Me and my ever-increasing army set out in the morning on another hunting trip. By midday, we had another two skins and I was up to level seven when we went take a break. Some of the hide was fashioned into a simple bag to tie onto my waist in which was my lunch. Some freshly made jerky! We haven’t even been bothering to haul the bodies of the boars we hunt with us. I have more jerky at camp than I know what to do with. It will start going bad before I can finish it all. While eating I take out the book and comb over the levels earned over these last days.
I have been flipping through it but just before we were interrupted by the last boar, something happened that I didn’t have time to go through before the fight. One of the skills on the page was glowing. Normally after I flip through the page it stops but this time it kept at it. Something must be up.
Relevant changes:
NAME: Krieg
CLASS: Awakened Necromancer Apprentice
LEVEL: 7
Basic Skeletal Tactics LV16:
Skeletons under your control gain intelligence with regards to tactics
Novice Skeletal General LV20:
Issue more complex commands and have them executed better to your will
Novice Skeletal General Keeps glowing. Tapping the page, another line appears next to it with an arrow between the two. ‘Competent skeletal General’ huh. That sounds good. Running my finger over the title it glows brightly before the old vanishes and is replaced by the new.
Competent Skeletal General LV1:
Issue more complex commands and have them executed better to your will
Information floods my brain for just a second. But it’s enough time to show me details of how my soldiers operate and what the limits of the commands I can give them are, helping me to better utilize my manpower.
Then I hear something. Quiet at first. I try to be as quiet as possible. Whatever it is might be more powerful than those boars. As it grows louder I can tell what it is. Voices, talking, and laughing.
“People?!”
Finally, after all this time out here alone I can hear signs of other people. It’s enough to bring a tear to my eye.
I almost break from where I am to go over to try and talk to them and try to explain my situation.
Only at the last moment do I press myself back first against the tree and order my skeletons to get on the ground, this time in a whisper.
“group summon skeleton”
I whisper this and thankfully it still works as five more skeletons swiftly join the others on the ground.
They are closer now, and their voices are more clear.
“How much further do we need to be to do this? We are in the middle of nowhere let’s just get this over with and get back.”
“We need to make sure nobody sees how she died. If they did, anyone would start asking questions. We can’t let her get away with anything less than the worst after what she did to us.”
“Fine boss but we should do this quick. We have been walking forever. Anyone on the trail has got to be confused by now. Much further and we’ll break through to the other side of the forest.”
“Fine. Ten more minutes of walking and we’ll finish the job.”
That doesn’t sound good. Probably best I didnt rush up to them.
But they are still getting closer. I think they are going to pass by only around thirty feet from us. Nothing I can do now but hope they don’t see us through. If I moved now it would only get us caught sooner.
Moments tick by until they are as close as they are going to get. I’ve stopped breathing for fear that it will tip them off.
“Boss take a look over there.”
Or, maybe it was all useless. Damn. It was too much to hope I could just get into a schedule and bide my time out here leveling up.
“What is it?”
“There’s some white on the ground over there. Looks like bones.”
“The hells wrong with you? Of course there are bones here. Things die all the time.”
The one with the deepest voice, the boss is moving the conversation in a good direction. Keep it up!
“Not this many. Let’s check it out. If something dangerous is eating around here we can sell the info to someone for a quick buck.”
Damn you, you industrious probable murderer!
“Fine. Check it out quickly. If it turns out as you think then we’ll have to move her somewhere else to get the job done though.”
“It’s worth it. We aren’t making any money off this. It’s all just a day of lost profits if we don’t get anything out of it.”
Then he starts getting closer. Damn. Was really hoping we wouldn’t have to do this.
I can hear him stepping through the smaller plants that blanket the forest floor. Probably only ten feet away from me when he freezes.
“Boss! Th-“
Before he can get any further I have already issued the command. A low “kill them” Emerges from between my lips and the eighteen skeletons under my command stand as one before rushing the poor entrepreneurial murderer to be.
The clanking of bones suddenly fills the air as they rush to him. From my position behind the thickest tree trunk in the immediate area, I hear him scream before It’s cut off in a storm of slashing blades and clacking bones.
The group the entrepreneur was in start rushing to him in response to his scream. I can hear them stomping through the undergrown and chance a peek out from behind my cover.
Two men rush towards their fallen comrade one is a beast of a man who I can only assume is the boss that the other spoke of. He wields an axe and winds it back as he runs, ready to strike any foe he meets. The other is of a more normal build but still bulked up. He has metal armor and a sword that seems to shine in his hand as he draws it from its sheath.
The two forces clash.
I should say that the boss clashes though because the swordsman has slowed down and brought his sword back before he swings it.
A flash of light soars from the blade. Fairly tall but thin like a razor, and it cuts clean through three of my skeletons before it fades back out of existence. The swordsman then quickly speeds back up and joins the fray.
