Arden’s plans would not survive till dawn. He was stirred awake before sunrise by his brother, who said the sheriff was downstairs and needed to speak with him. Given how the mayor acted the day before Arden couldn’t be faulted for taking longer than was strictly needed to get changed and start down the stairs. His father was sitting at the table, his leg propped up as the sheriff and him discussed the harvest. When Arden came down the Sheriff looked up at him and their eyes met. The Mayor was an insufferable piece of human waste, but the Sheriff had his moments.

  “A dungeon opened near the village, I need you and the others to head out and close it” He said straight up, breaking away from the previous topic of discussion. That was to show how important this was. Arden straightened and grimaced. Not only was this dangerous, but it meant that he wouldn’t be able to train his air magic, which would make the harvest even harder to complete. This was the absolute worst timing possible.

  “Do you know what kind of dungeon?” He asked, moving to the table and sitting. Immediately his sister put hot food in front of him and a warm mug.

  “Another skeleton dungeon” The Sheriff says flatly and that was a relief at least. Skeletons were useful and Sheriff Rawlins knew that Arden and his party could easily close this one out.

  “And the rewards? We don’t know what will drop now” Arden asked and the Sheriff smirked. Technically it was no longer their job to do dungeons, but the job of another group of young adults. The Sheriff being here meant he wasn’t confident the kids could get it done without injury, so he was coming to Arden and the others. That meant they were to be paid for it.

  “You get to keep one item from the dungeon each, the rest go to the town coffers” The Sheriff said and Arden thought on it. Normally they would be paid in progress towards their next attribute card. Now, they were not working towards one so they would need pay. One item each was reasonable given the situation.

  “I see, I will prepare right away” Arden said getting up. His father snagged his sleeve and pulled him back down.

  “You’ve been skipping out on a good meal two days in a row now, and you’re going into a dungeon, eat” He said firmly, eyeing the sheriff with a face that dared him to countermand a father’s caution with his son. After a moment Sheriff Rawlins nodded and leaned back, returning to the conversation about the harvest.

  Arden ate and Rawlins and his father spoke. And for a moment it seemed like the Sheriff was on Ebrin’s side in things, but the Mayor had control over goings on in the town and if he told Rawlins to do something, he didn’t have the right to tell him no. Arden settled in and focused on his meal, and on looking over his stats. His intelligence had risen to level 2 and his strength was about to level as well. His increased mana regeneration would allow him to use his lightning arc spell more often, so he needed to make sure to use it as much as possible to help level his basic air magic. Though he would need to be careful. The others might get hurt if they ran into the arc linking the two targets.

  “Hey, Arden” His father said and he snapped back to reality.

  “Yes sir?”

  “He was asking you a question” He said and Sheriff Rawlins looked at him.

  “Sorry, was in my own world” He said sheepishly.

  “I asked if you would tell me if you see anything weird in this one like you four reported in the other”

  “Oh, yes sir, of course” He said, looking down at his plate. It was mostly empty and he stood up.

  “The others will probably be waiting for me, I need to go” He said, looking at his father who nodded.

  “Be careful, and get them home safe” He said and Arden nodded, running to the front door and opening the closet. Most of his combat gear was stored in the system, but he kept a few pieces out that were heavier. He put on his armor, and grabbed a backpack and was out the door.

  He found the others indeed waiting for him. Frederick was mad but Cole was understanding it seemed. The two took less than ten minutes to collect a few provisions from the sheriff’s office left for them and they were on the road leading north out of town. This road would eventually lead to the capitol if they stayed on it for a few weeks, but as it was they were off the road and into the brush after fifteen minutes.

  They walked in companionable silence for several minutes, Cole leading the way and Frederick always staying to one side or the other as flank. Mina and Arden walked single file with Cole a dozen paces in front. It was a practiced formation they used whenever dealing with dungeons or any situation that might spawn monsters.

  When the system spawned a dungeon it would occasionally create a ‘spawn point’ somewhere in the vicinity. That spawn point would produce monsters at a set rate until someone stepped on it. Fortunately the system marked spawn points with a glowing portal. All anyone had to do to destroy the spawn point was touch the portal and it would collapse. Before they went into the dungeon they would need to clear the area of a spawn point. It would still spawn monsters even when they were inside, so they had to make sure it wasn’t flooding the village before they went in.

