Chapter 10

  Author's note: To listen to the music that I am referencing here, visit YouTube at . Play it when Theo sees the Guardian.

  Theo woke up calm and content despite the fact that he would have a big fight later that day. Getting out of bed, he stretched and yawned, then went to the dresser. He opened it up and selected a brown woolen shirt, brown woolen pants, and one black sturdy pair of boots. He went outside of his room; his armor was on the table at the end of the hall. Theo grabbed the leather armor and returned to his room to put on the leather chest piece, helmet, leggings, and other armor pieces. He also put the two mana and health potions he found a long time ago back in his pockets. Taking a deep breath, Theo walked downstairs. “Good morning, Host,” Theo said with a smile.

  “Morning, Theo,” the Host said.

  Theo spent some time eating and then had a delicious meal.

  “So, what can you tell me about the Guardian?” Theo asked.

  “Not much that I haven’t already said. The Guardian is at the end of the road to the next part of the city. There is a church on the side of the slums. That’s pretty much it,” the Host said.

  “Thank you for the information anyway,” Theo said.

  Theo got out of the inn and walked down the road. It took about 20 minutes to reach the wall that separated the districts, and as the Guardian came into sight from the Hayes, Theo heard a haunting melody coming from the church.

  “Seriously, boss music!!!” Theo yelled in exasperation as he was looking up at the sky.

  Looking at the church from which the music is coming reveals a medieval Gothic-style building. Instead of Christian themes, the stained-glass windows depict scenes featuring a mannequin and a group of humans, dwarfs, elves, creatures with scales, beast-like people, and more, all of them engaged in combat…

  “You got to be fucking kidding me. Eldridge's horrors are real. Well, the excerpt from that book said myths can be based on reality, but why did it have to be fucking H.P. Lovecraft’s monsters, for fuck’s sake?” Theo grumbled in his mind.

  “Pretty sure the system is getting a kick out of this, fucking asshole,” Theo grumbled.

  Theo uses the Inspect skill:

  Skeleton Guardian level 14.

  The guardian was wearing a full plate that was matte black with no rust on it whatsoever. The weapon it held in its right hand was a mace that resembled a ball connected to a metal rod, and on its left arm was a tower shield. The Guardian was about 6 feet tall. Theo summoned the chains on his limbs and the cane sword in his right hand. Unsheathing the sword, the naked blade was showing. Both of them started walking towards each other. As they got into range of each other, the skeleton threw out a light swipe. Theo was able to dodge it easily. Theo thrust towards the Guardian. The guardian, using its shield, deflected the sword quickly. A few more tests strike here and there.

  On the fourth strike, the mace and sword connected. The guardian leaned on the sword, trying to use its strength to force its way through Theo’s guard. Theo sidestepped and let the mace slide past. The Guardian stepped back, and the exchange happened again as the rhythm of mace and sword clashed. The Guardian did a sideswipe towards Theo’s midsection. Theo dodged toward the skeleton’s left side; the Guardian took advantage and shield-bashed Theo. Stumbling back with a broken nose, blood began to trickle from his nose. Theo channeled a Healing Touch with his left hand and, still looking at the Guardian, he grabbed his nose, straightened it, and applied a Healing Touch.

  The skeleton lunged at him. Theo dropped to the ground, rolled, and quickly got back up, using the chain on his left arm as leverage. He attempted to wrap the chain around the champion's feet, but the skeleton bent down slightly and grabbed the chain with its left hand. The shield on the skeleton's left arm was secured by a strap around its forearm and a handle in its hand, but at the moment, the skeleton was not holding the handle. The shield was slightly cockeyed as the Guardian gripped the chain, and Theo didn’t have time to detach the chain from his arm. The guardian began spinning in a circle while holding onto the chain. Theo was lifted off his feet, and after a few rotations, the skeleton let go. Theo crashed into a building on the left in the shopping district. As he got up, a piece of wood was protruding from his stomach. Without hesitation, he wrenched it out of him and healed himself, then headed out of the building, and the music continued to play. The guardian was standing there. Theo charged the Guardian, imbuing the blade with Cure Wounds. The guardian blocked the blade with a shield, but the cursed metal got gouged this time instead of gliding off the shield. Theo smiled and imbued the sword again. When they exchanged blows this time, he also used the chain on his left hand, which acted like a makeshift gauntlet, to parry or block the mace. Theo created an opening and punched the shield, leaving a big dent in it.

