The skeleton shrieked in my face, its hollow eyes burning with a cold flame that made the entire church tremble. I held my ground, though my legs quivered beneath me; fear prickled through my legs, but it did not rule me. This thing towered twice my size, but deep down I knew... I had to fight. If I didn't, I'd remain nothing more than the same forgotten side character Beatrice had been.
I summoned my {Surgeon Scalpel}, crimson threads seeping from beneath my fingernails until they hardened into a blade.
The creature's wail rattled the pews, loud enough to stir the whole town. I had to finish this fast, before anyone discovered me.
The skeleton's massive arm swung down like a hammer, aiming to crush me flat. But my body moved sharper, faster than humanly possible. With an agile leap, I vaulted past the strike.
The creature's presence pressed cold against my core, but I kept my mind surgical, scanning for the weak points that would bring it down. My gaze locked onto its pelvis and the cervical vertebrae—acetabulum and C1–C2—small seams that would topple a giant, and I set them as my aim.
Letting my body burn with the strange flow of mana, I invoked the ability I had just received: {Shadow Step}. Two points of energy tore free from my essence, and at once my body lightened, as if hollowed into a feather. I stepped forward, and the world sank into darkness. Only the faint outline of my enemy remained, my chosen marks glowing in stark clarity.
As my leg moved, shadows curled around it, black smoke trailing in coils as though I were becoming something spectral. In that moment, a violent, sudden pull seized me, a momentum so fierce it nearly threw me off balance. I crossed the gap in a single breath; my body slipped beneath the creature's pelvis, darting between its towering legs before bursting out to the other side.
The scalpel looked pitiful in my hand against that frame, but I struck without hesitation, slipping the blade into the acetabulum, feeling bone grit and a whisper of magic under the tip. The joint sheared with a sound like old rope snapping. The towering thing staggered; its balance betrayed it. The skeleton shrieked again, and the church turned a deadly ice, cold seeping into the marrow of the air. It toppled, a thunder of bone on wood.
Now, only one thing remained. I climbed over its fallen ribs, breath steady, keeping my movements surgical. Don't be the extra. Don't be forgotten. I forced the thought into my mouth like a talisman and pressed the scalpel to the base of its skull, angling for the foramen magnum where body met head. If that didn't finish it, I would keep cutting, systematically severing every joint until the magic binding its bones leaked away and the thing lay utterly dismantled.
The creature's gaping jaws lunged to bite me in retaliation, its massive hands slamming toward its own chest to crush me on the spot. I moved before it could finish, instinct firing. I had to. With a surge of speed, I leapt high, vaulting over its head, dodging both the snapping teeth and the hammering strikes.
My feet hit the ground hard, and I spun sharply, driving my weapon deep into its skull. Cold blue mist burst out almost at once, seeping over my hands. The frost bit so fiercely I felt nothing at all, only the sight of my skin darkening to black as the chill killed it. I yanked my hand back, canceling the ability, but it was already too late... my fingertips were dead. I would have to cut them away or find some way to revive the dying tissue before the rot spread further.
"You! How dare you…" I had never cared much about my fingers, never painted my nails or fussed over them, but I needed them for surgeries, and this piece of garbage dared to take them away? Rage trembled in my throat. I wanted to scream, but only a cold remark slipped past my lips. I doubted the thing even heard me anymore, because a system message flared before my eyes, seizing my full attention.
[Congratulations!]
[You have successfully slain the guardian!]
[You have leveled up: Combat – LVL 4]
"But what about the second part of the quest?" I muttered, confusion threading my voice. "Where is the source of death I must consume?" My gaze swept the room. Nothing remained but the skeleton, its skull still glowing blue, exhaling deadly chill.
"You don't mean…" I cursed under my breath. There was nothing else here. How was I supposed to consume that?
Just brushing it with my fingers had been enough to kill my skin. If I tried to eat it… My thought froze midstream, fear I had never known taking hold of my heart. Outside, faint noises betrayed movement. Someone was coming. I either had to fail the quest and flee or do something suicidal and risk getting caught on top of it.
The choice was clear, or was it?
Yet in the end, I chose to risk it all. No pain, no gain. Isn't that what they say? Well, I was about to find out the hard way.
The system gave me no directions, but 'consume' could only mean one thing... eat. I pressed my lips to the cold opening my blade had carved. Frost bit instantly, killing the skin of my lips, but I pressed on, drawing the source of death into my stomach.
The cold was unbearable at first, but then my body reacted strangely, as if it were something natural to me. I knew I'd already be dead if the frost had touched my insides, so I kept going until the cold vanished, replaced by a blazing warmth blooming in the center of my chest.
[You have triggered an evolution in the bloodline: You now possess Frost Affinity.]
Something detonated within me, and my power swelled, at least, that's how it felt.
[Congratulations! Part 2 Complete!]
[Your combat level has been multiplied by three: You have reached Combat LVL 12.]
My body healed at a rapid speed as the system messages flooded my vision. I felt refreshed, alive… and overwhelmingly hungry.
[Would you like to receive your rewards now?] the system asked as the voices outside grew dangerously close to the door.
"No…" I whispered. "Not yet." My body slid back into the shadows, cloaking itself in the corner's darkness. I was about to do something very, very stupid… but after such a fight, I had to feed.