The guardian's howl reverberated through the ossuary, making my teeth ache and my skull vibrate. I gripped my blades tighter, sizing up my opponent. The massive skeleton loomed like a nightmarish museum exhibit come to life—mismatched bones from what appeared to be dozens of different creatures fused into one horrific whole.
'This thing didn't evolve naturally,' I thought. 'Someone built it.'
『Analysis indicates this entity is a composite construct. Multiple magical signatures detected. Primary classification: Necromantic Amalgam.』
I barely had time to process Arcan's assessment before the guardian charged. For something so large, it moved with shocking speed. The bone club whistled through the air, and I barely managed to dive aside as it smashed into the floor where I'd stood, sending bone fragments flying like shrapnel.
"Shit!" I rolled to my feet, only to find one of the armored sentinels already closing in. I parried its sword strike and countered with a slash that should have severed its spine—but my blade clanged against metal. Unlike the previous sentinels, these wore actual armor over their bony exteriors.
The guardian roared again, this time with purpose. Purple energy gathered around its skull, coalescing into an orb of crackling power.
"Move!" I shouted to myself, diving behind a bone pillar as the guardian released the energy. The purple blast struck the pillar, disintegrating the top half and sending a shower of bone dust over me.
'Magic. Great.'
I glanced around the chamber, quickly assessing my options. The guardian stood between me and the exit. Three armored sentinels circled to flank me. My attributes had improved, but I wasn't delusional—this fight was stacked against me.
'Arcan, what's this thing's weakness?'
『All composite constructs require a binding focus. Typically located within the central mass. Destroy the focus, disperse the binding energy.』
'And in English?'
『It has a heart. Find it. Break it.』
I ducked another swing from the nearest sentinel, countering with a jab that found a gap in its armor. My blade sank into the joint between ribs, and the sentinel staggered back. Not dead, but damaged.
The guardian had begun channeling another energy blast. I needed to keep moving. Running toward the second sentinel, I feinted left, then pivoted right as it committed to its defense. My blades found its neck, severing vertebrae and dropping it to the ground.
One down. A mana crystal floated toward me, but I had no time to absorb it before diving away from another energy blast.
The guardian seemed to tire after each magical attack. There was my window.
I charged directly at the massive skeleton, sliding beneath its retaliatory club swing. Up close, I could see the intricate sigils etched into each bone, glowing with the same purple energy that burned in its eye sockets. The bones themselves weren't just assembled—they were fused together with dark magic.
My blades struck at its leg joints, seeking to hamper its mobility. The bone was harder than expected, my strikes producing only shallow cuts. The guardian roared in pain or anger—hard to tell with a skull—and kicked out, catching me square in the chest.
The impact sent me flying across the chamber. I slammed into the bone wall with enough force to crack several ribs. Pain exploded through my torso as I crumpled to the ground.
『Critical damage sustained. Three ribs fractured. Minor internal bleeding detected.』
I spat blood onto the bone floor. "Thanks for the diagnosis."
The guardian wasn't finished. It raised its club high, preparing to bring it down on my prone form. I rolled aside at the last second, the massive weapon smashing another crater into the floor.
As I scrambled to my feet, pain lancing through my side, I failed to notice the third sentinel circling behind me. Its blade caught me across the back, slicing through my jacket and cutting a line of fire between my shoulder blades.
I staggered forward, barely maintaining my grip on my weapons. Blood soaked my shirt, warm and sticky against my skin. The cut wasn't deep enough to hit anything vital, but it burned like hell.
The guardian and remaining sentinels advanced, pushing me back toward the wall. I was being herded, cornered like an animal.
For the first time since entering the dungeon, real fear clawed at my throat. I was outmatched. These weren't the mindless bone puppets I'd been dispatching. The guardian directed them with tactical precision, and its magic gave it a range advantage I couldn't counter.
I needed space. Needed time to think.
When the guardian launched another energy blast, I used the moment to sprint toward a narrow passage between bone columns. The passage was too small for the guardian to follow, but the sentinels would have no trouble.
I raced down the corridor, each breath sending spikes of pain through my injured ribs. Behind me, I heard the clatter of skeletal feet in pursuit.
The passage opened into a smaller chamber filled with what looked like bone shelves. I ducked behind one, pressing my back against the cool surface as I tried to control my breathing. Each inhale was agony, each exhale a suppressed whimper.
