Kaelen and Vessira continued through the cold, stone chamber, their footsteps echoing in the emptiness. No more skeletons had appeared, and the monotonous stretch of the hallway made the place feel eerily deserted. The chamber itself was dull—a straight corridor with larger rooms spaced out every hundred feet or so, each as empty as the last.
The absence of any new enemies bothered Kaelen. "This feels off," he muttered, eyes scanning for any sign of movement. The silence was unnerving, and the lack of resistance after the first group of skeletons left him feeling on edge. Something wasn’t right.
The duo entered another empty room, this one dominated by a large chest sitting right in the center. The only exit was the one they'd just come through. Kaelen eyed it suspiciously. "This is obviously a trap, right?" he muttered, not amused by the dungeon’s painfully obvious design.
Vessira nodded from her perch. "Yeah, this is pretty suspicious."
Kaelen stepped toward the chest, placing a hand on its lid. "You're really going to open such a clearly trapped chest?" Vessira asked, her voice tinged with disbelief.
Kaelen nodded, his expression resigned. "There's no other way out that I can see. Might as well take a gamble. I’d rather risk it than starve down here."
Vessira retreated back into his armor, her voice echoing with a hint of concern. "Well, just be careful. I kind of like you, and it would be a shame to see you die."
Kaelen smirked, gripping the chest lid. "I have no plans to die today, Vessira."
With a creak, he lifted the chest open. Inside, a pair of steel gauntlets gleamed faintly in the dim light. He picked them up, feeling the cool weight in his hands. The chest suddenly sank into the ground, and the wall behind them groaned before sliding open, revealing a new room.
"Guess that worked," Kaelen muttered, a hint of relief in his voice.
Vessira sighed with relief as the wall slid open. It wasn’t a trap, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the dungeon wouldn’t get any easier from this point on. She flew out of Kaelen’s armor, her gaze fixed on the steel gauntlets now snugly fitted onto his hands. A look of disbelief crossed her face—those could have easily been cursed.
'Such a strange man,' she thought. 'Sometimes it feels like he thinks things through, and other times he just does whatever, with no regard for his own safety.'
Kaelen was a puzzle to her. He seemed smart, but he couldn’t read. He stood as tall as a bear on its hind legs, yet he wasn’t quick to resort to violence. His back was covered in hundreds of scars, clearly from years of brutal whippings, but he didn’t carry the bitterness one might expect from such a past.
And then, there was his appearance. He was, without a doubt, the most gorgeous man she had ever seen—almost too beautiful. She was glad they weren’t in the city; she wasn’t sure Kaelen would survive the advances of the vicious city girls... or even some of the men.
She flew out of his armor and landed on his head, lying on her stomach. Kaelen never commented when she perched there, and since he’d never shooed her off, she figured he didn’t mind.
"Hey, Kaelen, why do you keep pushing yourself to get stronger? What drives you to try so hard?" Vessira asked, her voice curious.
Kaelen's hand tightened around his sword. After a moment, he began to speak. "Well, you're pretty smart, so you’ve probably already figured out I was a slave. At first, my only goal was to escape—get strong enough so no one could ever put me back in chains. That part is still important, but..." His grip loosened, his hand slipping from the sword hilt as his face darkened with anger. "But now there’s a man I need to kill. He watched my mother die when he could’ve saved her. He let me rot in chains, even though we share blood."
His voice grew harsher. "Still, I have one thing to thank him for—his ridiculous test gave me my freedom. And I’m going to make him regret ever giving it to me."
Vessira smiled weakly. This was the angriest she had ever seen Kaelen. She hadn’t known him long, but he never struck her as the type to hold onto anger—he seemed gentle most of the time. But now, she understood that behind that gentleness was something darker. She remembered how he had put a snake several times his size in a chokehold, how he cleaved through the skeletons with no hesitation.
Most new adventurers hesitated when facing undead, recognizing them as people who were once human. But Kaelen didn’t seem fazed by it at all. Vessira couldn’t help but think that he had probably already killed a man before.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Kaelen continued walking until they finally reached another door, this one fully open. The duo cautiously stepped inside. In the middle of the room lay a skeleton in full plate armor, lifeless on the ground. As Kaelen approached, the bones rattled and the skeleton began to rise from the floor.
Kaelen instinctively got into a fighting stance, watching as the skeleton fully reassembled itself. It stood tall, wearing heavy steel plate armor and wielding an obsidian-colored sword with a matching shield. Without a word, it took up its battle stance, clearly ready for a fight.
The skeleton knight's hollow eyes locked onto Kaelen as it raised its obsidian sword and shield. Its movements were deliberate, precise, like it had seen countless battles before. Kaelen gripped his sword tighter, feeling the strain in his arms from the earlier fight with the snake, and the dull throb of bruises beneath his skin.
