A Necromancer's Journey

Grace soon came back with the pain-relieving potion, evidently not wanting him to suffer more than he had to.

"Young Master, here's your potion."

Seth quickly grabbed the potion from her hand and downed it in a few gulps. It tasted bitter. Within seconds he found himself feeling a lot better.

"Young Master, the Master wants to speak to you."

Nodding silently, Seth slowly got up, Grace supporting him as he began to walk towards the door, the potion preventing him from screaming in pain.

Walking down the hall, Seth took in the painted glass and paintings. Occasionally he'd see a stone statue with a crown made of gold. Clearly, the Morningstar's were a fan of showing off.

After walking around 300 meters they arrived at his father's study.

"Father." Seth said respectfully, deciding to call him father for now.

"Seth, are you feeling better?" A black-haired man with green eyes and a large beard quickly got up from his desk and sped towards Seth (clearly he doesn't remember that he's the one that asked me to come...)

"Yes, father," Seth said, "I'm feeling much better, a few healing potions and I'll be back to normal."

"Good," Seth's father replied, scratching his beard "You're just in time for the gathering."

"What gathering, father?" Seth had no memory of a gathering coming up.

"When a child turns nine they're taken to the church and tested to see if they have the ability to become a priest. You weren't told before as the church has stated that a child can only be told when they're days from being taken. You've been unconscious for 12 days so your birthday is in two days."

Clearly, Seth had truly been unconscious for quite a while, his birthday wasn't supposed to be for two weeks.

"What happened to me, father?"

"We have no clue, all we know is that you suddenly collapsed, clutching your c.h.e.s.t and a massive wound appeared. We were thankfully able to keep you alive with the aid of Pierce and his level one warrior qi. From now on until your ceremony you are not to leave the castle, we can't risk anything happening to you." His father finished his words with a worried expression on his face, clearly wary of the unknown enemy.

"Yes, father."

"Before the gathering, there are some things you should know. Pierce will be in charge of teaching you these things. You are dismissed."

Nodding his head, Seth left the room, still supported by Grace, and walked towards his room. When he arrived he noticed a red-haired man with a short, well-trimmed beard waiting for him. His mind quickly checked his memories and realized it was Pierce.

"It took you long enough." Pierce's rough voice sounded, clearly showcasing his annoyance.

"Sit down. You too, Grace. Your birthday is coming up as well."

Seth quickly grabbed a nearby chair and sat down while Grace quickly sat on his bed.

"To begin I need to tell you the difference between qi cultivators and mages. As you know, a cultivator is based around melee combat while a mage is based around long-ranged combat, but that's not completely accurate. Cultivators focus on training their bodies through the use of qi, while mages focus on training their spirit with spiritual essence. Only a few people out of tens of thousands have the potential to become a mage and their strength is higher to balance that. Some mages focus on training long-range spells while some mages focus on summoning familiars or fighting in close combat using spells that make their skin like metal. Other mages specialize in the creation of golems or potions, with the occasional few becoming priests and specializing in healing and banishment."

"When a cultivator takes in qi their talent for sensing spiritual essence decreases and when a mage takes in spiritual energy their talent for sensing qi decreases. This is the universes way of balancing things out. Even though the universe tries to balance things out, mages are still innately stronger than cultivators, with a mage being able to quickly dispatch a cultivator of equivalent level as long as they're not close to each other. That said, when a cultivator closes in on a mage they're almost always going to die. A level one mortal, mortal being the lowest level of cultivation, is capable of killing a level one acolyte, the lowest level of mages, if they're close to them, even though a level one acolyte is graded as being equivalent to a level three mortal."

"Are there any questions?"

Seth silently raised his hand.