Deathbed In Action

Ritzy split his focus between the mana spread out within his body and Maya's skeleton.

He gathered the sparse mana into a single stream and guided it around his body in the way described by the spellbook. He bent, twisted, turned, and played with the stream of mana flowing through his body, each movement accumulating an ethereal power that only Ritzy could sense and harness.

The longer he did it, the more of that power Ritzy garnered, up to a certain point. He couldn't describe the power even if he would have had the leeway to do so. But he could tell that he had succeeded in shaping the mana to create the spell.

Now, he only needed to guide that mana out of his body and toward his target, Maya.

Ritzy raised his hand and channeled the stream of mana through his arm and out of his palm in the direction of Maya.

It became many times more difficult to control the spell once it left his body, but Ritzy managed to maintain its shape all the way to its target.

Ritzy felt his mana surround Maya, and the spell take effect.

Even though it was his first time, Ritzy felt as if he had succeeded in casting the spell. It was probably weak and not very efficient. He didn't even know how long he had spent gathering and guiding his mana through the right path that would create the right power.

The spell and its power didn't dissipate or fade as it encapsulated Maya, the skeleton, in a layer of magic. Gerhart and Mognog couldn't quite sense what Ritzy was doing. They could only somewhat perceive that Ritzy was using magic.

When Ritzy realized there wasn't anything left for him to do, he opened his eyes and looked at Maya with expectant but anxious eyes. He wanted it to be a success. But he was worried about what would happen if it was a success in the same sense as all his attempts at summoning had been successes.

Ritzy wasn't the only one. Gerhart and Mognog also watched Maya like a pair of hawks.

It took several tense moments of silence before anything happened.

Ritzy sensed how the mana around Maya shook and seemingly connected to something else, something far away. And not 'far away' as in a distance that could be perceived by mortals. It was 'far away' as in a distance that couldn't be described using units of measurement limited to one plane of existence.

Ritzy's eyes shone with expectation as the mana continued resonating. He could tell that Deathbed had activated properly, and Maya was getting a well-deserved rest. The skeleton would disappear into a separate storage dimension any moment now.

Maya's skeleton even began trembling slightly as the spell took effect.

Ritzy and Gerhart had long started holding their breaths. Mognog probably would have as well if it weren't for the fact that he was an undead and didn't breathe. Maya disappearing and Ritzy being able to make her reappear would be the first step in their plan of survival.

However, unlike what Ritzy and the others expected would happen, when Maya's skeleton's shaking reached a climax, it didn't disappear. It jumped up in the air. The skeleton, still lying horizontally, flew up to the height of Ritzy's knee.

And, before any of them could process what happened, a bed of bone blinked into existence below her and caught Maya before she could fall back down.

The bed of white bone looked like someone had put a lot of work into gluing and putting together a nearly uncountable number of pieces of various skeletons to create a mostly even surface.

None of the bones looked broken or damaged, but they were put together in such a way that they didn't stand out or create any larger bulges and inconsistencies in the bed. It was still a long way to go until it was as smooth as polished wood, but for undead, it was more than enough.

At least Maya's skeleton didn't seem to care as it lay between the four bedposts, all of which had a human skull adorning them.

"Um… Was that supposed to happen, Ritzy?"

"No… The spellbook made it sound like the target would be sent away. There was nothing about summoning a bone bed to lay the target on."

"Huh. What do you think, Mognog."

Gerhart looked away from the ominous bed and at the slightly less ominous skull.

"I don't know. But before we get caught up in whether it was a success or a failure, we need to confirm what you can do with it, kiddo. If you can move it around with you without using all your mana, our plan can still work. If anything, we now have another card we can play."

Ritzy nodded and walked up to the bed to inspect it more closely.

Although things hadn't gone as intended, the Deathbed was still the result of Ritzy's first spell that he had cast on his own without relying on magic circles. Even if it turned out to be a pretty useless bed, he should at least take the opportunity and learn as much as possible.

Ritzy walked a circle around the bed and confirmed that the skulls were all pointed outward as if warding off danger and keeping watch for the undead sleeping on the bed.

Ritzy felt a little confused at the idea of undead creatures sleeping since one of the reasons necromancy had become trending in recent times was due to the incredible workforce undead with their unlimited stamina provided. The Dark One's contributions to the popularization of necromancy could never be disregarded. But one of the reasons the common people had accepted necromancy into their societies was the invaluable and cheap labor that the undead provided.

Undead didn't need to eat, sleep, or rest. They could work endlessly as long as they had enough mana and a necromancer to control them.

Of course, putting an advanced undead with a similar ego and sense of self as Mognog through something like that wasn't allowed and was also one of the restrictions on modern necromancy, even though they had the same capabilities as basic undead. But the low-tier undead without free will or the ability of thought were fair game, and any necromancer who could summon or control a useful undead was guaranteed some kind of job.

The fact that the undead with that kind of infamy and reputation would need a bed to sleep on struck Ritzy as weird. But he didn't really think too much about it since the spell's purpose wasn't to give the summons a place to sleep. It was to store them away and make it easier to travel and move around.

After inspecting the bed a few times using only his eyes, Ritzy reached out with a hand to touch it.

"Are you sure it's okay to touch it?"

Ritzy looked at Gerhart with a raised eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well… It's for the dead, right? Last time I checked, you weren't quite there, Ritzy."

"Hmm. Good point."

Ritzy stood up and walked over to Mognog.

"H-hey, kiddo. Are you really going to use me to test it out?"

Ritzy grabbed Mognog.

"Of course."

Ritzy stopped next to the bed and held him above the Deathbed and dropped him. According to logic and the laws of gravity, Mognog should have fallen and landed on the body of the Deathbed.

However, contrary to what they had expected, an invisible barrier blocked Mognog's descent, and he fell to the side of the bed, his face resting against the ground.

"Kid…."

"Good work, Mognog."

Ritzy ignored Mognog's dissatisfaction and reached out with a hand to see if he was also blocked by the barrier. Since Mognog hadn't taken any damage, it shouldn't be too dangerous to touch the Deathbed.

But once again, their expectations were subverted.

Ritzy didn't face any resistance as he pushed his hand through the air toward the bed. He didn't even face any resistance when he put his hand against the bed frame.

Ritzy's jaw dropped to the ground alongside his hand that passed right through the bed as if it wasn't even there.

Ritzy waved his hand through the bed several times in disbelief.

Gerhart, who had put Mognog upright again, let his curiosity get the best of him, and he also reached out with a hand and got the same results as Ritzy. He tried a few more times, but nothing changed, even when they tried touching the skulls on the bedposts.

They stopped waving their hands after all. Although it looked and was interesting and unbelievable, it didn't feel any different than moving their hands through the air. And doing it again and again wouldn't change what happened.

"Well, we won't be able to carry it like this, at least."

Gerhart sighed and frowned as he looked at the Deathbed.

"Wait! Try using mana, kiddo!"

Mognog's suggestion wasn't unreasonable. It was the opposite. Since it was a spell, it was only logical that Ritzy would have to use his mana to affect it after it had taken effect.

So, after gathering the few droplets of mana left in his body in his hand, Ritzy tried again. And got a different result.