Maid with Necromancy

Not every inspection skill was gentle or passive, but this wasn’t the first time Harmony felt the pins and needles of heavy attention, the crowds in Ambrosia’s concerts, the colosseum when she became Lady White,  and the masses while opening the Ascendant Games.  Vacation was over; at least this was less intense than those arenas as she strode to class, nails and left eyebrow flashing with flames matching her new badge. Once everyone got used to her in this position, the looks, both physical and spiritual, should dry up.  

Making the trek look confidently effortless, strained [Poise and Bearing], [Style and Grace], and [Beautician]. Harmony stepped into class with a self-imposed chiding. It was like realizing you’d gotten fat and out of shape while overindulging in sweets. Those skills used to be one of the anchors of serving under Lord Tyler. Even with the excuse that she wasn’t standing still and looking pretty or that The Immortalists Manor was a bit further than her old dorm, which made it a longer walk to get to Flint’s class. It was embarrassing.  Today was about showing off, and there were tactical reasons not to take the gloom paths.

The smile Harmony gave Instructor Flint was strained, a mix of her taxed skills and not forgiving him for this little ranking adjustment. Part of her wondered which of her items would be kept as a trophy in his office? Would it be her blood sickle,  the bonded armor Night, or perhaps a stuffed and displayed Hyacinth?  This extra attention was extra danger. Reasons not to slip up.

“I know all of you were hoping we’d cover the barmaid, but today we’re covering the necromantic antithesis, the abomination.” With dramatic flair, Flint pulled a black cloth off of a glass box that was on his desk. Inside it, a man’s greenish head snarled and yelled silently, still moving despite being decapitated from a body; patches of green growths covered it like warts or boils. “Many confuse abominations with undead because of their ability to stay around despite taking so much damage, but the truth is they are so full of life they are nearly impossible to kill. Even this one, I keep the head contained for fear that destroying this will cause it to regrow from some remnant left in the world elsewhere. I don’t have the skills that my former master had of an eraser to remove it from existence completely.”

That mention of Harmony’s profession only drew one glance her way. The advantage of a small, experienced class. That, or they remembered how she ripped a table in half in a Cupid-filled rage as she went after Ms. Gottman, only later to have a duplicate appear and disappear naked soon after.  Some impressions caused people to be extra cautious.

Flint continued. “Now we talk about the forbidden fifteen classes, but not all of them are classes; some are professions, others on the list are titles, or in this poor fellow's case a combination of factors resulting in an imperfect ever living body. Oftentimes abominations are tied to a poor combination of body type and class or a curse mixed with a title, or some other unlucky factor. If it didn’t drive them into murderous madness, giant mountains of flesh that took over countrysides, or spread like a disease, they probably wouldn’t be on the list. We will begin with the least risky portion of this type of abomination."  With a wave from the man, the classroom sealed cases unlocked. “Inside is a sample of hair. Each of you will try your best to destroy it.”

Even knowing the strength of the necromancy-detecting wards, and Flint's supposedly lack of sensitivity towards forbidden energies, Harmony kept [Manipulate Dead] shelved. [Beautician] and years of experience was already an expert evaluator of hair. Healthy was a misnomer in that the material was not living, and merely a byproduct the body produced, yet people considered it more alive than living things like bones. Even the body's natural protection against skills and magic didn’t extend to the hair, a trick Harmony had used offensively to choke and yank more than one wooze. Or in Maxwell’s case, turn it pink.   That didn’t mean hair couldn’t be perfect, smooth, undamaged, easily vibrating to transmit sensations back to the body. On evolved bodies, they could have modified properties or abilities even if the basis started the same.

This was an idealized sample. The lock was an example of what she often tried to achieve when working on someone, close to flawless perfection. Tasha’s newly evolved form seemed to naturally have this kind of hair, not that she ever donated any for Harm to double-check. A small part of Harmony itched to have an accident in training to get one. Such a rude thought, but that wasn’t the only similar example she’d run into. Adric.

