Sworded Affair

Chapter 33: Boned

As Emma approached the first cluster of floating books, they rose in unison, going from a low hover at head height until they were well out of arm’s reach, blade assisted or otherwise.

“Am I supposed to jump after them?” Emma wondered as she closed the gap, now nearly directly beneath the tomes. “No, that’s silly; swordsmanship was an option in the tutorial so they’re not going to write off melee combatants entirely.”

As Emma realized that, a third of the books began to bleed, ink running down their pages to pool at Emma’s feet. A pile of bones emerged from the black morass even as the spent volumes fell into the abyss, their anima consumed entirely by the invocation. Said bones swiftly assembled themselves in the shape of a skeleton, scimitar in hand and pale blue flames in its empty eye sockets. Not bothering with her blade, Emma slammed her fist in the skeleton’s side, sending the rather light specimen sailing straight off the edge of the narrow platform.

“That’s the freebie I guess? To show me how this works.”

The remaining books immediately followed suit, this time releasing twin skeletons further back from her position. One drew back a bow, the arrow tip burning with baleful energy whilst the other knelt in front of it, bracing a large rectangular tower shield to defend them both whilst the former fired over its shoulder. Raising Epitaph horizontally, Emma attempted to parry the first shot as it fired. The results were mixed; whilst she caught the projectile on her blade and successfully angled it away from her, the sheer force of the shot tore Epitaph out of her grasp, sending blade and arrow alike into the mists below.

“Alright then,” Emma nodded once in acknowledgement, before breaking into a dead sprint; at her speed, she expected to close the distance to her foes within five seconds.

The skeleton archer was reloaded and ready to shoot in only three; its arrow materializing from thin air to give it an unassailable advantage over traditional bowmen. Emma tipped back on her heels as it fired; deliberately falling on her back to dodge the arrow flying overhead. Her back preemptively coated with a sheen of Death magic, what was once rough wood and paper wore away instantly, leaving a smooth, friction-less surface that carried Emma’s backslide at full speed across the remaining distance.

Emma’s two-footed kick had gotten her removed from several football games in her younger years; here, it proved invaluable as her momentum forced the shieldbearer back into the archer, staggering them both. Leaning forward to grip the bottom of the shield, Emma jerked her arms upwards, the sudden lift slamming the shield’s upper rim into its bearer’s jaw with crushing force. The front skeleton crumpled, unable to sustain itself with its head careening off into the distance. A third arrow thudded into what was now Emma’s shield, tearing it from her grasp but protecting what was important. Raising herself up, a single punch to the head took the archer out of the equation as well; Emma taking hold of the bow before it fell, now that she knew that the weapons would outlast their wielders.

[Memoria defeated.

50 EXP gained.

Level up! Level 6 Revenant attained!

Die by the Sword is in effect, re-calibrating skill selection!

Choose one of the following three options for Epitaph:

Weapon Enhancement - Allstrike: This blade will hit anything it touches, no exceptions. It might not do any damage, dependent on the circumstances, but it will hit.

Weapon Enhancement - Tragedy of the Commons: Wounds inflicted by this blade can be mirrored upon nearby targets of sufficient similarity.

Weapon Enhancement - No Pal of Mine: Capture the soul of enemies slain by this blade, creating a simulacrum identical in strength and obedient to your commands. Maximum of 1 stored simulacrum per 10 levels, rounding up.]

“Well now, isn’t this interesting?” Emma whispered, sparing a glance at the remaining books before diving deep into thought.

Thankfully, the three surviving clusters were some distance from her position, and showed no inclination to speed up their encounter by flying her way, thereby leaving Emma free to ponder her choices.

“Allstrike would have been useful back against The Colony, but again, there’s other methods to deal with intangibility; I even have a bundle of holy tea still sitting untouched for things like that. Tragedy of the Commons would be great for group encounters; all those Deadwood Demons would have been easily dealt with in a few strikes, but I’ve honestly yet to struggle against the hordes; all of my closest battles have been against singular bosses. Ah, I suppose when I spell it out like that, the choice is simple, no? I’ve always wanted a boss of my own.”

[Weapon Enhancement - No Pal of Mine selected!]

Taking the third option (the favored motto of the Central Intelligence Agency), Emma shivered as she felt a weight settle upon her soul. There was no physical difference of course, but suddenly she was certain that it was capable of holding far more than before. Very happy with her choice, and still untouched on the first floor barring the temporary loss of her blade, Emma hummed under her breath as she approached the next cluster of books. For a moment she was tempted to put on some suitable music, before shaking her head; this was still a potentially deadly dungeon, first floor be damned, and she wasn’t quite that arrogant just yet.

Unlike the narrow pathway before, the second cluster was hovering above a square of sorts, sixteen bookshelves coalesced to form an arena almost as large as the orientation chamber. As she stepped onto the symmetrical arena, all the books bled at once, forming not multiple smaller foes but a much larger enemy; on par with the target dummy in size but far more active. Taller than she was and much, much longer, a pink tube with a mouthful of serrated teeth that would make any shark proud emerged. The lack of eyes didn’t seem to bother it much, as its head turned instantly to lock onto her position. An intimidating sight overall, but one that failed to keep Emma from laughing once she read the monster’s name tag. She couldn't help it really, having spent far too many hours playing World of Warcraft to possibly resist.

[The Leech King - Level 8]