Chapter 12 The Arithmetic of Blood

The freezing dark of the deep crypts had no sun and no moon. Jack could only tell the time by the steady ticking of the blue numbers in his vision. The first twelve months down in the cold earth had changed him. His skin was paler, his frame was leaner, and his eyes were completely steady in the dark.

He stood in a narrow corridor, watching three small skeletal thralls walk slowly toward him. Their bones clanked against the frozen ground. They were weak, but their claws were long and dirty.

Jack did not rush forward. He did not draw his sword. He stood still, watching how they moved their feet.

[Target: Skeletal Thrall]

[Analysis: Left leg drags. Attack comes from the right side every three seconds.]

"Always the same pattern," Jack muttered to himself.

The first skeleton lunged, its bony hand aiming for his face. Jack simply stepped two inches to the left. The claw passed right by his ear, cutting nothing but empty air. Jack reached out his bare hand, caught the monster by its cold wrist, and twisted it hard. The bone snapped like a dry twig.

The second skeleton tried to bite his shoulder. Jack dropped low, swept his leg across the ground, and knocked the creature off its feet. It hit the dirt hard.

He used his palm to touch the chest of the third monster. Blue light flickered softly.

[Skill Active: Mana Dissection]

[Reward: 2 EXP]

The magic holding the bones together died out instantly, and the pile fell into gray dust. Jack breathed out a long sigh of white mist. He sat down on a flat mound of dirt, pulling up his main screen.

[Level Progress: C-Rank (25 / 100)]

[Available Points: 15]

Jack looked at his core numbers. Most hunters liked to put all their points into pure strength or high speed so they could show off with flashy moves. Jack knew that was a bad idea. A real warrior needed to be ready for anything.

"Put five points into strength," Jack said quietly to the screen. "Five points into stamina. Five points into speed."

[Points distributed evenly.]

[All Core Numbers Balanced.]

A steady warmth spread through his arms and legs, fighting off the heavy chill of the cavern. He felt solid.

"You are a strange one," a faint voice echoed from the darkness behind him.

Jack did not jump. He turned his head slowly. A weak, trapped traveler was sitting in a small hole in the wall, his legs broken. He was a local hunter who had fallen down a fissure months ago, surviving on clean water from the ceiling dripping down.

"Why do you say that?" Jack asked, cleaning some dust off his boots.

"I watched you fight those things," the trapped man said, coughing weakly. "Most young guys come down here screaming. They swing their big swords until they get tired, and then the monsters eat them. You don't wave your blade around. You just step aside and let them fall."

"Swinging a heavy sword takes too much energy," Jack said. "If you know exactly where the blow is going, you only need to move two inches. It saves your breath."

"Where did you learn to think like that?" the man asked.

"In a place where mistakes cost you everything," Jack replied. He stood up and tossed a piece of dried meat toward the man's hole. "Eat that. It will keep you warm for a few hours."

"Thanks, Jack," the man whispered. "Be careful if you go deeper down this hall. There is a big one. A skeletal captain. He has an iron shield and he doesn't move like the small ones."

Jack nodded. "Good. I am looking for him."

He walked down the long corridor, his boots silent on the icy floor. The air grew even colder, smelling of ancient metal and old graves. At the end of the path stood a massive skeleton. It was a head taller than Jack, wearing old, rusted iron armor and holding a thick iron shield. In its hand was a heavy sword.

Jack looked down at his own waist. His simple iron shortsword was chipped from months of use. If he hit that thick shield with his blade, the metal would snap.

He looked around the floor and spotted a long, thick iron rod that had fallen from an old cage. It was heavy, plain, and solid. Jack picked it up, feeling the balance in his hands.

"No blade needed for this," Jack muttered.

The skeletal captain saw him. It let out a low, scraping hiss and rushed forward. It swung its heavy sword in a wide, powerful circle.

Jack did not try to block it. He dropped to his knees, letting the heavy blade pass over his head. The force of the wind blew his hood back, revealing his short dark hair.

As the captain recovered its balance, Jack drove the tip of the iron rod straight into the monster's left knee joint. The rusted bone cracked loudly. The captain stumbled, its massive body tilting to one side.

The monster swung its thick shield to crush Jack's head. Jack anticipated the move. He stepped inward, getting right under the monster's guard where the shield could not reach. He raised the heavy iron rod with both hands and brought it down like a hammer right onto the center of the captain's skull.

The iron rod hit the bone with a massive clatter. The skull shattered into a dozen pieces. The thick armor and the heavy shield crashed into the dirt, lifeless and still.

Jack stood over the pile of bones, his breath coming in steady rhythms. He did not yell or celebrate. He just leaned on the iron rod, waiting for the screen to appear.

The blue light filled the dark hall.

[Target Defeated: Skeletal Captain]

[Bonus EXP awarded for using environmental tools.]

[Level Progress: C-Rank (40 / 100)]

Jack looked at the blue numbers, a small, cold smile appearing on his face. Year one was finished. He had thirty-two months left in the dark, and he was just getting started.