《So You Want To Be A Necromancer? [LitRPG / Progression Fantasy]》


 Chapter 001 - I Am Become Death

    Millie''s dad walked through the door covered in blood.


    "Rough day, honey?" her mother, Arla, asked. She looked up from the book she was reading and scrunched her nose.


    He shrugged and sighed. "It wasn''t that bad. Same old, same old." First, he unequipped the shield he wore on his back, and placed it in the storage case by the front door. Then he did the same with his sword, the oddly named [Big Stick], even though it in no way resembled a stick. A light inside the case illuminated the pair, displaying their ornate decorations on full display.


    He took off his armor and didn''t even bother to put it on the display mannequin. Blood slid in rivulets down the metal and onto the floor.


    "Sorry," her father, Luc, said and cringed. "I''ll get that cleaned up as soon as I get a bite to eat and sit down for a few minutes. I haven''t had a good rest all day.


    "Are you serious, Luc?" her mom asked.


    "Yes," he said. "I''ll get to the blood in a few minutes."


    "No, I don''t care about the blood. You haven''t had a rest today? Not even in a safe room?"


    Luc shook his head. "No, the dungeon didn''t have one. First one in a while that didn''t, too." He exhaled heavily and cracked his neck. "It was not my favorite."


    Millie''s mom set her book down, walked behind her husband, and started to rub his shoulders. He leaned into it, and the look on his face indicated that he was enjoying it. "I know how hard it is to delve a whole dungeon without refreshing," she said.


    "At least I don''t have to worry about MP like you do. I''d be as dead as all the goblins and kobolds in there." He winced as Arla pressed harder into his muscles. "I had to heal myself as much or more than the [Cleric] did."


    With the mention of something dying, Millie was unable to restrain herself anymore. "What did you do with the bodies?" She meant the kobolds and goblins he just mentioned.


    "Like I tell you every night, sweetheart, we left them for the dungeon cleaning crew. They have to eat, too." He was referring to the friendly slimes and oozes that swept through dungeons after the adventurers left each day, removing monster corpses and anything else left behind. Dungeons that weren''t instanced but locked to a single party had a maintenance period where things like that could happen without people getting in the way.


    "Awww," Millie said. She crinkled her brow. "Even the skeletons?"


    "Yes, Millie, even the skeletons."


    She and her dad went through this every night. She just couldn''t understand why all of the dead monsters had to stay dead. There was so much magic in the world, and even if the gods or the System wouldn''t let them be resurrected like some adventurers could be, that still left [Necromancers] who could bring them back them as pets¡ªand friends.


    A common excuse her dad gave was that bringing home an army of the reanimated dead was a mess and would get blood and gore everywhere in the house. Millie looked at the pooling blood under his armor and knew what a crock that was.


    She crossed her arms and scrunched her nose. "You could at least reanimate the skeletons. You wouldn''t have to use the whole body! A bunch of skeletons wouldn''t be nearly as messy as you are!" She pointed at his bloody armor.


    "Even if that were the case," Arla chimed in as she stopped rubbing Luc''s shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of his head, "your father doesn''t adventure with [Necromancers]. So it''s just not possible. He won''t ever have any way to do it."


    "But he could!" she countered. "He just doesn''t want to!"


    They both shook their heads. "It''s just not realistic. Your father has met a lot of them. You know how picky he is with party members he takes in dungeons. He literally has to trust them with his life."


    "[Necromancers] care about life!" Millie countered.


    "[Necromancers] care about death. There''s a difference. You don''t want that for your dad do you?" She kissed Luc on top of the head and walked back over to her chair. She pointedly opened up her book, and without looking at Millie, said, "You can''t be a [Necromancer] and be a good person."


    "That''s right, sweetie," her dad said. "I''ve vetted a lot of party members, and I have never once spoken to a [Necromancer] that met my standards. I just..." He looked between Millie and Arla. "I just don''t think you can trust them. Like your mother said, you can''t be a [Necromancer] and be a good person."


    "You''re wrong," Millie said. "I''ll be a necromancer and be a good person. You''ll see."


    Ten Years Later


    Millie stood in line, along with everyone else who had a birthday this season, waiting for her turn as impatiently as any person had ever waited before on Class Day.


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    She bounced from one foot to the other, nervous energy making her feel like she was about to explode. She kept looking back at her parents in the crowd, and they kept gesturing for her to stay calm and to face forward.


    She did the best she could at it, but she could barely contain herself. She was just so excited to become a [Necromancer].


    She was near the end of the line, with dozens and dozens of people ahead of her. Everyone in line was about to be assigned their very first class by the System. None of them knew what it was going to be, but every single one of them hoped for something in particular.


    Unlike the others, she knew that she was going to be turned into a [Necromancer] today.


    Well, she didn''t technically know that she was going to be granted a [Necromancer] class, but she just had to be. She had never wanted anything else. The gods knew she wanted to be a [Necromancer] more than anything else in the entire world. She''d prayed and told them enough times. Every day since she was a small child.


    People always told her that life as [Necromancer] wasn''t what she expected it to be. According to the adults in her life, "No one wants to be a [Necromancer], and no one wants to group with them, either."


    Supposedly, [Necromancers] were lonely outcasts. Millie just didn''t see it. They had the ability to always have a friend around to talk to, adventure with, or just hang out in silence. No matter what. That didn''t sound lonely at all.


    She''d show them.


    Classes were just part of the system that underpinned all their lives. Most of the classes that people were assigned weren''t as exotic as the [Necromancer] one that Millie wanted, and most of them weren''t suited for dungeon delving like both of her parents'' classes ended up being.


    There were three ways this could go for Millie.


    The first, and one she was hoping beyond hope for, was that she walk up the stairs to the Adventurer''s Guild, touch the class stone in Guildmaster Arren''s hands, and gain the [Necromancer] class, and she would be in a dungeon raising the dead before the sun went down.


    The second, and far more likely option, was that she only got assigned a class that was tangentially related to the [Necromancer] class and she would have to level up and refine her class later. She might get something generic like [Sorcerer] and then have to work for years until she could eventually have the [Necromancer] class appear as she advanced tiers.


    The third and most dreadful option was that she get absolutely nothing related to [Necromancer] at all, and her entire life would be spent as a [Tailor] or [Vegetable Farmer] that she cared literally nothing about. It was technically possible to eventually branch your way into a seemingly unrelated class. But that could take a lifetime. A lifetime that Millie had plans for.


    Guildmaster Arren''s amplified voice broke her train of thought. "Congratulations, Lorey!" he said, his raspy voice carrying across the crowd because of his own class magic. "The gods have chosen to bless you with the [Runecrafter] class!"


    A cheer rose from the gathered crowd, and it was well-deserved. Millie joined in and whooped for Lorey. She had wanted to be a tradesperson, and [Runecrafter] was far more than anyone could have hoped. That was an epic-level [Enchanter] class. Millie wasn''t totally sure, but she thought it was a hybrid class, too¡ªone that could delve into dungeons and produce sellable wares. Plus, starting out with an epic class was almost unheard of. Lorey was set for life. At 18. Good for her.


    The next three boys all got basic, common classes. As most people did. One was given [Lumberjack], one [Calligrapher], and the other [Scout]. Not bad. Not great.


    Classes came in different rarities, too. Some were common like the three classes the boys got, while others were uncommon, rare, or even epic-level. Technically there were legendary and celestial-rank classes, too, but those were only spoken of in stories. In legends and myth. Hence the name.


    [Necromancer] was only uncommon, so there was still a good chance she would get what she wanted. Or at least, that''s what she told herself.


    Finally, it was Millie''s turn. "Mildred Jayne Coreia," announced Guildmaster Arren. She looked back at her parents who waved her forward. "Please come up the stairs, Mildred, and place your hand on the class stone."


    The stone in the guildmaster''s hand was about the size of her head. From a distance, it looked like a regular stone carved with twelve flat sides, made out of obsidian or something similar. Up close, though, Millie could see that it wasn''t opaque at all. Behind each facet was a starfield, slowly rotating in three dimensions, like they were inside the stone.


    How had no one ever talked about that before? It was beautiful. Millie took a deep breath and held her hand out, palm down, a few inches above the top facet of the dodecahedron.


    She didn''t lower it. Her hand started shaking.


    "It''s safe, dear," said Guildmaster Arren. "No harm will come to you. Only the blessings of the gods." Blessings. She swallowed and took another deep breath. Right. Blessings. This is what she''d been looking forward to, this is what she had been praying for, and this was where her life truly began.


    She lowered her palm, feeling the magic course through her. The starfields behind the facets spun faster as she watched, each swirling with a different color deep within. The effect was faint, like seeing oil on the surface of a distant lake.


    Finally, the glow within the stone settled on a white light, but with a black core. Like a fire where the hottest part burned black and the white faded into the universe and then into nothing. The odd sight then ran along the edges of the stone''s faces, and covered her hand like a glove. The black light that somehow glowed grew stronger, and a rush of power surged through Millie''s body. She gasped, as she felt the black light suck the air out of her lungs.


    She could see what the gods had given her, floating in the air in front of her, before Guildmaster Arren spoke. She was stunned.


    "Congratulations, Mildred Jayne Coreia!" Guildmaster Arren said, his voice again amplified by one of his own skills. "The gods have chosen to grant you the [Death Mage] class."


    The cheers that rose from the gathered crowd were nonexistent¡ªexcept from Millie''s parents, of course¡ªand the applause was cursory, short, and soft.


    Millie didn''t know what to think. Apparently, there was a fourth option, too: a rare [Necromancer] advanced class option, similar to Lorey''s [Runecrafter]. The possibility had never even crossed Millie''s mind. A single advanced class wasn''t unheard of for Class Day, though some seasons came and went without anyone getting a head start. So two was a big deal.


    Guildmaster Arren smiled at her, because he knew that she had gotten what she wanted. But it was a sad smile, too. Because he knew that she had gotten what she wanted.

 Chapter 002 - Stats & Spells

    "Well, that happened," Arla said, as the trio walked back into their home.


    "It did," Luc said, "and we should probably talk about next steps."


    "Let''s do that over dinner," Millie''s mom said. "I''ll get some stew going, and it won''t be long. "Millie, is that okay with you?"


    "Yeah, sure, whatever," she said.


    The walk home had been weird for Millie and her parents. People seemed to keep a few feet more distant as they walked down the streets of Cragfall toward their house. Millie knew that her parents were happy for her because she got what she wanted, but every time someone sidestepped them or moved to the other side of the street, she saw the pitying look one of them gave her.


    She did her best to ignore it. She got [Death Mage], which was head and shoulders more than she could have ever dreamed of.


    Now that she had a class, she had the magic to call up an overview pane that summarized her newly unlocked stats, class abilities, spells, and other things. Rather than pay attention to anything going on around her, she dove into the translucent window floating in the middle of her vision.


    #######


    NAME: MILDRED COREIA


    CLASS: DEATH MAGE (RARE)


    LEVEL: 1


    ¡ªXP: 0/1000


    ¡ªHP: 140


    ¡ªMP: 140


    ¡ªSTR: 10


    ¡ªDEX: 10


    ¡ªCON: 14


    ¡ªINT: 14


    ¡ªWIS: 10


    ¡ªUNAPPLIED POINTS: 1


    [ABILITIES, SKILLS, SPELLS]


    ¡ªDEATH MAGIC: Skelemation, Gravebolt, Death''s Favor


    #######


    Millie focused in on the [CLASS: DEATH MAGE (RARE)] text, and another pane appeared as an overlay to the first:


    One of the most misunderstood schools of magic, death magic is also one of the most powerful. Piercing the veil between this world and what lies beyond, death mages heal allies, harm foes, and harness one of the most fundamental forces of the universe.


    Unlike other Necromancers, a Death Mage draws not only from the arcane essence of mana to fuel their magic, but also from the life and death essences present in everything. Including themselves. A Death Mage walks a line few others are willing: sacrificing their own wellbeing, often bringing themselves to the brink of annihilation, in exchange for unbridled power.


    Each level you gain as a Death Mage will increase your CON and INT scores by 2. You will gain 1 free point to apply to a score of your choosing.


    Upon reaching level 20 as a Death Mage, you will have the option to advance your class at any Adventurer''s Guild.


    Millie didn''t even know what to think yet. She''d get to the stat allocation later. At that moment, she just wanted to bask in the knowledge and joy that she had gotten what she wanted for so long.


    She had never expected to gain one of the rare class refinements for [Necromancer] on her first try. A lot of people were afraid of [Death Mages] for no other reason than the name. She couldn''t blame then, but she was definitely going to prove them wrong.


    "Millie, honey?" said her dad. "Can you hear me?" He waved his hand across Millie''s field of view, back and forth. "Hellooooooooooo?" Finally, she saw that he was trying to get her attention and minimized her stats pane.


    Apparently, she had been focused in hard on her new class panels because her mom was already putting the stew into bowls and setting them on the table."


    "Yeah, sorry, what''s up?" She blinked a few times to clear her vision and focus in on her family. "Was just looking over my stats and spells and stuff."


    "We figured," her mom said. "It''s exciting stuff, finally having access to the full System."


    "Yeah, and I was just reading about [Death Mage], and it seems pretty neat. Powerful. I just wasn''t expecting that. I honestly figured I''d get [Cleric] or [Sorcerer] and have to refine my way into the base [Necromancer] after a while."


    "That is generally the normal path," her mom confirmed.


    "Yeah, speaking of paths," Luc said, and then repeated what he said earlier: "We should probably talk about next steps."


    Millie nodded and spooned up a hunk of meat, letting the broth drain back down into the bowl. She inspected the chunk before stuffing it in her mouth. "Sure," she said around the bite, "I guess [Death Mage] is a combat class, based on what the description says. Healing allies, harming foes, harnessing a fundamental force of the universe, that sort of thing." Millie''s eyebrows bobbed up and down a couple of times.


    Her parents shared a look. Millie had seen that so many times growing up. She kept going. "Figure, I''ll head to the quest board at the Adventurer''s Guild and find a party to delve with, right? Get right into the action?"


    "Maybe, yeah," her dad said. "But I''m not sure you''re going to have such an easy time finding a party as a [Death Mage]. Especially being a brand new one."


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    "And more than that," her mom continued the thought, "you might be a [Death Mage], but you don''t know how to use [Death Magic]."


    "Oh¡­yeah," Millie acknowledged. "I, uh, haven''t cast any spells yet or anything."


    "Yep," Luc said. "If you had gotten [Scout] like that one Bellew kid did, then yeah, I''m sure you''d hop right in a pug¡ªerr, pick up group¡ªsorry,kiddo¡ª"


    "I know what a pug is, dad."


    "Right. Of course you do. Anyway, people get weird around [Necromancers], sweetheart. I''ve seen people act really weird around people who''ve refined their way into [Death Mage]." Again, he and his wife shared a look. Millie waited it out. "It can be dangerous a dangerous if you don''t know what you''re doing, is all."


    "To the people around you," her mom chimed in. "Not saying you will hurt someone, but it may be safer, for everyone, at least to start out with¡ª"


    "Alone. Yeah, I get it," Millie said.


    "We''ve tried to tell you this might be a possibility, Millie," Arla said. "[Necromancy] isn''t something most good people want to mess with."


    For some reason, that just struck Millie the wrong way. "Are you saying I''m a bad person because of this?" They had always told her that most [Necromancers] were bad people. And they''d always reassured her that her wanting to go down that path didn''t mean she was a bad person. But just hearing them say it now¡­hurt more than she expected it to.


    "No!" her dad reassured her. "Absolutely not. In no way, no. No. You have a good heart and a good soul, Mildred Jayne Coreia. You just might have to convince a few other people of that fact."


    Oof. All three names. "You''re right, Dad, I know," Millie admitted. "We''ve been through this. A lot. I got what I wanted, and now I''m going to have to put in the work to have the life I want."


    "Exactly," said Luc. "[Shadow Mages] and [Bonecallers] are one thing, but [Death Mages] are in a league of their own."


    "One thing we haven''t talked about," her mom said, "is what actual [Death Magic] abilities you got. Every class starts with a handful of random abilities from their available pool. What did you get?"


    Now that was something Millie was excited to talk about. She pulled up her stats pane and read off her known spells: "[Skelemation], [Gravebolt], and [Death''s Favor]," Millie said. "I haven''t even read their descriptions yet."


    Her mom pursed her lips and said, "You definitely should."


    Millie''s eyes glazed over as she focused on each of her new spells in turn:


    ######


    [SKELEMATION]


    Class Spell: Necromancer


    Have you ever heard the saying "everyone dies alone?" Well, it''s true. But it''s also true that once they''re dead, they don''t have to be alone anymore! Not as long as you''re around. If you''ve got some bones, then you''ve got a friend.


    Using your power over death, you can reanimate under your control, the skeleton of a creature that has been dead for under 1 hour. The skeleton will follow your orders. Creatures that are higher level than you have a higher chances to resist this spell.


    [Death Mage Enhancement] All skeletons raised by the Death Mage will gain at least 1 enhancement from their base version.


    CAST TIME: 60 seconds


    DURATION: Until the skeleton reaches 0 HP


    COOLDOWN: Short


    ######


    "[Skelemation] is¡­awesome!" Millie said. "There''s even an enhancement for being a [Death Mage]!"


    Her mother smiled. "That''s because it''s a base [Necromancer] spell, so advanced classes like yours tend to add some kind of unique effect to them so you don''t outgrow them."


    "That''s amazing," she said, and then turned her attention back to her spells.


    ######


    [Gravebolt]


    Class Spell: Death Mage


    You''re dying from the moment you''re born, so why not speed up the process a little? And take someone else with you! Gravebolt takes out a little bit of you to take out a whole lot of them.


    You sacrifice a part of yourself to extract and condense your own life energy, inverting and amplifying it into a highly accurate bolt of death energy that causes damage based on your INT. Damage and sacrificed HP from this spell cannot be reduced.


    CAST TIME: 2 seconds


    COOLDOWN: None


    ######


    "Holy centaur turds at [Gravebolt]¡­"


    "I don''t think there''s anything holy about [Gravebolt], Millie," her dad said. "Nothing at all."


    ######


    [Death''s Favor]


    Class Spell: Death Mage


    Who''s death''s favorite? Who is it? Who''s the best little death mage around? Is it you? Is it you? Speak! *Ahem* Indeed, simply by nature of being a death mage, you hold a portion of death''s favor with you at all times. But with this spell, you specifically call for the eternal repose to shroud you and those around you with its forbearance.


    This spell creates an area of effect that leeches a small percentage of HP from all living things not in your party, while simultaneously ring an equal amount to everyone in your party who is within the affected area.


    Damage from this spell cannot be reduced. You may only have one desecrated area active at a time.


    Whenever a minion under your control is destroyed, if this ability is on cooldown, there is a 50% chance for the cooldown to reset.


    CAST TIME: Instant


    DURATION: 20 seconds per INT


    COOLDOWN: Medium


    ######


    "I don''t even know what to say about [Death''s Favor]," Millie said. "That''s intense."


