“Alright, this room is clear; go ahead and scout the next room,” Darrick instructed.

  “Can’t I get a few minutes to clean up?” I had gotten most of the gunk out of my hair but I still felt really gross and desperately wanted a bath.

  “Come on slimy, the sooner we’re out of here the sooner you can clean up,” Sasha beckoned me forward.

  “Fiiine.”

  Just as before, I followed behind Sasha as she scouted for traps while the rest of the group stayed a few dozen feet behind us. This time there did seem to be quite a few traps, causing us to halt our advance every few minutes. We passed more empty rooms, but none of these had any undead … or loot for that matter. I was started to get worried that we’d get nothing from this adventure besides experience but I guess I shouldn't complain since I’m the lowest level person here.

  “Sasha, how exactly is experience given out?” I asked, killing time while she was dismantling. I had felt that after having fought with her, she was starting to warm up to me more. Sure she did basically get me covered in zombie sludge but she at least helped me clean up afterwards.

  She paused briefly to give me a sidelong glance. I was expecting another insult to be thrown my way but she went right back to dismantling. “You kill something, you get experience. Simple as that.”

  “Yea but about when you’re fighting in a group like this?” with as many undead as we fought in that previous room, I was worried that I’d level up again but I thankfully did not. It would be suspicious if I was suddenly Troy’s level after just two fights.

  “Same thing, you help something get killed, you get experience. You only stabbed one enemy back there so you only got experience for that. Meanwhile, our priest over there kept the loud ones alive so he got experience from anything they killed.”

  “Got it.” I nodded. I knew priests got experience for healing people in battle. That was a big concern of mine in the past; I was so worried that I’d have to smack stuff with a staff if I didn’t want to be stuck at level one forever. Thankfully my sister had fought with priests before so she was quick to alleviate my concerns. I just wanted clarification from Sasha on the matter of fighting with other people.

  Just ahead, I noticed a room with a more imposing entrance. Large stone doors hung open on either side, inviting us in. I exchanged a glance with Sasha and she decided to move on ahead but without going inside. Joining her, I immediately saw something that looked like it would be a problem.

  In the middle of the room stood a lone skeleton that was covered head to toe in rusted armor. Its gauntleted hands rested atop a large sword that rose to its chest. Finally, a large kite shield could be seen strapped to its back. The skeleton also had to be at least ten feet tall. It was facing directly where we were standing but it remained as still as a statue, likely remaining that way until we entered the room.

  Motioning for the group to join us, we began to form a plan.

  “Hit the thing until it’s dead,” Urthor declared confidently.

  “Do you think we can kill it?” I asked.

  “Oh it’ll be a right pain in the backside but I’m sure we’ll manage as long as our priest doesn’t wet himself.”

  The man in question was staring at the Skeleton Knight like he was looking into the face of death itself. “I-if that thing hits me, I’m dead in one strike!”

  “Then don’t get hit!” Urthor chortled.

  Advice I would have to take too. I have no doubt I could survive more attacks than Troy could but I still only have fifty health and no armor to protect myself. Maybe I could survive one hit but I would rather not put my life on the line for a “maybe”.

  “I doubt I would fare much better.” Darrick shook his head. “Do you have any blessings that might aid us, Troy?”

  “Only a blessing to help you move faster … sorry.”

  “Great! So we can count on you when we need to run with our tails shoved firmly between our legs,” Urthor groaned.

  “No wait, that could be useful!” Witney interjected. Everyone looked to her in confusion but her confidence held firm. “Sasha, what happens if you hit something with Sneak Attack while it’s fighting someone else?”

  “It dies,” Sasha put simply.

  Witney rolled her eyes. “What if it happens to live?”

  “Then I’ve got a pissed off monster ready to shove its foot up my ass.”

  “Exactly. Rogue Sneak attacks are often strong enough to draw attention away from its original target. Normally this is a bad thing because Rogue’s can’t use Sneak Attack anymore but … we have two Rogue here, right?” Witney asserted, smiling at both me and Sasha.

  “So.. let me get this straight,” Sasha chuckled darkly. “Instead of having Cheese Head over here protect us with his shield; instead you want us Rogue to play murder tag with the scary skeleton while you all take pot shots at it?”

  “Yes?” Witney shrugged.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Well … I’m game if she is.”

  “Can we use Sneak Attack even after we’ve hit the enemy?” I asked

  “Yup. They only need to be distracted. So long as it’s not looking at you, Sneak Attack will work.”

  “Let’s do it,” I nodded.

  “This plan is so bloody stupid, I love it! Who ever heard of Rogues being the enemy’s main target,” Urthor chuckled.

  Everyone got ready as Troy prepared his blessings. First he cast on Sasha so I took the moment to stretch my legs. If I’m going to be running with my life on the line, I do not want to risk a sprained leg.

  “Sneak attack has a thirty second cooldown, so we’ll need to at least avoid it until yours or mine is available again” Sasha stated.

  Same as Assassinate then. So I hit it, avoid dying for fifteen seconds, and then Sasha hits it and draws its attention. My biggest worry is that Sasha might not be able to hit hard enough to pull the Skeleton away from me. Not that she’s weak or anything but Assassinate specifically says it ignores armor. I suppose I will just have to hold back a little bit.

  My turn for the blessing came. Turning to me, Troy held out a hand and muttered “Pas Rapid.” A warm feeling flowed into my body and downward before settling on my feet. Taking a few experimental steps, I immediately noticed the effects. It was like I had to put much less effort into each step; as if my legs had suddenly lost half their weight.

  “That will last for five minutes,” Troy pointed out.

  “Very well, let’s defeat it quickly then,” Nodded Darrick.

