Chapter 64: Dead Bird

The class, as usual was filled with noise.

Ethan took his seat beside Lila and opened the system as his eyes moved over the gains for that day.

```

[EXP: 428 / 700]

[Death Energy: 700/700]

```

He had racked up twenty-eight points from the gym block. Ran laps with Bef and did core work— no corpses required. The three hundred points needed to rank up had become two hundred and seventy two. This made him satisfied. His body still hurt though. But it was doing better than it did two days ago.

The lesson moved along like it always did— dungeon instability, recovery ratios, and a short warning about students treating ranking boards like identity.

Stares still met their row. First place may have gone stale but it still learned to fit itself in long enough to resurface at the slightest provocation.

Marcus said something that made his group laugh, and the laughter died Crane’s eyes swept that direction. Nora sat ahead, taking notes, still in that clean posture Ethan couldn’t help but notice...

She did not look back— at least tried not to.

When the class dismissed, Ethan was halfway to standing when the classroom door opened again and the noise died instantly.

Heads turned. And when Ethan turned, he saw Ava walking in with a sealed academy sample bag swinging from one hand.

There were no full entourage this time — just enough hallway witnesses lingering near the door to guarantee the story would travel. She scanned the desks, found Ethan, smiled, and went straight through the thinning students the same way she did twice before now...

Lila’s posture stiffened. "You have got to be kidding me."

Ethan rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Fuck my life..."

Ava stopped at their row, lifted the bag, and smiled like she was delivering a gift basket. Inside there was a dead bird. Its wings were half-folded, its feathers scorched black and a that was body stiff in a way that suggested it had an ugly last time.

"Shaw," Ava said cheerfully. "Request."

Ethan looked at the bag, then at her. He understood the situation immediately. "Why?"

"I saw it and thought of you." She said it without shame, loud enough that it got more heads turning. "I figured a Necromancer should meet a corpse before the cleaners did."

"It’s in terrible condition." Ethan took the bag and tilted it under the light. It had burn marks running through the chest cavity, Fused feathers and a scent of something roasted.

"It looked like it flew into a power line..."

Ava gave him a nervous smile and chuckled. "Ah. That would be me. I used lightning to bring it down since it was so hard to catch. I may have overdone the kill."

Ethan deadpanned. "You think?"

Lila stared at the bird and looked at her. "You killed a bird and brought it to class."

"I killed a bird and brought it to a Necromancer," Ava corrected. "You forgot that part."

Ethan could have refused. Refusal was clean and peaceful. Refusal also meant the story would travel in another form.

He weighed the cost, the audience, and the simple fact that a failed raise on garbage material was still cheaper than another prolonged scene filled with misunderstandings he was too sore to care about.

"...One attempt," he said. "If it holds, it won’t hold long."

"I don’t mind." Ava said. "I just want to see it."

Ethan glanced at Lila, refusing to read her expression, sighed, and pressed to hands on the body before pushing Death Energy into it.

```

[Raise Undead (Basic) activated]

[Corpse Quality: Critical]

[Energy Cost: 9]

[Result: Unstable Undead (Bird) — structural failure imminent]

```

The body jerked, and one wing snapped open with a dry, wrong sound. Green light flickered in ruined eye sockets as it managed a lopsided hop. The feathers were shedding black dust, then shuddered in place like a toy with failing batteries.

A first-year near the door made a choked noise. Someone else whispered "he actually did it".

He knew he would surely regret this. But if doing this meant she would give him space, he needed her gone as soon as possible.

Ethan sighed. "I give it three hours, give or take. It’ll probably come apart before evening. Don’t take it into a dining hall unless you want the rest of the students to lose appetite for days. When it collapses, let it collapse."

Ava crouched, delighted, watching the unstable little horror list sideways. "Perfect. Gross but informative." She glanced up. "Also — today’s observation session is cancelled. We got pulled for a sector run so I’ll be gone through the time I wanted."

His eyes widened. "Oh."

"Don’t look so happy. I’ll come back." She scooped the bird into the bag with weirdly gentle hands, sealed it, and stood. "Try not to get yourself killed while I’m gone Shaw."

She left the way she had entered, and by the time she closed the door, people were already talking...

Lila rolled her eyes. "I hate that she thinks of you when she sees corpses."

"At least the session’s off," Ethan with a sigh.

"For now."

"I get to be happy. Let me have this."

Students finished filing out in a wave of noise, and Ethan did not leave yet.

He glanced forward and when his eyes found Nora, he stood up.

"Come on."

Nora slid her books into her bag and headed for the door. She was about to leave when Ethan called out to her.

"Nora."

She stopped. From afar, she had a stoic expression on her face. But if anyone stepped closer enough, they would be able to see the look of surprise on her face when he stopped as if she was shocked that Ethan actually remembers her.

"Oh, Ethan. I was just leaving." She said.

"I noticed." A pause. "Any update?"

"Not yet. Haven’t found anything useful."

Her gaze flicked past him to the door Ava had used, then back. "You shouldn’t raise garbage for upper-years as favors."

"I know."

"Do you? Ava’s interest is not harmless curiosity. Attention like that doesn’t normally end well for people like us. I’m sure you’re aware of that..."

Lila folded her arms. "He’s aware."

There was silence for a moment, then Nora moved. "I’m going to the library. I want to see if I can get information about dungeon minerals."

"Alright then. I’ll be heading to train. Haven’t moved my corpses in a while."

Nora nodded and left, and when Ethan turned to leave, he glanced towards his table...

He sighed as he realised that no matter how hard he tries, Ava would keep coming to find him...