Reborn with a Necromancer System - Chapter 94

Chapter 94: A Day in Ylthara
Kai stood at the edge of the warp gate platform at the academy, shadows curling around his boots.

A giant light blue crystal hovered in the air and sound slowly.

Below the crystal, four blocky archways made from obsidian pulsed with dim light, a ripple of runes etched into their surfaces. Inside each of the gates was a torrent of visible mana, rippling like water in a boiling pot.

The hum of mana was calming, almost seductive, but Kai’s mind was anything but still.

He could’ve gone to the forest for more training. Gods knew he needed it. The Arcane Crucible was coming, and his progress with sigilcraft and live combat conditioning had slowed to a crawl. But today wasn’t about strength. It was about something else.

‘I need to find her,’ he thought. ‘Elva. Merri’s sister.’

When the light of the warp gate engulfed him, the world twisted into folds of white-blue streaks, and with a flash, he was no longer at the academy.

He stood at the barrier gates of Ylthara.

The guards recognised the Academy’s uniform before they registered his age. The emblem on his chest, Thesiones Academy, Imeria’s elite institution, earned a nod and a wave through the gates without delay.

There were whispers behind him as he passed, talk of prestige and potential.

‘I guess there are more benefits to this uniform than I thought. I honestly considered wearing casual clothes, and now I’m glad I didn’t.’

Ylthara was just as he remembered it from his brief visit before the assessment trials, opulent towers in the north, rising like proud spires of wealth, while the south lay veiled in shadow and soot. But this time, he wasn’t stuck in the slums. Today, he had access. Today, he hunted.

Wearing the uniform was a deliberate choice. It bought him attention, and more importantly, respect. Wealthy merchants and wandering nobles congratulated him, beaming with that annoying parental pride people loved to show promising students. Most didn’t know anything, but all of them pointed him to the same place, the station of knights, nestled in the northern edge of the city.

As he walked, doubts crept in like tendrils of frost.

‘Am I stretching myself too thin?’ he wondered.

Firra, Kleo’s sister, was in the palace. Elva, somewhere here. The missing students in the academy. And there was the Crucible. His days were a blur of training, shadows, and necromancy. And despite all the power he had gained, he still hadn’t mastered half the things he’d meant to.

Ylthara’s streets were lined with mana-powered lanterns and echoing fountains, a city wrapped in its own self-importance. But he didn’t care for sightseeing. He needed information. He needed results.

The knight station was housed in a thick-stoned fortress, surrounded by a shallow moat laced with mana crystals. Inside, it was buzzing with low chatter, clinking armor, and the musty scent of oiled leather and burning wardstones.

He met an old knight sitting by the hearth in the central chamber, nursing a steaming cup. His armour was scratched and worn, and his beard had faded to white, yet his eyes gleamed with insight.

“The knights of Imeria,” the man explained with a tired voice, “don’t answer to king or clergy. We were formed to protect the people, not politics. Of course, politics still leak in.”

Kai mentioned the disappearance. Said he was acting on behalf of a professor who had lost a daughter. A carefully tailored lie, but not one without weight. He handed the knight a hand-drawn image of Elva, rendered in ink with care.

The knight studied the parchment, eyes narrowing. “I actually remember this one. We had wanted posters up for a while, since she was fined for trafficking. But…”

“What?”

“It’s not a job for a child. Leave this to the authorities.”

Kai’s blood boiled.

“I’m a rank seven Elementalist. And as a child with such a high rank, do you really want to make an enemy of me?”

“Oh? You’re threatening a knight of Imeria, boy.”

Kai pulled out all the stops. He folded his arms and looked up at the knight with a look of combined disgust and entitlement. The same look he saw Emille make dozens of times already.

“And?”

“Well, if you die, you die. If you don’t, you owe me a favour. A warehouse raid might be your best bet. Those bastards rotate locations, but there’s a cluster of activity near the old warehouses in the southeast.”

Kai nodded. “Thank you.”

The rest of the night was blood and fire.

He moved like a phantom through the slums, his senses sharp, his will moving him forward. Once he confirmed the location, he unleashed his fury.

Dozens died in moments.

Slavers, guards, and smugglers all reduced to husks and severed limbs. He didn’t even call his army. Not at first. This was personal.

He used Wither Bolt to keep his life essence up while he annihilated everyone in his path with ice, fire, electricity, shadow, and necrotic energies. He cared little for any resistances these people might have had.

Once the building was cleared, he found nothing. Nothing of use to him.

But nothing could’ve prepared him for what he found inside the back of that rancid building.

Elva.

Not the vibrant girl from Merri’s memories, but a shriveled husk of flesh. Bruises like rotted fruit bloomed along her limbs. Her hair was matted with filth, and her limbs trembled just from the cold. She was caged like a dog, crumpled in a heap. Her teeth were gone. Her gums scarred. Her lips cracked from dehydration.

Kai knelt. His hands trembled as he summoned Ralts and poured healing magic into her, trying to restore her body. The wounds faded. The tremors slowed. But her eyes.

Her eyes remained empty.

Devoid of anything that could resemble life.

He conjured broth from his shadow space, but she couldn’t even sip it. Only blood trickled from her lip.

“Merri sent me,” he whispered, holding her bony fingers. “Everything will be okay.”

She blinked, slowly. “Merri… she never gave up, did she?”

She didn’t look at Kai, or much at anything.

“Not even in death,” Kai said.

“Oh,” Elva murmured, a smile flickering. “She’s dead, then…? That’s alright… Then this is okay…”

And just like that, the light in her eyes flickered out.

Gone.

Kai didn’t move for a moment. He sat there, holding her limp hand, his throat tightening.

“You were just… holding on for your sister?” he whispered. “Damn it…”

A tear rolled down his cheek, unbidden, and he wiped it away with a curse.

He stood up.

Raised a hand.

“Raise dead.”

Her body twitched and rose, eyes still hollow, but filled with new awareness. He stored her gently in his shadow space.

[One minute until the reverse gate warp activates.]

He exhaled.

‘Just in time.’

He turned to the rest of the building. Anyone still alive inside would suffer for this. The shadows obeyed his will, spreading like oil across the wooden supports. Then came the fire. A single spark. An inferno.

He walked into the light of the returning gate with the burning warehouse behind him. Ylthara would sleep a little better tonight.

He wouldn’t. Not for a while.

‘At least she’s at peace…’