"I'm not falling for that," Bruce said and chuckled. "Now that the tables are turned, why don't we come to an agreement-"
The sound of metal footsteps landing on stone cut him off. A grim fire burned in the eye sockets of the awakened skeleton knight, complete with armor encasing its entire body, except for the helmet on the floor.
"Oh...that's bad," Bruce muttered. "What have you done?"
Mark shot out two magical probes to detect the levels of his two enemies. He was getting better at it. Bruce was Level 3, the same as him, but the Knight was Level 4. Combined with its heavy armor, there was absolutely no way for him to kill it with Magic Missile alone.
"Wait a minute. I can just stealth my way out of here!" Bruce exclaimed. "Your mistake, buddy." He dropped into a crouch and tried to sneak past the knight. A gauntleted fist interrupted his escape. Bruce screamed in pain.
Mark launched a Magic Missile into the skeleton knight's skull, but it tilted its head and dodged. Then it continued to exchange blows with Bruce. The rogue slipped out of the melee with his body bruised, but alive.
"Thank you for taking its sword," Mark said. "That's how it's tracking you. Why don't you leave it on the ground?"
"I don't believe you. It's gotta be some kind of magic," Bruce spat.
"It was worth a try. Now go and distract it, please. You don't do any damage."
Bruce's face turned ugly. He was untrained in using a sword, and dueling an undead knight with impenetrable armor and strong fighting abilities was way out of his league. Only Mark's magic stood a chance at damaging its weak point: its skull.
The skeleton knight stalked towards them and smashed a fist into the air. Bruce wasn't too bad at staying alive. The man was slippery and still remained energetic.
"Use that sword of yours as a shield," Mark recommended. "Let him grab it so that I can blow his head off from behind."
"And risk you attacking me? I'm not putting my back on the line," Bruce shouted. He continued moving backwards. "Why don't you go do that with the helmet?"
Mark maneuvered around the box and grabbed the helmet while the skeleton knight increased the intensity of its attacks. He analyzed it with his magic and was surprised at the detailed description.
Helm of Ruined Light (Uncommon) - A helmet which has stayed idle for centuries in a tomb. Still provides a sturdy defense, though some spots may be more vulnerable than others. Contains bound spells involving light. Currently sealed.
Are all its armor pieces enchanted? What about its weapon? Mark thought.
Bruce slipped out of the melee and dashed to the exit, but the way out was blocked. Somehow, the wall had moved back to its original position and barred them from exiting the space.
"We have to kill the boss before leaving," Mark said. "Haven't you played any games?" He rolled the helmet around, trying to probe for weak spots. But his magic was not precise enough to find them.
Bruce ran back to Mark, trying to get the knight to attack him instead. Yet Mark always remained one step ahead. Magic Missiles fired as warning shots were enough to get the rogue to back off. Bruce was too tired to fend off the skeleton knight and Mark's hostile intentions at the same time.
If the situation continued, he would get exhausted. He had no choice but to do what Mark told him, and attack head on with the sword.
The skeleton knight grinned a terrible grin and clamped its fist onto the blade's edge. Fortunately, Mark was already there, blasting two more Magic Missiles into its skull. The force pushed it back a few steps, and Bruce managed to wrestle away the sword again.
He then tried to slam the weapon into the knight's broken skull, but it moved with unerring accuracy and knocked it away. Then it started to walk towards Mark instead. Bruce's brows shot up and he laughed. "It's over for you now-ack!"
A Magic Missile shimmered through the air and blew a hole into the rogue's neck. Bruce clutched his throat in surprise, staring at him with wide eyes. Mark no longer needed him anymore.
The truth was, after figuring out Bruce's intentions, Mark was never going to leave him alive. With how ruthless the man acted, it was likely his actions led to the death of Jonah. And the pocket plane gave him the means to change the battlefield to favor Mark instead.
As the skeleton knight slowly stomped its way over to his corner, Mark closed his eyes, summoned the portal, and stepped inside. The knight followed soon after, only to catch a Magic Missile into its face. Unlike before, it failed to dodge the strike. Instead, it appeared disoriented upon entry.
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Mark noticed this and jogged around the pocket plane, taking care to avoid the patches of mushrooms. After circling around the skeleton knight, he rushed back out of the room and prepared two Magic Missiles. He smashed them both into the undead monster and fled as soon as it came back out.
Mark repeated this cycle for another few rounds. Cracks grew on the knight's skull, and the flames in its eyes were beginning to dim. Even its already slow speed grew slower somehow. That was great news for Mark, who led it back into the portal one last time.
A final Magic Missile blew open a chunk of its eye, snuffing out the flame and slowing the knight down to a crawl. It even stumbled a couple times - the magical connection to its body must've been damaged. Staying just out of range of its fists, Mark began probing the monster with his identification magic, but much more intrusively than when simply trying to detect its level.
