Colwyn watched his undead apprentice with morbid fascination. When they had first met, Azel could barely pass as human. His ghostly pale skin was crudely draped over him, his ashen hair had been thin and patchy and his eyes were sunken.
Now, just after a week of consciousness, Azel was the opposite. His complexion, albeit still pale, was healthier and fuller. His ashen hair was now thicker and was starting to show signs of proper growth from the way Azel had to constantly push it to the side during training. The zombie's eyes, disguised by the lenses, were a soft chestnut brown.
If he wasn't a man-eating monster, some may even describe the zombie as handsome. No where near as handsome as Colwyn remembered himself being, of course, but finding somewhat who could beat his once good looks would be impossible.
"That's enough, Azel." Said the drake knight, "Come over here,"
Sighing in relief, the zombie unceremoniously tossed his practice sword to the ground with a clang. Colwyn grimaced in mental pain, after all, that sword had been a gift from an old general of the western empire and was worth more than a few houses.
He had explained this to Azel, of course, but as per usual the zombie just nodded his head and pretended he was listening. Azel, oblivious to the knight's silent outrage, approached with his usual passive expression. He stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders as though shaking off the exhaustion of their intense training.
For all his theatrics, Colwyn knew the zombie was far from tired; his stamina was unnatural, a trait that only emphasized the sharp divide between what Azel is and was pretending to be.
"You could at least pretend to respect the weapons you're given," Colwyn said dryly, gesturing to the abandoned sword.
Tilting his head in confusion, Azel responded "I tossed it into the grass? Only the pommel hit a rock,"
The knight let out a sharp exhale, choosing to let the conversation drop before it devolved further. "Sit," he instructed, pointing to a nearby bench opposite his favourite rocking chair.
Azel obliged, flopping onto the bench with a lack of grace that almost seemed intentional. Every day it was becoming tougher for Colwyn to spot mistakes in his performances, the drake knight doubted it would be long until Azel could perfectly hide his true nature.
"So what's with the sudden stop?" Asked Azel, "I thought you'd have me swinging that sword until nightfall."
Colwyn nodded in thought, he did in fact want to have the zombie doing that, but something had come up. "As per standard, a seeker knight is to scout out a newly discovered behemoth ranked monster."
The zombie leaned back against the bench, his fake chestnut eyes gleaming with understanding. ",That behemoth happens to be the one I saw... And that scout happening to be you, right?"
Colwyn continued, "Yeah, I imagine Rio is trying to keep me away from you. So I'm giving you two options: Either you stay within Gryphon's eyesight at all times, or you come with me to investigate the mana-beast."
Colwyn watched as Azel's eyes glazed over in thought. The drake knight was aware that Azel was going to start learning magic under Gryphon, so the obvious answer would be to stay with the old man.
At the same time, however, it was definitely a safer option for the zombie to stick with him. Colwyn didn't doubt Gryphon's ability, after all in his prime the store clerk was once hailed as "The fourth pillar of the arcane."
Tilting his head in thought, the drake knight considered what the court of sorcery was doing at the moment. They had always been a group of hermits, choosing to study magic away in their towers rather than interact with the rest of the world, but recently they had became even more reserved.
"I'll stay with Gryphon, "Said Azel, jolting Colwyn from his thoughts. "You don't need me to worry about being fooled by Rio again,"
Usually Colwyn would laugh, and then make fun of Azel for his overconfidence, but something about the zombie's resoluteness convinced the knight. His eyes were still cold and apathetic, but there was subtle sharpness in them that hadn't been there before.
The zombie hadn't just changed physically, it seems. His meeting with Rio must have humbled Azel. The young man definitely hadn't had a change of heart, but he seemed slightly more thoughtful of his actions.
"Fine then," Responded Colwyn, "Then I guess we'll be saying goodbye for a short while again, make sure not to cause our only ally too much trouble."
Nodding Azel turned to leave, he was becoming pretty familiar within Colwyn's home, maybe even more so than his own. Of course, it was hard to ever become familiar in that rotting shed the zombie was calling his home.
As Azel walked away, Colwyn found himself lingering for a moment longer, watching the zombie's retreating figure. For all the undead apprentice's imperfections and quirks, there was no denying his rapid progress. It was unnerving how quickly Azel adapted—not just physically, but mentally. If he ever decided to abandon the tenuous alliance they'd forged, he could become a far greater threat than Rio.
For the second time, Colwyn doubted whether he was making the right choice.
<----o---->
When he arrived at Gryphon's shop, the old man was already deep in some arcane project, muttering to himself as he flipped through a tome bound in cracked, black leather. The faint hum of magic filled the air, making the tiny hairs on the back of Azel's neck stand on end.
"You're late," Gryphon said without looking up. His tone was sharp but not unkind. "Care to explain?"
"I was talking to Colwyn about some temporary living arrangements," Broached Azel, "And how I'll be staying with you for the next few days."
Gryphon nodded, much to Azel's relief it seemed Colwyn had already explained the possibility to him, the zombie had been slightly worried that he would have to of convinced Gryphon himself. Which would of been an impossible task considering the old man tolerated Azel at best and hated his guts at worst.
"But don't think you'll be staying here for free," Started Gryphon, "When you're not learning magic, you'll be stocking shelves and taking inventory. Actually, forget about that, you'll just do whatever I tell you to do, understood?"
Gryphon seemed extra cranky today, so Azel assumed the old store keep was still salty about being taking advantage of during the dragon breath trade.
"Sure, I'll help around," Said the zombie, "Just no more yetis"