Mognog

Ritzy's eyes reflected the green flames that crept up the mound of dead goblins. The grass-green flames didn't give off much heat or light as they devoured the goblin corpses without leaving behind as much as a charred bone or even ash. They didn't even produce any smoke. It was as if all the goblins had disappeared into thin air.

Once again, Ritzy's summoning was proceeding without any major hiccups. However, he had learned from his multiple lessons by now, and Ritzy didn't dare hope for too much.

Even if he summoned something, it would be something weird. If he was lucky, it could be useful. If he was unlucky, his effort would have gone poof.

"Oh, Ritzy! I see you've kept my club safe for me."

Ritzy glanced at Talia, who had to lean on Gerhart while they walked over to the necromantic funeral pyre next to Ritzy.

"First of all, it's my club. Secondly, you can't even carry it like the sick and weak patient you are. Thirdly, the only time I will ever let you touch this pristine bone is when I smack you with it, okay?"

"Not okay. As soon as I recover just a little more, I'm taking it back."

"Talia, you should keep such overambitious desires to yourself. And, Rit, don't you need to focus on that?"

Gerhart pointed at the shrinking pile of goblin corpses, quickly vanishing into the green flames of the necromantic ritual.

"Nah, it's fine. This part is basically just waiting."

"Oi, why are you pretending to sound like an expert when it's literally your first time?"

"Talia, who is the necromancer here, you or me? YOu don't even need to answer. It's obviously me!"

"So?"

"So! That means I am the expert here. I know what I'm doing. If you want to watch, stay quiet. And if you can't stay quiet, just take a hike or something. Just don't bother me."

Ritzy humphed and looked away from Talia while crossing his arms.

"Rit, there's no harm in being inexperienced, you know…–"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! Just that you're doing really well, even if it's your first time."

"Of course I am. Who do you think I am? This much is just the bare minimum of my true capabilities."

Talia scoffed.

"Yeah, okay. How about you summon something that isn't white hair or a single piece of bone?"

"Uh, Rit actually did that while you were napping, Talia."

"Nope. Unless I see it with my own eyes, it didn't happen."

Gerhart held up his potion and his own book.

"These two and that."

Gerhart pointed at Talia's mostly healed stomach.

"Are thanks to the skeletons Rit summoned. I don't think I could have cleared this dungeon on my own."

"Gerry, you also got a book?"

"Yeah, you too?"

"Uhu. Do you know what it is?"

"Nope. Haven't had time to check it out."

"What do you think it is?"

Gerhart shrugged and began opening the first page.

"Dunno, maybe a history book. It looks quite old and worn, after all–"

Ritzy leaned in next to Gerhart.

"Hey, why did you shut up? Is it interesting?"

"Oi! Where's my book?!"

Ritzy looked at Talia since he couldn't see the book high up in Gerhart's hands.

"Why would you get a book?"

"Why shouldn't I get a book?"

"Eh, it's obvious, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you did nothing to contribute to the dungeon's clearing. You just lay on the ground outside the village, about as useful as a toppled scarecrow."

"So? I was still here. Shouldn't I get a consolation prize or something?"

"You did. A potion."

"Really? Where is that potion, then?"

Ritzy just pointed at Talia's body.

"Did you seriously use the potion I got to heal my injuries?"

"Sometimes I wonder if you even hear yourself speak, Talia."

"I guess your nonsense made my ears rot."

Talia prodded at the shallow and scabbed cut on her stomach.

"Are you sure I didn't get a book? You know, you didn't get two or something since I was out cold?"

Ritzy shook his head.

"Nope. I only got the one, and it appeared straight into my hands once the last goblin fell."

"Hahh… Fine. If the gods didn't think I contributed, I guess I'll have to accept that."

"What do the gods have to do with anything?"

Talia looked at Ritzy as if he was stupid.

"Eh, everything, maybe? Dungeons are trials made by the gods. Of course, they dictate who gets what upon a successful clear."

"Okay, let's say that the gods personally oversee each dungeon. Why would that stop you from pitching a fit, throwing a tantrum, or causing a ruckus?"

