Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

We changed into our workout clothes and I grabbed my book with the healing spell for undead. Maybe I could practise it after the sparring. Hopefully it would not be needed. We arrived before Skadi and Cassie at the training area.

“I guess we will have Nyx and the draugr spar as a start. And later we can try fighting it ourselves.” I suggested.

Nyx grew to her full size and started stretching. A few other students were in the area. They ignored us, for now. My draugr was equipped with a training sword and shield. They were metal but with a dull edge. He used his ice armour as defence.

I commanded the draugr to fight without inflicting serious injury. I was not sure how well a tier two undead could judge that. But Nyx was a tough kitty. She circled the draugr. Then she pounced. Her opponent raised his shield to bash her away.

He was strong enough to deflect the feline but Nyx landed gracefully and charged once more. She avoided the draugr’s sword masterfully and managed a hit with her claws. They did not penetrate the ice.

“He is kind of slow.” Helena observed.

“Slow? He blocked the pounce.” I said.

“His first reaction was good, yes. The problem with a pounce is, you can’t change your direction while you are in the air. Now that Nyx is staying on the ground, she is too quick for him. Look, he has just fallen for her feint to the left and got hit from the right.” Helena pointed out.

“Sure. But being slower than Nyx does not make you slow. None of us is as fast as she is.” It was something we had learned in the past, while sparring.

“I suppose. But we are only students. His armour seems to hold up well though. I wonder how hard Nyx is attacking.” Helena said.

“We could test the armour separately. Just try to stab it outside of a battle.” I suggested.

“Ohhh, they are already fighting!” Cassie said. I turned around and saw her walking towards us, together with Skadi.

Nyx was currently circling the draugr again. To some degree it looked like she was playing. Then her claws started to glow blue. A thin sheet of ice covered them.

“This is new.” I said.

She charged once more. This time her attack shattered a large chunk of the draugr’s armour. He managed a glancing blow on her front leg but Nyx did not seem to care.

“What did we miss?” Skadi asked.

“Nyx is a lot faster. The draugr seemes durable and has decent reflexes but he can’t keep up with her.”

“Has he used any magic, other than the ice armour?” Cassie asked.

“No. I did tell him not to harm her, I suppose. He is only tier two so I am not sure how complex my instructions can be. Or if he can evaluate how strong Nyx is and what might be too powerful.”

“You would need an actual opponent to truly test him.” Skadi mused.

“We should go on a hunt!” Helena declared.

“But we just returned from the field exercise!” I said.

“Well, we would bring real food, of course. No crackers.” She quickly added. “It would be more fun!”

“Let’s just spar, for now.” I said.

The battle was over. With Nyx penetrating the armour, she won. We did not want her to maul the draugr.

Afterwards we sparred as well. We took turns fighting the draugr, and Nyx. The feline was the clear winner.

“Is Nyx getting faster?” Skadi asked, while breathing heavily.

“I don’t know. I have to ask Gronir if undead grow stronger over time.” I said.

“I hate melee combat.” Cassie said. She was lying on the ground.

“You are improving.” Skadi said. “You just have to train more.”

Cassie groaned.

“Koyuki is improving too.” Helena said. “You could almost think she knows which end of a spear is the pointy one!” She teased. I was getting better. But my fighting still involved a lot of… improvised stabbing.

“Well, I can just outsource the stabbing! How would you rate the draugr?” I asked.

“About as skilled as an average soldier, when it comes to weapons. But he is a lot stronger. The ice seems rather durable.” Skadi summarised.

“I agree. I would guess he could take a small group of normal people. A lot depends on his armour. I am not sure how well he would do against a mage.” Helena said.

“He fights better than me.” Cassie grumbled. “But I would just explode him in a real fight!”

I fought him to a draw myself. But I had no idea how much he hesitated, because I was his master. Also, we did not use magic. After the duels we ran some tests on the ice armour. It was possible to damage it with normal steel weapons but he could regenerate it.

“This thing would be a nightmare to kill, if you are a normal soldier without magical gear.” Helena concluded.

“How long can he keep regenerating the armour?” Skadi asked.

“No idea. I should have a lesson soon, about undead and their use of magic.”

A few other students approached us and asked if they could spar with my undead. They were in their second years. Since we were taking a break, I agreed.

Nyx defeated them all. The draugr held his own, but some of them used magic to pierce his armour. One guy heated his sword, which was rather effective against ice armour. He managed to cut into my draugr’s arm.

“Sorry!” He apologised upon seeing the damage. “Um… does it heal?” He asked.

“I think he will regenerate.” I assured the man. He seemed relieved.

We took a break after that. Cassie pulled out the salve she had created. Nyx sniffed it, then sat before her, waiting. She was in her smallest form.

“What happens if she grows with a salve on her?” I wondered.

“I think it will reduce the effectiveness.” Cassie said. Then she began applying the salve. Nyx purred.

Meanwhile, I grabbed my book. It was time to learn a spell to heal an undead. He would likely regenerate in time but it was a great opportunity to practise a new spell.