The smell of the air was off - unnatural. It carried with it a carrion scent, like the stink of a rotting carcass, bloated and festering, infested with flies and maggots, left to decompose in the elements. It was similar, but not quite the same; the smell of death that lingered in this place was older, much older. Crushed bones and yellowed skeletons dotted the dead soil, partially buried underneath the blackened earth. Death permeated the place, and deathly mewling and moaning marred even the gentlest breeze, as though the suffering of all those who died here had somehow scarred the world itself.

I took a single step forward and recoiled almost instantly, images and visions of death flashing before my eyes - the screams of beasts and humans all converging into a single, gruesome picture. I shook my head and cringed, willing away the stray thoughts and dark whispers. Something, I thought, was actively trying - and failing - to scare me away with all this...stuff.

Everything here was ugly and smelly, but nothing that could really deter me from venturing further into the blackened lands to find that...thing...that...shiny rock thing the flying human was talking about. Honestly, the only reason I was even doing this was because it was different from anything and everything I've ever done; it was an adventure on its own and - looking back - wasn't that what I was looking for? I couldn't care less about safe paths through the mountains; I would've been fine on my own - how hard could it possibly be, after all? It's just a mountain; I've climbed mountains before and it wasn't that hard.

Adventure...

And so I strode forth, ignoring the strange sounds, ugly sights, and pungent smells that all seemed to thrive in this dead and dry land. Ahead of me were rolling hills - blackened and hollowed, desolate mounds, rising from the ground. Whatever a "tomb" was, the flying human told me I'd find it at the center of this dead place, and the shiny rock would be inside. A stray thought made me giddy with excitement. 'I wonder what else is inside...'

The sun slowly, but surely, reached its peak at the bussom of the sky as I walked further and further into the dead lands. In here, however, dark and grey clouds hovered over the blackened soil, and barely any light made it through; I could see well enough in the dark, but this place definitely needed some sun to lighten things up. Everything was all dark and dreary and grey and so very boring. There was nothing to see but ground and even the ground wasn't all that interesting, filled with bones as it was.

'Maybe, this was a bad idea?'

Just as the thought passed my mind, a rumbling made itself known to my right. I turned and growled at whatever had made the sudden sound - though, I really was quite happy that something finally happened. The bones were moving. Broken pieces and shattered remnants were converging upon a singular spot, where dark, smoky trails formed a whirlpool in the air, sucking in all the dried up bones into itself. This continued until the bones, random bits they were, coalesced into the shape of a human - a very vague human shape, but it was definitely the shape of one. It ended when the skull of some large bovine landed between its shoulders. What stood there was an amalgamation of many skeletal fragments, haphazardly pulled together and somehow animated.

It held out its right hand, a roughly hewn shape made of jaws and teeth and claws, from where a curved extension manifested, made from bones as well. Some kind of human weapon? I've noticed a lot of them carrying strange, glinting extensions of themselves, kind of like that one human I ate, who carried a long stick with a sharp end. What did they use those for? They always just carried those around and I've never really seen them do anything with it.

A few of the humans carried curved pieces of wood that shot out straight pieces of wood, which somehow had enough power to punch through the hides of beasts, but those were quite rare, which was odd since it gave them quite a bit of advantage - attacking from range and all that.

This...bone thing...was carrying another bone thing as though it was an extension of itself, like my claws, but much larger and far more menacing, though it carried only one of those, whereas I had many claws on all four of my limbs - claws which, upon closer inspection, seemed far sharper than they should be, glinting slightly under the faint light of the sun. The bone thing lumbered forward, making awful creaking noises as it walked. From the bovine skull's eyesockets shined a deep, dark red, almost like blood, but this one was actively glowing. It roared at me, before charging - limping as it did.

It didn't feel particularly threatening; the presence it gave off was more or less on par with an oversized boar that was in way over its head, charging towards me as if a single swipe of my forearm wasn't going to tear its head off. The bone thing was very much like that, rushing at me with reckless abandon - its strange, bone protrusion thing raised high for some kind of downward attack. It was not strong; I'd faced down that Necrosaurus Rex and felt its power. The bone thing wasn't even a shadow of it.

'Huh...fascinating.' My mind bounded outwards, and the bone thing stopped in its tracks as I held it in place with my telekinesis, though it continued emitting gangly, unnatural sounds. Strangely enough, the 'creature' seemed to exhude the same sweetness that permeated much of the woodlands, only its sweetness was marred by sickness and death - something I definitely do not want to eat. 'What are you?'

