The image of his little sister was clear in his mind. Her smile was wicked and blood splattered her clothes. It reminded him of what had happened back then. Alphonse gritted his teeth as the image of his father appeared. He ruined everything…

“I hear something ahead…” Haydon got into a fighting stance. They continued to walk forward.

Alphonse’s thoughts cut off as an arrow much larger than normal slashed past his face. A deep gouge marred his cheek as blood started dripping. Alphonse’s eyes didn’t budge. “Alphonse, are you okay? Stand still, I'll heal you.” Felecia rose from her staff but halted as Alphonse interrupted her.

“Keep your energy…” Alphonse said. His eyes were cold.

Felecia noticed Alphonse wasn’t his usual self, but after seeing his cold eyes, she held back her worry. Her mind turned fully focused on whatever was in front of them.

“Marku-”

“Aye, aye boss. Don’t need to tell me.” Markus slammed his shield into the ground, the metal slowly grew outwards, becoming larger. Arrows the size of javelins rocketed towards the tower shield. Every hit was pushing Markus slightly back. Markus lifted his foot and pressed it up against the base of his shield and stopped moving backwards.

“Tariq, Kristen, can you see them?” Their eyes peered forwards as they could just make out the silhouette of the monsters in front of them. Alphonse could hear bones chattering against each other.

“Yes, just.” They responded in unison as they readied their bows. A turbulent wind encased their arrows as it spiralled, almost out of control. They let the string of their bow go, and the air powered arrows propelled forwards, the air behind their bodies blasted backwards. Alphonse heard a loud thumping sound as the arrows crashed into their target.

“When their arrows stop firing, we charge forwards. Alphonse, we need your help to push the shield.” Lucus spoke, his head nudged towards the shield. Alphonse nodded as they awaited for the enemy's arrows to stop. Tariq and Kristen fired, then the monster’s arrows stopped. Alphonse, Markus, Lucus and Haydon moved forwards as everyone was running to keep up. “Break off now!” Lucus was the first to move as he brandished his long-sword and shot towards the monster.

They all had their own enemy as Alphonse moved towards it. It was a large skeleton with crystals embedded into its skull, its thick bones gleaming in the light as a strange-looking core sat snuggly behind its ribcage. Thankfully, they were quite slow as Alphonse approached it before it could draw its bow backwards. Alphonse stepped to the side as he transferred all of his strength forwards, swinging his mace upwards towards the skull of the skeleton. A sharp stinging pain transmitted into his hands as the mace bounced off of the skull of the skeleton. It was shining like diamonds. Shit, it’s too hard… Alphonse thought, as he felt a burning sensation in his stomach. His head lurched backwards as a vile greenish-yellow viscous substance shot out of his mouth. It covered the skeleton, head to toe. The skill [ Stomach Bile ] worked instantly as the bones of the skeleton melted. The only thing that was left was the diamond skull that fell to the floor. Alphonse wiped the bile from his lips as his sleeve disintegrated.

Alphonse quickly turned at the sound of something heavy hitting metal. Markus was flung through the air as he smashed into the room’s walls. A skeleton, larger than the rest, crawled out from the passageway in front of them. Its large club dragged across the floor, digging up the brick flooring below. Diamond like armour spanned across its entire body. There were only a few spots left uncovered. Its lantern-like eyes watched forwards as it slowly turned its massive head, looking at everyone one-by-one. The skeleton’s jaw opened and closed. It looked like it was trying to speak, but it made no sound.

Its massive mouth opened wide, its posture was bent forward as if it was screaming something. The skeleton leapt forwards, threatening to crush Felecia into the ground. Tariq grabbed hold of her and used a movement skill as they both jumped backwards, out of the way of the descending skeleton. It landed with a crash and instantly moved forwards towards Felecia, its club hurtling at her small body. A flash of light appeared, and the club was parried to the side. Lucus had dealt with his skeleton and moved in to help.

