only classmate. While he was glad that they did not have to introduce themselves, he felt that interaction between him and Varn would be unavoidable in the future, so the best course of action would be to just get it over with. The longer he dragged it out, the harder it would be. So the next day, he turned up for breakfast without his usual intimidating armour.

Varn’s face was indescribable, while Drigor showed a face full of interest. Even as the breakfast was being placed on the table in front of them, the 3 people remained silent, all their eyes locked on Kiefer, none touching their food. Drigor was the first to speak.

“So young man, when were you going to tell me that you were the butler of that noble lady? I really did not expect you and the mysterious mage to be one and the same, though that would explain why you seemed wary and terrified when we first met in the classroom.” (Drigor)

“I am sorry, but I had no intention of revealing myself to a complete stranger. However, that is partly because even I don’t have an inkling of who I am. Milady calls me Kiefer, but I’m not even sure that is my name. She says I was carrying with me a card with my name on it when her guards found me in the woods.” Kiefer lied, keeping a poker face so surreal it was almost like a mask.

“I am inclined to believe you, but how did you wind up with your armour then? And how is it that your employer and the young lady seem to think you and the armoured mage were 2 different persons?” Drigor kept pressing on, convinced that like him, Kiefer was hiding secrets.

Kiefer had already expected that question, having prepared an untraceable answer beforehand. Looking Drigor straight in the eye, he replied calmly, “The armour was a present that I gifted myself from one of the rival families that targeted the life of milday. It must have been a family heirloom of sorts that I acquired as a payment for my efforts to go the extra mile to pull the problem from the roots.”

“AHAHAHA!! You surprise me boy! Your cold unforgiving attitude and your skills as a mage truly make you the prime candidate to be my top student. Very well then, I won’t question you anymore.” Drigor laughed heartily, then looked over at Varn and continued.

“What about you? From the look on your face, you must have some questions too don’t you? Its written all over your face that you have some history with this boy. Go on then, take your time to sort things out over breakfast. I’ll be waiting in the training grounds for your first lesson.” Drigor then left the dining room, quickly disappearing behind the door.

“Kiefer. Do you remember me?” Varn asked, fear gripping his heart that his best student might be lost after all.

“I’m sorry sir, I don’t even know your name. I can’t really remember anything past the last few weeks, since Milady’s guards picked me up in the forest near one of her mines.” Kiefer lied once again, his heart audibly cracking that he had to resort to deceit to get through.

“I- I see… Never mind then. I may be a stranger to you now, but I hope to get along with you for the duration of this course. I’ll just tell you outright now. You used to be my student in Shearwood, and your name is indeed Kiefer. An unfortunate accident separated us and we did not even know you were alive until today.” Varn managed to push out an explanation even with the lump stuck in his dry throat.

“I see. Thank you for the information. However, I doubt who I am now will be the same as who I was then. Right now, I only serve to end the war and bring peace of mind to my savior and her family.” Kiefer returned a cold reply, and started to work on his breakfast that was fast turning cold.

After a quick warm up session in the training grounds, the master’s orders were to train individually instead of sparing like they had expected. His conditions though were that their mana must be almost completely spend by the end of the day, regardless of what methods they used. Varn enhanced his body and started doing some physical training, jumping and running through the entire palace, up and down the walls and around the perimeter.

Kiefer on the other hand showed off a few simple spells and then disappeared after an hour. Drigor tracked his medallion and found that Kiefer had returned to his room. Thinking that Kiefer either had a smaller mana capacity than he first anticipated, or that he had a lazier attitude towards training, Drigor was determined to lecture Kiefer about it at the end of the day. He was convinced that Kiefer would not be able to spend his mana entirely without casting more spells.

What he found however was that Kiefer laid sprawled on the floor of his room when he had failed to show up for dinner. Without Kiefer’s permission, Drigor stretched his hands out and placed it on Kiefer’s head, measuring his mana levels. Surprised by the reaction Drigor thought to himself, confused and surprised, “only 3% mana left? He really did spend it all. He must be really tired from the mana exhaustion.”

Drigor carried Kiefer onto the bed, and equipped Kiefer with the armour laying on the corner of the room. What he did not know was that Kiefer had spent the whole day teleporting within the confines of his room. If anyone had seen it, it would have seemed like Kiefer was blinking in and out of their vision like a flickering candle flame. Kiefer was practicing his speed of teleportation, having achieved his goal of instantaneous teleportation. His mana pool was actually so large that that was the only way to efficiently and quickly spend his mana.

Kiefer awoke the next morning long after Varn and the master had started sparing. Still wondering how he had managed to equip his mithril armor, Kiefer quickly replenished his mana, but even with the aid of the mithril, it took him a whole hour of active conversion to return to full capacity. He could feel the significant change in his mana pool.

The silver solid sphere had grown larger over the days he spent in the Varradon household, and finally after yesterday, he felt that his chest was once again empty and light. Right where his heart would be, was a sparkling silver crystal. It was in the shape of a triangular bipyramid, floating vertically and rotating along its vertical axis slowly.

Thinking that he could make full use of this time to slowly improve himself and study Drigor’s patterns at the same time, he spent the rest of the day watching Drigor spar with Varn from his window. Once the spar was over, he would once again blink on the spot rapidly until he was almost out of mana. This time, he stopped just before the onset of the headache, before heading to the training field to pretend to practice.

Again, out in the field, Kiefer performed several consecutive spells that would leave a normal magus out of breath. Repeating a fixed set of spells like a burpee, he would summon an earth spike, slice it into tiny pieces with wind blades, soak them in a water spell, and bake the mud into hard clay with fire. Finally, he would enhance his body and crush the hard clay mound with his barehands, before repeating the cycle.

