"I guess my second attack was better, huh. You weren’t able to catch it that time."
Verc said with a straight face. He was so casual with it, standing there in the middle of the oppressive darkness as if he were merely discussing the weather rather than a lethal exchange of blows.
His voice didn’t shake, and his breathing remained steady, despite the heavy atmosphere of the room.
But it was obvious that he was poking at the skeleton’s pride, trying to draw out a reaction that he could exploit. If the creature was as old as the cave, it likely hadn’t been challenged in a long time. Arrogance was a weakness that even the strongest beings possessed.
And crazy enough—
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH—!!!!!
It worked!
Based on the amount of thick and strong dark mana coming out of the skeleton, it was obviously provoked by Verc’s sharp tongue, which makes you wonder if that was really his innate skill, not [Blood Is Power]. The purple light emanating from the floating bones flared up, turning into a blinding, jagged aura that seemed to scream with silent rage.
The temperature in the room plummeted, and the very air began to vibrate with the sheer pressure of the creature’s malice.
-Kek... Indeed, that was a good attack.
The skeleton muttered. Its voice was calmer this time, but it was colder, sounding like the shifting of glacial ice in a deep abyss. Verc can feel the danger approaching; it was a physical sensation, a prickling on the back of his neck that told him the play-time was over.
The skeleton’s empty eye sockets seemed to burn with a renewed, hateful focus.
And in the next moment—
-LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN DO IT AGAIN!
SWOOSH!
Another dark spear made of mana appeared right in front of Verc’s face! It looks like it just spawned in front of him, manifesting out of thin air without a single gesture from the skeleton!
SLASH—BOOM!
But Verc was getting used to it; he cut down the spear with a swift vertical slash. He didn’t even hesitate, his blade moving in a blur of steel. It exploded in front of him, but [Black Scales] protected him from getting hurt by the blast.
Though—
-It would be foolish of you if you think I can only use one of those at a time.
The skeleton said that. And immediately after—S W O O O O S H—!!!
Tens of those dark spears appeared all around Verc in an instant! They formed a perfect sphere around him, their tips all pointed inward toward him!
It was a coordinated strike that left no obvious room for escape, a cage of exploding obsidian needles.
"?!!"
Verc was surprised, and a frown quickly formed on his face. He knew he couldn’t escape this time. But still—FWOOOOSH!!!
He made his mana explode outward of his body to push back the spears and stall them even for a second. And with the extra time he bought; he scanned the encirclement in a heartbeat, his [Echolocation] and [Danger Sense] working together to find the thinnest point in the formation!
Then turning to the left; which only had two dark spears—BAM—SLASH!
B O O O O O M—!!!
"URGH...!"
Verc kicked off and dived to that part! He cut down those two spears and tanked their explosions with his scales; and in doing so—he got out of the encirclement of the dark spears before they hit each other and produced a large explosion!
A massive explosion erupted where he had been standing before. The shockwave was so powerful it would have crushed a normal man’s internal organs, but Verc was already rolling across the floor, his body coiled and ready.
Knowing he can’t afford to avoid them all, Verc quickly made a decision in milliseconds that will make him take the lowest damage as possible.
And now that he knows that the weird skeleton can attack him like that—TAP-FWOOOSH!!!
He didn’t stop moving and just continued running around the room...! Which was a good decision by him.
BOOOM! BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM—!!!
Explosions after explosions trailed after him.
Dark spears appeared where he was before out of nowhere before exploding. They were like ghostly landmines that triggered the moment he passed. If Verc stops even for a second; he would be hit!
’I can’t stop.’
Verc thought with a frown on his head, he can feel the heat of the explosion blasts on his back. He wasn’t taking any damage though because of [Black Scales] covering his whole body.
-KEKEKEKE!!! YOU BETTER NOT STOP RUNNING!!!
SWOOOSH—!
The skeleton exclaimed with a wide grin on its face as he continued summoning spears that targeted Verc.
It didn’t seem to be exerting much effort at all; it just floated in the center of the room, its skeletal fingers twitching as it directed the rain of death. It was like a conductor leading an orchestra of destruction.
Verc just ignored him though, and as he runs—he tried to think about and understand the situation he was in.
He wasn’t just running for his life; he was observing. He noticed the way the mana behaved, the way the spears manifested, and most importantly, the environment itself.
’The firepower of that skeleton is unreal, he could devastate a city in a matter of days.’
