Ch: 119.4

I wanted to kick myself for suggesting we bury the remains instead of just cremating them, but it was too late now.

Tabitha and I had already worked together to punch through the brick flooring in the hallway outside the chamber. Initially, we tried to break the flooring inside the chamber as it would be closer to all the bones, but either they used a stronger version of the grey bricks in the chamber’s construction, or it was boosted by other means. Needless to say, even with the two of us together, we couldn't even scratch the floor inside the chamber, which is why we were forced to tunnel outside.

We were on the bottom floor of the ruins so we could dig down, which was thankfully easier than tunneling to the side. The bad news was, out of all the gear I brought, I had neglected to bring a shovel. My Strength made digging with my hands possible, but I wouldn’t call it easy.

The dirt around the ruins had long since settled and hardened into something closer to stone than anything else, not to mention the countless tree roots crisscrossing everywhere. I wanted nothing more than to suggest we change our plans, but one look at Tabitha’s smiling face was enough to convince me otherwise. She loved the idea of laying everybody to rest, and despite the hard work it required, I did too.

That's why I was standing in a seven-foot hole, scooping dirt out with my bare hands, trying to dig around a particularly large root. Of course, now that we were finally alone down here, I had already removed my armor and set it aside while working, but that didn't keep me from sweating up a storm.

Using the pike side of my hammer, I can loosen up the ground a bit, but everything else is done by hand.

“Let me try one more time,” Tabitha says above me, sword in hand.

“One sec,” I say, throwing one last handful of dirt outside the pit before hopping up and out of the way.

Tabitha couldn’t do much digging with only one hand, but she was trying to help in her own way, mainly by cutting through the steel-like roots making my life a living hell. The root she was currently working on was only two inches thick, and yet it took everything she had to cut into it with her amazing swordsmanship.

Off to the side, next to the pile of dirt I was excavating, was a small pile of similar, all be it smaller roots she’d managed to remove. Later I was going to try using them to make Tabitha a type of primitive shield, seeing how durable they were, though there was no way it would equal the one she lost.

As she was now, Tabitha was down more than just an arm. If she was going to stand a chance against the winged serpent, she needed a semi-decent shield. As soon as we were done burring the bones in the chamber, I would have to sit down with her and discuss what I could fashion for her.

But that was future me’s problem; current me just had to deal with digging a big enough hole to fit all the bones in. And while I might be complaining to myself, we were making decent time.

“Here goes,” Tabitha slashes with her sword, precisely aiming for the spot she's already hit twice.

“Nice,” I clap as Tabitha's sword finally cuts through the root, and I wasn’t even being sarcastic, either.

Tabitha smiles down at the big root lying at the bottom of my hole. Hopping back in, I grab the piece of wood and examine it. Though the trees on the surface looked dead, the roots were still good. The chunk of wood was the size of a club and would make an excellent handle if processed carefully. “Wana see,” I hold up the root so Tabitha can admire her handiwork.

Tabitha temporarily sheaths her sword and gestures for me to throw it up. I do just that, and she catches it easily.

While Tabitha marvels at the stronger-than-steel root, I continue excavating. But digging wasn’t the only thing I was doing. I was doing what most would consider to be mindless work, so to kill some time, I bring up my status page.

LV: 84 Experience: 1,531,590/ 1,636,419

Health: 2,700/2,700

Stamina 1,394.12/1,836

Mana: 789.76/1,060

Vitality: 270.01

Endurance: 100.41

Strength: 181.01

Dexterity: 181.00

Senses: 62.77

Mind: 65.67

Magic: 106.03

Clarity: 79.35

Status Points: 20

Skills:

Tier 1:

Meditation (LV81), Running (LV80), Blacksmithing (LV75), Hammer Skills (LV71), Axe Skills (LV60), Cleaning (LV58), Chanting (LV53), Mining (LV51), Drawing (LV48), Trading (LV48), Cooking (LV47), Sword Skills (LV40), Acting (LV36), Dagger Skills (LV35), Dancing (LV33), Wood Carving (LV32), Sewing (LV32), Pugilist Skills (LV16), Alchemy (LV15), Spear Skills (LV2)

Tier 2:

Sense Mana (LV81), Double Step (LV68), Charm (LV50), Hammer Arts (LV50), Measurement (LV49), Axe Arts (LV39), Steady Hands (LV36), Intimidating Shout (LV34), Writing (LV32), Mathematics (LV31), Increase Price (LV22), Lower Price (LV20), Sword Arts (LV17), Gourmet (LV15), Dagger Arts (LV13), Marching (LV5), Shout of Valor (LV3), Pugilist Arts (LV1)

