The tunnel changed slightly as they left the cave. Where the previous tunnel, which Tom referred to as tunnel number 1, had been about five meters tall and 3 wide, the new tunnel, tunnel 2, was around 15 meters wide and 10 meters high. The floor, however, was more pitted and uneven than before, which made walking more treacherous in the low light.
It wasn’t long before they ran into another skeleton, except this time, there were two of them. Just like the first skeleton, they were standing dead still in the middle of the tunnel, not moving, just swaying back and forth. To Tom, it looked almost like they were dormant or asleep, maybe.
The group had been standing further away from the skeletons than the first one they had encountered back in the cave; Mark's enhanced senses had alerted the group to their presence well before they were shown by the light of the torch.
Tom used Evaluate on both, earning himself another 2 experience points, which he wasn’t expecting. He’d thought that since they were the same type of creature, they’d only count for one, but it seemed that Evaluate thought otherwise and was counting each creature as its own separate entity; he wondered if it would be the same for objects and other items like swords, he’d have to test it out later. The information he received from Evaluate was pretty slim.
Skeleton Warrior
Race: Undead
Level: 1
Based on what they had encountered back in the cave, they thought that these skeletons must be on the same level as the one they had killed. Based on this, the group split into 2 teams. Mark, the only one with a shield, would handle one on his own as he could block and attack effectively on his own. The other three would work together to take on the 2nd skeleton. Tom would hold the torch and provide light, but he would focus on his group's skeleton over trying to provide Mark with light.
This was because of the short discussion they’d had on the walk before they’d encountered the current skeletons. Mark, along with taking the Axe Mastery skill, had also taken the Agility skill Sense, which, he informed them, had enhanced his eyesight and hearing just enough that he was confident that he would be able to make it out in the shadows. Even if it hadn’t, Mark would probably be able to move around enough to stay in the light Tom thought.
Adam had taken Sword Mastery to go with his longsword, along with an Agility skill called Quick Hands, which improved weapon handling and precision, according to him. Dave had similarly taken Quick Hands but was refusing to take Spear Mastery because of his disdain for the weapon and was waiting to find a better one that he liked.
Judging by the fact that all 3 of the others had gotten weapon mastery skills from the weapons they had hit the skeleton with, and Tom had only gotten Shield Mastery, he suspected that if he participated in the fight by at least hitting the skeleton with his sword, then he would also be offered Sword Mastery in his skill menu and likewise, Mark would get Shield Mastery for using the shield against his foe.
With nothing else to organise, the two groups split and moved toward their targets, which both noticed their approach and reacted in the same way as the previous skeleton.
They raised their swords and pointed them towards their target (Mark and Adam in this case) and charged silently, their purple irises pulsing inside their heads.
The fight went better than expected, at least on Mark’s side. From what Tom saw, he’d been able to block his skeleton’s charge with his shield by angling the face upwards, so the sword scraped across the surface, losing much of the intended force, instead of trying to stop it dead as Tom had. Of course, Mark’s strength was more than double Tom’s, so he was able to absorb the remaining force easily and swap to attacking. Tom had noticed it back in the first fight, but Mark was very proficient with how he attacked, even before he had gotten the level up and Axe Mastery. He must have been a former soldier or a police officer, maybe even a boxer, someone who was used to hand-to-hand combat and could keep their cool. After stopping deflecting the sword thrust, Mark set about ruthlessly dismantling his opponent. Swing after swing hit bone while he bobbed and weaved around his opponent’s sword. Tom wasn’t sure if it was the skill or not, but within a few seconds of starting the fight, Mark had already cut several ribs from the chest and removed the skeleton’s non-sword arm from the elbow down without taking any meaningful blows himself.
His fight, on the other hand, was not going as smoothly.
Adam had rushed forward with Dave in tow while Tom, with his torch, had stayed back and a few meters to the side of Dave so he could provide light, which hadn’t worked well.
The skeleton had charged toward Adam, who had dived out of the way of the blade as it neared him, leaving Dave now in its path. Dave responded with a banshee yell of anger as he was left to tackle the rapidly approaching threat. He managed to lower his spear in time and use it to batter away the arm of the skeleton by crouching down and using his body weight to move the end of the spear quicker than he could with just his hands. Unfortunately for Dave, while he was concerned about the sword, he forgot about the thing holding it. The skeleton, who had still been running the whole time, collided with Dave in a clatter of bones and flesh.