    "It is," her mom agrees. "We''ve told you for a long time that [Necromancers] come with some heavy baggage. [Death Mages] come with even more. But on the upside, you seem to have gotten some nice ones that work together. Not everyone is so lucky."


    "The last two don''t get any other kind of bonus, though."


    "They''re [Death Mage] spells already," her father explained. "So they''re already attuned to your class''s power level. That said, the tradeoff is that you''re missing out on some of the more basic [Necromancer] skills like [Rib Cage] to snare opponents and [Corpse Sense], which would let you find more¡­ammunition¡­if that''s the word for it."


    "I can get those other ways, though, right?"


    "Sure," her mom said. "Eventually. But like I said, you got some good ones, Mills. We''re happy for you."


    "We really are," Luc said, reaching out and touching her hand. "You want to go try them out?"


    Millie''s eyes widened. "Do goblins crap in the woods?"


    Luc laughed and stood up from the table. "Indeed they do, my darling, disgusting daughter. Let''s hit the graveyard and get you some bones!"

 Chapter 003 - "Making" Friends

    Unsurprisingly, the graveyard that evening was calm and quiet, and the Coreia family were the only visitors in sight.


    Graveyards tended to be that way after the sun went down. Even though Millie didn''t make it a habit to frequent places like that, her parents were no strangers to creepy and dangerous locations. The Cragfall cemetery was hardly a dangerous location, but it was still a little creepy. Millie was going to have to get used to that.


    "So, I just realized something," Millie said. "We''re in the graveyard, yeah, which is cool and thematic and all."


    "Well sussed, my brilliant daughter," Arla said.


    "But my [Skelemation] says it only works on things that have been dead for under an hour." She pointed at the graves and tombs around them. "These have been here a lot longer than that."


    "True, true," her dad said, "but that hasn''t." He pointed at a nearby tree, where a crow sat on a branch preening its feathers.


    "That bird''s not dead," Millie said.


    "No, it''s not," confirmed Arla. "But you''re a [Death Mage], so I figured you could do something about that."


    Oh. Right. Millie''s stomach twisted just a little. She academically understood that she was going to be dealing with death and decay and all of that, but the reality that she was going to be the one to dole it out and be the arbiter of who lives and who dies¡ªat least in some small way¡ªhadn''t quite sunk in. She knew it, but now she knew it. And have to face it.


    "Yeah," she said. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. One [Gravebolt] coming up." At that thought, a series of icons flashed at the bottom of Millie''s vision in a row, with [Gravebolt] being represented by a ball of energy with a skull in the center. It looked like a horrifying shooting star.


    Instinctually, Millie activated the skill and her left hand began to glow with that same black-cored light. A cold fire engulfed her, making its way from her fingertips to her shoulder. When her whole arm had ignited, she held her palm up and pointed it at the crow. A ray of condensed death slammed into the unsuspecting bird, knocking it to the ground.


    At the same time, Millie felt like part of herself had been burned away.


    "Oh, my god, that''s feeling. It''s horrible!" Millie choked out. "That hurt so much."


    "Think about what the crow is feeling," her dad said. "You still have work to do."


    Millie walked over to the bird, stunned from falling off the tree, but shaking itself and scrambling to its feet. Millie activated [Gravebolt] again, feeling part of herself rip away as she blasted the black bird again. It made a pitiful caw, weak and cracked.


    "Finish it, Millie," her mom shouted from a dozen yards back. "Don''t be cruel."


    After the second spell, Millie felt somewhat numb, empty. She hurt, but it was a different kind of hurt than she''d ever felt before. She looked down at the bird, scared and confused and in pain. The same kind of pain Millie was in.


    She instinctively focused on [Death''s Favor], and its icon flashed¡ªa cartoonish skeleton with a scythe giving a thumbs up. Weird.


    In a snap, the [Death Mage]''s trademark black-white fire rushed outward from Millie. The tree that the crow had fallen from glowed in a sickly grey light. So did the grass. And the crow.


    She felt slightly better second by second, the crow and surrounding area worse.


    In half a minute, Millie felt as good as new¡ªmaybe better¡ªand the crow lay dead in the wilting grey grass. Her mind roiled, ambivalent about what she had just done. The Millie from yesterday and before was saddened at the loss of life, at the death of an innocent creature. Millie the [Death Mage], however, relished the feeling of the life essence flowing from this plane to the next.


    ######


    [XP Gained: 5]


    ######


    She looked back at her parents, who stood hand in hand, solemn expressions on their faces. "I got 5 XP!" Millie had never gained XP before, so even though 5 was barely even a step toward the 1000 needed for Level 2, she was excited nonetheless.


    Her father nodded. "That''s not much, but it was a very weak creature. Probably a level 0. I didn''t know if it would give you anything since you have an advanced class."


    As he spoke, another notification appeared to her.


    ######


    [Achievement Earned: First Kill]


    You did the thing! As a newly classed combat caster, you did what you were made to do.


    [Reward]


    ¡ªXP Gained: 100


    ######


    "And an achievement!" Millie shouted back at them. "I forgot about achievements!"


    "They''re pretty fun when you get them," her mom shouted back. "They trail off after a while and become a lot rarer, but the System does a great job of helping new adventurers out."


    Her dad chimed in, "Did it give you a box or just XP?"


    "What?" Millie asked. "XP. What''s a box?"


    "Sometimes, you''ll get a box that has a random reward in it instead of just XP. Maybe a potion or some other kind of item."


    "Nope," Millie said. "Just the XP."


    "You''ll get one eventually," Luc said.


    "Just one more spell to try, Mills," her mom said. She nodded quickly, pointing at the dead bird with her chin.


    "Yep. Let''s see how this works." The icon for [Skelemation] was a bit more jovial than Millie expected. Instead of a bony hand reaching upward or something like that, it was a full humanoid skeleton, holding a cane, wearing a top hat, dancing to some unheard song.


    Since gaining the [Death Mage] class, the System had implanted her with a load of information to go along with the abilities she''d gained. Part of that information was instinctual, such as knowing how to interact with the various icons and elements of the personal interface that magically floated in front of her eyes.


    Likewise, once she had read the descriptions of her starter spells, she had an intuitive understanding of how to use them. At least on a fundamental level. So when Millie began to cast [Skelemation], she knew what to do, how to move her hands the right way to harness the essence of death and pour it into the fallen crow.


    When she was finished casting, the black-cored fire engulfed the crow and caused the flesh, organs, and feathers to slough away as the skeleton crawled out of its former body like the empty husk it was.


    The skeleton, still faintly surrounded by the glow of Millie''s death magic, turned its empty eye sockets toward her and waited.


    ######


    [Achievement Earned: That Takes Class]


    Just a Necromancer doing your Necromancer thing.


    [Reward]


    ¡ªXP Gained: 100


    ######


    Millie smiled at the notice, and then turned her head and looked down at her right shoulder


    The [Skelemated Crow] cawed, despite having no physical way to make a sound. It hopped up on its spindly legs, despite having no connective tissue holding its bones together. It took flight and landed on Millie''s shoulder, despite having no flesh or feathers to catch the wind.


    Millie had done it. She''d become what she always wanted. More, really, when considering she had a rare [Necromancer] class advancement already.


    ###


    The next morning, Millie was slightly surprised to find the [Skelemated Crow] in precisely the same spot and position as she had left it on her nightstand the night before. It hadn''t moved. Not even a twitch. It simply stared at her with its empty eyes. It was, even to a [Necromancer] in training, a bit unnerving.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "Stop looking at me like that, okay?" Millie said, rousing herself and tossing her blankets aside.


    The bird turned its head toward the window.


    It was going to take some time to get used to all this. The night''s rest had apparently helped her work some things out subconsciously because as she looked at the dead bird on her nightstand, she felt absolutely no remorse at having killed it. Only pride at having succeeded at doing so and then reanimating it.


    She pointed at her shoulder, and it flew quickly to its perch. Millie liked the way it felt there. It felt¡­right. Gently patting its head, she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. It wasn''t late morning, but there was already a pot of porridge hanging over the fire and a bowl in her spot at the table.


    A folded sheet of parchment also floated above her spot. Her mom''s starting class was [Librarian], which was an absolutely non-combat related class that spent almost zero time in dungeons. When she met Millie''s father, she eventually specialized into [Archivist]. The class could eventually gain access to some of the most powerful spells delvers could learn, but she still had the utility spells from [Librarian] that came in useful pretty often in day-to-day life.


    The [Voice Message] unfolded when Millie touched it, and began to speak in her mother''s voice:


    "Good morning, Mills. Something''s happened with one of the limited-time dungeons near Drustmere, and your father and I were asked by the Adventurer''s Guild to help get a handle on the situation. It shouldn''t take more than a couple of weeks including travel back and forth, based on what Guildmaster Arren told us. Have a great day, our darling [Necromancer]. We cannot wait to hear all about what you''ve learned while we''re gone. Love."


    Well that wasn''t vague and slightly ominous at all. There wasn''t anything she could do about it, though, other than hope things go well. Luc and Arla weren''t elite delvers or anything, but they made their living by consistently clearing the static dungeons near Cragfall and helping run people through them for loot. What they excelled at, though, was working their way through the limited-time dungeons that just appeared. They were often among the first, if not the first, parties to clear the special dungeons, claim the best loot for themselves, and then help others snag their special prizes from the boss before the time ran out.


    Which explained why Guildmaster Arren had whatever was going on in Drustmere. They were quite good at it, so Millie wasn''t worried.


    She got herself a bowl of the porridge, sat down in her spot at the table, and then moved the [Skelemated Crow] so that it sat like a centerpiece while she ate. While she spooned the sweetened goop into her mouth, she focused her eyes on the skeleton and a new information pane popped up.


    ######


    [STATUS: SKELEMATED CROW]


    CREATURE TYPE: Undead, Avian


    LEVEL: 1


    ¡ªHP: 10


    ¡ªMP: 0


    ¡ªSTR: 2


    ¡ªDEX: 2


    ¡ªCON: 1


    ¡ªINT: 1


    ¡ªWIS: 3


    SKILLS:


    ¡ªFlying (Passive), Eagle Eye (Passive), Scratch, Peck


    #######


    Well, nothing really surprising there. She hadn''t realized that creatures she reanimated had levels, so that was cool. Its stats were abysmal, and it was kind of sad that it only had 10 HP but it took her so long to kill. But whatever. She was new at this. Her [Gravebolt] probably did percentage-based damage or something, not hard numbers.


    She could guess what the [Flying] skill was, but she wanted to know about [Eagle Eye], [Scratch], and [Peck], though.


    ######


    [EAGLE EYE]


    Passive Ability


    This avian has enhanced vision.


    ######


    Well, that was helpful. Should be good for scouting ahead in a dungeon or something, though. And spying on people!


    ######


    [SCRATCH]


    Melee Attack


    The avian slashes the target with its claws, dealing damage based on its STR.


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: Whenever this skill deals damage, there is a small chance the target will take a small amount of necrotic damage based on INT over the next few seconds. Resistance is based on the target''s CON. This effect stacks up to 3 times.


    ######


    With a STR of 1, that probably wasn''t going to be a lot of use for her. But the enhancement for being a [Death Mage] was pretty cool.


    ######


    [PECK]


    Melee Attack


    The avian uses its beak to make a piercing attack, dealing damage based on DEX.


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: Whenever this skill deals damage, there is a small chance the target will become distracted for a number of seconds equal to the undead avian''s DEX, potentially interrupting spellcasting or skill use. Resistance is based on the target''s CON. This effect can only occur once every 60 seconds.


    #######


    Millie was impressed. For such a tiny creature, this little guy packed a lot of punch. Well, not punch so much as a lot of neat things she wanted to play around with. The bonus effect from [Peck] was going to be useful, depending on what the resistance rate was. Even a 1 second distraction could be the difference between life or death in a dungeon. At least, that''s what her parents told her, anyway.


    With all this new information in mind, Millie finished up her breakfast, and told her new friend to stay put. She needed to get dressed before heading to the Adventurer''s Guild to check the quest board. She figured there would be some kind of tutorial quest she could grab that would be doable by a solo level 1 [Death Mage].


    A lot of level 1s partied up to learn their way around their new classes, but since most people were averse to [Necromancers], she didn''t expect people would be too keen on it. Not yet, at least.


    Millie had just finished lacing up her boots when she heard a knock at the door. She flattened out the front of her shirt as she stood up and moved over to answer it.


    "Hi there," said a smiling young man, only a few years older than Millie by appearances. "I have a delivery for Millie Coreia?"


    Millie cocked an eyebrow. "I didn''t order anything, sorry. There must be some mistake."


    The courier looked confused. "Umm, let me check the order instructions." He reached into a pouch that hung on his belt and pulled out a notebook. After flipping a few pages, he said, "No, this says the order was placed by an Arla Coreia for a Millie Coreia a little over a year ago, and the instructions specifically say to deliver it to this location on this day. No time is specified, though." He held out the notebook for her to see, and sure enough, whatever it was, was for her. "Is this a bad time?"


    "No, no," Millie said. "This is fine. That''s my mom. Arla. She must have had it sent." She paused. "Well, obviously she did. But anyway, yes, I can take it. Millie Coreia. That''s me."


    The courier laughed, and reached into that same pouch to pull out a package that was physically far too large to fit inside. Dimensional storage was so cool. Millie hoped she could afford something like that one day. Her parents both had dimensional backpacks to hold their adventuring supplies and loot from dungeons.


    The box was rectangular and only a few inches thick. It was wrapped in a matte black paper, held shut with an iridescent black ribbon tied into an elaborate bow. "From Frazzapple''s Finery," the delivery man said. "Your mother has expensive taste!"


    Millie blinked twice and took the package. "She¡­does, apparently. Wow."


    "Have a good day," said the courier, who turned on his heel and waved and walked down the short path from the door back to the road.


    "Thank you," Millie said, realizing just how rude she probably seemed to him. But she was taken aback, surprised. She couldn''t think of the last time that she had received a package for herself. And she couldn''t think of any time that one of her parents had bought something from Frazzapple''s. That was one of the most expensive boutiques in the city.


    Millie made sure to appreciate beautiful wrapping as she walked over to the sofa and sat down. With the box on her lap, she carefully untied the bow, and then unfolded the matte black paper. A box made out of thin grey wood was beneath it, and when she removed the top, her eyes almost popped out of her head.


    Folded inside was a cloak, and one of exceptional quality based on its appearance. The cloth was thick but not heavy, the color of midnight¡ªa deep black that appeared slightly blue when viewed from the right angle¡ªand dark grey piping highlighted the edges. A chain of black metal was laid over the neck. An obsidian clasp in the shape of a skull to hold it together.


    Millie couldn''t imagine how much money this item had cost her family. They weren''t poor, but they weren''t the kind of family who went out and bought things like this often. Or at all, actually. She set the box down beside her and held the cloak up. Immediately, a System information panel popped up and floated above the item:


    ######


    [SHADOWSILK CLOAK]


    ¡ª[DESCRIPTION] Made from condensed shadow captured at twilight over the course of a year, this masterwork cloak is imbued with darkness, but not in a creepy way, and is designed to protect the wearer from whatever dangers may come their way.


    [ONE WITH THE SHADOWS]


    ¡ªActivated Ability. The condensed shadow within the up the cloak permeates you and pulls a part of you into the shadow realm. For 3 seconds, you become incorporeal and translucent, making you harder to detect and harm in the physical realm. Note that certain schools of magic may ignore this limitation.


    [COOLDOWN]


    ¡ªResets each day at sunset


    ######


    "Holy mother of dragons!" Millie swears out loud. The crow skeleton caws in response. She stares at the cloak, noticing for the first time a very faint aura of wispy black tendrils around it. "This must have cost a fortune."


    Not hesitating any longer, Millie undid the skull clasp and whipped the cloak over her shoulders. It fit like it was made for her. Which, apparently, it was. She patted it down, and the item sure earned its name. It was soft, yet sturdy, and as smooth as any silk she''d ever felt. Smoother, if she were honest. She hadn''t felt that much silk, after all.


    The interior lining of the cloak had four pockets, two on each side, and in one was a folded piece of paper that simply said, "Every good necromancer needs a good cloak."


    The first instance of the word "good" had been traced over a few times, making it stand out from the rest of the text. Millie''s heart swelled and couldn''t wait to hug her family and thank them for this gift.


    They had believed in her and planned over a year ago for this extravagant gift. She wasn''t going to let that faith or the cloak go to waste.


    "Come on, bird," she said, and the crow flew to her shoulder. "Let''s go on a quest."

 Chapter 004 - Tutorial 1: Kill Ten Rats

    The quest board outside the Cragfall Adventurer''s Guild was surrounded by a dense throng of people, each one trying to do the same thing that Millie was. It was the day following class assignments, so of course there were dozens of people looking for some way to gain XP immediately. Plus the established adventurers checking to see what quests had refreshed for the day.


    Hopefully, this mass of level 1s wouldn''t actually try to go into a dungeon yet. Outside of the Cragfall city walls were plenty of respawning monsters for them all to group up and fight, learning what their skills did before going into even a tutorial dungeon.


    Every year, there were at least a couple of newly classed adventurers who, as her dad always said, "got too big for their britches." They always thought they could handle a dungeon before completing even their first quest. Not even a Kill Ten quest, the most basic combat quest that you could find from the guild.


    When word got around that a delver or three was missing, Guildmaster Arren would check the logs and see that they, invariably, were overwhelmed by mobs inside the dungeon, barely having used any of their abilities at all.


    The dungeon cleaning crews were efficient and good at what they did, so there was rarely anything left to bury. Simple memorials were commonplace, and Millie expected this season''s to be held no later than the beginning of the following week.


    This was the first time that she had the potential of having one of her own, but she wasn''t planning on being memorialized just yet.


    The back of the crowd around the quest board was far enough away that the System didn''t pick up that Millie was trying to interact with it. After waiting so long hte day before, Millie was pretty impatient to get things moving along. She pulled her cloak closer around her and entered the throng, bumping shoulders to get through, but trying not to jostle too many people.


    There was the typical murmuring from people in a crowd, waiting their turns, and it didn''t seem like people were mad she was wriggling through to get into range of the board. At least not initially.


    "Get that thing away from me!"


    "Ah! Don''t let it touch me!"


    At first, they didn''t even register with Millie, but as the people around her moved aside, she realized their comments were about her. And her new friend on her shoulder.


    She tried to ignore them. Millie had been warned for a long time that this would happen. She was going to have to get used to this kind of reaction, so it wasn''t even worth engaging at the moment. Just get a quest and get out and get to work.


    "Is that a dead bird?" said another person. "What is wrong with her?"


    "[Necromancers] are disgusting, that''s what. I can''t believe we have to deal with that."


    Pretty much everyone was looking at her now, a couple dozen people at least. Expressions ranged from disgust to shock to anger, looking at her as though she was a monster, not just another girl who got a new class. Just like a lot of them.


    "Is she going to try to kill us?"


    "Is she actually wearing a skeleton?"


    Intellectually, she knew that people hated [Necromancers] and were frightened of them. As far as she knew, she was the only one of her class in Cragfall. People there weren''t used to them, sure, so maybe on some level, she thought she would be different.


