I couldn't get a wink of rest throughout the entire night, but strangely enough, I don't feel tired. It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm a skeleton now. Looks like I can't get fatigued or hungry anymore. No matter how much I stare at my own body, I can't get used to this skeletal body. I'm not human anymore, nor am I a monster.

However, I must be cautious, if anyone sees me like this they will hunt me down. I pull the sheets from my bed and wrap them around my hands. I can't always go around with my hands in my pockets and if I am to go get my cloak, I need to show at least that much. Determined to leave this town, I pack my things and bolt out of the inn without looking suspicious.

A phantom pain strikes my heart as I glance at the dining room where I ate with my friends, alas, they are dead now. Clenching my boney fists until they create a small cracking sound, I resume my escape. Despair assaults my soul and the darkness in my nonexistent heart plagues my thoughts. No, I have to remain calm, I need to get away from this cursed place.

Opening the door to the armor store, I was greeted with the sight of a black cloak hanging from behind the counter. I awe at the craftsmanship and hurry to the clerk. He looked me over and asked. "Hello sir, is there anything that I help you with?" His tone was curt, but I could feel the animosity in his voice. He can't recognize me, not that I want him to.

I answered grimly. "The cloak. I came to pick up the cloak I ordered." Surprise crossed his face, before he frowned darkly. He checked me over and pulled the cloak into the counter right in front of me. I felt a small trail of magic oozing from the dark cloth. "Is that you mister Brine?" A simply inquiry that unnerved me to the very core.

Am I really Brine? I feel like that man died with his comrades. Nevertheless, I nodded sharply. I want to get out of this store as soon as possible. I hate this town. "We-I had a run in with some wolves." I muttered under my breath. Thankfully, my voice still sounded the same. Strange, I don't even have vocal cords. Never mind, this must be magic doing its wonders.

I pull the 16 copper from a pouch and take the cloak. I had no way of checking the size, so I trusted this man's skill. "I see" is his only solemn response "You were a promising group." Bitter, I turn impolitely and rush out of the store and out of town. I feel like if I stayed there even a second more, I would turn everything around me into pincushions.

Running, I cross the gate and stop where no one can see me. I ditch the dirty cloak and the torn sheet. This is a lot better. I can feel the magic circulating around my body like a barrier. Without a doubt, with this cloak I can tackle a pretty strong monster. Getting enough money for a home will take too long if I am this weak, I need to get stronger.

As wolves howl deep in the woods, my blood boils. Enraged, I punch a nearby tree. I swear I will hunt every wolf in this damned place. Still, I am too frail to actually duke it out with the big packs of wolves. Power, I need to get more spells, stronger spells, until no one can compare to my power. Subduing my desires, I take out my staff and hurry further into the forest.

Until I get enough money, I will have to camp out in Mother Nature. There is no need to be hasty, I'm a skeleton, in a sense, I'm already dead. Not even five minutes after going ahead, I find myself surrounded by possessed raccoons. Monsters with low attack power, but with a lot of agility.

A beginner monster that won't cause you much trouble even if you can't kill it. However, this far into the woods, there are more than a dozen. Good thing I have my magical cloak or I would find myself overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. I start to focus to use Shadow Bullets, but two raccoons jump straight into my face interupting me. I click my non existant tounge in my thoughts, Tsk, oh yeah, there's no one else here to protect or support me.

I leap from my spot however they still manage to reach me. I protect myself from their claws with my cloak, luckily it didn't get scratched up that much. I get away from them a bit and cast my Shadow Bullets as four other raccoons block my escape route. Six Shadow Bullets appear before me and dart toward my enemies with buzzling speed.

As one of the Shadow Bullets pierces the hide of one of the raccoons killing it, I crash against a tree, but feel nothing. My bones creak, but I can't feel anything painful or anything broken. The other six remaining growl warily. These raccoons don't seem like they're going to give up anytime soon and I can't just stand here surrounded all day! I dash like a mad man toward the closest raccoon and kick it with all my strength.

I feel something break and a gooey liquid dribbles down my right foot, I then glance over my feet without lowering my guard. The dead raccoon is stuck on the tips of my long skeleton toes. I shake it off and start to cast Shadow Bullets again and look where to aim. There are five more enemies. I got this. Another one leaps trying to bite my skull, but I swat at it with my staff.

However, I didn't manage to kill it. The raccoons regroup and dash toward the forest, hiding through the bushes. I can feel their piercing glares from afar. I can tell they are waiting for me to show an opening. Too bad that's not going to happen anytime soon. I run toward a tree and start to climb its branches as high as I could.

