Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

To truly test my crawlers capabilities we would need to get back to the academy, since Rose needed to learn a bit more blood magic and I needed to learn proper spells I could use with the water. However, Cassie did provide a potion the following day which did not explode the crawler.

We were in the courtyard again watching it spit a water blood mixture, which did not do much, but the crawler was able to handle the blood.

"I think the resistance I added worked and it will be able to handle the earth mana inside the blood without taking damage. At least to a degree." I noted.

"It will help if Rose adds her magic to the blood, or assists me with the potions since she has helped raise it." Cassie suggested.

"I am happy to help!" Rose said.

"Why is there a crawler in our courtyard?"

I turned around and saw Derrick, who had just arrived and was still on his horse.

"Hey Derrick, welcome home! Koyuki has created some new undead!" Helena replied.

Derrick sighed. "I see. I presume there is now a crawler problem, or how did you get the corpse?"

"It was not our fault! We actually found the problem!" Helena replied.

"It is true, our group encountered a new opening in your mountains. We were tracking what turned out to be a tier three undead when we ran into the crawlers. Fear not, Cassie's expertise helped to seal the breach, the undead was slain and your father has the situation under control." Kaito explained.

Derrick just stared at us. "I should have stayed in the capital…" He muttered.

"We do have a gift for you though, a horse! Well, an undead horse." I said.

"An undead horse?" He asked.

"Undead horses are great!" Rose commented. "Yours is in the stable near mine. Mine is called Thorn and has probably some blood around his mouth!"

"Do I want to know…?" Derrick wandered.

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"It's a vampiric horse." I explained.

"Of course it is." Derrick muttered, then he looked at Rose. "Greetings, I am Derrick. I don't think we have met."

"Greetings, I am Rose, a new vampire."

"Don't worry Derrick, your horse does not crave blood." I assured him. "Your horse is draugr, so it will have ice powers. We have not raised it with a focus on combat but it will be able to fight and it will be hard to take down. It won't tire like a normal horse, it won't panic and hopefully it will serve you well."

While we were talking Hatsumi retrieved the horse and led it to the courtyard. Derrick dismounted and approached his gift. He touched the draugr's grey fur and looked at the softly glowing eyes.

"It is kind of cool…" He muttered.

Helena grinned. "I knew you would love the horse!"

"Ah, yes. Thank you, all of you." Derrick stated.

"Congratulations on your graduation and thank you for helping out with Christa." I said.

"You handled that yourself in the end, by the way, Christa sends her regards. She seems to enjoy her new job." Derrick said.

I smiled. "Good, I am happy to hear that."

"Son, you're back!" Hans said as he emerged from the keep.

"Dad, I have heard there is trouble?" Derrick replied.

"Ah, crawlers. Your sister has discovered them in time but we will need to contain them, There is a new nest near the surface. Don't worry, I have traded your sister for a future undead army so we are fine." Hans said.

Helena grinned. Derrick looked at her, then at me. "I am not going to comment on that but I would like to know more about the crawler problem."

"Come in, we have a lot to talk about and a lot of work to do." Hans said.

We spent some time catching up over food and drink. Derrick had some gossip from the capital, which I did not care for, but a lot of the conversation was about the situation in Frost County. Derrick was the heir and he took his responsibility seriously. He wanted to help as best as he could to deal with the problem. Further he was very interested in making deals with and strengthening the relationship with Countess Ashburn.

"See Cassie, this young man cares about his county." Brittany said to her daughter.

"Hey, I found a girlfriend who is good at business! See, I am looking out for our future!" Cassie protested.

"She is also helping to create a deadlier undead army." Helena added.

"Are you talking about your crawler?" Derrick asked.

"It is my newest creation!" I answered. "It can spit water infused with mana, or spells, and we are working on doing the same with blood but it requires a bit more study. The crawler itself can handle the blood. Oh, if you get more crawler corpses please send them to the academy! Any corpses, really. I am thinking about raising more goblins and using my new discoveries about resistances to enhance them. Maybe I can have special troops to combat each affinity? Sadly we don't have a light mage so I will need corpses with that affinity."

"I am still advocating for a bomb spitting crawler! All we have to do is make it resistant to fire, and then I can design the right potion!" Cassie added.

"You know, a crawler could deliver your potions far better than just throwing bottles, or bombs." Skadi said. "It would allow you to focus more on your defence too, if the crawlers handle the attacks."

"You want an army of artillery crawlers which deliver a mixture of spells and alchemy?" Derrick asked.

"It seems like a decent ranged option and they are not used up, like the Iron Beaks. We can add undead with bows too, but we need bows and arrows for that. Or some undead who use their normal powers but I feel like the crawlers have potential. We also need a good front line with a proper spear wall, maybe added by a few larger beasts? And cavalry, or something more mobile." I mused.

"I told you son, we are getting an undead army. It might take some time but it will make your job of holding the county a lot easier." Hans said.

Brittany nodded. "Being on the right side of this army will be rather beneficial."

Derrick looked thoughtful. "I might have underestimated Koyuki…"

"I am sure you aren't the only one." Hans said. "But I think our future is bright, to undeath!" He raised his mug.

"To undeath!" We joined.

"Meow."