Like the dead man he was, the skeleton didn’t bother with the blow he received. He simply stood up and charged towards Luna, this time fiercer than before. She swung the sword again, aiming for the same spot she cut before. Harder than the previous blow, she managed to almost chop off his head. Now his head was dangling by the thin skin on his neck, the stench coming out from the rotten skeleton almost made her throw up.

‘You’re doing it wrong, correct your posture!’

Her grandfather’s words resound in her head.

She fixed her posture, straighten her back, and grip the sword confidently. The skeleton once again charged towards her. One foot forward, she nimbly swung her sword, cutting the remaining skin that connects the two pieces of body.

You have killed Undead Skeleton (Level 2)

You’ve earned 37XP point!

Luna let out a breath of relief when she saw the skeleton laying on the ground, motionless.

“Let’s throw his away as far as possible and came back tomorrow night to see him struggling to find his head.” Salmon excitedly suggested.

“Salmon,” Luna shrieked, “Stop messing around.”

“You’re boring,” Salmon replied.

They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Luna kept looking nervously over her shoulder. She had a nasty feeling they were being watched. However, Silvertooth and Salmon simply shrugged and shook their head when she asked. Neither their keen sense of smell nor night vision could detect anything in the forest.

‘Is it my sixth sense? It's possible though, this is a graveyard…’

She held the sword tighter.

Another rustling sound came from afar. They exchanged a look and nodded in understanding. There’s something nearby, and it might sense their presence too. The minutes dragged by. The forest was silent except for the occasional hooting from the owls.

‘Where is it? What is it?’

They waited and waited – But nothing showed up. The sound grew fainted, moving farther away from them.

“Whatever that is, we’re saved,” Salmon whispered in a low breath.

They set off farther into the heart of the forest, coming nearer to the graveyard. What kind of people built a graveyard in the middle of the forest? She wondered. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Silvertooth signaled them to stop.

“I smell blood,” He murmured, “This one is not the skeleton.”

“Monster?” Salmon suggested.

The smell of blood grew stronger and thicker. Silvertooth pointed to a tree, there were splashes of blood on the trees, on the roots, and the bushes. Luna held her sword, ready to cut whatever she saw leaping from the dark. From a corner, a faint sound of a weeping passed their ears. Following the direction of the sound, Silvertooth gave them a look, reminding them to get ready as he slowly moved toward the bushes.

Laying on the ground was a Weeping Deer, its body as big as a pony. Laying on the ground, trembling and weeping with a sound almost similar to a little girl. Its blood spilled on the ground and almost everywhere.

“Finished him off,” Said Salmon.

“He won’t survive,” Silvertooth mumbled.

Luna walked over to the Weeping Deer, her eyes met with his eyes. There was a painful look coming from his eyes, begging for her to end his suffering. She’s not into the killing. She loathed it. Especially those innocent animals who have nothing to do against her. If it's not for survival or self-defense, she would consider it a thousand times before she yields her sword.

“Please…” The Weeping Willow begged, with a voice so faint, she barely heard it.

She closed her eyes, gathering her strength and courage, her chest moving up and down. Swinging her sword as hard as she could to kill in one thrust, she aimed at the heart and thrust.

“Thank you…” The Weeping Willow smiled, his tears rolling down his face.

Her hands were shaking. Killing the animals was now hundreds of times harder as she could speak with them. She swore that she would never kill her foods, she’ll eat the cooked or preserved meats, but never – the one she will have to kill. Her hatred towards the Queen of Rheathea grew too, this blessing of hers is nothing but a two-edge sword. Choosing between a talking piglet and bacon, can she do it?

“Bless you…” She murmured as she wiped the blood on the sword.

They walked further into the forest, leaving behind the dead Weeping Deer. Lurking behind the trees, Luna saw two red glowing lights. As she focused harder, her eyes were able to see a faint figure hidden within the bushes. Whatever it was, her body was hunched so bad that it reminded her of a camel with her neck slightly crooked to the right. The figure stared at her – and smiled.