Now there's only one way to get to me. I can hear the claws scrapping against the bark of the tree. Unfortunately, for the raccoon, I still have the shadow bullets hovering overme. I then shoot the bullets at the remaining raccoons and they all hit their marks. Five final growls from the raccoons echo through the forest as the raccoons fall to the ground motionless

I jump climb down the tree from branch to branch and finally land back the ground. I gather my spoils of war, but I realize that I made a mistake. Damn, I shouldn't have shower them with so many attacks. Now their hides are busted. I can't sell this. Sighing, I take a knife and skin them being careful not to damage the good parts.

Of the twelve beasts, only three hides and seven tails are sellable. Reminding myself that I need to be careful I resume my hunting. I should probably try to make a binding spell or a blunt attack, but I don't know how hard that is going to be. I throw my spoils into the bag and dive further inside the forest.

After some minutes, I can feel more gazes boring into my skeletal back. It's going to be a long day. After fighting with dozens of small animals ranking from weak to decently strong monsters, just as the sun is about to set, I find a cave suitable enough to be my home for now. its a nice and secluded place that I doubt that anyone else would come to unless they were looking for it specifically.

Having a roof over my head is good enough for me, i just dont want to sleep outside in the open and get killed in my sleep by a passing adventurer. I haven't felt hungry since I became like this, nor can I sleep or do any other things that most normal people can. It's convenient for my current situation, but I fear I might become a mindless monster. I won't lower my guard until I know more about my powers and their side effects. At that moment something comes to my mind and I immediately realize what it is.

I have acquired a new spell. I will try it out when I feel like it but for now I won't use it. The cave is dark and damp, but with this body it doesn't matter. Just as I was about to lay down my things, I hear the sound of flapping wings. My head turns toward the ceiling and I notice that it is crawling with dozens of vampire bats.

Most of these are harmless to humans since they mostly feed on cattle's blood. But their race is capable of evolving into demihuman vampires with enough time. The Vampires are sturdy enough to give a moderately strong adventure a run for their money and sometimes even a bit of trouble to a really strong adventurer. Thus, their heads fetch a good price at the adventurer's guild.

Also the leather of their wings is pricy on the merchant market. I stare at the ceiling counting every bat. Aside from the one that flew away, there are 34 regular bats, 5 great bats, and an elder bat; these ranking weak, kind of strong, and pretty damn strong accordingly. I weigh my options. I should be able to crawl into the back and kill the elder and great bats with a barrage of shadow bullets.

But then the rest of the bats will flee and I will lose a lot of money. I don't even know if they will accept this kind of monster from a beginner without me showing my face or some other kind of proof. On the other hand, if I spread my attack as much as possible, I could at least kill 20 of the regular bats and one or two of the great ones.

I can sell those at the market without hassle. However, before I could decide. All the bats flapped their wings and flew down onto my body before I could react. A trap! Realization dawned on me. There was no way a monster so close to becoming a demihuman vampire would be left alone by the humans.

It has slowly hunted it's food here in this cave. I am now Pinned to the floor by the sheer number of bats biting on my bones.The bats squeal every time they fail to extract blood from my body. If I had facial muscles, I would be grinning at their misery. However, I don't have the luxury to stay like this; small grazes were appearing on my body.

Not to mention that if the Elder bat decided to sweep down and snatch my skull, it was game over. the only thing that I could do is summon five Shadow Bullets and that might not be able to take down the Elder one. I'm like a cornered rat right now. However, I'm not going to allow some lowly bats to kill me!

I'm the one who decides when I'll kick the bucket and it sure as hell isn't any time soon! I won't let these measly monsters kill me. The very thought of being killed by these bats filled me with slight sorrow for some reason. The verses of my new spell resound in my hollow skull as I thought to myself, I will kill you flying bastards and there is no escaping it.

My boney jaw crackles as I speak the chant "Shadow grasp awaken! Engulf the souls of thy enemies in eternal darkness. Feast on their lives and forsake their bodies to the void!!" I feel a small bit of pain in my non existent heart but it's gone almost as soon as it appeared. Shadows darker than black flicker on the cave's floor and form what appears to be a portal.

Then a giant purple mist hand with sharp nails reaches out and grabs all of the bats. It then Drags them back down into the portal with it as they squeal in fear. My boney jaw is wide open as I'm suprised at what I just saw. I realize there aren't any bat remains left behind because they were dragged into the portal with the hand.

I decide it's probably best that I don't use that spell for creatures that I actually need to keep so I can sell them.