    Because they didn''t know evil [Necromancers], people would accept her because she was a good one.


    Especially people she knew personally from around town and school. Millie wasn''t exactly popular, though. She knew people, but didn''t have a lot of close friends. Okay, any close friends. Her vocal desire for the class didn''t make her the belle of the ball, but people had never treated her badly or bullied her. They just kept their distance.


    Now that she thought a bit more into it, maybe they were afraid of her, even when she didn''t have any powers. Either way, she thought she was prepared for a little extra distancing and a few more comments.


    But the way people were right now, they acted as though they were terrified of her and that she was some kind of different person than she had been yesterday.


    "Don''t let her near," a voice to her right said as she made it into range of the quest board. "I heard they can drain your life by just touching you once." Okay, so that was true, but she couldn''t. Not yet.


    But she could¡­steal everyone around her''s life force without touching them.


    Yeah, okay, she got it why they were scared.


    That just meant she''d just have to show them not to be. She''d just show them what a good [Death Mage] could be and how she could help them and make their delving and adventuring better.


    "I''m just here to get a quest, folks. I''ll be gone soon. Don''t worry, I''m not planning on stealing your souls or anything."


    "See?!" shouted one voice. "She can steal our souls!" The crowd got even more restless and the murmuring got even louder.


    Millie was fairly certain that she would have been attacked right then and there if the System didn''t have pretty severe punishments for attacking and killing other people. Especially in town. She''d have to watch her back, though, when he was outside the city walls. But then again, she''d always known that would be the case if she got what she wanted.


    Trying to ignore them as they got more and more agitated, Millie interacted with the quest board and brought up the interface to grab her first quest. It was simple enough, a short list of quests, numbered 1 through 5, each with a number of stars indicating the difficulty, also 1 to 5. There were two tabs she could navigate between: [Overworld] and [Dungeon].


    She was definitely not going into a dungeon right now, so she stayed on the [Overworld] tab and found exactly what she was looking for, a Kill Ten Rats tutorial quest with a 1-star difficulty and reward of 250 XP.


    ######


    [TUTORIAL QUEST: KILL TEN RATS]


    Learn the ropes of your new class by killing ten [Giant Rats] outside the walls of Cragfall. The perfect exercise for any new adventurer just getting the hang of things and learning the ropes. Fair warning, though, tutorial or not, their teeth long and their claws are sharp.


    Turn in this quest at any Adventurer''s Guild quest board to claim your reward.


    [DIFFICULTY]


    ¡ª *


    [REWARD]


    ¡ª XP: 250


    [ACCEPT]


    #######


    With the quest accepted, she raised her hand and ducked her head. "I''m going, okay? Right now. I get it," she said, trying to sidestep to the left and avoid as many people as she could as she got away. "Don''t worry, though, I''m not going to hurt you. I''m a good person, a good [Death Mage]. I''m not evil or anything like that."


    "We''ve heard that one before," shouted a man''s voice behind her.


    "Yeah!" cried tons of voices behind her. "We have!"


    Millie knew that was patently untrue. She didn''t know of a single [Death Mage] in Cragfall for the last century. [Necromancers], sure, but not her class specifically. She knew it wasn''t worth correcting. They didn''t know¡ªnor care about¡ªthe difference.


    What she said instead was, "I''ll prove it to you. You''ll see!"


    ###


    Cragfall was an interesting city, for sure. Built at the base of a cliff, one side of the city was always protected by the huge rock wall it pressed against. Another part of the city was built directly into the mountain, dug and carved out over centuries.


    The a tall, semi-circular wall surrounded the rest of the city to protect it from the System-spawned creatures and monsters wandering the rocky plains and pine forest, generally called the Pines, nearby.


    Millie was nervous as she left the safety of the city walls to begin her tutorial quest. All along the roadside, she saw new adventurers slashing and being slashed, plucking arrows at different kinds of animals, and occasionally seeing an eruption of fire or ice definitely missing its target and continuing in an upward trajectory until it fizzled out.


    Oofs and ughs and ahhs and owwwwws were almost rhythmic and she watched the newbie adventurers work on gaining XP and farming for whatever quests they''d accepted.


    After a few minutes of not seeing a single quest target, even already engaged by someone else, Millie decided to wander off the path and toward the Pines to the west, though she expected to find a nest well before she hit the treeline.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    She was right and before long, saw a large bundle of sticks and other¡­things¡­stacked together with 3 [Giant Rats] sitting outside. They surrounded the nest, poking their heads in and out, chittering, and just scrabbling about within a 6 to 10 foot radius around it.


    Watching them for a moment, Millie realized she had no idea about how much health these things had. She expected them to have more than her crow, but less than a goblin¡ªanother common enemy for low-level adventurers.


    Thinking back to how she''d handled the crow, Millie stood what she considered pretty close to her max range and loosed a gravebolt at the first rat who separated itself from the other two. She didn''t know if they attacked in groups, but she was going to try to single-pull if she could.


    The black-white bolt of death energy sped toward its target, and Millie felt her HP dip. No sooner had the magic struck the rat, it was aware of her and charging her.


    Sick from the loss of her own HP, Millie said to the skeletal bird on her shoulder, "Go! Help kill it!"


    Without hesitation, the skeleton flew forward toward its target. Millie prepared another bolt to fling its way.


    As her pet neared its target, it became a flurry of talons and beak. The giant rat stopped in its tracks for just a moment¡ªthe [Peck] effect taking hold¡ªand a debuff icon appeared above the rat, a tiny 1 in the corner indicating the number of stacks.


    Even though the [Skelemated Crow] had low stats, its attacks were rapid and when combined with its ability to fly, the tiny undead creature harried the rat.


    The rat didn''t simply stand there and let itself die, though. It swiped its claws at the bird, even standing on its hind legs to get nearer to it as the skeleton fluttered around it.


    It didn''t matter, though. As Millie''s second gravebolt struck its target, the [Death Mage] debuff from the crow ticked its HP to 0.


    The moment that the rodent''s body stopped moving and fell to the ground, a series of notifications hung in the air.


    ######


    [QUEST UPDATE: GIANT RAT 1/10]


    [XP: 25]


    ######


    Millie reveled in her victory. It wasn''t much, but she actually felt like the [Necromancer] she''d always wanted to be. She used a skeleton to help her kill a monster!


    It looked like the other two rats outside the nest hadn''t noticed her yet, so she knelt beside the corpse of the one she''d just killed and started casting [Skelemation]. The skin sloughed off and the bones assembled themselves. It looked at her expectantly.


    ######


    [OVERVIEW: GIANT SKELEMATED RAT]


    CREATURE TYPE: Undead, Rodent


    LEVEL: 1


    ¡ªHP: 60


    ¡ªMP: 0


    ¡ªSTR: 5


    ¡ªDEX: 5


    ¡ªCON: 6


    ¡ªINT: 4


    ¡ªWIS: 2


    SKILLS:


    ¡ª Gnaw, Slash


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: +10 HP


    #######


    On inspection, Millie saw that the two skills it had were pretty much identical to the ones her crow had. [Slash] was a DEX-based melee attack, while [Gnaw] used STR. Neither had a [Death Mage] bonus.


    Without much hesitation, Millie sent both of her minions toward the other two rats near the nest. She followed them but stayed back a good bit. She fired off two more gravebolts, and as the second one landed, she felt her knees go weak. She fell to the ground and realized that her HP was shockingly low as she knelt there.


    ######


    [XP: 25]


    [QUEST UPDATE: GIANT RAT 2/10]


    ######


    The rat she''d targeted with the gravebolts must have died. She watched her skeletons go on to the next target, understanding the assignment. Millie pushed herself off the ground and knew what she had to do.


    She got into range of the only standing [Giant Rat] and cast [Death''s Favor]. As the cold black-white fire spread outward, greying the world in a circle, she could do nothing to help her flying minion from getting caught in the large rodent''s mouth. It chomped down, gnawing at the reanimated creature, shattering the hollow bones, and causing more notifications to appear for Millie.


    ######


    MINION KILLED: [SKELEMATED CROW]


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND]


    It''s always sad to lose an adventuring companion. But at least you can create another one whenever you want.


    [XP: 100]


    ######


    Her undead rat, though, didn''t miss a beat. It was gnawing and slashing at the live one the whole time. Millie felt the life force drain from the living rat, pouring slowly into her and restoring the HP loss from her barrage of gravebolts. As her weakness subsided, she looked over at the [Giant Rat Nest] and saw yet another rat poking its head out. About half of the mound was caught within the life-draining AoE, and the rat was withering before her eyes.


    ######


    [XP: 25]


    [QUEST UPDATE: GIANT RAT 3/10]


    ######


    "Get the nest," she told her minion, and it skittered to follow her orders. Millie herself went over to the nest and, rather than spend her own HP on [Gravebolt]¡ªshe had no idea how the spell affected structures like this¡ªshe started to kick at the sticks and other debris the giant rats called home.


    Millie''s kicks did very little damage, as she expected. Her STR was low, and she didn''t have a melee class or even a melee skill. But combined with the skeleton, bits and pieces of it came off. It didn''t take long for two more rodents to scurry out of the structure.


    Between a few well-timed kicks and stomps, a couple of [Gravebolts], her reanimated companion, and [Death''s Favor] keeping them both regenerating as it drained the living rats, Millie eventually succeeded at destroying the nest and getting 5 of the 10 rats she needed to complete her quest.


    ######


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE]


    You destroyed your very first monster lair and all of its residents. Don''t get cocky, though. They only get sturdier from here.


    [REWARD]


    XP Gained: 100


    ######


    Millie smiled at the notifications and decided she should probably use [Skelemation] on at least one more of the [Giant Rats]. It''s stats were identical to the other.


    After setting herself up with a second bodyguard, she pulled up her quick status pane to see that she was almost completely out of magic power, or MP.


    ######


    [QUICK STATUS]


    Millie Coreia


    Death Mage


    Level 1/10


    XP: 655/1000


    HP: 140


    MP: 11


    ######


    Millie wasn''t sure how to check her MP regeneration rate, but after casting [Skelemation] twice during that whole battle, she had only regenerated 11 points. So whatever it was, it was low.


    Thankfully, [Death''s Favor] didn''t require MP. It did have a cooldown, though, but as long as she was willing to sacrifice a minion now and then, there was a way to circumvent that if she had to.


    Unsurprisingly, there was no loot from the rats or their nest. It wasn''t like the rodents had any need for money or potions, and they didn''t wear armor or use weapons. And she didn''t exactly feel like she should be skinning or harvesting parts from the level 1 monsters from a tutorial quest.


    Another [Giant Rat Nest] that looked exactly like the first one was only a few minutes'' walk from where she was. It took her further off the roads, but there didn''t seem to be any other kinds of nests or spawns near enough to the nest that would aggro on her.


    So, with her [Giant Skelemated Rat] companions, she used pretty much the same strategy as before to demolish it. By the end of the fight, even though she''d completed the requirements of the quest and had it ready to turn in. Unfortunately, she still didn''t have enough MP to reanimate a third companion from the dead rats around her.


    Finishing the tutorial quest hadn''t taken too much time, and Millie thought she might be able to snag another easy one from the board after she turned this one in.


    Just then, a roar came from within the treeline a little over a hundred yards away. It was quite loud, especially given how far away she was. There were crashing noises, too, as though whatever had roared was crashing through underbrush and tree trunks.


    "No!" came a voice that was very much different from whatever was roaring. "Get up! Run!"


    Another roar. More crashing.


    "I''m running!" yelled a second person. "We have to find help!"


    Whoever these people were, they broke out of the forest, running and stumbling side by side, directly toward Millie. She had no idea if they knew she was there or not, but she looked around and she was the only person other than them in view¡ªand likely earshot.


    Not far behind them, an oversized owlbear covered in mottled grey and brown feathers was charging out of the trees behind them. It was easily half again, if not double the size of typical [Lesser Owlbears] found in the forest. Its huge beak open and drooling as it ran toward the adventurers.


    As all of this rushed directly at Millie, a notification popped up:


    ######


    [PUBLIC QUEST: OUT-OF-TOWN OWLBEAR]


    An owlbear from another region has managed to find its way into the forest outside of Cragfall. It''s larger than the area''s native owlbears and much more aggressive. This particular creature appears to be staking out the forest as its own territory. That''s bad for everyone. It is your job to make sure this out-of-towner gets the welcome wagon it deserves.


    [DIFFICULTY] - ****


    [Reward]


    ¡ªVaries based on participation


    ######

 Chapter 005 - Saving the Day, Leveling Up

    Millie had no idea what to do. She''d just completed her first tutorial quest. Hadn''t even been able to turn it in yet. And here was a four-star public quest with a rampaging owlbear easily twice the size of a normal one. And she wasn''t even level 2.


    Her gut told her to run. Her mind told her to run. But she saw the two people running toward her, and she knew that if she was going to be a good necromancer, then she needed to do good when she had the opportunity.


    Trying to save these people¡ªor at least help them complete the public quest¡ªwas precisely that. So against her natural instincts, Millie moved toward the duo, her two skeletal minions flanking her as she ran.


    The pair of adventurers were still attacking the owlbear as it charged, one throwing bolts of blue magic over their shoulder with varying degrees of success, while the other would periodically jump, twist in the air, fire an arrow at the raging monstrosity.


    Once Millie was in range, she began casting [Gravebolt], and the adrenaline in her system helped dampen the pain of her sacrificed HP. Twice more she flung the black-white bolts of magic at the massive beast, and as the third one slammed directly into its left eye, the owlbear turn its head toward her, roared, and turned its attention from the escaping pair and onto her.


    [Death''s Favor] appeared with barely a thought as Millie knelt down, her whole body tense and ready to move. "Go for its eyes," she said to her minions, and they ran toward their new target.


    Millie''s health slowly replenished, and she barely noticed the plants in her spell''s radius weaken and shrivel.


    The panicked duo immediately noticed the owlbear had swerved away from them, its attention turning toward Millie. If they were shocked, their actions didn''t show it. They slowed their pace, and the spellcaster began to collect motes of blue magic around their hands. The archer pulled their bowstring back, a green glow appearing around their weapon. Both unleashed their spells at the same time.


    The owlbear, for all its rage and power, couldn''t stand up to the barrage of simultaneous attacks. Millie''s skeletons neared the creature, one being crushed underfoot while the other managed to scale the feathered fiend¡ªbut just barely. The caster slung a spray of ice that hardened one of the monster''s back paws. The archer''s arrow flew in an upward arc, and as it pierced the ground just in front of the owlbear, vines, and roots erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around its foremost paw.


    The two snaring effects hitting at the same time cut the beast''s momentum so suddenly that it staggered forward and lost its balance. Its beak cut into the rocky soil, and the weight of the thing drove it forward as the roots and ice tore away from the ground.


    Millie leaped to the side as the beaked maw slid toward her through the dirt and halfway into her spell''s area of effect. She sent another [Gravebolt] its way, and her [Giant Skelemated Rat] rushed toward the beast''s right eye, gnawing and gnashing and thrashing at the soft tissue.


    The owlbear roared, spittle flying at Millie and covering her. Fear of imminent death muted the pain and sickness as another [Gravebolt] tore her life away. Until that moment, Millie hadn''t been aware that the spell could critically succeed, but as the black-cored magic flew from her palm, toward the open beak, she knew that''s precisely what happened.


    The ball of death she launched into its mouth was twice as large as any other she had cast, and as it struck the back of the owlbear''s throat, the deathly fire expanded, the flesh inside deteriorated. Combined with the steady drain from [Death''s Favor], which it was frantically trying to get itself out of, the public quest''s target was looking a little worse for wear.


    The other two adventurers continued to pelt their target from afar. Their constant flurry of attacks was definitely doing the trick.


    As the beast finally rose to its feet again, looking harrowed and slightly emaciated, Millie''s skeletal rat managed to burrow inside the eye socket. Splats of goo and blood erupted as it pushed its way through flesh and jelly, and the owlbear rose on its back legs, pawing at its face and head with its front paws.


    It screamed. Millie threw another [Gravebolt]. The duo pelted it with ice and arrows. The rat clawed and ate its way through the creature''s brain. Finally, the thing died, and a slew of notifications popped up.


    The first was a simple one acknowledging that she had gained 250 XP for killing the owlbear. "Holy goblin crap!" Millie said, shocked at the amount a single monster gave her. That owlbear had to have been way over her level to grant that much XP from just the kill.


    The second was the acknowledgment that she had completed the public quest.


    ******


    [PUBLIC QUEST COMPLETE]


    ¡ªOwlbear Menace Handled: 1/1


    [REWARDS]


    ¡ªXP: 500


    ¡ªReward Box: Uncommon


    ******


    A box! She got a box! As she read the System message, a brown box plopped out of nowhere at her feet. A matte brown ribbon held the lid closed.


    ******


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: FIRST QUEST COMPLETE]


    You have completed your very first quest. There was a problem, and you solved it! Now, do it again!


    [REWARD]


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    XP: 100


    ******


    Pretty standard stuff, but Millie was absolutely stoked to continue to gain XP at this rate. She knew it would taper off¡ªand soon¡ªbut she was going to revel in it while she could.


    ******


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: FIRST PUBLIC QUEST COMPLETE]


    You have found and completed a public quest! Unlike quests you pick up on your own, these missions are much more dangerous and unlikely to be doable without others. So you either found some other adventurers in the area, you''re incredibly lucky, or you''re a total badass and everyone should watch out.


    [REWARDS]


    ¡ªXP: 200


    ¡ªReward Box: Uncommon


    ******


    Another box! She couldn''t believe it. It appeared midair a few inches above the other one and dropped on top of it. The two were identical.


    The moment it dropped into place, Millie felt like a gust of wind rushed past her. She felt refreshed, energized, and full of life. It was like she hadn''t almost been eaten by a monster she had no business even being near.


    Yet another notification appeared, and it was the best one yet.


    ******


    [LEVEL UP]


    Congratulations! You have reached level 2 in the Death Mage class. You have gained +2 CON, +2 INT, and 1 point to apply to any score you desire.


    You currently have 700 XP out of the needed 1500 to reach level 3. Keep up the good work!


    ******


    Millie squealed and hopped up and down. She had waited for so long for this, wanted it so badly. Even though it was just the first level, it was the first step on the road she''d wanted to walk ever since she was a little girl.


    ******


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: YOU''RE A BIG KID NOW]


    Don''t expect to get an achievement every time you gain a level, but this one''s special. You''ve never had it happen before, and it''s a big deal. Relish it. Embrace it. Now get out there and do it a hundred more times!


    [REWARD]


    ¡ªReward Box: Common


    ******


    This box dropped on top of her others, stacking up. The new one looked similar to the others, it was obvious that it was made out of a lower-quality material. Thinner, a rougher texture, tied with a string rather than a flat ribbon, that sort of thing.


    After the third box appeared, Millie paused before doing anything else, waiting on another notification. Nothing else came. She breathed a sigh of relief. As exciting as all that was, she was actually shaking from the adrenaline and craziness of it all. She hadn''t even had time to process what had happened. She''d just been overwhelmed by¡­well, by everything.


