The Dreamer's Fall

Chapter 30 - Foster's Tribulation

Foster nervously gazed at Arthur. "Young master, it's even scarier if you claim to be a human who can raise the dead at age thirteen."

"I can't raise the dead just yet. I told you, the spell is incomplete." Arthur laughed and pointed to the corpse before removing his control and letting it fall limply to the ground. "That is just a puppet with no will of its own. You can think of it as being similar to my hidden blades, although my spell provides much more control."

"Nehk-crew-mankcy..." Foster mouthed the foreign word with some difficulty. "It's difficult to pronounce. Does it have some meaning? Since you're giving life to the dead, why not go with something simpler, like life-weaving?"

"Ha! See, kid! Even the pretty boy agrees with me!" Kyren shouted with glee.

Of course, Foster didn't hear his suggestion, so Arthur just rolled his eyes. If he called it life-weaving magic, he'd feel like some saint doing miracles in the name of some holy goddess or something, so the suggestion was quickly shot down.

"It's pronounced neck-crow-man-see. It's not necessarily the name of the spell. It's a classification of magic that focuses on controlling the dead—kind of like how you would call a mage who focuses on fire magic a pyromancer. Someone who practices necromancy is called a necromancer. Anyway, don't worry about names for now. I need help."

Foster scratched his head. "I don't know Aetherin, young master. I don't think I can help with your necromancy."

Arthur pointed to the corpse. "I don't need help with that. I need you to crack open his skull and grab the mana core from inside. Ah! But be careful not to break it. It's located at the base of his skull where the skull connects to the spine."

Foster's face went blank as if his mind had short-circuited. "...What?"

Arthur feigned shame as he spoke. "I need the mana core to test a theory I have, but when I tried to do it, I felt sick. You wouldn't make a thirteen-year-old boy hack away at a corpse, would you? What happens if I grow up to be a deranged maniac?"

Foster's expression remained fixed. "...What?"

Arthur sighed as his expression returned to its resting, stoic look. "Take your sword out and get to chopping."

"...What?"

After a few more attempts at convincing him, Foster finally broke from his stupor and stationed himself over the corpse with his sword drawn.

"Young master, are you sure there's even a mana core in there? What about this fancy fur rug? You don't want to get blood all over it, do you?" Foster whined in an attempt to escape his fate while staring into the corpse's eyes.

"I'm sure. Don't worry about the rug. Just start chopping." Arthur replied nonchalantly as he wiped down his face and got dressed.

He wasn't mentally scarring Foster for the fun of it. Instead, Arthur had a theory that he could use the mana core to cast spells using its mana as a source.

He also wanted to test whether the core required a medium, such as a body, to function. If it did, he needed to know if he could grant the mana core a new medium, such as an inanimate object like a staff.

It went without saying that having an extra fourth circle mana core at his disposal would result in a major boon toward his overall safety, so he didn't want to smash it and get rid of the body without testing his theories.

Arthur heard Foster psych himself up behind him before a goosebump-inducing wet cracking sound echoed through the tent.

"Ugh." Foster gagged as he witnessed the scene beneath him. "I think I'm gonna be sick."