'What am I doing here?' The thought crashed through my mind, sudden and overwhelming. 'I'm a D-Rank hunter with barely any experience. I'm not equipped for this.'
My hands trembled around the hilts of my blades. Blood dripped steadily from the cut on my back, forming a small pool on the floor.
'Why do I even care what happens? Why am I risking my life for some abstract concept like "saving the world"? What does Ashborn have to do with me?'
『Your vital signs indicate extreme distress. Recommend initiating calming procedures.』
'Shut up!' I hissed mentally. 'Just shut up! I'm going to die in here because of your cryptic bullshit and half-answers!'
The sound of bone feet clicking against the floor grew louder. The sentinels were methodically searching the chamber.
My breathing accelerated, shallow and painful against my broken ribs. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision. I was hyperventilating, panic rising like a tide I couldn't control.
why
why
why
why
WHY
Why me? Why now? Why risk everything? Noel was waiting at home. She needed me. I had responsibilities, bills to pay, a life to live. What was I doing in this nightmare, bleeding onto ancient bones for a cause I barely understood?
A bony hand gripped the edge of the shelf I was hiding behind. In seconds, the sentinel would find me.
'I can't do this. I'm not a hero. I'm not special.'
The sentinel's skull peeked around the corner, purple flame eyes scanning the space.
I slapped both my cheeks hard enough to sting, the sharp pain cutting through the fog of panic.
Get a fucking grip, Valentine.
Noel was counting on me. Not just to come home today, but to build a future worth having. A future where we weren't scraping by, where we had options, power, security. Everything I'd ever wanted was on the other side of this fight.
I had the system. I had abilities no other hunter possessed. I was different—special, whether I wanted to be or not.
'You're a hunter,' I told myself fiercely. 'SO ACT LIKE IT.'
The sentinel found me just as clarity returned. Its blade descended in a killing arc—and met my crossed blades instead. With a strength I didn't know I possessed, I pushed back, forcing the skeleton off balance.
Before it could recover, I struck. My blades moved with newfound precision, finding the gaps in its armor and disassembling it joint by joint until it collapsed into a pile of bones.
The mana crystal floated toward me, and this time I reached out to absorb it. Energy flowed through me, dulling the pain of my injuries slightly.
'Arcan, how many more sentinels?'
『One remaining. Fifty minor entities eliminated. Bonus condition met.』
'And the guardian?'
『Still searching. Its size restricts mobility through narrower passages.』
I nodded, formulating a plan. 'Can you locate its binding focus?'
『Analyzing previous encounters... Focus appears to be located in the central chest cavity. The sternum contains concentrated magical signatures consistent with binding magic.』
'So I need to crack its chest open.'
I examined my surroundings more carefully now. The bone shelves contained small artifacts—ceremonial items, primitive tools, jewelry made from smaller bones and teeth. One shelf held what looked like ancient weapons.
Among them was a bone spear unlike the others. It wasn't a sentinel's weapon, but something older, more refined. The shaft was carved with spiraling sigils, and the tip was fashioned from what appeared to be a dragon's tooth.
When I picked it up, the sigils glowed faintly blue, responding to my touch.
『Ancient artifact detected. Ossuary Piercer. Ceremonial weapon designed to penetrate magical defenses.』
'Now we're talking.'
I tested the weapon's balance. It felt right in my hands, as if made for me. The magic within it resonated with my own energy, amplifying it.
A plan formed in my mind. Risky, but better than hiding until I bled out or the guardian found me.
I moved back toward the main chamber, staying in the shadows. My ribs protested with each step, but I pushed through the pain. The remaining sentinel patrolled the perimeter while the guardian stood in the center, skull swiveling as it searched for me.
I needed to eliminate the last sentinel first. Using the bone shelves as cover, I circled behind it, waiting for the guardian to turn away.
When my moment came, I struck. The sentinel sensed me at the last second, but too late. My blade severed its spine at the neck, and it collapsed without a sound. I caught the mana crystal that emerged, absorbing it immediately.
『Fifty-one minor entities eliminated. All bonus conditions active.』
The guardian roared, spotting me as I emerged from cover. It raised its club, but instead of charging, it planted the weapon into the floor.
Purple energy surged through the ossuary, and the bones around me began to tremble. Smaller bones—fingers, toes, teeth—rose from the floor and swirled around the guardian like a protective cyclone.
'That's new.'
