Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

The door opened by itself. “Ah Koyuki, come in, come in!” Gronir said. As I looked around I did not notice any skeleton, aside from his aides.

“Have a seat.”

I sat down and waited patiently.

“So, I went into the city yesterday and dropped by the adventurer’s guild. They always have plenty of materials on sale. I found something for you! It’s some sort of large feline, I have to admit I am uncertain what kind. The bone structure looks like a panther but slightly larger. Since you have a lot of mana it should work perfectly. It certainly is an undead you can use for combat.”

“Is there a way to make it a tier two undead? Or to upgrade it later?” I wondered.

“Oh? Ambitious, I like it. As I have said in class, controlling a tier two is not hard. But you need to split your focus slightly while creating them. You need to channel the spell while establishing dominance. So, if you have enough mana, and can levitate something while having a conversation, you should be able to pull this off.”

“I managed to use telekinesis briefly but I don’t think I could keep it up while having a conversation, yet.” I admitted.

“Still, that is rather remarkable progress for such a short time.” He said. “Nobody expects you to create your first undead today. I have talked with Horas. You have advanced alchemy tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“He has the skeleton. He will help you prepare it. I expect everyone to have raised something by the end of the month. If you learn fast enough we shall make it a tier two.”

There were twenty days left till the end of the month. I could do this!

“I am willing to try, sir!”

“Splendid! I expect great things from you.”

“Um, would it be possible to use my water affinity as well? I have been told that I have a lot of mana. So that should not be a problem…” I asked, uncertain.

“Now that goes a bit beyond simple ambition. Just how much mana do you have?” He looked at me.

He was my necromancy teacher and he was helping me. I decided to trust him. “About three times as much as a graduate.” I answered.

Gronir stared at me. He remained silent and kept staring. Was he deep in thought?

“Who made that assessment, and how?”

“I was training with Major Charles and I learned venting. I released about a third of my mana. He said that was the amount of a graduate.” Technically he said it was more than most graduates had but that was close enough.

“Major Charles? Good man. I would trust his assessment. That was not the most scientific method but he has a lot of combat experience and should be able to judge a burst like that. Even if we assume some overestimation, that is still quite a lot of mana.”

He seemed to think for a bit while stroking his beard.

“The increase in a person's mana is poorly understood. Or let’s just say, it varies greatly between people. You are an unusual case but we often see great gains during a student's time at the academy. Do you know the rankings of mages?”

“No sir.”

“During the academy you would be considered an apprentice mage. Once you graduate you are a full mage. Each rank requires a certain amount of mana, combined with the ability to cast a certain complexity of spells. Graduation assures that you fulfil the requirements to become a mage. After that we have senior mage, grand mage and archmage. Mages are the most common, a lot of people never rise from that rank. Those who become senior mages often reach the rank when they are old. In order to teach at the academy, you must be at least a senior mage.”

Gronir opened his desk and pulled out a bottle and a glass. Then he poured himself a drink. I waited patiently while he sipped it.

“Nethena has about 30000 mages. Most of them are not soldiers, mind you. Maybe 5000 of those are senior mages. About 300 are grand mages. How many archmages do you think we have?”

“I…. I do not know. 50?” I guessed.

He chuckled. “Ah, that would be nice. No. We have eight. Our headmaster is one of them. Now for some rough mana estimates. Three times the amount that a normal graduate has would qualify you as a senior mage. You would need about five times the average for a grand mage and ten times for an archmage. Of course, besides mana you still need to be capable of casting certain spells. And the mana is a rough estimate, mind you.”

Gronir took another sip of his drink.

“Your mana pool expands faster when you are young. That is why a lot of students double theirs while at the academy. It depends how large it was to begin with, when they awakened and so on. The biggest growth is usually till twenty. From twenty to thirty your pool might grow another 50 percent. Afterwards it slows down drastically. Mind you, those are averages and there have been exceptions for every rule. Your awakening itself is an exception.”

That meant I was already at a senior mage level. And I would likely be a grand mage when graduating. I could be an archmage by thirty! No, I should not expect that. My case was unusual. Still, I was already at the level of a senior mage. That was a lot to absorb.

“I will have to inform Principal Hailstorm. If, when, this gets out you will be in even more danger. I will also talk with Horas. Your first undead needs to become a guardian. You could become an archmage necromancer.” He smiled. “It will take a while for your skill to catch up with your mana. For now, do not leave the academy. It is too risky. And train hard.”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, that is all for now. Have a good night.”