"Hey Calvar, any chance those skeletons are friendly?"

"Ah, most undead aren't exactly as friendly as me. If you have to ask, then probably no."

Skeletons were formidable enemies. In most games they were simply cannon-fodder, the weakest of the undead. In Spirit of Darkness, however, they were some of the most powerful. This was doubly so for the red-eyed skeletons, which signified a further enhanced combat ability. This is one of the reasons I was so wary of Calvar when I first met him. I didn't want to get on the wrong side of a full-bodied skeleton so early on.

Skeletons were highly resistant to all physical damage except for blunt strikes. Magic fared better, but their only true weakness was fire. If we're talking about two red-eyed skeletons, however, even fire wouldn't be enough. I would need at the very least to couple it with a blunt weapon. I wasn't sure about the weapon, but fire was something I should have access to.

I opened my spellbook; The first line still contained the spell "mana bolt." I made a new entry right below it -- a sequence of four runes. Before I could memorize it, I had to forget the previous one. My current intelligence limited me to one spell at a time, after all. After several minutes it was done, and I memorized "fire bolt."

Fire bolt was slower than the magic counterpart, but had the benefit of fire affinity and slightly higher base damage. Which one a player utilized early on was largely a matter of personal taste. I was a mana bolt person myself, so that's what I chose first. I'm not picky, though, and will use whatever works.

But there still remained the problem of the blunt weapon. Both my dagger and my spear would be utterly worthless against these enemies. I could head back to town to buy a mace, but I don't have enough money. I really should have thought of this ahead of time. Who wouldn't expect to find skeletons at an undead dungeon? That's just common sense!

I sat down and gave it a thought. I realized I was still thinking of this as a game. Is there truly nothing blunt on me I could improvise as a weapon, as I did with the dagger earlier? I searched through my bag to make sure. Then I found it. My spear! The spearhead was attached to a wooden pole, and at the opposite end of the pole was a metal hilt. It wasn't the best, but it was certainly blunt, and could be swung with some weight. If I coupled it with the fire bolt, it should be enough.

I had the benefit of surprise and range, but the best case scenario would be to fight these one-on-one. I start off with a fire bolt to try "pulling" one of the skeletons. Depending on their intelligence, they may or may not cooperate.

Luck seemed to be on my side, as the skeleton took heavy damage and rushed towards me by himself. I hit him once with my blunt spear-end before he could get into range, stunning him, and allowing me to cast another fire bolt! That's another big advantage of using blunt weapons against these guys.

The skeleton was now in range, but its attack pattern was very similar to that of the game. I dodge rolled the attack I saw coming a mile away.

With a great clunk, I body-planted onto the stone floor.

"Ouch..." I said.

"Eren, what the heck are you doing?" Calvar asked.

"I just wanted to dodge roll..."

"That's utterly ridiculous. Whatever made you think that's a viable strategy?"

Well, that's what I did in the game. It's really not as easy or useful in real life, I quickly realized. To make matters worse, that brought the attention of the other skeleton! I can handle one, but not two in this open environment.

I made my way back to the hallway, the skeletons chasing right after. It was perfect! It was narrow enough that they could only approach in a single line, so they were easy pickings for my spear. In between stuns I could get enough fire bolts off to finish them off. The skeleton duo were vanquished!

The blue wisps, as they did for the zombies, escaped the bodies. I searched through the corpses, but found nothing but bones.

"Eren, what are you searching for?"

"I don't know. Gold coins, maybe?"

"Where exactly a skeleton would carry gold coins?"

"Point taken."

I took the skeletons' swords and stuffed them in my bag. They should be able to fetch something back at the general store.

All that was left before me was the pair of double doors. In SoD, this would signify a boss fight. If it was the end of a dungeon, it might even be a demon general. This dungeon has proven to be fairly short, in retrospect, but figuring it so many things for the first time left me drained. I wasn't sure if I had what it took to face a boss fight right now.

"Hey kid, what are you waiting for? It doesn't matter to me when you go ahead, but you're gonna have to do it eventually. As my arms and legs, I fully expect you to do so."

Calvar did have a point. My health is full, and my mana reserves have recovered from the previous fight. I have no reason not get it over with right now. If I am to survive in this world, I will need to defeat bosses.

Beyond the double door lay a dusty study room. The walls were blocked by shelves lined with books. Various desks were present, adorned by alchemy equipment and sprawled-out notes. In the centre of the room was a desk with a chair -- in it a single occupant. The figure was wearing a black robe, except for the head, which was a bare white skull.

A skeleton wizard. And a terrible match up in my current state. I could make do with a powerful blunt weapon, but this spear-end is nowhere good enough. Or, if I was a full-fledged wizard, I could perhaps face it in a magical dual. My current build, however, is in a complete disadvantage. Up close I wouldn't be able to deal enough damage, and at a distance my spells would be no match for his. Either way you look at it, it's not good. Calvar seemed to sense my unease.

"Eren, do you have a plan? Do you think you can beat it?"

I put on a smug face.

"Of course I can. Who do you think I am?"

Before it could notice me, I cast a fire bolt at the mage. It was a direct hit, but it seemed to do little more than annoy it. It quickly cast a spell which I recognized as Homing Mana Bolt. Homing Mana Bolt, despite its name, was fairly different from the regular old Mana Bolt. About half a dozen magical bolts would hover near the caster and automatically target any enemy that dared to come close. Instead of a long-rage projectile, it was a way to deal with melee fighters. This is one reason why fighting mages such as these is so risky. Needless to say, making a direct approach would be a bad idea.

"This doesn't look very good. What's the plan, kid? How are you gonna beat it?"

"Calvar, I may not look it, but I am an experienced adventurer. I faced many foes, several of them even more mighty and fearsome than this. Throughout it all, I always had one strategy that could work when all else failed. It's what allowed me to survive and triumph when others would perish."

The skull looked on with anticipation.

"Wah, that's incredible! What is this invincible strategy?"

"That strategy is... to run away!!"

With great haste, I ran away from the boss room as far as I could. Fireballs and great orbs of magic rained upon me as I did.

"...THAT'S your strategy!? Are you freaking kidding me!?"

He may look down upon it, but in Spirit of Darkness, avoiding defeat was crucial to success. The cost of death was so heavy that running away was a viable strategy -- very unusual for a game of its genre. Plus, I had another idea besides just running away. If I didn't then I wouldn't have bothered with the fireball.

The skeleton mage seemed to grow frustrated at my evasiveness. As he threw a tantrum, I hit him with another fire bolt. That got him even more mad than before! With him hot on my tail, I made my way to the hallway at entrance of the second floor. By that time he cast a huge fireball at me, but with a leap and a jump, I managed to evade it and reach the stairs.

As the skeleton fast approached, the breaking of rope could be heard. I couldn't help but crack a smile. By the time the skeleton realized what happened, it was already too late. A giant boulder dropped from the ceiling and was trailing behind him. He made a valiant last effort, but it was for naught. He was finely crushed against the wall. Boulders would count as blunt damage, wouldn't they?

I approach to check the body, but to my surprise he was still alive and struggling. It would be a shame to let the boulder have the finishing strike, wouldn't it? With a great big heave, I swung at the skeleton's head and crushed its skull. The blue wisp escaped and flowed into me, nourishing me with a great quantity of aether. It was far larger than anything else I've defeated so far.

"See? Told you. It's my invincible strategy!"

The trusty skull could do nothing but roll its eyes.