It had been half an hour since we began the search for more of us. We were fortunate, absorbing a smaller group of four by using the same words that had swayed the first six into joining me.

"Death is our birthright. Through strength, we choose a different fate. Join us."

Now, we numbered eleven. Teaching [Stealth] was a bit bothersome, since any of them could use it against us, and me, but it did help us avoid an adventuring party of five, that almost turned a corner to face us, but took a different path instead. I thanked whatever deity was watching over us that we hadn't been illuminated in any way. Some of the others wanted to attack, but I cautioned them against it. We weren't strong enough. Not yet. We needed either more of us, or more weapons.

I expected heavy casualties.

Weapons and numbers don't always mean strength. But I won't greet Death. I refuse.

No matter what the outcome would be, I wouldn't let myself die. Even if I had to abandon all of them, I would at least survive. Even if it was cowardly. There is no glory in death. No honor in battle. Not for me.

We travelled for another fifteen minutes, toward what was a large empty chamber. One of us had been alive for three days so far, and she hadn't seen anyone other than herself going through there, even after a day and a half. It was as good a place as any to settle for a moment.

When we walked in, I couldn't stop myself from grinning, although I still looked the same on the outside. At least I had a decent poker face.

The chamber was at least thirty feet high, and fifty feet in any direction. It was incredible. It even had an old table off to the side, although it was covered in a very thick layer of dust, showing that nobody had actually been through here in awhile. The stone however was even chipped in a few places, showing off a bit of age.

We talked about dismantling the table for more weapons, but decided against it after I realized the wood itself was so old and dry, that it would probably break after the first swing, maybe even before.

I wanted to find more skeletons, and get their femurs, as they were the longest bone I had found, and based on how they looked, they would more than suffice as a basic club. Of course, doing so while traveling with ten others made that difficult. So, I did the next best thing.

"I'm looking for three volunteers to go out and find more groups. Teach them [Stealth] and lead them here. We need whoever we can get." I looked around at the others, yet none stepped forward.

"Are you afraid?" I rested my bone club against my shoulder as I spoke.

"Anyone would be. We're not looking to die without any meaning." A skeleton spoke up, clutching their shiv tight to their side.

"Remember, death is our birthright. If even one of us succeeds in bringing back more, then there is meaning to your sacrifice. If you try desperately to stay alive, then you have already gone further than most others. For our strength, I ask that three of us take this risk." It seemed I had a thing for spewing nonsense, although I wasn't sure if there was a skill for that. I was surprised that I hadn't gotten anything else other than [Stealth].

Sadly, I wasn't a silver-tongued devil. Only two stepped forward, so naturally, I ended up having to nominate myself to go out to find more of us.

I guess that means more training and death defying stunts for me.

I left before the other two, not bothering to wait. If I could find even one other skeleton, I'd come right back. I didn't want to be in any more danger than I needed to be.

Moving slowly, I travelled straight, hoping to avoid getting lost, despite the much higher risk of running into something. It would be bad if I found someone else, only to not know my way back.

It took around ten minutes before I had my first encounter with adventurers. I saw the light of their torch long before they could have ever seen me. Activating [Stealth] with as much force as I could mentally put into it, I power walked away until I reached an intersection. I looked down the three hallways, not sure which to hide in, while the adventurers were slowly getting closer. I could hear the echoes of their idle banter, and their light was steadily growing larger, and brighter.

Nope, not happening. Not today, hell no, I'm done.

I stopped thinking, and just turned left, walking down as far as I could go, until their torchlight was visible again.

Don't you dare. Don't you dare!

They dared. The torchlight grew larger again as they turned left.

You bastards!

I gave up on simply power walking, and started sprinting down the hallway, until I turned a corner, right into another skeleton, sending us both to the ground.

"Owww, that hurt! Wait, I-" It was a her, and her voice had been cut off.

I mentally groaned in annoyance, wondering if this was some sort of gag that had been pulled on me. All that was missing was some toast in someone's mouth.

I pulled myself off of her, before yanking her up to her feet.

"You think about what you want to say, and will it so. Adventurer's coming, time to go!" I was shouting at this point, although I wasn't sure if the adventurer's could even hear me doing so. The torchlight just kept coming, slow and steady.

