After that day, Julius was treated for two years by the best healer in Prague. But three scars on his cheek and five on his chest, with their pain, for three hundred years, reminded the magician of the most useful lesson in his life, and for a long time they would not let him forget this nightmare.
His student Dan did not care at all about his health or safety. The boy had more than enough strength, despite the fact that two dozen souls of long-dead people were wandering around the tennis table in his room, and another one was waiting for feedback on the observation deck. For some reason, it seemed to Julius that if suddenly they all went to the third layer, as the Kingdom of the Dead was also called, Dan would give up and restore everything back in fifteen minutes.
It was not for nothing that all the necromancers were thin, physically weak and ate a lot. All these are signs of overexpenditure in calling from the third layer. Dan was different from his colleagues: he was tall, strong and did not at all suffer from excessive thinness. But the guy always ate not just for three, but for five! It was clear that he was not like everyone else.
«You dont understand your strength, my boy,» Julius spoke slowly, trying to calm the restless student, «abilities like yours cannot be obtained anywhere except from birth.» You dont need our school, even if its the best in the world. You, Dan, have the honor of becoming the most powerful necromancer of our time. But you dont understand! And its dangerous! Because sooner or later your ignorance will be used not for the most noble purposes. As long as you are in Prague Castle, you are safe, but if you take a few steps away from the gate
The master, stroking the scar on his cheek, spoke kindly, but instructively.
«Im flattered, of course,» Dan spread his hands, blushing from the praise, «but why do I need such power?» I wanted to be an ordinary medical examiner in Prague. Summon murdered victims at trial, which is what all more or less powerful necromancers do. And as a hobby, I always dreamed of running a celebrity museum. Like, outdo Madame Tussauds from the first layer of the world: she has wax dolls, but I would have living ones! People would take pictures with them for money. Do you understand?
The young necromancer knew how to trick his teacher, because for a good hundred years Julius had been crazy about photography.
Dan lounged on the sofa, dreamily looking at the ceiling. There, Renaissance masters painted biblical scenes. The paintings were so beautiful and interesting that the magician who lived here for five whole years was ready to endlessly look at the drawings on the ceiling of his room. Probably at that moment he dreamed of a personal museum and the profits he would receive from ticket sales.
The mentor got up from the sofa and walked around the mouse composition several times. He muttered incomprehensible words under his breath and pulled at his beard.
Arrogant Dan, dizzy with his own power, sat on the sofa and was already drawing up cost estimates for the creation of the museum.
Do you know how each of your calls ends? Julius suddenly asked the guy.
«The disincarnation of the body into which I put my soul,» blurted out the young necromancer. «Thats why I call upon the dilapidated skeletons who have applied to move to the dead. As required by the Council.
The mentor just shook his head:
«Thats what its written in the textbooks we cram at school.» This is what happens when you call upon the soul of a rabbit, caterpillar or elephant. The same thing happens when a murdered victim is summoned in court. But when its far from being for the investigation
What is the difference, exactly? Dan glanced sideways at his mentor, distracted from his dreams.
The textbooks do not say what the consequences of calling without the permission of the Council are. Why, you ask? Because not every necromancer is able to pull out a soul for investigation, and experimenting, as you do, can only occur to a normal person after a hangover. In addition, for mass resurrection they can be disincarnated. And imagine that you live for yourself, relax on the third layer, and then they call you and say: «Go on a business trip for three days to the upper layers for a skeleton!» What would you do, Dan.
The guy, realizing how the soul was summoned, smiled impudently. But the warning about disincarnation haunted him. And the teacher continued. Yes, everything is not so simple on this third layer, where they go after death. After all, the souls of the revived exist at the expense of necromancers, which is why all the magicians of this specialization were weak. What price Dan paid for experiments with so many people is not at all clear, because the guys health was fine. True, Julius, slyly narrowing his eyes, whispered at the end:
I have one suspicion about what becomes of the souls you call. And if this is so, everything is simply terrible!
From such words of the master, the young necromancer shuddered.
