From the first moment the skeleton lunged at me, I could tell that this whole fight would be different. Even as the skeleton threw itself towards me, I was already shifting to the side. My hand rose slightly, before forcing the blade down and to the right, giving it the longest swing possible before connecting.
The skeleton was battered to the side after my sidestep and subsequent strike, but it was only a moment's wait before it was charging towards me again. Except this time, I was moving to meet it.
I twisted my upper body, narrowly avoiding the wild claw-like attack. In return, my sword slammed into its lower calf bone, throwing it down onto that leg's knee. Using the momentum from that strike, I quickly pivoted, putting more and more force behind the next strike as it slammed home into the skeleton’s jaw.
A hard crack resounded before the undead was thrown back almost a full meter. As it slowly scrambled back up, I could see that the jaw was hanging, barely holding in place. Without a second thought, I stepped towards it twice.
The blade came in a wide sween across my front, deflecting the undead's wild attack before rising at the end. Coming back down, the sword slammed through it’s clavicle and cracked a rib below that. A quick backstep withdrew the sword before it could get stuck.
Now that I was standing beyond its immediate reach, I could see that it seemed to be having trouble with moving the limbs I’d struck before. I guessed that its health stat might be low, but decided to treat it as if just as dangerous as ever. It was three short sword strokes later that the undead finally fell to the ground, unmoving.
[Ding!] You have defeated a Level 13 Undead Skeleton! You have gained bonus experience from defeating an enemy 10 levels above you!
[Ding!] You have leveled up to Level 4! You have gained +3 Attribute Points!
[Ding!] You have leveled up to Level 5! You have gained +3 Attribute Points!
It took me a moment to realize that the fight was really over. I couldn’t help but compare this to the previous desperate scramble that had been my first fight. In comparison, this downright felt like an execution.
“Levels, attributes, and skills.. “ I murmured. I’d known before that in any world with this kind of system, that having those things would be impossible to surmount… But this level of difference was still surprising.
Glancing at the messages, I frowned. This one had been of a lower level, but it had leveled me up the same amount… I simply shrugged and decided that until I could ask someone, I would just assume that the ‘bonus experience’ was more than I’d thought.
I looked around me, making sure no other shapes were suddenly appearing out of the mists before I started assigning my attribute points. If they made this much of a difference, I never wanted to have unspent points just sitting there. In the end, I used the six points to bring dexterity to 25, intelligence to 40, and attunement to 43. I was really just bringing all the numbers to even numbers or multiples of five before I would sit down and think about what attributes would be most important for me.
As I dismissed all the screens from my vision, I glanced one more time over at the now motionless skeleton. “I don’t know how necromancy works here, but if you were once a person, then I hope you can have some kind of peace now…” Having paid some form of respect to the body, I decided to really, really hope that these fields weren’t where the skeleton in the swamp had come from. Then again, with my luck recently, it was almost certain…
Looking up at the sun, I quickly realigned myself. After a last glance at the skeleton, I pushed forward. Not even a full twenty minutes later, I ran across another skeleton. This one was only level 9, but it still helped level me to level 6. By the time that fight concluded, I had already decided that the fields were likely the source of the skeletons.
Knowing the sun could set soon, I backtracked for a short time, hoping that staying a little closer to the outskirts would help me stay undiscovered through the night. Settling down in the rapidly falling darkness, I couldn’t help but fear discovery in the night. Knowing that I had to either pass through these fields or go back into the swamp didn’t help much. Not when it was dark and the fog clung so closely.
Luckily, I managed to sleep through the night. When I awoke, I could see the beginning light of dawn, and I was rather happy to not have been disturbed by a sudden attacking skeleton. Knowing now that more fights probably waited for me further in, I took the morning to sit down and simply think.
It was easy to see that the skeletons weren’t intelligent enemies. If they had a weapon, they could vaguely use it, but otherwise they attacked like rabid animals. My biggest advantage was being able to think. I didn’t have much trouble beating them in one on one fights, but I wasn’t sure about that if there were two on one. I would have to try and make sure every fight would be one on one, at least until I was a decent chunk stronger.
Speaking of strength.. I pulled up my attributes.
Status:
Strength: 21 (21)
Dexterity: 25 (25)
Vitality: 25 (25)
Attunement: 45 (45)
Intelligence: 40 (40)
Attribute Points: 0
Health: 1250/1250
Mana: 2250/2250
I looked over each part very carefully. I knew my class was supposedly counted as a mage, so the high attunement and intelligence made sense. After that, I also knew that the fighting style afforded by Warrior of the Sun would mean that I couldn’t just neglect my physical attributes for my magical ones.
For the moment, I didn’t really have much magic going for me, and those attributes were already by far the highest. Until I had actual magic, I decided to invest in my physical attributes. Bringing those up should be the most helpful in the short term, and certainly shouldn’t hurt in the long term.
Dismissing the screen, I looked around. After a minute, I started laughing to myself. I’d always read that humanity’s greatest trait was adaptability, but I’d not really ever experienced it. But here I was, sitting in a massive fog cloud, with a sword and weird system, debating with myself how best to kill undead skeletons. I’d had a number of days to think about and come to terms with this being my new life, but it was still hard to believe sometimes.