"Wh-wha?" The other skeleton cried as I grabbed her by the shoulder, dragging her back the way she had probably come. "What are you doing!?" She jerked free of my hand, before stopping. "Explain what's going on!"

I couldn't help but growl in frustration, before stopping. "There are adventurers coming our way, and they are going to kill us if we don't get a move on! I know of a safe place, and that's where I'm hoping to take you, now are you coming or what?" The words came out quickly, but I couldn't care if she fully understood them, so long as she just followed me.

She didn't say anything for a second, which only added to my stress. "Fine, but you're going to explain to me what's going on soon enough!"

Finally!

I immediately started running, while using [Stealth]. "Try to keep your steps light, and you might learn a skill!" I spoke hurriedly. I didn't want to be anywhere near that torch by the time they found something to kill.

"Skill? What, like a game?" Our footsteps felt like gunshots to me, and when she said those words, I very nearly tripped over myself, and to me it was more like cannon fire.

"Y-yeah! Pretty much exactly like that! Stats and everything! Blue sign popping up out of nowhere, can't miss it! Now keep running!"

I didn't bother checking to see how long we ran, but it took another two turns in order to lose the torch. If I had lungs, they would have been on fire at that point, so I gave being dead a mental thumbs up for not having to breathe.

"Alright, now please explain just what's going on here. I randomly woke up, and I'm nothing but bones? This has to be some sort of joke, right?" The she-skeleton stared at me as I tried to orient myself. I wasn't sure, but I thought I could get us back to the chamber. Maybe.

"Not a joke. You were made by the dungeon just like I was, along with every other skeleton in this place. If you were alive before and got isekai'd, then tough luck. I'm not sure if I was dead or alive, and I don't really think it matters at this point. We're here, and every living being on this floor wants us double dead, but I don't really feel like being ground into powder just yet."

I'll admit, I was a bit angry, and on edge, but getting chased by potentially very murderous individuals who could turn you to a several piece jigsaw puzzle had that effect on me. I didn't bother with being eloquent, and wasn't planning on it.

"If you want to go off on your own, that's fine, I'll find others. But, if you come with me, I'll be taking you back to the rest of the group, and arming you so that we can kill the adventurers wandering around down here, and get their stuff. It's better than starting with nothing, that's for sure."

She didn't speak for a solid four minutes, just looking at the ground. I wasn't sure if she was contemplating something, or if she had lost all sentience. I wouldn't blame her. If I could just become catatonic for a bit I'd have done that to avoid being chased by a torch.

"We seriously have to kill people? That's sick..." She half muttered, half yelled. It seemed she wasn't entirely able to control her own volume.

Does talking not come as easily to everyone?

I nodded. "I imagine most would have some issue with it, but I don't think I'm entirely sane, so it doesn't bother me overly much. If it allows me to stay alive another day, I'll do it. Even if I hate it." I looked down at the femur I'd been carrying around. I'd be killing someone with it soon enough. Surprisingly, I really didn't feel anything from thinking about it, aside from it being a simple fact.

"I'm leaving now. You can come with me, or you can try something else." I turned away, taking my first steps back towards the chamber, and its relative safety. After maybe twenty seconds, I heard the sound of bony footsteps catching up with me, and falling into step.

"I don't like it. I really, really don't like it. But, it's better than dying. I don't want to die. Not here. Not in this place." I didn't turn my head to look at her, but the last things she said resonated with me. I didn't want to die. Not in this place.

It took us about half an hour, with me constantly checking around corners, paranoid that we'd come face to face with an angry guy with a hammer, before we finally got back to the chamber. Unsurprisingly, I was the first back, and the first to warn everyone that a party of adventurers was possibly nearby. On the bright side, there was only one way in. However, that also meant, only one way out. I had two of the shiv wielders hang out near the entrance, in order to keep watch.

From there, it took another three hours for the second skeleton to come back, and he'd been more fortunate than I, finding a group of five skeletons who had banded together for safety. The third skeleton didn't come back. Either way, we had enough. Not enough for more than a few adventurers, but enough. It was small. It was cowardly. It was fragile. But it was strength.