Part Eleven

Skeleton Knight

Type: Dungeon Boss

Rank: D

Description: A skeletal knight. Its body retains some of the residual memories of when it was alive.

Skeleton Soldier

Type: Dungeon Boss

Rank: E

Description: A skeletal soldier. Its body retains some of the residual memories of when it was alive

The System is always so helpful. I can tell what these guys are just by looking at them! The sole knight was surrounded by a dozen soldiers. This would surely be a challenge, even if they were only D-Rank and E-Rank. What to do?

I was slightly wondering why they had Dungeon Boss as their type. The doppelganger didn’t, but it’s description mentioned that it was the Boss. Maybe there was some difference between the two? Well it doesn’t matter. I just need to kill them.

“Alicia, you want in on this?” Don’t say yes.

“Uh, no. Not at all.” Looked like she was still scared of undead. More fun for me.

I’d need to plan this carefully. So long as I didn’t enter the room, the Boss wouldn’t react to me. It wouldn’t leave the room either. Hm, curses don’t work on undead. All of my swords aren’t optimized for this fight. And Cameron has both my axes. I don’t have anymore explosives either, so I’ll have to make do with my maces. Skanda will be critical for killing the knight, so I should save it. Actually, can you kill the undead? They’re already dead, but it sounds stupid to say re-kill. Eh, whatever.

Debating useless stuff like that wasn’t going to help.

[Alicia’s POV]

And off he goes. Michael had just charged into the Boss Room. He can be so reckless! He kept pushing me to fight those undead even though I clearly hated it. It was incredibly mean.

She was purposely ignoring the fact that she still wasn’t looking directly at the fight.

It’s not like I want to be afraid! I can’t help it! Moving corpses are scary. Michael’s the weird one for being completely calm about it. Even now, he was calmly crushing the heads of Skeleton Soldiers one-by-one. When two Soldiers had tried to pin him down, he’d thrown knives at the weak points in their legs, causing them to tumble.

Skeletons were probably the worst opponent for her. Even if you ignored her fear of the undead, arrows weren’t effective. She’d be easily surrounded if he wasn’t here. But I wouldn’t be in here, if he didn’t make me!

He’d already finished off the Soldiers, and was beginning to fight the Knight. At this rate, he’ll finish up quickly.

[Protag’s POV]

WHY IS THIS SO HARD!?

It was because, even though they were lower ranked than me, they were skilled. Up to now, I’d mostly been fighting monsters that fought with instinct or brute strength. The only ones that surpassed these skeletons, were the doppelganger and the Assassin. Even the Soldiers, weak as they were, were displaying remarkable teamwork.

There was one point were I thought I was dead. Two of them had come at me from both sides, and I’d hastily thrown knives at them. I was lucky in that I had hit a weak point in their joints, causing them to dislocate. If I hadn’t killed two of them at the beginning, I wouldn’t have lived this long. Jeeez! Why are E-Rank monsters so tough! If goblins displayed this level of teamwork, no one could beat them.

The other factor was that I was using a weapon I wasn’t familiar with. Since I wasn’t using the Nightmare’s Twin Swords, I couldn’t use Beast of the Nightmare. And since I was less skilled with maces, my performance was suffering. It’s a good thing I switched to using one mace early on.

*Crack!*

I finally killed the last of the soldiers. When it saw the last of its subordinates fall, the Knight drew its swords and fell into a battle stance. I quickly switched my swords in, figuring I’d need my superior skills to win. He dual wields?

Because of my focus on speed, I’d always used two weapons. But I was about to go up against another dual wielder who was more skilled than me. Shit! All my advantages go to shit, just because of a few undead! Maybe Alicia was onto something.

*Clang Clang clang*

He’s fast! And more skilled than me. Though that isn’t that hard. If he can keep up with my speed, then I’ll be at a severe disadvantage. Hmm. His swords aren’t very good. They’re most likely F-Rank, though I can’t see due to stupid privacy laws. If I can break them, I’ll have this fight.

He obviously wasn’t going to let me do that. We’d been circling each other as we fought, each trying to gain the advantage. But I knew. He was getting impatient. Or as impatient as a skeleton can get. His swords were slowly chipping. Breaking a little more each time they clashed with mine.

A battle of attrition favors me. Which means he’ll try something soon.

[Alicia’s POV]

What was she watching?

The fight had started rather slow, almost like they were playing. Then, the two had jumped away from each other, and proceeded to engage in a blitz of attacks. Both of their swords were moving fast enough that they appeared to be merely blurs. What is this? Would I be capable of this?

This was on another level. Even if she wanted to help, her arrows could easily hit Michael instead. All she could do was watch.

*Clang Clang clang *

If only I could help him. He wouldn’t have to fight so hard.

As she was thinking, the Knight made its move. It changed the stance it had taken and swiveled its body in a way that a human could never do. Each of the subsequent swings brought greater force, as the attacks grew in intensity.

*Clang Clang clang Crack*

Michael was being pushed back by each attack. Since they came in random directions, it was harder for him to deflect the attacks, especially since they kept growing in ferocity. Just as she was becoming worried for him however, he pulled out the mace he’d been using earlier and used it to deflect one of the swords.

The resulting clash had broken the Knight’s sword, leaving it wide open. She was so surprised by this sudden turn of events, that she actually stared at him as he finished off the Knight. As it crumbled, both it and the soldiers turned into particles of light.

“Haaah, that was fucking rough. He was only D-Rank, why was he so strong? Or is that the difference between those that have skill and those that don’t?”

He seemed depressed about something. But just as she was about to try and cheer him up, an unwelcome voice spoke in her ear.

::Death of Dungeon Boss confirmed. Individual has completed E-Rank Dungeon. Individual’s contribution: 23%. Generating rewards……Complete.

Dungeon Completion Time

3 Hours 22 Minutes::

A sudden glow burst out in front of both of them, and when it subsided, she was holding a set of arrows. WHAT! Michael’s right! Why does stuff happen so randomly here!?

[Protag’s POV]

::Death of Dungeon Boss confirmed. Individual has completed E-Rank Dungeon. Individual’s contribution: 77%. Generating rewards……Complete.

Dungeon Completion Time

3 Hours 22 Minutes::

The blinding light that had accompanied the System’s message finally faded. I was tragically becoming used to things like this, as they had repeatedly happened. I was left holding what appeared to be a scroll of some sorts. What? What do I do with this?

Skill Scroll: Sword Aura

Rank: Special

Effect: Bestows the Normal Skill: Sword Aura

Description: A scroll made with specially crafted paper. Enchanted to bestow the power of a skill.

I’m not even going to question this. If I react to every little thing, I’ll just tire myself out. Alicia seemed unable to cope with the sudden surprise, as she had dropped the set of bundled arrows she’d been given.

Blitz Arrow × 10

Rank: E

Effect: Slight increase to Destructive power, Blitz Enchantment

Description: A set of arrows that have been enchanted with increased speed. Once released, the arrow will almost immediately strike the target.

Yep, more inexplicable items from the System. I swear, the longer I deal with this crap, the more my common sense gets screwed up. Well, I’ll still use everything given to me.