Skeletal Construct (2)

HP: 100

MP: 0

SP: 20

'Fascinating...a non-living thing that's been animated by magic.' I turned away from the bone thing, crushing its entirety with a simple mental command. All that was left of it was a pile of very tiny bones as the sweetness dissipated into the air and up the sky. I continued onwards after that, searching for this "tomb" thing - whatever it was, until the rolling hills sloped and gave way to blackened flatlands. In the distance was a tall, ominous structure that was too flat and too symmetrical to be a tree; it looked as though it was made entirely of stone, which it probably was.

I took a single step forward and the ground rumbled beneath me, and all the bones in the earth danced and crawled across the blackened soil, coalescing in many places all. My eyes widened; there were so many of them forming at once. Was this because of my arrival? Was this some kind of defensive response? Whatever it was, hundreds of the bone things were forming all around me, rising from the soil in a mishmash of uneven shapes - behind, at the sides, and at the front.

I was surrounded.

A bone thing arose right beside me, a thin creature, whose bones were mostly comprised of smaller skeletons - there was a bird's ribcage in there somewhere that disappeared into the churning mass. I quickly dispatched it with a quick swipe with my left forearm, sending its shattered remains careening into the air. They're very easy to kill - I think. But I could only reliably attack from the front and their numbers would overwhelm me in time.

I dashed forward, swiping away a bone thing with my right forearm as I rushed towards the distant structure. This was place too open - too obvious. I couldn't hide anywhere and I couldn't simply run away into a random direction and hope I'd lose their trail; the bone things were all sprouting from the ground and there was so much ground to cover if I actually wanted to escape. 'Wait, didn't I have that-'

Blink!

The whole world seemed to disappear for a moment, replaced a whirling tunnel of cascading colors. The whole ordeal lasted for about a second, before I reappeared much closer to the strange structure and slammed into one of the bone things. The act itself seemed to take the wind out of me - not much, but it was as though I'd just sprinted a good distance. Somehow, I knew I couldn't use it immediately afterwards; though, I didn't know how I knew that - I just did.

-10 SP

I continued onwards, running on all fours - I should've been panting and exhausted at this point and yet I hardly felt any soreness in my muscles nor shortness of breath. Looking around, there weren't many of the bone things ahead of me, probably numbering ten or eleven. I glanced over my shoulder for a moment and beheld the actual horde of skeletal figures now chasing after me, numbering in the hundreds - probably more than that, actually, given all the bones and skeletal remains I'd passed by on the long walk to this place.

I rushed forward, barrelling into a bone thing and causing it shatter upon impact; another one stood and met me, but it suffered much the same fate as its fellow. When eight of them all charged at once, however, I hesitated for a moment; meeting their charge would kill probably a third of their numbers, while the others would be free to hack away at me with their bony extensions. The only way out of this was forward; there was a large opening at the front of the black structure, and I could probably use it to funnel them in and not be surrounded. The bone things were weak, but their strength lay in their numbers. In a narrow space, however, those numbers will count for nothing.

The eight bone things neared and I blasted them apart with my mind and sent them flying into the skies as I rushed past them. More and more of the skeletal constructs emerged from the ground - some of them just bursting out as though they'd coalesced within the soil itself. Most of them appeared behind me and were too slow to catch up; those that did appear from the front were just as easily tossed into the sky.

-5 MP!

-5 MP!

I didn't bother looking back. The black structure was so close now, barely a few more steps away. Up close, it was far larger than it'd been when I looked from afar. I didn't have time to admire it any further, however, as I came upon its entrance. The mouth of it, like a cave entrance, but far smoother, opened up just enough for me to squeeze through without much worry. The narrow gap opened up to reveal a smooth cavern of some kind. The walls were definitely stone, but I've never seen such smooth stone before.

I turned and eyed the entrance, waiting for the bone things to rush inwards.

They didn't.

The bone things stopped righ outside the mouth of the structure, standing so incredibly still that it seemed as though they weren't animated at all.

'Fascinating.'

Just to be sure however, I stretched my mind outwards and crushed dozens of the bone things, before pulling their skeletal fragments into the mouth of the structure, sealing it shut. With that taken care of, I turned and beheld the seemingly endless cavern of smooth rock. The sweetness was strong in this place, permeating the very air; it didn't stink of death and decay, like the pungent sweetness that lay outside the structure. Instead, it was awfully rather similar to the smell of flower meadows, vibrant and light.

'It smells good...' Slowly and tentatively, I took my first step. Much of the place was shrouded in darkness and shadows, but there were strange glowing stones on the wall that emitted just enough light for me to see.

'Fascinating...'

The cavern rumbled.