Reborn As A Dragon Girl With A System

"Mmm… To be honest, I never thought I would ever meet another god or goddess of death. There is only ever one of such god or goddess. But even so, if I were to meet another one, I would only show them the respect they deserve, But Her Holiness has shown me that she is worth my complete devotion. You may not know this, but each god who has a following within the mortal realm will have a stronger divinity.  The more divinity one has, the stronger one will be as well. It is something that is not part of that new system thing that the living have. Her Holiness has shown me that she is kind hearted to even help a small lich like this man here. Just this trait alone is enough for me to give her my devotion." Keniil explained.

"I see… So wait, are you telling me that the lich here do not have a system at all?" Aoi asked. She nor Naru had systems either.

"Yes, once one dies, they lose their system completely and are bound by the old laws. While the lich can live forever, their ability to grow stronger is stagnant since this place does not have an abundance of both life and death elements. Even the city of the dead I originally came from did not have such an ability, and it was under the rule of the previous god of death. To truly grow stronger as a lich, one must live in an area with a dense everlasting mix of both life and death elements. Unfortunately, this world has no such thing anymore. Although it once did, which gave birth to the lich you see today." Keniil explained.

"If that is the case, then how do you create new lich?" Naru asked.

"There is a small pearl that gives off a tiny bit of life element. That resides in a small chamber in the castle.  It is this same chamber that I will need to use in order to heal the soul inside her Holiness. But sadly, I think this will be the last time I will be able to use it." Keniil let out a sigh.

"Why is that?" Aoi asked curiously. She found the idea of mixing death and life elements together to make a lich very interesting.

"The pearl itself has been slowly depleted over the years. Unless I can find a new source of Life element, then there is no way to mix it with the death element to create new life. Although I could use magic to create fake liches, in the end, they are nothing more than mindless zombies. A true lich is born from the right mix of life and death elements. Only then will you be able to raise a dead body with the same intelligence as those of the living."

"I see... That is a shame. I will ask Kana to keep an eye out for a replacement for you after we go to the realm of gods. If we find one, we can make a trip back here and give it to you." Aoi knew if Kana heard this story, she would want to help, which was why she did not mind making such a promise.

Keniil bowed his head towards Aoi as he said: "Thank you. If you are able to help with this, that will allow this country of lich to continue to grow even more."

"No need to say thanks. I only ask that you do not betray Kana. She is a kind hearted person and will always look after those who are friendly to her." Aoi said with a smile. At first, she thought Keniil was up to something, but it turns out he was actually not so bad.

"This you do not need to worry about. I would never betray Her Holiness. In fact, I would not be able to. One word from her and every single lich here would be scattered to dust. You could say that Her Holiness's biggest alley is the lich. Although we have some life element in us that drives our bodies, we are held together by the death element. All she needs to do is wave her hand or breath with the thought of scattering the death element in our bodies, and we would cease to exist." Keniil explained.

"I see it is no wonder all the lich I have seen so far are so respectful even the monsters outside that were  demi gods bowed their head to her." Things were finally starting to make sense. She felt it was weird that the lich would show such respect to Kana for no reason. But now she understood, it was not so much respect but fear that drove them to be respectful to Kana.

"Don't get me wrong, though. Although the god or goddess of death can easily wipe us out, the respect we give is what should be given. It is a status thing." Keniil hurriedly added. He could tell that Aoi seemed to have misunderstood him.

"Finished!" Kana let out a happy shout as she wiped the non existent sweat from her forehead. "What do you think? Did you see how I swung the hammer?"

"Ah yes… But Your Holiness, is it okay to show someone as lowly of me your techniques?" The man asked.

"Hmmm? Why not? Anyone who has a passion for forging weapons should at least have a helping hand once and a while. Plus my skills, I have refined from multiple teachers. What you got from this one session is based on how much you can remember and then apply it to your own practice. But one must have the dedication in them to continue down the path they choose for themselves. If you work hard and practice and keep at it, you will eventually come up with your own forging method.  I mean, you're dead, right? So why rush it? It's not like you have to worry about dying while you practice your skills. Take your time, whether it is one hundred years or a thousand years. Once you work out the kinks in your process, you will one day be able to refine weapons that will cause people alive or dead to seek you out just so you will forge a weapon for them." Kana said with a smile as she pushed the newly forged dagger into the man's hands. "Start off small and work your way up."

The man looked at Kana as if he had just been given the biggest shock of his undead life. "You are right! I am so stupid. I was so much in a rush that I was not learning or improving because I was rushing too much. You Holiness, the teachings you gave to me on this day will be with me for all eternity."

Many thousand years in the future, the words Kana said to this undead man this day would hold true. He would one day become the greatest blacksmith in all of the mortal realm unmatched by anyone living or dead.