Daniel could only see a few steps ahead, as he wandered through the dark corridor that had followed after the stairs. Few torches were lighting the way, leaving a lot of areas of shadow, which offered hiding spots for unwanted occupants.
Daniel trod carefully. He was all alone. He had sent Doran back to sleep, when he told him that, in the beginning, guides could only stay outside for a set amount of time, as they consumed the energy of the player the longer they stayed outside. Daniel wasn't gonna waste the precious time he could spend with his guide on a corridor, that might as well be totally empty.
"Crack!"
Daniel stepped back and stood still. Or wasn't it empty after all? He looked around, but couldn't see anything. 'Weird…' he thought. He continued onwards, now cautious, looking to all sides before taking a step.
No more sounds could be heard for the whole passage. He reached the end of the tunnel unharmed and a wide room opened up. Only spare sources of light gave away the purpose of the room. First, Daniel had thought that he had reached the chapel, as dark objects, which he imagined to be benches, were lining up towards another giant window, skillfully carved into the stone.
Daniel started his investigation of the room.
After he had inspected one of the "benches" in the immediate vicinity, he knew better than to do so.
Instead of a chapel, this room appeared to be a crypt and the things he had thought to be benches were… graves.
It clicked for Daniel. 'Then the cracking sound earlier must've surely been an indicator for…'
However, before Daniel could finish his thought, he could already see the first skeleton awaken from its deep eternal slumber. Starting by moving into a sitting position, it attempted to crawl out of its coffin. Daniel moved backwards, as the second skeleton stood up. Not able to take his eyes off it, the skeleton made its way right toward him.
But it was not alone. From the corner of his eye, Daniel could already see the next coffin open up. He tried to count the coffins in the few remaining seconds he had before everything would be on the move to take his life.
'Alright, calm down. This is only the first fight. It can't be that hard, right? We're only talking about 20- to 1-odds here. You just need to find a location where you can isolate them, Daniel…' he stated in the measly attempt to calm himself.
He started to run back into the passageway and stopped under the next best torch to get a clear view of the enemies. 'Can't strike what you can't see!'
Although the skeletons were many, they were also slow. Surprisingly, they didn't come unequipped though. Each of them held a sword that looked exactly like his.
'How many other adventurers must've failed this challenge for all of them to have an old iron sword?' Daniel wondered.
The first skeleton had reached the halfway mark, the others following closely behind it and Daniel pulled his sword from his inventory, getting into position to face them. As it reached the ten-metre mark, the skeleton started to run at him?! Daniel hadn't been prepared for that. In a hectic motion, he pushed his sword upward, holding it above his head with both hands, to block the first hit, only to swiftly pull it back and drive it through the skeleton's skull.
The skeleton fell to the ground. It twitched before lying still. A way too human reaction for Daniel's taste. Pulling his sword back, he tried not to puke. The games he remembered hadn't been that realistic.
There was no time. The next enemies were already on the move. This time he had to face two at once, both lunging forward. The first attack he had to dodge, jumping backwards. While the first skeleton recovered, instead of dodging the second skeleton's attack, Daniel saw his chance. It was now Daniel's turn to lunge forward, piercing the second skeleton's skull before its sword could reach him.
Furious upon the death of its companion, the other skeleton prepared itself once again, but instead of charging forward solo, as Daniel had hoped, it awaited the next two skeletons. They had caught up and were ready to fight.
Although surprised by this thoughtful manoeuvre, Daniel could already see, how the skeletons were having issues to coordinate themselves in the small corridor.
'Alright, it's three at max! You can do this…" As they approached, Daniel ducked down to create a greater distance between himself and the downward slashes from the skeletons. Still on the ground, he decided to turn on the spot, swinging his sword through the air and splitting apart the spines of all three of them in one clean strike. The upper bodies fell backwards and David sprinted forwards to finish them off before the next ones were ready to face him, unsure if they would still be able to move after being split in two.
Half an hour had passed, by the time Daniel was finished with all of them. In ecstasy about his triumphant victory, Daniel performed a short dance of joy. "Wuuhuhuh, yeah, that's how it's done! Did you see that Dad? Easy!".
Leaving his enemies behind and approaching the crypt once again, he looked for loot on the ground and swapped his now badly damaged sword with a newer one of the skeletons that hadn't been used as much.
He thought 'Progression Bar!' and his progression bar turned up. It was almost full.
'Nice! Almost at the next level!' Daniel thought. 'Could this go any better?'
The moment Daniel entered the crypt, he noticed that his environment had changed. No more were the many graves, aligned towards the big window. The room wasn't dark anymore either. It was illuminated by torches from all around on the walls and a chandelier now hang from the ceiling.