    She reached down and took the [Reward Box: Common] into her hands. She pulled the string and undid the bow, but before she could open it up, the other adventurers trotted in her direction and one of them held up their hand and shouted a greeting.


    "Hey! Hey, hi there!" said the archer, a woman in green-dyed leather armor and her bow slung across her back. "Thanks for the help. I don''t think we''d have been able to do that on our own."


    The mage, a short-haired woman wearing a drab robe, corrected: "I know we wouldn''t have. We were doing okay in there. We have a quest from a [Leatherworker] to bring back some owlbear pelts, and we were doing okay in there." She pointed toward the Pines and then grimaced. "But we got overwhelmed by this big fella while harvesting a normal one, and, uh, well, you saw."


    Millie smiled. "I did. Fortunately? Unfortunately?" She laughed. "I''m Millie, glad I was here to help." She took a couple of steps forward and held out her hand. "I''m new here. Well, not Cragfall, but out here." She made a circular gesture with her pointer finger to indicate the area outside the city walls.


    They both reached out and shook it in turn. The mage first, "I''m Quinn," she said, and the archer followed it up by saying "Pax" as she shook.


    Wet slurps and gurgles started to come from the owlbear''s corpse, and every one of their eyes shot back to what should be a dead creature. Millie''s minion was making its way out of the corpse''s skull the same way it went in. It scrabbled to Millie''s side covered in grey matter, eye goo, blood, and what looked like shards of bone from the skull. It sat upright like a dog or cat, dripping viscera, waiting for orders.


    While all of this was happening, Pax and Quinn were preparing to attack. Pax had their bow pulled and was nocking an arrow as the skeleton moved, while Quinn''s fingers frosted over as she formed a shard of ice to hurl at the rat.


    Millie protectively stepped in front of her companion. "Hey, hey, it''s okay," she said, holding up her hands. "It''s with me."


    "What?"


    "Yeah, I had two, but the owlbear crushed one on its way toward me. This one managed to get inside its head through its eye. I think it ate through its brain! How wild is that?" Millie was beaming.


    Quinn and Pax, though, could only blink. They held their attacks, though, ready. Millie briefly wondered how it would work if they attacked one of her skeletons unprovoked. Would the System react the same way it did when they attacked another person, flag them as criminals?


    "What''s going on, guys?" Millie asked. "I think you ought to pull back on whatever it is you''ve got prepped here, alright?"


    The pair looked at each other, and then back to Millie. "You''re a [Necromancer]?" asked Quinn.


    "Yeah!" Millie said excitedly. "A [Death Mage] technically." She smiled and looked back and forth between them, making eye contact with both.


    An uncomfortable silence hung between them as the ice melted from Quinn''s fingers as she let the spell''s magic go. "I saw the things running toward it, but from where we were back there, I thought you were some kind of [Summoner] or even just had a couple of familiars."


    "I mean, I kind of do," Millie said, looking down at the rat. "It''s okay, you can say hi."


    The gore-covered skeleton slinked around Millie''s legs and looked up. It squeaked at them and held one paw forward a little. Both Pax and Quinn stepped back.


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Pax said. "No, thank you. I, ummmm¡­we appreciate your help and the save and all, but uhh¡­we should¡­uhh¡­"


    "¡­uhh¡­yeah, we probably should skin this thing and see if the [Leatherworker] wants it, right? Right, yeah." She sidestepped toward the corpse, but she never moved her eyes off of the [Giant Skelemated Rat].


    Pax followed suit and pulled out a knife. "Yeah, we definitely should, uh, do that, yeah."


    Millie patted around her cloak and pants, checking to see if she had a knife. "Gah," she said, "I don''t think I have a knife on me to help. You have a spare?"


    "No!" Pax said far too quickly and at far too high a volume. "No, just the ones we''ve been using. We can handle it. We got it. Yeah?"


    Quinn nodded and pulled out her own.


    "Sure, yeah," Millie said. "Whatever."


    The duo started skinning the corpse from the rear, keeping one eye on Millie and her companion the entire time. Or trying to. She could see them occasionally poke their heads around the carcass, checking to see if she was still there.


    Their reaction hadn''t been so much a surprise, as it had been a disappointment. She''d essentially saved their lives. Had saved their lives, as a level 1! She''d really thought there was a chance at making a couple of friends out of the situation. Not that that''s why she did it, but saving someone''s life tended to make you friendly at least.


    And it would have. If she had been just another run-of-the-mill pet class like they''d assumed. But since she was a [Necromancer], of course people got weird about things.


    It''s not even that she got her hopes up, either. The shunning from other people was always in the back of her mind. It just stung a little because it happened so often and so regularly. And it hadn''t even been a full day yet.


    Millie sighed, shook her head, and went back to opening her reward boxes. At least they wouldn''t disappoint her.


    The rat skeleton beside her chirped. She saw that it was looking directly up at her. "No, you didn''t disappoint me, either." Millie knew that if the undead rat had lips, it would have smiled.

 Chapter 006 - Unwrapping Surprises

    Millie popped the lid off of the [Reward Box: Common]. Inside was a cupcake. Dead center. It hadn''t jostled or moved with the box at all. It was colorful, with a tall mound of frosting on a wide thick cake.


    ******


    [CUPCAKE OF DESTINY]


    It''s a delicious cupcake. You''ve hit an important milestone in your journey as an adventurer, and this will help you commemorate it. For 1 hour after you''ve eaten the Cupcake of Destiny, the next three sources of XP you gain are doubled.


    [DOES NOT WORK BEYOND LEVEL 10]


    ******


    Millie was surprised something like that would come from a common box. As tempting as it was to use immediately and get double XP from her next quest turn-in, she knew that she would be better served to wait until she neared level 10. Hopefully, she wouldn''t forget she had it.


    She looked up at the owlbear carcass, and Pax and Quinn were still hacking away at the pelt. It looked like hard work. She couldn''t tell how much progress they were making, but it didn''t seem like much. Millie shrugged. She''d offered to help, and they declined. So whatever.


    Next she undid the ribbon on the [Reward Box: Uncommon] let it fall away. She lifted the lid, and inside this one was a round bottle with a cork stopper.


    ******


    [Uncommon Healing Potion]


    [Uses: 2/2]


    Drinking this potion will instantly restore 20% of your maximum HP and another 10% over the next 5 seconds.


    ******


    "Simple and useful," Millie said to the rat skeleton. "I think my [Gravebolt] has a new best friend." The minion squeaked a response.


    The next box held a blue potion in an identical bottle to the first:


    ******


    [Uncommon Magic Potion]


    [Uses 2/2]


    Drinking this potion will instantly restore 20% of your maximum MP. The next damaging spell you cast will do 10%.


    ******


    "Oooh, fancy," Millie muttered. Luckily her new cloak had pockets that could hold the bulbous potion bottles. She wasn''t sure what to do about the [Cupcake of Destiny], though. Would it get smashed and ruined in the pocket? Would it ruin the cloak?


    Better not try it. Millie put the lid back on the common box and got to her feet. The skinning pair really seemed to be having trouble getting the pelt off the carcass.


    "Are you two sure I can''t help?"


    "No! We''ve got it!" shouted Pax. "Smooth as¡ª" a couple grunts and other noises later "¡ªbutter."


    "Sure thing," Millie said. She was just about to turn around and head back toward Cragfall, when she looked down at her skeletal rat companion. Millie smiled from ear to ear. She knelt on the ground, directly in front of the withered owlbear. Neither Pax nor Quinn could see her from where they were. "Watch this," she whispered to the rat. She placed her hand on the owlbear''s huge beak.


    [Skelemation] took 60 seconds to cast. Obviously, the owlbear was much higher level than Millie was. She''d gained 1 since it had died, which meant the difference was a little smaller. There was still a high chance the creature would resist being reanimated, but there was a non-zero chance that she could have an undead giant owlbear under her control.


    That opportunity alone was worth taking the time to cast the spell. When she added in scaring the absolute hell out of Pax and Quinn for the way they acted when they found out she was a [Death Mage], well, Millie hoped the same luck or god or whatever had helped her get her advanced class would help her here.


    As the spell ended, the black-white deathfire moved from her hands and into the corpse. Millie immediately knew it had succeeded. Against the odds, Millie felt the fire burn into the beast, coating the skeleton, and giving it the power to rip its way out of the thick, dense mass of muscles, organs, skin, fur, and feathers that held it captive.


    The body began to heave, and Millie smiled. She stood up and took a few steps back to watch what she''d done. The owlbear seemed to be standing up, raising its haunches even as Pax and Quinn had their knives jammed into it, tearing their tools away from them. Millie saw them fall to the ground, horrified looks on their faces. Real terror. Millie drank it in. It was how they looked at her earlier, but this time, there was a reason.


    Millie was in control of something that could end them as quickly as she thought it. That knowledge made Millie feel strong, powerful. Even at only level 2, she knew she could overwhelm these two adventurers.


    ¡­and then [Skelemate] their remains to keep them as her minions, too.


    Something inside her reveled at the thought. The [Death Mage] class hadn''t¡ªso far¡ªaffected the way she thought or felt, but at that moment, as she imagined ripping the skeletons from the adventurers'' bodies, Millie could sense a flicker of the class itself trying to influence her decision to act.


    She steeled herself against it. She understood immediately and innately why so few [Necromancers] were good now. Why her dad said it was impossible to find someone who wasn''t evil.


    It was that feeling. That need. The power of death. That power that she held over everything and everyone.


    And she was only level 2. Millie swallowed hard.


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    She turned her attention back to the task at hand and reined herself in. The owlbear skeleton had pulled itself free from its body at this point, the skin, meat, and viscera pooled at its bony feet. Pax and Quinn were covered in blood, moving backward on all fours, scrambling away from the undead creature.


    Millie''s new pet looked at her and made a low growl. "Say hello to Pax and Quinn," she said.


    In response, the owlbear turned in place to face the two horrorstruck people on the ground. It rumbled again, tilting its head and bobbing it slightly, making sure the two of them knew it was aware of them and directing the noise in their direction.


    While it followed her instructions, Millie pulled up its status pane.


    ******


    [STATUS: SKELEMATED OWLBEAR][ELITE]


    CREATURE TYPE: Undead, Beast, Avian


    LEVEL: 10


    ¡ªHP: 220


    ¡ªMP: 0


    ¡ªSTR: 18


    ¡ªDEX: 10


    ¡ªCON: 22


    ¡ªINT: 4


    ¡ªWIS: 2


    SKILLS:


    ¡ªCharge, Rampage, Claw, Bite


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: This creature can be used as a mount.


    ******


    At the moment, Millie wasn''t concerned with the actual skills the owlbear came with. Nor was she even considering the elite status or level difference between it and her.


    She was only reading the Death Mage Enhancement. She could use it as a mount! She could ride it! Millie wasn''t one-hundred percent certain what the differences were between a creature this large being designated a mount versus simply climbing on top and riding it.


    Not wasting even a second, Millie moved toward her new friend and as she did so, it automatically lowered itself to the ground, folding its front paws beneath it and placing its skull very close to the ground.


    This worked out well for Millie in two ways: she could easily climb up the creature''s shoulder to settle herself in on its back, and it made Pax and Quinn obviously more frightened as it moved its beak even nearer to them.


    As she got herself into position, Millie felt the vertebrae under her shift and grow, a small seat of bone forming under her and a backrest growing upward. She could get used to this.


    The death mage smiled as she looked down on the pair whose life she''d ostensibly saved.


    "Next time someone saves your lives," Millie said, "consider not being so hateful to them. Or they might not do it the next time." She turned her new mount around to face the direction she''d need to travel to get back to Cragfall. "Enjoy the pelt." The owlbear stomped on the meat still attached to a particularly thick piece of its former hide. "You''re welcome."


    She then urged the owlbear skeleton forward, heading back to town, the undead rat scrambling up the owlbear''s spine and settling into her lap. Millie could get used to this.


    ###


    There were no rules in Cragfall prohibiting class-based pets, companions, familiars, or¡ªmost importantly to Millie¡ªmounts. That didn''t stop the guards at the gate from stopping her before she could enter the city.


    A particularly burly guard was already waiting in the center of the road as she walked up. His sword was unsheathed and he had two other guards behind him holding spears at the ready. They blocked were blocking entry back into the city.


    Millie had seen this coming. Both figuratively and literally. The guards were well aware of her approach long before she got there, and she was approaching town on what boiled down to an elite undead monster. She understood their trepidation and concern.


    She waved as she got near enough for it to be visible, a smile on her face. She got no response. She hadn''t expected one.


    The closer she got, the more nervous she saw the guards were. As she got within a few dozen yards, she saw the spearmen actually tense up and get ready to defend from an attack.


    Could they not see that she wasn''t actually a monster?


    A voice deep, deep within her mind said, Not yet. She pushed it down.


    "Hey, guys, remember me?" She urged the skeletal owlbear to stop. The guards didn''t respond.


    "I left town a few hours ago. From this gate."


    Again, nothing.


    "Just heading back in to turn in my quest," she said and gave them a thumbs up. She waited a beat and then, "Well, I''m gonna head on in."


    "Hold on, miss," said the swordsman in front. "I''m not sure if that''s such a good idea."


    "Why is that?"


    He either grunted or coughed. Millie couldn''t tell which. "Umm, well, your monster¡ª"


    "My mount, you mean."


    "Yes. We don''t allow undead monsters¡ª"


    "Mount," Millie repeated, speaking over him.


    Unfazed, he continued, "¡ªwithin the city walls. I''m sorry."


    Millie didn''t respond for a moment. She looked at each one of the three guards and made eye contact in turn. Finally, she said, calmly. "Look. I''m new to this. I''m a level 2 [Death Mage], and I just want to turn in my tutorial quest." Between the phrases level 2 and tutorial quest, she saw the guards loosen up a bit. "It''s not a monster, though. It was. You know, when it was trying to kill me and a couple other people as part of a public quest in the Pines, but now, it''s just a pet."


    At that, the owlbear made a low rumble that made the three guards take a step back.


    "Okay, not just a pet¡ªsorry!¡ªbut still, I was able to reanimate it. I didn''t think I''d be able to [Skelemate] him, but I did. He''s totally under my control, and you know as well as I do that if he were to attack anything or anyone, I would be the one flagged for it." She paused for dramatic effect. "Which now that I think about it, would be the same thing that happens to you if you attack us and prevent us from entering town."


    The guards shared a look, and the two spearmen relaxed and rested the butts of their spears on the ground. The one in front, obviously the one in charge, said, "But we can''t allow a monster¡ª"


    "It''s not a monster. And now that I think about it, I''m pretty certain that there are no city laws or System rules about bringing pets, companions, familiars, or mounts inside the gates. I think you would have a very hard time detaining us, especially once the magistrate or captain of the guard."


    He sheathed his sword and sighed. "Fine. You may be right, but I''m just trying to protect the citizens from threats."


    "So am I," Millie said. "Just ask the ranger and mage Pax and Quinn when they come home later. You''ll know them because they''re alive from where I saved their lives." The owlbear skeleton chirped, for lack of a better term. Millie nodded and the mount walked forward. The guards moved to the side of the road and watched her pass.


    Gods, Millie thought to herself, I''m only level 2. And the city guards were terrified of me.


    The voice that had come from deep inside her before whispered, You ain''t seen nothing yet.

 Chapter 007 - Wheatopolis Best

    Walking through the streets of Cragfall on the back of an oversized owlbear was a lot more uncomfortable than Millie realized. She knew there would be stares, but she wasn''t prepared for the stares. There were, surprisingly, very few insults shouted at her. Probably because people were too taken aback to form their thoughts into words.


    Doing her best to not make eye contact, she made her way to the quest board. The crowd from earlier in the day had thinned, and there were only a couple of people nearby. Instead of riding her mount directly up to the board, she dismounted a few yards away and instructed both of her skelemated companions to stay back.


    Hopefully, no one would give them a problem being in the middle of town, near the Adventurer''s Guild, and being flagged as her minions by the System.


    Once within range, Millie pulled up the quest board''s interface and selected the tutorial quest. It read the same as before, only now there was a [TURN IN] button for her to press.


    She did so, and her XP total raised to 950/1500. The board updated, too, with a new quest:


    ******


    [TUTORIAL QUEST 2: FIND THE LOST SHIPMENT]


    Oh, no! A shipment of grain and other supplies from Wheatopolis has not reached its destination in Cragfall. It is over a day late, and it''s up to you to figure out what happened and help the supplies get delivered.


    [Difficulty]


    ¡ª *


    [REWARD]


    ¡ª XP: 250


    [ACCEPT]


    "Wheatopolis?" Millie said aloud, not even meaning to. "Where the heck is Wheatopolis?" She laughed, having never heard of the city.


    "It''s probably a fake city made up by the System for that quest," said a voice to her left. Millie whipped her head in that direction and saw Lorey, the girl who had received the epic [Runecrafter] class.


    "Wait, what?" Millie asked. "It can do that?" Then realizing that she actually knew Lorey, she said, "And hi, Lorey! Congrats on [Runecrafter]! I was so happy for you when it happened."


    Lorey beamed. "Thank you, Millie. It was a bit of a surprise. I wanted a tradeskill, sure, and I''d hoped for an advanced one, but I never ever thought about one like this." She took a deep breath, and Millie saw her shoulders rise and tighten a little. "It''s a lot. Like¡­a lot to take in."


    "I know the feeling," Millie said. "The whole [Death Mage] advanced class has been a bit much."


    Lorey half-smiled and half-grimaced. "Better you than me on that one."


    Millie laughed. "I''ll take that as a compliment."


    It was Lorey''s turn to chuckle. "It was, actually. I know you have been wanting something like that, and I''m glad you got it. I just hope people aren''t too awful to you because of it."


    "Oh, they absolutely are, yeah," Millie said as she nodded emphatically. "It''s my first day with it, working on the tutorial quests, even, and people are scared of me, yell at me, even tell me I''m going to suck out their life and soul just by being near them!"


    Lorey''s eyes widened. "You''re not are you?!"


    "No!" Millie said. "No way! Lorey, I would never¡ª"


    The epic enchanter burst out laughing. "I know! I''m sorry, I know, Millie. I know you wouldn''t, even if you could. That''s not how any of this works. I just had to see how you reacted."


    Millie dropped her smile into a sardonic frown. "Yeah, thanks for that. It was hilarious."


    "Look," Lorey said, "Being a necro is hard. My family was telling me last night¡ªafter you got your class and we''d all gone home¡ªthat supposedly my mom''s great-uncle or something like that was given [Necromancer] as his first class."


    "Oh! How cool!"


    "Not for him," Lorey continued. "According to my mom, he was ran out of whatever village he was from¡ª"


    "Wheatopolis, maybe?"


    "Hah! I doubt it. She didn''t say where. But she said he was ran out of there and basically spent the next few years or so leveling up mostly alone and having people be generally awful to him."


    "Well, that''s a good pep talk. Thanks, Lorey!"


