The next morning after arriving in this new world, Chuck headed back to the library alone early before most people would be awake in order to do some research on necromancy for his quest.
Chuck had decided that he would like to learn something he is most familiar with such as necromancy rather than an unknown factor like flesh crafting or whatever it was called.
At least with necromancy he gets the gist of it without having to study too much, after all there were plenty of novels and manga back on earth about necromancers.
It involves raising and controlling the dead, something like that certainly fits a villain such as himself but he doesn't plan to become some kind of litch or something that only commands armies of the undead.
Rather he will try to use necromancy in small secretive amounts, perhaps creating a information gathering network using spies of the undead disguised as humans or something.
*Ding!
Suddenly as he is thinking about this a notification appears
[your goals and ambitions have been recognized, your quest will be altered to fit your resolve.]
[quest: Darkness reigns supreme, has been altered into Quest: Litchy business
Quest description:You have decided to learn necromancy for your own selfish goals, despite your teachers warning. Good luck on this dark path, I'm rooting for you!
Quest goal: Learn basic necromancy (at least one magic spell)
Quest rewards:
trait: Whispers of the Grave – occasionally, the dead guide your hand when casting dark magic, reducing mana cost.
Item: Bone Charm – A small talisman made from an unknown creature's remains. While carried, dark magic spells have a marginally faster cast time
Skill: puppeteer of the dead- Be able to possess the body of an undead in your control/raised by you while your original body falls into suspended animation.]
Looking at the screen Chuck was slightly taken aback, not only did the quest change due to his will but there is also now an additional reward.
'Hmm so the quests have the ability to alter themselves in some scenarios, that may be good to know for in the future. But I am unsure if the same thing will happen again for the same reasons, this could just be a one time thing. Also puppeteer of the dead, I have a good idea already of how I should use that skill when I acquire it, it could be used to kickstart my information gathering in a unique way.'
15 minutes later Chuck is sitting at a table tucked away in the back of the library, away from prying eyes, with a book on necromancy in front of him'
'I can't believe they actually had one here…'
The royal library has various documents, book, and just knowledge in general available to read, with what seems like a hundred different magic related books as well.
Some even on taboo magic while going as far as how to perform it within the book.
However Chuck is pretty sure a normal library outside the castle wouldn't have access to these taboo books, they are likely kept here in the royal library due to research purposes from the past and whatnot.
Also not necessarily all taboo magics are taboo everywhere, some that are taboo here in the Goroth kingdom for example may not be taboo in the Astolf kingdom simply because they value every type of strength.
Though necromancy is one of the taboos that are looked down upon, hated and mostly forbidden everywhere including the Astolf kingdom.
Chuck begins reading into the pretty basic, short, and incomplete looking book.
'They probably didn't want anyone doing what I'm about to do so they destroyed most of it and left the basics.'
Nonetheless there was enough there for Chuck to go off of, however the only problem now was he needed a experiment subject and he doesn't think he can exactly sneak a dead body around the castle, let alone how he would get it in the first place.
He suddenly had a brilliant idea.
He looked towards a bird sitting in its birds nest which rested on the ledge of a window nearby.
All he had to do was grab the bird without it noticing him and then kill it.
It was quite simple actually, the little blue bird was sleeping and the window was already open, so he snuck up behind it and swiped the bird into his grasp it chirped and tried pecking free for a bit but not for long as soon after he had grabbed it he twisted its head and a small snapping sound was heard as the bird stopped moving and went limp.
He then put the bird in his pocket and headed back to his quarters where he can do his magic without getting caught.
He let the servant girl know ahead of time that he is not to be disturbed for a while, as he was 'feeling ill' so he was 'going back to bed'.
She understood and left to let the other servants on duty for him know.
Now he was alone and ready to begin, he went over to his bed and placed the dead bird atop the comforter and then raised his hand towards it.
He visualized the raise dead spell he learned in the book and a black magic circle proceeded to appear in front of his hand, then a few seconds later one appeared below the dead bird as well.
Chuck felt a small amount of magic leave his body.
The birds body began to convulse and soon after that the skin, organs, feathers everything evaporated from the birds body save for the bones, then the neck that was twisted realigned itself popping back in place with a small crisp snap, and glowing purple lights appeared in both eye sockets.
'It was a success!'
Chuck thinks, however there was one slight problem, with those boney wings how was it going to fly.
*Ding!
Chuck put that aside for now and opened the notification that just sounded.
[Quest completed: litchy buisness
Quest rewards being distributed
System note: Undead can use magic to some degree based on what their main affinity was before they died as the MP veins exist in the bones of living or in this case creatures.however they may need to be taught how to use magic, here's a hint, try using your newly acquired skill on the bird and use wind magic to make it fly. A plus to undead is they don't physically tire, however once it runs out of magic it will be unable to fly, another hint is maybe make some sort of paper wings or something that can be attached to the bird to restore it's flight.]
A small necklace appears out of thin air and lands on the bed next to the undead bird, who begins inspecting it in curiosity.
Chuck looked at the system note with awe, it seems more and more like the system is sentient to some degree but that doesn't matter much to him as long as it helps him achieve his goals, plus he likes to think of it as a sort of invisible companion.
He also considers the systems two hints he would have to try the second option at a later point as he had no means to create artificial wings.
The first option however is very doable.
He knealt down in front of the undead bird and tried to convey his intentions to it.
According to the basic book on necromancy the person who raised the dead should have a sort of connection with them that allows them to understand each other, even if the undead can't vocally speak/communicate he could still 'communicate' with it as long as it is within a close range.
The undead are but a fragment of their former selves and usually develop a new personality basically if one at all, instead of simply being a mindless zombie.
Chuck spoke to the bird
"Alright now, I am going to keep this short and simple. I am Chuck Samuel and I am your new master though I'm sure you somehow already know that part. anyway I am going to possess your tiny body for a while to teach you how to fly using wind magic since you no longer have feathers and without flight you're useless to me. Prepare yourself!"
The little bird just nodded up and down as if understanding everything.
'Activate skill,puppeteer of the dead'
Chuck simply thought of activating the skill and he felt somehow he could pick a target, but since the bird was the only one he selected it and suddenly he felt a pull from his body and collapsed onto the floor.
The next instant he was staring at his own body laying on the floor and facepalms himself with his left boney wing.
He had forgotten that his body would basically go to sleep when he uses this new skill, oh well it's too late to change what's happened.
He then communicates with the bird within his mind
'Alright now pay attention, I'm going to show you how to use wind magic, though I may not be very good at it myself as I have only learned a little about magic so far.'
Chuck then tried to use wind magic, focusing it under the boney body of the bird, mainly the wings, to his surprise it works pretty well, maybe it's the bird's natural wind affinity that is helping.
…He then tries to lift the bird, pushing more mana into the spell.
The skeletal wings flapped once—more out of habit than necessity—and with a faint whoosh, the little creature rose into the air.
Chuck grinned inwardly.
'Not bad… you might just be worth keeping around.'
The bird wobbled for a moment, bones creaking faintly, before stabilizing in midair. Controlling wind magic through another body was strange—it felt like steering a puppet with strings made of static electricity—but it was surprisingly responsive.
After a few circles around the room, Chuck landed the bird back on the bed.
The purple lights in its eye sockets flickered faintly, a sign it was running low on mana.
'Alright, that'll do for now. Rest. We'll work on endurance later.'
Ending the skill, Chuck's vision snapped back into his own body with a slight jolt.
He sat up, rubbing his neck.
The bird hopped closer, staring at him like it was awaiting further orders.
A small, wicked smile crept onto Chuck's face.
"Congratulations, you're the first member of my spy network."