As the feet moved past his door, just out of reach, Alburet could see a key at the end of the chain, scraping across the floor behind the skeleton. He strained, thrusting his arm as far out under the door as he could but missed the key. Panting, he slid back and looked out again. He could see the dust on the floor disturbed by his arm, he had fallen an inch or two short of where the drag line for the key had been.
Alburet watched the skeleton continue on its way without pausing. Sitting back up, he tried to think of a way to get the key if the skeleton came back. His arm wasn't long enough obviously, and the room didn't contain anything of use. Brooding for a moment, Alburet tried to think of a way to snag an extra inch or two. Shaking his head he wished for items that would make a difference that he obviously didn't have. After all the only thing in the room was the ragged straw pile he had woken on and the tattered robe he was wearing.
Chuckling, Alburet stripped his tattered robe off and fashioned it into a loop as best he could. It gave him a foot of reach and a way to either trip the skeleton or snag the key. Maybe. Smiling, he lay back down and slid the makeshift trap into the hall. After a few attempts he got it into the path of the mob and settled in for the wait.
Time seemed to drag as he lay there waiting, the cold stone floor chilling him slightly as he waited. The demon skin didn't stop him from feeling temperature, sadly. He began to drum his fingers on the floor as he waited impatiently. “Stupid fucking starting place, trapped in a room with only one way out,” he groused to himself.
Eventually he heard the scraping sound coming this time from his right. Grinning, he made sure he was ready to yank the robe back to him. He was going to try for the skeleton as it only had 90 health and would be an easier target to snag then the key. He was still grinning when he could make out in the flickering light the skeleton’s feet approaching him.
Alburet could feel the tingle of anticipation he always felt before a fight as he watched the feet draw closer. When the skeleton stepped into the makeshift noose he tugged with everything he had. He felt the resistance as the skeleton was caught and tumbled to the floor along with the clatter of bones striking stone. He began to reel in the robe quickly, drawing the skeleton’s foot under the door, into the room with him. Grabbing it with one hand, Alburet reached out with his other searching for the chain.
The skeleton kicked at him with its other foot, connecting with his searching arm. Wincing at the impact, Alburet noted two health tick off his bar. Growling, he yanked on the leg he was holding and felt the door rattle at the impact of the skeleton hitting the other side. “Take that, fucker,” he said under his breath as his hand finally found the metal chain.
Just as he began to pull the chain into the room, his hand was grabbed and he felt teeth sink into it. “Fucker,” Alburet yelled as 2 damage ticked off his life bar, but he refused to open the hand holding the chain.
Pulling with his hand holding the chain, Alburet was surprised to see the skeleton head still attached to his hand as he retracted it into the room. Letting go of the robe he lashed out with his left hand at the biting skeleton. He noted a four point dip in the skeleton's health bar as his hand connected with the skull.
The guardian of the key began to grind its jaw on his hand, causing Alburet to cry out in pain as he felt the teeth begin to saw into his hand, breaking the skin and drawing blood. Another 2 damage ticked off his life. Eyes going wide in pain, Alburet grabbed the skull with his left hand and bashed it against the floor as hard as he could, taking another fraction of life from it. The impact caused the skull’s teeth to cut further into his hand, doing another point of damage.
The two of them continued to trade damage as the skeleton refused to release his hand from its teeth as Alburet kept smashing its head into the floor. When the skeleton was down to twenty health left, it released his hand and tried retreat back under the door.
Tears of pain and rage dripping from his eyes, Alburet cursed it, “Not today, fucker.” Releasing the chain, he grabbed its skull in both hands as he braced his feet on the door and shoved off, trying to pull the head off the body. After a moment of resistance he went sliding across the floor with a skull trophy in his hands.
As the head came free, the body stopped moving and collapsed to the floor. Alburet lay there panting and bleeding from his severely lacerated hand. After a moment he sat up, noting his health bar slowly replenishing when he noticed the blinking square again.
You have defeated the Lost Key Holder, gain 100 XP.
Alburet disabled the XP notifications, thinking that would get old fast. He could always check his XP by opening the character tab, if he wanted to. A few seconds later the pain went away and his hand seemed uninjured as his health pool became full again. “Vanishing pain, thank gods,” Alburet muttered as he went back over to the door and pulled the chain to him. He discovered it was wrapped around the skeleton's spine and broke it free. Key in hand, he stood up to unlock the door then opened it and stepped out into the hall.
Quest Completed: Escape the cell.
Receive: One hundred XP.
Smiling at the quest pop-up, he waved it away to check his options for moving forward. A dusty hall went off to the left and right with other doors evenly on both sides in both directions along with flickering torches. “Well, first mission accomplished, now to find my way out,” he muttered before looking down at the bones and grinning. Bending down, he went to rip a femur free only to have the corpse vanish while a small bag appeared. Frowning, he touched the bag and was suddenly holding a Femur Club which made him smile. “Acquired: one makeshift weapon,” he chuckled, “but no chain. Damn, it would have been useful.” Setting the club aside, he picked up his robe and untied it before donning it.
Quest: Escape the Intake Wing.
Reward: Five Hundred XP.
Club in hand and dressed again, he debated which way to go. He finally turned left in honor of his friend David, who always went left in dungeons. Going to the next door he tried the key, which unlocked the door, only to find an empty room. “Viewing slits would have been a good idea, game designers,” he muttered as he went door to door, checking each room in case there was anything worthwhile.
On the fifth door he found a skeleton climbing to its feet. Alburet charged in before it could rise and brought the club down on its skull firmly. He watched ten percent of its life vanish from the hit, causing him to chuckle. “So some of the old inmates are mobile as well. Guess I should be a bit more careful.” He muttered, dodging back as the skeleton swiped at him with its hands. The ID of the mob told him it was an Intake Skeleton level 1, 90/100 health.
The fight was short, with Alburet only taking minimal damage thanks to the Demon Skin spell negating most of the incoming damage and being able to deal out more damage with the femur. He checked the log, noting the first hit to the skeleton's head had been a critical which doubled the damage. He got another Femur Club off the skeleton he had just killed. He also noted a crack in the femur he had been using. He examined it more closely, which prompted another pop-up.
Femur Club
4 Damage
4/10 Durability
“So each new kill will net me a new weapon, that's handy,” Alburet mumbled to himself.