    "Hold on," Lorey said. She held her hand up. "They also told me that he overcame it through a few class advancements and eventually unlocked the [Void Ascendant] class. It gave him so many bonuses and spells for healing and support that he eventually got invited to a Guild and started working his way through Exalted dungeons and the Spire."


    Millie''s eyes enlarged. "How far did he get? Is he still climbing?"


    Lorey shook her head. "Mom said he died in the Spire when she was a young kid, but she wouldn''t say how or what happened."


    "Gah. Why won''t people talk about the Spire?"


    "To not piss off the gods?" Lorey shrugged. "Anyway, I have to get this quest done¡ªthe second tutorial quest is calling my name."


    "Hey, mine, too!" Millie said. "Wanna tackle it together?"


    "I''m sure yours is different. Mine''s a crafting one specifically for [Enchanters]. I''ll be finding, sorting, and merging different essences from crystals."


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Yeah, that''s pretty different from my Wheatopolis grain recovery."


    "It is isn''t it? But hey," Lorey said, "when I get a chance to finally get the board to give me access to quests I can do with [Runecrafter] combat stuff, I''ll totally knock out a quest or two with you."


    "You may be the only one in town who will," Millie said, shrugging.


    "Nah, surely not."


    "Guess we''ll see," Millie said. "Anyway, enjoy your ques,t and congrats again on the epic class. I''m so happy for you."


    Lorey beamed again, her grin as bright as Millie''s cloak was dark. She waved as she headed down the street.


    ###


    Millie crested the hill, and there it was. A wagon missing two wheels that she could see lying broken a few yards away. Torn cloth was everywhere on the ground, and a few broken barrels were also scattered around.


    She moved closer and dismounted, but kept the owlbear skeleton a few steps behind her as she approached the wreckage.


    ******


    [QUEST UPDATE: FOUND THE WAGON FROM WHEATOPOLIS]


    [NEW OBJECTIVE: RECOVER WHAT YOU CAN FROM THE WRECKAGE]


    [BONUS OBJECTIVE: DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DELIVERY]


    ******


    Millie was sure that recovering what was left would be no problem. There didn''t seem to be a lot to recover from what she could see so far.


    But there was a bonus objective, too, and she wasn''t quite sure how to complete it. She just knew that she would have to do that before completing the main quest and turning it in.


    Millie wasn''t sure how she was supposed to discover what happened to the delivery, but she figured her best bet was just looking around. The cloth was the wagon''s canvas top, ripped to shreds. A spatter of blood was on the ground near the driver''s seat, but there was no body.


    The sun was getting to be lower in the sky, making it hard for her to see to the west. After a few minutes of searching, Millie couldn''t see a horse or mule or whatever beast of burden had been pulling the wagon toward Cragfall.


    The thought of the animal made Millie remember what Lorey had told her. That Wheatopolis might be a city the System made up for this quest. But wouldn''t that also mean the grain, the wagon, the animal pulling it, and the driver, were also made up for the quest?


    How could that be possible? There was a person involved in this. Maybe more than one if it was bandits or something and not a monster attack. So how could it all be made up and generated by the System for this single tutorial quest?


    Probably the same way those [Giant Rats] and their nests were. Or the [Lesser Owlbears] who lived in the Pines. No matter how many adventurers were killed, more were there not long after. They''d just appear, spawning.


    But those weren''t people. Those were monsters and creatures. Elements of the System itself.


    Millie took a closer look at the rear of the wagon and saw that the barrels were busted and grain spilled out on the ground. Inside the wagon, a slew of ripped burlap was mixed in a veritable sea of grain.


    In the whole mess, there was only a single burlap sack that was filled to the brim with hulled wheat and still sealed. Wheatopolis'' Best was stamped on both sides of the bag.


    As soon as she picked up the bag, another quest update popped up.


    ******


    [QUEST UPDATE: DELIVER THE RECOVERED SUPPLIES TO ADVENTURER''S GUILD]


    [BONUS OBJECTIVE: DISCOVER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DELIVERY]


    ******


    The bonus objective hadn''t changed. Not surprising, since Millie didn''t have any more of an idea as to what had happened. Figuring there had to be some clue, otherwise the System wouldn''t have included the bonus objective, she started to look more closely at the details of the wagon and the surrounding terrain.


    Eventually, she did discover what looked like it could be footprints or hoof prints or something leading off toward the west. It could also be her seeing what she wanted to see, and it was nothing more than wishful thinking.


    Covering her eyes as much as she could to block the sun, Millie looked into the distance. There was a large rock formation off to the west, too. Mounting up and setting the bag of Wheatopolis'' Best on the vertebrae behind her, Millie rode off into the sunset.


    ###


    The rock formation was definitely the place the System wanted her to go for the bonus objective. Unfortunately, it was too late for both the mule that had been pulling the wagon, and for the man who had been driving it. Their bodies were both filled with holes, their clothes shredded, and tacky pools of dried and drying blood beneath them.


    There was no grain, whether in barrels or bags, anywhere. Just the corpses.


    That made Millie feel a lot better actually. If all she''d found was a destroyed wagon, spilled grain, and long-dead corpses, then that meant the System could have set this entire thing up for her quest without actually creating a whole person out of nothing. There might not have even been an attack because the whole scenario was set up like this, for her to find the single bag of wheat and these guys already dead.


    Oddly, though, the bonus objective of her quest hadn''t updated despite her finding what had to be the driver and the mule. It was too much of a coincidence for it not to be.


    So what was she missing?


    A hissing sound coming from all sides let her know exactly what she was missing. A half-dozen scorpions, each about two feet in length with an equally long stinger emerged from the sandy soil, surrounding her as she sat on her undead mount.


    First, she tossed the rat skeleton toward the ground so it would get at least one or two of the scorpions'' attention. At the same time, she cast [Death''s Favor] and the now familiar black fire engulfed all of the arachnids surrounding them.


    The scorpions wasted no time in attacking the rat, their stingers slamming down but finding their target only about half the time as the reanimated rodent scurried around, attacking anything it could see.


    "Do the thing," Millie said as her spell started draining her enemies'' life essence. Her mount knew precisely what she meant by that, and its massive form became a blur of slashing claws and chomping beak.


    The scorpions never stood a chance. Millie got a notification she had gained a collective 300 XP for their deaths. They were worth double what the rats had been, so that was cool. After that, her bonus objective did finally update.


    ******


    [BONUS OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: YOU FOUND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DELIVERY AND TOOK CARE OF IT]


    ******


    Not one to give up the chance at a few new friends, Millie hopped down to the ground and knelt beside the nearest scorpion. She''d never been this close to a bug that was just barely smaller than her. All things considered, she was probably really lucky she had the owlbear. Otherwise, she''d have been in a lot of trouble with an ambush like this. Even with the rat skittering around.


    Resting her hand on the scorpion''s back, she started casting [Skelemate].


    ******


    [SPELL FAILURE]


    The creature you are attempting to reanimate does not possess the necessary components to complete the spell.


    [MISSING]


    ¡ªSkeleton


    ******


    "Well, crappy crap crap," Millie said. "That sucks." She huffed in frustration. "What about you guys?" she asked the nearby corpses across the way, already knowing the answer.


    She knelt beside the mule first. [Skelemate] failed on it, too. It had been dead too long, according to the notification. Millie hesitated before moving over toward the dead wagon driver. Should she even try? She knew the answer was going to be the same, but this was a human body. Is that the start of the slippery slope that she kept hearing about with necromancy?


    No, especially not if he were simply created¡ªas a corpse, especially¡ªand put here for this quest. With that thought in the forefront of her mind, Millie rooted through his pockets, finding nothing. Figures.


    Expecting nothing to happen, the newbie death mage placed her hands on the corpse''s chest and cast [Skelemate]. Nothing happened except the same notification telling her it had been dead for too long.


    Nothing else to be done but go to the Adventurer''s Guild and give them a bag of wheat. On the way, maybe Millie would be able to think of a name for her elite friend with the claws and beak.

 Chapter 008 - Street Legal

    It was after dark when Millie made it back to Cragfall, and that''s when all hell broke loose.


    As it turns out, there was an undocumented feature of her [Skelemation] skill. She had noticed it the night before with the crow, but didn''t register that it was an effect that all skeletons she reanimated would have: they glowed in the dark.


    The black-and-white fire that seemed to be a [Death Mage] hallmark surrounded both the rat and the owlbear. It was faint when compared to what appeared when she cast a spell, but when darkness fell, it was very obvious they were limned in the essence of death.


    And the people of Cragfall did not like it one bit.


    The guards at the gate didn''t give her a hard time after she''d already stood her ground with them earlier, but the townsfolk were acting like a monster was attacking the town from the moment she¡ªor rather her mount¡ªstepped within the walls.


    Screams erupted as people noticed her on the road. More than a dozen people in as many seconds yelled something along the lines of "Guards! Monster attack! Undead! Ahhhh!"


    Doors slammed, and tradespeople did what they could to cover their carts and skedaddle before she came anywhere near.


    All Millie could do was reaffirm to them that she wasn''t a monster, that the skeletons were just part of her class. She found herself apologizing to parents as their children took off running and crying, breaking the grip their mothers or fathers had on them.


    Eventually, as she would have expected, a group of city guards showed up to prevent her from making further progress toward the Adventurer''s Guild. Cragfall was a decently large town, so there were multiple ways to get everywhere, but the size of her owlbear made it so that she couldn''t take a lot of the tighter side streets and alleys.


    The guards were taking the people''s yells of a monster attack seriously, and they''d set up a "trap" for Millie as she walked at a steady pace down the main thoroughfare.


    A pair of guards rushed from between buildings on either side of the street, each of them holding a round shield ahead of them with swords in the air ready to strike. Millie had to give it to them. They were doing their jobs, and if it were a real monster attack, they''d have gotten a huge jump on it and likely would have debilitated it before much damage could be done.


    Unfortunately, as Millie had tried to tell so many people, she and her companions were not monsters. And because of that, the four guards rushing at her had to make some split-second decisions.


    She was neither a monster nor a criminal. And even city guards couldn''t straight-out attack a citizen without being flagged as one themselves. They could manhandle and restrain someone, sure, but not directly make attacks on someone without serious consequences.


    So as they rushed toward Millie and her oversized mount, the System obviously let them know that she was a law-abiding citizen and attacking her would incur the aforementioned consequences.


    Millie couldn''t stop herself from laughing a little as the guards slammed into each other as they tried to stop their charge before coming into contact with the skeleton.


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    Ahead of her, guards lined up in a double row seemed to relax just a little as the attackers stumbled and ungracefully did what they could not to strike Millie.


    "Think it''s funny, do ya?" asked a guard, an officer of some kind obviously, stepping out from the first row. "Gettin'' the whole town up in arms and scared there''s a monster attack? What are you thinking?"


    Millie shrugged. "No, that''s not funny." She pointed at the four guards at her sides. "That is funny. I didn''t mean to get anyone stirred up or scared. I''m just on my way to turn in my quest and head home for the night."


    The officer took a few steps closer, his hand always on the sword sheathed at his side. He held his gaze just a second too long, and Millie knew he was using some class skill on her.


    "Mildred Coreia, huh?"


    She nodded. "That''s me. Millie, actually."


    "Level 2 [Death Mage]," he said, clicking his tongue. "Luc and Arla''s girl."


    Millie smiled proudly. "Yep!"


    "Well, that explains the ruckus and people losing their damnable minds about it."


    "Yeah, sorry," Millie said and meant it. She didn''t want to cause a commotion, but she also didn''t want to not live her life like a normal person. She didn''t want to have to be like Lorey''s great-great-granduncle or whoever he was.


    Sighing, the guard captain waved at the men behind him, and the blockade in front of Millie dispersed. "It''s been a long time since we''ve had a [Necromancer] in town, Millie. People ain''t used to seeing giant, glowing skeletons in town at night." He paused and looked her ride up and down. "Or during the day, for that matter."


    "I get that," Millie said. And she did! She just didn''t know what else to do. "I just don''t really have a choice, you know? It''s my class, and this is just part of that."


    Shaking his head and looking at the ground, the guard captain said, "I don''t know what to tell you, but you can''t keep this up. I already got one report about you giving my guards trouble at the gate¡ª"


    "That was entirely on them! I was just trying to turn in a quest. Like I am right now, too!"


    "Regardless, I don''t want this to become a problem." He nodded at the owlbear. "What do you plan on doing with this thing?"


    Millie hadn''t really thought about that. "What do you mean?"


    "Well, I mean, where is it going to live? I don''t think this is going to fit in your house do you?"


    Once again, Millie hadn''t thought about that. "I guess it''ll hang out in the yard?"


    "Oh, your neighbors are going to love that. I do not look forward to the reports that are about to come in."


    "Sorry."


    "Look, Millie," the guard said, "I know your folks, been delving with them a time or two. They won''t shut up about what a good kid you are. But that still doesn''t mean that we can have this happen every night?"


    "People will get used to it," Millie pointed out. "In a day or two, who''s even going to notice?"


    "Have you ever met people before, Millie? They don''t get used to anything." He put his hands on his hips, sighed again, looked at the ground, and shook his head. "There''s a mage shop in the Cavern called ZuZu''s PETals, and they specialize in summons and familiars and that kinda magic stuff."


    The Cavern was what residents of Cragfall called the part of the city that was carved into the mountain that the rest of it was pressed up against.


    "You should get your ma to take you over there and see if there''s anything they can do about making this thing a little more street legal."


    "Mom''s out of town," Millie said. "She and dad are helping out with some rare dungeon that popped up near Drustmere. I''ll head over there tomorrow myself, though, and see what I can find. That''s a good idea."


    Shouting was getting louder behind Millie and the guard captain looked around the owlbear and saw a group of people walking up the road, shouting and angrily holding weapons of different kinds. They were apparently ready for a monster hunt. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said to Millie, "I''m gonna take care of this, and you go turn in your quest. Then get that thing off my streets, Millie Coreia. You hear me?"


    "Yes, sir."


    "And Zuzu''s PETals in the Cavern. Tomorrow."


    Millie tapped her temple with one finger and went to the Adventurer''s Guild so she could finally give them this gods forsaken bag of wheat.

 Chapter 009 - ZuZu and the Owlbear

    ######


    [STATUS: MILDRED COREIA]


    CLASS: DEATH MAGE (RARE)


    LEVEL: 3


    ¡ªXP: 100/2500


    ¡ªHP: 180


    ¡ªMP: 180


    ¡ªSTR: 10


    ¡ªDEX: 10


    ¡ªCON: 18


    ¡ªINT: 18


    ¡ªWIS: 10


    ¡ªUNAPPLIED POINTS: 2


    [ABILITIES, SKILLS, SPELLS]


    ¡ªDEATH MAGIC: Skelemation, Gravebolt, Death''s Favor


    ######


    Turning in the second tutorial quest was simple and easy. She''d hit level 3 when she did so, which was really awesome. Millie had felt herself become a bit more hardy overall and her head felt clearer. That was probably from the INT boost from the level-up, but the refreshing boost from the level-up itself probably had something to do with it, too.


    That feeling of refreshment and clarity remained with her as she woke up the next morning. She''d left the glowing owlbear skeleton in the front yard, like she''d said. If anyone in the neighborhood complained, she''d heard nothing about it overnight. Her parents still hadn''t returned by the time she went to bed, but it was normal for them to be gone days to a week when they had to go out of town for a dungeon.


    Millie lay there in bed with her status pane up, staring at the numbers floating in front of her vision. She couldn''t believe that she''d hit level 3 in a single day. It was bonkers. Good bonkers, but bonkers.


    She stared at the [Unapplied Points: 2] line and thought about where she wanted to put those. She could put them in INT and CON like [Death Mage] did automatically, having her be able to do and withstand more damage.


    But she also knew that left her other scores at their baseline, and she knew from talking with her mom and dad that leaving everything at or near baseline was a great way to get herself in trouble later on. Millie wasn''t sure if she needed STR if she was going to have minions like the one outside right now, both in terms of carrying loot and getting up-close-and-personal in melee, but she knew that DEX would keep her agile and able to dodge while adding to WIS was a long-term investment that would eventually help her work through difficult times.


    Right now, though, she decided that DEX was the most important for her immediate success and survival and dumped the 2 remaining points there, raising her score from 10 to 12. Like magic¡ªmaybe because it was magic¡ªshe felt sprightlier and that her muscles had a tautness they didn''t just a moment before.


    Using that newfound springiness, Millie hopped from the bed and quickly got dressed. Downstairs, she ate a quick breakfast of bread and cheese, and then pulled some jerky out of her dad''s stash and packed it away inside her new [Spidersilk Cloak].


    Her rat followed her everywhere inside the house, staying directly under her feet like a living pet more than a reanimated servant. Given the likelihood of it being destroyed relatively soon, Millie wasn''t going to let herself get attached and think of it that way. At least to the rat.


    The huge beast in the yard, though¡­that one would be hard not to get attached to.


    Either way, when she set out from home that morning, her second as a classed adventurer, she headed toward the Cavern and the shop, ZuZu''s PETals, the guard captain had recommended.


    Instead of riding down the streets, Millie walked like she always did, hopefully drawing less attention than she had the night before. And while she did manage that, at least, the Cavern was a long way from where she lived. That meant a lot of people saw her in her shadowy robe leading an oversized skeleton through the streets. In the light of day, people simply avoided her, changing sides of the street and giving her a lot of space to pass through.


    No one spoke directly to her, but she got some jeers and snarky remarks about how a [Necromancer] had no place in Cragfall. The entire trip across town, Millie only caused one child to start crying and run away. Progress.


    The Cavern was a neat place, though Millie didn''t have much reason to the district very often. Between school, various other responsibilities at home, and the distance, the Cavern wasn''t on her list of regular haunts. Plus, most of the shops there were overpriced and stuffy, but that was expected in any city near where the leadership met and lived.


    As far as she knew, the Cavern was almost as old as the main town itself. The people who had originally settled Cragfall had supposedly thought it was a waste to build their homes simply next to the towering rock wall that overshadowed and protected them. Over centuries, they managed to burrow into the mountainside and create a series of tunnels, caverns, streets, and buildings that were essentially impervious to any kind of raid or attack from outside.


    The whole place was enchanted to prevent cave-ins, and there was no record of a dungeon entrance popping up inside.


    The entryway to the Cavern was twenty feet tall and maybe double as wide. She and her companions had no problem fitting inside and still leaving enough room for people to stare at them, avoid them, or both.


    ZuZu''s PETals wasn''t hard to find. After a few blocks inside and a turn to the left, Millie found the building that had been worked into the rock wall with the shop''s name etched directly into the stone above the door. This entrance, however, was much too small for the large skeleton to fit inside. Millie left it sitting out front, making sure that it wasn''t blocking the door for other customers.


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    "Welcome to ZuZu''s!" came a voice from behind the counter the moment she crossed the threshold. "I am ZuZu." A short, lean man leaned over the countertop with a grin on his face, almost hidden by the thick white beard and mustache he wore. Millie couldn''t help but think he looked like the very stereotype of a spellcaster with his beard and embroidered robes. "What is it ZuZu can help you with today?"