『Necromantic manipulation detected. Guardian is utilizing ambient bone matter as projectile weapons.』
As if on cue, the bone fragments shot toward me like bullets. I dove behind a pillar, hearing the sharp impacts as they embedded themselves in the bone surface.
The guardian wasn't just strong—it was intelligent, adapting its tactics to counter mine.
I gripped the Ossuary Piercer tighter. One shot. I'd get one clean shot at its sternum before it overwhelmed me with its magic.
The bone storm continued, fragments ricocheting around the chamber. I counted the seconds between attacks, noting a pattern. The guardian needed approximately five seconds to gather and launch each volley.
Five seconds was all I needed.
When the next volley ended, I burst from cover, sprinting directly at the guardian. It raised its club in surprise, not expecting a frontal assault.
Pain screamed through my body with each step, but I pushed through it, focused entirely on my target. The guardian swung its club in a horizontal arc, trying to sweep me aside.
I slid underneath, the club passing over my head close enough to feel the air displacement. Coming up directly beneath the guardian, I thrust the Ossuary Piercer upward with all my strength, aiming for the center of its sternum.
"DIE!"
The spear's tip connected with bone—and passed through it like it was made of paper. Ancient magic flared as the weapon pierced the guardian's binding focus.
Purple energy erupted from the wound, wild and uncontained. The guardian's skull threw back in a silent scream as cracks spread across its body, light pouring from each fissure.
I pulled the spear free and rolled away as the guardian began to collapse. Bones separated, connections failing as the binding magic dissipated. The skull was the last to fall, its purple flame eyes fixed on me until the moment they winked out.
In the center of the bone pile lay a pulsing purple crystal the size of my fist—much larger than the ones from the sentinels. It rose into the air, hovering before me.
『Boss entity eliminated. Gate guardian neutralized. Absorb the core to complete purification.』
I reached out, touching the crystal. It dissolved into my hand, and power surged through me—raw, primal energy that made the sentinel crystals feel like sparks compared to a bonfire.
The pain in my ribs and back diminished as warmth spread through my body. I felt tissue knitting together, bones realigning.
『Healing accelerated by absorption. Injuries stabilizing.』
The ossuary itself began to change. The purple glow faded from the bone structures, replaced by a soft blue luminescence. The oppressive atmosphere lifted, replaced by a sense of peace.
『Purification complete. Reward acquisition in progress.』
A series of notifications appeared before me:
[Arcane Quest: Purification of the Ossuary – COMPLETED]
[Rewards Acquired:]
- 300 Attribute Points
[Bonus Rewards Acquired:]
- Completed within 180 minutes (+100 Attribute Points)
- Defeated 51 minor entities (+50 Attribute Points)
- No critical damage sustained (FALSE) – Bonus failed
[Total Attribute Points Awarded: 450]
[Skill Selection Available]
[New Artifact Acquired: Ossuary Piercer]
I frowned at the failed bonus. "No critical damage? I didn't have critical damage."
『The system makes that determination based on threat to life. Your injuries combined with your mental state did endanger your survival despite your enhanced healing capabilities.』
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," I muttered, examining my status:
[Player: Xavier Valentine]
[Level: 1]
[Class: None]
[Title: None]
[Core Attributes:]
Strength: D - 293 [+52]
Endurance: C - 478 [+39]
Dexterity: D - 377 [+32]
Agility: D - 238 [+27]
Magic: F - 128 [+33]
[Available Skill Points: 550]
[Active Abilities: 0]
[Passive Abilities: 3]
The boss crystal had provided significant attribute increases on its own, and now I had 450 more points to allocate. Plus a skill selection, whatever that meant.
'I'll deal with that after I get out of here,' I decided, suddenly exhausted. The adrenaline crash hit hard, leaving me shaky and drained.
A shimmering portal had appeared where the guardian had fallen, pulsing with the same blue light that now filled the ossuary.
'Is that the exit?'
『Confirmed. Portal will return you to your entry point.』
I nodded, taking one last look around the now-peaceful bone cathedral. I'd come close to dying here. Closer than I liked to admit. But I'd survived, grown stronger, and learned something important about myself.
I wasn't just Xavier Valentine, D-Rank hunter and construction worker. I was something more—something with the potential to change everything.
As I stepped through the portal, the Ossuary Piercer clutched in my hand like a trophy, I couldn't help but smile. Noel would never believe this.
Then again, maybe it was better if she didn't know how close I'd come to not coming home at all.