A single cycle would usually require more mana than a normal magus, but after repeating it for 20 times, Kiefer still did not feel any change in his mana, still feeling it hover around the 10% mark. Without expecting it, Drigor popped up from below the ground in front of him and touched his head. Within the short moment before kiefer leapt back and pulled away, Drigor had already read his mana bank and opened his mouth to speak.

“Very good Kiefer. I could feel that after those 20 repeats, your mana is finally around 10% left of your maximum capacity. I suggest you take a break now before you collapse like you did earlier yesterday. Go wash up and you can come see me in my study.” Drigor instructed, beaming that his star pupil was growing magnificently.

“Crap!” Kiefer thought in anguish, “I wanted to pull this as long as possible before phase 2, but it would seem that Drigor has noticed my mana capacity. Lucky he could only tell the percentage of mana I had left and not the actual amount. If he thinks that 20 reps depleted 90% of my mana, he must be thinking that I have at least 20 times more mana than a normal person. It would only make sense he would want to move to phase 2.”

While Varn was still wheezing and trying to catch his breath from sparing with the master, Kiefer had already changed out of his training gear and was now entering Drigor’s study. He watched as Drigor pulled out a roll of parchment from thin air and opened it out on the table.

Trying to act surprised, Kiefer let his jaws hang, and as expected, Drigor took the bait. Looking pleased that his little trick had a desired effect, Drigor explained the theory behind the spell and how it worked. Kiefer however, paid no attention to him and studied the rune laid out in front of him intently. He quickly worked out the way the rune worked and actually have multiple questions regarding it.

“And so, this spell first sets up a portal link between this world and the netherworld, using your mana pool as a sort of bridge. Therefore, the larger your mana pool, --“ Drigor had not finished his explanation when Kiefer cut in mid-sentence.

“The larger your mana pool, the more souls you can ferry across from the netherworld into ours since the bridge would be bigger, allowing it to support more load from the spell. The bridge is kept open at all times, consuming mana constantly which is why our mana recovery will be reduced once the spell is successful. That’s about it isn’t it Master?” Kiefer asked complacently.

“Hmm… so it would seem that you do know quite a lot about runes and spell invocations. Yes that’s true to the last word. Is there anything else you don’t understand?” Drigor was impressed.

“Why not just shut off the link completely instead of keeping it open? That should allow our mana to replenish much more quickly. I understand that the spell to establish the link itself will take quite a bit of mana, but for someone with enough mana, such a thing is insignificant. If you focused more on increasing the mana pool of the necromancers, they should possess enough mana to maintain the link even during the day. So maybe recall the necromancers you already deployed and train them again but focusing on increasing their mana pools.” Kiefer suggested.

Without letting Drigor time to consider it, Kiefer kept bombarding the master with a barrage of questions. “What I want to know is where do the souls in the netherworld come from? Are they limited to existences from Aioa or could they also perhaps come from other worlds that exist alongside ours? If so, is there any way to confirm it, or maybe even establish a link between the worlds aside from the netherworld? Could this be the explanation for the oddly misshapen undead bodies that frequently get mixed into the legion? Do the souls need an already existing dead body here to be able to surface as the undead? If they do not get killed, do they bring the body back with them to the netherworld? If it is possible to transport souls from there to here, is it possible for me to visit the Netherworld?”

The string of questions kept flowing out and as they came out, Drigor tried to answer them as fully as he could, astounded by the young man’s thirst for knowledge. He now understood why Kiefer was such an extraordinary mage, possibly the very best he had seen in all his years teaching. And so, the Q and A session dragged on till the next day, where there was no training for both Varn and Kiefer.

Kiefer spent the whole day asking more questions while Varn was stuck walking around hugging a blacksmith’s hammer. Eventually, Kiefer got a better picture of the workings of necromancy while Varn finally received his mithril breastplates.

From what he understood, the start-up mana cost for the spell was huge, similar to opening his PD. And spell in itself was also similar to opening a PD, in the sense that he was creating a link to an alternate dimension that shared the same space.

Drigor explained that the netherworld was considered a ‘lower world’ where material beings could not exist and only souls and essences roamed the endless void. Establishing a link was like shining light on a bridge in a world of darkness and nearby souls would flood to the light.

As they passed through the portal, the souls would automatically achieve a physical body similar to what they were before the souls actually departed for the netherworld when they died. If transported back without their physical body being destroyed, the netherworld absorbs the physical body and returns the soul to its former state. This is the way the netherworld accumulates physical matter and would slowly eventually become a physical existence.

Undead that are destroyed on Aioa do not return to the netherworld and are instead absorbed by ‘Aioa” which was an obvious lie by Drigor. Drigor was unable to verify the theory that multiple higher material worlds fed souls to the netherworld, but he did seem interested in the prospect of finding other such material planes and exploring them.

Kiefer on the other hand, had already confirmed that it is indeed possible for interdimensional travel, not only through his transportation here, but also through his skill of blinking. He was determined to dig to the bottom of this subject, finding a way back home to earth. However, that remained a secondary goal as right now, he was out to get revenge for Isana.

With multiple theories in his head, Kiefer retired for the night. It had been a week since he started at the necromancer academy. He was confident in summoning the undead, given the spell, but had been purposely messing up part of the initial establishment to drag things out and have a reason to ask more question to Drigor. With this, he quickly approached his first undead legion.

in case you guys are wondering what shape Kiefer's mana pool had taken, it changed from a solid sphere to this.