Steal's wide mouth morphed to a wider snarl as he bent himself low, clawed hand tightening on the haft of his mace. He hefted the weight of his weapon over his shoulder, black eyes darting to look for Adolfus in the darkness, he caught a glimpse of her at his side, slowly moving behind him. He was about to question her actions before her voice crawled into his mind.

Don't handle undead well, will help when I can.

Not one to complain, Steal let his eyes focus back on his approaching foes. They were not scrabbling and hurrying towards him like he had expected, instead they followed each other, single file, he readied himself as they pressed forward, every time one of the skeleton's passed one of the holes in the earthen walls, they would let loose an arrow at the Knights of Solaria, moving forwards again after firing a single shot, until they came to another hole in wall.

The first of them to cross Steal's path bore a jawless skull, holding it's bow like a club, the same way the previous one did. It swung down, putting it's weight behind the strike, only to find it's weapon clattering harmlessly against the stone. Steal darted forwards again, making up the distance between them and creating a satisfying pop as his mace struck the monster's spine, smashing the creature into the wall and sending it raining down to the floor in pieces.

His most recent victim's skull was still bouncing off the earth as a new opponent brought themselves to bare. It's movements mimicked the actions of the last with an almost worrying uniformity, the same downwards swing, bow smacking against stone as the weighty strike was easily evaded, Steal capitalised on his opening the same way as previously, closing the distance, swinging below the skeleton's ribs and above the pelvis to shatter the spine.

The mace bit nothing, cutting through the empty air as the skeleton arched back, raising it's bow slightly off the ground and springing forwards with unexpected agility, ramming the bow into steal's stomach like a spear.

You Have Suffered 7 Damage.

For all the minor ingenuity and trick behind the attack, a bow was a bow, not meant for striking in melee, it opened no wound, tasted no blood, instead, it made Steal grimace, leaving a dull pain in his gut as he pressed forwards, stepping to one side and swinging his mace overhead, splintering the undead's ribcage and smashing further downwards, shattering it's dry pelvis and bringing it to the ground in another pile of inanimate bone.

However, the dead were fearless and tireless, rather than back away from their fallen comrades, they merely continued onwards, crunching bone beneath their feet as another archer moved to engage Steal.

Behind!

Adolfus' word of warning came too late, as Steal was busy dismembering the skeleton in front of him, others had circled around, something he became fully aware of as he spun to heed Adolfus' warning, only for a curved lump of wood to crack against his nose.

You Have Suffered 9 Damage.

You Are Dazed (1s)

His vision blurred for a moment, his balance lost as his foot caught on an uneven patch of ground and he barely stopped himself from stumbling. He raised his mace defensively against his new attacker, only to be struck in the side from behind.

You Have Suffered 6 Damage.

Adolfus' voice rang in his mind once more.

You're a warlock! Start warlocking!

His left-hand stopped gripping his mace, leaving his right to rest it on his shoulder as he thrust forwards his free hand, fire sizzling in his palm as it burst forwards from him.

You Have Suffered 3 Unholy Damage

The mix of reds, yellows, oranges and purples blasted through the skeleton infront of him, blackening the bones it touched and bringing the attacker to the floor, his bolt continued on however, blasting a hole in it's scapula and sending it tumbling back, crashing and clattering against the skeleton behind it in a flurry of bones.

Right!

Steal darted right, pressing against the wall as the skeleton behind him swung it's bow down, smacking against the section of floor he had just been standing on. He whirled on the attacker behind him now, letting lose another violent blast of daemonic fire that rendered two more skeleton's innert.

You Have Suffered 3 Unholy Damage. Level Up!

Your Job 'Warlock' Has Reached Level 4!

STR +1,DEX +2,AGI +1,FRT +1,INT +2,WIS +3 Your Spell 'Daemon Bolt' Has Reached Level 2!

MP Cost 15 > 14

Steal didn't have the opportunity to take pleasure in the new swell in his power as he spun around again, scorching a new target with a bolt of daemonic energy.

You Have Suffered 3 Unholy Damage.

Hey! I know I said you should start warlocking, but don't burn every drop of mana you've got when you don't need to! You've got even less than normal since I'm summoned as well!

Glumly, Steal took heed of Adolfus' words again, both hands fixing firmly on the haft of his mace once more. Though the skeleton's didn't seem to show an end, and he couldn't protect himself from both sides if Adolfus couldn't contribute.

As if to punctuate his thoughts, Steal knocked a heavy strike away from his head, sending everything below his attacker's humerus crashing against the wall, only to be struck in the shoulder from behind.

You Have Suffered 5 Damage.

Heavy footsteps rose above the crunching of bone as an iron-clad figure, no more than a head taller than Steal flew through a hole in the wall a few feet into the skeletal procession, crushing one of the undead archer's in the process. The figure uncurled and stood straight, armour bloodied and dirtied, but to Steal it was almost shining. A white tabard covering his new allies chest bearing the sign of Solaria, partially obscured by a heavy shield held in his left hand, a silver-inlaid mace held in his right.

Steal felt the dwarf grin beneath his helmet, booming voice forcing the undead to turn their heads to him. "We can 'ardly have a goblin do all the undead slayin' now can we?!"

And with that, Sergeant Hard quickly carved his path to Steal, strikes from his shield crushing ribs and blows from his mace splitting skulls. Within a few seconds, the sergeant had forced his way through to Steal, motioning for the goblin to turn around and face the skeleton's behind Steal, as Steal spun, Hard's back pressed against his.

"I'll guard yer back if yer be watchin mine goblin"

His words were innane to the goblin, but the press of his back and sight of his raised shield offered Steal some insight into his intention.

The whistle of wood cutting through the air brought Steal back to attention, batting away at the flimsy strike with his mace, he let his left hand leave the grip of his mace again, bringing it forwards and clenching around the skeleton's pelvis, with a heavy tug, he pulled the monster towards him, bony feet scrabbling on the stone. Without flesh, muscle fat or a scrap of armour, the skeleton was surprisingly light, Steal stumbled back slightly, not having expected the skeleton's footing to give way so easily. His back pressed into Hard's, the weight of the dwarf letting him keep his footing.

He heard the clattering of bone behind him as Hard took a sharp step forwards, his own weapon obliterating an attacker's tibia, a swifter strike smashing the falling archer to the stones beneath it.

Steal brought his own mace down on the still-staggering target before him. Sending it sprawling in a burst of breaking bone.

The fighting continued, undead numbers thinning with every strike of a shield or crunch of a mace. On occassion, if she saw the opportunity, Adolfus would throw her weight into a jump against a skeleton, giving Steal an opening, or deflecting attacks that would have otherwise struck him.

After a few minutes of brawling, bashing and breaking, the skeleton's were left as nothing more than innert masses of bone that littered the floor, dully cracking under Steal's soles and Hard's boots.

Level Up!

Your Racial Job 'Goblin' has advanced to Level 8!

STR +1 ,DEX +2 ,AGI +1 ,FRT +1 ,INT +1 ,WIS +1 Level Up!

Your Job 'Hunter' Has Reached Level 7!

STR +1,DEX +2,AGI +2,FRT +1,INT +1,WIS +1 Due to Your actions, you have gained the 'Mace Expertise' Skill!

Your Skill 'Mace Expertise' has advanced to Level 1!