An attempt at glory

The Next room was different, no dead bodies in sight, a statue of a beautiful woman, and a bloodstained tablet below her, the room was well lit, no visible doors of any kind, only the walls and the very high ceiling.

He got closer to the statue and the tablet, looking at them with more attention, the statue was big, reaching the roof tall, so like 9-10 feet, or almost 3 meters, it represented a woman with her arms open in a sing of welcome, though the proportions didn't match the size, the statue probably being bigger than the person it was based on, she looked well built, even the materials used looked more resistant than the other stuff in this supposed tomb, The artist that made this was a prodigy, after all not many can make such a lifelike statue while jacking off.

"Impressive" certain attributes on this statue were.... massive to say the leasts, though Arsene wasn't a critic, Breasts as big as his whole torso, the nipples a darker shade of the already dark material used for the statue, he didn't really know about stones, but smokey quartz maybe? The hips were wide, not in a bad sense, curvy would be the better word, adding on top of that the generous backside of the statue that looked like you could sink your fingers into it, the only coverage that body had was the luscious hair that reached her ankles, it would make even those with tremendous willpower blush "i need to keep investigating" said the mage while trying not look too much, reading the blood stained tablet.

Saintess Anvilbreaker

May her work never be forgotten

"A Saint, yeah, i get why" Arsene had many questions, why a naked statue? Why the pose? "why is this tablet so bloody?" Was the one he said outloud, Most of it was dried, a bit of it wasn't, what would lead anyone to bleed on this stone? Maybe it was a button or something? A blood sacrifice for the saint? "Fresh... someone was here, Hmmm, i'll try that later, better if i avoid cutting myself if possible" Curiosity was eating at him, extending a hand at that statue, one of the 'meaty' thighs, it was soft, how? Soft yet cold, devoid of life, and so lifelike at the same time, it was... incredible "how... how could someone make this? It's... beautiful" he let go, he needed to proceed to whatever the next room was.

Even though the idea of touching more was still on his mind, a pull, a deep temptation, he pulled out his Dagger, cutting across his palm and letting his colder blood fall on the stone tablet, he didn't know how much was necesary, but he decided to give a generous sacrifice leaving himself with only half of his health remaining, the statue smiled with warmth, and the floor started to move, revealing a staircase to lower levels.

"I really hope that this is the only puzzle of this kind, i don't have the health for it" Arsene bandages his hand, giving another look to the beautiful work of art in this room, he had an idea, of course, he was no artist, but drawing whatever he might find in one of the many blank books he has could be beneficial, if only to look at it again in the future, he sat down on the floor and started to copy the sculpture into the book, he could use his blood... bad idea, he used some of the ink that came with the background, of course it was meant for magical musings but this was a good use for it, and an excuse to recover some mana and health.

An hour or so later, many attempts were made, the ink lasted a good while, most of the bottle full with the black liquid, the drawing was amateurish, no real depth, no shading, and very clear imperfections if you had the real thing infront of you, but it served the purpose to bring back that memory, besides, now he had TWO points more of health, and a recovered most of the mana that it took to cast the Hearts abilitity, closing the book and placing everything inside his pockets, he noticed a pop up on his vision.

Art (Drawing) Level 1!

"Right, skills, i forgot about that, this game is filled with so many, well, im gonna draw a lot of stuff, so i guess it's nice" he said, very happy with himself, of course, it was still a very rough drawing, but the next one would be better, enough of that, he better get moving, staying here too long is a risk he'd rather not take.

Going down the stairs, lit torch in hand, was pretty cool, he felt like an archeologist, not a real one obviously, one in a movie or a book, the likes of Indiana Jones, this was going great.

*click*

"Shit" a trap activated, the sound of oxidated gears moving towards ****, Arsene had only a few seconds to react, what would happen, where would it come from? The top? The side? Below-

-20 hp

Pain shoots throught the body of Arsene making him drop the torch, an arrow flying directly into his heart, it would have been fatal if not for the Heart of Ambition, first thing that has no drawbacks on this thing.... another feeling was in that arrow, a burning sensation that quickly tried to expand to the rest of his body, POISON! not any poison, a manufactured one, but as soon as the realization hit, the burning dissipated, The Serpentine genetics having destroyed any traces of it "fucking hell, why would you trap a tomb this much- DAMN YOU!" it was lodged quite deep, A jagged tip?! Really? He pulled it out with an angry yank.

-10 hp. You have been inflicted with a minor wound: light bleeding, you will loose 0.25 hp per minute for as long as the bleeding continues

"A quick bandage should fix it.... i feel lightheaded" the Serpentine man bandages the wound quickly, there's not really any time to clean the wounds, he looked for the fallen torch, it had rolled on the floot next to what he assumes was the last soul that entered this place, a dead body with an old rusted sword pinning him to the ground "poor bastard.... it could be me next, better be careful" you go towards the dead guy, looking at him, human on the older side, bearded guy with a few visible scars, dried blood pooled near his mouth too, it's kind of freaky seeing a dead guy, and so realistically too, in the end it's just a game.