  “There it is” Cole said, pointing. The black door of the dungeon loomed at them. It had formed in a section of riverbank. A swirling luminescent portal that dug into the clay. There was a vertical cut in the clay layer and the portal sat in it, forcing them to remove some of the clay before entering. While they worked on that Frederick made a quick circle around the area looking for a spawn point or any monsters. If they found monsters, there was a spawn point.

  “I don’t like the positioning. Remember not to run at the exit door when we’re done, or you might end up face first in the creek” Cole said, stamping on the mud in front of the portal. Frederick returned about ten minutes later.

  “No sign of a spawn point, I think we’re clear” He said. Everyone knew that the Sheriff would stay in the village until they returned, just in the case they missed a spawn point. But they would get in trouble if they had. Fred was good at finding them though so everyone was confident there wasn’t one. They had come straight from the village center specifically for that reason. The monsters would make a straight line for the village if there was a spawn point, and they had not run into anything on the way here. Cole seemed to make a decision and stood, looking at Arden.

  “Arden, you ready?” Cole asked and Arden nodded, holding up his shield. In his mind he felt his mana flowing and he slipped into his new stance, walking through the portal.

  Walking through a dungeon portal was like walking through a door, save that you were walking into an entirely different world it seemed. One side of the portal was relatively warm and the stream bubbled and burbled happily, while the other was cold, dark, and the bubbling stream was a distant echo through the portal.

  He stood in what was widely considered to be a system created ‘entry room’. How the system did this was not well understood by anyone but the dungeon existed outside of normal reality. The first room of a dungeon was generally safe, but not always. This is why Arden entered first and with his guard up. Cole and Frederick followed almost immediately, weapons up, and Mina came in last ready to guard if needed. They relaxed when they saw the barred door in front of them. It was barred from the inside and Arden immediately moved to it.

  “Well that’s good at least” He said looking around. Finding the barred door meant that this was likely to be the standard skeleton dungeon, not some rare spawn variant dungeon. It meant less loot than the variant dungeon, but it also meant that the going would be easier.

  No two dungeons were exactly alike, but one thing that had been determined during the many hundreds of years since the system brought humanity to this world was that barred doors only appeared on standard variant dungeons. If the barred door was absent, you had yourself a variant dungeon and needed to be on your toes, but also were in for better loot.

  “Ok Arden, when you’re ready” Cole said and Frederick and Arden removed the wooden log barring the door and it slowly creaked open. Beyond they found what they had expected, a door leading out of the safe room and into a courtyard. They could see trees and other foliage beyond the courtyard which was also expected. Parts of the standard variant would mirror the area in which its portal opened. And since the portal opened in a forest, they expected large parts of the dungeon to be likewise forested.

  Arden slowly made his way into the courtyard, checking all around himself as Frederick quickly took to the undergrowth, vanishing into the foliage to do what he does best. The party interface within the system allowed them to whisper to one another regardless of distance. The system was labeled ‘vox’ in the system so that’s what everyone called the communication magic.

  “Ok, we’ve got three ways out of the courtyard, which are we taking? North, West or South?” Frederick’s voice crackled over the vox.

  “Let’s start with north Fred” Colin said, and Arden moved to the north. There was a gap in the courtyard wall but it was obviously not intentional. A huge lump of stone lay inside the courtyard that was clearly different from the stone the walls were made of. The system had created something believable. It made it look like there was a horrible battle here somewhere in years past given the moss growing on everything, both the stone of the wall and the stone of the foreign rock that had bashed through the wall.

  Slipping past the stone Arden scaled the rubble and edged out into the forest. He knew that Fredrick was already out there, and had a vague awareness of where he was through the system. Fred was in the brush to his left as he moved through and out into the forest beyond the wall. There was a man-made ditch past the wall and he moved through it quickly, not wanting to be attacked from above as he passed through. Already he could feel there were enemies near. He could hear the clicking and clacking of bones. His point readouts would remain up the entire time they were in the dungeon, so he couldn’t use that to determine if danger was near.

  “We got skeletons, about forty feet ahead of you Arden, five of them” Fred informed them over the vox.

  “Are you left or right of them?” Arden asked and Fred told them he was to the right of the group.

  “Ok I’ll go in and get their attention, I’m going to focus on the left hand side. Cole, can you help Fred with the right? I will try to keep them on me, but there are more of them than us so it might get dangerous” Arden said over the vox and Cole acknowledged. Arden looked back and Mina nodded at him.

