CHAPTER 28: THE TEMPLE OF DRY BONES

The girl observed from the top, and thanks to the torch that Thane held, she could make out the features of the being that arrived.

"Get out! Get out now! It’s going to cast a spell!" The girl cried.

Within the room, several other weak and faint men were awoken by the girl’s cry.

Thane jerked and glanced above, but the mist prevented him from seeing who called out, and he only noticed that there was a hole that connected to the next floor.

All of a sudden, Thane felt the magic of the ground change.

Thane saw a pulsing magic that was far, far greater than what the Dungeon Core created.

The magic spread out and suddenly gathered on the bones that were surrounding the temple.

Thane saw the bones moving by themselves and gathered at one place.

Bone scraped against stone.

TAK... TAK... TAK... TAK...

The tapping sounds and what sounded like sticks striking against each other were heard.

From the shadows, skeletons pulled themselves free of the walls. The bones under Thane’s feet were also gathering and were taking form.

The armors and weapons on the ground also began to move towards the skeleton.

"I just arrived here, and some guy already has a bone to pick with me," Thane complained.

First one, then another. Rusted armor clung to their frames. Skulls snapped into place with sickening cracks. Hollow sockets glowed with faint, sickly light. It turned directly at Thane and slowly approached.

"... Are you a friendly skeleton?" Thane asked respectfully.

But the skeleton pounced at him.

"KRAAAA!" A shrieking cry went out of his empty mouth.

"Right. Of course, you would do that. But when I smash you to pieces, know that I didn’t judge you by your looks, you evil skeleton!"

SMASH!

Thane acted fast, and his strike caused the bones to shatter.

But even as it fell, the bones were once more being coated by the magic on the floor and were gathering it.

Thane raised his weapons and began to break the bones.

CRASH! CRASH!

"No! Don’t fight! It will just make the skeletons reform!" The girl cried out again.

She could see Thane’s figure now fighting in the thick mist, but the fast movements of Thane attacking the incoming skeletons had caused the torch to go out.

Down below, Thane had smashed several of the skeletons that approached him. But even if he broke the bones of the skeleton, the mana would try to reform it back together.

Each of Thane’s strikes would cause the skeletons to collapse like a pile of cards, but it also meant that Thane could not damage the bones.

Frustrated with the constant rising, Thane began to use his club to smash the bones on the ground.

SMACK! SMACK!

"Wait... Why am I doing that?" Thane frowned.

The bones were all absorbed in his Item Storage.

Thane glanced around him and could not feel any magic gathering to any bones close by.

"There! Problem solved!" Thane approved.

But as he rejoiced, he heard several footsteps from afar.

TAK! TAK! TAK!

The sound of the steps grew louder, and grew louder.

From the mist, Thane could finally see his opponents.

The features of each skeleton showed different kinds of humans. One looked like a knight with a shield. The other was a skeleton of dwarven form. There were even skeletons that had bandannas and gears that made them look like bandits.

"KRAAAA!" The piercing cries echoed as the skeletons rushed at Thane.

"Is this a skeleton dungeon?!" Thane exclaimed.

But oddly enough, the magic that Thane could see through his Supreme Perception was thicker than the one in the bones he just fought.

The first skeleton lunged with a broken sword. Thane dodged, calling out Bonky Stick as he made a quick smash at the Skeleton’s chest.

Bone shards exploded, and the bones spattered everywhere. But this time, the torso of the skeleton was crushed.

It is hard and resistant!

But the bones began to move close to each other as mana was clearly knitting them together.

Thane spared no wasteful seconds and proceeded to hack and attack those close by.

"Get out! Get out!" The girl kept crying to the darkness below.

Thane did not answer as he continued to absorb the bones he fought.

But among those that approached him, he noticed there was a skeleton at the back with mana thickly coating it.

Thane ran with great haste and even employed Spirit on his legs to catapult him towards the skeleton, smashing and striking the slow bones he passed along the way.

