Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 59

Chapter 59: Lesson One – Spirit Summoning Chapter 59: Lesson One – Spirit Summoning “Reach beyond the veil,” Orlin instructed.

“Feel for the lingering spirits.

Call one forth.” Easier said than done.

Kai stretched his magic into the unseen.

The spirit realm felt like reaching into cold water, filled with shifting currents and whispers that sent shivers down his spine.

He drifted, weightless, as the veil between life and death parted around him.

As he pushed further, the whispers sharpened into wails.

Cold fingers grazed his thoughts, desperate hands pulling at his mind.

For a moment, he felt his own memories slipping, replaced by fragmented lives that weren’t his.

A child crying for their mother.

A warrior begging for another chance.

A woman lost in endless confusion.

Kai gritted his teeth, pushing past them.

He couldn’t get swept up in their despair.

He wrenched himself free, heart hammering.

Then, a name surfaced in his mind.

The Collector.

Kai’s pulse spiked.

He yanked on that thread-only for something else to emerge.

A man.

A simple man.

The figure staggered forward, spectral and flickering.

His features were gaunt, eyes hollow, but recognition flickered within them.

Confused.

“Where…

am I?” Kai felt his breath hitch.

“You’re dead.” The man blinked.

His translucent form wavered.

“Oh…” For a moment, he just stood there, taking it in.

Then his expression twisted in horror.

“No…

No, not again.

Stay away!” His ghostly hands rose defensively, his form flickering with raw panic.

“You-you’re him!

The Collector!” Kai’s stomach dropped.

“No!

I’m not-!” The man’s breath came in ragged, nonexistent gasps.

“You stole my body!

You twisted my soul!

You’re back for more!” Kai cursed under his breath.

He should have expected this.

Orlin remained silent, watching, evaluating.

This was part of the test.

“Listen to me!” Kai said firmly.

“I am not the Collector!

I was the one who fought it-who destroyed it.

You’re free.” The ghost, Graham, as Kai suddenly recalled, hesitated.

His translucent hands lowered slightly, uncertainty replacing the terror in his expression.

“I- I’m free…?” he echoed, as if the concept was foreign.

Kai nodded.

“I pulled you here to ask about the Collector.

If there’s anything you can tell me, it would help.” Graham’s spectral form seemed to solidify for a moment.

He swallowed, or at least mimicked the motion.

“I don’t know much.

It was…

old.

Ancient.

A chaotic energy that seeped into my body like ink.

It tainted me, my thoughts, and my mana.

The longer it possessed me, the harder it was to tell the difference between it and me.

I thought I could harness its power and its knowledge, but it got the better of me.” Kai clenched his jaw.

He already guessed the Collector was a parasitic entity, but hearing it firsthand made his skin crawl.

It preyed on people.

Twisted them.

“Harness it?

You knew it existed?” “Of course.

I saw everything.

At first, there was just a whisper in my mind.

Then, things looked darker, and it convinced me that it could help the darkness go away, but it didn’t.

It just made everything I did that much worse.

So many dead children.

Not just from Orrinsby, but other villages.

I don’t even know how long it lasted or how long I was alive.

Are you sure I’m free?

This isn’t another trick, is it?” “Snap out of it!

You’re free.

I promise you that!

Did it say anything?

Did it have a goal?” Graham got his breathing under control and shook his head.

“After I let it in, it didn’t speak.

Not like a person does.

It was like…

urges.

Hungers.

Needs that didn’t belong to me.” His expression darkened.

“It didn’t just want to consume-I think it wanted to become something more.

To take from the world.” That sent a chill down Kai’s spine.

“But you destroyed it?” Graham asked, his voice hopeful.

“Yes.

It’s gone.” ‘I think…

I hope…’ Graham exhaled a shaky breath.

“Then…

I have nothing left to fear.” He looked at his own hands, flexing his ghostly fingers as though testing their solidity.

Then he turned back to Kai, gratitude in his eyes.

“Thank you.

You freed me.

I don’t know why you helped me that dreadful day, but I am glad to hear it’s over.

That nobody else will be corrupted by that vile thing.” Kai nodded.

“Do you wish to move on?” Graham hesitated, then smiled faintly.

“Yes.

I think I do.” With that, his form began to fade, dispersing into the ether.

The cold weight in Kai’s chest lightened as Graham’s presence dissolved.

As Graham’s spirit faded, the air didn’t return to normal.

A lingering cold pressed against Kai’s skin, deeper than before.

In the distance, just at the edge of the veil, something stirred.

Something observed the entire thing.

Afraid of what might be waiting for him, Kai rushed back through the tides of the unresting dead.

A child grabbed Kai’s leg and flashes of war and death filled his mind.

He watched magic destroy buildings and people indiscriminately.

The screams shook him to the core of his soul.

Slowly, the world within this boy’s mind pulled him in.

“Kai Tensen!” Orlin’s voice broke through the vivid memories and Kai leapt forward, clearing the mass of spirits.

Kai snapped his eyes open, breathless, the real world stirring back into focus.

Orlin’s hands were on Kai’s shoulders, his glowing blue eyes brighter than ever.

“You have the talent, Kai, but you need to be more careful!” Kai failed to find words to respond with.

For the first time, Orlin displayed emotion, and that emotion was worry for Kai.

‘Was he…

Genuinely worried for me?’ Orlin cleared his throat and pulled his arms from Kai, “You waded through the spirit realm and pulled forth something important.

That, in itself, is a step forward.” Kai exhaled, rubbing his temples.

“That was…

harder than I thought.” Orlin chuckled.

“And that was only the beginning.

You got lucky, Not all spirits want to be saved.

Some… want revenge.

There are spirits far more dangerous than a lost soul.” Kai let out a short laugh.

“Great.

Can’t wait…” “I know,” Orlin said, grinning.

“That’s what makes you interesting.” Kai shook his head but didn’t argue.

He had barely scratched the surface of what was possible with necromancy.

The lessons ahead would only get harder.

But for the first time, he felt like he was walking the right path.

And that, at least, was something.

‘I probably should have tried to talk to mum or dad, but if they’re resting, I don’t want to disturb them until I can try to bring them back.

I should leave them to rest.’ CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Jhaydun I am deeply sorry!

This chapter is supposed to be chapter number 59.

58 and 59 are supposed to be swapped around and my content editor is going to be fixing that soon!

There’s a lot of food for thought here.

A lot of food for thought.