"Tower Master, we—"
"SILENCE!" he roared, cutting them off mid-sentence. The Tower Master's voice boomed through the altar chamber, vibrating with a dark authority that commanded immediate obedience. The necromancers flinched, their faces paling as they cowered under his withering gaze.
"You think me a fool?" the Tower Master continued, his tone cold and dripping with disdain. "Did you truly believe that a few wards and crude enchantments would hide this pathetic spectacle from my sight? You've tampered with powers beyond your understanding, and you did so without my permission."
The two necromancers quivered, knowing full well that any excuse would only worsen their situation. In the Tower Master's presence, lies and deflections were as futile as running from a shadow attached to your feet.
"And yet…" the Tower Master's voice softened, almost contemplative. He walked around the skeletal remains of Ludwig, examining the failed ritual with a keen eye. "Impressive. You two managed to provoke the very gods themselves. A legendary figure? No, a Summoned Hero? Such rare beings, their souls marked by destiny, not merely bound to heroic deeds but blessed by divine virtue. It seems even in your incompetence, you've touched something extraordinary."
He paused, his expression shifting from intrigue to disgust as he pointed at Ludwig's skeletal form. "But what a waste." His voice carried a weight of bitter disappointment. "You think this is what I wanted? This… shambling skeleton? My aim was not to raise a mere Heroic Undead—I wanted a Hero's soul twisted into something far greater, something capable of defying the heavens themselves. And you two have squandered that opportunity with your amateurish grasp of necromancy."
The necromancers bowed their heads, trying to appear as small and insignificant as possible. The shame of their failure stung deeply, but it was the Tower Master's biting words that truly cut them to the core.
"You spent sixty years dabbling in the dark arts," the Tower Master sneered, "and you think that makes you worthy of playing with forces that bend the very fabric of existence? You've barely scratched the surface of necromancy, yet here you are, fumbling with spells that defy the laws of the world. You aimed to turn something divine into something profane, and look at what it got you—a pile of animated bones. Pathetic."
The Tower Master's reprimand stung like lashes from a whip, each word a fresh cut to their already battered pride. Yet, there was a flicker of hope, a brief moment when his tone shifted—only for it to be snuffed out once more.
"Still," the Tower Master said, pausing as if to savor the silence, "you've shown a spark of courage, if not recklessness. You dared to act without permission, to take what you learned and apply it in a way that defied my direct orders. That is the essence of true magic: the will to act beyond fear, beyond consequence."
The necromancers dared to lift their eyes, hope flickering faintly in their chests. Could it be that they would be spared, even praised?
"But," the Tower Master continued, his voice hardening like stone, "every act of defiance comes at a price. And that price is punishment."
With a swift motion, the Tower Master raised his arm, conjuring a flame as black as night itself. The fire writhed and twisted, consuming the air around it with an insatiable hunger. This was his signature spell—a flame that burned without end, devouring all until either the caster's mana ran dry or the victim was reduced to nothing but ash.
The necromancers recoiled, terror gripping their hearts as they knew the flame's touch meant agony beyond death. Yet, before the Tower Master could release the spell, something peculiar caught his eye.
The skeleton—Ludwig—moved. Just the slightest twitch of its bony fingers, a subtle, almost imperceptible spark of energy dancing between its thumb and index finger. It was a faint flicker of mana, insignificant by all conventional measures, but it was there—a sign of something more than mere animation.
The Tower Master's hand paused, the black flame flickering dangerously before extinguishing in an instant. He adjusted his glasses, his eyes narrowing as he leaned in closer to the skeletal figure. "Interesting… interesting indeed," he murmured, his curiosity piqued as he studied the faint sliver of mana.
Sebas, nervously watching from a distance, blurted out, "We haven't mind-controlled it yet! It's still—"
In a flash, Ludwig's skeletal arm shot forward, lunging toward the Tower Master's throat with surprising speed. The undead's hatred for the living was primal and instinctive, driving it to attack the nearest source of life with relentless fury.
The Tower Master, unfazed, caught the skeletal arm effortlessly, holding it in place with a firm grip. He leaned in closer, his expression one of bemused disappointment. "You're still just a mindless creature, aren't you? A shame, really. For a moment, I thought you might be something more."
He raised his other hand, pressing his palm against Ludwig's skull. A cold, binding energy pulsed outward, flooding the skeleton's body with an oppressive force.
"Bind the Body. Bind the Mind. Bind the Spirit. Fold and follow, for I am your true master!" the Tower Master chanted, his voice laced with a powerful enchantment that seeped into every crevice of the skeleton's being.
The blue flames in Ludwig's eye sockets flared to a vivid red, then dimmed back to blue—a signal that the binding had taken hold. The skeletal form ceased its struggle, its defiance snuffed out by the Tower Master's will. It stood motionless, awaiting its new master's command.
The Tower Master released the skeleton's arm, dusting his hands off as though he had merely dealt with a bothersome pest. "I suppose I can find some use for you," he mused aloud, his tone indifferent. "Perhaps cleaning my study, fetching books—nothing grand. But you're better than nothing, I suppose."
Turning to the necromancers, his smile vanished, replaced by a cold, calculating stare. "As for you two, your insolence has cost you dearly. Clean up this mess, then report to the Punishment Hall. I have no patience left to deal with your failures personally."
The necromancers nodded, bowing deeply. "As the Tower Master commands," they mumbled in unison, their voices trembling with the weight of their impending fate.
As the Tower Master turned to leave, he paused, glancing over his shoulder at the skeletal figure that now followed him obediently. "You," he said, pointing at the undead. "What was your name?"
Sebas hesitated, but then spoke up hesitantly. "It was Ludwig, Tower Master."
"Ludwig," the Tower Master repeated, rolling the name on his tongue as though tasting it. "A decent enough name for a skeleton. Better than something common like Dave, I suppose. Come, Ludwig. You have much to learn."
And with that, the Tower Master strode out of the temple, his newest thrall in tow. Ludwig's skeletal form followed silently, a specter of a lost hero bound to serve a master who viewed him as little more than a curiosity, his dreams and destiny reduced to ash in the wake of dark magic. But deep within those hollow eye sockets, beyond the faint flicker of blue light, something stirred—something that neither the necromancers nor the Tower Master could perceive.
A spark of defiance, perhaps. A sliver of hope. Or maybe, just maybe, the first flickering ember of a soul that refused to be extinguished.