Dawn- An age of Darkness

A shame I only had one hand but I unsheathed my sword and imbued it with holy magic. I held my sword tight. If I'd brought out my other sword, the mystic blade then it would have been like announcing I'm a potential food for the hungry gods, so I couldn't do that. 

The skeleton carefully observed me. It wasn't attacking and it wasn't really doing anything funny either. It was almost as though it was waiting for me to attack.

I ran to the skeleton. These past few days I tested my body. Most of my skills were intact and this body had the same agility and stamina I possessed before, maybe a little less. I did lack some strength but it was made up with speed. I really missed my arm though.

My sword clashed with his stick. Up close it seemed more like a cane than a stick. Hard to imagine it wasn't being cut even after a direct hit. He merely shrugged me off.

I jumped back, fixed my footing, and focused. I enclosed my clothes with magic too. They were now durable and light at the same time. My skills with magic had improved dramatically after the battle in the amphitheater. And with Lianne's help I could use mana more efficiently, so this was the perfect opportunity to try things out. 

But then again, I certainly didn't like fighting in a dress. I couldn't even begin to wonder how girls fought in these things. 

I need to try something different. Casting a spell would take too much time. How about…?

I focused and made small balls of light. I poured mana into the little holy balls- the size of baseballs. They had considerably less power but were easy to create and manipulate. 

If the previous big one was Starfall, this one would be a shooting star. 

The names never really made sense though. Why the hell was I naming things mid-battle anyway?

I launched the spells and followed up by charging. He looked at me with red gleaming eyes and chanted silently. A massive bolt of electricity descended from the heavens in an instant. It was so fast that I barely managed to dodge in time. My holy balls missed their mark.

This guy was good. And I had underestimated him a lot. Maybe him just being a skeleton made me overconfident. I'd fought various kinds of undead before and skeleton ones were the easiest to kill or break. As a general rule, the more meat an undead had, the stronger it was. However, that rule came crumbling down the moment I tried to attack this guy. 

But he wasn't trying to kill me and that was clear. If he was, I'd have more than enough scratches on me. "Well I have to give it to you, you've definitely piqued my interest," I said. It was weird how I tried to talk to a monster. But I couldn't afford to play around either. 

I went in full force and totally serious. 

He kept on grinning and casting thunder, trying to electrocute me. I moved fast and closed the distance between us. Meanwhile, I focused some mana behind him. It'd be a pincer attack- or so I thought. 

He blocked my sword with his cane and the holy ball behind him with just an arm. He glowed in a yellow glow. He was undamaged. I guess I wasn't the only one who could use imbuition directly on body. And since he was already dead, it was easier for him: no risks.  I was taken aback by his strength. But now I was close enough.

I grinned and focused on my remaining mana. Since he was too close to me, he wouldn't have been able to completely block my magic. I'd have to take a hit too. My holy ball- the size of a watermelon- was complete and so was his thunder spear, which he'd raised over my head. 

This whole thing went faster than I thought. 

I'd been electrocuted before. Back when I was a kid I accidentally blew up the capacitors of the living room. Project 'blow a light' blew big time. 

But my grin didn't disappear. After all, when you try to hurt someone, you should be prepared to get hurt yourself.

"That's about enough I suppose." The electric sphere above my head disappeared. 

The voice was new and something about it struck profound. It came from the mouth of the skeleton. But there were no tongue and his mouth didn't move, so he was probably using magic to talk. But the voice betrayed his appearance. His voice was almost like an elf's if not calmer.

I moved back and dispelled my spell as well but kept my guard up. My imbuition was about to run out too. Meaning I'd used more mana than I should have. 

And I felt awfully tired too.

"Finally! A worthy human." It was almost as though the skeleton guy was relieved. 

Worthy human? 

"I'd assume you're willing to talk?"

"Yes, but first." He came very close to me and almost touched my cheeks: he was fast, very fast even. I backstopped by instinct. He didn't seem to mind. "You look just like her," he mumbled. I ignored it. I didn't have the time or patience to dive into that.

I guess he knew the empress?

A second later he looked at Lianne. "I do not wish to converse whilst that vermin's spawn is here." The voice was coerced and low-pitched. His eyes had pure hate. He wasn't alive but I could sense hate that surpassed my own for the elves. 

"Calm down buddy. We're in the same boat. You got betrayed too, huh?" What was the best way to bond? Have a common enemy, of course.

It was obvious. He didn't seem like a bad guy to me. After what I'd been through with the elves, it was clear how things could have played out in the past. But I sure wasn't trusting an undead anytime soon either. 

"Y-Yes. How'd you know?" The way he stuttered was actually comical. The guy was already dead and yet he was flustered?

"Didn't I say we're in the same boat?"

"Then why are you traveling with this thing?" He sure didn't seem convinced.

Dick, Servesta, and Jori looked with curiosity.  Apparently only I could understand him, perfect. 

"Umm Daarc can you understand him? Would you mind translating for me?" Lianne said, tugging at my sleeves.

I sighed. 

Things just got more and more convoluted by the minute.