  “Use the spell Arden, lead with it” She said and Arden nodded, moving forward. The forest grew more dense as he pushed through it, vines and branches catching on his armor. He pushed through and burst into a clearing. The gloom opened up but only just slightly and he could make out five figures in the dark. They swayed back and forth slightly, not seeming to notice his presence at first. One of them had been facing in Arden’s direction and he watched as the shadowed figure straightened and an ominous blue glow shimmered to life in its empty eye sockets. It seemed to attempt to scream at him but without lungs or flesh it just made a rattling noise. The other skeletons immediately straightened and turned, the same blue glow erupting in their own empty sockets. The light of their eyes illuminated them and each skeleton bore a rotting wooden shield, a rusted sword, and the torn and rotting remnants of what had once been chain armor.

  “Here we go everyone” Arden said, digging the tip of his sword into the ground at his right, reaching forward. He triggered his lightning arc skill and he felt the power flow out of him. Two of the skeletons, including the one that had initially noticed him suddenly straightened as a scintillating Coruscant arc of electricity flashed between them. Arden reached down and pulled his sword from the dirt just as the spell took hold fully. The skeletons rattled and chattered as the power surged through them and Arden slipped into his new shielded caster stance. He needed to let the skeletons close on him before the others joined in. Skeletons were mindless things and would continue attacking him for a considerable amount of time regardless of how much damage they were taking and from where. If Arden could get them to attack him even once, they would continue to do so for long enough to help keep Cole and Frederick safe. The only wildcard would be Mina, if she was forced to heal someone the skeletons were likely to immediately turn and move towards her. So he was stuck in a hard place. He needed the skeletons to attack him, but he also needed to make sure that they didn’t do enough damage to force Mina to heal him or the skeletons would make a b-line for her at his moment of weakness.

  Gritting against their advance, Arden maneuvered the skeletons so that they were close to the thicker brush on their right side, so that Frederick could attack and have an easy means of escape.

  The first two blows bounced off his shield just as the lightning arc spell petered out. Arden’s shield glimmered as he activated shield block and the third skeleton’s rusted sword clanged off his shield loudly. He watched his hit point total as it ticked down two points.

  “Not yet” He said over the vox as the two scorched and damaged skeletons lumbered towards him. Both of them bore deep scorch marks and one skeleton’s rusted sword had been burned straight through, leaving a jagged spike where a blade had been.

  Taking a single step to the left to give the newcomers room to reach him Arden lifted his shield and his sword glimmered as he activated slash. The first skeleton to spot them stepped forward and swung, its sword bouncing off Arden’s shield at the cost of a single HP. The other swung and Arden dodged it, driving the shimmering blade into the skeleton’s ribcage. He stepped forward, slamming his shield into one skeleton, and driving his other arm forward, causing the crossguard of his sword to slam into the skeleton’s rib cage, shoving it back.

  “Go go go” He called over the vox as the skeletons stumbled back. At his call an arrow lanced out of the forest and slammed into a skeleton’s head. The back of the skeleton’s skull was blasted out as the arrow passed right through, snuffing out the light in that eye. The skeleton began to rattle and stutter in its movements, bouncing another blow off Arden’s shield.

  Moments later the same skeleton jerked and fell over as Frederick shot out of the brush, bashing at the monster’s spine with a pair of small clubs he carried. Bone cracked and shattered and the creature struggled to get back up.

  Mina wouldn’t make her presence known unless needed, so Arden pivoted to the left, pulling the skeletons to the side with him. Four more blows rang against his shield and for the first time one of them bounced off his armor. His hp dropped by 9 and he snarled, backing up. He drove the sword into the ground again and once more activated his lightning arc. Power flowed out of him and he selected two of the skeletons, the two at either end of the pack. Luck was with him and both of them were ahead of the others. One was the skeleton with the ruined sword and it arched its back as a second round of scorch marks were burned into its bones.

  The other skeletons lumbered forward headlong into the arc. The instant the beam was broken the spell collapsed, causing a shower of sparks that scorched the entire pack again. Arden dove out of the way of the sparks as another arrow slammed into the pack. This time it found a neck and one of the skeletons collapsed into a pile of disconnected bones. Moments later Frederick crushed the skull of the one that Cole had blasted an eye out of and its skull collapsed, the body falling apart moments later. Arden found his feet and deflected two more attacks, his shield glimmering as he activated shield block. Moments later he activated slash and his blade cleanly severed one of the skeleton’s spines. The lower body collapsed and the upper body flopped to the ground trying to move but not seeming to understand that it had been cut in half. Arden kicked it in the skull and the skull came loose, causing the rest of the creature to collapse.

