The skeletons were more alert than any they had faced so far. They didn’t wobble or hesitate, and their motions were fluid. As Edgar and Mirai charged, the skeletons’ eyes locked onto them, bony limbs settling into fighting stances.

The stakes were high. If the Amalgamation’s large green weapon was poisoned, these smaller blades were likely also poisoned.

At the last moment, the skeletal spearmen stepped to the front of their formation. Tapping [Overdrive], Edgar took advantage of a burst of speed, dodging past the first spear and knocking aside the other two. This created an opening and Mirai’s glaive chopped right down into it.

The air vibrated with the music of moon metal.

The skeleton took damage, staggering backward. Hunks of grey material broke off its shoulder, but it spread its feet, found solid footing, and grabbed onto her weapon. Two of the hand-to-hand skeletons latched on as well.

Edgar’s eyes locked onto its unprotected chest and he slid under Mirai’s glaive.

His [Tail Whip] hit hard, cracking ribs and sending all three skeletons rolling backward. The spearman was slow to rise, with one of its legs missing a few pieces, but the hand-to-hand skeletons flipped right to their feet.

Mirai twirled her weapon, scowling. “Doesn’t count towards the score!”

“Who’s counting?” Edgar snickered, moving so they stood back to back.

She twirled the glaive, deflecting attacks from two spearmen at once. Her concentration was intense and he marveled at how quickly she was adapting to the new weapon. She occasionally grunted in frustration as the weapon didn’t quite do what she wanted, but he wasn’t about to hold that against her.

In the corner of his eye, Edgar could see the swordsmen and hand-to-hand fighters forming up around them, preparing to rush. He cursed, realizing he’d lost track of the archer too. Glancing around the arena, he noticed a glint of metal in the shadows headed for Mirai.

Damn, right. My awareness won’t work if they aim for her! I’ll have to keep its attention.

He reacted instinctively, pivoting his feet and tapping into [Parry]. The bone metal plates of his armor glistened with the skill as he successfully knocked aside the arrow, but there were two more close behind that he hadn’t seen.

His brain moved at light speed. [Acrobatics] would let him dodge the blow, but Mirai was right behind him. [Parry] was already on cooldown, as was [Overdrive]. At the last moment, he raised his tail, letting the hard end of that take one arrow, and had just enough time to cross his arms over his chest, barring his bracers, and hoping for the best.

He could feel a dull twinge in his tail as the first arrow struck, but there was barely any sensation in that part of his tail. The second arrow hit his bracers and knocked the breath right out of his lungs. Even with his feet planted, he skidded backwards, pushing up against Mirai’s back.

“You ok?”

“Huuufhh… Fine. Totally fine.”

“Good, the swordsmen are coming.”

Sure enough, Mirai had succeeded in knocking spears aside to buy an opening, but the nearby fighters stepped in to fill the void. The fight was faster paced than any they had fought so far. [Tail Whip]’s three second cooldown hadn’t even burned off yet. The only skills not on cooldown were [Leap], [Scratch], and [Acrobatics].

Three of them were already underneath Mirai’s glaive, swords and gauntlets gleaming in the dim light.

Time to get creative.

“Switch!” Edgar shouted, with only enough time for a single word.

He could feel her react, moving without question. She ignored the incoming strikes and effectively placed her life in his hands—trusting him completely. She didn’t have a clue what he was thinking, but she believed in him.

He settled onto his toes, launching forward as the skeleton’s swords and fists came to claim her life. He activated [Leap].

Instead of jumping up, he jumped forward, throwing a shoulder at one skeleton and hitting the other two with his claws, managing to hook into their ribs and yank them off their feet. As they tumbled together, Edgar made the most of the chaos with [Acrobatics] and [Scratch]. He traded blows with one of the hand-to-hand fighters, raking it with his claws as it pummeled him right back. His attack left large furrows in the grey bone, but it didn’t shatter.

He made sure to use [Acrobatics] to land on top of the skeleton he had tackled and the sound of cracking bone rewarded his efforts. Moving quickly, he rolled away and found his feet. The tackled skeleton tried to rise, but couldn’t quite keep itself together now that it was missing a few key vertebrae. The others were already coming for him.

Two skeletons mostly down. Eight to go.

He glanced at Mirai, now outnumbered three to one. Her glaive hummed as she swung it through the air. It was taking everything she had to fend off the attacks, but she was holding out. In total, four skeletons were running at him now, including the two he had dragged away from Mirai.

A spike of adrenaline shot through his body as [Animal Awareness] activated, revealing he had the archer’s attention as well. It was moving fast, already on the opposite side of the room from its last few shots, and two arrows zipped at Edgar from behind. Knowing how hard the arrows hit, he tapped [Parry] and tried to deflect the first with as light a touch as he could manage. The force of it still rattled him, but he had enough mobility to twist away and dodge the second arrow. The other skeletons were nearly on him now and all of his skills except [Acrobatics] were off cooldown.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It was time to have some fun.

