Chapter 56 – Fighting Skeletons
Luke emerged from the ground just ahead of the skeleton that had been choking him moments earlier. With a powerful swing of his hammer, he sent its bones flying.
"Scary! Scary! I'm really crazy for trying this! God! What a fear of falling infinitely… Well, now I know I can simply swim through the ground. Thanks, sand crater."
As the skeleton shattered, he sprinted toward the archer.
"You're the biggest problem here!"
He knocked the archer skeleton down, smashing it with his hammer until it fell apart. But then something happened; as soon as he hit the skull, it turned to sand, and the rest of the bones stopped moving, lying completely still on the ground.
[You killed a Wild Skeleton, Peculiar Incipient]
"So that's it."
Now I can also see the rank and sub-rank of the monster I killed.
The other two skeletons charged at him full speed, tackling him to the ground. Luke prepared his hammer to strike, but was thrown off balance.
I think there's some law of physics that says not to stand in front of something fast and strong in motion…
Getting back on his feet, he kicked the skeleton and smashed its skull with his hammer. The skull turned to sand, and the skeleton was defeated.
[You killed a Wild Skeleton, Peculiar Incipient]
Barely having time to catch his breath, Luke dodged a knife thrust but still got scratched.
"My cloak! You bastard!"
The skeleton, armed with two knives, came at him with a flurry of stabs. It moved forward, slashing the air in rapid succession.
"That move would keep anyone away from you, huh? Smart… but not with me."
Swinging his hammer horizontally, he knocked the skeleton to the ground. Its parts scattered, and Luke quickly ran to the head and smashed it, killing the skeleton.
[You killed a Wild Skeleton, Peculiar Incipient]
After reading the notification, Luke threw his hammer aside and collapsed onto the ground.
Damn! My body hurts… who said fighting a simple skeleton was easy?
Luke's entire body was sore. Looking up at the tree, he spotted a coconut.
I'd love to try a coconut…
He didn't dare to dismiss his cloak, not with his right shoulder throbbing from the stab wound. He conjured his canteen and washed the wound.
My body is completely sore, I'm almost locked up from how heavy it feels. Did all this start after I swam through the ground? If so, good to know. I went through something similar, but much worse, when I came out of that crater. That time, I could barely take a step without collapsing completely, unable to move my body properly. It was probably a consequence of swimming through the sand veil. The exhaustion is different from when I just pass through a wall. Is it more complicated for intangibility to swim through the ground? I feel like this also consumed a lot of my prana. I shouldn't overdo it. In my current state, I couldn't enter the ground again, and I don't want to find out what would happen if I tried and my intangibility deactivated.
Staring at the bones in front of him, Luke sighed.
"No new cards…"
I think I'm starting to feel the prana reserve in my body. It's like a new part of me. I can't explain it, but I just know it's there. It's like a baby trying to explain how it feels and moves its arm—it's just instinctive. I think I'm feeling the Prana Core in my soul. In the end, observing those crazy seagulls gave me some insight into how to use prana without necessarily activating intangibility.
Luke forced himself to stand and moved to a tree far from the forest. He sat down and stared ahead.
I want to sleep, but now that I know there are skeletons wandering around, I don't know what to do. One of them might come while I'm asleep and slit my throat.
Placing his hand in the sand from the skeleton's skull, Luke retrieved a small prana crystal.
It never hurts to carry one of these.
He collected the crystals and sat back down.
I need to find a safe place. I can't stay here doing nothing. I don't know how the skeletons found me… I guess they probably saw a lunatic hanging from a tall tree.
Focus! I need to concentrate on planning my next steps.
Getting up, he picked up some arrows from the ground.
Got four arrows and an extra knife. At least those skeletons gave me something useful in the end.
There's still the bow and quiver lying over there, but I don't know how to use a bow. At least… not very well, and I'm definitely not an Emissary to channel my prana into an arrow to try to hit a monster. Damn… if I weren't a Dissident, at least I could have some offensive power, even if I were an Emissary and could channel prana into a rock to throw at a damn skeleton.
Luke walked away from the fight area; he had made a lot of noise during the battle and didn't want to face more skeletons. After a while, he reached a spot with plenty of shade from several palm trees. He sat down and considered entering the forest to sleep there.
Snakes! I hate snakes. What if there's one in there? Knowing my luck… I won't take any chances. I literally ran into a giant snake once by accident.
Sitting and leaning against the tree, he closed his eyes for a nap. He didn't dare lie down, knowing his body well enough that he might enter a deep sleep.
Napping while facing the forest, Luke stayed alert for a while. When he woke up, he figured it was a little past lunchtime. After wandering for five days, he had become familiar with the sun's routine, meaning he had a few hours of daylight left before nightfall.
Luckily, this place isn't like the rainy Veil of the Haunted City. Otherwise, I wouldn't have slept without finding a safe shelter.
Standing up and stretching, he felt a bit better. His stomach growled.
Alright, I need to get organized and decide what to do. Finding food is a priority because I can't afford to be low on energy in a place where skeletons roam freely. Then I need to find shelter to protect myself from the night. If I can't find shelter, I'll have to move back to the shallow sea. At least if a skeleton comes to attack me, I'll hear its steps in the water, so I'll stay away from the island as a precaution… Wait. I'm crazy… I don't intend to step in that shallow sea easily. Now that I'm on solid ground, I realize how insane I was. What if I stepped in an area where the sand started sinking? Man, I really walked a tightrope. Not to mention a creature surfaced and took the whale's body… My theory is that the blood somehow attracted a creature from the sand Veil, or the whale's weight somehow alerted the creature below the Veil's ocean.
Anyway, I need to find shelter or I'll stay up all night. I won't risk lighting a torch in the darkness of this island, at least not for now.
Luke walked towards a smaller palm tree and looked at the coconuts. His stomach growled.
"Lunchtime."