Chapter 26: Higher Stakes

  Mundane World, Day 14 After the Shattering

  They all positioned themselves around a creature similarly to the first fight, with even more hesitation.

  This time the skeleton was not just bare, white bones; it had some rotten rags on its body, destroyed beyond any repair. In its left hand it held a small, half-rotten wooden buckler, and in its right hand, it held a metal rod tipped with a spiked metal ball—a type of mace.

  Things at first played out exactly the same: the monster followed Mark. However, when Lukas went for his first overhead hit, it sidestepped, then turned to block Simon's attack with its buckler.

  But bones were too light, and even the blocked swing pushed its target to the ground.

  Everyone went in to capitalize on that vulnerability, but before anyone could land a hit, the skeleton opened its jaw, producing a swirling, black smoke tendril.

  "Ability! Back off! Back off!"

  They all sprang back, eyes fixed warily on the black smoke—but the anticipated strike never came. Instead, a tendril wrapped itself around the mace, encasing it in a smooth, uniform layer. Their hesitation gave the skeleton enough time to stand, and now it charged at Simon, who, fixated on the smoke, did not step away.

  Instead, he was forced to block the skeleton's enhanced mace with his own baseball bat.

  “Simon!” Mark shouted, and everyone rushed forward to attack.

  When the two weapons collided, black mist began creeping onto the weapon Simon was holding. In panic, he immediately dropped it and quickly retreated from the advancing attacker.

  Focused on its target, the skeleton failed to react in time to the group’s coordinated assault and was quickly knocked to the ground. Under a hail of blows, it could no longer resist.

  The sword and the two sticks masquerading as mage canes did little real damage to the bones, but the light creature staggered and fell again and again under each strike, unable to mount any defense.

  The attacks caused only minor chips in its bones and skull, but eventually the head gave way and finally cracked—the enemy went still.

  The group stepped back, waiting for it to despawn.

  And waited.

  "Is... is it still alive?" Simon asked what everyone was thinking.

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  "Not likely," Ewa said. "I received a bonus to my passive ability—0.02 this time. Wow. Also, I saw some of this smoke they produce when they despawn."

  "Alright, Simon, take the baseball bat and..."

  Everyone's gazes cast on where Simon's weapon lay.

  Instead of his weapon, there was a rotten, barely identifiable item covered in some kind of black sludge.

  "Never mind—I'll do it."

  Mark raised his sword and began jabbing the skull of the fallen enemy, opening it up completely, then tossed the bones around.

  "No mana crystal, it seems. And it did not despawn... Lukas?"

  "No idea. All of them are supposed to despawn."

  Simon ogled the dropped mace.

  "Do you think it is safe to use? There is none of that black mist around it."

  Ewa strained to identify the item, for the first time.

  "System says it is iron mace Tier 1 and Rank 1. Whatever that means."

  "Nothing about it being cursed? Is the name in color or something?" Lukas inquired.

  "Do you even see anything in any color?"

  Everyone focused on their system interfaces, checking now that Ewa had pointed it out.

  "Weird. I can't tell what color the text is. I'd want to say it is gray, but I somehow know it is not."

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  "Well, this is useless," Ewa sighed in exasperation. "I think our world rolled a retarded system."

  "No! You can't say that!" Lukas yelled with honest fear on his face.

  "What? What is it going to do to us? Spawn monsters? Or perhaps make our abilities more useless?"

  "You think it can't?"

  The question hung unanswered.

  Simon decided to risk it with the looted weapon, picked it up, swung it in the air a couple of times, then brought it down on the bones, cracking some.

  "Wow, it feels heavier than the baseball bat, seems to make more damage to bones. But it has no proper handle; I'll wrap it with something later."

  A bone-chilling scream snapped them back to reality. Fighting was still raging somewhere nearby—and not all of it sounded under control.

  They exchanged uneasy glances before turning to Mark.

  “Let’s check it out. Don’t engage unless we have to. If it’s too much—we run.”

  Combat echoed from several directions, but the source of the scream was easy to track. The forest thinned ahead, opening into a small clearing.

  Several men stood there, weapons drawn, in three sets of two fighters, each group facing a single monster. Two armed skeletons—like the one they had just defeated—pressed them hard. But the third figure was different.

  Its skull was bare, yet it wore tattered, rotting robes. Instead of a blade or mace, it held a wand in one hand and a rectangular object in the other.

  The moment Ewa’s group reached the treeline, the robed skeleton raised its wand. A spiraling ray of red light lashed out toward one of the men. He barely managed to throw himself aside. The beam struck a tree behind him, and the bark ignited instantly.

  Behind the skeletal mage lay a burning body. Close enough for them to see the details.

  It was no longer screaming.

  But it was still moving.

  "We are behind the mage; let's try it. Ewa, come with us—it is ranged anyway."

  Everyone looked uneasy, but still moved forward, instinctively trying to be silent, which was probably pointless with skeletons not having ears.

  While Mark’s group closed in, two other men were already moving. They advanced as well, drawing the creature’s attention. One swung what looked like a supermarket woodcutting axe.

  The skeleton twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the blow. Another man struck with a crowbar, but a pale shimmer of light flared around the creature, absorbing the impact.

  Simon reached it from behind with his new mace. The strike landed squarely on the skull. The barrier flickered and collapsed; part of the force carried through to bone—but not enough to crack it.

  This time, however, it didn’t matter.

  Multiple makeshift weapons came down from every angle. Outnumbered and battered, the skeleton staggered under the relentless assault. Limbs splintered. Joints failed. Within seconds, it was dismantled.

  Facing it alone, it would have been deadly.

  But when numbers close in, even giants falter.

  Everyone stopped as if on silent command. The other two groups had finished as well.

  For a moment, no one spoke.

  Some looked at each other. Others stared at the scattered bones. A few glanced at the still-smoldering human body lying near the trees.

  They waited for the despawns.

  They never came.

  This time, Lukas moved first.

  He stepped toward the remains of the skeletal mage and crouched. Something red caught his eye—a small, gleaming crystal among the bones.

  One of the men from the other group noticed what he was doing—but a second too late.

  The red mana crystal dissolved into Lukas’s hand.

  “Hey! You fucker! Give it back!”

  The shout came from a tall man, nearly Mark’s height but broader, older—fully grown. He strode toward Lukas, anger plain on his face.

  Ewa’s group reacted instantly. Weapons rose. Stances shifted.

  The man stopped.

  The clearing fell into a tense standoff.

  The fight, it seemed, wasn’t over after all.