"It's all fun and games," Kopius mumbled nervously as he dipped under the first sword strike. "Until someone gets stabbed!" he shrieked, dodging a leg kick.

Kopius dove through the skeleton's open stance when its sword came back around after the kick. Even though the enemy's attacks were slow enough to evade, they came in such a succession that Kopius had to perform the ''5 Ds of Dodgeball'' on repeat.

After picking up a pattern in the skeletal attacks, Kopius began to anticipate and get ahead of the strikes. This plan went well, until it didn't.

Expecting a leg kick, Kopius was more shocked than hurt when the wooden shield smashed into him like a swinging brick wall. The pain replaced his shock once he hit the ground and rolled several yards away from the giant skeleton.

He gasped for breath, and a mild panic set in when finding his arms were too fatigued to get off the ground. When his legs also gave him the wobbles. He quickly looked at his stamina bar in his user interface; it might as well have been empty.

In the briefest moment of clarity, he summoned the half bottle of stamina. The rest of the panic kicked in when the summoned vial materialized under his glove, splitting some of the seams. By the time he removed his glove and drank the remainder of the fluid, the ten-foot skeleton was looming above. Kopius felt the shadow of the shield pass over him, and his potion kicked in with barely enough time to roll out of the way of a chopping blow.

The giant sword seemed to hit the ground like a small meteor, sending chunks of dirt and mud flying in all directions. A small crater was left behind as Kopius rolled away. The skeleton reared back as if to let out another mind-numbing bellow but instead released another stream of acidic, goop ridden eye funk.

Wanting no more of this song and dance, Kopius scurried to his feet and took off to a safer distance avoiding the funk by inches. He chanced a look over his shoulder to find Cici making shorter work of the other two skeletons, swing his hammer in wide arcs for maximum impact.

With the possibility of help on the way, Kopius tried to formulate a plan. Yet running for your life and strategizing at the same time can be nearly impossible. The barren surroundings gave him little inspiration.

His instincts were left with fight or flight; there were no clever tricks to be done, no ace up his sleeve. His swords—useless; his fire—impotent; his nerves—shot. The only thing he had going for him was his quickness and four remaining vials of stamina.

"I got Cici," Kopius mumbled as he brought his running to a stop. He had backup: the guy who had been there almost the whole time. A man of charisma and honesty, someone who had probably—directly and indirectly—kept him alive. He had grown to trus—

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"What the fucking fuck, man!" Kopius screeched as he watched Cici turn and run away.

The big man had dispatched his foes and was making a beeline for the wall of shrubbery in the opposite direction. He didn't even look back before disappearing.

"You think you know a guy," Kopius seethed, his eyes darting around. He almost fell, stumbling backwards, as he finally noticed how close the giant skeleton was to him.

Securing his balance, Kopius turned and made his own beeline towards the closest high wall of plants. It was either that or chance the black ooze of the pond. Only a few strides into his flight and six hyena-looking, teeth gnashing, half-covered skinwalkers emerged from the very place he was running towards.

His eyes bulged at there sudden appearance and depreciating carcasses. He slammed on his brakes, skidding to a stop. Two more skinwalkers, these like bears, appeared and Kopius found himself reciting song lyrics. Something about being "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea."

He looked it over… if he hadn't thrown caution to wind, he would now.

Not that Kopius needed to catch anything's attention, he was the center of it all at the moment. He wanted their ire; he needed some recklessness. Kopius picked up a nearby flaming skull and hurled it at the skinwalkers, missing by a mile. He quickly picked up a second skull and still missed spectacularly—like he had never thrown an object in his life.

No, seriously, it was that bad. The skull kind of sloughed off his hand, like a curveball slipping out. It arced high in the air before landing only a short distance in front of him and then rolled further than he had thrown it. Somehow it still managed to upset the group of monsters in front of him.

With his heart running at full throttle, Kopius turned and sprinted back towards the ten-foot skeleton. He picked up his speed when he saw the skinwalkers physically nipping at his heels. The burst gave him the separation he needed to perform his next stunt.

Heading straight at the bony creature while focused on the elongated blade in its grip, Kopius feigned towards the sword hand, and his enemy took the bait. As the weapon set in motion, Kopius took another step and again dove through the attacker's open stance. Once through the back, Kopius's world only knew pain.

The giant skeleton, not to be fooled twice, had swept his shield back behind itself and caught Kopius square. He flew like a ragdoll, tumbling, face planting, and then skidding to a stop. His face felt warm and numb, his mouth as though he had eaten a bowl of pennies.

His right arm was unresponsive, and his vision hazy. He activated his healing ring, which only managed to clear up his fogginess. Unable to use his inventory ring on his right hand for more healing, Kopuis mitigated his pain by wishing for it all to go away.

Blood dripped off his chin, just another blemish on an already heavily stained shirt. A sour taste swamped his mouth, and when he spit out a wad of blood, a tooth came with it. He barely had the mental capacity to close the blank window that popped up.

From his semi-prone position on the ground, he struggled to get his bearings. The fact that he wasn't currently being ripped apart or sliced in half gave him the briefest glimmer of hope. He grabbed onto that hope and looked around to find his foes. Several yards away, Kopius found his quarry and watched his plan take shape. A sharp stinging sensation ripped across his lips when he cracked the slightest grin.

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