Still smiling to myself, I rose to my feet and oriented myself back in the same direction I’d been heading in the day before. A deep breath and I began making my way forward yet again. I’d been walking for over twenty minutes before another skeleton appeared in the mists. However I drew up short at the sight of it.
It had the same stained bones of all the others, but what drew my eye was the small spark of blue light hovering in one of its eye sockets. Even though the hovering spark couldn’t point in any direction, I could feel when it noticed me, and when that spark locked onto me. Tearing my eyes away from it, I took a split second to look over the rest of it, to my further discouragement.
Tatters of old leather hung from it’s bones, too little to truly protect it, but enough to make hitting it harder. Held in a tight bone grip, was a sword. It didn’t seem to differ too much from the one I held, for which I was grateful. I didn’t know the difference in quality between weapons, but I didn’t want to fight uphill unless I had to. The thing that truly made me hesitate, was when I identified it.
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Undead Skeleton - Level 27
“Ah shit..” Was all I managed to get out before the undead suddenly sped towards me. In contrast to its lower leveled brethren, this skeleton was not only faster, but steadier on its feet. Only my combat skill let me raise my own sword in time to deflect the falling blade.
Shifting back onto my left foot, I managed to slant the skeleton’s momentum to my right. I stepped back quickly, regaining one of the stances that by now came to me instinctually. Without hesitating, I stepped back forward as soon as I had recovered to strike at the skeleton myself, only to find it’s blade in position to block my own.
Warrior of the Sun was a fighting style based around movement and momentum I’d learned, so I quickly disengaged and put a few steps distance between us. Already I could tell the difference between this skeleton and the lower leveled ones I’d fought already.
My momentary amusement at calling skeletons over twice my level as low leveled was cut short by the undead’s blade carving through the air towards me. Sidestepping, I deflected the blow before countering back towards it.
To my surprise, my strike landed. The skeleton had thrown everything behind each strike, and hadn’t recovered to be able to block. I stepped back and away even as it stumbled slightly from the hit. I’d wanted to continue attacking, but Warrior of the Sun let me know that there wasn’t an effective way to strike it again from so close.
Looking for any noticeable signs of damage, I didn’t see any. I gritted my teeth, accepting what I’d already guessed. I’d fight for a short time longer, but if I didn’t start damaging it soon, I would probably wind up running if possible.
As the skeleton charged me again, I stepped forward to meet it. Slapping aside it’s forward thrust with a sideways swipe, my free hand lunged forward. While it would normally be free for spellcasting, in this case I grabbed its clavicle and yanked down brutally.
While I guessed that it’s strength was probably higher than mine, it certainly wasn’t ready for such a sudden pull. It stumbled and fell down, but held onto it’s sword. Before it could raise it for an attack, my own blade was already falling as fast and as hard as I could make it.
A loud cracking sound reverberated through the surroundings as the sword slammed through the shoulder and three ribs. I didn’t waste the time looking over the damage I’d caused, instead immediately backing up. Just as I thought I was out of range, a sudden line of pain seared its way across my back.
Grunting in sudden pain, I leapt away from the attack. Looking back, I groaned.
Undead Skeleton - Level 16
Another skeleton, this time without a sword or armor tatters now stood where I’d been attacked. I spared a quick glance to the first one I’d been fighting, glad to see it only starting to get back on its feet. As I looked back at the new undead, an idea came to me.
Without hesitating, I lunged for the gap between the two undead. I could hear the snapping bone as the first one’s head swung to look at me. A moment later, the newcomer lunged at me with all the wild abandon that it’s kind had. I barely managed to grab it’s arm in time to twist and fling it into the first skeleton.
With the combined force of the throw and the lunge, the two undead crashed into each other and went sprawling. Not wanting to waste my chance, I immediately lunged to follow. Despite everything, I still considered the higher leveled one more dangerous. Without waiting, I slammed my foot down onto it’s back as it tried to rise. The next moment I was shoving my sword through the back of its skull with all the force I could muster.
To my utter satisfaction, a ding resounded in my mind at the action. Knowing I couldn’t waste time on the messages, I instantly dismissed every screen that tried to pop up. Moving to yank my blade up and out, I discovered I’d struck too hard. It didn’t come out.
I looked up just in time to see the remaining skeleton start running for me. I gritted my teeth before jumping out of the way. The undead barreled through the space I had just occupied, claw-like fingers extended.
Scrambling to my feet, I only managed to get up in time to quickly dodge another one of it’s attacks. I thought I’d moved far enough, only for three burning lines to rip across my left arm as it’s claws just barely caught me.
Grimacing against the pain, I threw myself towards the downed skeleton. Scooping up it’s sword in the place of mine, I felt Warrior of the Sun kick back in. Swinging in a hard horizontal arc even as I rose back up to my feet, I felt the blade connect hard with the undead that had been charging me once more.
With that heavy impact staggering the unarmed skeleton, I managed to get in another sword stroke. The undead was on its knees now, and one last brutal blow was enough to carve through its spinal column, toppling the skull off of it.