  “Three down, two to go” Arden said, activating shield block again. He glanced at his stamina and saw it was worryingly low, having to activate his block over and over was taking its toll on him. Another blow bounced off his shield as the remaining skeletons continued to focus on him. Arden pulled them around again so they were facing away from the rest of the group. The problem with this was they were between Arden and Mina, so he quickly hopped back a few steps and turned again, pulling them around. Frederick had vanished into the bush, and after the turn he popped out and reduced the remaining enemies to just one. The haggard skeleton with the ruined sword.

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  Arden bounced another blow from it off his shield, bringing his HP near to the halfway point. But Cole put an end to the monster with an arrow in the side of its head.

  “Arden” Mina said, emerging from the brush to heal him. He panted a little as she got to work.

  “That was harder than expected” Cole said, looking over the skeletons.

  “Yea, Arden really got hammered, even with his new tricks” Frederick said, kneeling to look them over. As Mina’s magic sank into his bruises and scrapes Cole picked up one of the swords. The hand came with it, and to everyone’s shock it started to wiggle. He dropped the sword and the entire collection of bones began to twitch, as if it was trying to put itself back together.

  “Ok that’s not normal” Arden said and Cole looked worried.

  “There was a safe room. This is a standard variant, but these are clearly not standard skeletons. It’s happening again” Arden said, looking around. He caught eyes with Cole and both of them had more than slightly concerned looks on their faces.

  “What are the odds the mayor ignores us again?” Frederick said, breaking the silence.

  “We all know the mayor at this point” Cole says, looking around. Mina’s spell finishes and Arden checks his stats. He’s back to full health but the bruises aren’t entirely gone. His mana is regenerating quickly but isn’t quite full and his stamina is already back to full.

  “Does anyone else want to get out of here before they manage to put themselves back together?” Arden says, looking at the bones out of the corner of his eye as he looks at Cole, who is messing with the bones. He nudges two of them closer together and the bones snap into place. Cole stomps on it and all four of them start kicking at the piles to scatter the bones further apart.

  “I don’t like this” Cole says, and the others nod.

  “We might end up in a situation where the stuff we just killed gets back up and we’re surrounded”

  “Fred stays back with you three, I take point and we take it slow and methodical, scattering the bones as much as we can” Arden says, an idea striking him. He walks up to one of the scattered piles and starts collecting vertebrae.

  “If we take these, they can’t put themselves all the way back together right? Maybe collect skulls?” He says, pulling a bag out of his pack and dropping the bones into it. The others pull out small bags and start collecting vertebrae. Once each of the five skeletons had several pieces bagged.

  Arden took a moment to check his system announcements and was pleased to find that his Lightning Arc had reached level 3 and his shielded caster as well. Two more levels for each and he would be able to improve the skill and talent.

  His shield block was nearly leveled as well. While he looked over the notifications Cole and Fred worked on where to go from here. Dungeons tend to have a set of paths that all lead to the same place, the boss room. Once the boss was defeated the dungeon would be ‘complete’. Once everyone left the dungeon it would immediately despawn and the doorway would vanish from the world.

  The path they are on now they chose at random, so they would not know if it was the easiest or most efficient path through the dungeon. But as it was once you made your choice it was almost always best to stick with it and push through to the boss room. Cole looked around the clearing and noted the brush that they entered through, as well as two paths that lead from this area.

  Dungeons were made of ‘rooms’ but those rooms could take almost any form. In this case the room was the forest clearing. We had to pick our way through which meant that we needed to gather whatever information we could before deciding.

  Cole and Fred moved to the paths leading away from the clearing. Mina turned to Arden as they waited.

  “We need to be careful about the link between the two targets of your lightning arc spell. The second time you used it and they broke the link it was very effective, but if you do it too close to yourself you are liable to be severely injured” She said, looking at the scorch marks on Arden’s armor.

  “Agreed, did not expect that, but it is useful to be able to harm groups like that” He noted and she was the one to agree.

