Birth of a Necromancer 021

The church was bustling with activity. Among the many priests, stood the monk, Will. He was finally about to be the center of attention at the Priest Initiation Ceremony. The young monk was becoming a priest, after ten years of hard work, tending to the gardens, providing for the people that visited the priest, and listening to preachers.

Today, the Archbishop of Kanburrough, the most powerful mage in the country, was going to be present to see the young prodigy, Will. It would be an understatement to say that the monk was excited. He would be known as the youngest priest, in the history of The Church.

At only seventeen years of age, he was joining the ranks of the elite. Having spent the majority of his life as a monk, he would finally be able to have a taste of the authority, he never had. But even though it was indeed an auspicious occasion, having a new priest join the ranks of the Church, but it wasn't the only cause for the Archbishop to visit their church.

Under normal circumstances, a monk would be promoted to priest, by another priest, or perhaps, a bishop. But for some reason, the head of the Church, the Archbishop, had come. There were undoubtedly some huge announcement to be made.

Will admired the Archbishop greatly. He had created the greatest system, the world had ever seen, turned it into an incredibly influential political faction, rivaling the power of the two main factions. The most powerful military faction was the Church's, and most of the King's and the nobles' were also somehow involved with the Archbishop's troops.

If we wished, the Archbishop could take over Elcrada, but he could not be bothered by such trivial matters. He had his sights on communing with the one true God, Icarus. For that sole purpose, the Church existed. For that purpose, the man they called the Archbishop had become the strongest known magician.

"His excellency has arrived." The Bishop in charge of the church announced.

The massive doors, which led to the dimly lit ceremonial-room, they were standing in, letting an immense amount of light into the room. And standing in the middle of that light, was a single man, accompanied by none but himself. In his hand, he held a crooked wooden staff. In actuality, it was more of a branch than a staff, but no-one dared to say so. The man, bathed in light, was none other than the Archbishop himself.

"Welcome, your excellency. I trust you had a pleasant trip?" The Bishop, who represented us for the duration of the ceremony, asked.

The doors closed behind the man. Without his features being obscured by the light, it became apparent that he was an old man. But one would have to be a fool not to notice the otherworldly aura, he emitted. It wasn't an unpleasant aura, but rather a calming, soothing one, which made everyone feel at ease, even though they were faced with the immense authority, the Archbishop represented.

Maybe it was the long, white hair, the long beard, which reached his chest. You could tell that he took good care of himself, even though he was well up in years.

"It was quite splendid, really. I like it here in the capital" The Archbishop responded. That was another great thing about him. He didn't discriminate, based on rank. Even the lowliest of monks could talk to him... If they could find him.

The Archbishop was rumored to dislike noise, so he lived in the mountains that separated The Kingdom of Kanburrough and The Kingdom of Lioness. It wasn't rare for the two to declare war on each other, whenever either of the kingdoms were in trouble. The people were easily pleased, so declaring war on the other made it look like the monarchs were actually doing something about their situations, even if they weren't. However, now that the Archbishop had his residence between the two, invasions were almost never successful, since the old man would raise hell on any army that dared cross the mountain range. Friend or foe, it didn't matter, because in order to preserve the peace, neither of the two countries would be allowed past the mountains. He was the reason behind the many years of peace, Kanburrough had been experiencing.

"Now, I believe I was called upon to promote a certain monk." The elderly man said, throwing a glance into the masses of priests, almost instantly spotting the young monk, who, because of his lower status, wore different robes than the priests.

"That is correct. The monk in question is the young Will, who has been with us for ten whole years. Brother Will, come to the altar."

Will was surprised that he had been called by name before the great Archbishop. With unwavering resolve, the monk walked up to the altar. To the two elder men. When he reached the altar, fell to his knees, as any worshiper of Icarus did in front of an altar. His eyes were on the ground, for he was in no position to look at the two powerful figures before him.

"Raise your head, Will." The Archbishop said. His voice had changed to a very stern one, showing his status as the head of the world's most powerful organization.

Will did as requested. He was staring straight at the Archbishop, who, to him, was like an otherworldly presence. The difference between them in power, intelligence, skill, status, and age was so great that it felt like there would have to pass a few timelines, before the young monk could look him in the eyes, as an equal.

"Do you pledge loyalty, not to me, but towards Icarus, the one and true God, who commands the power of light?"

"I do."

"Do you swear to follow the teachings of the Church, as well as those of your elders?"

"I do."

"Finally, do you swear to purge the wicked and the evil when- and wherever you see it?"

"I do."

"Then let us welcome a new priest to our order. Will! May the god of light, Icarus, watch over you." The Archbishop concluded, and started clapping.

Shortly after, every single person present were applauding the new priest.

The Archbishop raised his hand, in order to call for silence. Everyone did as instructed, and waited for the otherworldly being to share his thoughts.

