So, drumming my fingers on the armrests of my souped-up throne, I stared at the torches, wondering how the damn things were still lit. Almost immediately, a memory popped up about some spell that was a few pages long. Now, why someone sane would want an eternal torch spell that was a couple pages long was beyond me, but my curiosity was peaked by the memory just popping up. So, just like any curious fellow would do, I began testing it. I thought of how to fly, and once again an appropriate spell came up. “Interesting...” It was almost like my mind or whatever was my mind, considering my head was just a skull, had a library installed. Though, I was pretty sure that it was just all of Neduzar's memories. It seemed that whatever I had done in that white space had resulted in me absorbing his memories.

Another memory popped up. So, for clarification, a spell called had backfired on the poor bastard, resulting in yours truly turning the tables on Neduzar something or another and actually swallowing his soul, while taking over his skeletal body. Though, technically speaking, I occupied his phylactery. I felt the LARPers would probably be proud of me for knowing what that word meant and would most likely tear their hair out in jealousy if they knew I was now an almighty lich. However, the little issue concerning a holy spear pinning me to this throne and essentially sealing me in this place kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Once again back to drumming my bony digits on my armrests, I considered my predicament. I could feel the so called holy spell holding me in place, stronger near my chest and weaker among the other parts. Though, the restriction wasn't as strong as my new memories told me it had been before. However, the feeling of being stuck neck deep in what felt like a pool of superglue continued to be annoying, even more since I felt like I was allergic to the dam superglue. There was this constant chaffing feeling like I was wearing sandpaper for underwear, except that the feeling was inside me somewhere.

That made me consider my phylactery, the thing that my soul was currently occupying. Neduzar, being an overconfident idiot, had put it right in his skeletal chest. Of course, he had reason to be confident back then, considering he had been one of the most powerful spell casters in the local region that was the size of Europe. On the other hand, he had learned the hard way that ants could fight back, when so called heroes attacked his stronghold and got lucky by sticking a holy weapon blessed by some of the most powerful priests of various gods into his chest, right next to his phylactery. Of course, all the heroes had died, hence the skeletons with beautiful armors right next to the throne. However, their desperate attack had succeeded in essentially sealing Neduzar for a long,long time.

Looking at the slightly blackened yet still sturdy looking spear, I decided to go for broke. The feeling of someone kicking me in groin when I grabbed the damn thing didn't stop me. The brilliant, white colored light show that accompanied the feeling of having my nonexistent flesh being peeled off, as I tried to pull out the spear, also did not stop me. I only stopped eventually, when the damn thing would not budge no matter how hard I yanked. Reeling from the feeling of being metaphysically put through a wood chipper, I slouched in my throne, looking at the damn torches again. For the first time, I felt sympathy for Neduzar, considering the poor bastard had probably been stuck in a worse situation for an inordinate amount of time, just staring at the shitty torches. “No wonder he was fucking insane.”

Browsing 'Lichopedia,' as I had decided to call the collection of memories donated by the late Neduzar, I began looking for a way out of this mess. I was impressed though. Bastard he may have been, but the former Tyrant of Darkness definitely had invested a few lifetimes in gathering a shit ton of knowledge, including every spell he could get his hands on. That reminded me. Up to this point, I had literally been thinking about spells and magic, without really understanding how magic worked in this world.

Digging a bit more gave me some answers, though further complicating matters. Magic in this world seemed to be something only a portion of the general population could use. People of every species tended to 'Awaken' around puberty, with each 'Awakener' gaining their very first 'Lineage' magic. In simple terms, this magic was each 'Awakened's' inborn ability or skill and in many ways determined what type of 'Professional' they would become. Dozens of so called 'Professions' existed with mage and wizard being the top dogs. This was where things got a little confusing for me. Mages could use what was called 'Book' spells, which were essentially 'Lineage' spells written out in some kind of magic language for others to use. Using such a spell required mages to either remember the spells or read them off some book, usually called a grimoire. Wizards on the other hand were a higher class of mage, usually gaining that title after spending a lifetime of research, They were able to not only use 'lineage' and 'book' spells but were able to understand the underlying theories about how magic worked. It was the like the difference between knowing how to use Microsoft Office on a computer and knowing how to write the software installed on the computer.

In some ways, a wizard was essentially the pinnacle of the 'Professional' world and was pretty much like a national treasure to any nation in this world. Amazingly enough, Neduzar had not only been a lich, but he had also been a powerful wizard. Hence, inheriting Neduzar's memories by consuming his soul essentially made it so I inherited most of his power and all of his magic, both the 'lineage' and 'book' types.

However, there was a slight problem in all this. Even though I remembered all the content of Nedazar's research and experimentation with magic, I had no way of fully understanding the complexities involved. It was like knowing how to use Microsoft Office but completely going back to programming 101, while having all the textbooks to learn from again. Having been a research assistant, I was smart, but trying to make head or tails of a completely new discipline of study in a few minutes was kind of impossible. I had no doubt that parsing all the memories I had and a few decades of experimentation could probably get me to where Neduzar had been at the height of his accomplishment as a wizard. However, I really had no desire to stick around in a gloomy hall full of millennia old bones like my predecessor had for so long.

Thankfully, unlike Neduzar, I had access to copious amounts mana, being pumped out by my soul. In Neduzar's memory, sealed as he was by the holy spear, he had always struggled to maintain just enough mana production to keep his body and phylactery from disintegrating. So, it was kind of bizarre that my soul was able to produce such large amounts, since I was still technically sealed. After a few seconds of brainstorming, I tossed the concern aside. I had more important things to do, like figuring out the state of the my lair/fortress.

Raising my hands in what I believed was a dramatic enough pose, I used one of my 'Lineage' spells, . “Come forth my first minion! Arise!” Spouting internally in what I thought was a arch villain like phrase, I watched as my very first spell in this new world went into effect.

A pile of bones near the throne trembled as dark colored mist surrounded it, swirling around certain bones and pulling them together one by one as a grayish skeleton literally assembled itself from ground up. Clacking, the human form skeleton's skull was the last piece to twist into place, and its eyes blazed into life, greenish flames burning brightly. I stared at it, savoring my first successful spell, and the skeleton stared back at me, no doubt admiring its great master. After a while of staring at one another, I realized something. “How the fuck do I control this thing?”