The Dreamer's Fall

Chapter 29 - Introspection

Arthur spent the rest of the night trying to devise a spell to remove the flesh of his future undead, but it was surprisingly tricky, thanks to his limited source of references.

He initially thought a simple modified fire spell would be a good choice, but the process of burning the flesh would take too long. He thought he could increase the temperature to speed up the process, but if he did, the bones would likely turn to ash along with the meat.

Unfortunately, the best method he could devise was to induce an accelerated decay. He felt it was highly fitting since he was now officially this world's first necromancer, but he didn't even know where to start.

Nithe's medieval-like development meant that bacteria remained a mystery to its inhabitants. However, finding references in other spells wasn't a complete lost cause.

Most spells on Nithe were created by trial and error. That meant most of the time mages didn't fully understand the concepts behind the spell, only the result that formed when they executed it.

So, it wasn't impossible for a spell to exist somewhere that affected bacterial growth in some way without its creator's knowledge. He'd just have to keep an eye out for it.

Of course, that was all under the assumption that bacteria even existed on Nithe. It was a crazy fantasy world with gods and monsters, after all. For all he knew, little invisible fairies took the job of bacteria and caused decay in its place.

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, Arthur had given up on creating a decay spell for the time being. Instead, he focused on the spell to capture spirits since Kyren's ability to interact with the world and Arthur's immortality relied on the assumption that capturing spirits was inherently possible.

Senna entered the room carrying a bucket of water and gasped as her eyes darted to Arthur immediately after discovering the body lying on the floor. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Arthur pointed toward the corpse. "He had tried sneaking in with his sword drawn a few hours ago. Luckily, I was already awake and wearing my hidden blade."

Arthur obviously omitted some details but didn't technically lie, so he didn't feel too bad.

Senna carefully stepped over the corpse and placed the bucket on his dresser before walking to Arthur's bed. "...I'm sorry, young master. I should've protected you. I can't believe I allowed someone to sneak right by my room..."

"I'm fine, see." Arthur pointed to himself as he smiled. "He barely stepped inside before playing catch with my hidden blade. Besides, you're not some expert warrior who sleeps with one eye open. It's not your fault—also, what did I say about calling me that? It's Ar-thur, not young master."

Senna remained quiet for a moment and took a look at the corpse. "...He looks familiar, but I can't place where I've seen him before."

"He was one of my new guards. You probably saw him around the manor at some point. Elyria likely put him up to it during yesterday's chaos."

"...I hate that you have to endure this." Senna gazed at him with moist eyes, and a sense of guilt was evident in her expression. "I wish you hadn't been forced to grow up so fast due to that woman..."

"Heh, your evil ways made her cry, kid." Kyren laughed.

Arthur would shoot him a glare if he could, but Senna was looking right at him, so he smiled and attempted to console her instead.

"None of that." Arthur gently grabbed her hand. "I like who I am, and I never wanted to be a snot-nosed brat playing in the mud anyway. Nor have I ever resented my lot in life.