Kael had to bite his tongue to keep himself from gasping. There was someone—something—alive on that table.
But it was the voices that truly froze his blood.
"How confident are you?"
The voice was distinctly female, smooth and dignified, coming from somewhere to the right of the chamber that Kael couldn't see.
The figure with the axe paused in their work and straightened. When he spoke, his voice was gruff and aged, with the distinctive accent of the local mountain folk.
"Very confident, Lady Olivia," the man replied, wiping his hands on a blood-stained apron. "If this succeeds, anyone can breakthrough their current realm with ease. The soul extraction process has been refined. The binding rituals are stronger. And this village..."
He gestured around the chamber with obvious satisfaction. "This village provides perfect test subjects. Isolated, trusting, with just enough magical ability to make the experiments worthwhile."
Kael's mind reeled. Soul extraction. Breakthrough rituals. Test subjects. This was necromancy on a scale he hadn't imagined.
"And the boy?" The female voice—Lady Olivia—asked with interest. "The one who showed purple light today?"
The man chuckled, a sound like grinding stone. "Perfect timing, actually. Purple-level mana will provide exponentially better results than anything we've worked with before. Henrik's body was barely adequate for our initial tests, but if we can capture the boy..."
"The soul of a purple-level talent," Lady Olivia mused. "Yes, that would be... significant. When do you plan to acquire him?"
"Soon. Very soon. The celebration provides excellent cover. Everyone will assume he wandered off, got lost, maybe fell into the river. By the time they organize a search, the ritual will be complete, and we'll have moved on to the next village."
Kael felt ice form in his veins. They were talking about him. About capturing him, extracting his soul, using him for some horrific breakthrough ritual.
The man resumed his chopping, and the whimpering on the table grew weaker.
"The current subject is nearly drained," he reported. "We'll need fresh material soon if we want to maintain the binding circle's power. Should I send Henrik's puppet to collect another villager tonight?"
"No," Lady Olivia replied thoughtfully. "Too suspicious if multiple people disappear on the same night. We'll finish with this one, then wait for the boy to come to us. According to our surveillance, he's already showing interest in the shop. Curiosity will bring him right to our door."
Kael's blood turned to ice water. They knew. They had been watching him, planning this.
And he had walked right into their trap.
"You don't have to worry about specimens, Lady Olivia. Arthur has promised to send us regular subjects in exchange for helping with his breakthrough to Master Knight. A steady supply, carefully selected so no one grows suspicious."
Lady Olivia's laughter was like melody tinged with poison. "These poor village fools. Why can't they simply admit they're not talented enough? Always grasping for power beyond their reach, willing to sacrifice their own people for a chance at advancement."
Arthur. Kael's mind reeled. The village head's son. The acting Young Chief who had just been praising his family, toasting their success, calling him the future of the village. Arthur was part of this.
All those speeches about the village's future, about protecting their children, about being proud of their talents... it was all lies. Arthur had been selecting targets, promising them to these necromancers in exchange for dark power.
Just as Kael's thoughts began to spiral into panic and betrayal, the man at the table spoke again.
"It's done," he announced with satisfaction, setting down his bloodied axe. "I've drained all the life force from this one. Fresh soul energy, properly extracted and purified. Now..."
Kael watched in growing horror as the man reached into a leather pouch at his belt and withdrew what looked like a handful of black powder. He sprinkled it over the hacked figure on the table while beginning to chant in a language that made Kael's skin crawl just hearing it.
"Let's see if we can add some necromantic ability to our collection," the man muttered between chanted phrases. "This one was young, healthy. Should make for a decent undead servant."
The candlelight in the chamber began to flicker strangely, and the temperature dropped even further.
The chanting grew louder, more intense, and the black powder began to glow with a sickly green light.
Then the body on the table convulsed.