(iii.)

Lazarus glanced at his maximum mana. Sure enough, it was now displaying 1,300, down from before the naming.

“I see! So giving something a name permanently reduces my mana pool in exchange for permanent changes to the named entity.” He scratched Jet's skull idly. “That seems fair, I suppose.”

Lazarus willed away the screen with Jet's status information on it to view his surroundings.

Skill Acquired: Summon Jet- Allows you to summon Death's Companion: Jet. Level MAX

“Hmm... a separate summon skill for Jet alone. Does that mean there is more to Death's Companion?”, he mused aloud. “If the starting level displays “MAX” I think it's fair to assume that there is only one level for the skill. Wouldn't you say so, boy?”

“Ahp?” Jet tilted his head to one side.

“HA! Come now, pup, let's have a proper look around!”

Jet's mandible fell open, displaying a mouth full of large pointed teeth. Anyone else would surely run away screaming. Lazarus, however, merely chuckled. Was he panting?

Perhaps a holdover from his past life. Silly pup!

The lich rose and stretched, bones clinking. Ah, but at least they were healthy bones! Nothing creaking, sagging, crumbling, or groaning. It may take some time to get acclimated to the whole 'being a skeleton' thing, but he couldn't deny the immediate perks. He strode purposefully through the entrance of the nearest building, intent on investigating.

Bright rays of new dawn shone down from the partially collapsed ceiling, brightening up the area and making the whole room visible. At a glance, there didn't appear to be anything particularly useful in the area. A few simple wooden chairs and tables were strewn about, much like beached whales.

“Oh, but what's this?” He spied a spare bit of cloth behind an upturned bedframe.

Lazarus ambled over, Jet following close behind.

“Aha, I see now.”

Eureka! His very first discovery.

He uncovered two skeletons beside the bed, clothed in colorless scraps and locked together in one final desperate embrace. It was difficult for Lazarus to determine their exact cause of death but he felt that he could be reasonably certain of a few key points.

“First,” he announced to a very interested Jet, “Notice the dissimilar sizes of these specimens. The smaller of the two was most certainly a child, perhaps about six years of age or so.”

“Sniff, sniff!”

“Second, the larger of the two would have been a youthful female, note the wider... HEY!”

Jet did, in fact, note the wider set pelvic bone. Like the good assistant he was, he deftly extricated the bone for closer study in a better lit location.

Right out the back door.

“Heathen, philistine, savage!” Lazarus bellowed out the door, shaking his fist. “BRING THAT BACK!”

True to his Master, Jet did bring the bone back. Well, almost. Jet dropped into a play bow as Lazarus bent to retrieve his prize, jerking it just out of reach.

“Jet...”

He offered the bone to his Master once more, tail wagging. The lich stooped and was thwarted once again.

“Alright, fine! Keep it! But don't blame me if you start having nightmares!”

“Urf?” That tilt again. It was becoming increasingly difficult to stay mad at that face.

“Desecrator,” he spat.

He stopped short, looking out over the low stone wall bordering the property. The view from here was utterly breathtaking. As the sun rose over the great plains below, Lazarus saw that the small dwelling behind him was one of many, with multiple layers of dwellings and structures nestled below.

Reminiscent of the ruins of Machu Picchu, he stood overlooking a once-great city built into the side of a rather small, verdant mountain. Much of the ruined city looked to be held together with moss and a prayer. The entire mountain stuck out oddly as there were no other mountains close by.

Is this hillside a natural feature or man made? Who lived here?

Sun bleached bones jutted up here and there, scattered all throughout the ruins. He stood atop literally hundreds and hundreds of skeletal remains, easily the entire population of this ancient city. All wiped out. It truly was a humbling, if morbid, scene to behold.

“Incredible! How is it, then, that an entire population would perish like this?” He leaned over the wall, pondering.

“Munch, munch, sluuuurp!” Jet chewed happily at his pilfered pelvic bone.

“I don't think it was disease or famine. The interior suggests that the occupants may have met with a rather violent end. Perhaps a natural disaster?”