  “Good thing to lead with to ensure that things aggro onto you” She said, using system terms. “Aggro” was the term the system used to describe how monsters choose who they would attack. Intelligent monsters did not have aggro, but mindless ones did. The skeletons in this dungeon would be mindless and they needed to take that into account.

  Fortunately for Arden he had an augment for his slash skill called Provoking Slash. This would allow him to force even intelligent monsters to attack him, though they would often choose to do so their own way and that didn’t always mean they would mindlessly advance on him the way the skeletons had. But being able to force them to focus on him meant he could keep them off Mina.

  “We need to figure out how to keep you from taking more damage if these things are so much more dangerous than normal” Mina said, clearly looking at her system menus.

  “The problem is my new ward spell will make things attack me even if I use it on you” She noted and Arden was forced to agree when she showed him the skill.

  “I think we might need to split things. You have that spell that freezes things right?” He asked and she nodded.

  “As long as we leave it alone it will stay frozen in place, so we just use that to divide and conquer. She agreed just as Cole and Fred returned.

  “We’re going to take the left path. I think it’s leading to a trap room” Cole said and Arden narrowed his eyes. If it was a trap room, that meant they had a possible path that would take them to the boss room quicker. Traps were more deadly, but pathways in a dungeon that included one often counted that room as multiple encounters. So you would face fewer monsters before being presented with the boss. The problem was that Frederick, the one of their group that was most likely to have received trap relating skills, had yet to get one. Meaning that their only way to deal with the room was for Arden to trigger the traps himself, and Mina to heal any damage.

  “I know Arden, but you saw those skeletons, the less we have to deal with the better right?” Cole said, holding his hands wide in a gesture that begged understanding.

  “And what if the traps are just as dangerous as the skeletons Cole?” Arden countered and it seemed that Cole had not thought of that possibility.

  “We’ll do the rock thing” He said, looking around and gathering several large stones. Arden rolled his eyes.

  “Very well then, but Mina is going to use her shields on me first. Just in case” He said, and she nodded, their planning having been thoroughly disrupted. The group moved forward again, this time taking the left path. They were presented with a pair of trees, they looked slightly different from the others in the forest which Arden agreed was probably a trap of some sort.

  “Ok here we go” Mina said, putting a hand on Arden’s back. He felt the ward spell flow over his skin and his vision changed slightly for a moment. She removed her hand and patted him on the shoulder.

  Arden moved forward, accepting the handful of rocks from Cole. As he did Mina helped him by taking his shield and attaching it to a loop on his armor to his back, his sword sheathed at his hip. Arden took the rocks and strode forward slowly, tossing the stones at the ground between the trees, before bouncing one off each of the trees themselves. Nothing happened.

  “Well crap” He said, and Fred and Cole began chucking more stones, trying to trigger whatever trap was hidden behind the trees. Nothing seemed to do the trick.

  That is until Arden stepped directly between them and heard something snap beneath his feet. His foot sank into the mechanism stealing precious seconds from his retreat as a large stone attached to a rope and covered with sharp wooden spikes swung out of a nearby tree towards him. He didn’t even try to evade or pull himself free, instead he turned as best he could and presented the shield on his back to the blow. It hurt, a lot. His foot was still trapped in the broken mechanism and he couldn’t turn it very much, causing him to over extend his knee to get himself in a position he could twist to take the blow in the shield instead of his armor. The blow itself just made it worse and he let out a pained yell as the swinging ball of spikes struck him. Mina’s barrier did its best to keep him safe but the force overextended his leg and he was forced to turn back when the ball bounced off him, leaving him no choice but to try to catch it when the spiked pendulum swung back.

  The spikes dug into the skin of his hand when he caught it and he let out another cry of pain as his knee gave out and the weight of the swinging stone dragged him from his feet. The rope broke and the stone fell on him as he went down, digging into his armor and rolling off him and down the slight incline leading up to the trees, forcing Cole and Mina to dodge in their attempts to get to Arden. He yelled and held onto his knee as they reached him.

  “Cole, you’re going first next time” He said as their leader reached him.

  “Crap, crap… damn it Arden I’m sorry, we should have just gone with the damn skeletons” He said, looking over Arden’s left arm, which was bleeding. Instantly Mina went to work healing him. The magic blunted the pain but his knee was hurt and that she wouldn’t be able to fully mend.