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  Theo's focus was on the shield, hammering it and slicing it into pieces. After a few minutes, he finally broke through, and the shield was in several pieces. Some of the pieces fell to the floor. The guardian was still holding a big piece of the shield; both the skeleton and Theo took a few steps back to reassess each other for a moment, and the skeleton threw the rest of the shield at Theo. Theo dodged it. Before he could sigh in relief, the mace slammed into him, throwing him across the cobblestone about 5 feet away. He tried to push himself up with his right arm, but he collapsed. At that moment, a searing pain went through him. He grabbed his right arm with his left, channeling Healing Touch multiple times as he heard footsteps getting closer, using the chain on his right arm to create a makeshift splint that wrapped around his entire right arm. He gritted his teeth and got up. Theo channeled a Target Healing spell out from the crystal focus of the sword cane hilt at the skeleton.

  The guardian sidestepped the spell and charged; Theo blocked the lunging strike. Pain radiated from his right arm. Gritting his teeth, the mace came down strike after strike, and Theo blocked each one, ignoring the pain. Theo pushed the pain and the growing fatigue away, and something clicked in his mind. He became more focused on his surroundings and the Guardian. It was as if a fog had lifted from his mind. Theo felt no more pain or fatigue in his mind, which was completely clear. By using Target Healing, Theo pushed the skeleton back a little more to give himself a bit more breathing room. Theo got a couple of hits in and then took a step back, grabbing one of the mana vials from his pocket, which had surprisingly not broken. Quickly, he drank it at the same time, ducking down from a blow from the mace, dropping the vial from his left hand at the same time, imbuing the chain with cure wounds in a few seconds before contact, making a fist, and hitting the Guardian in the left side of the hip, leaving a small dent in the armor, bouncing back a step as the Guardian came in for another swing. Theo twirled to the left, dodging the blow and slashing the guardian's right forearm. The blade cut through the cursed armor and nicked the guardian's bone. The Guardian lashed out with a kick; Theo couldn’t dodge it in time.

  The kick caused him to fly a couple of feet through the air and land on his back; the air knocked out of him. Theo gasped for breath and struggled to get up, thump, thump. Hearing the guardian’s footsteps, Theo threw himself to the left, watching as the mace slammed down on the cobblestones; then, he scrambled to his feet and used a Healing Touch on himself. Finally, he could take a breath, and without hesitation, Theo charged the skeleton, imbuing the chain and his sword with cure wounds. The Guardian struck towards Theo’s torso, sidestepping the attack and unleashing a sword strike on the skeleton, which dented the guardian’s helmet in the process. The Guardian stumbled. Theo capitalized on the opening and began to stab at the Guardian. The armor cannot withstand the imbued Cure Wounds. The skeleton grabbed Theo’s right arm.

  Theo channeled Cure Wounds to the spot where the skeleton was holding him. As a result, the skeleton spasmed, giving Theo a chance to break free. With a left hook to the skeleton’s helmet, the helmet partially caved in on its right side, followed by two cuts to the guardian’s neck, one after another. Theo broke through the armor. When he tried for another slash across the skeleton’s neck, the Guardian slammed the mace into Theo’s left side. Stumbling back, Theo coughed up some blood, channeling a Healing Touch on himself. Theo took a step back, grabbed one of the healing potions from his pocket, and chugged it. When he was done, he let it drop to the ground. The guardian and Theo began to circle each other. The Guardian stopped and charged with a lunging strike. Theo extended the chains on his left arm, wrapping around the skeleton's right arm, causing it to overextend. At the same time, Theo chopped at its neck and imbued the sword with Cure Wounds. The guardian ducked, and the sword cut across the helmet, leaving a deep gouge on the left side that exposed the bone. Backing away, Theo launched a lunging strike, attempting to feint. The guardian was not fooled and smashed Theo’s left arm as he was going for a strike. The chains stopped the blow. Theo felt a faint pain, but that was it. The skeleton went in for a strike against Theo’s head. Theo ducked, entered the skeleton's guard, and struck the Guardian in the thigh, causing the armor to cave in on its left leg. The Guardian tried to step, but it stumbled. He capitalized on the opening. Theo again aimed for the neck. Theo imbued his sword with Cure Wounds and was able to cut the helmet off from the neck. The Guardian stood there for a second, then crumpled to the ground, and with that, a second later, all the pain that Theo was ignoring came to him. Gritting his teeth, Theo fell to his knees due to the pain, drinking the last of the healing potions. He chugged it, tossed it to the ground, and sat down, breathing heavily. Theo focused on healing his body.