"One example would have been enough, Ritzy. And how am I supposed to oppose the gods? Huh? Did ya think of that, Ritzy?"

"But don't you usually try to do stuff that you can't do?"

Talia glared at Ritzy, not liking where this was going.

"...like what?"

"Don't you try to use your head all the time?"

Talia lunged at Ritzy.

"Haha! Gerry, stop her. She's trying to kill me!"

Ritzy giggled and hid on the opposite side of Gerhart, who Talia still had to rely on to stand up since she was too weak to stand on her own.

Talia yanked Gerhart back and forth in an attempt to get to Ritzy, but with how weak she was, she couldn't get to Ritzy.

"Guys! Stop it!"

"Don't butt in, Gerhart. You heard what he said. Ritzy and I are settling this now. Once and for all."

"Try it! My summoning's about done. Once my death knight gets here, you won't even be able to look me in the eyes."

"When I'm done with you, you won't have any eyes for me to look into."

"Stop fucking fighting! I don't think this is an ordinary book. I'm pretty sure this is a spellbook."

Gerhart put his book inside his belt and grabbed Ritzy's and Talia's faces to make them calm down. After squeezing hard enough to make them groan and tap his arm, he let go.

"A spellbook? Are you sure something like that would pop out of a novice dungeon?"

Gerhart shrugged.

"Of course, I'm not sure. But this book is called Sparking Arrow, and it's giving me instructions on how to control my mana while handling a bow and arrow. If that doesn't sound like a spellbook, I don't know what would."

"Ooh! Can I see?"

"You have your own book, Rit."

"Ah! That's right."

Ritzy started pulling out the book he had shoved in a bag before he realized that the fire was nearing its conclusion. He would have to pay attention to the summoning.

"Can I see, then?"

"Nope."

Talia pouted.

"Why not?"

"You'll just try and take it."

"Tch."

"Besides, you don't even like using a bow. What are you going to do with a spellbook for arrows."

"Ugh, fine. But you're going to show me later when you learn it."

"Sure."

Gerhart wanted to continue reading his spellbook, but both his and Talia's attention was grabbed by Ritzy's battlefield summoning.

After the entire pile had caught fire, the fire had slowly dwindled in size and intensity as more and more corpses were consumed. But when all the goblins were gone and not even ash remained – the ground wasn't charred either – the flames spiked and rose well beyond the height of the nearest goblin hut.

They still didn't emit any heat, and they were barely brighter than an ordinary torch, but it was impossible to look away.

"Ritzy, is that supposed to happen?"

"O-of course!"

Ritzy tried to act confident. But it was difficult when he wasn't sure himself of whether it was standard or not. He had only read a couple of instructions and memorized the important stuff, like the magic circles, until they appeared in his dreams. The only thing that the books had mentioned that he remembered, at least, was the fact that green flames were a sign of success, and when they had consumed the offering, the summoned undead would appear.

Ritzy could only wait nervously as the flames grew and shrank like bipolar waves.

But eventually, the flames' movements changed. They pulsated inward toward the center of the circle a few times before coalescing in the air in the middle of the magic circle and then exploding outwards.

The flames blocked Ritzy's and the others' view, but they still heard a soft thump. as if something had appeared and dropped down on the ground.

And when the green sparks and remnant flames faded away, they saw what it was.

"Fuck!"

"Ha!"

"..."

Ritzy cursed, Talia laughed, and Gerhart didn't know what to say.

"Hey, Ritzy, do you think you summoned a head because of your stunt back at the square?"

"No! That's not how summoning undead works!"

"Are you sure? Maybe it can explode like you tricked the guards into believing?"

Talia's words poked Ritzy's wounds from his first round of summoning.

"Um, I don't think I can explode, actually."

Ritzy, Talia, and Gerhart looked at each other with eyes wide as saucers. That voice hadn't come from any of them. Like controlled haunted dolls, they turned their heads toward the head on the ground.

"I'm guessing the kid with the white hair summoned me?"

"...yeah. That's me– Wait! You can talk?!"

The skeletal head's green spirit fire flickered a little at Ritzy's shout.

