Get to the Upper City! Part 2

Joshua walked carefully and stepped with as much stealth as he could muster into the darkness before him. He could see vague movements, but more importantly he could hear sounds. He felt he was close to one of the skeletons and swung his rusted blade in the direction he was hoping to connect with something, anything.

Connect he did, the rusted sword slid atop a metal plate that was adorned on a skeleton's chest, as it glided across the surface sparks flew out giving slight illumination to the darkness surrounding him.

With the small light the sparks gave, Joshua could make out the size of the skeleton. It was larger than him, maybe six feet or more, it was hard to tell in the darkness. He could see that parts of its body were covered in armor, and the other parts were just exposed bone. Sometimes broken bones. He got a quick look at its face; a skull cap was upon its head, and it was missing a mandible.

Joshua could make out a sword and shield in the skeleton's arms. Which would imply these bodies are also of soldiers and guards, and they did not bother to remove any armor or equipment they may have been wearing.

Joshua could also tell from the brief respite of light he was granted that two more skeletons were roaming the area. He jumped back, just in time to narrowly miss the counterattack of the skeleton he had struck.

He had played enough games and read enough manga to know that monsters have weaknesses, and it is always best to attack those. Normally an undead creature such as a skeleton is weak to holy magic, or healing magic. Sometimes revival magic instantly kills them. Sadly, for Joshua he had zero magic.

He noticed it on his status plate before, and every time he looked at it. He had zero mana. His stats all improved and so did his hit points, but his mana did not. He planned to ask a mage the mechanisms about magic, later when he found one. However, the skeletons were here now, and he was magicless.

Option two was obvious weak points. The broken parts of the armor with the exposed bone. If he could not cast a spell, he could attack in a spot that actually did damage. If he could sever a leg or arm it would give him an advantage.

He stepped back into the green light to think more about his next move, luckily the skeleton he had attacked walked right up to the edge of the light. Joshua was able to get a good look at him. A smile found itself creeping onto Joshua's face as he noticed the skeleton was lacking in neck armor.

With only a few vertebrae holding the skull and no muscles, tendons, or skin in the way, it seemed like the best point of attack. This was not a game where he was forced to make board unaimed attacks. This was real life, at least he hoped it was real life. He still lacked any proof that it wasn't some kind of simulation caused by machines that had conquered the world in his sleep.

He took his sword and lined it up for a piercing strike of the skeleton's neck. He launched his attack, and the rusty blade rang true. Severing between the two middle vertebrae and decapitating the skeleton.

He expected it to fall to the ground as a result of it losing its head, however the body of the skeleton remained, still moving slightly as if trying to find a way past the light.

"So, they don't need heads." Joshua said. "Can they be killed without magic then?" He asked as he thought some more. He looked around for something, anything he could use. He saw some barrels against the wall, safely in the green light. He walked over hoping they were what he hoped they were.

As he approached, a strong odor of oil filled his nose. "When all else fails, kill it with fire." Joshua said with a laugh. He cracked open the top of the barrel and it was two thirds of the way filled with a clear oil. A smaller metal bowl sat near the barrels, rusted from years of abandonment. Still, it was devoid of holes and could serve as a useful container for the oil.

Joshua dipped the bowl into the oil and collected some. He then casually walked over to the skeleton and doused it with the oil he had collected. "I hope this lights up your life!" He said, as he struck his sword against the armored portion of the skeleton again, causing more sparks to fly.

Some of the sparks found their way to the oil and began to ignite. The skeleton just stood there, unresponsive, not reacting to the fact it was now a light fixture.

"Seriously?" Joshua said. "How do I kill the damned things then?!" He yelled out. "They are magical in nature and must be killed by magic, and I lack it." He gave a deep sigh. He could see better now that the burning skeleton was providing vibrant light. He looked at the bowl in his hand. He knew it was rusty before, but it appeared to be rust free now after spending a little time in the oil.

He looked at his rusty blade and shrugged. "Magic oil?" He said. He walked back to the barrel and plunged his blade inside. As he pulled the blade from the oil the rust disappeared, revealing a beautiful blade. It looked silver, but silver doesn't rust. He was in a new world with new materials, it was bound to me a metal similar to silver.

There was an inscription inscribed into the blade of the sword that couldn't be seen before, in its rusted state. It was a language he had never seen before, yet the words came to him in his mind. "May the light of hope extinguish the darkness and illuminate the night." He read off the blade.

As he did the inscription burned with white flame. Shortly after the entire blade burst into white flames.