Are you afraid? the teacher grinned. So thats great! Because in the near future you will only have to be afraid. A hunt has been announced for you. No, not the police. These goblins and orcs are stupid and so weak that they are not able to fight such a strong magician like you on their own. After all, you know how to call the souls of the departed into any body, the Council allows protective necromancy. Eh, such an enemys death is much faster than from a battle mages fireball. And the hunters already know that you are here, in Prague Castle. No magical protection of our school will hide you from the omnipresent enemy. He will be waiting for the moment when you leave the gate. Youre not a coward to hide in a tower, are you?
The young necromancers eyes widened and he, opening his mouth, silently stared at his mentor.
Does the name Pink FIFA mean anything to you? Julius asked slyly, but Dan didnt answer, he just shook his head.
«It didnt tell me anything either,» the master said sadly, «but now my entire mailbox on the orconet is filled with messages from this person.» She wants you dead or alive. How did she know about you, but
You know, Mr. Julius, Im not interested in this glamorous Fifa, tell her so!
Even if she blackmails me and promises to destroy the entire school? the mentor glanced sideways at the student. I feel sorry for the tourists from the first layer: there will be no City, where will the poor things go? Where will I scare them by appearing in their world as a ghost? Especially when one gives the other a camera and says: «Could you take a picture of me, please? note 1» They will rush up the high steps of the palace or even this hostel where you and I are sitting now, they will throw the camera, I get the equipment.
Arent you tired of these tourist jokes! Dan smiled.
Its clear why its not beneficial for Julius to host a battle on school grounds.
Yes, even if the whole Czech Republic is demolished, I will call everyone back! And I will build the City again! the guy had no idea of the limits of his power and already imagined that he was capable of much.
Dont get carried away! the master reprimanded him. «The hour is not far off when you realize how weak you are.»
This is a serious matter. Dan didnt even feel like smiling, and his little dragon, coughing, got out of the corner and, settling down on the sofa next to his owner, read:
Well go to FIFA Pink together: Me and my friend Evil Dan, Mighty power of this world!
The owner, having listened to the end of the quatrain, gave the pet such a slap on the head with a request not to write anything else, that the animal slid to the floor and again retreated into the corner. And soon Dan howled, because where the dragon had settled, the creak of a fountain pen was heard again. Despite the owners requests, he writes a continuation.
Hes great, you shouldnt treat him like that!
«Graphomaniac,» the guy waved his hand. If I had known about his literary passions, I would never have bought it!
«But he understood that it will take at least another ten years for you to understand,» the master grinned. «You need to go to the lair of this Fifa and you know disrupt her plans, because shes clearly not going to do anything good, especially with the help of a powerful necromancer.» And let this be the best lesson for you, my boy.
How Dan didnt like the name of this person. Something was wrong in these requests and threats, and the master suspected that he was sending his student to a very dangerous enterprise. But how can he, a necromancer magician, cope with a most likely strong sorceress?
«If you dont go, I will kick you out of school without a diploma and, believe the old man, I will make sure that you are not given a job anywhere, and your necromantic museum is banned as a business harmful to the safety of the world.»
Persuaded. Where she lives? the student asked in a tone full of indifference.
In Moscow, or something. Or in Paris.
The young magician grimaced with displeasure. Wow spread. And even abroad. He thought that this glamorous individual lived on the other side of Prague, or at least in Karlovy Vary, where he just wanted to go on vacation. But in France. Although, Western Europe is not so bad. In Russia This is truly dangerous.
From his geography lessons at school, Dan knew very well who populated the second layer of the world in this country. In the cities, no matter what, Europeans have come in large numbers, but in the villages you cant find a single normal person. The girls are beautiful, but when you get to know them better, they are mermaids or strigas at best. Not like in my native Europe: either a witch or a sorceress. Its no wonder that the strange Fifa lived in such a country overpopulated with non-humans. But also dangerous. Necromancers, for example, were not born in Russia at all, just like alchemists. No one has yet figured out why. Probably, the nature of his homeland also influences the magicians gift.
He didnt want to be distracted by the peculiarities of national magical creatures, and for now he naively assumed: Fifa called him to her place, most likely, to summon some nasty genius from the third layer and subsequently take over the world. But is it really possible that in such a large country as Russia there was not a single Czech, Slovak or Hungarian soul caller? Why wasnt there such a thing in France, where any European could get there even without a visa? For some reason this escaped Dans attention that day.
