There in front of them was a skeleton carrying a bow—dead, but yet still animate. Perhaps this should have been a frightening concept. However, Aetherus was a magical world, even if this wasn't Lysithara—a ruined city. Undead were not that unusual… the undead could rise on their own, or as a result of magic from a caster who used black arts, or even from mana seeping out of a dungeon. These animate corpses were of different ranks—a skeleton, sadly, was at the lowest level. Damon glanced at it coldly, the world slowing down beneath the beholder's gaze… He didn't sense its shadow. Then again, he hadn't been using Shadow Perception ever since he almost had his brain fried in the Whispering Forest. Even so, he didn't sense a living shadow from it. He had encountered a lot of strange shadows, but this felt more like the shadow of an object than that of a person. It had no life… He raised his hand, shooting a magic bullet—a ball of shadow energy that went straight through the skull, bringing the skeleton down with a clang. This was Magic Bullet at Level 2, with suppressed sound. "That's an impressive variation of the common Magic Blast spell… not bad…" The lips smiled. "If you add runic magic to it… it would be stronger…" Damon narrowed his eyes as a few more skeletons began emerging from the alleys and side streets between broken buildings. Sylvia frowned, her bow ready to fire. "It seems we're surrounded…" Evangeline nodded, her armor glowing with light. She was the natural bane of all things impure. "They are mostly rankless. I see a few large ones in the First Class…" Valarie spoke, her voice almost sad. "These are the people who didn't get consumed by rot while alive… They died on these streets. Now they wander in death. Try not to cause a commotion. Lysithara had many warriors—some of them died as well…" She paused. " Don't underestimate them. One skeleton is nothing—but hundreds can drag down even a knight." Damon could easily see how bad it could get. Some of these were just civilians, low-level city guards, or pages… They weren't a threat, but if a powerful knight was now an undead, then they would be at least Rank 2 and above. Leona covered herself with the Sovereign Mantle form of the Armor of Stormwake. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶 "I sense something looking at us…" Matia, who was also in heavy armor, formed a mace and two hovering ice shields. "From which direction?" Leona shook her head. "I don't know. Just a feeling." Damon glanced at Sylvia, hoping for a divination or some revelation. She shook her head. "My skill isn't responding. I could ask… but I don't know what price it would demand…or if I'll be willing to pay it." He took a deep breath as the skeletons grew in number, yet didn't attack. It was almost as if they were a coordinated force… with a leader. "That would be bad…" "Do you see that, boy?" Valarie's lips on his shoulder whispered. "Can you tell me what's wrong here…?" He nodded. Valarie was acting a little too much like a teacher. Maybe it was a habit from when she was alive. "They are organized. Low-level undead don't have this type of intelligence…" "And?" she asked, as if waiting for something else. Damon frowned, giving it more thought. "They are being led by something. However, whatever it is isn't confident it can take us. Or… it's gauging our strength. Either way, we can be sure—it's very intelligent." The lips smiled, pressing together. "You get 9.5 out of 10… but there's more. Right now, you are all being hunted—which means you have a target on your backs…" Evangeline held her rapier, her face covered by her helm. "So what do we do…?" They all looked at Damon. Valarie's lips on his shoulder offered no response. So he answered. "We kill the hunter." Xander, who looked like a menacing tyrant in his armor, held his spear. "Shouldn't be too difficult… find the strongest and ugliest undead… and kill it….again." The skeletons continued to gather until the rooftops were filled—then, like a tide, they charged at the party. Xander raised his spear, swinging in a wide arc. The skeletons falling from the roofs shattered like a tide of broken bones, crashing down like rain. Leona swung her greatsword, teleporting to the center of the tide, with Matia shattering them with her ice mace. Her Ascendant weapon was the most versatile. She jumped into the air as if to take flight—but remembered she had lost her wings. Instead, she rolled on the ground, giving a skeleton an uppercut that shattered its dusty old skull into powder. Evangeline moved with phantoms of light trailing her—an effect of her armor. She was like a glowing beam of destruction, leaving shattered bones in her wake. Damon shot his omnidirectional gear to the roof, grabbing Sylvia by the waist. He landed with feline grace. Raising his hand, he began firing off magic bullets while Sylvia tried scanning for the strongest of the skeletons. The others rampaged through like a storm of destruction. On his shoulders, Valarie's lips watched, speaking with a degree of interest. "You children are quite powerful—already at the peak of the First Class. With some guidance, you'll soon reach the Second." Damon didn't pay her much mind—he was shooting magic bullets, but the skeletons kept climbing the roof. Sylvia didn't seem like she would budge, so he had to act as her guard. He needed something with more reach, but he wasn't willing to use Ashborn just yet. He opened his palm, sending mana to the tips of all five fingers—and activated the Magic Bullet spell. The magic bullets shot from his fingers in a fast and uncontrolled spray. Valarie let out a breath, watching him try to improve his spell. "You're doing it wrong… If you want to control mana with that much propulsion… rotate each round. Don't treat them as individual attacks—but as one whole…" Damon paused, biting his lip. He decided to give what Valarie said a try… he spun each bullet and tried to envision them as a single form. Closing his eyes… he unleashed a barrage. He heard a familiar chime. [Mastery: Magic Bullet > Magic Gatling] Valarie's lips opened in surprise—as if she did not expect him to grasp it.