Reborn with a Necromancer System
Chapter 146: Undead and a Late Night Visit

Chapter 146: Undead and a Late Night Visit

After a night of contemplating, Kai returned to the scene of the crime. He moved through the abandoned granary and through the trapdoor.

Below the city. The old Thieves Guild’s headquarters.

"My new base of operations. No more working with smaller scale stuff in that cramped attic. I’ll work here, beneath the people of Forne."

---

Kai sat cross-legged, a half-destroyed table rested before him, littered with bones. After crushing and reforming the bones into chalk, he up picked a piece.

A skeletal warrior stood nearby, arms spread like a scarecrow, while Kai carefully carved a sigil into a piece of parchment over the exposed humerus. It glowed faintly as it set into the bone.

He exhaled, then turned to another undead, this one a zombie sprinter with withered muscle clinging stubbornly to its frame. The sigils for speed had worked before: a three-point array of directional motion, anchored to a glyph of ethereal propulsion.

All Forebearer’s language.

It should have enhanced its speed instantly. The design was flawless.

But nothing happened.

Kai frowned. He finished the last of the batch, five more skeletons and three zombies, then stood and stepped back to examine his work.

Still no change.

’Over. A hundred. So much wasted life essence...’

Kai checked over his stats to make sure.

[Name: Kai Tensen |

Age: 15 Years |

Specialisation: Necromancer |

Rank: 6 |

Advancement Requirements: Command an army of 10,000 - 629/10,000. Find E⸮o⸮b⸮a⸮d’s final resting place. |

Life Essence Stored: 96,011/115,000 (2,750/11,500 - Phylactery Reserves) |

Mortality Deviance: 6/10 |

Artifacts: Abyssal Band, Dampening Gloves, Mirage’s Veil |

Soul Vault: 106/1,000 |

Souls Absorbed: Winfried Drummond (Greater), Angelica Trunsdale (Greater), Petty Human Soul (15), Lesser Human Soul (41), Greater Human Soul (41), Grand Beast Soul, Grand Wyvern Soul, Grand Human Soul (21), Sovereign Thieves Guildmaster Soul |

Souls Tethered: 2 - Kleo Carmine, Carter |

Undead Army: 629 (Joran (Brawler), Rhea (Commander), Finn (Flight Unit), Merri (Shadowsworn), Berrus (Elemental Cerberus), Kael (Splitspeed Rogue), Ralts (Sentient Chaos Lich), Joe (Death Knight), Princess Aliza of Forne, Arcane Wolf, Skeleton Novice Fire Mage (12), Skeleton Novice Shadow Mage (10), Skeleton Novice Elementalist (3), Skeleton Warrior (38), Skeleton (196), Zombie Warrior (41), Zombie Sprinter (59), Zombie Shambler (111), Ghast (13), Shadow Death Knight, Greater Lich, Grave Maw, Grond (Undead Ogre), Undead Rat (81), Undead Pup (4), Skeleton Magister (14), Skeleton Knight (12), Undead Wyvern (12) |

Languages Translated: Imerian, Salan, Forebearers (62%) |

Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Tempering, Mana Sense, Elemental Magic (Minor), Thrall Control, Combat Arts (Intermediate), Shadowmeld, Precision Targeting (Magic), Shadow Space, Death Sense, Murmurs of the Departed, Shadow Decoy, Sigilcraft (Fortification, Elemental), Aura of Undead, Undead Fusion, Umbral Mantle |

Spellcasting Ranks: Mage (Greater), Necromancy (Greater), Shadow Magic (Greater), Strengthening Magic (Greater), Ice Magic (Greater), Fire Magic (Greater), Sigilcraft (Greater: Speed, Fire, Strength, Ice, Chaos, Anti-Chaos, Shadow, Flight, Shared Senses), Barrier Magic (Greater) |

Necromancy Spells: Raise Undead, Wither, Gravebound, Mass Raise Undead, Tether the Fallen, Undead Enslavement, Bone Lance]

He looked them over once more.

’They should’ve changed physically, or their behaviour could have shifted.’

Something.

Anything.

Instead, they stood frozen like dolls on display.

"Something’s blocking their transformations?" he muttered aloud. "My sigils are drawn correctly. Perfectly, I should say. No interference from foreign enchantments. Something else is stopping it."

He ran a hand through his hair, more irritated than concerned. Everything had become a puzzle lately and he only had half of the pieces.

Even his own power was starting to resist him.

He narrowed his eyes and tried one more thing: manually channeling mana into the sigils.

Still nothing.

"Fine. Be that way."

With a wave of his arm, shadows surged forth and swallowed the entire group. Dozens of undead vanished into the void, returned to the holding space within his own soul. Their weight left the room unnaturally quiet.