Tier 3:

Mana Manipulation (LV67), Expel Mana (LV64), Weighted Strike (LV47), Double Strike (LV46), Precise Strike (LV46), Flash Step (LV40), Contract (LV22), Poison Resistance (LV14), Enchanting (LV11)

Tier 4:

Mental Resistance (LV63), Mana Skin (LV61), Inject Mana (LV57), Extract Mana (LV40), Magic Blacksmithing (LV36), Magic Threads (LV34), Air Walk (LV24), Empowered Spell (LV21), Ironclad Agreement (LV8), Multi-Strike (LV7), Appealing Deal (LV3),

Tier 5:

Sense Soul (LV41), Soul Manipulation (LV23)

Tier 6:

Soul Devourer (LV18), Experience Transfer (LV3)

Increased Skill Levels

Dancing (LV33) 1,650exp

Flash Step (LV40) 6,000exp

Enchanting (LV11) 1,650exp

Soul Devourer (LV18) 18,000exp

Skill Experience: 27,300exp

Crafting Experience: 0exp

Fighting Experience: 3,614,874exp

It’s been less than a day since I checked my status page in my soul, and while there wasn’t much change with my skills, there were some important things to note.

Right off the bat, I couldn’t help but grin at my level. Absorbing the skeleton pushed me up to 84 and brought me to the cusp of reaching level 85. I had estimated the amount of experience I absorbed at 3.5 million, but it turns out I was off by a bit, though it didn’t bother me to get more than I expected.

The trick was, how would I get another hundred thousand experience points before we faced the lesser dragon again? I wanted as many extra status points ready for the fight as possible, and 30 was a lot better than 20. Of course, Tabitha warned me about using status points that way, but something told me she wouldn't object in this situation. Besides, even if she did, I’d do it anyways because I didn’t care about cheating so long as it let me fight next to Tabitha.

Sighing while shoveling dirt with my hands, I move past my level and onto the four skills that leveled. I was thrilled to see both Dancing and Flash Step had leveled while dodging the skeleton's attacks, with Flash Step finally reaching its first bottleneck.

I’ve been using Flash Step for a lot longer than Dancing, and while Dancing was leveling faster due to it only being tier 1, Flash Step finally reaching level 40 was more significant. It's only thanks to Flash Step that I can keep up with higher-leveled enemies in close combat. There was no doubt I would have to spam it against the lesser dragon, so each level meant a slightly reduced stamina cost.

My last two skills were less important when it came to fighting the winged serpent, and while I wasn’t exactly thrilled to see Soul Devourer leveling again so soon, I couldn’t be picky with where I got my experience points.

Oppositely, I was glad Enchanting leveled from cracking the runes on the chamber’s doors. I’d never leveled Enchanting by doing anything other than drawing runes, but it was nice to know it was possible. I’m sure I only leveled my skill because of how complicated the runes on the door were. However, seeing how I got a free skill level for my achievement, it didn't matter to me. What else could I ask for?

I was leveling up like crazy, but I still hadn’t forgotten how easily the winged serpent brushed off Tabitha’s attacks. There was a chance I could outrun the snake with my increased stats, but that would require me to leave Tabitha behind, and we haven’t gone through everything we have up until now just to split up now. The two of us either escaped together, or we died together; it was as simple as that.

Dismissing my status page, I focus on digging despite how boring it is. Above me, Tabitha was swinging the root she cut around like a sword, and I'll admit, seeing the grin on her face made me feel better. She didn't have the face of somebody who had given up hope, so neither should I.

"Thinking of using something other than your sword?" I playfully tease as I dig.

“No, but maybe this root will do you better than your hammer,” Tabitha smirks back with a challenging look.

“That was a low blow,” I puff up my cheeks and pout childishly.

“Technically, I have the high ground," Tabitha throws the root into the pile with the others and sits on the edge of my pit. “Can you really make me a shield out of roots?”

"It's either them or bricks," I snarkily reply, but my joyful smile slowly fades into a more serious look. "It won't be as good as your original shield, but I'll do my best," I tell her.

“I know you will," Tabitha's unwavering gaze said she didn't doubt me in the slightest, which put all the more pressure on me to deliver on my promise.

Maybe if we break down more of the floor, I could construct a rudimentary forge out of the grey bricks. It would be mana intensive with only flame spells, but I might be able to melt down the twisted scraps of Tabitha’s left grieve. The metal would go a long way if I used it to hold the various roots together. It's also possible I could try melting down the skeleton’s armor, though sadly, with the amount of rust, I’d get almost no usable material, even if I processed all of it.

