A skeleton stood on the other side of the bridge, covered by the shadow created by the rocks above.

Its bones were white and narrow, and it stood at least the same height as me. Its eye sockets were empty, with no eyes, but I knew it could see me perfectly well.

Ezio lifted himself up from the edge and looked at the skeleton monster from afar. "The skeletons are here."

After he said that, more skeletons came out from the tunnels on the other side and joined the one that had just launched an arrow at me. Their bodies produced bone-rattling and clattering sounds as they walked, while their mouths released the sound of chattering teeth.

They were of different sizes and types. Some looked like humans and had swords, spears, and bows in their hands, while others were dog-like beasts.

There were a lot of them. I couldn’t count exactly how many there were, but I estimated there were about fifty.

It was a small army.

I got up, materialized the same gloves I had made earlier, grabbed the butt of the arrow, and pulled it off the wall.

An arc of darkness took shape in my left hand, and then a black string formed in the middle—a bow made entirely of darkness formed in my hands. I then used the bone arrow and pulled back the string, aiming at the skeleton that had attacked me first.

I released the string. The bone arrow moved through the air silently and hit the skeleton right in the face, destroying its skull.

The skeleton fell to the floor like it was dead, but I knew better.

The skeleton’s destroyed skull started reconstructing itself again, bone by bone, until it was completely restored, as if an arrow hadn’t destroyed it a moment ago.

The skeleton got up like nothing had happened.

"Ah, I missed." I was disappointed because I wasn’t aiming for the head but for its ribcage.

This was the problem with these undead creatures. They had infinite stamina, were indestructible, and couldn’t die by normal means.

I was aiming for its ribcage because that was where its core was—destroying that core would kill them. That was one way to do it.

One skeleton would be easier to deal with, but in my case, I had to deal with dozens of them.

They were another obstacle that I had to break through.

The skeletons with bows took the front row and aimed their bows upward. They released dozens and dozens of bone arrows into the air, which rained down toward me.

"Well, that’s my cue. You deal with them." Ezio turned into a cloud of shadows and entered my shadow.

I could literally just ask Ezio to wipe them out, but I needed the experience.

I watched silently as the shower of arrows fell toward me at incredible speed.

My right hand was already resting on the hilt of my katana. I had first thought of using [Darkness Slash], but that would destroy the rocks above, and I didn’t want the cave to collapse on me.

When the arrows got close enough, my katana was already flashing as I pulled it out of its sheath. With a surge of power, my katana moved with terrifying speed and sliced the first arrow right through the middle, cutting it in half. The two halves landed on either side of me.

My katana was already swinging back, cutting the incoming arrows with uncanny precision.

Each arrow was aimed at a different part of my body, intending to skewer me alive.

I didn’t stay still either. When an arrow was about to pierce my eye, my head snapped to the side, narrowly dodging it.

My body moved left and right, ducking and weaving through each arrow.

Whenever I couldn’t dodge an arrow, my katana was already there to cut it down.

My blade drew white arcs through the air while my hands blurred with speed, cutting down each incoming arrow.

Once I was done, more than twenty evenly cut bone arrows lay scattered around me on the ground.

Not a single one of them had touched me.

I couldn’t let them touch me at all, not even graze my skin.

That was because they carried curses.

Skeletons were renowned not only for their unlimited stamina and inability to die but also for the cursed energy they wielded.

Once you got injured by one of their attacks, no matter how small the wound was, you would be exposed to curses. Curses that ate away at your strength, slowed down your healing, and could even stop you from using your abilities for a certain period of time.

And not being able to use your abilities during that time, no matter how brief it was, meant death.

That was why I had picked up the arrow with gloves.

Curses were one of the most dreadful things in this world, and they were no joke.

The stronger an undead creature was, the worse its curses were.

And to heal a curse that didn’t disappear through your own regenerative powers, you had to get help from someone who possessed powers that could heal curses, like Absolute Light or Holy Magic.

But in this case, the skeleton monsters I was facing were only at the Greater rank, so their curses would disappear on their own after some time if I got injured, since they weren’t that strong.

The skeletons fired another volley of arrows, and this time, instead of blocking them with my blade, I created a huge wall of darkness in front of me that stopped them.

A long javelin with a sharp tip formed in my left hand. At my will, a gaping hole opened in the wall of darkness, and through that hole, I threw the javelin.

The javelin tore through the air, and before the skeleton had a chance to block it, it pierced through its ribcage and split the monster in half.

The skeleton didn’t get up and instead turned to ash.

[You have slain a Low Greater monster, Undead Skeleton.]

The system whispered the kill.

The other skeletons looked at the ashes of their companion and chattered their teeth.

The undead skeletons didn’t attack again. Instead, they gave me one more look—which felt creepy since they had no eyes—before turning around and disappearing into their tunnels.

Once I could no longer sense them and decided it was safe, I let the wall of darkness crumble.

"They went away," I said and sheathed my katana.

Ezio emerged from my shadow.

"They’re smart. They know they can’t get you yet, so it was pointless to continue the fight," Ezio said as he created a chair made of shadows and sat down.

I nodded in agreement.

The undead skeletons hadn’t turned around because they were scared. They were dead—how could they feel fear?

They turned around because it wasn’t time yet... not until the sun went down.

Skeletons could die if their cores were destroyed or by the light of the sun.

That’s why they remained in the shadows and never crossed the bridge.

They would return in the night.

And I could already tell it was going to be a very long night.