    "Hi," Millie said, "and yes, I do think I need a little help. I only just got my class a couple of days ago and¡ª"


    "Yes, the [Death Mage]! Very fun, that one.


    Millie raised an eyebrow. "Fun?"


    "You get so many pets and companions, if you do things right. There is nothing better in the whole world than an army of critters behind, beside, and in front of you."


    "So¡­you''re not afraid of me?" Millie asked, skeptical. She looked over her shoulder toward the front of the store to see her skeletons, but some shops in the Cavern, ZuZu''s PETals included, often didn''t have windows. Instead, they opted for a wall to have more space for goods and wares.


    ZuZu guffawed. "My dear, no. ZuZu is afraid of very little, and he knows adding some death magic at the right time can be the life of a party!" More laughter, and his grin widened.


    Millie didn''t say anything.


    "Get it? The life of the party? Because you''re a death mage?" He guffawed again. "It''s great. But no, ZuZu is not afraid. What can he do to help you?"


    "Uh, well, the captain of the guard sent me here because he said you might be able to help me keep my mount and other [skelemated] creatures a little more discreet for when I''m in town." She pointed over her shoulder at the door. "One of my, uh, current companions is a bit oversized."


    "Oversized, you say?" ZuZu''s eyes lit up. "That sounds fuuuun." He drew out the final word and his eyes widened in excitement.


    "I got it from an elite public quest."


    ZuZu clapped his hands. "Oh! And you only just got your class? How lucky you are!"


    "I am!" Millie replied. "But walking through the streets riding a giant skeleton or having it walk behind me is a little much for the everyday people."


    "Let ZuZu guess. You made a baby cry."


    "I did, yes."


    ZuZu laughed again. "Everyone makes a baby cry at some point. ZuZu many times."


    "It also won''t fit in my house, so last night it had to stay in our yard. Glowing. Just sitting there. I figure the same problem will happen in dungeons or tight places. Do you think you could help me, I dunno, store it or condense it or something?"


    ZuZu ran his fingers through his beard and narrowed his eyes. "Sure! Let ZuZu see your friend so he can see what you need." The shopkeeper then quickly bounced over the counter, using one hand to balance himself as he did. Millie just blinked, not expecting a man who appeared so old to be so agile. He zipped past her and opened the shop''s door.


    "By the gods, my little death mage, that''s an elite owlbear!" He approached the sitting creature and circled around. He stopped halfway around and inspected the bone plates that were Millie''s seat. Then he finished the circle and reached up hesitantly toward the huge beak. He stopped before touching it and looked back at Millie. "Can ZuZu touch?"


    She nodded. "Sure."


    "Always a good idea to ask permission before messing with anything under someone else''s command," he said as he placed his hand flat against the owlbear''s cheek. "You never know what kind of orders they''re under. And ZuZu does not want to lose a hand or an arm." He looked back at Millie again and winked. "Not again. Very expensive to get back."


    "I bet," Millie said. Unsure of what else she could say in response. She stood there and watched as ZuZu inspected the owlbear skeleton from head to toe to tail. The most interesting part to watch was when he took both of his hands, one on the upper beak and one on the lower, pulled them apart, and stuck his entire head and torso in, as though he were being eaten by the thing. He even twisted around a little until he was lying on his back inside the owlbear''s mouth and staring upward into its skull.


    Eventually, he slid out of the maw and onto his feet. He stood in front of Millie and snapped his fingers. "ZuZu knows just the thing for you, Millie Coreia!" He once again zipped past her and into his shop.


    "How do you know my name?" Millie asked.


    "How many [Death Mages] are there in Cragfall?"


    "Good point," she conceded.


    "How are Arla and Luc doing these days? Are they good?"


    "You know my parents? And yeah, they''re good. Off saving the day in Drustmere right now."


    "Oh yes, that new Drustmere dungeon is nasty business, ZuZu hears." The mage''s voice dropped the jovial tone it had since Millie had come in. "And yes, ZuZu has known your parents for many years. They have sent much business ZuZu''s way over the years. Always appreciated. Good people, your parents. You are lucky."


    "I am," Millie said. "They do their best."


    "In everything, surely. Now," ZuZu said, "in regard to your owlbear problem, ZuZu sees why you are concerned¡ªespecially if you are already making babies cry." He snickered. "No, but really, ZuZu has just the thing for you."


    "Wonderful!" Millie exclaimed. "What is it?"


    "That, my little death mage, is a surprise."


    "What?"


    ZuZu smiled. "You leave your friend with ZuZu, and by tomorrow, you will not have to worry about your friend frightening the city anymore."


    Millie wasn''t sure what to say. She didn''t know this man, but the captain of the guard suggested his shop. Which meant the eccentric mage should be able to be trusted. But she didn''t have any money of her own yet, and her parents weren''t back from their delve to ask.


    "How much will that cost, ZuZu?"


    The man''s beard whipped from the pfffffft sound that he made with his lips. "You owe ZuZu nothing. Your parents once saved ZuZu, did you know that?"


    Millie shook her head. "I did not."


    "It is true. Arla and Luc are good people. For their Millie, ZuZu does this for free."


    "Oh, wow. What happened?" Millie asked. She loved hearing stories from adventures.


    "Bah," ZuZu said, waving his hand in dismissal. "Not even a story worth telling. But come back tomorrow for your friend." He pointed past Millie at the skeleton outside. "You will not be disappointed. That is ZuZu''s promise to you."


    "Um, well, okay, then." Millie took a couple of steps backward. "I guess I''ll see you tomorrow, then, ZuZu."


    "Tomorrow!" the mage said and flourished his hands in an arc above his head. "Bye bye now, my little death mage." He made a sweeping motion with his hands now. "Shoo. ZuZu must work."


    She laughed and walked toward the door. "Okay, okay. I''m gone." Stepping outside, she patted the reanimated owlbear on the beak. "ZuZu''s got this," she said. "I''ll be back tomorrow morning. Be nice, don''t attack. He''s helping us."


    The owlbear made the deep rumbling sound again and slightly pushed back against Millie''s hand in acknowledgment. Or at least Millie took it as acknowledgment. She didn''t know how much things she reanimated could think or behave autonomously, but she was beginning to feel they were at least a little more than the empty husks she''d always thought they would be.


    With that taken care of, Millie went toward the Adventurer''s Guild to see what kind of trouble she could get into. After all, she was an adventurer now. That''s what she was supposed to do, right?

 Chapter 010 - Tutorial 3: Dungeon Diving

    As Millie had suspected, there was a third tutorial quest for her to accept when she checked the quest board at the Adventurer''s Guild. This one would probably be the last one in the tutorial series, as it sent her into a dungeon for the first time.


    ######


    [Tutorial Quest 3: Dungeon Delving for Beginners]


    Kobolds are located along the most distant branch of the dragonkin family tree. Despite that, being there at all makes kobolds think they''re much more important, and smarter, than they truly are.


    Kobold warrens tend to be repulsive. Dirty, smelly, odious places. Just like the kobolds themselves. Like their much larger and more impressive progenitors, kobolds like to hoard wealth and shiny things that catch their attention. The difference is that what the kobolds consider wealth is most often trash.


    Rumors abound, however, that the kobolds in the warrens under the Pines have managed to procure a number of items of actual worth. You are being tasked, adventurer, with two very important tasks:


    1. Retrieving one of these items from the leader of the kobolds and returning it to any Adventurer''s Guild.


    2. Cull the kobold numbers.


    [DIFFICULTY]


    ¡ª **


    [REWARDS]


    ¡ª XP: 500


    ¡ª Reward Box: Rarity Varies


    [ACCEPT]


    ######


    Millie knew about the kobold dungeon outside of town, though she''d never been in there herself. It was a low-level cave crawl for parties under level 5. She knew some people would group up and go in together even without a quest just to grind XP on the small reptilian creatures that spawned inside and hope that one of them would be holding one of those "items of actual worth."


    From what she understood, having one of those items would make anyone in Tier 1¡ªmeaning under level 20¡ªhave a pretty smooth time well into the second tier of levels.


    Of course, Millie wanted one, but knew the odds of it happening were next to none. The odds of a kobold rando holding a rare or higher magic item were 1% or lower.


    Accepting the quest, Millie and her rat went inside the Adventurer''s Guild and sat down on a relatively comfy chair in a lounge area off to one side. She watched as a handful of established delvers would come in, speak with attendants behind the counters, and turn in quests. Cragfall''s guild was about mid-sized from what her parents told her. There was a shopping section further in, and she''d gone with her mom more than a few times to get an item she found in a dungeon identified. The ID guy made ZuZu look positively subdued.


    There were also, technically, class trainers of all kinds in the guild to help people learn the fundamentals of adventuring and delving.


    The truth, however, was that there were class trainers for the most common base classes, and a handful of the most likely advanced classes that newbies would spec into at 10 or even get initially.


    This meant, for Millie, there was both jack and crap that she could get from a trainer. Well, that wasn''t entirely true. [Death Mage] was actually a couple steps removed from the base classes. While it was certainly a [Necromancer] specialization and refinement, it was also by the strictest definition, a part of the generalized magic-user tree.


    A person might get [Sorcerer] as their first class, but then at level 20 have [Necromancer] be an option, and then at other milestones have [Death Mage] pop up. That''s usually how it worked. But since Millie was already a hop, skip, and a jump away from [Sorcerer], what could she learn from the base class trainer? Both regarding her class itself, but also the System and adventuring that she couldn''t also learn from her parents?


    The skeletal rat Millie had reanimated sat next to her chair, and she prompted it to climb into her lap. It did so without hesitation, and she stroked its skull between where its ears once were. Millie found herself calmed from touching the creature, even though she had no reservations it couldn''t feel what she was doing, nor did it care.


    Eventually, Millie got up and decided to take the day to rest and prepare herself for her very first dungeon delve. She thought about checking the LFG board to see if anyone was looking for another person to do the third tutorial quest with, but she didn''t want to deal with them rejecting her because of her class. The same thing for why she didn''t post one herself.


    She would just wait until she could get her pal back from ZuZu and then check it out herself. With a level 10 owlbear at her side, what in a tutorial quest could stop her?


    ###


    "My little death mage, good morning!" ZuZu shouted the moment Millie stepped into his shop. She assumed that whatever he had done went well because her mount was no longer outside, and she hadn''t received a notification that it had been destroyed.


    "Hey, ZuZu! How''d it go?"


    "Better than ZuZu could have expected. You are going to be quite pleased!"


    "That''s good to hear," Millie replied. "Just in time, too. I got a dungeon quest to finish out the tutorial line. I think it''s the end, at least. I don''t know what would come after that."


    "ZuZu believes you''re right," he said, clapping his hands together in front of him and pointing at Millie. "Which of the dungeons did you get?"


    "Kobolds." Millie moved further into the shop. "I don''t think this one will be too bad. Especially with the [skelemations] I have right now."


    "You are probably right. ZuZu would normally recommend getting a strong group for kobolds¡ªthey''re fond of swarming in packs. But with your large friend, you may have an easy time of it." He raised his eyebrows and snapped a finger right in front of Millie''s face. "Now, let ZuZu show you the magic he has worked!"


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    In a flash, ZuZu disappeared into the magic shop''s back room, and she heard him mutter, "Yes, yes, come along, big one." Shortly afterward, he emerged once again, this time with a four-foot-long staff with a miniature owlbear skull ornamenting the very top. Even in the light of the shop, Millie could see it glowed with the black fire of death energy.


    "Umm, ZuZu?"


    The mage grinned from ear to ear, resting one elbow and forearm on the counter and leaning forward. "Yeeeeeeeessssss?" he asked in one long, drawn out syllable.


    "What is that? What did you do?"


    "Outside!" ZuZu said. "ZuZu will show you!"


    Vaulting over the counter just as he had done the day before, ZuZu waved her forward and onto the street. "ZuZu thinks you will be very happy with what he has made for you. Exceeded his own expectations, he did!" Watch!


    The shopkeeper pointed the staff away from himself, and it erupted in black-white fire. The small owlbear skull popped off the weapon and arced toward the street. Before it hit, the skull expanded to its full size, and within seconds, the rest of the bones that made up [Skelemated Owlbear] folded outward from inside the skull. It was like the entire skeleton was being stored inside the skull. They locked together, and before she knew it, the street was filled once more by the hulking presence of the undead elite.


    "It could not be simpler to activate," ZuZu said. He handed to Millie what looked like a simple quarterstaff.


    When she took it, she realized it wasn''t as smooth or simple as she''d thought. The entire length was textured with etchings of symbols, runes, and long swirling lines. It was beautiful. She focused on it, and a pane of the item''s details appeared floating above it.


    ######


    [ZUZU''S STAFF OF FAMILIARIZATION (RARE)]


    ¡ª[DESCRIPTION] One companion creature can be attuned to this staff at a time. Activating the staff will place the attuned creature in dimensional storage or remove the creature if already stored. The head of the staff will in some way indicate the creature currently attuned.


    A creature can be unattuned at any time, but attuning a new creature takes 12 hours. You must wait 2 hours between storing and removing a creature.


    ¡ª[CURRENT ATTUNEMENT] Skelemated Owlbear [Elite]


    ¡ª[BONUS ENCHANTMENT] If the user is bonded with the attuned companion creature, they gain a bonus of +50% of the creature''s highest stat score(s) to their same score, rounded down.


    ######


    "This is insane!" Millie said, staring wide-eyed at the item. Then looking between it, the owlbear, and ZuZu. He smiled. She blinked. "You can''t give me this. I''m level 3, ZuZu! I can''t¡ª"


    "Pish posh," he said. "Pish. Posh. It''s a staff I''ve had sitting in that back room for ages, and have had no reason to use it. At least now, someone will get some use out of it. Plus, your parents did save ZuZu''s life, and the least he can do is help their daughter get a head start to where she can help someone, too, if it comes up."


    "Actually, ZuZu, that''s how I even found this monster." She patted the owlbear''s shoulder. "A couple of people were about to get trampled, so I grabbed its attention and started draining it and blasting it as much as I could. I''m not sure who finished it off, but I got really lucky it died when it did." She pointed at the beak. "I was pretty close to, uh, well¡­there."


    ZuZu laughed. "Kismet! Everything is connected!" The eccentric man threw his hands up into the air. "Now, you go and enjoy slaughtering kobolds, necromancer." He winked and shooed her away as he went back into his shop.


    ###


    The kobold dungeon was easy to find. It was in the Pines, and there was a steady stream of newbies like Millie all headed in the same direction. The irksome part was that nearly everyone else going toward the Pines was either partnered up or in a trio.


    To be fair, Millie hadn''t tried to find a party to tackle the quest. She told herself that it was because she already had Julie¡ªwhat she had decided to call the owlbear skeleton¡ªat her side. That wasn''t the truth, though, and she knew it. She didn''t want to deal with the rejection and fear.


    That was also part of the reason she kept Julie tucked away in the staff. She could get to the dungeon quicker mounted, but she didn''t want to deal with the people yet. So she hoofed it by herself.


    The path to the kobold warrens was clear. Other adventurers had killed the [Lesser Owlbears] and other forest critters, and they hadn''t respawned yet by the time Millie followed through.


    Standing in front of the swirling blue portal to the dungeon, Millie took a breath. Stepping forward caused a pane to appear in front of her. She had the option to enter a public version of the dungeon or a private instance for just her party.


    Her parents had taught her to be wary of public dungeons for a few reasons, but mainly because other people could cause a lot of grief and some people did that for fun. But that was always assuming she would be in a party to do the private version with.


    Her mind flashed back to thoughts of all the memorials she''d seen for overconfident newbies who got killed every season. Millie selected [ENTER PUBLIC DUNGEON] and the world went white.


    ###


    The stench was the first thing she noticed as the dungeon came into focus around her. It was rancid. The quest description had been right. The room she found herself in was so much larger than she''d ever have expected. Despite the kobolds being under 4-feet tall, the ceiling of the room she was in had to be easily 40, and the width triple that. Multiple tunnels adjoined the entry hall and descended downward in all directions.


    ******


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: DUNGEON DELVED]


    You found and stepped into your very first dungeon portal. You''re going to be delving like a pro in no time. Pro tip: don''t die.


    [REWARD]


    ¡ª XP: 200


    ******


    Well, that was nice and unexpected. Millie minimized the notification quickly in case there was a kobold getting ready to stab her.


    Behind her stood a blue portal identical to the one she''d entered through. The exit, obviously. Around her, kobolds and human beings were skirmishing and scrambling around, wrestling and throwing everything from hunks of garbage to fireballs at each other. The noise was unreal, as screams and shouts and spells from both sides echoed in the vast chamber.


    All of the kobolds she could see had a thin red outline around them, lining their silhouette. The other people in there, the public part of the public dungeon, were limned in green. Easy enough to tell the good guys from the bad, Millie figured.


    Millie wasn''t actually quite sure what to do. She felt out of place, actually. The other delvers were other people her age, people she''d seen around town, had in some classes at school. They all used a hodgepodge of dinged-up weapons and second-hand armor, all probably hand-me-downs from brothers, sisters, and other family members. That wasn''t a bad thing. That''s what happened for newly classed adventurers. If Millie''s parents had been in town, she would have asked for a little help, too.


    But even so, Millie felt weird standing there in a [Shadowsilk Cloak] from Frazzapple''s Finery and holding an enchanted staff made by ZuZu. Maybe she should have chosen the private instance, given she had an elite companion and advanced class, too.


    "You!" shouted a voice from somewhere around her. "On your left! Look out!"


    Millie knew the voice had been talking to her¡ªand reconsidered her choice of going into the private dungeon¡ªas a jagged, rusty blade slid into her abdomen from the left side.

 Chapter 011 - The Kobold Menace

    Millie''s HP plunged right alongside the knife. As it went deeper, so did her HP bar. The pain from it was a surprise, though. Millie knew intellectually that getting stabbed would hurt, but it hurt way more than that.


    Thankfully, Millie had already dumped a decent number of her points into CON, so she had some HP to spare.


    The kobold snickered as it pulled the serrated blade from her side and prepped for a second strike. It stopped snickering as the skeletal rat accompanying Millie jumped from the ground and latched directly onto the kobold''s snout. The reptilian screamed as the skeleton bit the scaly skin with increasing pressure and started scratching at its head and neck.


    Good to know that her minions would defend her if she was attacked by a monster, though. She hadn''t actually told it to go for the kobold, but it was pretty great that it did.


    As quickly as it had started, the battle ended. A sword cleaved into the kobold''s shoulder, and Millie barely had the wherewithal to step back and give the killer some room.


    ******


    [XP Gained: 15]


    [QUEST UPDATE: Kobolds killed: 1]


    ******


    "First time here?" asked a boy on the cusp of manhood. He pulled the sword out of the tiny dragonkin and slung the blood off before sheathing it.


    Millie nodded. "Yeah. I didn''t expect to be attacked immediately on zoning on. Thanks for the warning," she said. "Even if it didn''t help any." Millie looked down at the wound. Blood still poured out of it, and a quick check showed her HP was down by a quarter. It was ticking slowly downward, she noticed a debuff listed in her status pane.