“Assuming I make you a shield, what’s our plan of attack?" I keep the conversation going as I work.

Tabitha hums and kicks her legs against the side of my hole. “Even without a shield, I’ll need to be front and center.”

“Are you sure? With my improved defenses, I might be able to take a hit better than you,” I point out to her.

Tabitha's eyes narrow, and her voice drops an octave. “I will be at the front; this isn’t up for discussion.”

I grit my teeth in frustration but don't argue with her. I may have convinced Tabitha to let me help her, but she still refused to put me directly in harm's way. She's probably hoping that if things go south, I'll be able to run away. But jokes on her because that's the one thing I refuse to do.

“Alright,” I sigh in defeat. “Then what can I do? It’s low leveled, but I have Shout of Valor. Could that help? If not, I can look at the snake’s soul and get it to focus on me, if need be,” I suggest two simple strategies.

Tabitha nods along with the first but frowns at the second. “Suddenly having it shift targets might not be the wisest of choices,” Tabitha taps her knee with her good hand. “Remember what happened with the skeleton? You got its attention and dragged the fight out longer than needed. The same could happen with the snake, only with worse results.”

“So, I can help, but I can't draw its attention or do anything flashy,” I roll my eyes sarcastically. “What is it you expect me to do?”

“Survive,” Tabitha replies instantly without hesitation.

“Funny, I feel the same way about you," I counter, throwing a wad of compacted dirt in her direction, which she easily dodges. "I can help; just give me a chance," I plead.

Tabitha looks at me with tired eyes but doesn't outright dismiss me. Instead, she slowly stands up using her good arm and removes her left from its sling. "I think you've dug enough; let's start moving the bones over,” she instructs.

It was no secret she was trying to change the conversation, but I don't point that out. Rather, I hop out of the pit I dug and follow her back into the chamber.

“Are you good to use your arm?” I ask as we walk up onto the first pile of bones. There weren't any more scabs on her left arm, but the scars remained.

“For now, I won’t lift anything heavy with it, but moving bones should be fine," Tabitha waved off my concern with her scared left hand to prove she was okay. She had no outward reaction to moving it, but even if her bones had healed, she still had to be in considerable pain.

In my head, I remind myself to make sure she doesn't push herself too hard, but on the outside, I fake a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes for Tabitha’s sake. “Glad to hear it.”

I bend down and hastily start grabbing bones, but as I do, they start splintering at the slightest touch.

“Gently,” Tabitha reminds me in her teacher’s voice as she squats beside me. “As you know, they’re quite fragile,” she reaches out to grab one of the bones, only to have it crumble in her fingers.

“Remember, they’re fragile,” I sarcastically parrot back at her.

“Smart ass,” Tabitha elbows me hard enough to push me over. I comically shout and flail my arms when I could’ve anchored myself to the ground with Magic Threads, but it just felt right to play along.

I can’t help but laugh as I get back up, and Tabitha was struggling to hold back her own laughter at my over-the-top acting. And with that little bit of humor, the heavy feeling from our previous discussion regarding my role in the coming battle disappeared. At least for now.

One by one, pile by pile, Tabitha and I slowly pick up as many of the bones in the chamber as we can. Some were too far gone and couldn't be moved, but we could clean up most of them after a few hours of work.

Eventually, we were almost done; the only remaining thing was the rusty armor-covered skeleton we had defeated.

“You’re sure it can’t reanimate again?” I ask Tabitha as we stand over it.

“No, it’s too damaged. And besides, I’m sure you can feel the difference in the mana,” Tabitha vaguely motions around us.

After we defeated the skeleton guarding the chamber, the last remaining wisps of death mana quickly faded now that the skeleton was no longer around to gather everything into one place. It had been roughly six hours since we defeated the undead, and I could scarcely sense any death mana in our surroundings. There wasn't enough for a remnant to spawn, let alone anything else.

No more undead were ever going to spawn down here, and after we buried the bones, without the death mana slowing down their decay, they would decompose in no time.

“Let’s finish this," Tabitha moved to grab the skeleton by its armor, as now that it was no longer being held together by anything, its bones had separated.

I do the same, so while Tabitha grabs one of the skeleton's legs, I grab its left arm. Together we carry everything to the pit outside the chamber, where I turn toward Tabitha and ask what she thinks I should do with the armor.

“Can you do anything with it?” She looks down at the rusty mess in our arms.