The boss is no joke either. He swings with what can only be called wild abandon as the small horde of skeletons threatens to surround him. His partner emerges from din to stop this just in time.
Six skeletons are already down at this point by my count. And they don’t seem to be slowing down.
If I want to win I should help. But joining the fray from the front would be suicidal as best I can tell. They would instantly target me.
Sneaking around it is.
As low as I can get and as fast as I can I slip between the trees. My stealth skills are lacking, to say the least, but thankfully the enemy are occupied at the moment. In my quest to get behind them I end up circling around to near the direction they came from. When something catches my eye.
On the ground, a bundle of black cloth tied in rope with long black hair spilling out of the top is sitting amongst the undergrowth.
That has to be the girl in question. Is she worth saving? She might have done something really bad. It was obviously bad enough for these guys to kill her for it. On that note though. These guys don’t seem like upstanding members of society on the best of days. So I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Either way, she isn’t much of a threat now so no time to worry about it.
I’m behind them now. Drawing my dagger I start to inch my way forward. Only eight skeletons remain now. And the two are gaining ground against them. The Boss lashes out with powerful strikes forcing the skeletons back before the sword stabs out. Seeking to destroy them while they are on their back foot.
The skeletons aren’t bright enough yet to see that they an attempt to flank themselves, so I have to help them a bit.
I’m closing in now. Trying not to break even the smallest of twigs even as the battles harsh noises blanket the air. When I’m five feet behind the swordsman, I strike. Suddenly dropping all aspects of stealth in exchange for speed I take one more step and push off the ground as hard as I can before coming down almost on top of the back of the swordsman. But my body isn’t the only thing that comes down.
In both hands, my dagger is gripped tightly facing downwards. Angled to tear into the swordsman’s unarmored neck. When it hits, a sick feeling sensation emerges. The dagger slides off of the swordsman’s spine. But the power is too strong. And after finding a new angle it continues to slide through his flesh until it comes to a stop. Buried to the handle in his neck.
The swordsman goes slack and falls to the ground. Noticing his partner had fallen Boss turned his head to look into my eyes. Rage seethed through him. Enough to make me want to turn and run. But with a grunt, his hateful gaze is interrupted by the arms of the skeletons and the daggers they hold finally managing to strike home. His leather armor absorbs some of the blows but others fund purchase in the cracks in the armor and uncovered flesh.
They are too close now for him to keep them at bay. And soon, he falls to the ground as well. Coming to rest with his two partners.
Me, seven skeletons, and presumably the girl, are the only ones left now. That is until a skeleton spots the girl and starts rushing at her. Soon followed by the others. Damnit. I could really use some higher intelligence in these things.
“Stop all! Grab a body and follow me!”
The skeletons stop. They lack the ability to be confused from what I can tell but they turn slowly and wander back to collect the fallen would-be murderers.
Leaving me to walk over to the girl. Having reached her I tugged the cloth down to reveal her face. Beautiful. Her features were sharp, but not enough to make her look harsh. Instead, they helped showcase her face and Frame it against her black hair.
Ughh. Is this creepy? Surely not right? Not if I don’t stare too long. I’m just checking out who I caught! Wait… that sounds wrong too.
Stop thinking about this. I’m helping her anyways. Speaking of which we have quite a walk. Trying not to hurt her I lift the fabric and rope-wrapped girl… Oh damn. She’s pretty heavy. I’m going to have a workout ahead of me.
Back at the camp, clouds are growing darker in the sky. This could be a chance! I grab all the skeletons and set them to work cutting out the inside of logs to make crude bowls, As well as taking one of the hides and placing it in a dug out hole in the ground. All this to collect the water that would fall. The running through the dew thing works but only barely. Plus my clothes, try as I might, get dirtier every day. Leading to less than wonderful tasting water. And if I’m not careful, possibly some sort of disease. Having more water would be awesome. Plus I have the feeling my new friend is going to be a bit parched when she wakes up.
Speaking of which. I need to expand the coffin. One person makes a tight fit right now, and with two… things would get a little personal. So I set to work with two newly summoned skeletons. Expanding the hole, adding a hill to the outside and higher logs to lay on above the bottom so it wouldn’t flood, and expanding the roof, covering it with all the remaining hides to stop water from getting in.
Aren’t we going to freeze? No, our new friend will also be contributing something to the effort. That being the cloth she is wrapped in. I’m keeping those ropes on just in case. I’m not that dumb. The sun is setting as we finish the preparations, and the clouds are starting to gather. I drag her into the new and improved coffin just before the first drops of rain start to fall.
With any luck, she will wake up by tomorrow. I won’t know what to do with her if she keeps sleeping. Would she get so dehydrated she’d die? I’m not going to think about that for now.
Sleep takes me once more.