The skeleton knight lunged first, its sword cutting through the air with alarming speed. Kaelen barely had time to react, bringing up his sword just in time to deflect the blow, though the impact rattled his bones. The strength behind the strike sent a painful jolt through his injured arm, nearly forcing him to drop his weapon.
He stepped back, gasping for breath, and the knight pressed forward. It swung again, this time aiming for Kaelen's side. He managed to parry, but his form was sloppy, his inexperience showing. The knight’s blade slid off his own, and the force of the blow pushed him off balance.
"Kaelen, watch out!" Vessira shouted from atop his head, but he already saw the skeleton’s shield smashing toward him.
Kaelen barely raised his arm in time to block with his gauntlet. The steel clashed with bone and metal, but the blow still sent him stumbling back, crashing to a knee. The pain in his side flared up from the earlier injuries, and the world swam for a moment. The skeleton didn't give him any time to recover, charging again with a relentless series of attacks.
He struggled to keep up, his sword clashing with the knight’s, but each time he parried, he felt his grip weakening. The earlier fight had drained him more than he realized, and his basic swordsmanship wasn't enough to match the knight's precision.
One of the knight's strikes slipped through his defenses, the sword slicing across Kaelen's side. He hissed in pain, stumbling backward, feeling the warmth of blood soaking into his shirt. His vision blurred for a second, but he forced himself to stay upright.
"Come on… focus," Kaelen muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
The knight came again, raising its sword for a heavy downward strike. Kaelen, gritting his teeth, raised his own sword in a desperate attempt to block. The impact was crushing. His sword shuddered in his hands, and he felt the bones in his wrist scream in protest. He was driven to one knee again.
"Kaelen! You can’t take this head-on, you're too hurt!" Vessira shouted, her voice filled with concern.
"I know… I know…" Kaelen spat, his breath ragged. His mind raced. He couldn’t match the knight’s skill or strength directly. He had to use his surroundings, play smarter.
When the knight moved in for another strike, Kaelen shifted, throwing himself to the side rather than trying to block. The skeleton’s sword cleaved through the empty air where he’d just been, the force of the missed swing sending the knight slightly off balance. Kaelen took the opportunity, rising quickly and delivering a heavy slash to the knight’s side.
The blade connected but barely scratched the plate armor. The skeleton turned, unphased, and thrust its shield forward, smashing Kaelen in the chest. He gasped as the air was knocked from his lungs, his body flying backward and skidding across the stone floor.
Coughing, Kaelen forced himself to stand, wobbling as he did so. His injuries were getting worse, his vision was blurring again, and his sword felt heavier with each swing. But he couldn’t give up now.
The knight approached slowly, its obsidian sword gleaming under the dim light. Kaelen noticed something — the joints. The skeleton's movements were precise but mechanical. Its armor protected it, but the joints, though armored, had small gaps. His only chance.
The knight lunged again, but this time Kaelen didn’t try to block directly. He sidestepped the attack, letting the knight’s momentum carry it past him. As it overextended slightly, Kaelen twisted his body, swinging his sword with everything he had toward the gap at the knight’s knee.
The blade slid into the gap, and with a surge of strength, Kaelen twisted. The skeleton knight stumbled, its knee joint now compromised. It wasn’t enough to bring it down, but it slowed the knight, its movements becoming slightly jerky.
Kaelen breathed heavily, blood running down his side, but he saw his chance. He had to end it now. The skeleton turned toward him, slower now, and Kaelen surged forward, raising his sword high.
The knight brought its shield up to block, but Kaelen wasn’t aiming for a direct strike. Instead, he slammed his sword down into the exposed joint between the arm and the shield, driving it deep. The knight staggered, dropping its shield.
With a grunt of effort, Kaelen ripped his sword free and brought it down on the knight’s neck. The blade bit into the bone, and with one final strike, he severed the knight’s head from its body. The armored figure crumbled to the ground in a heap, the obsidian sword clattering to the floor beside it.
Kaelen stood there, breathing heavily, barely able to stay upright. His body screamed in pain, but he had won.
Vessira fluttered out from his armor, her eyes wide with relief. “Kaelen… that was close.”
Kaelen gave a weak chuckle, wiping the sweat from his brow. “Too close…I couldn't even use my skills it was too fast.”
["Shan'Karu's punished knight slain Greater rune of Strength awarded. Greater rune of Dexterity awarded."]
Kaelen lay down on the cold floor, catching his breath. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice tired. "Vessira… what did it say?"
Vessira smiled as she glanced at the notification. "It says you gained three points in strength and three in dexterity. You're up to thirty points invested now—just five more to reach level three."
Kaelen smiled faintly, the exhaustion creeping into his muscles. The fight had been brutal, and he knew if his opponent had been flesh and blood, able to read his movements, he would have died. But he had won, and more importantly, he was getting stronger.