"Hey! Hey!"
"Morris?"
Only when Professor Kettleburn patted Morris on the shoulder did Morris come back to himself from the world within the book.
"Oh, sorry, Professor." He closed the book, looking a little embarrassed. "This book was a little too fascinating."
At that, Professor Kettleburn wore a peculiar expression.
This thing was actually fascinating?
Even he would never have come here to read this book if not to save his friend's sick Crup.
"Can I borrow this book?" Morris asked.
"Normally," Professor Kettleburn began slowly, "borrowing books from the Restricted Section requires Madam Pince's permission. But-I'll allow it."
"Thank you for your help, Professor," Morris said respectfully.
This was the first time he had met such an accommodating professor.
Once he had the book, Morris's nighttime excursion came to an end.
Although Professor Kettleburn had let him off for tonight's rule-breaking and generously lent him a restricted book, there was still his duty as a professor.
In the end, he warned Morris not to come to the Restricted Section again and to go straight to his office when he needed to return the book.
Naturally, Morris agreed out loud.
But, well... if you knew, you knew.
The Restricted Section was such a tempting place that he had a feeling he would become a regular visitor.
He simply needed to be more careful to avoid another incident like tonight's.
It was past one in the morning when Morris returned to his dormitory.
Not the least bit sleepy, he immediately retrieved the long-forgotten fragments of the Crup skeleton from the trunk beside his bed.
Looking at a diagram of a Crup's skeleton, he pieced it together by copying what he saw.
It took him only just under two hours to finish assembling it.
The skeleton gleamed pale beneath the light, possessing an unusual beauty.
Unfortunately, whether it had been lost in transit or left out by the seller, a piece of the toe bones on the skeleton's left side was missing, leaving it short of a toe.
Morris clicked his tongue softly at the sight, a trace of regret rising within him.
It was no longer perfect.
He planned to visit that shop in Knockturn Alley another day to complete it.
For now, however, he had achieved his goal.
He could finally try turning this skeleton into a true undead creature.
Morris waved his wand, turning a basin of clean water on the table into red paint, then used the Blood Extraction Spell to mix his own blood into it.
Next, he transformed his wand into a long, slender brush.
Ten minutes later, a standard Undead Creature Transformation Magic Circle had been drawn on the dormitory floor.
Morris was already thoroughly practiced at the entire process.
At some point, Guantou and Yanhua emerged from who knew where. Usually so boisterous, they now sat quietly beside Morris's bed, watching their master's every movement intently.
The magic circle glowed a faint, dark red on the floor, with just enough space left in its center for the Crup skeleton.
Morris carefully lifted the Crup skeleton and placed it in the center of the magic circle.
Then he straightened and gently breathed out.
"The world of the living has not yet forgotten you; the peaceful sleep of death is not your final chapter."
Accompanied by the familiar chant, the magic circle became a vortex and flowed entirely into the skeleton.
The skeleton took on a bewitching shade of red before turning pale again.
The next second, two clusters of ghostly blue soul fire ignited deep within its eye sockets.
"Clack, clack..."
The sound of bones scraping together rang out.
It stood up, its posture somewhat stiff, yet bearing the distinctive somber air of an undead creation.
Morris knew that the Undead Creature Transformation Ritual had been successfully completed.
This was his third undead creature: a Skeleton Dog.
Guantou and Yanhua curiously sized up their new colleague.
The Skeleton Dog seemed to be familiarizing itself with its new body, pacing around the room as the clacking of its bones echoed rhythmically.
"Come here," Morris ordered it.
The Skeleton Dog naturally understood its master's meaning and immediately ran toward him.
However, perhaps because it was not yet used to running, it tripped over the carpet.
Thud.
It fell flat on the floor, several bone components instantly flying off its body and scattering around it.
"..."
Morris was momentarily speechless.
All he could say was that its drop rate was really high.
Watching from the side, Yanhua and Guantou felt that their new colleague seemed a little dim-witted. They could see no intelligence whatsoever in those eyes made entirely of blue flame.
Just then, the scattered bone fragments moved as though alive, flying precisely back to the fallen Skeleton Dog as if drawn by threads.
With its components fitted back into place, the Skeleton Dog shook its skull and stood up again. Facing Morris, it opened and closed its lower jaw.
"Woof-"
A bark rang out inside his mind.
This caught Morris somewhat by surprise.
It seemed the Skeleton Dog could not only repair itself but also transmit its voice over a distance.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Cheerful barks echoed through his mind one after another, seemingly conveying a kind of simple joy.
However...
"What use is this voice transmission?!" Morris could not help complaining.
As a dog, the Skeleton Dog could only bark and could not convey complex information at all.
At best, this was nothing but noise.
He rubbed his brow and ordered, "Quiet!"
His mind fell silent for a moment, then came a drawn-out, slightly confused, "Woof... woo?"
Morris sighed. "Go sit somewhere else, stupid dog."
The Skeleton Dog silently walked to a corner of the room and sat down. The soul fire in its eyes went out, and it became an ordinary skeleton again.
Morris now understood that his Skeleton Dog had no capacity for thought whatsoever—which was normal, since it had no brain.
It could only understand simple commands.
As for its combat ability, that did not look particularly impressive either.
But that did not matter.
He had transformed this undead creature with no particular purpose in mind.
He had simply wanted to do it.
He had only wanted to see that skeleton move, nothing more.
Sometimes, doing something did not require a clear purpose or a far-reaching plan.
Morris preferred to act on that sort of instinctive curiosity.
It was already very late. He returned to bed and yawned.
Now it was time to sleep.
Before closing his eyes, he checked the Book of the Mage out of habit.
To his delight, a completely new spell had appeared in it at some point-the Bone Summoning Spell.
In an instant, burning curiosity drove away his weariness.
A new spell!
Looks like... there'll be no sleeping tonight.