Her poor pet prince had been a willing participant in several experiments. One of which beat like a pseudo-heart powering the Marci Winters potentially soulless existence. All those experiments over months trying to figure out exactly what Prince Adric Highsmythe was gave Harmony the perfect template to base these tests off of. The case contained, along with the hair, several implements of destruction, a vial of acid, a fire starter, and some scissors.  Those all screamed, “Want to try some things we know won’t work? Go use your skills.”

Harmony got to work, observing the abominable bit of hair in action, repair, regrow, and resist varying attempts at destruction. Tough was tough. So what if resistances and effects were similar? The shave and a haircut special had her running disintegrate down the edge of her sickle, primed with the intent of violence, the tool held working specific knowledge ready to act.  Ever since the revelation that it was an extension of her in a true sense as an extra limb, it allowed for more insights into how she primed the blade to cut. For when [Manipulate Dead] didn’t work on Adric's hair early in their relationship, it was [Beautician] with an edge of [Style and Grace] worked into the maid skill as she helped trim the man. Over time, better tools, leveling of skills, adding [Mend], [Disintegrate], and her sickle allowed for the prince to go from often scruffy beauty to clean-shaven whenever he wanted. It helped that his hair grew exceptionally slowly, a possible remnant of his living, yet undead status.

The sample cut clean, and left two halves that didn’t try to reattach or grow out.

“I said destroy, not sever, su-primus White, but you’ve gotten further than any of your peers so far,” Flint commented from behind her shoulder.

[Disnetergae] took shape, the disassembling form organized by [Dust] and her profession's desire to remove the hair. She’d done the same after a trim job, even though it was easier to dump her pet's hair in the trash because the challenge exercised her skills. Training never ceased.

This lump of hair fizzled out the exact same way. One commonality would be a coincidence. Two could mean many things. But every measure of Adric’s hair lined up to that poor screaming severed head on the table in front of her. That was Flint’s trophy. The necromancer’s staff with the eye, things not fully laid to rest. Examples that could scream. That was the kind of thing he would take. Did she need to add Adric’s beautiful face next to whatever trophy he chose from her to those nightmares? Is that what you are, Adric?

“Impressive.” Flint quipped.

Not the voice Harmony wanted to hear at the moment, but one with potential answers. “Are there any books on abominations I can research, and how do you tell when you’ve found one?” She asked.

Flint chuckled. “I’ll have you on my hunting team, yet.” Straightening up, Flint spoke loudly to the whole classroom. “There is a reason why I’m starting you all out with hair. Abominations are particularly difficult to detect unless they are the more mutated or virulent variants. Their hair is one of the easiest ways to begin the process of deduction. Because of how difficult it is to modify, many abominations have long wild heads of hair and bushy beards. The toughness and regeneration well beyond normal is also a very common trait. Memorize how your skills interact with it, for it may be a key way of finding one in your midst.”

[Poise and Bearing] Kept Harmony calm and attentive, while her mind raced back to her pet Adric. While off to the back of the classroom, Becca worked on her sample. And there was his lover, playing with what, given some horrible luck, could be a sample of his hair.

“Instructor Flint. I know it’s early, but may I leave to go to my Material Manipulation class? There is a slight overlap between the end of this one and the start of that one, and they love to give demerits.”

Flint shrugged. “You’ve completed the main goal. Go, Student White, I wouldn’t want you to fail another class on my account. If you do miss any part of my class, I’m sure Student Bloom or one of the other students can catch you up afterwards.”

Harmony warned her pet away through their primal bond and got up.  There was no using [Stride Before the Fall] then having a mad dash across campus through the shadows. Not that she was slow, or skipped the shortcut Hyacinth provided her. But that pressure that had chased her for the first half of the quarter was gone; still, her heart beat faster with a different kind of fear as she arrived at her next class, early for once.  

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!