  For several tense moments she worked on him as Fred and Cole did their best to deal with the damage to his armor. There were several holes in it at this point and one of his vambraces was damaged. They got most of his armor off as Mina worked and by the time she finished her third healing spell, the pain was gone and his armor was somewhat fixed. He put weight on the knee and it hurt, but it was bearable.

  “Not good” He said, pain throbbing dully.

  “Not good” The others said, helping him strap his shield back on, it too had a hole in it now.

  “We take it slow, and methodical” Arden said, looking at them. They were stuck here till they finished the dungeon but from this point forward it was going to be hard.

  “Agreed, Fred, get your shield” Cole said and Fred nodded, digging into his backpack to pull out a small buckler.

  “Arden takes point, and Fred backs him up. We focus on splitting fire and kiting” Cole said, using a system term. To Kite was to get something mindless to chase you, and then lead it on a chase where it never actually got in a position to hurt you. Fred was good at Kiting, because he was in light armor and could run much faster than Arden could. Arden kited a little, as he had with the previous pack of skeletons, turning them over and over so that they had to adjust and so that Cole could attack them from the side instead of head on. But Fred could get one or two of them to follow him, and then stay just outside their reach until they were ready for Arden to come in and force them to attack him with his Slash skill.

  Arden took a few steps forward, testing his ability to carry the weight on his tender knee and found he could do so without too much pain, but battle would be a different thing.

  “If I get swarmed, Mina might have to heal me and run” He said grimacing.

  “If we have to” She said, nodding. Arden nodded back and began trudging forward again. The trees began to thin out and before long they were walking on another path. Twice they encountered skeletons, but both times they had enough space to simply enact a fighting retreat. Arden would throw his lightning arc, and the skeletons would break the arc triggering a small explosion that would aggro all of them to him. Then Arden, Cole, and Mina peppered them with magic and arrows while Fred would stagger them and try to interrupt as many attacks on Arden as possible. During the two battles Arden’s intelligence reached level 3, and his lightning arc reached level four.

  The third group was encountered too close to kite and Arden was forced to fight up close. They managed well given his injury and the entire group seemed to feel better about their chances as they scattered the skeletons. Cole was grabbing bones when he noticed something. Wandering to the edge of the clearing they had encountered the skeletons in he pulled on a dense bundle of vines to reveal a black portal, swirling darkness in the shape of a doorway.

  “Another one of these” He said, not daring to touch the plane of the portal. The swirling darkness seemed to react when they spoke and they did the smart thing, retreating away from it.

  “The boss room has to be close” Cole said as they left the clearing. He wasn’t wrong, and soon they could see a stone keep looming in the forest ahead. Coming to it they were presented with a huge wooden door that was shattered and pulled off its bearings, leaving it leaning and open. The courtyard beyond was a ruined mess of decayed bodies and ruined armor. The four of them walked in together, knowing that this was the boss room and that the encounter would not start until they triggered it.

  At the back of the courtyard was a single large wooden door, closed but scarred by what appeared to be multiple attempts to breach it. They shared a look and Mina retreated to the back near the main entrance. Frederick moved to the left, hiding among some overgrowth and a turned over cart. Cole moved to the right and climbed up on top of a ruined staircase before scaling a section of the outer wall to stand on top of it. All while Arden dug the tip of his word into the ground before leaning to pick up a stone and hefting it, looking to Cole. The leader checked with the others before nodding to Arden.

  “Here goes nothing” Arden said, flinging the stone at the door. It plinked off the thick wood and a strange rattling growl issued from the door. It swung open and a sword erupted from the darkness beyond, as if it would have attacked anyone who dared touch the door. Arden sank into his arcane stance and for the first time activated his Arcane Armor talent. He felt mana flow out of him and into his armor. The mana cost was harsh but he knew it would be needed.

  The sword retracted into the darkness and a hand came out, grabbing onto the door frame. A huge skeleton pulled itself out of the dark and its glowing blue eyes showed it already had aggro on Arden. He smirked and pointed at it, casting his lightning arc spell. The door began to rattle as an arc of power leapt between it and the skeleton boss, scorching both and setting the door on fire.

  The giant skeleton lumbered forward and brought its huge sword up and over in a massive chop. Arden grimaced as he didn’t even try to block the attack, instead rolling to the right. The massive blade lodged itself in the ground and Arden let out a yell as he hauled himself to his feet, charging at it as fast as his leg would allow him. The slash skill caused his sword to glimmer and he swung hard, snapping one of the skeleton boss’ ribs. It let out a strange clattering sound and batted at him with its free hand. Arden’s shield shimmered with his shield block skill but it wasn’t enough, he was sent flying by the blow.

