The Skeleton Swordsman
"Before we head out, let's get one thing straight."
Breakfast was winter-forest potatoes. Roast them and they came out with a bite almost like something fried, which was pleasant enough—but more than the taste, they were the sort of thing that kept the cold off you once you'd eaten them.
"What."
"Don't hoard the healing potions. And if it looks like we can't win, we run. We're not going there to die."
I let Levan's nagging wash past me, ate the potato, and drank some water. That alone sent warmth through my body and put the strength back in my limbs. Good eating for a night out in the open—and something I'd need when I faced the skeleton swordsman.
"Did you hear me?"
"Yeah. Fight like you're ready to die."
Beating a skeleton swordsman did take a resolve most people couldn't scrape together.
"Saying something like that. Doesn't sound like you."
I rubbed my eyes and took another bite.
"You didn't hear a word I said. Haaah."
"Anyway, he's no pushover. If we want to win, we have to be careful."
I finished what was left of mine, then picked up the potatoes still roasting over the fire and pressed them into Levan's and Runesa's hands.
"It'll be cold once we get there. Eat plenty of these. Skip them and your body goes sluggish."
"Undead, and freezing on top of it. This is going to be rough in more ways than one."
Levan bit into his potato.
"Yes, that's right. When that skeleton with the sword came out, the air turned so cold that even running was terribly hard."
"Right. So Levan and I especially—the ones who have to move a lot—need to watch ourselves."
Levan's face grew markedly more serious, and he nodded.
"Good. If you're done eating, let's move."
We left the cave and set out for the fortress. The distance from here to there was about as far as we'd already walked to reach this place. Leave now, and we'd arrive sometime in the late afternoon. If a fight broke out along the way, it might be night before we got there.
"Then I'll guide you along the path I came by."
We followed the route Runesa had fled, making for the fortress. The mountain path carried us steadily higher.
"I'm going to collapse from exhaustion before we even reach the place."
The mountain was rough enough, but nothing looked likely to show itself. The only enemy on this road was nature.
"Just a little farther."
"Yeah. Let's pick up the pace."
The farther we climbed, the more a stillness settled over us, and with it a clear, biting chill. That only made me more certain the fortress was close, and the tension started to set in.
Before long we reached a stretch about halfway up the mountain where the view opened, and beyond the ridge we could see the fortress itself.
"That's it."
Levan murmured it. This would be his first time coming so far.
"Bigger than I thought. And you said the skeletons show up in droves?"
"Yes... I think they're already out."
Runesa pointed toward the front of the fortress. Six skeletons stood there. Levan looked, then turned to me and shook his head.
"Think we can handle this?"
"You came all this way without even considering that much?"
Levan knit his brow and nodded.
"Honestly, when they said they were hiring adventurers, I figured there'd be a few reasonably strong ones. That was about it."
"As we were passing that entrance, those skeletons suddenly came out. The fortress gate opened, and a skeleton carrying a sword emerged."
Runesa's voice had gone thin and shaky. A moment later she pointed toward the ruined structures in front of the fortress.
"That was all smashed when I fled, too. Haaah... There were even more skeletons then. Quite a lot of them are gone now."
Looking at the wreckage, it seemed like pure luck she was still alive.
And then a faint metallic sound began at my ear. Coming from the fortress, maybe. It felt much the same as when I'd pulled Runesa out of there.
"Still seems like there'll be quite a few of them."
Skeletons grew more dangerous the tighter they packed. There were only three of us; a head-on fight had no chance.
Thinking that, I studied the broken structures before the fortress. The skeleton swordsman had swung and left them like that. He really did throw around a lot of nasty area attacks—rough enough to wipe out the other skeletons along with everything else.
"I've got a plan."
Levan had been watching me with a dubious look even before I opened my mouth.
"Fight the skeletons out front and it'll drag on, and the skeleton swordsman inside will come after us."
"Probably. There might be more than what we can see."
I nodded and looked at the fortress.
"So I'm not fighting those ones. I'll charge straight in. They'll most likely follow me."
After that Levan just stared at me for a moment, saying nothing.
"And then?"
