Tyrius the Necromancer (2)

[Island of Bones, Dwarven Mountains Underground Level 5]

*CLANG*

*SPLASH*

More than five thousand meters below the surface, close to the city of steel, an impressive battle unfolded between humans and skeletons. Mercenaries with years of experience we screaming and giving their all, but their swordsmanship was designed to best other humans, not skeletons who could still walk and fight after getting a blow to the head or its chest pierced with a sword.

"Skeletons!", one shouted, albeit too late as he was swarmed by the number of skeleton soldiers.

Although they were not individually strong, each one of those possessed the attributes of a newly advanced knight, the bones belonging to either body refinement acolytes or kngihts. Although their swordsmanship was a bit crude, the fact that they could fight disregarding injuries was enough to compensate for their lack of technique. 

Regular body refinement acolytes were helpless, and Gale, the leader of the Blue Wolf Mercenary Party in this skirmish, frowned at the scene.

"Getting distracted? I would not underestimate my opponents if I were you", Tyrius said in a machiavelic laugh

[Shadow Curse]

Being a necromancer, Tyrius had single-handedly tilted the battle to the Crimson Clan's favour. Despite being in a numerical disadvantage, only having Tyrius, Snake, Paul and Kerridian, all in all four acolytes, their opponents were 9. 

However, Tyrius' skeleton spell had turned the numerical disadvantage into an overwhelming numerical advantage, bringing the 4 to 18 with the additional 14 skeletons.

More than five body refinement acolytes from the blue wolf mercenary group were desperately trying to repel the assault of skeleton warriors, but they could only contain them, not kill them. 

If there was a light-elemental acolyte among their ranks, they might have dispelled the curse, but the light affinity was just as rare as a phoenix' feathers. In the whole magical court, you could count them in the palm of one hand, and unfortunately, none of them belonged to the Blue Wolf Mercenary Group.

Tyrius fought best in prolonged battles, as he dealt with curses and summoned skeletons. Shadow Curse only drained vitality, and did not deal injuries. However, even a bull would get exhausted in a matter of minutes, not to mention a human.

Gale immediately frowned as he sensed his body getting heavier and his lungs exhausted.

"What did you do to me?", he exclaimed, but before he could answer, he had to cast a defensive spell.

[Water Shield]

Right after he finished casting his spell, a shield of water appeared in front of him. Because of the water's translucent nature, he could see through it and still get protected, which was a nice perk to have. But his relief was short, as a spear completely shattered it and pierced his shoulder.

"How?"

Snake, Tyrius' subordinate was also a shadow elemental acolyte. He possessed strong fondations and knew two spells, thus qualifying as an elite beginner acolyte. One of them was a utility spell : [Eye of Darkness], which allowed the crimson clan to find their position before getting ambushed. The other one was the spell [Shadow Spear], a medium-range spell that had strong piercing power.

[Minor Fireball]

[Thunder Bolt]

[Earth Spike]

The acolytes from the blue wolf mercenary group did not stand idle either, and supported the battlefield, each spell destroying one, or even two skeletons, giving enough respte for the body refinement acolytes to finally repel and get some breathing room from the frontlines.

Seeing the situation getting tense, Paul joined the fight. Although he only knew one spell [Stone Skin], a fairly weak earth spell that enhanced his defense, he came from a barbarian tribe in the North of the Dalian Empire. His body was very strong and qualified as a fairly above-average body refinement acolyte, though he could not compare to the likes of Lewis or Jorg.

Still, joining the battlefield pressured the Blue Wolf Mercenaries.

However, Gale's right hand, a woman with purple hair, was not an elite beginner rank acolyte for no reason and had been casting a forbidden spell all this time.

[Horrendous Wave]

In a single spell, all eleven remaining skeleton and Paul were sent crashing onto the wall. Seven out of the eleven skeleton turned into lifeless bones, while Paul's knee was bending in an awkward position. Such was the power of acolytes. A single spell could turn a battle upside down.

Worse still, Paul seemed to be affected by an illusion as he began screaming in horror.

Unable to assist, Tyrius could only watch in horror as his subordinate got executed by the assault of three blue-caped acolytes, not showing a hint of mercy. Years of accumulation were getting crushed, too.