### Arthur ###
Arthur sat on a cold slab of rock before the entrance to the Entity’s crypt. His hands remained clasped, eyes staring at the entrance, heart palpitating from the pressure throbbing in his chest.
Time was running out.
He wished it could converse with him. Perhaps they’d foster a better relationship if the Entity could, but sadly, that wasn’t the case.
Thump.
Thump.
Hefty steps echoed from the dark mouth of the crypt. He thought it to be the hulking skeleton with the massive shield at first, but the lack of steel in the steps cautioned him otherwise.
A familiar skeleton peered through the darkness beyond the entrance.
“Fuck… It’s really happening.” Sarah gasped. “Look…”
It’s the lizard.
A gaggle of ten skeletons accompanied the walking remains of the scarred venom outside. Even without its scales and flesh, the memories of their battle still hung fresh in his mind, and…
…Arthur couldn’t be more relieved to have it on his side. He couldn’t stop grinning.
But it wasn’t just the scarred Venom that exited the crypt.
“These ten…” Arthur shifted to the side, studying the ten skeletons beneath the lizard’s shadow. “…will they come with us?”
All ten skeletons nodded.
“That’s generous.” Arthur raised his eye. “…Thank you?”
Well… Valkyrie promised a sweet reward, too.
He turned around to see his friends’ sigh of relief. They’d witnessed—and tasted—their effectiveness in combat firsthand, and those who hadn’t—heard of their strength.
No. They’re even stronger now. These skeletons looked bulkier, stauncher than the ones they fought alongside with. Thicker bones, better armors and weapons, each a rival to the men in Arthur’s camp—and he’d dare say they were better in some ways. The lack of human emotions meant they wouldn’t lose their cool in battle. No fear of death meant there was no risk of desertion; every soldier operated under a single will, and that will resided inside their crypt, its—or his—observant eyes always watching, always… thinking.
But the humanoid recreations were overshadowed by the elephant standing in their midst. The monstrous being they fought tooth-and-nails against, a proud being… stripped of its flesh and scales. this-
The bone lizard slithered past them. The sunset colored its silhouette a shade of amber.
[Invasion will begin in twelve hours.]
[Four markers have appeared on the horizon.]
Four diamond shaped markers hung above a straight line of light on the horizon. They were equidistant apart, each marking the spot where the waves would originate from. Arthur’s group darted their eyes back and forth, both surprised and… thinking.
The first one to note their sudden shift in behavior was Grimright.
“Twelve hours…” he spoke, looking toward the setting sun, “…The markers have appeared. We don’t have a beacon, so we can’t spot it.”
They faced the invasion before. Arthur nodded.
“Two will cross this crypt before reaching us…” Justine pointed at the spot behind the crypt’s entrance.” Then turned the other way, “and the largest marker…”
The one with a skull above the marker. Arthur frowned. No guesses were necessary.
“There.” She frowned. “I think… that’s the chieftain.”
Right between their beacon and its crypt.
“It’s fifty-fifty.” Arthur made it clear. To be frank, he’d love it if the bulk of their forces came to the crypt instead of them.
Can’t exactly say that, can I? He took a deep breath. The entity’s kind enough to help him… the least he could do was return the favor.
“If the chieftain comes here… we’ll definitely help.” He announced his intentions. “I… hope you’ll come to us if the opposite happens.”
The draugr shook his head. “That isn’t a decision I can make.”
Of course. The entity is in charge.
“I’ll tell everyone not to attack any skeletons on sight… in case you wish to roam the forest for more corpses tonight,” Arthur cleared his throat. “I suppose this is our cue to leave. Justine… the scrolls.”
“Here.” Justine flung a few rolls of [Detect invisibility] scrolls to the draugrs. “Nightblades are a pain in the ass. I figure this may help you.” She faced Judas, “Potions?”
One of the draugrs came and retrieved their scrolls and potions.
“I hope we’ll see each other again.” Arthur glanced at the darkening skies. Their apparent loyalty to the Entity was… well, respectable, in a way. “Goodbye.”
###
The crypt grew smaller as the humans made their journey back to their beacon. None showed any interest in chatting, opting to wander in their thoughts, their faces tense and cold, anxious about the incoming slaughter.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Arthur didn’t doubt they’d lose a few men. Even the strong ones, him included, could very well perish tomorrow.
Would the Entity’s contributions topple the odds in their favor?
A glance at the skeletal lizard and its entourage behind them answered him. If this thing didn’t help… then Arthur’s group was truly doomed.
“Arthur.” Desmond’s voice took his mind away from the lizard. “What the hell’s happening?”
“We need help.” He shrugged, “We found help.”
The old man grinned. “How the hell you managed to finesse your way into it, I don’t know, but…” He shot a look at the rest of their group, “-I’m not gonna say more. Let’s not jinx it.”
It’s not because of me, Arthur faced the other way. Valkyrie…
[You have to make it through the tutorial.]
That’s the plan.
Granting the entity even more power… Arthur wished he could speak his mind then, but his Goddess was adamant about him making it past the tutorial. The seed… how important was it?
His eyes fell to his open palms. The steel and leather did not mask the tension coiling his fingers, he could see it bright as day—he was… afraid. Not just at the invasion, no…
But also at the skeletons behind him. If he thought it a foolish choice to challenge them before… now, he wouldn’t even entertain that idea.
God damn it. I miss home.
###
Night greeted the tutorial zone with its somber darkness. The bells and whistles of rank two constructs aside, he still had more essences to gather outside… which meant more work for him and the draugrs.
“Do you see it?”
“A few…” One of them whispered under the cover of darkness.
“Good…” Grimright raised his hand. Then he let it go. “Now.”
Arrows and spells flared as projectiles flew toward their prey. A soft whimper followed the explosion of noise… then silence.