"Well, yeah. As you might have noticed by me talking."

"Wicked! So what more can you do?"

"..."

"Well…?"

Ritzy's eyes beamed with enthusiasm as he stared at the skeleton.

Since the head could talk, it was obviously an advanced skeleton, even if it didn't have a body. There were many undead beings who didn't rely on physical bodies to do what they did. Maybe the skull was one such being.

However, the head's spirit flames shifted to the side of the eye sockets as if it was avoiding Ritzy's gaze.

"Ahem. I am – was – one of the great warriors of the Mognog. Do you doubt my capabilities, death mage?"

"I'm a necromancer."

"My bad. Do you doubt my capabilities, necromancer?"

"Ritzy, he totally avoided your question. I'm pretty sure you summoned something useless again."

"No way. He can talk. There's no way he's useless."

"Rit, it was a warrior when it was alive…."

"Yeah, it remembers its life. I'm sure it was a great person back then, and they're going to be even greater now. Ah, wait a minute, Mister Mognog. We're just discussing things."

"...take your time."

"Ritzy, warriors fight with their bodies."

"So?"

"Mister Mognog over there doesn't have a body."

"Oh… Well, I'm sure it's fine."

Ritzy and the other two stopped huddling around each other, and Ritzy looked at the skull again.

"Sorry about that, Mister Mognog– wait, do you have a name?"

"...no. Warriors of Mognog lose their right to possess their own names upon death as they become part of the Great Mognog."

"I see… Then, would it be alright to call you just Mognog?"

"Although I represent less than a fraction of the Great Mognog, it would be my honor."

"Great. Let's get back on topic. Now, I wouldn't dare doubt the capabilities of a great warrior of Mognog. It's just that the warriors I am used to have bodies to fight with…."

"Ah, I see…."

The skeleton head's green spirit flames sank as if looking at what was below the head.

"That would make it difficult for me to fight for you, necromancer."

"Hah! Told you so, Ritzy!"

"Don't be rude, Talia!"

"No, Your companion is right, necromancer. But I am not entirely useless, so I ask that you not send me back at once."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Even if you're useless, you're still coming with me."

Ritzy smiled and used the little mana he had regained to send a contract offer to Mognog.

Mognog's eyes flickered in surprise.

"Oho! I see! If I help you, you'll fulfill any eventually unresolved grudges if the chance arises. You also can't force me to do anything? And either of us can cancel the contract at any time? Isn't this way too good for a subordination contract?"

Mognog expressed his disbelief at the contract Ritzy gave him.

"Not at all. This is industry standard."

"Really? All the death mages I saw in my time ordered around their undead like slaves."

"Psst, Ritzy, isn't it still like that?"

Gerhart whispered in Ritzy's ear since he agreed with Mognog. He was also worried that Ritzy was making a losing deal.

"Ah, you're both mistaken. Well, Talia too, probably."

"Hey!"

Ritzy ignored Talia's rebuttal and continued.

"The death mages as you called them, Mognog, probably weren't very good. And most of the necromancers of today are the same."

Ritzy put on a professional air as he spoke.

"Most necromancers suck."

Even with such unprofessional language, Ritzy's air still held.

"They can only summon or control mindless undead who can do nothing but follow orders. Without their necromancers to control them, those undead only follow their most base instincts if they have any. A rare few undead have instincts ingrained from their time alive, so they're a little better."

"I see…"

Mognog's eyes moved as if he nodded, but the skull itself didn't really move.

"Yep. Naturally, undead, such as yourself, who are capable of logical reasoning and rational thought, are much rarer and far more capable. It's only reasonable to give those kinds of undead better treatment since one can expect them to follow the orders they like and reject orders they don't like. Particularly strong-willed undead can even tear apart slave contracts forced on them."

Mognog, Gerhart, and Talia nodded at Ritzy's lecture. Talia would have been surprised at the clarity of it and Ritzy's knowledge if she didn't know how passionate he was about necromancy. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't going to make a jab at him, but before she could, Mognog shouted.

"Kiddo! Watch out!"