He wielded Bonk Stick and made a wide swing at the Skeleton.

The skeleton raised its arm and blocked the sideward swing.

BASH!

Thane was knocked back from the impact, and the Skeleton was also pushed back. But not a crack, a fracture, or even a chip could be seen on the bones that were gathering mana.

Thane cursed and knew that the skeleton had thick mana that made it more durable.

The skeleton stepped forward barehanded, as if challenging the armed Thane.

"Fine! You want a fight?! Ax and you shall receive!"

Thane leapt up with a Spirit Dispersing Deflection Strike and held the club with both of his hands as he swung down.

The skeleton charged forward with its arm raised to block the attack.

But on the last minute, Bonky Stick vanished, and what replaced it was a large axe that one of the orcs carried.

The axe cut through the bones like firewood and smashed down on the skeleton’s face, causing the mana to disperse.

But Thane sensed movement as all the nearby skeletons were rushing at him.

With a quick turn, Thane dashed to the side where he sensed the least amount of mana and the least amount of bones.

Surrounding him were skeletons that had a much higher mana coating, and made Thane decide he needed to flee.

"Too strong!" Thane ran and escaped as he saw several more skeletons forming and appearing from the ground.

He fought and fled, stabbing, kicking, blasting Spirit Dispersing Strikes to shatter bones. Skulls shattered, spines cracked, but for every one he broke, two more crawled from the darkness.

Back above, the girl’s cries could no longer be heard as the shrieking sounds of the skeletons continued.

"Lester! Throw the rope down!" The girl demanded.

"...Why?" The man she spoke to frowned.

"There’s a boy down there!"

"Exactly! There’s a useless boy down there. He will die pretty soon."

"Save him!" The girl demanded.

"No! That means, with whatever rations we have left, we’d have to split with him!" The man countered.

The two began to argue above.

Down below, Thane’s spirit was running out, and Thane was starting to feel exhausted.

"Why was I led here?" Thane thought as he ran and ran around.

"If this is a reward, why am I led to my death? Or is this world... not under God’s control?" Thane questioned.

The skeletons pressed in. His Spirit dwindled, his arm throbbed, with pain from the exhaustion, as the skeletons that appeared had already thick mana.

Thane spun, back to the altar, as the skeletons encircled him. His Perception burned red with killing intent from every side.

Then —

A shadow fell across him.

Something dropped from above.

A rope slapped against the altar stones, coiling at his feet.

"Quick! Grab it!" a sweet voice cried.

Thane’s head snapped up. Through the swirling mist, a figure leaned over the broken edge of a collapsed staircase, torchlight framing her in gold.

Without hesitation, Thane seized the rope and began climbing, Spirit surging into his arms. Skeleton hands clawed at his ankles, but he kicked them away, scrambling upward, boots scraping stone.

He pulled himself over the ledge, gasping, rolling onto the floor of the upper chamber. His heart pounded like a war drum as he reached up.

The woman who held on to the rope also stumbled back as she pulled the rope that Thane used.

THUD!

Thane was spent. No Spirit and a body that was now catching up from the terror of his adventure.

"Great... Another useless kid." A female voice was heard.

"Why did we save him?" A man’s voice grunted.

"I didn’t want to save him! This brat threw our rope down!" Another complained.

Thane could hear three voices bickering.

"Th.. thanks..." Thane turned to the girl.

The girl had unkempt hair and cracked lips that showed her lack of water.

The torchlight on the side was held up by the girl, and Thane looked up at his rescuer.

Golden hair, flowing like sunlight through the mist. Eyes clear, luminous even in the gloom. A presence that seemed to pierce through the fog’s corruption like a spear of dawn. Her features were vastly different. Nonetheless, it was still the most beautiful thing Thane had seen.

Thane’s throat parched as he saw the girl approach her.

This was Seraphina! The lost princess of Sanctus Luminara!