In a desolate wasteland—at the edges of a small kingdom—permeated by a thick fog, littered around were the broken skeletal remains of dead creatures.
Some towered high above, emanating a sense of dread and awe, while some just lay there, inconspicuous… their history forgotten.
Kael stood hunched over, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword for support as the other clenched his side, trying to stop the flow of blood.
"Curse this," Kael muttered, grimacing as he stared at the hollow bones before him.
He heaved, struggling to breathe in the foggy air. The sun barely reached the ground, blocked by the dense fog whose origins were still unknown.
Sound was distorted, and seeing more than ten meters ahead was almost impossible.
The deep wound on Kael's side came from a crushing blow dealt by the now-dead creature before him.
He had blocked—failingly—and if it wasn't for his durable armor, which was now destroyed and useless, he would have collapsed already—even worse… died.
Kael clenched his fist over his sword, remembering why he was here.
"Those bastards!" Kael cursed, his anger rising as painful memories resurfaced.
Then, he sighed, loosening his fist and exhaling a deep breath.
"At least I received a Reflection," Kael comforted himself, staring at the pile of bones before him as he summoned an item.
A stream of golden energy poured out from a place in his chest. Kael studied the stream of energy as it weaved itself from strings of light, into a dull bone armor that covered his body, his eyes gleaming with a scrutinous light.
The armor consisted of a flexible cuirass that bent and moved fluidly with his torso. Sleek pauldrons that rested on his shoulder, with small spikes growing from their surface.
Thick Vambraces extended down his shoulder, seamlessly connecting to a clawed gauntlet. A pair of rerebraces hung from the Pauldrons, leaving his elbow joint open. Mystical greaves without straps stuck to his shin smoothly, and his boots, fashioned from finely carved, white bone, encased his feet.
"Too large."
The bone armor immediately shrunk down, fitting itself over his small physique. In the next instant, a thick fog began to emit from the seams and joints in the bone armor, hiding any weak point or opening.
Kael raised a brow.
Even he who owned the armor felt his senses distort when he tried to focus on the openings in the armor. He could barely make them out, but that didn't mean a veteran hunter like him wasn't able to hit it precisely. What was shocking was that his senses were tricked, making him believe what he saw was the joint.
He had faced several abominations with insidious powers throughout his life as a hunter, and he had defeated his fair share of them.
This armor, or rather, the fog, possessed the illusion powers of the creature he had just slayed, so it was only natural that it was this potent—after all, it had taken him and twenty other men to defeat it.
The armor was sturdy, had cool looks to it, and suited a warrior like him well.
The creature it had come from was powerful, and they had defeated it. But, he knew that the battle wasn't over yet. In fact, it was just beginning.
As if reading his thoughts, the bones before him rattled, moving through the influence of an unknown energy as it began to come together again, beginning to form the bone-cum-fog wraith it once was.
Kael frowned, then cursed, his expression twisting in agony.
Another stream of energy shot out from his chest and weaved itself into another sword. He discarded his old sword, letting the battered weapon rest in the confines of his soul.
The Armor Reflection he just summoned stemmed the bleeding from his side. It wasn't comfortable, but he didn't need comfort, he just wanted to survive long enough to find shelter.
The bones around him were actually the carcasses of creatures just killed. Though they may look like they had been there for a thousand years, and had succumbed to the elements, becoming sun-bleached bones, they had actually been slayed not too long ago by the hunters and not-so-formidable warrior called, Kael.
These lurkers of the fog weren't powerful individually, but as a team, they were quite a menace and were hard to kill.
However, the pile of bones rising again was different from the others. It was stronger, had more dreadful powers… and refused to die!
If not for Kael and his fellow hunters working together, they would have long perished.
This Wraith had been killed multiple times already, but each time it only rose back up like an undead and fought again, slowly whittling their numbers down.
The only saving grace was that each time they defeated it, the bones were weakened, put through an inevitable wear and tear that reduced its strength and tenacity. They weren't strong enough to outright destroy the ancient bone, so they repeated the process again and again.
Kael came up with some ideas about the terrifying powers of the abomination they faced, believing that the bones weren't just so tough and necromantic. He believed that the enemy they were facing here… was the fog itself.
He raised his new sword up and studied its blade for a moment.
The one-edged silver blade was smooth and light. It had no curves, making it unable to perform cutting attacks as good as a curved blade. Regardless, it had its own advantages.
It was able to perform a thrusting attack much better than its curved counterpart.
The hilt was designed with a simple wooden handle wrapped up with leather. It had a guard made from what seemed like wood, but not quite, and a pommel carved from amethyst.
Kael let out a steamy breath as he circulated a technique. His amber eyes glowed, becoming like two miniature orbs of light piercing through the fog. His limbs loosened, and his grip on his sword tightened, an eerie golden and violet glow beginning to wind around the silver blade.
The pile of bones was almost reanimated, the arms and major body parts already formed; but, just as the arm of the bone-cum-fog wraith shot towards him with deathly intent a moment later, Kael flashed forward, his body blurring within the fog like a phantom as he weaved out of the way of the attack, his sword piercing through the air like a speeding bullet.
A pulsing might came from the sword as the energy spiralling around it burst forth, concentrating into a thin line of energy that left its tip shortly, shooting forward swiftly like a ray of death and striking something within the wraith.
The energy—sharp and destructive—passed through the wraith, leaving a hole in it and continuing behind, disappearing in the fog.
The wraith paused, and Kael keeled over. Silence descended, as if the world had been paused, the only sound cutting it apart being Kael's rugged breathing.
Then suddenly the wraith burst apart, collapsing on itself like an old sculpture and turning into the pile of bones it was moments ago.