Necromancer For Hire- Arc 8

Arc 8, Chapter 11

The Student

“What?!” Umbra cried, “Are you serious?”

“Dead serious,” Morena replied, raising her eyebrows, “I want to take him on as my apprentice. I think he would benefit from it. The kid needs all the help he can get.”

A vein bulged on the side of Umbra's neck. “I'm not sure Victor will be okay with that. He gets rather severe separation anxiety,” Umbra murmured, keeping his tone even, “As his mental health companion, I don't think he's ready for it.”

“Maybe we should see what Victor thinks,” Matthew offered, shrugging, “This is about him, after all.”

Victor stood awkwardly between Umbra, Matthew, and Morena, pulling the blanket tighter over his shoulders. He was dizzy, but he could tell it wasn't from physical weakness. Victor’s stomach, brain, and heart were fighting a vicious battle, and he was caught in the crossfire.

It had never crossed Victor’s mind that he could have a tutor. Being the only necromancer in his family, he had just accepted his powers as his sole responsibility and tried not to trouble his parents with it. It felt more natural that way. Umbra couldn't even use elemental magic, so why should he have to try to teach Victor? And Matthew always shied away whenever the topic of magic came up.

But now, he finally had a chance to hone his skills. Learning and studying magic directly from an elder seemed like a blessing from the gods. But the idea of staying at someone else's house made him want to throw up.

Matthew knelt down, taking Victor gently by the shoulders. “Hey, Vic. Morena’s a really nice lady. She'll take good care of you if you wanna do this. You don't have to worry. This is all up to you, okay?”

Victor bit his chapped lips, eyes falling on Matthew's torn shirt, the ghost of a gunshot wound haunting him. He couldn't let this happen again. He wanted to be able to protect his family the next time the situation turned dire.

“I'm gonna do it,” Victor rasped, the words tumbling off his tongue as if they were someone else's.

Umbra's eyes widened. “Victor, are you sure you're ready for this?”

Victor swallowed the lump in his throat. What Umbra had said before was right: he was a mess, he wasn't sure if he could handle being away from his home.

Victor was tired of being weak. He was tired of being a burden to his team, to his family. Not only did he want to improve his magical abilities, he also wanted to curb his anxiety levels. Being so panicky only put his team at a disadvantage.

“Morena,” Victor said through their telepathic link, weakly holding out his hand, “I want to be your apprentice.”

An unpleasant buzz drowned out all background noise as Morena gave him a cool smile. She took his hand, his nerves screaming as she initiated physical contact. He repressed his fear until it was a mere tremor in his hand. He hoped she didn't notice.

“I think you should go home and get some rest. I look forward to teaching you, Victor Mortis.”

Author's Note- important: im gonna be away from Sunday to Wednesday. I doubt there will be updates. Sorry!!