Breathing heavily, I stared at the two dead skeletons. “Holy fuck..” I managed to get out as I panted. My head shot up as I heard light footsteps coming out of the mist. Shaking my head, I simply gripped my newly stolen sword tight as I started jogging as quietly as I could in the other direction.
I kept jogging for another ten minutes before I let myself stop. Breathing heavily and covered in a not insignificant amount of sweat, I dropped to one knee. “Fuck… me…” muttering to myself, I leaned heavily on my sword.
After another five minutes of rest, I was fairly sure I hadn’t been seen and followed. Thinking back to the fight, I laughed to myself softly. I could only assume the sound of fighting had drawn closer undead towards it. “Alright, fair enough…” I spared a quick but thorough look around me, before taking a look through the messages that had popped up after the fight.
[Ding!] You have defeated a Level 27 Undead Skeleton! You have gained bonus experience from defeating an enemy 21 levels above you!
[Ding!] You have defeated a Level 16 Undead Skeleton! You have gained bonus experience from defeating an enemy 10 levels above you!
[Ding!] You have leveled up to Level 7! You have gained +3 Attribute Points!
[Ding!] You have leveled up to Level 8! You have gained +3 Attribute Points!
…
[Ding!] You have leveled up to Level 14! You have gained +3 Attribute Points!
[Ding!] Warrior of the Sun has leveled up to Level 2!
Would you like to select a Skill and allocate your Attribute Points?
I grinned to myself after seeing all the messages. “Yes, I would very much like to do both those..” I spoke softly, more to myself than to the system. Without second thought, I followed the plan I’d made earlier and invested all the attribute points equally into my physical stats.
Looking at my attributes, I frowned at the health indicator. Finally I realized the missing 463 was from the two hits I’d taken during the fight. Without a second thought, I decided to take a look at them after I selected my newest skill. Speaking of skills..
I was almost certain now that you started with one skill, and gained one every ten levels after. Looking through the available skills, I saw none of them were new. Seeing that, my thoughts instead turned to what would work well with Warrior of the Sun.
The fighting style left a hand open for spellcasting, so I was tempted to grab Solar Blast and take advantage of it. Before I selected it though, I reminded myself that I was already making use of the free hand by yanking the skeletons when I could. With that in mind, I made sure to examine the other options again. Finally, I made a hard decision between Solar Blast and Sunlight Sword.
Sunlight Sword - Level 1
Summon a blade of sunlight to your hand. The blade will both cut and scorch your foes, dealing physical damage and solar damage. The sharpness and damage dealt depends on your strength and intelligence respectively. You can choose to use dexterity over strength.
Combat Skill : Summoning : Solar : Active
I had braced myself for a sudden massive influx of energy at the last second. Realizing too late that the last time I’d chosen a skill I’d fallen unconscious. To my relief, I didn’t pass out. Instead, I felt.. Strangely disquieted for a moment.
Almost as though the warmth that usually sank into me after increasing attributes was detectable again, simmering just below the surface. It took me a long minute to realize that this was the feeling of my class's magic. I could sense it, now that I had a skill that would use it.
With a grin, I eagerly summoned the sword to my hand. I realized a second into the process that I didn’t know how to. By then though, a perfect replica of the swords I’d been using so far had shimmered into existence.
Instead of being made of cold metal though, this sword was quite literal sunlight. The hilt was warm to the touch, and it seemed to mold itself to my hand. A moment later I discovered that the sunlight version of the blade was at least half as heavy, allowing me to swing it with ease. The entire thing was made up of brilliant, shining light. Along the edges of the blade, the light seemed to condense and come to a sharp edge.
I was smiling like a child allowed to have another slice of cake. Standing up from my kneeling position, I marveled at how it felt in my hand. It felt perfect, molded to my hand like a custom imprint. In a way I supposed it was custom, I had summoned it after all.
Swinging it slowly, I grinned. With this, I was going to be able to carve up skeletons far easier. I’d chosen the Sunlight Sword because of how perfectly it worked with Warrior of the Sun. The sword dealt both physical and solar damage, while Warrior of the Sun boosted both types of damage. With the level up in Warrior of the Sun, the damage would be boosted all over again.
Finally, I forced myself to turn my attention to the short, shallow claw marks across my arm and upper back. Glancing back at my health, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was slowly ticking upwards. I figured my class's boost to natural health regeneration was helping me out there.
Considering my total lack of medical equipment, general knowledge of medicine, or anything really, I shrugged. I would just have to rely on my natural regeneration there. Looking back on it, I cursed for not choosing the healing option. I promised myself to choose it next time, no matter how many attractive choices there were. I simply couldn’t rely on always getting such light hits.
Either way, I couldn’t do anything about it right then. The warmth in my palm brought my attention back to the sword glowing in my hand. Smiling slightly, I glanced back up at the sun, quickling figuring out which direction to head.
I spared a short glance at the sword I’d taken from the skeleton, before laughing quietly. I shook my head at the poor piece of metal, but I wasn’t going to slow myself down for no reason. And since I had my fancy new sword…
I smiled, lifting my sword to light the way. I began to make my way to continue further into the mists.