The Cursed Profession

"Finally, the day of enrollment has arrived."

Gazing at the sign of Loran Magic Academy, the young Medivh took a deep breath.

Speaking of his life, it had been quite turbulent. His past life was as an archaeologist on Earth, who had risen to fame thanks to a great discovery.

Just as he was reaping fame and fortune, a car accident put an end to his previous life.

After his death, his soul traversed to another time and space, reincarnating as the third son of Count Hobarton's offspring.

His father, hailed as the Spear of Hobarton, was a knight of extraordinary talent and a strong contender for the title of Count Hobarton.

When Medivh was five years old, he was tested and found to have mage talent.

A powerful father, coupled with mage talent, elevated Medivh's status within the family to unprecedented heights.

He was born a winner in life.

But the good times didn't last. When he was ten, his father fell in battle while campaigning in another realm.

Soon after, his mother succumbed to grief and followed.

Those who had gathered around his father because of his power quickly distanced themselves after his death.

Medivh's family status plummeted. If not for his mage talent, the rivals his father had suppressed would have found a way to kill him long ago.

After losing both parents, Medivh grew even more silent. He avoided socializing, spending all his days in the family courtyard, as if he had ceased to exist within the Hobarton family.

No one knew how he had spent those eight years. If not for the admission invitation from the magic academy, the Hobarton family might have forgotten they had such a member.

After completing the enrollment procedures, Medivh went to a building specifically for testing magical affinity and waited in line.

"Necromantic affinity."

The testing mage glanced at the glow of the magic orb and cast a pitying look at Medivh.

"Next."

After handing the form to Medivh, the mage returned to his duties. The fate of others was none of his concern.

"I was about to resign and go back to farming, and they still saddle me with this task. How annoying."

"And you, you're really unlucky, being a super necromantic affinity."

Following the map's directions, Medivh found the place of study.

He was received by an unshaven old man, who bore none of the nobility one would expect from a mage.

Upon learning Medivh's purpose, the old man took a couple of swigs of wine, grumbled a few words, and then picked up his test form.

Seeing Medivh's affinity data, the old man couldn't help but spray out the wine he had just drunk.

Medivh's necromantic affinity was so overwhelmingly dominant that it crushed his elemental affinity into invisibility.

If the word before "affinity" weren't "necromantic," Medivh would have been a genius mage.

But the trouble lay in those two words: necromantic. Mages were noble, except for necromancers—this was a cursed profession.

The curse of necromancers originated from a necromantic calamity that swept across the planar world a thousand years ago.

That necromantic calamity was quelled by an alliance led by the Goddess of Light.

In the final battle, the Goddess of Light fell, but before her fall, she left behind the Hospice Blessing.

Within the range of her blessing, all souls of the dead would find peace, and their bodies would rest.

The Hospice Blessing reduced the effectiveness of necromantic spells to the extreme.

After the Goddess of Light fell, her daughter inherited her divine mantle and became the new Goddess of Light.

The Goddess of Light continued her father's work, striving to expand the influence of the Hospice Blessing.

After the necromantic calamity, although the alliance disbanded, the powerful beings who had experienced it did not want the disaster to repeat.

In this regard, they all supported the Goddess of Light, actively spreading the Hospice Blessing.

Now, wherever there is a Temple of Light in a plane, there is a net-like coverage of the Hospice Blessing.

When a living being dies in such a plane, the Hospice Blessing activates passively, purifying their corpse.

For an ordinary necromancer, using fresh corpses to cast necromantic spells is not only difficult to succeed but also invites backlash from the light.

The Hospice Blessing had relegated necromancers to a gutter profession, on the verge of being expelled from the Mage Association.

Medivh could be said to be utterly unlucky. If his necromantic affinity were just a bit weaker, and he had some other elemental affinity, he might have had a chance to switch to another type of mage.

"Go practice first. Come find me once you've mastered the meditation method."

After repeatedly confirming that Medivh intended to stubbornly pursue this dead-end path of necromancy, the old man didn't try to dissuade him further. He guided him in learning the spiritual meditation method.

"Master, I have already mastered the spiritual meditation method."

A few days later, Medivh visited the old man again for the next step in his studies.

The old man had never mentioned his name to Medivh, clearly not believing he would amount to anything.

"Then let's begin spell instruction."

The old man reluctantly fetched two pure corpses needed for teaching spells.

For a necromancy apprentice, casting necromantic spells on a corpse blessed with a Hospice Blessing was no different from suicide.

The corpses used for teaching had to be pure ones without the Hospice Blessing.

Such corpses were hard to come by these days, each one costing a pretty penny.

"Like this."

After explaining the casting essentials several times to Medivh, the old man slowed his casting speed and showed him the process of constructing the magic pattern.

Once Medivh had memorized the casting essentials, the old man cast Bone Resurrection on one of the pure corpses.

White bone burrowed out from the flesh, and soon a necromantic skeleton stood up from the rotting bloody mud.

After completing the teaching demonstration, the old man pointed at the other pure corpse and looked at Medivh, signaling him to practice.

Medivh recalled the casting essentials, then constructed the magic pattern according to them.

A wisp of black light gathered at his fingertip, and he entered a peculiar casting perspective.

All he had to do was release that wisp of black light, and he would complete the casting of Bone Resurrection.

When Medivh aimed at the corpse, a strange spiritual vision suddenly appeared in his perspective.

He could see the time of death of that corpse, and he instinctively grasped a unique form of Bone Resurrection.

Medivh had a steady temperament; he did not release that unique Bone Resurrection in front of the old man, but continued normal casting as instructed.

When the black light at his fingertip fell, the corpse suddenly emitted a faint white glow, blocking his spell.

Fortunately, the white light was not strong, and the black light eventually broke through the barrier, landing on the corpse.

After a bloody transformation, a short skeleton that looked like it suffered from osteoporosis stood up.

"Excellent! You truly are a necromancy genius!"

The old man was very pleased that Medivh had succeeded in casting.

His joy came entirely from not having to spend more money on teaching materials.

This would save him a considerable sum.

Teaching a necromancy apprentice and actually making a profit—this was an experience he had never had before.

Medivh did not ask about the earlier anomaly; he planned to test it privately.

"Medivh, you've graduated."

Before Medivh could ask about the next step in learning, the old man handed him a signed scroll.

"Master?"

Medivh's face was full of question marks—wasn't this too hasty?

"That's right. The teaching syllabus for a necromancy apprentice is simply learning the Spiritual Meditation Method and Bone Resurrection."

The old man took out the academy's teaching syllabus and handed it to Medivh.