However, his magic kept slipping off, continuing to return several screens about the monster's level. Mark grew suspicious and tried to change things up. He attempted many different variations and magical flows but they all returned the same outcome: Level 4.
The rigidity of the Identification spell became a glaring inconsistency in his mind. It wasn't doing what he wanted. There should've been some sort of change, especially with how he manipulated the energy. He had achieved some results with altering Magic Missile - so why didn't it work now? Was it because he hadn't truly learned the Identification spell? Did it need to appear on his skill list?
He had to get the skeleton knight to stop moving in order to concentrate on how exactly his magic was changing when it interacted with the enemy. Magic Missiles were not enough to penetrate the knight's pauldrons or boots. Instead, he had to try and knock it down, or leave it in a pit to immobilize it.
Mark ran back to Bruce's body and picked up the sword. It too was enchanted with the same "ruined light" modifier, but had the same seal. He favored picking up the helmet much more though since it could serve as a better container for soil.
Luring the knight to crash into its own coffin, Mark then ran into the pocket plane and began scooping up as much dirt as he could before running away. Again and again, he ran and dug, until his arms and legs were sore and shaking. But eventually, a small pit managed to form.
The first part of his plan was complete - now he just needed Bruce's body as a weight. Although his muscles felt like they were tearing apart, Mark pushed through the pain and dragged the corpse next to the hole he had made.
Once Bruce was finally positioned where he needed to be, Mark allowed the knight to come closer and stumble into the newly created hole. Then he ran around and blasted its skull with a weakened Magic Missile. The knight crumpled into the pit, but it hadn't died.
Perfect! Mark cheered. He heaved Bruce's corpse onto the monster and jumped down into the pit as well, weighing down the undead and immobilizing it. His magic crept into the knight's armor and probed at its bones. Every time, he felt it change swiftly into the same identification spell over and over. His alterations had no effect.
The knight, although pressed down with the weight of two men, was still able to exert a considerable effort to free itself. Mark had to take out his bottle of Sleepy Sap to give himself a boost. After numbing his pain, he steadily continued his oppression of the monster.
Eventually, Mark figured out the workings of the Identify spell. And the system gave him his just rewards.
Skill Gained: Identify (Common) - A spell used to analyze many different types of objects. Can access deeper information than with mortal senses alone. Spell quality increased during the tutorial.
"So, the tutorial does have other effects," Mark remarked. He found himself able to prevent his magic from always transforming into Identify whenever he wanted to probe something. With that breakthrough in magical knowledge, he was able to study the remnant spell on the skeleton knight and mimic it the best he could.
Skill Gained: Animate Dead (Common) - Infuse necromantic energies into a corpse of your choosing, animating the body with unlife.
The effects of Sleepy Sap were beginning to wear off. Mark, now finished with what he wanted to accomplish, rained down the last of his Magic Missiles onto the skeleton knight. A shiver ran down his spine once it died.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 4.
But with its death came the disintegration of its armor. Though the helmet and the sword remained intact, the rest of its pristine set had turned into dust. A little upset, Mark checked the two items again with his new spell. Then his eyes widened in joy. They had been unsealed.
Yet there was no significant change in the item description other than that specific portion. It seemed his mastery over Identify hadn't yet reached a suitable level, so he was unable to glean more information. Both items were considered Uncommon, after all.
He'd have to continue practicing the skill Identify on many more items until he upgraded it. For now, he decided to first figure out the effects of his other newest spell before placing any stat points. Luckily, he had a helper right here.
"Bruce, you served me in life, death, and now, undeath as well. Thank you." Mark gave a silly little grin and cast Animate Dead. Long tendrils of magic snaked out from his hands and sank into the corpse. A huge chunk of mana was drained away rapidly, until the spell ended, and the body began to slowly rise.
Once it stood steadily on its feet, Mark immediately noticed its eyes lacked the flames found in its more intelligent brethren. He gave it the enchanted sword to carry then verbally commanded it to swing. When that failed to work, he switched to using a newborn magical connection instead.
Like a puppet, he controlled Bruce to hack at anything it could: dirt, stone, wood, and bone. But the hardier the material it struck, the more it would stagger with each hit. Its stance was completely wrong.
Mark then rammed the animated undead with his shoulder. Although it staggered backwards and almost fell, a pull in their shared magical connection allowed him to stand Bruce upright.
He tested its ability to move. Bruce had the power to walk towards things he magically ordered it to fight, but required constant active control in order to run. Most of Mark's concentration was required to get it to dodge. He was certain he would have to spend a long time practicing to reduce its flaws in combat.
Still, Mark smiled. Even with all these deficiencies, the spell gave him a huge advantage. As long as he let Bruce serve as a distraction, his Magic Missiles would do most of the work.