“Maybe?” I not so confidently answer. “Is it in bad taste if we take it?”

Tabitha sights, “No, armor is meant to protect the living. Besides, I’m sure a warrior of his caliber would have understood our situation. You strip what you need while I drag the rest of him over.”

"You keep saying, him, how do you know the skeleton was a man?" I ask curiously.

Tabitha smirks at me. “You should be more observant. One look at the skeleton’s bone structure should tell you it belongs to a man." She turns around and walks back into the chamber with an arrogant smile.

"Sorry, I don't know bones," I grumble under my breath as Tabitha mumbles a short spell, and a ball of light flickers into existence above her head.

So, while Tabitha brings more of the skeleton's remains over to the pit, I carefully remove bone from crumbling armor and respectfully place them on top of the other remains. It felt weird essentially looting the dead, but Tabitha said it right in that armor was for the living. So, even if there was only a slight chance that I could do anything with the dilapidated armor, it was worth a shot to try. And on closer inspection, the armor wasn’t completely worthless.

The rust flakes off with the slightest touch, but on closer inspection, a decent amount of material is still hidden underneath. Of course, some pieces were more damaged than others, but there might be just enough to make a shield. But before I started to celebrate too early, I tempered my expectations. I still need to find a way to smelt the scrap down, let alone work it into anything useful.

Thoughts of ways I could reforge the metal fill my head, so much so I almost miss something falling out of the gauntlet and impacting my boot.

“What the?” I bend down and pick up a greenish bracelet I had no idea was even there. To the untrained eye, it was just a scrap of metal, but I could barely contain my excitement as I examined the piece of jewelry closer. According to Sense Mana, the bracelet didn’t exist; it had no presence of any kind, and if I weren't looking straight at it, I wouldn’t be able to say it even existed.

“Find something?” Tabitha calls out as she approaches with part of the skeleton’s ribcage in her arms.

“A bracelet,” I hold up the jewelry for Tabitha to see, wondering how she will react to it.

“That’s,” Tabitha only looks at the bracelet briefly while depositing the bones next to me before turning around, seemingly ignoring it. Still, at the last second, before she's to head back into the chamber, she stops and does a 180. “Odd?” Tabitha power walks over to me, and I hand over my find. "What is this?" She seems utterly baffled by the trinket in her hands.

"Crazy, right?" I smirk in excitement.

“Indeed,” Tabitha nods in agreement. “I can feel it in my hand and see it with my eyes, but it weighs nothing and is hard to focus on.” I sense Tabitha trying to pour some of her mana into the bracelet, but it rejects her attempt. “How peculiar. Can you sense anything?" She asks, handing the bracelet back to me.

“Not at the moment, but I will,” I grin down at the jewelry like a treasure chest that needs to be unlocked. The metal was tarnished by age, but other than looking like a piece of old metal, its greenish surface had no deformities or pitting from the elements.

“Bones first,” Tabitha feels the need to remind me.

“Yeah, yeah, I haven’t forgotten," I move to set the bracelet aside for now as Tabitha leaves to grab the next piece of the skeleton but freeze just as I'm about to let go of it. What if I completely forgot about it once I set it down?

It wasn't wise to put a random piece of jewelry on, especially one that was 100% enchanted in some way, but I didn’t want to misplace it, either. I know I shouldn't, but something was telling me to put the bracelet on. So without even thinking about it, I slip the bracelet onto my right arm, making sure not to accidentally channel any mana into it in case I might accidentally trigger something I shouldn’t.

The bracelet was clearly meant for someone bigger than me and dangled from my forearm, but other than that, nothing happened. I'll have to be careful it doesn't get in the way, but at least I had a reason to pick up the pace.

With renewed vigor, I separate armor from bone faster than ever. Everything is going well until Tabitha returns with more and exclaims pointing at my arm. “What are you doing!?”

“Well, I didn’t want to lose it,” I make up an excuse on the fly.

“Not that,” Tabitha growls. “Look at your arm!” Her eyes refuse to leave my right wrist.

Looking down, the blood drains from my face. Without me noticing, the bracelet had fallen down toward my wrist at some point, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was, through no action of my own, the once large bangle had shrunk down and wrapped itself around my wrist.

Well, that’s not good!

**********

3,600 words.

Sorry, I'm still not feeling good. I'm going to try to get to the doctor tomorrow as it's affecting my sleep, but don’t worry, I’m trying to keep up with my writing.

I hope everyone had a great Mother’s Day, and as always, stay safe.