He dived forwards, towards the [Skeleton] and under an arrow. Hitting the ground was painful but beat being impaled by red bone. Or at least it should've been painful. Instead of hitting his chest against the hard stone floor, he almost bounced off it as a shimmering, clear barrier appeared at the point of impact. He landed softly, and then fell the half centimeter that was left between him and the ground when the barrier disappeared. Not having time to figure out the intricacies of his bound Charm, he resolved to experiment with the shield later and learn it's properties. For now though, he pushed himself up off the ground and darted left to avoid the next arrow that flew at him.
His actions felt sluggish, even if the speed at which he did them was unchanged. They felt as if the took more energy than they should and left him taking ragged, deep breaths. He had been out of breath before, but now he felt the tiredness in his bones. Still, he pushed through and charged the now retreating [Skeleton]. It looses another arrow from its bow, but he was too close to dodge this time and it hit him square in the chest. Just in time, the shimmering barrier reappeared to block it. They clashed against each other for a moment, fire blooming on impact, before the shield shattered and the arrow fell to the ground. The shield Charm in his pocket dulled as it's strength was drained, but it's job was done and Liam was upon his foe.
He brought his axe down, only for it to be intercepted by the thing's bow. Bone clashed against bone and fire raged against fire as both weapons collided. Liam's Strength was greater, and he pushed closer to it's skeletal body, but its bow was double ended and it brought the other side up towards him as he pushed. He stepped away to avoid it and pushed his last 2 Lifeforce into his Power, a black smoke spilling out of him and coating his body and blade.
All of a sudden, the [Skeleton's] movements spend up by a ridiculous degree. It created, drew, and fired an arrow in a fraction of a second. The movement was so quick that Liam didn't have a chance to react and the arrow hit him dead centre. He yelled in shock and pain as it pierced and burned his chest. Luckily, it seemed whatever Emily had done to speed itself up had weakened the power behind the arrow, as it only pierced a centimeter into him and hit a rib bone.
Liam roared in challenge, blinded by the pain and the red mist that was beginning to fill his vision. The arrow hurt, and the flames it produced even more so. For the second he stood still from shock he felt death approaching, but he drove that feeling away by lunging towards his foe. Axe and bow clashed once again, but it was much more decisive than the near deadlock they had last time. Empowered by his [Spirit of Death], his axe head cut right through the red bone and smashed against Emily's shoulder, chipping a shard of the bone off and weakening the magic holding the undead together.
A stream of flame erupted from where the creature had been struck and Liam, who had over committed to the attack, was struck by it. It splashed against him, leaving burns over his exposed skin and dropping his HP down to a measley [11/200]. He ignores the warning signals in his head and slammed his axe down again, battering the [Skeleton] back and keeping it on the defensive. He stepped around the burst of flames this time, expecting it, and pressed the attack.
It was easy to keep the undead off balanced since it lacked the mass to ground itself. Each one of his blows, backed by his 24 Strength and [Titan Slayer] Title, sent it reeling bad enough that it was unable to recover before the next one. The only issues were dealing with the heat of the flames that rolled off it and the arrow in his chest.
Stolen story; please report.
His HP drained away slowly, first dropping down to the single digits before reaching only 5 by the time his last strike landed on Emily and caused her bones to shoot off in different directions as the last of the reanimation magic was destroyed. Two notifications appeared in the corner of his vision but he ignored them for later. Instead he grabbed the arrow that was burning him to death and pulled it out. He grimaced as it cauterized the wound behind it. Once it was out, he threw it to the side and fell to his knees. His Stamina, exhausted from the fight, now sat at a measley [1/117] and he felt bone weary down to his core. He made to shuffle over to the wall so he could lean against it, but found that he lacked the energy for even that. Instead, he flopped to the ground where he was and lay sprawled out over the cold floor.
He just lay there for a while, catching his breath. Eventually, as his breathing stabilised, he began to laugh. It started low, a chuckle to himself at the situation he found himself in, and built up until he would've been clutching his sides had he any inclination to move. This whole thing was ridiculous, fighting off undead and being hunted by the summons of a necromancer. He had bound Spirits and even talked to them. Things he hadn't even dreamed of being possible now happened in front of his eyes and he didn't even have the time to unpack any of it. He allowed himself this moment, justifying it since he could do anything else anyway, before he once again grabbed the emotions that were bubbling up to the surface and shoving them back in there box.
"There's a time to feel, and there's a time to do."
Liam remembered the saying. It had been a favourite of his father's, and one of the very few good things the man had taught him before he went off to who knows where. He took the lesson and pushed away the unpleasant memories that the thought of the man bring with it, there were notifications waiting for him.
[Spirit of Death I had Levelled Up!
It has reached Level 3.
20% bonus damage has increased to 30%]
[Level Up!
You have reached Level 6.
You have 5 Free Attributes to assign.]
The Level of his Power going up was extremely welcome, and extra 10% damage likely to be helpful once he had the Lifeforce to use it again. The Level for himself was the same. He knew where those 5 points were needed, even if he'd just convinced himself that he wouldn't assign any more there.
Vitality was just too vital for him at the minute, the instant Health Points it would give him were a benefit too great to ignore. He had 3 left out of his 200, and he couldn't afford the hours it would take for it to naturally regenerate. He was too close to death to do anything, the injuries piling up on each other and being close to overwhelming him, and he was on a time limit. With a sigh, he dropped the 5 points in the stat and a warmth flooded through him. It didn't patch up the injuries he had, but instead allowed him to keep going despite them. It would now take a multitude of hits to bring him down as opposed to the one that could've slain him before.
Excruciatingly slowly, he picked himself up from the ground and made his way over to the scattered bones. He pressed his axe against them and willed that they be absorbed, watching in fascination as they melted and travelled up his axe, soaking into it and filling in the chips and cracks that the battle had caused it. It gained a deeper hue of red by the time he was done feeding it all the bones and it felt heavier in his hand. Then, not wanting to waste anything, he went over to Richard's body and sunk his blade into it. His weapon fed and the corpse sagged as it lost its structural supports.
When it was done with the corrupted shaman, the axe began to glow, becoming brighter and brighter until Liam had to shield his eyes from it. It shone for a whole minute before it dimmed, and when he looked back at it, it had completely transformed.
No longer was it a uniform colour, instead it was filled with patterns of blood red and deep black that seemed to rob the surroundings of light. Its crude workmanship had been replaced by savage design and symbols Liam couldn't understand were engraved along it's edge and pommel. A skull effigy had appeared where handle met blade and the blade edge became wickedly sharp. It seemed his trusty weapon had an upgrade, and he couldn't wait to try it out.