A small band of knights and wizards stood at the base of the Cursed Fortress, clutching their weapons under the milky light of the star-stones above. Impossibly tall walls loomed before them, made of weathered, basalt bricks that formed grand battalions with a long row of merlons atop them. There was no mortar between the bricks, it had long since turned to dust under the winds of time. Instead, wispy tendrils of dark mist held the bricks together, emitting a daunting and threatening atmosphere. The whole structure essentially holding up a sign declaring, "Hey, I'm really dangerous!".

The Void Knights stepped forwards to the ancient portcullis and hoisted it up. Although the portcullis was ten metres tall and made of solid steel, before the void knights, it was a pushover. The rest of the band hurried under the portcullis, rushing into the eerie gatehouse. Behind them, the Void Knights slipped past the portcullis and let it fall to the ground. After the tremors from the impact died down, the group took in their surroundings.

Ahead of them was a desolate courtyard, decorated with the occasional decrepit bird bath, withered tree and row of crumbling pillars, while above them were a set of deadly murder holes. No effort was made to conceal them. Usually, there were at least a few parties in the courtyard, however, there wasn't a soul in sight. Siyla splayed out her wings and dashed towards Fel, leaving afterimages in her wake. She crashed into him, sending them both hurtling into the courtyard.

The rest of the group was confused, but, before they could take another step, another portcullis crashed down in front of them and a dozen spiked, iron balls fell from the murder holes. Gorn gathered up Harth and Ferri while conjuring a glassy barrier. While the knights raised their shields and relied on their powerful bodies to fend off the danger.

These were no ordinary balls. They were laced with an accursed energy that seeped into your bones and siphoned your vitality. A falling sphere crashed into the shoulder of an unfortunate Void Knight, distorting his armour into a crumpled mess.

The group hurried over towards the courtyard to escape the hellhole while Gorn prepared a spell to destroy the portcullis before them. On the way, another falling ball crashed into the back of a Void Knight, though this time a spike penetrated his armour and sank deep into his flesh, sucking his vitality away.

Gorn tossed a sphere of dark energy that blasted a hole into the portcullis allowing everyone to rush into the courtyard. While the Void Knights were still frazzled and disoriented, the lead knight, Brannen, raised his sword and cried out in alarm, "Shields up! It's an ambush!"

Ghostly skeletons leapt out from behind the weathered pillars and drew their bows, releasing their arrows in a staggered volley. The arrows pinged off their great armour while the accompanying deathly energy only left tiny dents on their surface. Brannen rallied his knights and charged forwards, tanking the arrows while the mages hung back and cast their spells.

Fel equipped his crossbow and nailed a skeleton through skull while Gorn fired a dark laser at another skeleton, disintegrating it whole. Harth was more of a close ranged Mage and had run along with the knights, rending the fragile skeletons to dust with his wind coated shamshir.

Before Ferri could join in on the action, a hundred strong swarm of sword-wielding skeletons, poured from the guard towers behind them and charged towards the group. Ferri waved her staff, sending out a few pulses of dark energy, blasting several skeletons to pieces, though for each skeleton that fell, two more took its place. The damage done was negligible. Fel equipped his hammer and shield, preparing to charge towards the horde while Gorn conjured a sphere of dark energy and tossed it towards the mass of skeletons.

The sphere exploded in the middle of the crowd, disintegrating twenty odd skeletons while Fel charged into the foray, crushing them under his feet and tearing them apart with a swing of his shield and swipe of his hammer. However, as Fel tried to tank the swords in a similar fashion to the knights, he noticed that something was off. Though his armour deflected the incoming blades, the haunting, cursed energy that came with it corroded his armour, leaving great marks on its surface. The armour wouldn't be able to handle much more abuse.

Another explosion roared beside Fel, destroying another twenty skeletons in a go. At this point, there were only around thirty skeletons left out of the batch, yet they fought on as bravely as ever. Seeing that the swarm of skeletons was swamping Fel, Siyla spread her wings and fired out a hundred silvery needles that blasted the mob remaining skeletons apart. This annoyed Fel a little. He felt she could've done so far earlier, but before he could say so, Siyla pointed to something behind him.

Ominous, great, dark, deadly. That was how Fel could describe the being before him. It was two-and-a-half metres tall and was decked out with full plate armour while holding a massive two-handed sword by its side. Cold, red, wispy eyes and ancient bone peeked out from the gaps in the armour, betraying its true form. Gorn conjured a crystalline mass of dark energy and hurled it at the skeleton, though a sudden, deep red flash intercepted it, blasting both masses into oblivion. Tracing the spell to its source, Gorn met eye to eye with a decrepit old skeleton on the battlements, clothed in tattered robes and clutching a scraggly staff in its hand. In its eyes were two balls of insidious, green flame seemed to flicker with malicious delight.

Gorn called out to Fel, "You go get the Death Knight, I'll fight the Mage!"

He then leapt up to the battlements to engage in a deadly duel with the skeletal Mage.

Siyla was about to help Fel out against the Death Knight, but she noticed a shadow around a corner. Though it was hard to miss, Siyla felt a powerful aura emanating out from it. She left Fel to his own devices and began to creep towards the danger, intending to eliminate it from the equation.

Fel himself had no time to care about such things, plans tended to fly out the window when you have a two-and-a-half metre tall Death Knight charging at you. Kicking his power armour into full drive, Fel dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the Death Knight's massive blade. But before he could do anything else, the Death Knight's head swivelled around and sent out a cloud of jet-black fumes.