«Here is the ticket,» the master handed the envelope. To Moscow. Because, as we found out on the orconet, Fifa writes from Russia. She probably flies to Paris on weekends. Youll find out, though. Registration in an hour. Hint understood?
«Thats not the right word,» muttered the young necromancer. «But I dont agree to go to some Fifa who is looking for me without a protector magician.»
The mentor threatened him with his finger:
If it werent for your experiments with all sorts of nurseries, there would be no Fifa, believe me. If you light up, get out on your own. And now your brilliant dragon will protect you, he is not only capable of iambic and trochee.
Well, yes, I also know amphibrachs! the creature blurted out, bouncing on one leg.
Looking guiltily at his feet, Dan took the documents from his mentor.
If you evade, Ill report it to the Council myself!
No, he will not hide, cowardice is so vile. The necromancer stared at the mirror and began styling his thin ash-gray hair with gel. Having finished with his hair, he went to the window.
Free! he shouted to the poor reformer, snapping his fingers.
A moment later, in the place of the ancient man, only a skeleton dressed in a cassock lay lying, and a couple of seconds later, these remains flashed with a bright purple light and dissolved. After Dan freed the souls of the rulers from the tennis table, and the rats were about to scatter, but the forces of the Kingdom of the Dead overtook them, and the animals dissolved in a purple glow. Now neither the elderly skeleton nor the mice will ever be able to find themselves in this world again.
The young necromancer rolled the landscape from the table into a tube and put it in a corner, from where he kicked out the dragon, who had already written five whole pages of the poem.
The master stood silently at the door and calmly watched his student getting ready.
«I need a battle mage, I need a battle mage, a Russian, a battle mage,» Dan whispered under his breath, as if calling for someone.
«What a stupid necromancer,» the mentor shook his head, «you can call the soul of any battle mage from the Kingdom of the Dead whenever you want.»
«I need a living battle mage with whom I could go through this whole test,» the guy corrected his spell when he blew out the burning candle.
He didnt notice how the smoke, wriggling like a snake, dissolved in the pink light high above his head. For a long time he thought that what was said was not a spell, but simply an installation before the battle. When he said such words, for some reason he felt better, he felt like someone distant, but at the same time so close, hugged him by the shoulders and whispered in his ear: «Im with you, Ive always been there, I loved you.»». Dan had no idea who this voice belonged to. When the noise in his ears subsided, the necromancer forgot to think about the surging vision, and silently left the room.
The master went to the window and sadly watched the student go down to the observation deck. The necromancer stood for a long time against the wall under his window, pressing his forehead against the ivy that entwined the tower in which he had lived for five whole years. Its hard to say goodbye to something that has become almost dear to you. In the same way, Julius, at fifteen, with tears in his eyes, left home, forever, to Prague Castle, where necromancers are taught and souls are summoned for investigation in the European Court.
Dan still had a lot to learn. He was destined to face more than one danger. A battle mage wouldnt hurt him. But he didnt know what happened when he said, before leaving the tower: «I need a living battle mage.» But the power of a brilliant necromancer is often enough not only to summon the dead from their subspace
Chapter 2. Either a girl, or perhaps a vision
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! People, Im dead! Alina was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Such a joke had to happen! I died!
She rolled over onto her stomach and, burying her nose in the pillow, continued to giggle hysterically.
No, well, you had to be so clever! How I want to tell my friends about this!
Sighing heavily, the girl got out of bed, desperately trying to put on slippers. Oddly enough, two large white plush bunnies completely refused to stay on her feet. They didnt even budge, contrary to all the wishes of their owner. Its strange, if they are material, they dont give in, then on what word of honor does a black leather miniskirt and a green turtleneck stay on her body, why doesnt the blue denim baseball cap with the Nike emblem fly off her head, why on earth didnt it remain lying on the bedspread shapeless a bunch of tights?
On the bed. Haha three times! Yes, if everything material had refused to accept her body, then she would not have been lying in bed, but would have found herself under the bed among dust balls and old worn-out shoes, which the girl was always too lazy to throw away.
Alina kicked her slippers, naturally, to no avail, and went to the mirror.