"That's… new…?" Daniel noted, not so sure anymore if he was still on the right track towards his 'better future'. In the middle of the room awaited a podium with a single coffin his attention. It was made out of classy wood and engraved with a crest, Daniel didn't recognize.
An announcement or what sounded like it rang in his ear:
"Congratulations on full-clearing the "Starter dungeon: Crypt" and fulfilling the hidden questline "Free the templars companions".The follow-up quest: "Free the templar" will start in a few seconds! Rewards: Unknown".
'The templar? Follow-up quest?' This was all going too fast for Daniel. "Wait what? Why is he even here? I thought they all had left! And more importantly, why do I have to fight him? Hello! Heeello!", but the voice had vanished the moment it was done.
He heard a creaking sound and another skeleton sat up in its coffin. This one, however, was bigger than the other skeletons had been. Not only that, but it also didn't only possess a sword, but a shield and a helmet as well. The shield wasn't a problem, as it had rusted over time, seemingly not getting enough use and attention. But the helmet still looked well intact, and closed off almost all of the skeleton's head, with only two small openings running down from the eyesockets. Instead of a templar, the skeleton looked more like a gladiator with its gear, ready to fight to the death.
Daniel thought he could hear boss music in the background, but that was probably just his imagination running wild. He knew that this was not going to be as easy as the fight before.
He scanned the room in the little time he had left, looking for all environmental advantages he could think of. He found nothing.
Nothing, but the exit to the next room.
'Alright, should all be in vain I will just run to the exit. Most likely, he won't follow me. He wouldn't leave his companions behind, would he?'.
The templar was slowly approaching, shield upfront. No more time left to strategize, Daniel readied himself as well.
The templar, by the time Daniel was done with his preparations, was close enough to reach him with the sword and jabbed in his direction. Dodging to the left, Daniel rolled on the ground. When he got back up again, he tried to swing for the templar's feet, but without success. The templar had already anticipated the move and stepped back, barricading himself behind his shield again.
Daniel gritted his teeth and took a peek behind himself. Did he still have enough room between himself and the wall? Yes, he did. When he turned his attention back on his opponent, the templar was already running towards him!
'He must've noticed that I didn't focus on him' Daniel thought, trying to anticipate the next move the templar was going to make. However, he just kept running towards Daniel! When he grasped his intentions, it was already too late. The templar bumped his shield into him, throwing him a few feet back on the ground. Daniel groaned with pain, as he slid over the cold hard floor.
When he looked up, the templar was already on his way again, pressing forward to strike the final blow.
Daniel rolled to the side, to dodge the jab to his head and kicked the templar's legs.
Stumbling, the momentum of the templar brought him crashing down on Daniel, who burped under the power with that the templar pushed him down.
He was surprisingly heavy for a skeleton with no muscle mass and Daniel had issues trying to free his sword, which lay next to him, with the templar on top. Failing, Daniel decided on another plan of action. He grabbed the shield and started to push, trying to turn around the situation and get himself on top. The templar, grasping the situation and without a chance against Daniel's weight, instantly jumped back, when he felt Daniel fight for his shield, ripping it free and resetting the odds. The second the both of them were back on their feet, they started to circle each other.
After turning for one full circle, Daniel had an idea. He started to run at the templar. The templar, seeing his opponent's motions, ducked below, to shield himself from an attack from above and pointed his sword into the air.
Daniel had different intentions. He did jump, but came to a halt next to the soldier with a parkour roll. Now, with both parties on the ground, but Daniel without armour, he was more agile. He jumped up and the templar had no choice, but to stay where he was and block the never-ending attacks from Daniel, that flung through the air. His sword just couldn't reach him without giving up the shield.
After a few minutes, the shield of the templar gave out, cracking in the middle and breaking in two and the moment Daniel had been awaiting had come. Kicking the templar with his foot, the templar went down. Fidgeting with his sword in the air, he tried to block the next hit, but Daniel cut off his arms with a clean strike. He sat down on the soldier, pinning him to the ground and went for the killing blow.
A fanfare thunder went off, as Daniel completed the challenge. The system message read aloud:" Congratulations on clearing the "Starter dungeon boss: The templar"! Your reward is awaiting you at the podium".
After the announcement only silence followed. Daniel sat down. He was exhausted and everything hurt. His muscles were sore and nothing would be better than a cold beverage. How could he have expected this? On his first day even!
'That boss really knew how to wield a sword and shield… damn…'.
Daniel's attention was captured by a blue notification message, that was awaiting his attention on the side of his vision. Focusing, he pulled it up with a mind command.
[ Level up! You've one free star point to spend! ]
Daniel sighed in relief. He had done it. One step closer to the top.