Rexus ~ Chapter 15!

Kneeling down, Jaxon sifted through the bones of a hundred defeated skeletons and tried to separate them into full figures. Pulling over an intact skull, he connected it to a spine and stepped back. The skeleton smoothly stood and began coming after him.

“Good, that worked exactly as I had hoped it would.” He studied the murderous framework of a body and tried to memorize every movement it made. It was one thing to watch a body move and assume how the bones responded; but this allowed him to see it at a much more accurate level than even computer modeling had allowed. He was close to a breakthrough, he just knew it.

Jaxon ignored the attacks coming his way, his health regeneration would be more than up to the task of healing him when he was through here. He poked at the skeleton, prodded, twisted, turned, and adjusted it. In his excitement, it wasn’t too long before the entire thing suddenly broke into several pieces per bone. This was startling, and no matter how Jaxon thought about it he had no choice but to concede that this wasn’t normal. “Is it… could it be that these things have a structural integrity, and when they take enough damage they simply fall apart?”

There was no other easy explanation for this phenomenon, but of course it needed to be tested. Six skeletons later, he was fairly certain of his hypothesis. Next, he tried to focus on his other theories. The question was: how to gain insight into something that he was already an Expert of? Insight? In. Sight. Jaxon stepped into the next attack coming at him, keeping the fist at eye level as it came close. There was a *crunch* as the skeleton struck him, and he was sure that he had taken a critical hit… but he saw something that he never had before. Jaxon saw the way the bones curled, moved, and the effect absorbing and releasing kinetic energy when landing a blow. 

Skill increased: Human anatomy (Expert IV).

And there it was, a way to study anatomy that he had never attempted before. Who in their right mind would allow someone to punch them in the face, and forcibly hold their eyes open to see the movements? Right then, Jaxon understood that he was going to be in for a lot of pain in the near future. If this was a reliable way to close in on the Master ranks? It would be worth every agonizing moment, and no one would be able to convince him otherwise.

Still, he had just been punched in the face. Jaxon backhanded the skeleton so hard that he shattered the entire front of its face. He winced before shrugging and leaning over to combine a skull with a skeleton once again. He paused, and Jaxon glanced at his health bar; noting that he was down to two hundred and twelve of his available four hundred points. He had not taken the time yet to sit down and recover, and so he did so now. Breathing deeply, he attempted to achieve a meditation skill. So far, he had achieved no success with this particular skill set. Perhaps today would be the day? A half hour passed as he relaxed on the floor surrounded by bones. As his health bar topped off, he opened his eyes in disappointment. No luck with the meditation skill today!

Instead of ruminating on his failure, Jaxon did the practical thing and got back to work. Within moments another skeleton was swinging its bony fist at his face. Jaxon allowed the impact, slightly changing the angle and bone that hit his face first. In this manner, he was able to see nearly every position of a closed right fist as it drilled into his soft flesh. The issue with this method of training was the intense pain and slow building rage. Jaxon was able to control himself enough to pop the skull off of the spine, but then took his impotent fury out on the bones that clattered to the ground. No matter, there were skeletons aplenty and not nearly enough skulls to survive the catharsis that he needed.

A single level one skeleton hitting him in the face over and over had reduced his health by half. Every single blow must have been a critical hit, and Jaxon was feeling it. He resumed his position on the floor, once more closing his eyes and attempting to achieve a proper meditation. Yet again, as his health reached full, there was no notification of success. This cycle repeated several times, as he worked to study a left fist hitting him in the face. By the time he was satisfied that he had learned all he could from a closed hand, he was almost ready to move on. Only by forcibly calming himself did he realize that this may be the only opportunity he really had to study moving skeletons in detail. He would not squander this.

For his next test, Jaxon used a leather thong to tie the finger bones back and into a rigid position. While this was not an ideal solution, he could not think of another way to stop the skeletons from punching instead of slapping. Once again, he suffered several hours of pain and regeneration. For his study, for science, he would do far more than this. When he held a firm grasp on the potential bending movements of fingers, he removed the hands from the next skeleton before animating it. From there, he allowed himself to be struck in the face with elbows, forearms, and shoulder strikes.

He must have spent over a day allowing himself to be attacked, and twice the flaming eye had appeared in the room with him and stared for a few minutes before vanishing. Even a random construct was judging him, he just knew it. By the time he had finished allowing himself to be kicked, kneed, tackled, pushed, and head-butted, he really and truly believe that he had learned everything he could from this method of study. He checked the skill, pleased with the advance.

Skill increased: Human anatomy (Expert VII).

This was progressing slower than he had wanted it to, but it was understandable as human anatomy is more than just skeletal structure. If anything, it was a much more advanced skill. Jaxon assumed that if you wanted to achieve the master ranks naturally, he would need to study everything from Bones, to nerves, to the meaty portions of a body. That was without understanding the deeper things, such as how food would affect metabolism and bodily processes. Unless he wanted to spend up to potentially years learning, he would need to finish off the progression of the skill with skill points. He was not yet ready to do that for this non-main study, but depending on his specialization it may be beneficial to do so in the future.

Jaxon stood and crushed every skull that was waiting in the pile. Only then did he get actual notifications of experience gain, in total and counting the skeletons he had defeated before: one hundred points. This meant there had been a full century of enemies to fight, what the next room also contain a hundred enemies? Would they be level two? If so, even if he were able to defeat that room he would have a lot of trouble very shortly. As he approached the door, a screen appeared in his vision.

Congratulations Challenger! You have set the record for the slowest ever recorded traversal of the first solo survival room. There is no benefit for this, we simply thought it was prudent to let you know. Before opening this door, be sure you are rested and prepared for what lies ahead. Rarity of final reward increased by 1% for completing the room.

"Well, what does lie ahead?" Even though he was sure he asked the question out loud, Jaxon received no answer. He was quite tired and was thankful for the reminder, so he decided to take a short nap before entering the next room. With his stamina and health maximized, and any fatigue debuff that may have been creeping up on him taken care of, he stepped forward and opened the door. Jaxon saw what was waiting for him and screamed bloody murder.

"I hate bugs!" Jaxon screeched even as he charged forward. Scarab beetles were pouring from holes all throughout the room, moving toward him in an orderly fashion which made the entire room appear to rock and wave. "Great. Disgusting, filthy bugs with a side of seasickness. I had wondered why these trials were supposed to be so difficult, finally I understand!"

His fully justified rant complete, Jaxon ran into the room and started stomping. Never before had he been so grateful for the entomologist title and its bonus damage to bugs. Before long, he was covered in ichor, chitan, and juices that he had no name or understanding for. His boots were shredded from the sharp exoskeletons and pincers, checking their durability revealed that they were down to two points remaining. He really hoped the next enemy he faced would be something more suiting his skills. Perhaps there would be another room full of skeletons? He perked up at that thought and started toward the door.

Exp: 100 (2 * Scarab beetle x50).

Congratulations Challenger! In a surprising turn of events you have set the record for fastest time through the second solo survival room. Rarity of final reward increased by 5% for completing the room with a record.