The Recruitment

“With just a glance, I can tell that she is very gifted in the ways of death and necromancy… Mmh… I must admit that I was somewhat sceptical when I heard about someone possessing the same kind of trait across the board. It is very unusual, but for the type to be related to necromancy? It is humbling to realise that such geniuses befitting of the sect’s full attention could just be walking around–Unknown and unseen…”

“...Jingyi, might you give me your hand for a moment?”

The maid instinctively looked at her master, and he nodded, telling her to go ahead and do what the sect leader was asking of her.

Jingyi extended her delicate and frail hand, and a similarly thin arm with somehow even more slender fingers softly grabbed it. Kaeleanth's bandages were slightly wet to the touch, having been doused in a special medicinal concoction before being wrapped around the sect leader’s body.

Kaeleanth tilted her head slightly. The calm expression etched upon the funeral mask made the scene quite eerie, but the sect leader’s soft, melodious voice soon rang out again. It was barely noticeable, and it didn’t seem like Jingyi realised, but Edrick could tell by her voice that Kaeleanth was ever-so-slightly smiling.

“This is simply prodigious… I am not exaggerating if I say that the Sect Of The Old Decay hasn’t seen such a talented person in centuries. It is like you were specifically created to fit all the criteria to cultivate techniques such as ours, Jingyi”

“T-Thank you, Madam”

“I have been told that you could project your inner energy to animate corpses despite never cultivating any techniques. Would you mind demonstrating?”

Once again, Jingyi turned to her master and got his opinion before saying anything.

“Don’t concern yourself with me right now, Jingyi. Just speak freely with Miss Kaeleanth”

“I-I understand, Master… Aherm… Madam, I can show you, but I can only manage small animals…”

“Do not speak like it is a bad thing. Being able to do such a thing without any form of training is exceptional”

The sect leader snapped her fingers, and the fresh carcass of a rat came flying out of the darkness of another room. She plopped it down onto the table like it was a normal thing to do on the furniture you placed your cups of tea on... Which it probably was for her.

The Headmaid felt nervous, but with her master by her side, she couldn’t afford to mess up. She focused and did what she had been doing every day for a while now, driving her inner energy into the lifeless remains of the rodent, soon causing it to spring into action. A faint green glow ignited in its dead eyes for a split moment as it got to its feet.

“Fascinating… She truly hasn't received teachings or seen a necromancer in action?”

“She has only read a few books. However, the quality of books about free energy usage is… Lacking in this country–As you surely know”

“Indeed… Indeed! This only makes this even more impressive! Jingyi, could you show me the extent to which you can control it?”

“Y-Yes, Madam!”

Jingyi made the rat walk around, making it perform more and more complicated tasks by simply instructing it with her mind. There was no active control on her part–Which Kaeleanth noticed immediately. The combination of all of her ‘Eccentric Fangshi’ traits made it so that her inner energy basically had a mind of its own. It worked by itself to keep the undead creature going and make it perform the actions Jingyi wanted it to do.

This made everything smooth and very much the opposite of demanding in energy. Jingyi had only expanded a minuscule amount of her impressive wealth of inner energy, and the results were already that good despite the fact that she was basically brute-forcing it…

Her energy being suited to the tasks made what was a crude act of necromancy seem like the work of a disciple who had trained and worked diligently with a good spell-based necromancy cultivation technique for several years.

Kaeleanth wasn’t joking at all when she said that Jingyi was an incredible talent. She had a head start over everyone else. Disciples of the sect would sell their own parents to have even a smudge of her natural aptitudes. And to add insult to injury, she had the backing of an Elt, along with some very good looks… Frankly, if she weren’t a hidden gem discovered by Anoteros himself, it would be odd to see her be a maid to anyone. She could easily carve a name for herself without having to rely on someone else to back her up.

If Jingyi had shown up here on her own, Kaeleanth would have taken her in all the same… But the sect leader felt that it was best that she had a good backing... Especially Edrick. As far as Kaeleanth knew, the Elt scion was rather protective of his ‘belongings’, so no one should be stupid enough to mess with her.

…Not on Kaeleanth’s watch, anyway.

“Alright, there is no point in further testing at this point, you are clearly suitable for the Sect Of The Old Decay. In fact, I would like you to become my disciple. A pearl like you should be properly polished”

“T-Thank you, Madam, or huh…Should I call you Master…?”

“I suppose you only have one real master. You can just call me Madam or Kaeleanth. I am certain we’ll get along nicely enough… Is there anything you want to say, Young Master?”

“Not much. I’ll be leaving Jingyi in your care. I myself am not very well-learned on matters of necromancy and the other specialities taught inside the Sect Of The Old Decay, but I am certain Jingyi will be in good hands with you teaching her”

“Your trust gratifies me, Young Master… Jingyi, this way, you will find a room. I haven’t taken a direct disciple in a long time, so it may be a bit dusty... But there, you will find your sect uniform as a true disciple”

“I understand, Madam!”

Jingyi stepped away, leaving her master and teacher alone.

“I am thankful that you saw it fit to place her under my care. I do not mean to degrade anyone, but most wouldn’t have wanted to part with such a talent. Even if it ended up stifling her growth”

“Miss Kaeleanth, I am an Elt. Your sect and my clan have close bonds. It is only natural… Speaking of which... As you probably know, my return to the clan was still fairly recent, and I have spent a lot of time training inside my residence. I only know surface information about the vassal sects of my clan. I thus hope that you will be able to help me learn more”

“Of course, Young Master. I am grateful that you have such interest in my sect”

“Hopefully, Miss Kaeleanth, we can learn to know each other better as well…”

“Mmh…”

The sect leader seemed to be searching for words to respond with when Jingyi stepped back into the room, wearing brand new clothes. The robes for true disciples were somewhat similar to those Kaeleanth was currently wearing, lacking the stole and being less flowy… Also, it actually featured pants and shoes as well, which the sect leader wasn’t wearing, choosing to only be covered by the bandages and the robes themselves in these areas.

“You look very good like this, Jingyi”

“Thank you, Master”

“Jingyi, settle down in your room, and read through these books. The Young Master and I will be discussing as I show him around the sect”

“I understand, Madam!”

Jingyi was very much aware that her master had views on her just newly acquired teacher. She could feel that Edrick wanted to ‘devour’ Kaeleanth.

The Headmaid didn’t say anything about it… But she felt that her master might not succeed easily with this woman…