The sound had reminded Tom of his first job as a teenager when he’d worked for a local butcher who had been the father of one of his few friends in high school. The man would take the carcass of the animal from the fridge, heft them onto his shoulder, and then slam them down on the prepared wooden cutting bench that he used to dismantle them for his shop display. That same deep, dull slap as flesh and bone met the surface of the cutting bench was the same sound that the skeleton and Dave’s body made as they came together.
Dave was flung backward; his spear, knocked out of his hands by the impact, went flying above Tom’s head and clattered to the ground. He landed on his back, the momentum rolling him up and over several times before he came to rest on his stomach.
The skeleton had also fallen from the impact but unlike Dave, it had managed to keep a hold of its sword. While it slowly picked itself up from the ground, Adam approached it from behind. Having dived out of the way to avoid the skeleton, he had used its collision with Dave to approach it without risk of being attacked. Swinging his sword down with both hands, he struck the skeleton at the joint in its shoulder just as it had managed to rise to a crouch. The sword passed through the joint, and the arm, along with the sword it held, dropped to the floor.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Adam grinned at the successful attack and drew his sword back for another swing. The skeleton, however, was not going to let Adam have his victory so easily and swung its entire body around to its left, catching Adam in the side of his ribs with its left elbow. Before Adam could react to the attack, the skeleton had drawn its arm back again and punched Adam in the chest, sending him stumbling backward as he clutched his chest with gritted teeth. The blow seemed to have winded him as he struggled to stay upright while his chest heaved breathlessly.
Seeing the skeleton prepare itself for another follow-up, Tom gripped his torch and sword tightly and rushed forward. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was going to do, and he was still petrified of getting into another fight. But, he thought to himself, if he didn't do something now, then it might get to Adam, and he wasn't looking in the best shape.
As he closed in on the skeleton, which was still facing toward Adam, his heart was in his mouth. If anything happened now, no one would step in and help him like last time. Adam and Dave were both down with injuries or trying to recover, and Mark was still busy with his own fight.
He dropped the torch as he ran and gripped the sword with both hands, his knuckles turning white. He closed within striking range and started to swing; the skeleton had managed to find its feet and had taken a few steps towards Adam, who was still trying to catch his breath.
His arms curled around his body to the right so that his sword jutted out behind him, horizontally to the ground. He planted his left foot firmly into the ground next to where the skeleton stood and twisted his body to the left, bringing his sword around in a great arc, his arms fully extended out.
As the sword swung closer, time slowed down. Tom could see that his sword was on target to bisect the neck of the skeleton and hopefully kill it. But as he watched the sword glacially follow its path through the air, he felt a moment of… something, then he saw with horror that the skeleton had begun to turn to face him. As it turned, it ducked slightly, and his sword, instead of cutting cleanly through its neck, ran full force into its skull, cracking the formerly pristine white bone, before glancing upwards.
The blow knocked the skeleton back to the ground, while Tom was spun about until he tripped on his own feet and fell onto his back, his head smacking into the ground, leaving him dazed. His sword flew out of his hands and into the air, becoming a missile that streaked toward the other fight occurring on the other side of the tunnel.
His head spinning, Tom winced as he tried to stand up, but he felt something grab his leg. His eyes bolted open, and he cried out in terror as the skeleton, still on the ground, managed to grab onto him with its remaining arm and was beginning to haul itself over towards him.
He scrambled backward, breaking free of the skeleton’s grasp, his arms windmilling as he desperately grabbed for handholds on the rocky floor.
The hollow sockets of its skull seemed to burn with that eerie purple light, pulsating faster, almost in rhythm with Tom's racing heartbeat. His breath hitched as the skeleton’s bony fingers scraped and clattered over the ground, inching closer to him.
A sickening chill crawled up his spine as he felt the skeleton's iron-like grip on his leg again. He tried to pull his leg free, but it was locked solid; his pants tore as he desperately kicked out, lashing the skeleton's face and chest with kicks, but it barely slowed the creature’s relentless crawl as it moved up his body.
