Nathaniel opened his eyes and groaned in pain, "Ugghh...." he said as he rolled on the ground, the scent of food hitting his nose, "What the hell...."
"Oh?" Arty said as she was walking past him and looking at him, "You're awake?"
He sat up and looked to his side, seeing that there was a wooden cabin a few meters away from him. The ground beneath him was cold and it caused him to shiver in his ragged clothes.
Nathaniel looked at Arty, who was spreading some sort of dust-like substance in front of her, "What the hell did you do to me?" He asked, rubbing his chest, "You attacked me...."
"I did." She looked at him and gave him a wink, "You got a problem with that?"
"Of course I do." Nathaniel said with a scowl, "I-"
"Oh shut up, Nathan." She said as he chuckled, "I didn't kill you. I simply hit you with my lowest-level lightning bolt. It knocked you out cold. I mean, yeah, you have Necromancy and your body is quite strong from the looks of it.....but you stand no chance against Mages who know what they're doing."
He stood up, "Tch...." He said, "Why not kill me?"
"I don't have a reason to do so." She said as she gestured to the side, "Eat. You slept long enough. Your body is quite weak due to being starved."
Nathaniel looked over to where she gestured at, seeing a bowl of steaming stew that was on a wooden table, "I..." He said with a skeptical look, his stomach growling loudly, "That's....."
"It's not poisoned." Arty walked over to the table and grabbed a spoon, scooping some of it and putting it in her mouth, "Mmm~ Nice and tasty~"
"I'm not stupid." Nathaniel scowled, "You can have an immunity to any poison."
"Smart." She said with a smile, "But if I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead by now. Consider this a transaction."
She grabbed the bowl and raised it close to her chest, giving him a taunting smile.
"What?" He asked
"I give you some food." She said, "You answer my questions. Let's try to resolve this peacefully."
"Why do you want to know anyways?" Nathaniel asked her, "I don't trust you."
"And I don't trust you either." She said, "Let us work on that, haha."
She smiled, which made Nathaniel a bit uneasy. But he knew she was right; he would be dead already if she wanted to kill him. He was easily defeated by her low-level spell, according to her. Even if he tried, he was not going to do much against an opponent of this level. The System had warned him that Arty was a Formidable Foe with a High Threat Level. He would be a fool if he tried something.
"War Necromancy." He said suddenly, a serious frown on his face
"Oh?" Arty said with surprise, "War Necromancy, I've heard of that sub-class of Necromancy. Never seen it myself."
"I can apparently raise the dead and make them into my soldiers." Nathaniel said
"What do you mean, apparently?" Arty asked while tilting her head
"I didn't learn this power." Nathaniel told her, "I was bestowed with it."
"By whom?" Arty frowned, a bit skeptical about this, "And why?"
"I don't know." He said seriously, "I don't remember much. I woke up in the Fort. I used what little I know about this power to escape. But I do know one thing; I was stronger than those weak bandits."
"Hm...." Arty looked at his eyes, trying to see if he was lying, "Interesting.....a case of amnesia? Hm, I don't know....."
She walked up to him and gave him the bowl and spoon, which he took into his hands with a bit of surprise.
"I...." He started
"Eat." She said as she walked over to a small patch of flowers next to the cabin, "You're welcome."
Nathaniel's stomach growled louder, and he gulped, tempted by the smell of the stew, "T-Thank you....."
"I could tell that your Skeleton Summon was quite different." Arty said as she crouched down and began to inspect some flowers, "A skeletal structure completely made out of pure Aether is quite impressive. Normal Necromancy animates already existing corpses. But a Skeleton like yours is quite high level. Perhaps War Necromancy gives you that ability. Your Skeletons, however, are fragile despite being physically strong. Also, weapons....those weapons are bound to those skeletons, they're also made out of pure Aether."
Nathaniel sat down and began to eat the stew, feeling a powerful sense of relief fill through his body as he gulped down the contents.
"I....I figured my Skeletons had a weakness." Nathaniel said as he chewed a piece of potato, which was steaming hot, "Ah....hot..."