    ******


    [BLEED]


    [DEBUFF TYPE: Physical]


    You are bleeding from a deep wound. You will lose 1 HP every 5 seconds until the wound is healed.


    ******


    "You better get that taken care of," he said, pointing. "Or you might have a memorial to get to next week."


    Millie grunted. "I''ll be okay, I think. I''ll heal it soon." She swapped her staff to the other hand and pressed her left palm into the wound, applying pressure. It hurt so much more than when she cast [Gravebolt]. Well, that wasn''t necessarily true. It hurt in a different way, but this was a pointless pain, one that would only make her weaker.


    He narrowed his eyes at her, very obviously curious about her nonchalance at delaying healing on a pretty deep stab wound. Then he noticed the skeletal rat that was still chomping down on the dead kobold''s nose, and his eyes widened with understanding.


    "You''re the new [Necromancer]." He swallowed. She could see his throat bob. He was afraid. He''d just cut down a kobold without a second thought, but he was scared of Millie?


    She smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could call me a newcromancer." She snorted, having made herself laugh. That one was solid. "I''m Millie."


    "Right." He started to turn away from her. "Be sure to take care of that," he said and pointed at her bleeding stab wound.


    "Thanks for the help," Millie reiterated. "What''s your name?"


    He was already walking away, but doing it weirdly, kind of sidestepping and looking back at her. "Tom," he said a little too loud and moved further into the room toward a group of two other guys with swords.


    "Oof," Millie whispered to herself as she knelt down beside the rat. Moving hurt. She was bleeding something good. But she wasn''t about to drink that healing potion yet. She just needed to kill a couple things with [Death''s Favor]. No big deal.


    Knowing that it wouldn''t matter when she did it or what happened, Millie activated ZuZu''s staff and Julie the undead owlbear unfolded in an instant. "Bring a few back to me, would you?"


    Julie and the rat bounded to the nearest pack of three kobolds, who had just respawned and unclaimed by anyone fighting in the room. They were definitely too stupid to be afraid of the elite charging at them and drawing them back. Millie stayed where she was, casting [Death''s Favor] and feeling refreshed by the magic expanding outward in the spell''s area of effect.


    Even though Julie could have destroyed the kobolds without a thought, she did what Millie asked and brought them back to her. As soon as the dumb creatures touched the ground affected by Millie''s spell, the wound in her side began to knit itself together. Only a few seconds had to pass before the bleeding stopped and the debuff vanished. The kobolds'' attention wasn''t even on her yet. Since her elite skeleton had taken almost three-quarters of their HP down in her single swipe, they were focusing all their aggro on it.


    Only as the last few percent of health drained out of them all did their eyes shift in her direction. She grinned at them and waved, standing up with full HP thanks to them.


    The sounds of combat that had filled the chamber when she entered were almost gone. Millie looked around and saw half a dozen adventurers staring in her direction. Well, in Julie''s direction.


    "What the hell is that, and why is it green?" asked one delver across the chamber. They stood just inside one of the tunnel entrances that led further in. Millie hadn''t even noticed, but her pets weren''t outlined in green for her. They were purple. If the others saw green, though, that was good. Less likely she would get attacked and less likely that the owlbear would have to make a mess of any of these people.


    "She''s friendly," Millie said, almost shouting. "Don''t worry."


    "Undead ain''t friendly," said someone else.


    "This one is," Millie replied. "I''m Millie, and this is Julie. Everything''s fine."


    Another trio of kobolds spawned near where the last one had. "Go ahead, show them," Millie directed. Julie did her normal thing of rumbling a low growl and padding over to them. She swiped one of her front paws across all three, and then did the same with her other one. All three died, and Millie got XP notifications.


    "See?" Millie said, looking toward the others. "On our side! She''s cool."


    "Just stay away from us," Tom said. "We don''t want any trouble."


    "Yeah, well, neither do I," said Millie. She shook her head and turned back to the kobolds and her quest. She knelt down again, staying inside her AoE''s designated space. The four kobolds had pretty crappy loot. The three that Julie grabbed only had clubs that were barely more than thick sticks, but Millie took the knife from the one that had stabbed her and put it in a bag she''d grabbed from home earlier.


    The only clothes were ratty tunics or, even worse, stained loincloths. No reason to take those. None. The pouches that each of the four wore tied by strings around their necks were filled with trash. Not even a copper coin, just bits and bobbles these things probably thought were precious.


    Loot from the other three that the owlbear had killed was equally disappointing, but she did get a similar knife that was even more rusted from one.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "You guys really are good for nothing, are you?"


    Then Millie realized they were definitely good for something. To her. She knew the other people were watching her from the shouts and gagging sounds that came when she finished casting [Skelemation] on one of the corpses.


    As the [Skelemated Kobold Scout] looked around the room, Millie felt fulfilled. This was exactly what she''d wanted to do her whole life.


    ******


    [STATUS: SKELEMATED KOBOLD SCOUT]


    CREATURE TYPE: Undead, Dragonkin


    LEVEL: 2


    ¡ªHP: 90


    ¡ªMP: 50


    ¡ªSTR: 4


    ¡ªDEX: 11


    ¡ªCON: 9


    ¡ªINT: 5


    ¡ªWIS: 3


    [SKILLS]


    ¡ªStab


    ******


    Well, the thing had a skill called [Stab], so Millie figured it was worth giving it back the knife she''d looted from it.


    The skeleton took it, holding it by its side in its right hand.


    ******


    [STAB]


    Melee Attack


    Deals physical damage based on DEX. Has a chance to cause the target to bleed.


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: Small chance on hit to restore a small amount of HP to the death mage.


    ******


    That was a hellaciously good enhancement. Millie needed to make sure to keep some of these kobolds around for a while. A thought she never expected to have.


    "That''s disgusting!" shouted someone from across the room.


    Millie shrugged and tried to ignore them. She turned back toward the entrance portal and where she''d been stabbed earlier. If she could get another scout skelemated, then she''d be pretty much set for a while.


    She was actually set for a long while with just Julie, but having multiple skeletons that could heal her in case things went sideways again would be even better.


    The corpses near the front had already disappeared, along with her casting of [Death''s Favor]. She hadn''t even seen the cleaning crew take them. Or maybe the System just despawned corpses for low-level delves like this one. She''d have to ask her mom about that one.


    "Alright, my friends, time to move on." Millie led her entourage toward a tunnel that wasn''t near any of the other groups in the busy chamber. She was talking to her minions, but made sure to say it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.


    ###


    The tunnels that led deeper into the dungeon were far more cramped than the entrance chamber. Millie supposed that was why so many people had just hung around there since there was plenty of room to fight without really worrying about getting boxed in.


    She wasn''t there just to grind, though. She was on a quest, and she wanted to actually finish her first dungeon. Not just kill the easy stuff at the front.


    "No offense," she said to the scout skeleton. It didn''t respond, but kept walking at Millie''s flank. She had mounted up, while the ceilings were tall enough to allow it.


    The next room that the tunnel led to was similar to the first, with various types of kobolds running around and slashing at each other and at a few other adventurers.


    A layer of detritus was strewn all over the floor, as well as piled up against the wall in places. Kobolds would run from one pile to another, moving the items around, and occasionally discarding something by tossing it over their shoulder.


    Just wanting to get XP and her quest finished, Millie just let her minions get to work.


    Julie crashed through kobolds left and right, throwing their bodies every which way with her mighty slashes. None of them could stand up to her. She was a level 10 elite and these were kobolds in a dungeon that was used in a tutorial quest.


    She killed everything in one hit. Her other two skeletons barely ever landed a hit. When they did, the damage was minimal in comparison to the owlbear. Millie didn''t even bother casting other spells. She just rode along and let XP flow in.


    First opportunity she had, Millie hopped down after Julie had decimated a kobold scout that had rushed the group. Death magic flowed out of Millie''s hands into the corpse as she cast [Skelemation].


    A new friend popped up from the skin of an enemy, and Millie made sure to hand it the dagger it was meant to use in life.


    Its stats were the same as the other skeletal kobold, but in addition to [Stab] having an enhancement, this minion also had the enhancement himself.


    ******


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: Does not count toward the maximum number of minions you can control at once.


    ******


    "Since when was there a limit on how many of you guys I can have?" Millie asked the skeleton crew around her. Not a single undead minion gave their thoughts on the matter. Maybe that would be an enhancement she''d get with someone. That would be cool!


    As Millie thought about how great it would be to have a minion that could carry on a conversation, she and her merry band mowed through the monsters in the chamber. The other adventurers skedaddled to a different part of the warren to avoid Millie and her slaughter party. Whatever was going on with those undead, the other delvers wanted no part of it.


    Soon the newbie death mage chose a tunnel she hadn''t seen others go into, moving steadily into the next part of the warren herself. They cleaned house there, too. It was almost too easy. The worst part about it was that the stink got even worse as Millie and her minions traveled deeper into the dungeon. The only real changes further in were that the rooms were successively smaller, and there were larger piles of garbage the kobolds were sorting through.


    Outside of getting stabbed that time early on, Millie was having zero problems basically soloing this place.


    Again, the level 10 elite was a big part of that. Each time they went into a new room, the same thing would happen: they would clear the room in a circle, wait a bit before the kobolds respawned, and then repeated that a few times before moving into the next chamber by choosing a tunnel at random.


    Unfortunately, there was only one tunnel out of the current room, and it was different from all the others in a couple of ways.


    Firstly, it was more of a hallway than a tunnel, and it was the first part of the dungeon that looked different from anything else. The others were seemingly natural caverns with brown rock walls. This time, the exit was made out of badly cut and poorly shaped grey stone blocks that were decorated with roughly painted symbols and pictograms.


    Second, the hallway narrowed so significantly that Julie couldn''t fit inside. Much less be ridden.


    "Well, so much for that, she said as she leveled the staff at Julie. "I''ll bring you back out as soon as I can." As the item activated, the owlbear was engulfed in black-white fire, folded into its own skull as it shrank into a fraction of its normal size, and attached itself magically to the head of the staff. "That is so cool." Unfortunately, it would be a couple of hours before Millie could bring the minion back out.


    With the others, though, Millie felt confident about making it through whatever awaited them beyond that hallway.


    Taking a moment to check her current XP level, Millie was surprised to see that she had already gained 1,000 XP putting her over the halfway point to level 4.


    The roughly constructed hallway descended at a pretty steep grade downward, and because of how poorly the pavers were placed, Millie felt as though they were climbing a long, shallow staircase more than descending a ramp. For all she knew, it was supposed to be a staircase and the kobolds just couldn''t get it right.


    At the bottom of the hallway was a rusty iron door affixed into the rock wall. Two larger, burlier kobolds stood on either side with their hands resting on the hilts of the swords they wore at their sides. Their ruddy scales seemed a little shinier than the dull¡ªor maybe just dirty¡ªones from all the others Millie had slaughtered on her way down here.


    The most striking difference, though, was how these kobolds almost projected a sense of majesty because of the wings folded up behind them.


    Millie made it almost halfway down the hall before the guards noticed her. Simultaneously and without a word between them, the duo adopted defensive stances, drew their swords, and pointed them directly at Millie.


    So, like any good [Necromancer], Millie immediately sent her skeletons charging in.

 Chapter 012 - Boss Fight!

    The rat died first.


    The oldest of Millie''s companions did its best. It charged at the sword-wielding dragonkin and jumped at the left one''s face, mouth open and claws ready to slash.


    The one on the right, however, moved in a flash and slammed its sword''s pommel into the undead rodent midair. Bones fell at the kobolds'' feet with a slight tinkle.


    Millie felt the loss at her core. It wasn''t sadness or pain, but whatever connected her to her minion had been severed. Without it, she had an emptiness that she felt compelled to fill. To get started on that track, she sent a gravebolt straight into the rat killer''s face.


    Though wasn''t Millie the rat killer? She''d done it first, and it was already dead here¡­so¡­


    As her HP dipped and the deathly fire washed over the winged kobold''s snout, her other two skeletons got into range and started slashing and stabbing at the other one.


    The guards were fast, and they were strong. They were good with their weapons. Fast. The hallway wasn''t large, but the guards made every inch count as they dodged and parried the daggers from Millie''s scouts.


    The skeletons made up for any difference in skill with sheer unrelenting pressure. Their daggers cut the winged kobolds all over, and every few slices, Millie felt her health replenish just a bit.


    Not wanting to lose these skeletons, too, Millie surged forward and cast [Death''s Favor], making sure both of her allies and the guards were well within its aura. Tongues of black-white fire licked at her legs as her HP ticked back up.


    The guardian kobolds were making some awful whining noises as soon as Millie cast it. Poor things. Millie threw another gravebolt at the one on the left. Its scales lost some of their luster.


    The skeleton attacking that one dodged backward as a sideways slice almost took its head off. That deserved retaliation. Ducking its head, the undead creature gripped its dagger with both hands and ran headfirst at its enemy. The guard held its weapon in a defensive position, ready to block the charge and hold its ground.


    At the last moment, the skeletal minion whipped toward the other guard and leaped forward, its dagger above its head. Taking its enemy by complete surprise, the rusty weapon plunged into the winged kobold''s armpit. A large gash opened in the creature''s side as the skeleton pulled the dagger downward as it returned to the ground.


    Between that surprise attack and another gravebolt from Millie, that was enough to take the first of the guards out. As it fell, Millie saw that her minions were wasting no time in double-teaming the remaining guard.


    It landed a few really good hits on the skeletons, but with Millie''s leeching aura still going strong, the damage to the skeletons ended up being minimal.


    By the time the winged kobold fell, Millie was once again at full health. Even though she''d lost a companion, that fight hadn''t been hard. Just harder than the others because she didn''t have a level 10 elite rampaging through everything.


    Before opening the door, Millie checked for loot. One of the guards was wearing a leather bracer, whereas the other wasn''t. That made it stand out, so she unclasped it and took it. Inspecting it, a details pane popped up over it.


    ******


    [KOBOLD GUARDIAN BRACER]


    [DESCRIPTION] What kind of leather is this bracer made out of? You sure you want to know? You looted it from a kobold, so you might not want the answer. May it keep you safer and more alive than its former owner.


    Gain +1 CON while wearing this bracer.


    ******


    A stat boost! She hadn''t expected that. Without hesitating, she wrapped the oddly textured leather around her forearm and checked her status pane.


    Nice. Her CON was boosted up to 30 already, giving her a whopping 300 HP! She''d only had 120 yesterday when she started out.


    Between the +11 CON she got from Julie because of the staff ZuZu made for her and the +1 from this bracer, she was in pretty good shape.


    Her minions hadn''t moved from where they were when the guards went down. They stood unnaturally still, not having orders to do anything or go anywhere. Since her [Skelemated Rat] was gone, this was probably a good time to replenish the party. She cast [Skelemation] on the winged kobold she''d taken the bracer from.


    The new minion stood taller than the other two, of course. She pointed at its sword, but instead of only grabbing the one it had used to fight her, it also took its partner''s.


    Perplexed because she hadn''t directed the new skeleton to grab the second sword, Millie opened up its stats pane to see what goodies this one brought to the party.


    ******


    [SKELEMATED WINGED KOBOLD]


    CREATURE TYPE: Undead, Dragonkin


    LEVEL: 5


    ¡ªHP: 130


    ¡ªMP: 40


    ¡ªSTR: 12


    ¡ªDEX: 12


    ¡ªCON: 13


    ¡ªINT: 6


    ¡ªWIS: 3


    SKILLS:


    ¡ªFlying, Quick Strike, Dual Wield, X-Block


    DEATH MAGE ENHANCEMENT: This minion possesses two additional skills from what it possessed in life.


    ******


    Looking it over, Millie was pretty sure that [Quick Strike] is what took out her skeletal rat, and since it had wings already, [Dual Wield] and [X-Block] had to be what her class granted.


    ******


    [QUICK STRIKE]


    Melee Attack


    A fast-moving strike that deals damage based on DEX. Can only be used in reaction to an opponent moving into or out of attack range. Cannot be used more than once every 60 seconds.


    ******


    Yeah, that was definitely what killed the skeletal rat minion.


    ******


    [DUAL WIELD]


    Passive Ability


    You can use a single weapon in both hands. The STR requirement of either weapon cannot be more than half your STR score.


    For example, if you have a 14 STR score and a weapon has an 8 STR requirement, it cannot be used with this ability, but a 7 STR requirement could be.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ******


    Combining [Quick Strike] with [Dual Wield] was definitely going to be a lifesaver at some point, Millie was sure. She''d do what she could to keep this guy around for a while.


    ******


    [X-BLOCK]


    Defensive Ability - Requires Dual Wield


    You cross both of your weapons in front of you and attempt to mitigate damage and prevent the attack from landing. Success and damage prevented is based on STR and CON. Can only be used once every 120 seconds.


    ******


    By the time she had finished reading all three abilities from her new companion, its partner''s corpse had begun to despawn. [Skelemating] it wasn''t possible, anyway, as Millie''s MP was totally drained by bringing this one back.


    But if it was despawning so quickly, Millie didn''t want to wait for more guards to pop in. Pushing the metal door open, Millie and her undead entourage strolled into the next room. From the look of it, this was almost certainly the boss chamber for the dungeon.


    Millie closed the door behind her, not wanting to alert any guards that might respawn behind her. She didn''t know for certain that closing the door wouldn''t bring them in if she got in a fight, but it was worth a shot.


    The chamber itself was similarly made out of the poorly carved and badly painted stone. A throne that looked to be made out of driftwood and scrap metal sat against the far wall on a lifted platform. Broken-down furniture, tables, and shelves were pressed against the walls, and on top of it all were shiny trinkets and baubles that had to be the kobold leader''s trove.


    From where she stood, Millie couldn''t tell if they were actual treasures in any way or more junk like what filled the rest of the dungeon, only shinier.


    Another pair of winged kobolds stood at attention on either side of the throne, and upon it sat a truly odd sight: the fattest kobold that Millie had ever seen. Ever heard of.


    It sat slouched, tarnished crown crooked on its head, leaned back on the throne with its hands gripping the end of the armrests. Its legs were spread so far apart that if it weren''t for its massive gut hanging down, anyone facing it would get a glimpse of something no one would want to see.


    It wore what might have been a fine robe at some point, but the embroidery was threadbare, and the fabric was stained, strained, stretched, and ill-fitted across the monster''s massive frame.


    The scales that covered the creature gleamed and glistened more than any of the rest that Millie and her companions had slaughtered that day. But it was impossible to tell whether that was a natural sheen or simply a layer of greasiness betraying the thing''s lack of hygiene.


    Millie expected the latter.


    It felt like a standoff. Millie took in her surroundings, and the monsters in front of her simply stared at her. The room was wide enough for her to summon her owlbear, but the timer was nowhere near ready to pop Julie out of storage. Could she just stand here for two hours and wait them out?


    Doubtful. She''d never been in a boss room before, but her parents had never mentioned anything letting them wait to recover cooldowns like that.


