Using his high Agility, Alexander dashed around and removed as many skeletons as possible.

 

*BAM*

 

‘That should be the 20th skeleton.’

 

Tired, he leaned against a tombstone to check his progress.

 

“Interface.”

 

_ _ _

 

<Tutorial quest 2: The dead lingers - In Progress>

 

<Progress: 0/50>

 

_ _ _

 

Confused, he also double-checked his character.

 

_ _ _

 

[Name]: ???

 

[Species]: Ælf [Culture]: Neasdocs-Ælf

 

[Renown]: 50

[Level]: 0/100

 

[Stats]: 8(7) Strength, 9(8) Agility, 12 Charm, 7(6) Endurance, 9(8) Stamina, 8 Intelligence, 0 Mana, 0 Faith  

 

[Traits]: Children of Neasdocs

 

[Affinity]: Normal Faith, Minor Single-handed Weapon

 

[Attainment]: Inspect

[Free points]: 3

 

_ _ _

 

Throughout the entire exchange, he received no level up. His instinct flared up. Alexander looked at the destroyed skeletons.

 

Surprisingly, they were moving again. The headless skeletons continued their relentless effort to crawl out of the ground.

 

As the untouched skeletons ascended, revealing their rib cages, Alexander finally realised what was wrong.

 

A black crystal ore oozed ominous light beat between the crooked ribs, held in place by black tar-like strings that formed a spider web of protection within the ribcage.

 

They turned their heads towards Alexander. Their black firey eyes resembled the crystal ore colour seeping with murderous rage.

 

*YNAHHH*

 

An ear screeching sound escaped one of the skeleton's jaws. The rest shrieked in response, amplifying and echoing their terrible sound across the battlefield.

 

*YNAHHH* *YNAHHH* *YNAHHH*

 

Tar-like strings emerged from their crystal ore hearts, drifting forward.

Realising the situation was souring, Alexander attempted to escape their pursuit. 

 

However, like hunting hounds, they quickly caught up. Alexander tried swinging his Spellblade at the incoming strings, yet his weapon could only helplessly pass through them.

 

They didn’t damage Alexander but gathered on his head, forming a chain halo.

 

As the halo formed, it radiated the same energy as the crystal ore.  The headless skeletons got down on all four and charged toward Alexander after sensing the halo calling out to them. 

 

Surprised by their change in battle mode, Alexander immediately scanned them again.

 

_ _ _

 

[Attainment]: Inspect

 

• Mastery: Recruit

 

• Proficiency: 1% -> 2%

 

_ _ _

 

[Name]: Forsaken-Soldier

 

[Species]: ???-Undead [Culture]: Skeleton

 

[Level]: 1

 

[Stats]: 3 Strength, 1 Agility, 0 Charm, 3 Endurance, 3 Intelligence, 1 Mana

 

[Traits]: March of the Eternal Legion

 

_ _ _

 

Alexander checked their revealed trait.

 

_ _ _

 

[March of the Eternal Legion]

 

• [Description]: Though their minds were wiped, their strength in fighting as a unit remains.

 

• [Level]: 1

 

• [Active]: Mark an enemy, giving you and your allies sight on them for the duration of the mark. The mark duration is 1 minute.

 

• [Cost]: 7 Mana. The cost can be shared with nearby allies within the marked enemy line of sight.

 

_ _ _

 

‘All my effort for nought!’

 

Not to be distracted in the middle of the battle, Alexander parried an incoming headless skeleton. It staggered and fell. He stabbed his Spellblade downwards toward its rib cage, intending to finish it.

 

However, it twisted its arms 180 degrees upwards and held on to his sword, stopping the weapon from pushing too deep into its rib cage.

 

Not giving Alexander any reprieve, two more headless skeletons assaulted him. They struck from different directions.

 

Alexander let go of the Spellblade and drew his Shortsword.

 

Using the flat side of his Shortsword, he bashed the incoming headless skeletons in their rib cages.

 

The impact shattered their ribs, knocking them back, fully revealing the dark contents inside.

 

However, he didn’t pursue them. Alexander turned back and finished up the downed headless skeleton holding his Spellblade.

 

Dark mana escaped as the ore exploded from Alexander's force. It condensed in the air for a second before rushing towards Alexander and his weapons.