"Skeletons are the most streamlined type of Undead that Necromancers use. They use Necrotic Pull, a better version, to gather bones of existing corpses to form their Skeleton servants." Arty explained, "But despite that, the Skeletons themselves have levels to them. Yours are at the bottom of the Levels."
"Levels....?" Nathaniel frowned
"Common Skeletons are just referred as Skeletons." Arty continued, "They're the lowest of the levels. Then there's Skeleton Warriors, which are much sturdier and stronger. After Skeleton Warriors, there are the High Skeletons. They can wield powerful magic, and only individuals with Elite Necromancy can use them. Above High Skeletons are Skeleton Lords, which are the strongest form of Skeleton summon and are quite rare. Skeleton Lords wield not only high-level magic, but are usually stronger than their summoner in terms of physical strength."
"Common....Warrior.....High....and Lord...." Nathaniel muttered while still eating, "Those are the tiers of Skeletons...."
"Yes." Arty picked a flower and stood up, looking at him, "There are other types of Skeletons that are outside those classifications. Liches, Reapers, and The Baron. But you don't have to worry about that since no Necromancer has ever used them as summons."
".....I see....." Nathaniel said
"You've used Necrotic Pull, which is a basic Necromancy that is used by everyone who wields that black magic." Arty told him, "And you can summon a Common Skeleton. So far, I don't see how War Necromancy is different than regular Necromancy."
"Hm....." He said as he finished up, "I figured since you are a Witch, you would know."
"Trust me, I know plenty of the arcane. But when it comes to Necromancy, like many, I am a novice." Arty said, "It is a very dangerous form of magic and outlawed in these lands. Necromancy is but a path to Hell, a way to open doors to let the Devils in. That is why it is not welcomed in this land."
"I see...." Nathaniel said
"Nathan, what else can you do?" Arty asked, twirling her hair on her finger, "I'm quite curious."
"I can create weapons from corpses." Nathaniel told her
"Oh~!" She said with excitement in her voice, "Now, that is quite unique for Necromancy! War Necromancy at its finest, I think!"
"It is limited." Nathaniel said, "From what I understand, the corpse has to be close."
"Interesting...." Arty walked up to him, "Can you show me?"
"I don't see a corpse." Nathan frowned
Arty snapped her fingers, and the corpse of a wolf appeared in front of her, which surprised Nathaniel as he stood up with haste.
"The fuck...." He said
"There~" Arty smiled warmly
Nathaniel sighed, "Fine...."
He extended his hand to the dead wolf, which was dark grey in color, and activated the spell.
"Corpse Weapon"
The wolf's corpse burst open, the bones and guts distorting themselves as they molded into a weapon. Arty watched as a pistol made out of dark bone, which was bleeding profusely, floated in midair and towards Nathaniel's hand.
"Amazing...." She said softly, genuinely amazed, "What weapon is that? I've never seen one like that..."
The pistol resembled a Beretta M9 but was heavily distorted, made out of pure bone with some openings on the barrel and chamber, and blood seeping out of it. The trigger seemed to be made out of the wolf's fang, smoothed for his finger's touch.
"This is a pistol. A firearm." Nathaniel said as he pulled on the slide, a loud click heard, "You've never seen one? This one is quite grotesque compared to the usual ones I am used to."
"Firearm....." Arty frowned, "No.....never heard of them.....we do not have weapons of that manner here.....the usual swords, spears, axes....you should know..."
"Yea...." Nathaniel said, "Medieval...."
"And Magic." Arty followed up
"Oh, I am aware." Nathaniel said, "Alright, you happy?"
"Fufu~" Arty smiled, "I want to see it in action....."
"I have five rounds, then it crumbles. That is the limit at the moment." He said seriously
"Oh?" She said, "Well...I guess we can make something out of it."
"What are you talking about?" Nathaniel asked
Suddenly, the sound of wolves howling was heard through the trees, causing him to turn his head back in alarm.
"Here they come~" She winked, "The rest of the pack~"
"Have fun~"