"Something stabbed him from behind... no other cuts, maybe it punctured his lungs, and he choked on his blood" that rationality was really paying off, and while Arsene congratulated himself on putting all those points together, some creaky steps started to walk towards him, this time he heard from where, looking into that direction.

A Skeleton with a cracked skull wearing chainmail, missing an arm, a dagger in his remaining hand was shuffling towards him, a quick Inspect was enough to see a few things.

Guardian Skeleton, level 10

This undead has seen it's fair share of battles, no matter it's condition, he will rise again and again to kill the intruders of this resting place.

Status

Damaged, maimed, undead

"Fuck!" The Guardian gave a thrust with the dagger, Arsene barely dodged it, only reason he could was because of the many broken bones of the skeleton impeding his full ****, the sound of more creaky steps made him realize, this one was just the nearer skeleton, not knowing how far the other one was, it didn't matter, he might not have enough mana but he had to try and survive anyway.

He made some distance from the skeleton, torch in hand he could mostly see where everything was in this room he raised his off hand, it cackled with sparks and fired a lightning bolt towards the first shambling guardian, pointing at center mass, especifically at the chainmail it was wearing, the spell was blinding in the semi-darkness of the tomb, but his eyes adjusted quickly.

178 damage dealt to [Skeleton Guardian 1]

Though that spell made it stumble back, it remained clear that it didn't stop the undead, whatever health the skeleton had was a lot for his level, and he only hand the mana for 3 more of those... but Freezing Hand migth do the trick if breaking their bones was a win condition, there's no time to think, another attack from the shambling skeleton, he stepped back.

-2 hp

Not fast enough, the dagger nicked him in the check, another thrust, he read it wrong, but it saved him from the worst of it, no mage should ever face their enemies in close quarters, his hand covered itself in ice, as he grabbed the remaining arm of the skeleton, hopefully it was enough.

Dealt 12 damage to [Skeleton guardian 1]

Dealt 16 damage to [Skeleton guardian 1]

Dealt 21 damage to [Skeleton guardian 1]

"Come on come on!" He was fighting for his life here, his voice a bit panicky, the spell damaged it quickly, but not quick enough as the skeleton was trying to use his last remaining weapon, teeth, and he was not so strong as to be able to keep that boney face away from his fleshy one forever.

Dealt 26 damage to [Skeleton guardian 1]

Dealt 34 damage to [Skeleton guardian 1]

While the damage was ticking up, his mana was ticking down, the first five seconds were gone, another 20 down the drain, he should be at 170, or around that number, but it was working, the arm of his target was cracking, starting to freeze solid, he kicked the skeleton away, falling on his back he looked at his enemy

Dealt 200 damage to [Skeleton guardian 1]

"What? How-" he looked at his hand, he held that frozen arm in his grip still, okay, this would be easier now, he dropped it, letting it shatter against the floor and stood up as quickly as possible, he still had to kill it, it was just weaker now, the skeleton charged, he stepped to the side, looking around the room he noticed how empty it was, nothing to keep it away for longer than a second.... the walls, of course! That's an idea, though it should be done fast, as the creaking from the next room was louder and louder.

Another charge, he moved back again, leading the armless skeleton towards a wall, it was easier than expected since it was unarmed, another attempt at a tackle, this time the skeleton crashed into a wall head first, cracking his head further, and that was the opening, with the spin of a recently unsheated dagger, he pomeled the head of the stagered skeleton, specifically focused on opening that cracked skull.

Critical hit! 135 Damage dealt to [Guardian Skeleton 1]

-3 hp

Critical hit! 212 Damage dealt to [Guardian Skeleton 1]

[Guardian Skeleton 1] Has been slain!

+300 experience

The ruined remains of the skull turn to dust and the skeleton is no more, it's skeletal body sliding down the wall, crushing his own pinky in the ordeal made it feel a lot more exhausting... or maybe it was the fact that he had almost no stamina left "only 300 experience? I thought this was a boss with how hard it was.... god."

With no time to check his stats he saw the other skeleton enter the room this one was fresh, unlike it's bretheren who was very much damaged, the armour on this one would make a knight jealous, he was using a big sword, if he had to guess, a montante, a spanish greatsword, so as it got closer and closer, he launched a **** Lightning Bolt and actually bolted towards the place were this skeleton was coming from, it was slow, so he had a chance.

273 Damage Dealt to [Guardian Skeleton, pristine]

Stunned

The clank of armor against stone floor made him run faster, he had no means to kill this thing with only 2 lightning bolts, hopefully it doesn't recover health as fast as he recovers mana, entering the dark passage where it came from, out of breath, his stamina depleted and his health low, he turned the corner while leaning most of his body weight on the wall.

"Dammit, i'll have to backtrack, that guy definitely had something on him" he said, and then, a familiar sound came from a tile he had so carelessly stepped on.

*Click*

"...shit"