"Of course not. Don't you remember what happened last time?" the undead sighed. It gave him no joy to repeatedly refuse Rushia's requests, but he would rather be overzealous than to put his student's life at risk.

"It'll be fine! This village is so isolated, surely word wouldn't have gotten this far…" that same student pouted.

It had been more than a year since Rushia had officially become the lich's apprentice. Ever since then, the undead and the necromancer had, leisurely and with no particular place in mind, traveled southwards, mostly keeping to the abundant forests and to scarcely visited grasslands. The lich had felt uneasy at the idea of leaving a young girl constantly exposed to the elements, and so, despite her protests, insisted she stay at an inn whenever they happened upon one of the many small villages that dotted the countryside. It was at one of those inns where trouble had arrived, just a few weeks prior. The meager savings of the former mage had reached their end, and Rushia had never possessed any in the first place. The weather, however, insensitive to the duo's impecunious state, had been terrible, with constant rains and strong winds ravaging their campsites.

Even the best outside shelter I can make must be uncomfortable for Rushia, or so the lich thought.

Convincing an inn receptionist to let them stay for free through magical means similar to hypnotization was possible, though Rushia was opposed to it until the lich promised he would pay them back as soon as possible. Unfortunately, despite his pupil's incredible talent at necromancy, her ability to learn spells from other schools was basically null, and so the lich had no choice but to go with her to the nearest village, not before disguising himself with an illusion spell. However, he had, in a rare mishap, been lax in his illusion, presuming only peasants and the odd merchant would be in such an out-of-way town. He was quickly proven wrong, as only a few minutes after settling in their room the door flew out of the handles, a local adventuring party yelling about undead extermination.

The adventurers didn't look all that strong at a glance, but that wasn't the point. Neither of them wanted to fight humans, and so the lich quickly grabbed Rushia and teleported back to the forest, a lone arrow still stuck in his skeletal back. Ever since then, they had avoided going into any villages, hoping the rumors of a necromancer girl with a lich companion died out quickly.

As the days went on, Rushia was starting to get sick of their situation, though for very different reasons than one might expect from a not yet adult girl.

"I haven't talked to any spirits lately… Just let me have a look, teacher!" she protested. Rushia was suffering from a lack of undead to converse with. Most spirits had a stronger presence near the place their physical body ended up, which meant that the inhospitable woods were usually devoid of ghostly figures. To Rushia, whose biggest joy was meeting new spirits, this predicament brought both loneliness and tedium. She was very thankful to everything the lich had taught her, but…

He's really not good at talking about normal things…

That thought had repeated itself several times over the course of their journey, and had only intensified during this forced isolation. The lich was an undead of few words. Though he was good at explaining how magic worked, and his skills were seriously incredible, having a talk about anything else was difficult. He did his utmost to avoid talking about his previous life, only barely hinting at his past as a mage. And so, apart from their lessons in necromancy and other necessary talk, their day was mostly spent in silence. Normally, that was fine, since she ended up talking her mouth off every few days when they stopped at a village. But now, they hadn't stepped onto civilization for close to a month.

"We'll be fine once we cross the frontier. Until then, I forbid you from going to any villages." The undead proclaimed.

"What if-" started Rushia.

"Yes, even if it's at nighttime. You know better than anyone that just because most people are asleep, that doesn't mean it's safe."

Rushia pouted once more, knowing the undead was right but unable to let it go.

He sighed, and pointed to a clearing ahead. "We'll rest there today and continue training the spells from this morning."

The girl's eyes lit up again at the mention of magic lessons. The lich smiled to himself, silently hoping that it would be enough to make her forget the idea of visiting the village.

A couple hours later, Rushia opened a single eye. The fire beside her still crackled, warming her back and casting shadows on the ground. Wobbling trees, swaying bushes, and even the odd ant silhouette all danced in front of her. There were, however, no undead to speak of.

She turned slowly, shifting her weight as silently as possible. She had pretended to be asleep for quite a while now. Her teacher did not need to rest, and usually went to survey the forest during the long hours of darkness to stave off boredom. Rushia looked around and perked up her ears, but there were no signs of the lich anywhere.

Needless to say, the necromancer hadn't let go of her desire to visit the village. She wanted to talk to spirits, even if it meant deceiving her teacher.

I wonder what kind of stories they'll have to tell… It must be strange to live in such an isolated place.

This village was the last one one could stop at before getting to a wholly different kingdom. The duo had taken a look at it from afar a few days ago, and she hadn't failed to notice that, as was custom for many of these smaller towns, the local graveyard was far away from any houses and completely unprotected.

With her heart thumping, Rushia slowly got up, the warm blanket she had bought early in their journey noiselessly falling to the ground, and took a deep breath as silently as she could. Fortunately, the night wasn't cold enough to turn her exhalation into a misty cloud. She took a few steps, carefully surveilling her surroundings once more. She couldn't cast any magic spells to deafen sound, and even if she could, her teacher would immediately detect them if he happened to be anywhere close.

Alright… here we go.

She was vaguely aware of the route, and it wouldn't be more than twenty minutes of walking. She just had to hope the lich had gone in the opposite direction and wouldn't come back to their settlement anytime soon.

As Rushia made her way to her destination, she reflected on how much her life had changed. Not too long ago, walking through such thick dark woods alone would be unthinkable. For the first few weeks after Rushia was forced to leave her hometown, she was plagued by nightmares of huge guards running after her or slaughtering her undead friends. More than once, she had startled her lich teacher after waking up screaming in the dead of the night.

