Within the Dark Forest, the physical entrance to the Necromancer's domain stood unchanging. As usual, there were no signs of life-- not even sunlight or wind-- until a sudden glow of purple surged of nowhere.

The glow of light burst quietly, and the shape of a young man hovered downwards form midair. The young man landed effortlessly on the ground and looked around.

"I'm right at the front entrance, indeed!" Wisteria commended, inspecting the rune on his wrist, "Convenient~"

He walked a few steps forward, but before he even reached the array of skulls, the gates opened on their own.

Shortly, Jawsmine and Footunia walked out of the portal. Wisteria did not conceal his excitement and stared at them with a wide grin on his face.

"Watcha doing?" Jasmine growled, "Hurry up and follow us."

"Right!"

"Be careful, or you'll get lost in the portal."

Wisteria followed closely behind the reanimated skeletons, inspecting every bone and armor from their backs.

"..."

"..."

"What are you doing, sorcerer?" Footunia complained, "ogling us like a creeper."

"Ah-- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just that I've never seen this type of magic before. I thought you two looked amazing! Your skeletons are perfectly restructured, and you can even use Mana of your own!"

Wisteria didn't mean to use his words as flattery, but it worked on is favor. Jawsmine and Footunia had never been complimented in their entire lives (?), that they were immensely elated.

"Y-y-you think so?" Footunia covered their mouth with their hands.

"Welllll, our lord did a really good job to make us this perfect!" Jawsmine attempted modesty.

"He really did!" Wisteria agreed.

As they reached the end of the long tunneled portal, Wisteria could see a bright light at the end of the road. The moment he crossed the portal's boundary, his eyes grew wide at the unexpected view before him. The Necromancer's residence wasn't a hunted castle as he had pictured, but a tall, clean mansion surrounded by sunlight and a breathtakingly beautiful garden!

"How is this possible?" Wisteria whispered to himself, "I thought his Mana would prevent any living thing from growing around him, especially here, where he spends the most time..."

It was clear that he hadn't understood the character of the Necromancer as well as he thought!

Wisteria followed Jawsmine and Footunia into the mansion. They walked up the wide set of stairs to the second floor, and turned to a long hall of doors and windows.

Jasmine gasped and came to an abrupt halt.

"Did you turn off the soup?" Jasmine turned to Footunia.

"No, I thought you did!"

"No, I told you to do it."

"You didn't tell me!"

"..."

"Sorcerer!" Footunia said as they turned around, "Walk straight to the door at the end of the hall. Our lord will meet you there shortly!"

"Sure." Wisteria watched them run towards the opposite direction, studying their skeletons one last time before they disappeared towards the stairs.

Wisteria continued down the hall, watching curiously at the flower garden below. His steps echoed loudly, emphasizing the emptiness around.

"Sylvan, is that you?" A muffled, raspy voice of a woman called from the other side of a door.

"?" Wisteria paused for a brief moment, but continued onwards. He should act carefully, since he was in the Necromancer's territory.

"Sylvan?" ---COUGH, COUGH---- The voice called again, the coughing growing louder and dryer.

"..." He stopped again and reluctantly turned towards the voice, "Let's just check to make sure they're okay..."

He gently opened the door and cautiously looked to both sides of the hallway. He then swiftly entered the room, closing the door behind him. It was very bright inside, sunlight entering from a large window at the other side of the room. And on a large, king-sized bed, an older woman, perhaps over the age of eighty, laid on the bed.

"Sylvan, is that you?" She questioned again, her eyes remained closed as she lifted her arms as if in search for him.

"N-no, I'm sorry." Wisteria replied, "I'm S-Sylvan's guest. I was just checking if you're okay."

"A guest!" The old lady replied, "How thoughtless of me. I apologize for greeting you in this state. I'm Sylvan's grandmother, Rue Goldenrod."

He had a grandmother!?

"I-I'm Wisteria Lilac." He introduced himself, now walking towards Rue, "And it's alright. Can I help you with anything?"

"Oh. Then, could you fetch me a glass of water? It should be on my left by the bed."

"Of course!" Wisteria quickly picked up a pitcher and poured a cup of water.

He helped Rue sit up and placed the cup of water onto her shaky hand. He gently guided the cup to her mouth, from which she took a few gulps of water.

"Thank you, Mr. Lilac," She said as she allowed Wisteria to help her lay back on bed, "I'm sorry to bother you like this on our first meeting."

"That's alright," He smiled as he set the cup down, "I'm always happy to help!"

"You're so kind." She smiled, her eyes still closed, "And could I ask you a strange question?"

"Of course."

"Are you human?"

"Yes, I'm human."

"I see!" Her smile widened, "It's been a while since---Oh, is that you, Sylvan?"

Wisteria's eyes grew wide and turned around. The Necromancer, Sylvan, leaned with his arms crossed by the doorframe. Wisteria couldn't see what facial expression he was making under the mask, dreadfully awaiting a scolding or an attack.

