As an arrow flew past his head, Marshall turned and found the source.

There was a single skeleton wearing a quiver and holding a longbow. From the murkiness of the entryway were 25 more skeletons with the same disposition. He took a brief moment to observe the other doors but was surprised as they were all closed.

Interrupting his thoughts, the sound of an arrow cutting through the air sped towards the swordsman's head. Once again, he bobbed his head to the side and narrowly avoided the projectile.

"Shoot first, ask questions later? They have a similar policy where I'm from." Marshall jested as he dashed towards the boney archers.

Within seconds he was decapitating the monster that first shot and then glided towards the second before performing the same action. When he observed the other skeletons, he perceived that they had spread out. The remaining 23 were heading towards the walls. Nudged by a sense of curiosity, Marshall watched attentively as they reached the walls before notching arrows.

"Now this is intriguing. Did you guys let me take down two of your buddies so the rest of you could get in position?"

Marshall could almost see the skeletons grins in response to his comments.

"What are you guys? Summons? Did someone put me in here?"

Without any time to test his hypothesis the first barrage of arrows came. Marshall had his back towards one wall and these arrows came from the front threatening him like a swarm of wasps.

He sidestepped the first, the second, and the third. With his sword, he knocked away the other projectiles. The enemies gave him no time to rest and the group on the left shoot their own flurry of arrows. This time, Marshall sprinted to avoid the arrows completely. Keeping his momentum, he went towards the West group.

Right before he could enter his striking range, the third flurry of arrows came from the Eastern side. Clicking his tongue, Marshall veered from his charge and was forced to retreat. The spare time was enough for the Western archers to have notched their new arrows.

This process repeated itself many times. Marshall was both fascinated and annoyed. The skeleton archers behaved more intelligently, or at least they were more coordinated than the previous group. Their tactic was a great countermeasure against any close-range fighter.

"Tch. That definitely hurts, just hope they aren't coated in poison."

The second he stood still, a skeleton archer nicked him on his sword arm, one of many small cuts that were spread around his body.

"I really can't let these guys use me as a pin cushion."

Firming his will, Marshall decides that he'll have to be ready to take some damage to make it through. The swordsman darted towards the Northern archers. Soon arrows were dangerously approaching Marshall. With conviction, Marshall pushed his body to go up another gear, disregarding his steadily draining stamina.

The undead marksmen facing the young men waited until he was 20 meters away before releasing their razor-sharp arrows. With exceptional skill, Marshal deftly dodged or blocked any incoming arrows. Instantly, he was upon the skeletons.

With a smirk on his face, Marshall wreaked havoc on the monsters. His movements were fluid and efficient as he cleaved his enemies while staring at the green flames in their eye sockets. Surveying the room the remaining 15 archers made a semi-circle and were slowly trying to surround him.

A light of inquisitiveness briefly flashed in Marshall's violet eyes before they were replaced with a cold glint.

From confident strides into a sprint, he dashed towards the right side of the encirclement. He attempted to weave through the flying arrows and crashed into the skeletons. Fortunately, the archers were frail and easily felled with single swings.

Instead of trying to dodge arrows, Marshall opted to defeat his foes while sacrificing his body.

Soon, he was in a face-off against the last archer.

"This can't be a coincidence, right?"

In response the green flames within the skeleton's skull burned brighter and what looked like a smirk formed on its face.

"Pretty cheeky for someone who's about to die. Wait you're already dead. How does that even work? Is this some kind of possession magic? Honestly, it doesn't matter."

As the monster notched the arrow, the human broke into a sprint. When the swordsman was 10 meters away, the skeleton released its grip propelling the arrow towards the swordsman's eye.

The projectile intended path was abruptly stopped. With no time to swing his sword, Marshall thrusts his hand towards the arrow allowing it to impale him. While wincing he moved even faster, and with a drawing, motion slashed the undead's head off.

The previous scene of the skeletons and their weapons turning into particles of light before disappearing occurred again.

It only took a minute before Marshall plopped down on the floor near the reappeared stone slab with a weary sigh.

"All things considered; it went well."

As he was comforting himself, Marshall had removed the arrow from his hand and used a part of his already tattered coat to act as a bandage. The pain was both searing and throbbing but preferable to a lost eye.

"That skeleton was definitely intelligent. Despite his imminent doom, he was capable of forcing me to sacrifice something. Now it knows that my left hand is wounded. They are likely sharing memories.

First, a wave of 100 unarmed skeletons, likely to determine my fighting style. Second, 25 archers, likely tailored to counter the range of the sword. This concept of a survival dungeon could be used to measure physical prowess and reasoning. Evolve or die. What a sinister entity I'm dealing with."

Marshall couldn't help but smile as he said those words.

"Whatever, I'll get some sleep before the next wave comes."

By now hours had passed within the stone room. Marshall's clothes were in tatters, he had visible cuts and bruises and he was at the very peak of exhaustion.

As he had suspected the entire place was more of a testing facility. He faced an assortment of opponents. Spearmen to give him the range disadvantage, mages to threaten him with magical attacks, assassins to compete with his speed, even swordsmen to break his fluid sword style. Overall, he had not sustained severe damage, but the accumulated damage was taking its toll.

Having just finished skeletons that wielded massive tower shields, he was resting in his usual position.

Soon the doors opened, and Marshall upgraded his sword once again.

The grip was made from a durable dark wood wrapped in luxurious black leather, the cross-guard was slightly curved but flattening out on the edges, and the pommel simple and elegant. The blade itself about 100 cm long and 25 cm thick, razor-sharp, and possessed a silver sheen. Written on the blade were indicate runic letters that increased not only the sharpness but also generated a white aura that extended from the blade when triggered.

Usually, he would get immediately get assaulted, but this time the skeletons were content displaying themselves. From each door came 4 identical teams.

3 archers and 2 mages surround by 4 swordsmen, 2 spearmen, and a shieldman. In the middle of the formation stood the remaining 4 swordsman and 4 spearmen. In the front, was the last shieldman and on the flanks were the assassins.

The formation was perfect. It was so anti-Marshall that it was comical. The best way to defeat him was to surround him and eventually hit him with a ranged attack until his evasive capabilities failed. Also, the assassins would constantly threaten him, keeping him off-balance the entire time.

"Hahahaha!"

Marshall laughed as the skeletons slowly surrounded him.

"What a riot! I'm honestly impressed, you really have exceeded my expectations. You guys aren't the boss but are definitely worthy of being an obstacle."

As he dashed towards a group of skeletons, Marshall couldn't help but reveal a devilish smile.