Kai stared at the burnt-out walls for a long moment, then shook his head. Another mystery. Another delay.

"I’ll figure it out later."

By the time night fell, Kai had reentered Forne. The city had grown quieter in the dark, its usual chaos replaced with silence broken only by the occasional echo of guards or drunkards.

Kai moved unseen under his Umbral Mantle.

Even the palace gates didn’t stir as he slipped through. He followed the familiar trail of mana left behind like footprints in a forest, each flickering remnant a thread tying Kleo to her movements during the day.

She’d returned to her chamber hours ago, it seemed. The trace was cold now, but still there. Still enough remaining to follow.

He found her room easily, bypassing the silent guards standing watch over the servant’s quarters with ease.

It wasn’t so much as a room for her, but all of the female servants.

The guards outside were probably there to prevent male servants or nobility trying to get a taste.

Kleo was curled under her blanket, chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm. Her hair was unbound, falling across the pillow like a dark curtain, one hand tucked under her cheek. She looked peaceful.

Kai stood by the door, unsure of why he hadn’t just waited for morning.

It wasn’t urgent. Not really.

But he’d been... restless. And with the undead unresponsive to his sigils, and no other leads demanding attention until tomorrow’s meeting, his thoughts had wandered to her.

’Why? It’s just business. She’s a means to an end. Or... she was?’

He lowered his Umbral Mantle, standing in full view of the sleeping servants.

After a minute of standing there in silence, he crossed the room and sat gently at the edge of a plush chair near the bed. His fingers drummed lightly against the wood.

’What am I doing? Sitting here, like a-’

Her eyes blinked open, hazy and confused, and locked on his.

"...Kai?"

His heart skipped for a moment. Not from guilt, but from surprise.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just wondering... is your mother okay? Alone, I mean."

Kleo sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with one hand and yawning. "She’ll... be fine. She’s functional enough by herself."

Kai nodded, though the answer didn’t ease his mind much.

"I just wanted to be sure. About tomorrow. The meet-"

Kleo’s eyes grew wider. Frustrated.

"You came here in the middle of the night, woke me up, just to ask about that?" she said, raising a sleepy brow. "I know you don’t sleep, but have you considered that I do?"

"I’m on a tight schedule," he replied, half apologetic, half defensive.

Kleo groaned and fell back against her pillow. "Gods above. Okay, okay. I’ll tell you what you want to know..."

A sly grin formed on her face.

"...If you kiss me again."

Kai froze.

"...Huh?"

Kleo burst out laughing, turning to bury her face in her pillow. "I’m kidding, you idiot. You should’ve seen your face."

He blinked, still processing, before slowly exhaling through his nose. "Right..."

"Yeah, the meet’s on. Tomorrow, noon. Don’t forget." She yawned again. "You remember where it is?"

Kai leaned forward, nodding. "In an alley behind the Silver Eagle’s Rest. Merchant’s Ward."

"Exactly. Silver Eagle’s a classy place. They handle high-value people. Dangerous ones too."

She glanced over at him through half-lidded eyes.

"You going to be alright?"

"Maybe. Maybe not," Kai said, standing. "But I’ll manage."

He turned to leave, then hesitated.

Without thinking, he stepped close to her bed again. She blinked, confused.

Kai leaned down and kissed her cheek.

It was light. Brief. Barely more than a touch of warmth on her skin.

But it still made her blink again, slower this time. He could see, under the moonlight, that she blushed ever so slightly.

"...What was that for?" she asked, voice soft.

"You asked for it."

He heard a couple of almost-silent giggles from the other beds in the room and he sighed.

Kai reached into his shadow space and pulled free a folded blanket. It shimmered faintly under the candlelight, deep violet thread, embroidered with runic designs barely visible to the naked eye. It had been part of the thieves’ guild’s stash, but he doubted they’d miss it now.

"There’s mana woven into the thread," he said as he draped it gently over her. "It’s better than the servant-issued rags you’ve been using."

Kleo looked down at the blanket, then up at him.

"...You really came all this way. Just for this?"

Kai shrugged. "Partly. Maybe. And, you know, the meeting thing."

"You’re not very good at saying things outright, are you?"

"Not really."

She smiled.

Kai turned, his coat catching the candlelight as he headed for the window. Before stepping through the opening, he looked back one last time.

"Sleep well, Kleo."

She raised the edge of the new blanket, pulling it to her chin. "You too, star-crossed lover boy."

Then, he was gone.

The window swung shut with the gentlest whisper of wind, and the room fell silent once more, except for Kleo’s breathing and a couple of more giggles from the girls who roused from their slumber.

She lay there for a while, fingers trailing over the rich threads of the blanket, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"...Idiot," she whispered.

But she smiled when she said it.

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