Chapter 13: Limits

Ethan was already in his seat when Lila walked into the classroom, and when he looked up at her, he noticed the change immediately.

The standard academy uniform was a deep blue jacket and white trousers for the boys and skirts for the girls, with the academy crest printed visibly on the back.

Most students he had seen so far, wore it that way. But Lila didn’t. Her version kept the exact same colors and crest, but the overall style was different. The sleeves were shorter, made in a way that stopped above the elbow and a skirt that sat higher on her legs than the length most girls used.

She dropped into the seat and took of her bag.

Ethan glanced at the sleeves, then the skirt, then back at her face.

"New look?"

Her face brightened. "Aww you noticed."

"Who wouldn’t?"

It’s a custom order," Lila said, extending one arm. "The academy lets you modify the uniform as long as you don’t break the dress code and keep the colors the same. The crest must stay visible as well and the clothes shouldn’t be anything too revealing."

Ethan didnt know this. As far as he knew, you could wear anything under the school’s jacket as he saw several students wearing different color undershirts.

He looked at himself. In all honesty, he didn’t quite like the academy’s uniform.

Matter of fact, he disliked former dressing. In his old life, he had always dreaded going to work because that would mean he had to dress up in a suit and tie, which wasn’t really his style.

"I’ll check it out when we get back..."

She grinned. "I’m now intrigued to see what you’ll go for."

Professor Crane entered before he could reply, and the she began giving the briefing for the Dungeon trip.

The departure was set for later that day, and restricted ability users would remain under direct observation the entire time.

Ethan listened to the professor, his mind already on the east grounds and the last window of training he would get before they left.

When the lecture ended, students began filing out and Lila followed Ethan to the East grounds.

***

The place were quieter than usual—most students already preparing their gear or doing whatever preparing they were doing.

Ethan didn’t waste time.

He followed Death Sense to the best available corpses he could find: two average-quality animals and one that was poor quality.

He raised them one after another, then he raised more.

Four.

Six.

Eight.

The mental pressure started as a dull weight pressing behind his eyes. It was manageable, so he kept going.

Ten.

Eleven.

At twelve the pressure increased into a clear ache. Commands that had he could give cleanly before now required more focus.

One of the undead hesitated when he ordered them to turn, and another took second longer to stop.

The connection felt crowded, like too a large amount of water being forced out of a small faucet.

Lila watched from the low wall as she always did, her arms crossed as she raised an eyebrow.

"That’s a lot more than usual," she said. "You good?"

"Testing the limit." Ethan answered, his voice strained. "Twelve is the current ceiling."

He held the full set for another minute, forcing the commands to stay orderly, then dismissed three of them to ease the load.

There was nine now, and the ache faded to something duller.

Lila hopped down and circled the remaining undead at a safe distance.

"It looks different when you’re running this many. They’re not as sharp as when you only have two or three."

"That’s the strain. Quantity costs focus. I’m trying to find out how much I can keep without everything getting sloppy."

He spent the next stretch of time cycling undead in and out, never staying at the limit longer than necessary but repeatedly touching it.

Each successful set added to the EXP total, and the system recorded the gains as it always did.

The final sequence pushed him over the edge.

```

[Ding!]

[Level Up]

Level 2 → Level 3

```

The screen flared in front of his eyes, the new numbers settling into place.

```

[Name: Ethan Shaw]

[Age: 19]

[Awakened Class: Necromancer]

[Rank: F]

[Level: 3]

[EXP: 0 / 400]

[Death Energy: 120/120]

[Control Capacity: 18]

```

A wave of energy washed over him, and he felt the ache sieze as he was no longer tired.

His Death Energy pool expanded to one hundred and twenty, Control Capacity rose to eighteen, and he knew that the cost of Raise Undead would drop as well.

He was also sure that the mental pressure at higher counts would feel lighter than it had just now...

Ethan dismissed the remaining undead and closed the system. "Well that produced better results than I expected."

Lila studied his face. "You just leveled up, didn’t you?"

"Yeah."

She smiled. "Good timing. Because, I can’t have you drawing us back when we leave."

"I’m not that weak." Ethan said, mildly offended.

Lila laughed. "This is coming from a guy that raised a bird that had trouble walking..."

Before Ethan could reply, a low bell sounded across campus. It was the signal that students assigned to the Dungeon trip were to gather at the auditorium.

Ethan rolled his shoulders and exhaled.

"Well then, it’s about time we got going..."