Long crooked nose, pointy teeth, a pair of swollen red eyes, wrinkly face, and hair sweeping the ground as the wind blew.

She giggled.

The giggling sound filled her ears, almost bursting her eardrum from every corner. She stood frozen, bewitched by the figure in front of her.

Salmon, noticing the sudden change in her, bit her hand so hard that she bled.

“Ouch!” Luna shrieked, the pain in her arm woke her up from her entranced state, “What’s that for??”

“She almost bewitched you,” Salmon warned her, “The banished witch. Legend has it that once, she sacrificed the lives of a hundred virgin for a chance to live forever. The sacrifice worked, she will never die no matter how she tried to kill herself, nor can anyone killed her. Sadly though, she kept aging each passing day. How terrible is it, to live forever yet alone? Everyone she loved, left. Don’t look her in the eyes or she’ll bewitch you.”

“Just ignore her, let’s go,” Silvertooth grumbled as he led the way.

Not long after, their foot was stopped by the familiar stench of rotten meat and the sound of bones cracking and popping heading towards them. Two skeletons were heading their way, their stench was stronger this time that Luna almost puked.

“Salmon, you and I take the left one.” Ordered Silvertooth, “and Kitty, you take the right one.”

She nodded as she gripped her sword, eyes locked on target – and she thrust the sword deep into the skeleton’s heart the same time as Silvertooth leaped and ripped apart the other skeleton. The first thrust was not hard enough, the skeleton stood from the ground and pulled her arm and he dragged her down to the ground. His bony fingers digging into her skin. His mouth getting closer to her neck, wide open, and ready to sunk his teeth. She struggled to free herself from his hand.

Her sword was thrown a few feet away from her. She rolled on the ground, barely managed to escape from the grip of the skeleton. Still laying on the ground, she kicked the skeleton hard on its chest, his grip unfastened. She could hear his bones crackling. Quickly, she stood up and ran to her sword.

She barely escaped from the skeleton when she was suddenly pounced to the ground again. The skeleton tightly grabbed her ankle. The sudden pull threw her onto the ground, kneeling. She swiftly turned, kicking the skeleton right on his face. His grip was getting stronger, his bones penetrating her skin. She groaned in pain. Silvertooth jumped to the rescue, ripping the skeleton’s arm apart. Luna quickly stood up and picked up her sword. More annoyed than ever, she made a single, powerful thrust deep into his heart.

You have killed Undead Skeleton (Level 3). You’ve earned 49XP point!

“Let’s take a quick break,” She said as she slumped down on the ground.

'Can’t believe I’ve been busy running around all day, I forgot about these available points.’

“Are you okay?” Salmon asked, “We can’t rest here for too long, we need to keep moving.”

“I know, I know. Let me distribute my point first. I’ll be quick.”

‘Okay, so I have eight available points. I have no idea how to perform magic, so I can put that aside. What I desperately need now is strength to kick that damn skeletons, so 3 points goes to strength. Agility? Well, I wouldn’t get caught by the skeleton twice if it’s not for my poor reflexes, so 2 points for Griffindor! My health point is down to 89 from 120, I’ll die soon if I don’t improve this. So two point goes to Endurance. Aha! So it’s like that. 1 point of Endurance will raise my HP by 10. So now my maximum HP capacity is 150 HP. Lastly, 1 point to Intuition. You always need that extra perception… Who knows what ghost hiding behind that tree.’

You have distributed your available points as below;

Strength 3+

Agility 2+

Endurance 2+

Intuition 1+

Confirm action?

“Yes, confirmed. Luckily, I met Twyll today, or I will never know all these things.” She murmured to herself.

“Are you done yet? We have to go now.” Salmon was getting impatient.

“Salmon, my seat is not warm yet, and you’re urging to leave,” Luna grunted as she stood up.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” He smirked and rolled his eyes, “Don’t rush, we’ll wait until you sprout.”

“Too late, I’ve bloomed.” She handed him a white flower that fell on her shoulder, blown by the wind.