"While it is indeed a great event, initiating a new priest, it was not the sole reason for me coming here."

Everyone had figured as much, but no one let it show. There weren't a single person present, who didn't deeply respect and admire the Archbishop, so no one would dare disrespect their idol by implying that anything he said was "obvious" or "to be expected".

"The truth is, my dear friends, that I am troubled. How many of you have read the holy text, ‘The teachings of The Apocalypse?’"

A few of the elder priests raised their hands, but the vast majority of the priests had not.

"The teachings of The Apocalypse describes how to world will end. It’s quite the long and interesting story, but I will shorten it down for you. The texts speak of an ancient being with the power to end the world. Throughout the tale, it is referred to by many names. Ancient Evil, Ultimate Evil, and lastly, but most correctly, The Negative One. It is an ancient being that wields the highest tier of Taboo Magic, which we, as the protectors of the people, despise. But why do we dislike this kind of magic? After all, there are so many different kinds of destructive magic. The answer lies within an old tale. Many hundreds of years ago, a man known as 'The last Necromancer' was the enemy of the entire world. Ruling from his mountain castle in The Northern Provinces, he commanded an army, consisting of thousands of the undead. He caused plague and suffering wherever he went, on an eternal quest to conquer the entire world for himself. The source of his power was nothing short of the very same Taboo Magic, we despise today, given to him by the destructive force, The Negative One. In order to make sure that an evil, such as the necromancer ever appears again, we strike at everything that wields the power."

Worried about where this was going, many of the priests moved uncomfortably. They all knew of the necromancer in question, and of the Taboo Magic he had controlled. Why was he being brought up?

"Over the course of the last month, I've noticed a sizable increase in undead around the adventurers' town, Elcrada. Usually, one has to travel to the far north, to The Cursed Fortress, where ‘The last Necromancer’ once resided, in order to see a comparative amount of undead. That is due to the large concentration of Dark Energy, left behind by the great evil that was slain there. This means that a being of similar power has appeared close to Elcrada."

"So does this mean that a new necromancer has appeared?" The bishop asked. He seemed skeptical of the situation, in the first place, since not everyone believed the tale of ‘The last Necromancer’.

"Not necessarily, no. It could be a lich, in which case we will have to act quickly, since they alone pose a threat, large enough to endanger an entire country."

The tension in the air increased. A lich would require an obscenely large amount of soldier, if victory against it was to be ascertained.

Liches were powerful mages that came back to life as a result of their extensive knowledge of Dark Magic. Liches were created, when said mages were able to place their souls within an object of their choosing. This meant that when they died, their soul would slowly start seeping back into their body, finally resulting in their resurrection, many years later. In some cases, they would stay dead for a few years. In others, it could take millennia, depending on how powerful they were in life.

Will trembled by the thought of having to take part in a battle against such a creature. Hopefully, his participation wouldn't be required, due to his lack of training as a priest. He might have been made a priest, officially, however, he still had much to learn.

"In order to purge whatever wicked entity has caused the dead to rise from their graves, I have decided to form a squad of priests. Everyone chosen will be given top-tier equipment, and should the squad complete this mission, every member may keep the equipment given to them." The Archbishop announced.

Following his announcement, he held up a piece of paper, on which the chosen ones were listed. He started listing the names.

The young priest, Will didn't care much for the list, since he didn't think he would be on it. He was wrong.

After having listed around twenty other names, the Archbishop revealed a name, no-one had expected to be on there.

"...Will Siantia".

He had been chosen. Will had been chosen to go on a quest, meant for those with great amounts of experience, and centuries worth of training. The former monk was in no way fit to go with these individuals, but the Archbishop seemed to think otherwise.

For the remainder of the ceremony, Will didn't quite listen. He was praying for his own safety, since he was going on a mission, on which many people were very likely to lose their lives.

After the ceremony had ended, the young priest rushed to the priests' part of the church. His quarters weren't in the monks' section anymore. He was a priest now, even though he lacked the practical experience of one.

The reason Will was special was because of his affinity for magic. He wasn't extraordinarily good at using it yet, but his potential was tremendous. The bishop had once told him that he had the potential to become a bishop, himself, if he trained diligently. That was the former monk's goal. To become a man worthy of respect.

Many hours later, dawn broke, and the party of twenty-five priests set out on their journey by carriage. Neither of them expected much of the supposed enemy, they were supposed to slay. Everyone... Except Will.

The youngest member of the party had a bad feeling about it all. As the carriage gradually closed in on the town of Elcrada, Will felt more and more sick to his stomach. This was not what he had expected of priesthood. As the carriages moved onward, the young man felt as if the air was trying to suffocate him. He tried to go to sleep, but couldn't.

'This is going to be a long trip'.

Chapter end