Death Magic

Death magic is a form of black/dark magic that is almost exclusively used by Mourncrestians such as Kiza, one if its most strong users. Though it has a lot to do with death and manipulating life, the name can often be misleading for newer people. It often has more to do with summoning undead or otherwise nasty or powerful creatures and finding clever ways to obtain more mana/energy to summon said creatures. Death magic is also a banned magic in Shadowmere.

Beginner Stuff
Most beginners to Death Magic will find that most if not all of its spells are very taxing on their supply of mana. The first things they often learn are how to use a certain kind of black candle to harness energy from a simple external source, as well as how to summon things like old rotting, shambling corpses. As they progress, they'd learn more advanced, intelligent, or stronger creatures to command as well as more ways to obtain more mana to finance the creation of said creatures. One key lesson to be learned quickly is that death magic focuses less on the here and now and more on financing your mana and manipulating your creatures instead.

Beginners would struggle to create complex beings, or simple beings in large numbers.

Intermediate Stuff
As someone learns more about death magic, they'd get the ability to conjure larger, more intelligent and strong beings. They would have also mastered the concept of absorbing mana from outside sources. The number and strength of creatures able to be summoned at once would increase gradually. Things that can be expected from a more experienced user would be creatures like small to medium dragons and large groupings of shambling corpses and other simple beings that the beginners would have been making in single batches. Another thing to note is that they'd also understand tricks such as how to absorb mana by sacrificing plant life around them or how to take in the thermal energy in the atmosphere to convert into mana to finance more ambitious creations.

Advanced Stuff
Eventually, one would learn to add in their own creativity into their creations, creating their own spin-offs of already known beings. Eventually, they'd even begin to create their entirely own unique and specialized beings that can help immensely in battle if used correctly. By now the user would have a very strong understanding of the importance of keeping your mana spending under control, and would have an arsenal of tricks and even useful items to be used in a pinch when unexpected events occur, allowing them to get that extra mana boost to create more creatures to help when needed.

Master Level
Few users actually take the time to master it, as often a more immediately rewarding magic seems more useful. Those who take the time to master it would prove invaluable in a support setting, being able to give its allies countless extremely useful and specialized beings to aid them in their combat. While in the correct conditions, one could even conjure an army and create its own reinforcements thanks to many consumables and magical tricks being used.

Common Usage
Death magic is often used as more of a 'support' magic as it is often difficult to manipulate creatures and manage your own mana as fast as others can create fast paced destruction. It is used mostly in conjunction with other magics or with an ally that is able to act quickly. It's recommended that its heavy users stay far back away from danger, and instead let their creations take and deal the hits for them. A highly skilled user should be feared without proper preparation, as he or she would have mastered techniques to react quickly with large quantities and varieties of dangerous beings.