8 8. The Black Bones And The Goblins

- This spell is so awesome – said Akichi while the two skeletons were walking through the tunnel.

He was holding a torch in one hand and the sword in the other. The light was enough for the two to see the immediate layout of what was ahead, and themselves. Because they were moving, the shadows ahead of them were dancing to the rhythm of the slightly swaying torch. They weirdly seemed to dance to the click of the bone on the stone. The sound was slightly off, as their bones weren't what they used to be. The spell changed them and turned black.

They both also had helmets on their heads, partially eaten by corrosion.

- We are stronger, and faster! - he continued. - It feels awesome.

- You better focus on walking. Getting excited is pointless when we are moving towards a dangerous fight ahead – Vincenzo pointed out.

The great sword was resting on his shoulder, ready to be put to use at any moment.

- We will be fine – Akichi seemed to not really care about the incoming battle.

The second skeleton clearly didn't share this careless approach. Although the pop-up, after Damir used his magic on them, brought some nice benefits with it, it still didn't make him feel like cutting through several dozens of goblins would be an easy task.

[You received a Buff! Your statistics got increased by: +5 Strength, +5 Dexterity, Damage reduction +3, +10% speed], was the message the pop-up carried. He still could see it clearly with his eyes, maybe because his head was cleared from any other memories, besides the stupid white room and potentially fake field of blue flowers.

- I hope so – Vincenzo said eventually.

- Relax. When we first fought with them, we slaughtered quite a bunch – Akichi pointed out.

- Yes, but we weren't alone. We had other skeletons, and many of them fell… I might hate my existence, the fact that I have no idea what is going on, and the fact that I don't remember shit, but I don't want to die – the second skeleton confessed.

- I'll protect you – Akichi said.

He clearly wanted to put his hand on his companion's shoulder, but it was busy holding a longsword, which he realized after rising it a bit, so he gave up shortly after moving it.

- Thanks for the offer – Vincenzo said.

Then a moment of clearly awkward silence happened between the two.

- Aren't you gonna say that you will protect me too? - Akichi asked, quite obviously being the one annoyed.

- No. I'll be busy protecting myself – the second skeleton said.

This created a next period of silence, filled with the bones clicking on the stone, and an occasional clang of metal, even more awkward.

The two progressed through the tunnel on the same route they originally walked. It was very straightforward until they arrived in the spacious cave, where the slaughter of goblins happened. The bonfire was still burning bright, which wasn't that surprising since there were a few goblins present around, scavenging.

Some bones of the skeletons were still laying on the floor.

A couple of green creatures worked tirelessly among the corpses, picking up weapons from the remains. They didn't even notice when the two appeared.

Vincenzo charged at them immediately when he saw them, which made the clicking sound of his bones, hitting the stone, much louder. That finally alarmed the green workers. Some raised their heads to notice running undead, and they immediately screamed!

- Grawka! Grawka!

This caused more of them to look, and they picked up the closest weapons to defend themselves. The skeleton was fast, so he closed the distance in a matter of few seconds, with Akichi following just after.

He got to the first two, moving the corpses to pick up gear from underneath. One scavenged a wooden club, with nails sticking out of it, the other a longsword broken in half. Both were wearing dirty clothes, haphazardly put together.

The greatsword belonging to the skeleton plowed the air, dragged with surprising strength. One of the green creatures jumped away, but the other one figured out that he can block the attack by holding the club in both hands.

When the iron hit the wood, it snapped in half, giving no resistance, which made the goblin's eyes go wide, just before the edge of the blade bit deeply into his shoulder, reaching all the way to the middle of his chest.

At the same moment, Akichi leaped forward, landing next to the other goblin, the one who escaped. He trusted his sword. The creature attempted to block it, but it was too weak, and the broken blade didn't even alter the trajectory of the skeleton's weapon, which pierced through the monster's rib cage.

The wannabe samurai then twisted his sword, pulling it back before he kicked the goblin. He still had the burning torch in his hand.

- Grawka! Grawka! - the rest of the goblins started screaming.

A few straight-up escaped, bolting into the dark tunnel on the other side.

Meanwhile, Vincenzo was already walking towards the couple who decided to stay. Halfway, a pop-up showed briefly in front of his eyes.

[You received +3 soul fragments]

Akichi joined him, and he shortly saw a similar thing in front of his eyes, that disappeared a moment later.

[You received +4 soul fragments]

The goblins decided to charge, taking advantage of their numbers. There were five of them in total, with some more, still hesitating deeper in the cavern. Glancing at the undead, then switching to the tunnel, just to return to the two intruders.

Both groups clashed, but the exchange was quick as the creatures were unable to deal with the greatsword and the power behind the weapon. One swing cut down two, despite them trying to jump back to dodge. They failed to properly judge the distance, so the blade slashed their chest open. A third tried to flank, but before he was able to swing his club, Vincenzo was already done with the two and could take down his left hand from the handle of the sword. He used this hand to catch the club in midair.

He pulled it out of the goblin's hand, changed a grip on the weapon, then smacked the surprised monster with it. The nails dug deeply into the skull.

[You received +2 soul fragments]

[You received +3 soul fragments]

[You received +2 soul fragments]

At the same time, Akichi swiftly dealt with the remaining two.

The goblins, deeper in the cavern, decided to bolt. Finally vanishing in the tunnel on the other side

- See? I told you it would be easy – wannabee samurai pointed out.

- It's the magic. Without it, this wouldn't be so simple – Vincenzo said. - Status!

A semi-translucent orange window popped up in front of his eyes. He quickly looked at his statistics.

Strenght:10(+5)

Health:10

Agility:10(+5)

- No wonder it's so easy – he said. - We are fifty percent stronger than we used to be.

- Yes. We also got stronger after breaking the spell itself. I could feel it. I no longer moved like a puppet – Akichi added.

- Maybe we have better chances than I thought – the second skeleton said. - We should get going. They definitely will alarm the rest of the goblins, so we need to get there before they are ready to fight us.

- Yeah! That's the spirit! - Akichi shouted. - Let's go!

And they went, crossing the rest of the cavern, just to enter the dark tunnel, which they illuminated with the torch the wannabee samurai was carrying in his hand, before, eventually, vanishing in the darkness, as their path started to turn.