  “Crap” Cole said, and a pair of arrows slammed into the arm holding onto the sword but it was too late. The blade came free and it brought the weapon up and over at Arden just as he struggled to get up. Arden rolled again to dodge and this time the blade didn’t get stuck. Fred lanced in under the shot and struck the wrist bones with his club, but he too was batted away.

  Arden struggled to his feet just as the sword came up again and this time he didn’t have a chance to dodge. He put everything he had into the defense, activating his shield block and forcing another point of mana into his Arcane Armor. It seemed that when he was hit, the mana would be consumed and he would have to invest more to keep it at full strength. This was preferable to what he had assumed, where every activation would cost 3 mana. The blade struck his shield with a loud clang and he took a single step to the left, pivoting at the hips and letting the massive weapon slide off. The defense cost him five hit points and his hand went numb. He staggered to the side and drove his sword into the ground, reaching out to cast his lightning arc again. Another scintillating arc of power scorched the skeleton and in a moment of inspiration Arden picked up a stone and threw it towards the arc. The spell had reached out and connected with a section of the courtyard wall but his stone sailed over the arc.

  Cole saw the attempt and smirked, shifting his aim and putting an arrow through the arc. It cut off the flow of power and the spell detonated, showering the skeleton boss in sparks that burned its bones.

  Arden backed up and forced another mana through his stance, feeling the energy build up in his armor. Another massive blow drove him to his knees and this time he couldn’t get back up. The boss lifted the huge blade again. Arden lifted his shield and tried to activate shield block again but it was on cooldown. The blade fell and Arden was enveloped by a ward, absorbing the blow.

  “MINA!” He called as the boss stood up, turning to look at the caster. Arden tried to get up but his knee made him sluggish. Multiple arrows lanced down into the boss but it was locked on Mina. Fred hurled himself at the beast, slamming his clubs into its knee and Arden struggled to his feet, hurling his lightning arc spell again. Again the spell scorched the skeleton but it did not turn. Arden knew that only his slash spell could bring aggro back to him and he activated the skill, lumbering forward. Pain exploded from his knee as he strained the wounded joint. He let out a pained yell as he slammed the weapon into the skeleton and it stopped moving. Its head slowly turned to look at Arden and he lifted his shield, activating his shield block. The blow rattled his spine and made his arm go numb again. This time he shifted his weight and allowed the huge sword to slide off his shield, slamming into the ground. Again his sword glimmered and he lashed out at the creature’s wrist. This time the bones cracked but still the beast did not let go.

  A spike of ice slammed into the creature’s back causing it to stumble and again Fred attacked it’s knees. This time one of them buckled and the skeleton went to its knees. Arden landed another slash attack and Cole was able to put an arrow in the skeleton’s eye.

  The creature let out a rattling cry and lashed at Fred and Arden. Arden blocked it with his shield block skill and leaned into the attack, pressing the skeleton back and hitting it again as it regained its feet, swinging the huge sword at Arden again. He rolled out of the way and Fred cracked it on the back of the knee again.

  Mina hit it with another ice lance and Cole another arrow before it managed to break into a charge at Arden. He rolled out of the way again but his knee was starting to really hurt.

  The boss lashed at him again and he was forced to block it with a shield block but his knee gave way. Again and again Mina and Frederick lashed out at it but the sword rose into the air again. Arden tried to shove more mana into his arcane armor talent but he saw with horror that he was entirely out of mana. And his shield block was on cooldown. Grimacing and bracing himself he heard a ringing sound, knowing it to be Cole’s power shot. His only bow skill. Looking up he heard the sword clatter to the ground as the skeleton boss tried to pull the arrows out of its eyes.

  It let out a clattering cry and its body began to fall apart. Two huge arm bones bounced off Arden’s shield as he tried to haul himself away from the collapsing skeleton. He felt a hand grab him by his armor and turned to find Fred hauling him bodily away. The two of them stumbled and cried as they leaped behind the collapsed cart, bones rattling to the ground all around them.

  When the dust settled Arden’s vision came back into focus and he realized he had less than ten HP…

  “Next time, Cole gets to be the tank” He says, and Fred begins to laugh.