    In taking in the room, Millie had somehow missed a small timer that floated in above her eyeline and a little to the left. It currently read 0:17 and was counting down. Having not known how long it had been ticking away, she had a pretty good idea of what would happen when it reached 0:00.


    As the timer approached its expiration, Millie gripped her staff with both hands and prepared to cast [Death''s Favor] almost immediately. The room was large enough to maneuver around in, but it was small enough that the spell''s area should be wide enough to make it basically impossible not to fight inside it.


    Her skeletons rushed forward at 0:00, the newly recruited guard in the lead with the scouts a step behind. The death mage was two steps behind them, positioning herself to cover as much of the room as possible with her powerful life-stealing magic.


    The sound of metal on metal echoed around the small chamber as swords clashed together. The living kobolds grunted at the onslaught, both of them using [Quick Strike] skills against her group''s leader. The winged skeleton didn''t bother to block or dodge, instead taking the hits in stride and slashing outward at its fleshy doppelg?ngers as it slipped past them to focus the boss itself.


    As it did, the crowned kobold shouted, "Guards! Your king is under attack!"


    The two scouts took advantage of their larger partner taking the first hits and slashed hard at the guards'' midsections. Blood erupted from the one on the right, spewing further than it should have for such a strike. Certainly, her [Skelemated Kobold Scout] landed a critical strike and hit something vital inside the creature.


    Millie wasn''t wholly sure whether to focus on the boss or its guards, so she decided the best thing she could do was lower the number of opponents. One of a [Necromancer]''s biggest strengths was overwhelming their opponents with sheer numbers.


    Multiple [Gravebolts] came from her hands, hitting their marks in a way that even the toughest scales or armor couldn''t protect them.


    She couldn''t be protected from that cold drain, either. Pushing the magic through herself still hurt, but she was getting much more used to it. It was made much more bearable with the second-by-second recovery she got from being in the favor of death. Not to mention the HP that her enhanced kobold''s attacks sent her way.


    Holding the staff in both hands, Millie considered going ahead and getting into the fray herself. But she had minimal strength and no special melee attacks. [Death Mage] wasn''t a melee class, and with her primary attack spell one that used her own HP to power it, putting herself forward would put her in danger.


    "Guards!" the king shouted again as it kicked its stubby leg toward its former attendant in an attempt to delay the inevitable and prolong its miserable existence.


    The clang of the metal door opening got Millie''s attention immediately, and the two winged guards had indeed respawned between the time she had closed it and the countdown to engage the boss had ended. Since the new necromancer was the closest target, both of them focused their attention on her.


    They ran into the room, their swords at the ready, swinging at Millie the moment they got into range. She dropped to the ground prone, ducking under their sideways swipes and had to roll to the side so she didn''t get caught between their blades as the guards quickly recalibrated and slashed downward at where she lay.


    Maybe she should have waited on the cooldown for ZuZu''s staff.


    "One of you, back here!" Millie screamed at her skelemations. "Adds on me!"


    In serendipitous timing, Millie felt the slight twinge that meant she had gained XP and one of the smaller kobolds turned its attention to the new attackers.


    Millie scrambled away from the adds as the kobold scout rapidly slashed and stabbed at them. Standing up and hoping that one could solo the pair for just a bit, she cast [Gravebolt] at the only one of the original guards left. It dipped out of the way.


    That wasn''t fair! Monsters hadn''t dodged her magic before. Trying again, Millie''s spellcasting was interrupted as the reanimated kobold that was attacking the boss suddenly flew in her direction. It slammed into Millie''s side, and the two fell together. Her head knocked against the wall and left a trail of blood as it scraped down the stone as she lowered to the ground.


    A coarse, throaty laugh came from the dais with the throne. The kobold king said, "Dead one will not have my shinies!"


    The room was chaos, even more than it had been earlier. The sounds were louder, her vision was blurred, and the kobold king seemed so much bigger than he was just a few seconds before.


    Millie realized two seconds too late that was because he was charging her and the dual-wielding skeleton that was trying to gain its footing again. She blinked, then again, and her vision wouldn''t clear. That knock to her head was something.


    "Dead one is gonna die!" shouted the rotund reptilian as he charged Millie and her defender.


    Another surge of XP came, and Millie knew the guard who had dodged her bolts was now dead. Finally able to gain some footing, Millie used the wall to get back to her feet. She ran around the king kobold and saw two swords crossed in front of him, her skeleton using its [X-Block] ability.


    Sparks of black-white fire flew as she ran. Millie had been knocked clear out of the area of [Death''s Favor], so she hadn''t gotten any healing from what was being drained from the living kobolds.


    Unfortunately, that also meant that her skelemated guard was also out of the healing aura, too. "Get over here," she shouted, and it immediately started sidestepping her direction. It was only a few steps out of bounds, at least. The boss should follow it back inside and begin to get drained, too.


    Her HP ticked upward from a much lower point than she''d ever been before. Even the scout skeletons did a good job of tanking the adds because of the life drain from [Death''s Favor].


    Her HP in a somewhat safe range, Millie took it back down by focus-firing at one of the adds. She was casting multiple gravebolts as quickly as she could. Even with three enemies in the AoE and her minion''s [Stab] enhancement, she wasn''t net positive for HP, but casting her only offensive spell wasn''t nearly as dangerous as it could have been.


    Or it wouldn''t have been if one of her skeletons hadn''t just taken a blow that shattered its skull. The magic holding it together was released, and Millie knew that one of her kobolds was gone.


    Thankfully, it wasn''t the one with the healing [Stab].


    Millie recast [Death''s Favor], refreshing its timer because she had no idea how much time had passed since the fight started. The absolute last thing she wanted to happen was her only source of healing¡ªand one of her major sources of damage¡ªto simply fade away when things were not going especially in her favor.


    Millie started alternating targets for the gravebolts she cast, waiting for her health to tick up a little, then repeating that rotation. She was always on the move, staying just out of the kobold king''s reach so that it only focused on its former guard that was now under her control.


    The first of the adds fell to a powerful slash her kobold scout made across its neck. The second dropped as Millie''s death magic struck its arm and she felt the life simply leave the creature.


    "My guards!" the kobold king yelled. "How you stronger than my guards?"


    Ignoring the taunt, Millie prepped a [Gravebolt], as a familiar sound came from behind her.


    The door was thrown open and a figure rushed in the door. Not two, as last time, but this one was larger. A human, and judging by the size, a male. He held a spear in both hands and ran straight at the boss, not even acknowledging Millie''s presence.


    A few steps in, Millie''s vision flashed at the same time the human screamed. It was a horrible, animalistic scream, like a part of him was being torn away.


    From a particular point of view, it kind of was. Black-white flames licked at his feet as he stepped inside the draining aura of [Death''s Favor]. Millie saw a message pop up just as the outline around the spearman turned red.


    ******


    [YOU HAVE COMMITTED A CRIMINAL ACT. YOU HAVE ATTACKED AN ENTITY WITH FRIENDLY (GREEN) STATUS. YOU MAY BE ATTACKED FREELY FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. CONTINUED CRIMINAL ACTIVITY WILL RESET AND/OR EXTEND THE DURATION OF THIS EFFECT.]


    *******

 Chapter 013 - The Second Phase

    The man''s face showed nothing but agony. He panted as his breath was sucked from his chest. He stopped in his tracks, though, when the momentarily idle kobold skeleton held its dagger forward and rushed him.


    Unfortunately, the kobold skeleton hadn''t been able to heal up from its previous fight with the last of the guards, and the newcomer managed to dodge its wild cuts and bring his own sword down to shatter the minion''s ribcage.


    "Tom!" Millie yelled, recognizing the decisive way he killed that very kobold for the second time that day.


    "You!" Tom growled. "I knew you were trouble." His movements were slowed because he was inside [Death''s Favor]. Not because of any effect the spell had, but because his life was being pulled from him at a steady rate and not letting up. His essence was weakening, so his body was, too.


    "I''m not," Millie said, still avoiding the kobold king''s attacks. "I don''t know what''s happening! I''m so sorry, Tom!"


    "I''m having a hard time believing that," he said. His words came through clenched teeth as he stalked toward her. His life continued to flow out of him and right into Millie. She felt refreshed as he was being drained.


    "I mean it! Look!" she canceled the effect of [Death''s Favor].


    The kobold king laughed as soon as the aura disappeared. Tom grinned wickedly as the tension in his body faded away. Millie knew she''d made a mistake as soon as she did it.


    Her enemy''s¡ªor maybe enemies''¡ªhealth stopped ticking down, but more importantly, Millie''s stopped ticking up. The kobold king was slamming his fists into the winged kobold skeleton, and after finishing a combo that ended with a surge forward and bump with its huge gut, the skeleton flew at least fifteen feet across the room.


    With it no longer taking the heat off of her, the kobold royal''s focus immediately went to the necromancer trying her best to avoid such attention.


    Tom did the same thing, stalking toward her in tandem with the boss. The human was faster, but not by as much as it would seem. "I was telling them after I saved you, I should have let you bleed out. That it was going to come back on me." He swung his sword in her direction, and she hopped back, narrowly avoiding it.


    The kobold threw a strong jab in her direction, and if she hadn''t turned toward Tom when she spoke, it would have clocked her in the face. Instead, it took her in the shoulder, slamming her into the wall. Her head hit the stone, and her teeth clacked together so hard, she''d be lucky if none were broken.


    Tom''s sword flew right at her neck, and amazingly she ducked. "You''re trying to kill me and make it look like the boss did it!" she shouted.


    "I think you have that backwards." He slashed upward. The strike grazed her forearm as she managed a lucky parry with her staff. Otherwise, it would have cut deeply into her gut and torso.


    She was trapped with two much stronger opponents. With no idea how close the boss was to being defeated, Millie did the only things she had at her disposal.


    [Death''s Favor] erupted from her, immediately beginning its life-drain. Having not had reason to access it yet, Millie quickly tapped the icon for [One With The Shadows] to activate her cloak.


    The world lost its color, the light was dimmer, the smells lessened, the ground softened, the sounds of combat dulled. Millie charged forward forward, phasing directly through both entities trying to kill her.


    Taken by surprise, Tom''s stab clanged off the wall where she should have been. The kobold king popped forward, hitting the same spot on the wall with its huge belly.


    In a stroke of luck, Tom pulled his sword back to ready himself again and managed to finish off the rest of the boss''s HP. Blood slopped to the floor and covered Tom''s feet. Intestines and other entrails followed immediately afterward.


    The [Spidersilk Cloak]''s effect wore off, and the world came back to full intensity as Millie saw her only minion drive its pair of blades deep into Tom''s back.


    Millie hadn''t told it to do that! She had specifically told Tom she wasn''t trying to fight him. The cut on her arm had just finished knitting itself back together as it pulled the last dregs of life energy out of Tom''s body.


    That''s why the skeleton had attacked him. It was defending her because Tom had landed a hit, because he had drawn blood, because he had hurt her. Oh, no. No, no.


    If she had only used the cloak just a couple seconds before, that attack wouldn''t have happened. She wouldn''t have been hurt, and Tom would still be alive. There was every possibility that Millie could have talked to him and convinced him that she wasn''t his enemy. That she wasn''t trying to kill him.


    ******


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: STRAIGHT-UP MURDER!]


    You''ve done the unthinkable. Or the thinkable, since you did it. A person no longer exists because of you. Whoever it was, they were marked by the System as Friendly, and you didn''t care. Hopefully, it was worth it. For you. It probably wasn''t for them.


    [REWARDS]


    ¡ªReward Box: Epic


    ¡ªXP: 1,500


    ******


    A much fancier box than she''d seen before dropped onto the ground directly beside Tom''s corpse. The splashed blood onto the skeleton''s legs. It didn''t react.


    ******


    [ACHIEVEMENT EARNED: DUNGEON DELVED, REDUX]


    Ding, dong, the boss is dead! After hours of trudging through the tunnels, you faced down the formidable King Guffin and came out the other side unscathed. Or at least less scathed than the king did. Gather your loot, complete your quests, and head back home for a good rest. You''ve earned it, adventurer! It only goes up from here!


    [REWARDS]


    ¡ªReward Box: Rare


    ¡ªXP: 500


    ******


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Another box dropped, slightly less ornate, and there were also two notifications that she had leveled up waiting for her. Turns out, killing the big bad of a dungeon¡ªand another actual human person while doing it¡ªwas worth a boatload of XP. Millie had jumped from level 3 to level 5 after that fight.


    Quickly reading over the notifications and checking her status pane, it turns out that killing the boss was worth probably 600 XP while Tom was most likely 1,500. A person was worth just under triple the XP that a boss monster was worth. So was the achievement.


    So not only was killing other people a feasible method of leveling up¡ªprovided that the XP didn''t have diminishing returns¡ªany achievements she would get related to them would


    She could feel the gentle touch of the [Death Mage] class as it worked to nudge her thoughts in the direction that was a viable strategy for her to take on her journey to power.


    "No," Millie said. To herself, to her class, to the empty room itself. "It''s not. I''m not going to level that way. This was an accident." The corpses in front of her were silent. "This¡­was an accident."


    Putting off looting until she felt a little more stable, Millie looked around the room. The throne the fat kobold had lounged in was gone, and in its place was a chest with the same scrap metal and driftwood design. The chest appeared to be unlocked, and the lid easily lifted when Millie pushed upward on it.


    Inside was a single item: a garment folded neatly in the center. Millie recognized it immediately. It was the same robe the boss had been wearing, but this one appeared to be sized for her.


    Gripping it by the shoulders and holding it up to inspect, an info pane appeared describing what the spoils of victory were.


    ******


    [GUFFIN''S ROBE (RARE)]


    [DESCRIPTION]


    This robe was once fit for actual royalty. Over the years, the attire has faded and lost much of its luster, making it the perfect covering for the so-called king who last wore it.


    You gain +15% MP regen while wearing this robe.


    ******


    That was a bonus that she very much needed, and as soon as she cinched the frayed belt around her waist, Millie could feel the magic within herself stir with increased vigor.


    The chest didn''t disappear when she removed the robe, nor did the throne reappear. How long did it take for a boss to respawn in a public dungeon?


    Ugh, she was in a public dungeon.


    How long would it be until more people rushed down to fight the boss and find the grisly scene she''d still barely considered herself.


    "Hold the door," Millie directed the single remaining minion. "Close it and keep it closed. If you can, bar it." The [Skelemated Winged Kobold] followed directions without question or hesitation. It forcefully closed the metal door and quickly jammed both of its weapons in the space between it and the wall. Adding an additional bit of reinforcement to that, it pressed both hands flat against the rusted metal and unfolded its wings, pressing the bony tips between the stone pavers in the floor as a brace.


    Millie stood in awe at the ingenuity a brainless skeleton could muster. Was that a [Death Mage] thing, or was it something else? It was almost like she heard that voice again, somewhere buried inside, thrum and say, Hmmmmm¡­


    With no idea how long the makeshift barricade would hold, Millie left the empty chest behind and looked at King Guffin''s body. She rummaged through his robe''s pockets, finding a pouch filled with plenty of silver coins, a single gold one, with the rest being scraps of metal, wood, and stone. The king wore no weapon, but as Millie searched the body, the lopsided crown on the kobold''s head became highlighted.


    ******


    [GUFFIN''S CROWN (QUEST ITEM)]


    [DESCRIPTION]


    An item of actual worth. Return this to any adventurer''s guild for appraisal and reward.


    ******


    What an odd description. Millie tossed it on her head to see what happened. It was nothing. Nothing happened. When she inspected the king''s robe that matched the one she now wore, no information popped up. Apparently, it was a simple robe with no bonus effects, not something she could keep on hand as a backup in case the one from the chest was damaged.


    The human wore two pieces of uncommon armor¡ªa [Chain Shirt] and [Leather Epaulets] that each granted +1 STR¡ªand the padded pants, heavy boots, and worn gloves were nothing noteworthy. The [Longsword] that killed the boss was much nicer than the ones the king''s guards had wielded, offering +2 STR and +1 DEX.


    Still, Millie wasn''t entirely certain she wanted to loot Tom''s corpse. She looked down at the dead man with something just shy of remorse. She''d killed him, yes, but she didn''t mean to. He''d attacked her. She''d flagged as a criminal as an accident when he barreled into a room.


    She should have known that her spell would leech from even non-monsters in a public dungeon. The description of [Death''s Favor] said so. Explicitly.


    ******


    This spell creates an area of effect that leeches a small percentage of HP from all living things not in your party, while simultaneously restoring an equal amount to everyone in your party who is within the affected area.


    ******


    Once again, she felt the subtle pull of the [Death Mage] at the edge of her mind. She looked at the corpse of the kobold king, and as she did so, the small icon for [Skelemation] flashed. Her MP was indeed regenerating at least quickly enough now that she could cast the spell on the boss.


    Kneeling and placing her hands on its greasy scales, she did so and received a [Spell Failure] message as the scaly body resisted her magic at the end of the casting.


    Her MP drained down to nothing again, and she sighed. That would have been just too much good luck.


    Speaking of luck, she had the reward boxes from her achievements to open. Going for the rare one first, she undid the ribbon and popped the lid off. The contents were, at first, pretty disappointing for a rare reward box. It was a pouch made out of midnight blue cloth with silver embroidery and drawstring. An information pane floated above it when she focused on it.


    ******


    [DIMENSIONAL POUCH (RARE)]


    Bigger on the inside.


    [Attune? Y/N]


    ******


    Whoa. Millie had heard of these things, and they were rare. Not just classification-wise, as the item itself indicated, but rare as in most people wouldn''t find or afford one until much, much later in life than Millie was. Her parents both had one each that they took with them at all times.


    One. And they delved dungeons for a living. Theirs were bigger than this, being full backpacks, but for her to be low-level and the System provide her dimensional storage after getting a rare class, too¡­she was either exceptionally lucky or the System was preparing her for something.


    Dimensional storage was a delver''s best friend. Loot was heavy. Armor, weapons, magic artifacts, and almost anything else that was worth carrying out of dungeons was unwieldy and awkward. Packs and pouches like this let adventurers store items in a pocket dimension the System created. Not just that, they had a kind of cataloging system that let the person attuned to it almost instantly sort, withdraw, or deposit items.


    Millie couldn''t believe it. If this was in the rare reward box, she could only imagine what was in the other one, and there was only one way to find out.


    Inside the [Reward Box: Epic] was a book bound in blackish-grey leather. The spine and cover were inscribed with glowing symbols from a script that Millie didn''t recognize. They pulsed slowly, and the title So You Want To Be A Necromancer? formed as she watched.


    Dozens of different kinds of System books existed out there in the wild. Some were spellbooks that mages could use to cast spells they didn''t know or weren''t from their class. Some were consumables that disappeared once you read them and enhanced or added stats or abilities. While others were guidebooks that offered paths to hidden class advancements, unique skills, or other kinds of mastery.


    Somehow, here in Millie''s hands, was an epic-level one.Again, she wondered if this was incredible luck or some sort of cursed preparation


    As the info pane for the epic book popped up, the sounds of someone fighting outside the door started, interrupting Millie from finding out what amazing reward she''d gotten for being a murderer.