However, those events were now no more than memories. As she learned and perfected more and more spells, the number of days where her sleep was interrupted by bad dreams gradually diminished. Partially, she posited, this was due to having something to focus on instead of spending her time dwelling in the past; but perhaps even more than that, the magic spells she learned made her feel protected. She could only compare herself to her teacher, and in that regard she still felt like she had a long way to go, but her repertoire grew by the day, and Rushia was confident she could defend herself from anyone that tried to attack her, human or not.

Soon enough, she was able to make out the outlines of a few buildings. Rushia quickened her pace, impatience settling in. It wasn't just the anxiety of knowing her teacher could come back at any time and find her blanket discarded on the ground, but also the anticipation of finally being able to chat with the undead once again that hurried her.

When the gravestones finally came into view, Rushia nearly ran. The graveyard itself was nothing special; surrounded by a poorly built stone wall that was likely not even tall enough to keep away wild animals, some of the graves weren't even marked, or had only a wooden inscription, long since faded away to time. Still, Rushia barely took notice of this, as she was busy nearly shouting for joy as she jumped over the wall.

It's been so long!

Without even bothering to look around, Rushia immediately started to cast the spell that would call upon the undead. She had a much easier time now connecting to the underworld compared to her first try, but it was still a task that required focus.

"Humm… Can I help you?"

Rushia felt her blood freeze as a sudden voice came up from behind her. Her conjuration came to a sudden halt as she stood petrified on the spot, not daring to turn her head.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you? I was just wondering what a little girl was doing here at these late hours." The feminine voice had a gentle tone, which calmed down Rushia just enough for her to look back.

A woman, clad in light black and white armor, stood behind the stone wall. She was a good head taller than Rushia, and larger in other features as well.

"Actually, I don't think I've seen you before…" The tall woman paused, frowning her brow.

"I… um…" Rushia choked on her words, trying to find something to say. She had, over the course of her journey, learned that the people from smaller villages would be snoring away not long after the sun went down. She didn't expect anyone to still be awake at this time, much less a full blown town guard!

Hm? What is a town guard doing this far out? The thought crossed Rushia's mind temporarily, but was soon forgotten as she realized she needed to get away as soon as possible. A cold sweat ran through her. The similarities between the current situation and the incident several years ago didn't go unnoticed. Still, she was older and much stronger than she had been back then.

"Did you come from the other- eeek!" The silver-haired woman shrieked as she narrowly dodged the ray of black-coloured energy that had suddenly shot out from Rushia's hands. She jumped back in shock, but assumed a battle stance just as quickly, taking out her mace as her knight instincts took over.

Only there was no opponent. The knight stood in confusion, staring at the empty spot where the young girl had been mere moments ago.

I'm sorry, miss knight. Rushia rarely had any sympathy for the kingdom's troops, but she hadn't felt any hostility from the woman. Still, she couldn't have just stayed there, and who knows how this supposedly nice lady would have reacted if she came to discover her true motives. As the guard was distracted by the ray of weakness that had been thrown at her, Rushia had quickly disguised herself as a shadow, one of the many tricks her necromancy teacher had taught her, and one that she was now immensely grateful for.

Still, I can't believe she dodged that. Rushia thought. Her heart was still thumping in her chest, even as she reached the woods and returned to her more human form. She had originally planned to weaken the knight temporarily, allowing her to simply run away without any consequences. But she had underestimated the woman's reflexes, and if it hadn't been for her momentary confusion, she probably wouldn't have had time to get out of there, shadow or not.

"I couldn't even talk to any spirits, and I'm exhausted now… Maybe teacher was right." Rushia mumbled as she made her way back to their camp. Having walked so much at a time where she would normally be resting, Rushia took no more than a quick glance to make sure the lich hadn't returned before crashing under her blanket.

The lich sighed as he watched his pupil sleep. He hadn't stopped her when she had gotten out of bed and ventured into the deep forest, though his gut told him he was making a mistake. But he had felt guilty after shutting her down earlier, and though he didn't know much about young girls, he figured it wasn't healthy for him to be her only companion for weeks at a time. He had only watched from afar, making sure she didn't get lost.

Her timing was terrible, though…

He almost intervened when he saw the woman knight making his way to Rushia, but ended up deciding against it. Was it morbid curiosity or simple embarrassment to admit to himself he had followed her, he didn't know. Of course, he was more than ready to stop the guard had she shown any signs of getting violent. And yet, Rushia had surprised him.

I can't believe she casted Shadow Self so quickly. Was I ever able to do that? He knew the answer was a solid no. His living self would have scoffed at the notion.

The half-smiling face of the pensive undead gazed at the starry sky.

Her talent is almost terrifying. The day where I have nothing else to teach her is approaching faster than I thought. And there's that matter as well…

A few days earlier, the lich had received some startling news from up north, brought to him by one of his bird familiars. Although it didn't directly affect them, at least for now, it did make him wonder about Rushia's future, especially now that her skills were surpassing his own.

I'll have to give this some serious thought.

When morning arrived, the pair continued traveling, neither of them speaking a word about the events of the previous day. At this point, neither the pupil nor the master knew it, but their journey together would end before they ever set foot in the south kingdom.