He used [Overdrive] to dodge away, running towards the center of the room, where the Amalgamation had stabbed one of its swords into the floor. He could feel the green aura of rot and poison radiating off it.

The four skeletons chased him and he slowed down, allowing them to catch up just enough. With the last dregs of [Overdrive], he jumped sideways at the sword and planted his feet on the flat of the blade. Tapping [Leap] and [Tail Whip], he launched himself at the skeletons. The club of his tail pulverized the majority of one skeleton’s torso and grey bones scattered across the ground. The other skeleton, a hand-to-hand fighter, reacted quickly and its cold, bony hand wrapped around his wrist while its other cocked back and pounded him in the chest.

Edgar tumbled away, half his health gone. He slid to his knees, trying to collect himself, but his awareness alerted him to more incoming arrows, forcing him to throw himself further away. His body crashed right into the wall and another bit of health evaporated.

All that effort and we’ve only taken down four?

Level one sucks.

I want my OP one shots.

Three skeletons were charging at him. Across the battlefield, Mirai had dropped one of her three, but had paid for it. One arm looked like it was hanging limp at her side, with blood dripping from her fingers, but she fought on. Her face was a mask of determination and focus. She didn’t so much as look at him, focusing entirely on her own fight.

He sighed, rising to his feet and dusting himself off. She was truly a skilled and fearsome fighter, and he had earned her trust. Her respect. They were a party. There was no way he was about to lose to these boneheads and leave her outnumbered.

No way.

The skeletons were almost on him, but his mind was again working overtime. It was like time slowed down as the skeletons neared him. He could see all the openings and a combo came to mind almost immediately. He felt a tickle from his awareness and reacted instantly. [Overdrive] activated first and he snuck under the guard of one skeleton. [Scratch] flared and bones that were already furrowed split into pieces. Then, he pivoted into a crouch, his shoulder catching another skeleton at the hip. He tapped [Leap] and launched himself into the air, carrying the skeleton upward.

Hurriedly, he glanced around and spotted the archer nocking another arrow. He kicked the skeleton at his side, and it flew at the archer like a missile of grey bones. Then, he focused on the last two skeletons below, curling into a ball with [Acrobatics].

He reached into his core and a single skill rose up to meet him, surging with excitement, [Tail Whip].

The club of his tail came down hard. The two skeletons tried to block the blow together, but the fall-enhanced strike overwhelmed them. Both lost a good chunk of their bodies. He kicked the skull of one, sending it rolling across the room, and then used [Scratch] and a second [Tail Whip] to finish the second.

Across the room, Mirai had already taken one down and the final skeleton had a glowing [Moon Mark] on its face, clearly moments from its doom.

They had done it! The final room. The final boss! They were going to win.

His awareness screamed at him and Edgar’s tired body could only react so fast. The arrow nicked him in the shoulder as he tried to roll away.

“Edgar!” He could hear Mirai’s scream from across the room as his health dropped again, dipping into critical. A familiar message appeared.

Condition Afflicted: [Rot]

* Creatures affected by this condition continually take damage proportional to the amount of their body inflicted with [Rot].

* Removed by healing.

“Ah, shit… This was going so well…”

The archer stepped out from a shadow near the sword in the center of the room and nocked another arrow. He could feel it gloating as it stared at him.

Edgar grabbed one of the bones near him and bit it…

Nothing? Damn… Well, it was worth a try…

He scowled and charged the archer, channeling his frustration into [Acrobatics]. He rolled and jumped like a wild animal.

The archer fired three shots…

and three shots missed…

Then Edgar’s tail clobbered it in the skull, cracking it down the middle.

“Edgar, no! You got rot!!!” Mirai shouted, sprinting over.

Event Cleared:

[Defeat the Amalgamation of Bone]

Rift Cleared:

[The Ancient Tomb]

Attempting to Portal the Rift:

…

..

.

Portal construction failed. Rift remains [unstable].

Rewards:

* Completion Bonus: 34 Silver, 6 Iron, 62 Copper

* Portal Bonus: None

* Extra Bonuses: None

* Reward Total: 34 Silver, 6 Iron, 62 Copper

The feeling of essence entering their core was overwhelming. By far and away the most they had gotten from any fight in the rift, but Edgar was barely paying attention. He quickly activated [Bulk Loot] and a number of items appeared in his inventory, bones turning to dust. Eyeing the Amalgamation’s sword, he edged closer and activated [Bulk Loot] again, watching the weapon disappear into his inventory. Finally, with a rumbling, tearing sound, a thin line of inky blackness appeared in the center of the room.

Rift Exit: Black Mountain.

* Conditions: [unstable]

* Rift will collapse in 1 minute.

* … in 59 seconds.

* … in 58 seconds.

“We’ll sort out the loot later?”

“Obviously!! Go, Edgar! Get going!!”

~~~~~~~~~~

* Check out the Stats Page for this Chapter here