Chapter 6: First Undead Raised

The secluded part of the academy grounds turned out to be exactly as he had hoped: quiet, poorly lit, and deserted.

Ethan walked until the lights from the dormitories became distant dots and the noise from the training fields becoming only low murmurs behind him. A narrow strip of trees and grass separated the main campus from the outer wall, and Ethan walked towards it trying as hard as he could not to look suspicious.

Not long after he walked further, he found the body near the base of a tree.

It was a bird—small, recently dead with one wing twisted at an angle that suggested it had a throw down with something stronger than itself.

Ethan crouched and examined it, his eyes moving across its body— head, underside, the severity of the wing damage, and decided it would do.

"All right," he murmured. "Let’s see how this goes."

"Best case scenario, it works, worst case scenario, it turns out to be a mutating monster..."

He placed two fingers lightly against the bird’s side and focused.

Soon, energy hummed as green light began emitting from his hand and flowing into the corpse.

His Death Energy was moving...

It was not something dramatic. No surge of power, no dark aura, no wind for effect.

It was more like opening a valve— a quantity of energy leaving his pool and flowing into the corpse.

The system reacted immediately.

```

[Ding!]

[Raise Undead (Basic) activated]

Corpse Quality: Poor

Death Energy Cost: 8

Result: Basic Undead (Avian)

Control Capacity: 1/8

Death Energy Remaining: 42/50

```

The bird’s body twitched once, then it stood up, it’s legs wobbling before it stabled

Its head tilted at an angle no living bird would have found comfortable. Though the broken wing remained broken, it balanced on its feet and waited, empty eyes glowing green and looking towards nothing in particular.

Ethan stared at it.

"Well," he said quietly. "You’re not exactly a Devil-class threat."

```

[Ding!]

[Basic Undead retain minimal function and respond to simple commands.]

[Higher corpse quality and increased skill level improve result.]

[Current efficiency: Low.]

[Recommendation: Practice energy control to reduce cost on future raises.]

```

Ethan read the note... The system had opinions, of course it did.

He stood, took a few steps back, and gave the simplest command he could think of.

"Walk."

The bird lurched forward in a stiff motion, it’s feet moving slow and steady one step at a time.

It looked less like a creature and more like a puppet...

"Stop."

It stopped.

"Turn left."

It turned left, wobbled, and nearly fell over.

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose. Somewhere in the academy, students with flashy elemental abilities were probably throwing around impressive displays of power and receiving applause.

He on the other hand, was teaching a dead bird how to walk in a straight line without embarrassing itself.

And yet...

He could feel some sort of connection. A thin, steady thread that linked him to the undead. It cost almost nothing to maintain at this size. When he focused, he could sense the exact amount of Death Energy still coursing through it.

The process was crude, inefficient, and currently about as threatening as a badly made toy.

But it worked....

He spent the next several minutes testing limits.

Simple movement commands worked. Anything more than that, (hop, peck, fly) produced either failure or the attempt flopping entirely.

The broken wing itself was a lost cause. When he tried to give a command at a slightly more detailed order, the connection strained and the bird froze.

```

[Command complexity exceeds current skill level]

[Control stability reduced]

```

"Noted," Ethan said stretching and heaving a sigh.

He dismissed the undead with a thought, and felt the thin thread snap. The bird collapsed and the system pinged again.

```

[Ding!]

[Undead dismissed]

[Control Capacity: 0/8]

[Death Energy: 42/50]

[EXP +3]

[First successful raise completed.]

[Recommendation: Practice Energy control to reduce cost on future raises.]

```

Three experience points for one undead bird. At this rate he would reach the next level with grey hairs.

Ethan crouched again, studying the corpse. The energy cost had been eight points for a poor-quality body.

Efficiency was listed as low, and the system itself had recommended practice. That meant the cost could come down, better corpses would produce better results and higher skill levels would unlock more complex commands.

He let a dry smile spread across his face...

The academy treated necromancy like a disaster waiting to happen. Right now his disaster could barely walk in a circle without falling over. The gap between reputation and reality was almost funny.

Hilarious even...

He stood up, brushed the dirt from his hands, and took one last look at the bird.

"Next time," he said to himself, "find one that died in better condition"

Then he turned and walked back toward the dormitories, already planning the next test.

He would not attempt anything larger until the basics stopped looking like a half baked attempt filled with errors...

Efficiency first, everything else could wait.

Rank F was the starting point, not the verdict. And if the world insisted on fearing this power, the least he could do was eventually give them a reason to.