Pumping divine energy into his shield, Fel formed a divine barrier to disperse the gas while he kicked off the ground, shooting towards the looming horror. The Death Knight swung yet again at Fel, though its offence just barely missed. While Fel might not be able to take a direct blow, he could still avoid the Death Knights clumsy attacks. The Death Knight tried to get back into position to attack again, yet before it could, a powerful force spread out across its hip, knocking it off balance and fracturing its armour.

He sent another strike to its elbow, smashing off the elbow piece. Though it didn't harm the bone underneath, it bought enough time for Fel to send out yet another strike, this time at the back of the knee-cap. The strike toppled the monstrosity, sending it crashing to the ground; though not before it could send out a flailing swing at Fel, catching him off guard and crashing into his back, knocking him to the ground.

The Death Knight reached out a skeletal hand, intending to grapple with Fel and use its superior size to its advantage. In a last-ditch effort, Fel squeezed out every last drop of energy in him, sending his power armour into overdrive while firing out bolts of lightning through his concealed vents. He flung himself at the Death Knight, thrusting a palm of lightning at the undead being. The palm struck the Knight squarely in its chest and sent the warrior flying back. Arcs of electricity ran through its body as it lay on the ground while a large, palmed-shaped, dent was displayed on its chest piece.

Noticing that the Death Knight hadn't fallen yet, Fel walked over to the fallen Knight and hoisted up his hammer, bringing it down onto its armoured skull. The strike had not slain it, but it had knocked off the Death Knights visor, exposing its malicious skull and red, glowing eyes. Fel rose his hammer into the sky yet again and brought it down on the nightmarish face. This time, it smashed through the ancient bone and crushed the skull to splinters. Silencing the persistent, red glow of its eyes. Fel struck the body a few times, just to make sure it was dead, then, once assuring himself that it was, took a look around the rest of the battlefield.

It was a mess. Skeletons were pouring out from the main keep in an endless drove while the Void Knights crowded together in a mighty shield wall, somehow resisting the onslaught. Gorn had long since defeated his foe and was now assisting the Void Knights along with Harth and Ferri, blasting apart the skeletons wherever they went.

Siyla was in the sky, battling a demonic life form. She sent out a thousand silvery needles only to have them deflected by an evil, red barrier and conversely, when the demon sent out a blast of red, demonic energy, she had to create a dozen shields to disperse the power. She was rapidly running out of strength and her metal reserves were running dry.

As Fel kneeled on the ground, Aerl silently displayed a panel of information in his mind.

Death Knight (Artificial)

Affinities: Darkness (7), Death (8), Tenebrous (1)

Life Expectancy: Infinite

Level: Quasi Level 1

Innate Abilities:

1. Death Breath

- The user sends out a cloud of corrosive dark energy

2. Soulbound

- The user's soul is bound to a specific part of the body. The user will not die until that part is destroyed. For maximum control, the user is recommended to store the soul in the head.

History:

An abomination of nature created through dark rituals targeting both the soul and body. This pitiful being will be a slave to its creator and will have little intelligence besides its base instincts and abilities of its previous life.

"I spent this much effort against a Quasi Level 1 being? How arrogant was I to believe I could stomp over everything here because of my power armour? Though it is strong, how did I expect that this damaged, incomplete mess could allow me to defeat such beings? I am useless without my combat assistants... I've been relying on them far too much." He was so distraught that he didn't even question how Aerl got the information in the first place.

Amidst the flames of battle, Fel sat there, staring into space. A stray needle shot past him, almost nailing him in the head. Fel rose his head and used whatever internal energy he had left to amplify his voice, "We must retreat! We cannot win this battle."

Brannen looked over his shoulder towards Fel and nodded in agreement. The skeletons were about to overrun his knights, and, so far, there was no end in sight.

"Retreat!"

Whilst slowly backing up, the void knights continued to resist the infinite skeletal tide. Overhead, Siyla fended off the demonic spawn with silvery lances, using the last of her ability to keep it at bay. Fel had equipped his crossbow, but with his hands leaden with exhaustion, he had become a lousy shot.

An hour or two later, the diminished band of Knights and Mages were gathered a few kilometres from the Cursed Fortress. Out of the twenty Void Knights, only 12 were left. Though their armour was near impervious to the skeletal blades, an exhausted Knight would reveal his weak points such that even the dumbest skeletal warrior could run him through.

Brannen walked up to the group of Mages, "What's with that place? Not mentioning that only the dungeon area should've been a Level 1 area, that place was far beyond even that! That was a Peak Level 1 area, if we were an ordinary band of adventurers, we would've been slain at the murder holes!"

Gorn sat grimly on the ground, "Judging by the amount of undead, it could be a death wave invasion from the 2nd underground layer."

Brannen jumped in surprise, "A death wave? If that is true, we should report this to the association!"

"You are right on that one." Gorn got to his feet and patted himself down, "We will return to the Onyx Tower and report this to our superiors."

He turned to Fel, wearing a weak smile, "It was a short meeting, it was nice knowing you. I recommend that follow the Void Knights back to the capital of Collesti and join the Mage Association. They can recommend you to a good Mage School."

Fel nodded in return, "Very well, we will do just that."

"You should also learn how to fight as a Mage. I don't condemn your close ranged fighting style, but you have little control over your power, I believe Siyla can teach you a thing or two on your journey." He called to Harth and Ferri and hopped into their carriage.

"I hope we can meet again."

Fel grit his teeth, determination flashing in his eyes, "Yes, safe travels."