CHAPTER 425: Guest Lecture

The next day I had another necromancy class. I was the first student to arrive and was greeted by a waving paw.

"Necatari Koyuki, it's a pleasure to meet you again." Kotara said. He sat next to the teacher's desk on the floor with Grendel.

"Hello Kotara! Does that mean we are getting lessons from Nanami?" I asked, while my tail wagged excitedly.

"Indeed. I am helping as well, of course. This time I am even appropriately dressed." Kotara said. He was wearing a yellow bowtie which matched his eyes.

"Hello Koyuki." Grendel said. He was wearing a green tie which he bought during his shopping trip with Valeria.

My undead followed me into the room and greeted the others as well. Kotara had seen most of my tier threes already but some were new.

"Kotara, this is Rose, a vampire. And here we have Kyan." I introduced them.

"A pleasure meeting you!" Kotara said.

"Likewise." Rose said.

"Greetingssss." Kyan said, while poking his head out of my sleeve.

"Ha, I see you have embraced the local fashion!" Garm's left head said. "It looks great." The right head added.

"Nanami still insists there is no such thing as proper undead neckwear and yet here I am meeting Grendel, who confirmed the local customs." Kotara said, while shaking his head. "I can tell you that the living are sometimes way too stubborn."

"What's this?" Leo asked, as he entered the room.

"This is the necromancy class. If you didn't know that you are probably inside the wrong room." Kotara said.

"Koyuki, do you have another tier three?" Leo asked, while staring at me.

"Now that's just rude. Why would you assume I am with Koyuki? Does this continent even have a magnificent specimen like myself?" Kotara asked.

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I had to admit that I had no idea what he was. His three cat-like tails wasn't something I had seen before on a local monster. Then again, my experiences were limited.

"Show some respect, beast." Leo said.

Kotara sighed. "Where I come from you respect your teachers. I hope your undead have better manners."

"He doesn't have a tier three." Rose pointed out.

"Oh, so he is but a fledgling. I assume Koyuki is the only student in control of tier threes then?" Kotara asked.

Leo's was not amused. "Who do you call fledgling whelp? I am the son and hair of Duke Harold."

"Ah, introductions. I am Kotara, guardian beast of Necatari Nanami and I will be one of your teachers. We are honoured guests of your kingdom and here to represent the Emperor of Kitara. While I acknowledge you as an heir to a clan, inside this room you are a student, nothing more." Kotara said.

Rose snickered.

Before the conversation went any further Tim and Tom arrived.

"Wow, another tier three?" Tom said.

"Hello, I am Tim and this is my brother Tom." Tim said.

"Greetings, I am Kotara."

Before we could talk more, Nanami and Gronir showed up so we had to take our seats.

"Hello students! Let me introduce our new guest lecturer, Lady Nanami from Kitara. Her official title there is Necatari, which refers to a necromancer with a bonded companion." Gronir explained.

"Greetings students." Nanami said. "As some of you might know, Kitara is the home of the foxkin. The dark foxkin serve as protectors of our people and wield their necromantic powers to benefit our Empire. Those who are strong enough form a special bond with a tier three undead who becomes their guardian. My guardian is Kotara."

Kotara nodded.

Nanami continued: "While I cannot share all of our secrets when it comes to the necromantic arts, our nations have arranged a limited exchange of knowledge. Necatari Koyuki has made some interesting discoveries and I am looking forward to working with the people of Nethena."

Tom raised his hand.

"Speak."

"Um, can anyone form a guardian bond? Who is Koyuki's guardian?" Tom asked.

"That would be Nyx." Nanami replied.

"Meow." Nyx confirmed.

"To form a guardian bond you have to be a dark foxkin of sufficient power." Nanami said. "However, don't let that discourage you! Regular tier three undead can be immensely powerful and they will be your loyal companions, if you treat them properly. For now you should focus on your tier twos which will always be a significant part of your force. Further, learning the fundamentals is important if you ever want to raise a tier three."

"Well said." Gronir agreed. "This year we will focus a lot on tier twos and Lady Nanami will share some of her wisdom with us. I had quite the interesting conversation with her regarding the creation of undead."

Nanami nodded. "Indeed. It seems that you focus a lot on more generalised spells which work on a large variety of corpses. In Kitara we prefer to tailor our magic to the result. We do have generalised spells meant to be used during combat but we pride ourselves on the perfection of individual creations. If the circumstances allow it I would use a different spell to raise an orc archer than an orc spearman. An archer needs reinforced arms to be able to use a stronger bow while a spearman needs resilience."

"The downside of that approach is that you lose flexibility." Gronir added. "Kitara has a lot more necromancers so they can easily form a legion and fill it with specialists. With a smaller group flexibility has its advantages."

Nanami nodded. "Our nations use undead differently which has led to different spells being developed. What I will teach you is how you can better modify your general spells to serve your needs. Necromancy is not just a tool, it's an art."

I was excited to hear that! I had already started to modify my spells for my own needs. Maybe Nanami could help me to perfect my spitting crawlers? Maybe she would have some ideas concerning my shamans?

Of course, there was also my past. I was still hoping I could find out more about my parents. With Nanami staying here for a while it would give me more opportunities to talk to her. Hm, maybe I should also ask my undead for help. I am sure Garm would be delighted to show Kotara around and maybe he could ask some questions for me.