The dark river water flowed over Ande's leg bones. Although he couldn't feel any physical sensation, a school of bone fish quickly arrived, pecking at his bones.
The three skeletal mastiffs splashed around in the water, hunting the larger bone fish. After catching them, they wagged their tails and proudly brought the fish to Ande, offering them as "gifts."
"Big Mao, Er Mao, San Mao, stop messing with me. Go play somewhere else," Ande said, standing at the riverbank and directing his minions to search for bones. He absentmindedly patted each of the mastiffs on the head, then grabbed a fish from San Mao's mouth, tossing it into the deep water with a satisfying splash.
Shaking the wet bones of his hands, Ande looked over to see Magellan, the ghost, trying to pick out the required metal bone fragments from the sandy riverbank.
"Can a ghost even pick things up?" Ande thought, laughing at the absurdity, then ordered Magellan back to his post to continue guarding.
Metal bone fragments...
Ande glanced at the skull he was filling with the fragments. There was still about half the amount needed.
"Everyone, focus! If any of you bring back fish bones instead of metal bone fragments, your soul fire will be at risk!" he yelled at his minions, irritated that he had to do the picking himself. He grabbed the skull filled with fragments and lay down in a dry spot, flipping through the *Kashnikov Notes* while overseeing the work.
As he read, Ande felt a strange drowsiness and, though undead and incapable of actually sleeping, he briefly shut off his soul fire perception, slipping into a semi-conscious state. He would wake immediately if anything suspicious happened.
Before he could fully relax, San Mao, the smallest of the mastiffs, bounded over, holding a large fish, the size of a forearm. It jumped onto Ande's chest, nudging his face with its bone nose, eager for attention.
"Can't you give me a break for just a moment?" Ande muttered, about to push San Mao off, but then froze.
The fish in San Mao's mouth—was it made entirely of metal bone fragments?!
Looking closely, Ande saw the fish's body glinting with metal fragments. His jaw dropped in excitement.
"San Mao, you're my lucky star!" Ande said, gleefully scratching the mastiff's head, his heart racing.
San Mao, sensing Ande's joy, wagged its tail even more enthusiastically, rubbing the fish against Ande's skull. Then, with a swift movement, San Mao tossed the fish high into the air, where it arced, landing with a splash in the river.
"I—No!!!" Ande shouted, scrambling to his feet and racing toward the river. "My fish!"
San Mao, thrilled by the commotion, happily trotted alongside Ande, its tail wagging wildly.
When Ande reached the riverbank, he nearly stumbled, his legs feeling as if they might break. The image of the fish he'd just lost filled his mind.
"Go catch some more fish! If you can't get any, I'll—I'll destroy all of you!" Ande shouted at his skeletal minions.
Realizing the fish was long gone, Ande stewed in frustration. He turned to give San Mao a scolding but paused when he saw the other two mastiffs, Big Mao and Er Mao, coming back, each carrying a gleaming fish.
"Shiny?!" Ande exclaimed, leaping to his feet.
"Big Mao, Er Mao, you little troublemakers! Who let go of my fish?!" He charged forward, managing to grab the two fish just as he collapsed in pain, his leg bone cracking.
Metallic objects were rare in the undead plane, but bone fragments rich in metal could be found near every river. While the skeletal mastiffs weren't particularly remarkable creatures, they had the strongest biting force among low-level undead, though their bone teeth limited their ability to exert full force. Bone dragons, on the other hand, had metal-rich teeth that allowed them to "revive" their bones efficiently.
According to *Kashnikov's Notes* (page 77), this was a possibility. The notes had only hinted at it, but Ande believed it to be true.
Weeks ago, Ande had successfully created sharp bone claws for Daggama, transforming the giant axe skeleton into a clawed version. To upgrade undead bones, one had to focus on multiple tasks at once—specifically, mastering bone revival techniques.
Ande, with two souls and an affinity for concentration, had little difficulty in this regard. His success with Daggama was a testament to his capabilities, though he still had much to learn before he could master the highest level of undead laws, as described in the notes. Despite his current modest goal of securing the skeleton graveyard and becoming a lazy undead overlord, Ande knew one day he might rise to the top of this pale, empty world—whether he wanted it or not.
But for now, he was more concerned with how to deal with the souls of the two metallic fish, which seemed to have faded away, scattering into energy particles. Ande, after pondering for a long while, concluded they had probably "died" from thirst.
"Can bone fish die from thirst?" he wondered, scratching his skull.
"Hard to say."