CHAPTER 398: Kyan
"So, what type of undead is this?" Valeria asked.
"That's a good question." I replied. "Do you have a blood affinity?" I asked the snake.
"Hm, I don't think so. Blood doesn't call to me, the earth does." The snake replied.
"Hopefully some water affinity remains, we will need to test that later. I have no idea what type of undead you are but we will ask Gronir when we return." I said.
"He needs a name!" Cassie announced.
I nodded. "True, but first: Welcome, my new friend! Your raising was a bit unplanned but I hope you will enjoy being part of our group!"
"Thank you, Mistressssss."
"You can just call me Koyuki." I said.
"He will need a name." Kaito stated.
Cassie grinned. "Devourer of the Deep!"
Hatsumi sighed. "That would be more of a title than a name. We should keep it simple."
"Hm, I do like to hide in dark places and strike at my prey." The snake mused.
"See, he likes it!" Cassie pointed out.
"It feels weird seeing a small snake talk like that. I mean, I am well aware how dangerous a black earth viper is but with the ribbon he just looks cute." Valeria said.
"That's why neckwear is important." Garm stated. "Also, he is a male, we have established that males with a neck wear something. Just look at Yoru and his fashionable tie."
"Meow." Yoru nodded.
"Wait, you did make the neckwear thing up to tease Nanami." I said.
"No, we simply made fashion history back then." Garm replied.
"I don't mind the ribbon, it feels right." The snake said.
Both of Garm's heads nodded.
"Ok, back to the name and then we can try to find out what you can do." I said.
"Black Reaper." Skadi proposed.
"Doomviper!" Helena suggested.
I studied the little guy as he was lying on the table with his head slightly raised. Rose was petting him and he seemed to enjoy himself. What name would be fitting for him? A lot of my undead used names from the Kitan language, something I did not actually speak. Maybe we could look up another name, or perhaps one of my undead knew one? Hatsumi did seem to read a lot about such things. Or we could lean into his color, or personality? We could name him after a plant, or a flower, like Rose?
"Do you have a preference for names?" I decided to simply ask the snake.
"Perhapsss something from the earth?" He suggested.
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"You could name him after a stone or a gem, his scales are rather shiny and rock-like." Valeria suggested.
"Are there any black and purple stones? Maybe something like an amethyst?" I wondered.
"Devouring Amethyst?" Cassie suggested.
"There are plenty of black stones, I suppose. Obsidian, black opals, shungite, hematite, black kyanite,..." Skadi started listing a lot of stones.
"What is black kyanite?" I asked.
"Some type of rock, they form fan-like structures and look pretty. They are rather heat resistant." Skadi replied. "I am not an expert though."
"You know more about rocks than I do." I replied.
Skadi sighed. "I might not be from Thorus but I am still a dwarf and I do have an earth affinity. My parents thought I had to know a few things."
"Hm. Kyan." The snake said.
"Splendid, welcome to the team, Kyan!" Hatsumi said.
"I think he should have given more thought to the other options…" Cassie muttered.
"Kyan, I do love your ribbon, I provided it after all, However now that your scales have changed in color I believe red is no longer the best option." Garm's left head said. "Have you considered a nice light blue?" Garm's right head asked.
"I think that can wait. Hello Kyan! I would like to know what you can do and what you would like to do." I said.
Kyan blinked. "What I would like to do?"
I nodded. "Hatsumi chose to become a maid, Kaito chose to become a butler, the cats mostly chose to laze around and beg for snacks."
"Meow." I was not sure if that was a confirmation or a protest.
"Rose helps me with my necromancy, she helped me raise you! Actually, a lot of my undead helped when things didn't go as planned. Nyx was providing the solution and seems a bit exhausted now."
"Ah, thank you Nyx and thank you, Rose." Kyan said.
"Meow." Came the sleepy response from the curled up feline.
"You are welcome!" Rose said.
"What would I like to do? I think I do like dark places and I wouldn't mind napping now and then." Kyan mused.
"How about Koyuki's arm? It would be dark underneath her clothing and you could keep her safe by striking at any attackers." Hatsumi suggested.
"Hm." Kyan looked at me, then slighted towards me. I held out my hand and he disappeared under my shirt. "Acceptable."
It felt weird to have a snake curl itself along your arm but it was not unpleasant. Still, it was definitely a sensation I would have to get used to.
"You don't have to be there all the time but I would appreciate your protection when we are in potentially dangerous situations." I said.
"Koyuki is always in danger, many desire her demise." Kaito stated.
"Foolssss. They shall be met with the kissss of death." Kyan declared.
"Um, please don't go around and kill everyone. It's fine if I am actually attacked but not when someone is annoying me, or just standing too close." I said.
"Understood." Kyan replied.
"Um, are you going to stay in there now?" Helena asked. She was still standing right behind me, even though I had recovered enough that I did not need to lean on her anymore.
I felt Kyan move up my back and his head appeared from the collar of my shirt. "Why? Do you have need of me?"
"Uh, no. But can I pet you?" Helena asked.
"Of course." Kyan replied.
"Raising a tier three is a lot less sinister than I had expected, you know. I expected a ritual or something, maybe a circle drawn in blood…" Valeria stated.
Rose shuddered. "My raising was like that, it was horrible."
"Despite your unfortunate creation you have turned into a fine vampire." Kaito stated.
Rose nodded. "I do enjoy my life with you guys and now I have helped to create tier three! Necromancy is just beautiful."
"So, Kyan, what can you do with your earth magic? You will need to learn spells like all mages but you should have some inborn powers as well, I assume." I said.
"I do believe I can harden my scales… Curious, my neck feels different." He stated.
"Uh, your body and your head were separated, hopefully we properly connected them during your raising." With all the craziness I had almost forgotten about that part.
"Wow!" Helena said from behind me.
"What is it?" I asked, while Cassie and Skadi manoeuvred themselves to look at my back.
"His ribbon has changed color!" Helena stated. "It's now black with a purple rim."
"May I see it?" I asked Kyan, who was still poking out of the back of my shirt. I felt him slither back down my arm towards the table. I touched the changed ribbon. "How did you do this?"
"It feels as if it's a part of me, yet it isn't. Somehow mana from my neck has entered the ribbon and given me some control." Kyan explained.
"So you could remove it, or would that hurt you?" Helena asked.
"Hm. It feels right to be there. I suppose it could be replaced and I could bond with a different one but I would have to try." Kyan mused.
"Wait! I remember that talk about mummies from the conference last year. Maybe this is similar? I should have paid more attention, hopefully Gronir will know more." I said.
"He really doesn't look like a mummy." Valeria stated.
"Looks can be deceiving." Kaito stated and we all looked at his floating head. "My type of undead might be obvious but the cats, for example, are not. Would you know that Kasai controls fire, that Ivy is vampiric or that Yoru is a draugr?"
"Mummy or not, Kyan does have an interesting power. What about an attack?" I asked.
"My fangs should contain a venom, I am unsure how strong it is." Kyan said.
"I have fangs too! Hatsumi is teaching me how to use my bite, maybe you can join? You might not be a vampire but there might be similarities. Oh, and we can learn magic together!" Rose suggested enthusiastically.
Kyan nodded. "I think I would like that."