"Once I'm inside, the skeleton swordsman will be there. Like Runesa said, he's got a dangerous sword aura. He'll fight while sweeping the nearby skeletons away with it."
That had been the original clear. The Western Fortress was built so that fighting your way in from the front bought you nothing but time and a higher difficulty. Dive in and things could turn dangerous for a moment, but pull the swarm, let them get wiped clean, and after that it was a one-on-one with the boss.
"You two stay outside. Once the skeletons go in, follow after them, slow. Up to here—any questions?"
Levan let out a sigh. Runesa's hands were shaking, fear written all over her.
"You really are a brave one."
Then he broke into a small laugh.
"Can't be helped, I guess. If this is how the three of us take a fortress that big."
"I think that's right. I don't know much about it, but..."
If you lacked the strength, you used something that had it. In this world, that formula held up pretty well.
"Then let's go."
We came down off the mountain and made for the fortress entrance. I pulled well ahead of the other two. They were still following, but the thought that I'd have to handle this fight alone laid an unusual tension over me.
"Hoo."
I let out a short breath, raised my sword, and closed in. The skeletons guarding the front registered me. Lightly armed, each of them was a trickier fight than an ordinary skeleton monster. Maybe they'd been soldiers or adventurers in life. That didn't matter now.
"Let's go."
I broke into a run at once. Fortunately, even when skeletons fought decently, they moved slowly. The moment I started running they lurched after me, sticking to my side. I sprinted straight for the gate. Already half open, it began to swing the rest of the way on its own as I drew near.
The ground shuddered faintly, and the ponderous groan of a massive door filled the air. By the time I reached the threshold, the gate stood fully open.
A thin fog lay over the interior, and beyond it something blue was blazing.
"That..."
A skeleton stood there with an enormous sword. A worn hooded cape hung from its shoulders, and light pieces of armor dangled beneath the torso. The skeleton swordsman. For a pile of bones, he cut a pretty striking figure.
And there were a great many other skeletons inside as well, all of them armed like soldiers.
"Hhk."
I slipped the lunge of a skeleton soldier that rushed me and cut through its torso. A body made of nothing but bone was weak to impact. Drop one, and two more came on. I knocked aside a short blade and slashed through a body—then another skeleton shoved me with its shield and thrust.
"Ugh."
I barely twisted my stance, rang the blade aside, and spun through a full turn, swinging to split the skeleton at the waist.
"Ha."
A chill crawled up my back. Instinct hunched me in on myself. A spear came whistling from behind, grazed my cheek, and passed through nothing but my hair. I dropped low, turned, and swung. Bone cracked, and the skeleton that had closed in shattered.
The ones following me from outside had drawn fairly near, and there were still plenty of soldiers around the skeleton swordsman. A seriously dangerous moment—but still going according to plan. I ran straight for him.
"Aaaah!"
As I tried to close the distance, the skeleton swordsman raised his sword high. Potent mana gathered along the blade, and a cold chill spread with it. The air grew cold enough to freeze the breath in my lungs as I ran, filled the space around me, and then vanished. His sword began to shine blue.
Here it comes.
I drove my sword into the ground and lowered my stance. In that same instant the skeleton swordsman slammed his own blade down into the earth.
"Nngh."
Violent mana burst outward in every direction. My body felt as if it were freezing solid. I clenched my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut. All around me came the clatter of skeletons crumbling apart, and the racket of weapons falling and striking one another.
When the cold that had been shaking me eased a little, I opened my eyes and drew my sword again with a trembling hand. My fingers were numb, as if they might drop off, and my lungs felt heavy, as though snow had settled inside them. I took a healing potion from my pouch and drank it.
The place had gone quiet. Only the skeleton swordsman remained. He held his sword toward me in a ready stance, and a bluish mana was pouring off his body, plain to see.
"If I can see it with the naked eye... that's enormous."
The sort of thing you saw in the aura of a high-level knight, or in mages who couldn't keep their mana contained.
"Seeing it in person, it's incredible."
I let out a short breath and gripped my sword tight. He was strong enough that I might die right here—but the thrill of actually meeting him was bursting out of me.
"Let's do this."