 

_ _ _

 

<???> Exp +6

 

<Trash Evolvable Spellblade> Exp +2

 

<Trash Evolvable Shortsword> Exp +2

 

_ _ _

 

Seeing that he was finally levelling up, Alexander aggressively charged at the tide of the headless skeleton.

 

Using the Spellblade as a blunt weapon, he caved through their rib cages.

 

Alexander unleashed all the stress accumulated on them. 

 

“This is some bloody good R&R!”

 

He laughed out loud whilst bursting through the weak skeletons.

 

Alexander didn’t notice that the chained halo had long expired.

 

***

 

As he was about to finish the last headless skeleton, an incoming stone hit his wrist, breaking his mechanical movement.

 

Alexander executed the last headless skeleton with another swing before looking for the pest that dared interrupt his R&R.

 

A dozen metres away, a group of normal skeletons collected stones and debris around them as ammunition.

 

They pelted him from afar.

 

Although a makeshift munition could only bruise him, the sheer amount of them could be dangerous.

 

Alexander quickly headed toward the tombstone areas to use them as a back cover, reducing the throwing skeletons' effective attack angles.

 

However, it seemed that another group of skeletons had the same idea too. They moved towards nearby tombstones to pick them up as shields.

 

“God damnit! Cillian, what kind of tutorial is this?”

 

Alexander complained out loud whilst thinking up a plan. 

 

After a quick internal debate, he charged out toward the tombstones group. Believing that they were the most dangerous, Alexander left his cover behind. 

 

He planned to attack them whilst they were pulling up the tombstones. Furthermore, the throwing skeletons' accuracy would suffer around their comrades.

 

Through a hail of debris and rock, Alexander charged. However, one stray shot ended up hitting his eyes.

 

“FUCK!” The impact staggered Alexander for a second, exposing him to more projectiles.

 

Alexander soldiered on.

 

Arriving near the group, two skeletons valiantly blocked his path. They charged him with reckless abandon, hoping to bog him down. 

 

Annoyed, Alexander punctured one with his Spellblade. However, the stubborn thing held onto his sword as the weapon pierced its chest. 

 

Alexander kicked it in the knee, shattering its knee cap and forcing the creature off balance. He lifted his sword with the skeleton and impaled the second incoming skeleton. 

 

Alexander jumped straight into the group centre after disposing of the two annoying pests, surprising two unsuspecting skeletons. He politely sent them to the afterlife to visit their brothers.

 

The remaining six skeletons dropped their tasks and lunged toward him.

 

Years of playing action Deep-Vr games had honed Alexander’s instinct.

 

He quickly dodged a backstab from the skeleton behind whilst attacking two adversaries in front. 

 

Before he could go for a coup de grâce on the out of position skeleton in the back, another stray rock claimed his other eye.

 

Like before, the attack disoriented him for a second. However, it gave the attacking skeletons enough time to deal damage.

 

The ones further away crawled his arms, leaving them bleeding. The one closer went for his chest.

 

They tore through his cheap tunic, leaving a deep cut on his pale chest.

 

***

 

Alexander regained himself. He smacked the skeletons crawling his arms away before pulling out his Shortsword to attack the ones striking his chest.

 

He finished three exposed ones. Alexander then dashed backwards, separating him and the remaining skeletons.

 

Noticing the deep cuts on his chest and various parts of his arms, Alexander took out one of the flasks on his back and chugged it down.

 

He felt an ungodly desire to scratch his injured spot as they began to exude a disgusting smell.

 

He held himself back from puking. However, the drug was indeed effective. His wounds were closing, albeit slowly.

 

Not letting him stand there and heal, the throwing division attacked with another volley.

 

“I should have killed those bastards first!”

 

Annoyed, he grabbed one of the incoming skeletons by its bony neck. Using it as a shield, he and his meatless shield dashed towards the annoying range units.

 

Of course, they didn’t make it easier for him, even if he was using their comrade as a shield.

 

The attacks intensified. By the time Alexander arrived at the range units line, the meatless shield was completely destroyed.

 

Not to make things easy for our protagonist, they immediately went into skirmish mode and scattered.

 

Alexander only managed to destroy 5 range skeletons before they ran off.

 

Now caught between a rock and a hard place, Alexander must decide whether to pursue them or stay and attack the incoming melee units.