  We enter the room and none of us are surprised to see the doors closing behind us or the Skeleton Knight preparing for battle. Taking a deep breath, I do my best to settle my nerves. “Tag, you’re it!” Sasha says, pushing me forward.

  I dash off to the right, just as I did with the last fight, and prepare to strike. An arrow bouncing off the skeleton’s heavy armor is my signal to go so I run in behind it as it moves forward to strike Witney. My daggers sink deep into the skeleton’s back, finding no resistance and it immediately spins in place. I feel my heart sink into my stomach as I see its arm rise up to strike. I immediately jump backwards, reflexively raising my arms, but watch as the large sword cleaves down into the ground just inches in front of me. A shower of sparks splashes against me but I remain uninjured.

  Knowing I’m far from safe, I sprint to the back wall and prepare to dodge another sword cleave. The skeleton sprints at me with surprising speed but stops the moment it’s ready to attack so I take the opportunity to dive forward between its legs.

  Spotting Sasha waiting at the far wall, I sprint off towards the only unoccupied wall but despite running with all my might, I still feel the skeleton catching up to me. I can’t believe something with all that armor can move this fast! I reach the far wall and prepare to dodge another sword strike but instead, I find myself flung across the room, having been struck by the skeleton’s massive shield.

  I roll to a stop near the center of the room and struggle to rise through the pain in my shoulder. Checking my profile, I find that I have dropped to twenty seven health.

  “Vindeca!” Troy shouts, casting a healing spell on me which alleviates most of the pain.

  I turn to see how Sasha is doing and see she also can’t seem to outrun the Skeleton but is managing to avoid its blows better than I could. As long as it doesn’t kill me in one strike then I should be fine, assuming Troy doesn’t run out of mana.

  I watch as the skeleton chases Sasha around while getting struck by arrows and an occasional holy flame, thrown by Darrick. Urthor seems to simply be throwing rocks, accomplishing very little. Eventually my turn comes and I strike at the skeleton as Sasha sprints past me. It stops dead in its tracks but I am already running away.

  We continue to play this game of tag, passing the skeleton off between each other several more times. I do unfortunately get clipped by a sword strike and nearly lose my right arm, dropping to seven total health but thanks to some healing after passing the skeleton off to Sasha again, I manage to remain conscious. My arm will likely be useless for the rest of the fight but at least I’m alive.

  After my health rises back up to thirty nine, my turn arrives again. However, my stride falters a bit when I notice a sharp hissing sound emanating from the wall. I nearly get struck by another shield swipe but manage to duck under it just in time.

  “Shit, new plan! We have to throw everything we have at it!” Darrick yells.

  “Poison gas! We have to kill it quickly!” Witney adds.

  “So … what should I do?!” I call out, rolling underneath the skeleton’s legs.

  “Bring it here! We’ll take it down the old fashioned way!” Urthor bellows, already running in my direction with his hammers raised.

  I do as he asks and sprint in his direction. Urthor promptly proves his jumping capability by leaping up high enough to bring both of his hammers down onto the skeleton’s unarmoured head. Despite the blow, the skeleton knight continues to run after me.

  “Bleeding hells girl, how hard did you hit that thing?!”

  “Greva Sfanta!” Darrick follows up, striking against the skeleton’s leg with a holy empowered sword.

  The combined damage of the two finally draws the skeleton’s attention away from me and it begins to battle against the Warrior and the Paladin. Its large sword meets Darrick’s shield and nearly cracks it in half. Darrick doesn’t take any damage but his shield won’t survive another strike. Urthor attempts to follow up but finds his hammer strikes meeting the skeleton’s huge shield. A heavy kick sends the staggering Darrick falling backwards, leaving only Urthor by himself.

  My lungs begin to burn as I cough heavily from inhaling the toxic gas. I begin to worry if we’ll be able to kill this monster before we all succumb to the gas as the skeleton doesn’t seem to be slowing down at all. If it's been heavily damaged then it isn’t showing it.

  Sasha catches my attention with a hand on my shoulder. Looking up at her, I see her look at me with eyes ablaze with determination. “Come on!” She says, grabbing my left arm and pulling me to my feet. Not giving me time to collect myself, she charges off towards the skeleton.

  No time for hesitation; either I die to poison or I die to the skeleton. I follow Sasha’s lead and sprint off towards the skeleton. I watch as it brings its heavy sword down onto Urthor, who does his best to shield himself from the blow, but ultimately fails as the sword cleaves into his forearms and drops him to his knees. Seeing the Skeleton prepare to finish him off, Sasha lets loose a flurry of daggers that partially embed themselves in its back. Thankfully, she manages to catch its attention but unfortunately this means her follow up attack fails as she is sent flying when the skeleton spins around with its shield extended.

  I curse; the skeleton knight is now directly facing me after spinning to strike Sasha, which means I will no longer trigger Assassinate. With no one left to draw its attention besides Witney and Troy, who have both done very little damage this entire fight, I am left with no other option but to hit it with all I have. Still reeling from the shield swing, the skeleton greets me with its arms held apart as if it’s going to give me a deadly hug. I jump forward with one dagger raised and stab down into the skeleton’s chest. To my surprise, it pierced through the armor just as well as my previous attacks.

  I'm completely confused for a moment, how has Assassinate triggered when it was still looking at me? But then I realized I had forgotten one part of Assassinate:

  This trait can also trigger against a target with less than 20% of their health remaining

  I hang there for a long moment with my eyes closed, terrified of the moment the skeleton brings its arms over my back and crushes my spine but if Assassinate triggered then it had less than twenty percent of its health remaining! I gently open my eyes and look upward, seeing the gray nameplate of the skeleton fade away. A familiar feeling of euphoria rushes through my body and I feel excitement bubbling up inside of me… right up until the skeleton falls forward and collapses on top of me.