Yrsa’s voice rang from behind. “We got it.”
“Good.”
It’s my turn.
Arthur’s skeletons reaped the rewards once the sable-furred beasts were slain. His rogues—now assassins—worked extremely well as scouts. With Frail’s nigh-omniscience vision, he could then relay their locations to the draugrs with a mere flick of ranger’s wrists, keeping track of their whereabouts at all times.
He could simply kill them, of course, but then the draugrs wouldn’t obtain shared experience.
“Are you certain you do not need our help with the carcasses?” Grimright asked the same question again.
The informative ranger shook its bony head.
Grimright’s gaze drifted away. He’s thinking.
“Nights like these…” He then spoke. Frail didn’t miss his sentimental gaze despite how tiny they appeared. “I miss home.”
I don’t. He had no purpose on the old Earth. Here… Not so much.
Their home… What sort of world did the draugrs live in? He imagined a cold, dreary world, where life struggled to get its footing.
He rested his hands on his hips. “Does your world look like this?” He gestured at the general surroundings.
The forests, maybe. Frail’s skeleton shrugged.
The waving trees, the rustling leaves, the thick roots coiling around each other and snaking above ground… a picture of a typical forest. Frail wouldn’t be able to tell he had arrived in another world had there been no monsters in sight.
I can’t talk… but maybe…
He drew lines on the soil. Yes.
“What is it?” Grimright followed his construct’s finger. “I… don’t understand. Is it a writing? Your language?”
They understand spoken English… but not written words. His construct shook its head. Nevermind.
“Our world was cold. All we see was white powder over rocks.” Grimright continued. “The snow never ends there. The humans lived in warmer climates… never got a chance to speak with them much. I admit that we never had a… positive relationship with humans. Frail noted the coldness emanating from his stare, “…never understood them. Even less so now.”
“But that’s simply prejudice,” The draugr’s gaze turned soft and fell on Frail’s construct, “Arthur… do you trust him?”
Maybe I do. But our relationship is more… you scratch my back, I scratch yours. Trust would be a strong word to describe how he felt about them. He knew they couldn’t harm him, and they saw benefits in fostering a peaceful relationship with him. Frail saw the benefits of helping—the essences and Valkyrie’s gift, primarily. But after that…
What about Grimright and the draugrs? They disliked the humans, sure, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t trust them.
“If I may,” Grimright brushed off a stray hair from his cheek, “I believe it is best if we take hold of their beacon. The benefits that thing gives…” His eyes went elsewhere again, “…Thorgrim always stressed how important it is to possess one.”
Frail’s power did not come from beacons at this moment, unfortunately. It’d be a waste of resources to even try… not when the invasion loomed closer every passing day.
“Draugrs… it takes a lot to kill us. Fire, primarily.” Grimright’s palm closed into a fist. “Death is a novel word. It takes effort for us to die. Here… I feel we can die at a moment’s notice… We do not take life for granted; as little of it we have.”
Is he afraid of death?
“Pardon my ramblings,” The draugr chuckled. “If you stand to benefit from aiding the humans, then I have no reservations. The others feel the same. Do not feel that you need to alter your decisions for our benefit, Entity. We owe you enough as-is.” Grimright sighed. “I believe there are more of us out there. If Thorgrim made it… then our Queen…” His eyes glazed as he scanned the night sky. “…doesn’t matter now.”
His scout spotted another school of the sable-furred beasts. More.
“Yrsa.” Grimright waved her over. “There.”
###
More carcasses found their way into Frail’s domain. With Frail’s expansive vision, blazing fast assassins, and compounded with the draugrs support, they netted close to fifteen kills before he saw hints of sunrise creeping from the distance. His other skeletons roamed the forest for additional carcasses the humans left behind.
In total, Frail dragged in 27 sable-furred beasts. These included the remnants of the human’s past kills.
[Drain essence]
[You gained 600 essences] x 27
[You gained 16,200 essences.]
[You now have 21,370 essences.]
[Corpse extraction]
[You gain 8,100 essences.]
[You now have 29,470 essences.]
[Extraction summary]
[24x sable furred beast. Total essence: 8,100]
Good enough. Time for the lancer to shine.
Frail re-opened his Grave lancer’s upgrade window. First… Gravely thrust and Evasion. Each cost him 5,500 essences.
[You spent 11,000 essences.]
[You now have 18,470 essences remaining.]
He saw his Grave lancer growing in size and power.
Before he proceeded, Frail inspected the lancer’s new ability.
New ability - Rapid thrust - Attacks 3 times in succession, each attack dealing 50% of its original damage + 20% strength and dexterity. Costs: 7,000 essences. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Raises level by 3.
More offense. Looks great, but did he had enough to get everything he wanted? The armor + weapon upgrades cost him an additional 7,000 essences…
I do. Armor and weapon upgrades. The new skill…
[You spent 14,000 essences.]
[You now have 4,470 essences remaining.]
Ability upgrade - Rapid thrust - 2 - Every attack that connects lowers the cooldown of Gravely thrust by 1 second. +5 strength, +10 dexterity Costs: 12,000 essences. Cooldown: 10 seconds. Raises level by 6.
Not enough for the next one. The armor+weapon upgrades granted more attributes at the moment.
And just to make sure his lancer became the best version it could be…
Frail opted to upgrade [Lance Rush] over its attributes. 2 charges on mobility could be life-saving—for both it and any other threat nearby, should it find the need to help out others.
[You spent 3,500 essences.]
[You now have 970 essences remaining.]
He spent the last 800 on his skeleton assassins on a dexterity attribute upgrade.
[You now have 170 essences remaining.]
Frail had done all he could.
He glanced at the outside world; the rising sun heralded the coming of their demise.