He was reminded of an excursion he had taken decades ago to Pompeii. A catastrophic eruption had occurred thousands of years prior, encasing the city and its inhabitants in volcanic ash. Archaeological excavations many years later uncovered the uncannily preserved remains of men, women, and children. Dogs, even.

“Hm, I don't think that's likely. No, I believe these poor souls met their end violently. And not by mere bandits, either. The whole town was razed in an all-out assault. Perhaps a surprise attack from another kingdom. Yes, I think so.” He rubbed at his still-naked chin. “Are you even listening?”

“Rowf!” Jet replied, mouth full of bone.

“Ever the brilliant conversationalist, my boy! Now, shall we take stock?”

Immortal body? Check. The Universe had been more than generous on this front, though perhaps his new form was not quite what he expected. Combined with the Pain Nullification perk he felt it was more than a fair trade. He performed a few quick calisthenics, testing his body's limits. This was perhaps easier for someone who had no practical use for lungs.

As for high magick... the lich had already clearly established that magick:

Exists.

Was something he had free and easy access to.

“In my previous world it was said you just needed to visualize your desire while adding mana to create magick. That was the concept, anyway. Let's then try something new! It said my aptitude is for metal... Should I try conjuring up a weapon?”

CRUNCH.

Jet chomped down hard on his bone, causing it to splinter. He looked up at his Master, whimpering pitifully.

“Oh, don't give me that look! I'm sure you're a fine protector. But surely you'd feel better if I was able to properly defend myself as well, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?” He cajoled.

I am trying to reason with my undead pet dog. Is this my life now? Is this what dog people do?

The dog's whining trailed off uncertainly, but he resumed chewing on his bone. Good enough.

“Atta boy. So! I could try a dagger, a sword, or a scythe. Hm, no, scratch that. I think it's best I stick to the sword... wouldn't want to be marked as Death at first sight after all!”

After a few moments Lazarus decided on an image of a sword he saw on the internet once. The blade had a double edge with glowing blue runes at the base. The pummel was nice and solid, and the blade guard looked like a fearsome skeletal dragon with the blade erupting from its mouth. He wasn't sure of the blade's origin, some old king's sword, probably. He just liked how it looked. He pushed his mana into the visualization. The sword materialized in his hand instantaneously.

Skill Acquired: Spell Craft

Spell Created: King's Great Sword – Create an Above Average sword with aesthetic appeal. Mana cost: 500 per sword. If the sword is destroyed the mana will be returned to the caster. Level: MAX

All Hail the Red Text!

Lazarus felt both empowered and depleted at the same time as he held the sword he created. It flashed brightly in the early morning sun. Magnificent!

“Superb! As fearsome a blade as the man who possessed it, or so I assume. I'm sure that no malcontent would dare approach me now. But I digress.”

Finally having a reflective surface, Lazarus beheld his own face for the first time. As he suspected, his skull had a beautiful gem-like quality. His rather angular jawbone tapered to a sharp point below his mouth, the closest he would ever come to having his beloved goatee again. Though he did not have eyes in the traditional sense, his empty sockets possessed a piercing ethereal blue glow. He grinned, and his reflection did not shatter the blade. This, he felt, was a good omen.

“Is it odd to think of oneself as beautiful? I almost can't bear to look away!” He stared hard at his reflection, lost in thought. “...Can I blink? What happens if I try to blink?”

Lazarus closed one eye and, much to his delight, the corresponding socket winked out. He was so chuffed with the effect that he repeated the experiment with the other eye. Marvelous!

“Oh, delightful, just delightful! I daresay, I may just be able to solve my clothing dilemma as well! Shall we craft a set of armor to match?”

“Woof, woof!”

He created some armor to go with the sword. Again Lazarus' visualization came to reality, using a whopping 800 mana! The armor was full plate and gleamed silver in the light.

Spell Created: Holy Knight's Armor – Garb the caster in full plate armor with holy aesthetic. Mana cost: 800. If the armor is destroyed the mana will be returned to the caster. Level: MAX

His holy Red Text blessed him once more just as Lazarus' mana hit 0. The lich swayed for a moment on his feet, then everything went dark as consciousness left him.