However, Sylvan remained where he stood, indifferently.

"It's me, grandmother." He said, his voice calm, "How are you feeling today?"

"I'm feel great." She replied, her voice bright, "And I went ahead and met with your guest. He's a wonderful young man!"

"I see." He replied, "Is there anything you need?"

"No, there's nothing else." She smiled.

"I see." Sylvan replied, then turned to Wisteria, "Come to the room when you're done talking."

"A-alright." Wisteria smiled, concealing the dread.

Sylvan quietly turned around and left the room. Wisteria sighed, relieved that he didn't seem upset.

"Will you be visiting often, Mr. Lilac?" Rue asked.

"I... I'm not sure."

"I see." She nodded understandingly, "Well, I do hope to see you again. It was short, but I really enjoyed our conversation."

"Me too, Mrs. Goldenrod." Wisteria replied, "If I come again, I'll ask S-Sylvan if I can come see you."

"Please do!" She smiled, "Now, go on ahead. I don't want to keep you to myself."

"Alright. Take care."

Wisteria made his way towards the door at the end of the hall. He took a deep breath, then knocked twice.

"Come in." Sylvan's muffled voice replied from the other side.

He opened the door and was immediately greeted by a translucent wall dividing the spacious living room in half. Sylvan sat on a settee on one side of the room with his arms and legs crossed, and signaled him to take a seat on the settee in front of him. Wisteria nodded and closed the door behind him.

As he sat down, he glanced above him. The translucent wall originated from an inscription that stretched from one end of the room to the other.

"This is..." Wisteria pointed overhead.

"A barrier." Sylvan replied, "Since we are going to be in close proximity, this is necessary. Don't cross over it."

"Got it." Wisteria agreed.

Was the barrier to keep him safe from his Mana? But it could also be that Sylvan didn't trust him yet.

The latter one sounded more credible, Wisteria thought.

"Um..." Wisteria hesitated.

"What is it?"

"About what happened just now. I heard your grandmother coughing, so I went in to check if she was alright. I wanted to clarify that I meant no harm..."

"That's fine. Her room is protected by a few layers of runes. If you had any ill intentions you wouldn't have come out of that room alive."

"Oh..." Wisteria gulped, "I-I didn't see any inscriptions, though."

"That's because they're conceal by another set of runes."

"Oh!" Wisteria responded with genuine awe, "I didn't know that was possible!"

"That's understandable. It's very complicated to make so not many bother to try."

"I see." He nodded, "That's impressive! As expected of the Necromancer!"

"I personally don't go with that title." Sylvan said, a hint of irritation on his voice.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"..." Sylvan looked through his mask, his expression concealed, "... That's fine. I forgot to tell you."

"A-alright..."

Sylvan sighed. "Let's get started."

As Sylvan continued the detailed explanation to his endless questions, Wisteria couldn't help but notice several things about his mentor. Sylvan was not only very good at breaking down the intricacy of runes into understandable parts, he was also unexpectedly patient and well-tempered. Wisteria felt oddly at ease, and was immersed into every word he had to say.

"It's been two hours." He heard Sylvan say, "We'll leave the rest for the next session."

"!" Wisteria froze as he realized his big mistake. He had intended to act foolish and pretend to be a hopeless student, but ended up obediently focusing every single minute for the past two hours!!

"I'll have those two escort you back to the portal, so wait here."

"W-wait." Wisteria called out, accepting the fact that there was no use crying over spilled milk, "Before I leave, could I see your grandmother one more time? Just to say goodbye."

"She might be asleep right now, but..." Sylvan thought for a moment, "That's fine. I can wake her up. Follow me."

"T-then, it's fine! You don't have to!" Wisteria quickly stood from his seat, "Though, could I visit her again the next time I'm here?"

"..." Sylvan's expression was concealed by the mask, but his voice lowered gingerly, "Of course. I appreciate it."

"..." Wisteria felt a strange warmth in his chest, uneasy at the gentleness in his tone, "T-thank you..."

"And, you did good today." Sylvan commended, "Although there are several areas we still need to go over, if you continue at this rate, you'll master it in no time."

"You really think so?" He felt a tinge of pride from his approval.

Sylvan nodded, his expression still imperceptible.

Wisteria couldn't hold back and a wide grin stretched across his face. Sylvan remained quiet, his curious gaze lingered on his smile for a brief moment of silence.

---Knock, knock---

"My lord," Footunia called from the other side of the door, "We're here."

The moment he heard their voice, Wisteria caught himself mid-smile.

How could he have let his guard down so easily!? He was standing right in front of the one who will end his life, and here he was taking his role as a mentee a little bit too seriously...

"..." Having regained his senses, Wisteria felt his breathing tense up. He gave Sylvan a meek glance and forced a smile, "Then, I'll be leaving. Thank you for today."

"Hm." Sylvan nodded again and watched as Wisteria exited the room.