# Chapter 8: The Necromancer's Vice
The file on Lysandra Blackwood was thin, but the contents were heavy.
I sat at my desk in the Omega Dorm, the single mana-lamp casting long, flickering shadows against the stone walls.
**Target:** Lysandra Blackwood.
**Class:** Necromancer (Grade 3).
**Affiliation:** Neutral Faction (Protected by House Blackwood).
**Threat Assessment:** B-Rank.
She wasn't just a student; she was a walking corpse factory. Necromancers were rare in the Academy because their mana polluted the environment. Those who were admitted were usually geniuses or politically untouchable. Lysandra was both.
"She sells 'Ambrosia'," I muttered, reading the report.
Ambrosia. A combat stimulant brewed from crushed mana-crystals and ghoul blood. It gave a user temporary infinite stamina, followed by a week of mana-impotence. If she was selling this to first-years, she was destroying their futures before they even started.
Prince Aric wanted her gone.
I couldn't kill her. Not directly. A first-year killing a third-year scion of a Noble House? That would trigger an investigation even Aric couldn't suppress.
I needed to break her.
I closed the folder and stood up. I checked my inventory.
[Inventory:]
* Student Council Enforcer Badge (Hidden)
* Dagger (Common)
* 1x Vial of Paralytic Toxin (Crafted from greenhouse herbs)
* 25 Villain Points.
"I need a meat shield," I decided.
***
I walked down the hall to Room 102. Caelum's room.
I didn't knock. I picked the lock with a burst of mana into the tumbler—a trick I learned from the 'Rogue' skill tree in the game.
The door creaked open.
Caelum was on the floor, doing push-ups. He was drenched in sweat, his shirt discarded in the corner. He looked up, startled, scrambling to cover himself.
"Valerius! You can't just break into my room!"
"I can, and I did," I said, leaning against the doorframe. "Put your shirt on. We are going for a walk."
Caelum wiped his face with a towel. "It's midnight. Curfew is in effect. If the Prefects catch us—"
"I am the Prefects," I lied smoothly. "Or rather, I am working for them. There is a pest infestation in the Clock Tower district. You are going to help me exterminate it."
Caelum hesitated. "Is this... dangerous?"
"Yes."
"Is it... evil?"
I looked at him. The corruption level was only at 5%. He still clung to his moral compass like a child with a security blanket.
"Lysandra Blackwood is selling poison to first-years," I said, twisting the truth to fit his narrative. "She is ruining lives to line her pockets. Justice demands action, Caelum. Are you a Hero, or a bystander?"
Caelum's expression hardened. The word 'Justice' was his trigger phrase.
"I'm coming," he said, grabbing his staff.
***
The Clock Tower Basement was a labyrinth of steam pipes and discarded gears. It was loud, the rhythmic *thump-thump-thump* of the massive machinery drowning out footsteps.
It was also the perfect place for illicit deals.
[Passive Skill: The Masquerade is active.]
[Stealth: High.]
We crouched behind a rusted boiler. Caelum was shaking slightly, clutching his staff so hard his knuckles were white.
"Stay down," I whispered. "Don't move until I signal."
Below us, in a clearing of pipes, a transaction was happening.
Lysandra Blackwood stood in the center. She was striking—pale skin, dark lips, and robes made of spider-silk. Floating behind her were two Skeletal Warriors, their bones reinforced with steel plating.
She was handing a small velvet bag to a nervous-looking second-year student.
"Double the price next week," Lysandra said, her voice raspy like dry leaves. "You want the power? You pay the tithe."
"Yes, Lady Blackwood," the student stammered, grabbing the bag and sprinting away.
Lysandra chuckled, counting the gold coins in her hand.
"Disgusting," Caelum hissed.
"Quiet," I ordered.
I activated [Eye of the Architect].
The world turned gray.
Lysandra glowed with a sickly green aura—Death Mana.
The Skeletons were constructs, held together by mana threads.
I traced the threads. They didn't lead to Lysandra's hands. They led to the obsidian choker around her neck.
*A Focus Item.*
The choker had a structural weakness. A microscopic crack on the clasp. If that broke, her control over the undead would snap.
"Plan," I whispered to Caelum. "You are the distraction."
"What?" Caelum whispered back, wide-eyed.
