Chapter 57 - Skeleton Mage

Given how large this room was and our pace, it would take painfully long for us to reach the skeletons. Not to mention the closer we got, the harder it would be to dodge.

My eyes widened and my pupils constricted.

A stray thunderbolt was about to strike me but only hit the air.

Once my figure reappeared, there were already spells thrown in my direction. My feet took two steps back to dodge a beam of water and thunderbolt.

I need to teleport multiple times consecutively if I want a chance at getting close.

This might end up hurting quite a bit.

But...

My hand unwrapped the cloth on me, revealing seven black fruits. My hand took one and directly tossed it into my mouth.

A strong taste of honey exploded in my mouth and my body heated up.

The few old injuries that scabbed over, healed fully and my mind was blasted with a cold winter.

The black grass that strengthened my mind also greatly reduced the pressure that came from continuously teleporting.

My lungs forced in a deep breath while my eyes widened and my pupils constricted.

My figure continuously disappeared and reappeared.

My mind hurt, but a refreshing cold numbed it.

The skeleton mages were getting closer and closer.

It was not hard to tell that the firepower was more focused on me the closer I got.

Once half of the room had been crossed, the skeletons gave up on even trying to stop the others, launching every single spell at me.

Though my figure was only touching the ground for one moment, the spells got terrifyingly close.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead when a lightning bolt was right in front of my face before my vision shifted.

My teleportations were from going from left to right and sometimes straight on. In all honesty, a bit of luck was needed for me to not get slapped by a large stone.

The skeletons bombarded spells in a large area around me randomly, hoping that a stray spell would hit me.

Leon and Osric took advantage of this opportunity to rush forward while Mark simply stood there.

My vision got a little blurry. More than logical reasoning, the direction of my teleportation was based on feeling.

It took a few seconds to register that a skeleton was right in front of me and a huge stone was flung right at me.

My arm raised to block it.

The impact from the stone was strong, making my feet slide a meter backward. Thankfully, there was little pain.

My face suddenly twitched.

There were countless lightning bolts and beams of water were about to hit me.

Bolts of lightning hit me and forced my muscles to tense. The beams of water were like spears that penetrated my skin and muscles.

Forcefully contracting my muscles strained my mind with pain. As for the beams of water, they bruised my body, leaving purple patches across my skin.

Another stone was flung towards me, about to collide with my chest, my figure abruptly disappeared.

My battered body appeared behind one of the skeleton mages.

That skeleton mage immediately turned around while its body and staff grew in size. As it did so, a translucent blue armor materialized around its body.

It did not take too long for the skeleton to reach four meters in height, after which it jumped off the pedestal.

The skeleton raised the staff with two hands and swung down at me.

My foot lifted up and my body snapped to the side.

The staff hit the ground with a slam and large spiderweb cracks spread across the stone floor.

The skeleton did not leave it at that, swinging the staff sideways right at me, almost like he was swinging with a golf club.

My arm raised to block it, but once it hit my forearm, there was an audible crack.

My bone had snapped.

In the meantime, Leon and Osric had gotten close to another two skeleton mages. Those skeleton mages similarly grew in size, materialized translucent blue armor, and jumped off their pedestals.

The last skeleton mage did not follow the rest. He had cast a spell, making a strong gust of wind push the skeletons outside the crystal's range.

The skeletons quickly stood up while their shields and spears materialized. Their nearest target was Mark and charged at him.

Mark was not facing these skeletons, so they rushed over lunging their spear at his back.

Once they were in range, they suddenly fell to the ground and their weapons and shields disappeared.

A gust of wind had blown over the pedestals, causing the three bean balls on the pedestal to shatter into pieces.

Mark chuckled and put his hands behind his back.

As for me, a strong pain spread from my arm.

I had no intention to fight back for now, but I wasn't just idling away.

Both my eyes and mind were trying to reconstruct the anatomy of the skeleton mage to find where its weakness was.

Another swing of its staff came straight for my face. My figure immediately shifted a few meters backward. The skeleton rushed at me and raised its club.

A frown was forming on my face.

I could not find anything similar to the bean ball anywhere inside the skeleton.

Was it inside the bones?

...This might be a little difficult.

On the side, an enlarged skeleton swung its staff horizontally at Leon. Leon did not bother dodging and threw his fist, trading blow for blow.

A dull thump echoed when Leon's fist collided, the staff had hit Leon's arm at the same time, making him buckle his knees.

Unfortunately, the skeleton was not even knocked back. But at least Leon was hardly affected either. Both sides did not take any damage.

As for Osric, he dodged, then with a snap his fist flew at the skeleton's chest. Like Leon, he was unable to cause the skeleton to budge.

The last skeleton was looking at Mark and joined the rest of his companions by enlarging.

My eye caught something...

While the skeleton was enlarging, there was mana coming out of the staff's bulbous tip and infused into the skeleton's body.

After teleporting away from a staff swing, my eyes narrowed.

The three skeletons with shields and spears...

They were being controlled by mana, and those bean balls were the puppeteers.

So...

My hand pulled out my stake and pointed at the top of the staff.

My eyes widened and my pupils constricted.

My figure suddenly appeared behind the skeleton and a hole was made in the staff.

The staff fell to the ground, while the skeleton and its translucent armor dissipated entirely.

Who would've thought its weakness would be what it used to hit people.

A smirk appeared on my face.

"It's the top of their staff! Hit them there and they will die!"

The other three briefly turned to look at me, then turned back to their respective skeletons.

Leon took in a deep breath, pulling back his fist. When the skeleton swung its staff, Leon's fist struck out like lightning.

Leon's fist hit the top of the staff, shattering it into pieces. The skeleton's body disintegrated.

Leon held his staff in his other hand...

Why does he choose to use his fist over the staff?

Anyways, Osric stuck out his finger and pointed it at the top of the skeleton's staff. A tiny arc of lightning pierced through the staff, making it fall to the floor as the skeleton faded to dust.

The last skeleton mage was running towards Mark.

Mark watched as it approached him, unconcerned.

When the skeleton mage was only a few meters away, Mark raised his hand and made a cutting motion. The top of the staff split off and fell to the floor. The skeleton reached its hand out to Mark, but before it could reach it disappeared like the rest.

A sigh of relief escaped me. My mind stopped the pulsating from the crystal.

My hands unfurled the cloth bag with the black fruits in it. One of the black fruits in the cloth had partially burst, there was a tinge of pain in my heart, but my hand took it and ate it anyway.

With five black fruits left, the cloth was tied back up and put away.

Mark and Leon took a bite out of their own fruits after seeing me do so, while Osric stood there fidgeting.

After the effects of the black fruit calmed down, Leon turned to face me.

"Say, how were you able to find out their weakness?"

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"I was able to barely sense the mana emitting from the staff."

Osric nodded.

"Not bad."

Mark walked over to the wooden table in the middle. Despite all the spells that were thrown around, it was unscathed.

Mark looked at the rest of us.

"Why don't we read this paper? It seems quite interesting."

The three of us walked over and looked at the paper from over Mark's shoulder.

My mind casted the fire spell so I could read the contents.

A small frown emerged on my face.