Verc realized.
The sheer volume of mana being thrown around was staggering. Any normal fortress would have been leveled by now.
That’s why; it was confusing him. After all, looking around him—
The whole place was still holding on... The walls were unblemished, and the ceiling didn’t even have a single crack despite the massive explosions.
It’s like the room didn’t even take damage from all the explosions the skeleton created. The magic seemed to dissipate against the stone only leaving burnt marks.
But weirdly; the steps he made as he run left cracks on the floor as he kicked off as hard as he can on the ground every time to escape the dark spears.
Small craters formed under his heels, and the sound of the stone splintering under his physical weight was clear. In fact, he even put a hole on the ground earlier and planted his right foot in it to attack the skeleton.
’My movements affects the room, but the skeleton’s doesn’t.’
Verc noted, his mind racing.
Also, as soon as he got inside, the skeleton told him that it will use him to get out of this place before attacking him.
’So that means that monster had been trapped in this place.’
Verc processed every information he had in his head as he runs away from the dark spears. He noticed too that the skeleton was just relaxing, it wasn’t even attacking seriously. It was playing with him, like a cat with a mouse, testing his limits.
Instead of just trying to kill Verc—
’It’s more on that the skeleton is trying to make me do something.’
Verc realized.
The creature wanted something from him. It wanted his body, or his strength. And after putting two and two together... Verc finally reached a conclusion.
That this whole place—
’It’s created specifically to seal the skeleton inside and separate him from the outside world.’
Verc said in his head.
The stone wasn’t just strong; it was specifically designed to be immune to the skeleton’s mana. It was a prison, and the skeleton was the inmate.
The reason his magic didn’t damage the walls was because the walls were built to negate it. But Verc, being an outsider, was a variable the seal didn’t account for.
That was why he was not affected by the room’s rule and can damage it.
FWIP~
"Huh?"
Just then, as he was distracted for a moment—Verc felt the space that he was running toward to shift, the air rippling like water.
The skeleton had anticipated his path. And before he could even stop—
BOOOOOM!!!
A massive explosion occurred out of nowhere right in his path! It wasn’t a spear this time, but a concentrated burst of spatial mana that erupted directly in front of his chest.
"UGH!"
Verc crossed his arms to block it, but he still took some damage from it. The force was enough to throw his guard off and halt his momentum. His ears rang, and he felt the metallic taste of blood in the back of his throat.
And because he stopped moving from that blast—
-Oops, you stopped.
BOOOM!
He was hit by a dark spear on his back!
"KURGH!!!"
Verc groaned as he felt like he was hit by an exploding boulder on his back! The impact was immense, forcing the air out of his lungs.
His whole body flung forward through the air, his scales groaning under the pressure. He felt a sharp pain in his ribs, and the world spun as he lost his footing.
And as if that wasn’t enough--
[Danger Sense] flared up, another attack was coming behind him!
"FUCK!"
Verc growled. He was hurt, but he wasn’t finished. As he flew through the air toward the wall, he reached out his left hand. And with [Adhesive Grip]—FWIP!
He held onto the smooth stone wall beside him and stopped himself mid-air! His fingers dug into the surface, his arm muscles bulging as he fought against the massive kinetic energy of his own flight.
And with his absurd arm strength—WHOOSH!
He launched himself upward with just his left arm! He propelled himself toward the heights of the chamber!
BOOOM!
The space where he was a second before twisted and exploded right after.
"..."
Verc continued clinging onto the wall with his [Adhesive Grip] like some kind of spider, his body horizontal to the ground. He moved quickly, scurrying up the vertical surface until he was at the ceiling of the massive room.
He hung there, looking down at the skeleton from a height of fifty feet. His chest was heaving, and some of the scales on his back were cracked, but his eyes were sharper than ever.
And turning to him—the skeleton tilted its head back, looking up at the ceiling where Verc was perched.
-You’re an interesting fellow. You’re not human, aren’t you?
The skeleton said that with a nasty grin on its face.
It didn’t look annoyed that Verc had escaped; it looked fascinated. It was the look of a scientist who had found a particularly resilient specimen.
-A human would have been ash by now. But you... you have the smell of the night on you. And those things covering your body... very interesting indeed.
The skeleton continued to float higher, slowly closing the distance between them, its tattered robes billowing around its legless form.
-Tell me, little monster. What are you? And more importantly... are you strong enough to break these walls for me?