Umbral Rune (Rough Draft)

Umbral Rune: Chapter 5 - Living Dead

[Skell]

A bloodless stabbing. If you told me I'd be part of one today, my gut reaction would obviously be fear. After all, that'd mean someone would try to kill me - a skeleton without an ounce of blood. But if you added that I'd be the one doing the stabbing, well, I'd have questions. Such as:

How in the abyss did I stab Cynthine without her bleeding!?

The glamour mage watched me pull away the knife, studying the damage, or lack thereof, on her hand. "About what I expected. They do say skeletons are quite weak. No offense."

"W-woah..." Oliver refused to blink. "And you said you're going to teach us that? How to make weapons never hurt us?"

Cynthine laid fingers on her cheek. "Well, that isn't quite how Shrouds work. They are less so suits of armor, and more an energy coursing through your body - empowering it. Tapping into said power, one can quicken their movements, bolster their strength, and as I've demonstrated," she flexed her other hand, "reinforce their bodies."

"So it won't just make weapons useless against us," Oliver asked, "but it can also make us super tough and strong?"

"There must be a catch," I said. "Even with my shoddy memories, something so incredible as immense power with no price would have to sound familiar. Probably..."

Cynthine walked past us, resting on the loft's railing. "Magic always has a catch. For this skill, I'll illuminate one. Shrouds do grant power, but not an infinite amount. No Shroud will give you the strength to, say, lift mountains, or the resilience to go skinny-dipping in a volcano. The might, agility, and endurance it gives you does improve with your experience using the technique - and your mana - but it cannot make you unkillable."

Behind me, Oliver rested against the railing too, cupping his chin in his curious hands. "Our mana affects it too?"

The glamour mage smiled. "More than effects; Shrouds are mana."

It took one glance at our faces before Cynthine resigned to a deeper explanation. "For fear of overcomplicating things, let me take a step back. In essence, mana is an energy that can be transformed into any number of elemental magics - or mind arts - when one casts. Fireballs, lightning bolts, the works."

I crossed my arms. "We already know this. When's the 'complicated' part?"

"Right after you close your jawbone. The youth; so impatient," jabbed the ostensibly young woman. "Except of course for you, Oliver."

"Thank you, Miss Cynthine!" he said.

...Appreciate the defense, buddy.

Cynthine waved a hand across her hair. "As I was saying, mana changes when cast. But before it becomes fire, or lightning, or any element, it is raw energy. An energy normally locked into the cages of our minds. And like all prisoners, it's only released from its cell for a moment, its movements carefully watched. Carefully controlled. Just as our mana is carefully channeled to cast the arts we desire. But what happens when a prisoner is let loose completely, allowed the run of the entire facility?"

"People die?" I shrugged.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're missing the forest for the trees, Skell. What happens is, that raw energy fills us completely; every drop of blood, every muscle, every pore," she shot me a look, "and every bone in our bodies. That is the source of a Shroud's effects."

So that confirms it. This power she's talking about, it can even make me stronger. Strong enough to defend myself.

"It sounds amazing," Oliver said with wonder. "With it, hunting would go so much faster. And I would never scrape my knees when I trip over a rock! Can we start learning now?"