"Walk out there. Confront her. Be the Hero. Make a speech about justice. Keep her eyes on you."
"And what will you do?"
"I will be the knife in the dark."
I shoved him.
Caelum stumbled out from behind the boiler, landing in the open with a loud clang.
Lysandra spun around, her skeletons raising their rusty swords.
"Well, well," she sneered. "A little rat found his way into the cellar. A first-year?"
Caelum straightened his spine. He raised his staff, the tip glowing with light.
"Stop right there, Lysandra!" Caelum shouted, his voice cracking slightly before finding strength. "I know what you're doing! Selling Ambrosia is a crime against the Academy laws!"
Lysandra laughed. "A crime? Oh, sweet child. Power is the only law. Kill him."
The Skeletons charged.
Caelum didn't run. He remembered my lesson.
*Don't chant.*
He thrust his staff forward. A burst of blinding light—[Flash Bolt: Modified]—erupted from the tip.
The basement was flooded with brilliance. Lysandra shrieked, covering her eyes. The skeletons, relying on visual connection through their master, faltered.
That was my window.
I dropped from the catwalk above.
I didn't aim for Lysandra. I aimed for the air behind her.
I landed silently. While she was rubbing her eyes, cursing the light, I stepped in close.
I didn't use a dagger. I used a small, dense metal bolt I had picked up from the floor.
[Eye of the Architect: Target Locked.]
I pressed the bolt against the clasp of her obsidian choker and applied precise pressure.
*Snap.*
The choker fell from her neck, clattering onto the metal grate.
The connection severed.
The two Skeletal Warriors froze. Then, the green fire in their eye sockets turned red. Without a master to direct them, they reverted to their base instinct: Destroy the nearest source of life.
That source was Lysandra.
One skeleton spun around, its steel-plated fist slamming into Lysandra's stomach.
"Gah!"
She flew backward, crashing into a steam pipe. She coughed blood, looking up in horror as her own minions advanced on her.
"No! Stop! I command you!" she screamed.
They didn't listen. The second skeleton raised its sword.
"Help!" she shrieked, terror stripping away her arrogance.
"Caelum!" I shouted. "Now!"
Caelum, seeing the monsters turn on her, didn't hesitate. He cast [Light Shield], throwing a barrier between Lysandra and the blade.
*Clang.*
The sword bounced off the shield.
I stepped out of the shadows, walking calmly toward the terrified Necromancer. The skeletons turned toward me.
I held up the broken choker.
"Sit down," I commanded.
I poured my E-Rank mana into the broken focus. It wasn't enough to control them fully, but it was enough to confuse them. They paused, twitching.
I looked down at Lysandra. She was trembling, clutching her bruised ribs.
"Lysandra Blackwood," I said, my voice bored. "You have made a mess."
"Who... who are you?" she gasped.
I crouched down, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at me.
"I am the janitor," I whispered. "And you are the trash."
I leaned closer.
"Prince Aric sends his regards."
Her eyes widened in absolute terror. The name of the First Prince drained the remaining color from her face.
"Please," she sobbed. "I'll stop. I'll leave. Don't... don't let him take me."
"I won't let him take you," I said. "Because you work for me now."
I dropped the broken choker into her lap.
"You will continue to brew Ambrosia. But you will not sell it to students. You will deliver the entire batch to me, every week."
"To... to you?"
"Yes. And in exchange, I will not tell the Prince that you tried to kill a scholarship student tonight."
I stood up. I snapped my fingers. Caelum dropped the shield.
"Come, Hero," I said to Caelum, who looked confused and horrified by the turn of events. "We are done here."
We walked away, leaving Lysandra shivering on the floor, surrounded by her uncontrolled horrors.
"Valerius," Caelum whispered as we climbed the stairs. "You saved her... but you're making her keep brewing the drugs? Why?"
I stopped. I looked at Caelum.
"Because, Caelum," I said, my eyes cold. "Money is power. And we are going to need a lot of money if we want to survive the Student Council."
[Mission Complete: The Necromancer's Vice]
[Reward: S-Rank Loyalty from Lysandra (Fear-based).]
[Villain Points: 200]
[Caelum Corruption: 10%]
I smiled in the darkness.
I had my money. I had my muscle. The masquerade was just getting started.