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“Alphonse, help Kristen with those smaller ones. We’ll deal with this!” Lucus’ voice entered Alphonse’s ears as he was already running forwards. An arrow shot towards him. He was going to dodge it when a blast of wind flew by his face and decimated the javelin arrow in front of him. He continued forwards until he was at the front of the skeleton. He had learnt his lesson this time and slid past its feet as his mace crashed into the monster's ankle. With a snapping sound, the skeleton stumbled and crashed onto the floor. Alphonse crouched as he bit down against the hard diamond skull. An intense pain transferred into his jaw. For the first time his skill [ Swallowing Bite ] had failed. “Alphonse, let me!” Alphonse jumped to the side as another arrow blasted past its ribcage and destroyed its core. Kristen had finished aiming at the skeleton as her words reached his sensitive ears. “Stop their movement. I’ll take care of them!”

Alphonse and Kristen worked together, Kristen acted as the support and the firepower. While it was Alphonse’s job to impede their movements. Soon, all the lesser skeletons were dealt with. Alphonse figured he could only use his [ Stomach Bile ] skill twice before it just refused to come up from the bottom of his stomach. Everytime he used it an intense hunger welled up inside of him. Kristen moved to help the group as Alphonse attempted to catch his breath. Even with my increased stats, it’s still nothing compared to them, huh? Alphonse watched as they fought the massive skeleton. They were all using miraculous skills as they whittled down their enemy. Lucus attacked the weak joints of the skeleton, bypassing the dense crystal armour donned on its body. Its hulking body crashed to the ground.

“Alphonse, can you bite its neck?!” Lucus spoke up as he looked at Alphonse. Alphonse's eyes looked closely at the skeleton. An unarmoured part of its spine was sticking out.

“Alright!” Alphonse answered back. His tired legs ran forwards as everyone got into position. The massive skeleton was kneeling down. However, its strength was the same as its club smashed towards Markus. After the dust cloud had settled, Markus held the skeleton's arms underneath his own as Markus clamped down. He was gritting his teeth as his eyes had a golden sheen to them. “Now Alphonse!” Alphonse quickly climbed up the back of the skeleton. The monster was going to shift its weight and slam down, but a flash of sword light destroyed its other leg as Alphonse made it to the neck of the giant bone structure. His teeth glowed black as a faint shadowy mist left a trail as he bit downwards. The massive head collapsed to the floor as Lucus destroyed its core.

[ Giant Crystal Skeleton consumed ]

[ 5.6 > 3.6 Strength added ]

[ 3.2 > 1.2 Constitution added ]

< Hunger is dissatisfied, lowering stat gain. >

< Skill extraction failed. >

His body once again filled with strength, but his absentminded eyes froze on the notifications. Hunger is dissatisfied? What the fuck does that mean? At his question, more information popped up inside his mind.

< [ Chefs Kiss ] : Your Hunger is becoming bored with raw meat and bones and needs something…different. >

The familiar words took him aback. So I need to become a damned chef for it to give me the points I deserve? Ah, I hate this thing… even taking away my crystal armour skill… Alphonse said, as his weakened legs plopped onto the floor. He felt his deeply repressed anger bubble forth before shutting it back down. What is wrong with me? He had long been used to controlling his anger, but something was different this time. He felt as if something was pressing it out of him.

Markus had blocked the passage the Giant Crystal Skeleton had appeared from as his shield grew and formed a metal wall. They all rested. Alphonse looked around. “Is there any food left?” At his question, they all just shook their heads. Alphonse grit his teeth as he held his stomach. The hunger was intense after using his [ Stomach Bile ] skill only twice.

It wasn’t long before everyone had recovered. They ended up having to wait a little longer, as Felecia restored her energy from healing everyone. Alphonse eyes rested on her. If it wasn’t for that girl, they would have all been long dead. He now understood why the group protected her with their lives on the line. She was the lifeline.

“Are you ready? Markus had his hand on his shield as he looked back at Lucus. With a nod, Markus let go of the fortification spell. Many doors on each side of the passageway greeted them. Each door had a small iron grating. “Is… This a prison?” Gabriel said, as they all had the same thought.