Tom’s mind screamed at him to move, to do something, but he was frozen, his muscles locked with fear as the skeleton’s face loomed closer, teeth clacking together as though it was savouring his terror. His scrabbling hands finally found something behind him that he could grab, and he locked on it with his left hand. He pulled, and it came away from the ground; bringing it before him, the light suddenly increased in brightness as the torch he grabbed came into view.
With nothing else left to him, he shoved the torch forward, jamming it into the skeleton's eye socket.
The skeleton jerked backward off of Tom’s body as the torch made contact, then started to thrash around wildly, its remaining arm flailing around. Tom moved back a few meters to give himself some breathing room as he watched the spectacle.
The skeleton continued to thrash around for a few moments before stopping, its arm falling to its side. The head stopped moving, and the clattering stopped. The skeleton collapsed, each bone falling away from the others into a pile on the ground. The skull, with the torch still embedded in its eye socket, crashed on top of the pile.
A blinking notification appeared in the corner of his vision.
Notifications
Kill notice – Lvl 1 Skeleton Warrior
You have killed a Lvl 1 Skeleton Warrior.
You have been granted 13 Experience Points
You achieved the final blow.
You have been granted 40 additional Experience Points
Tom collapsed backward, resting his head on the ground. He let out a giant pent-up breath in relief.
“Well, that sucked”
He lay there for a moment, recovering his breath, feeling his racing heart start to subside, and the throb in his head start to fade.
For the first time since the fight started, he noticed that there was no sound in the tunnel. No clashing of swords, no clattering of bones.
Opening his eyes and propping himself up with his elbows, he observed that Mark already won his fight and was now bending over to pick up something from the ground. Adam had sunk to one knee and was using his sword as a learning post as he greedily sucked in breaths. Dave was still lying on the ground, unmoving.
Tom groaned as he rolled to his knees and tried to stand. His body protesting about the most recent physical activity quite vehemently.
“You all good?” he called over to Adam.
“Yeah,” he managed, clutching his ribs. “Just taking a breather.”
Tom nodded and wandered over to where Dave lay. His skin looked paler than usual, but since the light from the torch distorted the colour somewhat, he couldn’t tell for sure. He slowly crouched down and put his fingers on his neck to check his pulse.
Just as he made contact with his skin, Dave’s eyes snapped open, and his hand latched onto Tom’s arms.
“Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Me.” Dave growled at him.
Tom stood up and backed away as Dave slowly started to sit up.
Ok, note to self, don’t fuck with that guy. Fucking crazy. Tom thought to himself.
He turned around and started walking back towards Adam when he noticed Mark approaching him. He stood in front of Tom and raised his arm towards Tom. He had Tom’s sword in his hand, which had last seen flying across the tunnel during his fight with the skeleton. Tom offered his thanks to Mark, who nodded as Tom took the sword and walked over to a hump in the middle of the tunnel to take a seat.
Tom used Evaluate on the sword.
Iron Short Sword
An Iron Short Sword
Quality: Basic
Bonuses: None
Condition: 85%
He sighed loudly. Two fights in a row, and in both, he’d very nearly been seriously hurt or worse. He wasn’t cut out for this. At least his sword was still in good nick and could last a few more fights before he would need to consider changing it out for another weapon.
He noticed that the blinking notification had appeared in the corner of his vision again. Opening it, he saw that he had another kill notification
Notifications
Kill notice – Lvl 1 Skeleton Warrior
You have killed a Lvl 1 Skeleton Warrior.
You have been granted 20 Experience Points
He laughed quietly to himself as he stood in the middle of the tunnel. Somehow, he’d managed to help Mark kill his skeleton. He wasn’t sure how, though. At this point, however, he didn’t care. The skeleton crawling after him and nearly dying for the second time in as many hours had left him feeling rattled.
He wanted every edge he could get his hands on. He wanted to survive this. He knew he was weak compared to the others, but he wasn’t going to just give up. Not yet, at least.
This would be his new start, and he would do whatever he needed to do to make it work.
He was about to open his status menu once more when Mark stood up quickly.
“More coming”, he growled in a low tone, gesturing towards the inky depths of the tunnel.