Free My Path to Magic 2: A Combat Alchemist by Irina Syromyatnikova Page A

own.  You know," the necromancer's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, "it makes you quiver better than any wine. But at the same time it's the reason why you cannot raise a zombie with its memory fully intact, when you act alone. If you incorporate the entire personality of a deceased being, the latter will likely replace or change forever your self-identity."
    Charak paused: either he ran out of steam, or he was giving me time to reflect on what he said. Recent oddities acquired a frightening meaning. I might go daft, and no one would notice. No, there would be someone to notice: Rustle touched my mind: "I'll help you, I'm with you."
    "Do not worry, necromancers work in teams," my mentor decided to cheer me up. "For the recreation of a complete replica of a deceased being, twelve necromancers - the Magic Circle - must act together. Perhaps, necromancy is the only type of dark magic that requires teamwork."
    I w as struck by a sudden guess: "So, the government doesn't have enough mages for the Circle…"
    " Right," Charak nodded sadly, "and I am already too old for such exercises."
    The magician who had managed to stay alive for four hundred years had every right to excuse himself from the Circle.
    "Who m do they wish to raise?" I could not resist asking.
    "No idea," the necromancer shrug ged. "You will find out soon. At first, you have to learn all types of weavings and how to conjugate them. I don't know what exactly you will be doing in the Circle."
    Thus, my tranquilized mood after necromantic classes was indeed a sort of insanity, as Rakshat suggested. I pondered for a while how to mitigate the mental side effects of necromancy. I could double my time of meditation and workout after the classes, as my martial arts instructor taught me long ago, and chat more with my acquaintances. All of these things were easy to accomplish: less than a month remained till the end of my university classes; I had earned almost all my required credits and sent off my thesis on alchemy for review. Now I had more spare time, and Quarters was already out of the hospital. Doctors advised him to spend more time with his friends, but Sam disappeared, and the other acquaintances passed him by as if he were a leper - they feared that Ron's company could attract the attention of artisans to them.
    "To m, you have no idea how cool it is to have a dark mage as your friend!" Quarters was genuinely moved by my visit. "The dark are absolutely unyielding people. I am glad there is something unshakable in life, after all!"
    "I am more or less familiar with the tactics of white psychopaths." I was flattered by Ron's compliment. "The artisans can't get close to me other than by sudden attack. I almost quit drinking - I am not going to give them this chance."
    Quarters grimly nodded, "They screwed up my life too, these scumbags!  My mother forced me to sign up with Alcoholics Anonymous."
    I snorted mockingly - Ron certainly wasn't the right candidate for such "treatment".
    "I am lost; I do not know whom to believe any more," with a tragic look Quarters emptied his glass of beer. "Now I understand the expression 'dark times!' "
    "Th is time is quite ordinary," I did not agree with him.
    " Indeed?" he moved closer conspiratorially. "We enjoy peace here, but in the eastern provinces there is unrest, quite frankly. My uncle said that the government found out some crying abuses of power there: one local top official managed to cut the number of 'cleaners' to zero. Now residents are fleeing from there, and Kashtadar threatens to invade our country if we do not calm the unrest."
    "Let official s from the capital sort it out; they are paid to do just that. A face-off war with Kashtadar won't happen, as knowledgeable people told me."
    "I sort of envy you," Ron grinned. "You firmly stand on your feet: a combat mage and alchemist, plus the support of NZAMIPS. Good for you!"
    " I would not say so. I owe two years to the Roland Fund."
    And this circumstance was greatly