A young man, with black hair and visibly, but not too muscled body, was sitting at the table and thinking about his future. Planning. Not long ago he, and his twin brother sitting in front of him, returned from war. There they lost their father, whom they couldn't even bury, as they, "mere peasants", had no possibility to retrieve his body from the battlefield and transport it back to their village. Their mother died earlier, from disease, so they were alone.
The man, Dezen, was deeply thinking about his revenge, on this country, king and nobles, who led to this war. If he was a normal person, he would just fantasize about, not really plotting anything, even though he is a very hateful person. Luckily for him, after the war he became a mage, so there was a hope, that he might do this. Maybe after tens of years, maybe hundreds.
On the other hand, his brother, Alex, was deeply mourning, but also slightly happy. Since Dezen became a mage, their lives will change. They were at first fantasizing, and then planning, when they were younger, what would they do in such a situation. The plan overall was to learn magic that is useful in agriculture, develop their farm, earn a fortune and live comfortably.
Although Dezen still wanted to continue this plan, he knew he won't be satisfied with that. Luckily, the way he wants to reach both of these purposes is the same - via new magic that he will create.
The one he is going to create, is something that is close to necromancy, so I will call it like that. In the future, it will really become it.
What was making Dezen sure that he will manage to do this, was something called Beginners Inspiration - whenever someone becomes a mage, they can easily make his first spell, as long as they deeply understand what is its function. Then, basing on it, he will be able to create next spells.
Dezen stood up, told Alex that he will start creating the spell, and went to his room. Alex wished him good luck, and stayed in the same place. Unlike his brother, Alex was rarely thinking about getting revenges, rather wanting to focus on things that are more important in the longer run. Because of it, Dezen doesn't want to involve him into the plan of destroying this kingdom's authorities. Though, he is not sure if he should keep this plan a secret or not.
After a few days, he finished the spell. To test it, he cut down one bush. He didn't want to kill any animal for this, because he couldn't afford it, and he doubts he will be able to use it on something bigger, thus he won't try it now with trees.
The spell created green fire on Dezen's hand, with which he touched the dead plant. A few seconds passed, and it began moving. Not by its own, but because Dezen ordered him, or maybe rather controlled. He was unsure, whether his magic turns dead bodies into puppets, or was it because plants are not supposed to act this way.
He thought to himself.
'I will have to check it on bugs, or some like that.'
Dezen then tried to move it from one place to another, and happy noticed that the parts he cut off, regrew. However, controlling that bush gave him a headache. For the next few hours, Dezen was learning how to move his undead, and tried to find a way to make him useful on the farm. Quickly, he did, but as it turned out, the plant can remember only his last order, and stops doing it, whenever he doesn't think about it. At first Dezen was annoyed, but he then understood, that anything more, like changing him into "machine" was impossible, because plants have no brain, in which they could store memories of the commands.
Thinking how to solve this problem, he went back to his house and talked with Alex about it, hoping he can help.
Shortly after describing the situation, Dezen said.
- I thought about making them self-aware, intelligent? I'm not sure how to call that. Anyway, I'm not able to do this, I have too little experience, knowledge and understanding of necromancy, to even start planning such a spell. I will also need to buy knowledge, or do some researches by myself to find out how and why we can think, and how to copy this ability.
- What about the animals? Maybe you can hunt some, after creating appropriate spells.
- I thought about it too, but it will take months. And won't help with the plants.
- Hmm.... - Alex went silent for a moment, while thinking. - What about placing them in line, or something like that and match the orders, so together they can do something more complicated? I know it's not a solution to lack of memory problem, but this way they could be more useful.
A little unsure, Dezen replied.
- Maybe it is a possibility, but I am not sure how it could work and where. I checked it, and if I tell it to make a break, it stops until the next order. It will cause a lot of problems. Also, I will need mana to...fuel? Them. But maybe I can make some spell, that will help. - He sighed, and stood up, to do the latter.
- I will think how to use them. In the most efficient way.
For the next few days, Dezen tried to make a spell, that would make the undead repeat the order endlessly, without him constantly commanding it to do it. Due to his lack of knowledge, he could barely start, so soon, Dezen started turning bugs into undead.
He turned them into undead only for tests, since he can't really use them for anything other. For fights, he would need at hundreds of bugs. Another option is making them his watchers, or spies, since they can easily hide, and get to many places, but to see through their eyes, he would need a spell, and now he doesn't have any need, or time to create one.
Thanks to undead bugs, Dezen learnt that the plants' behaviour was caused by their natural lack of intelligence and ability to move, something the insects possessed and showed.