Bones

The blade of skeletons sword sliced through the adventurers exposed neck. A newly detached head bounced along the dungeon floor, the glow that surrounded the adventurer a moment ago clung to bloodied sword. The skeleton tilted its head to the side as it watched the light travel along the blade, up along its arm, and settle inside its chest.

Level Up!

I stared at the words. The body of the adventurer lay in a pile at my feet. Their head had rolled to a stop amid the pile of bones. Two other adventurers lay dead a few feet behind me, spikes that had dropped from the ceiling held them in place. I took a step closer to them. Something clacked against the stone floor.

It was my foot. Had I always been so loud? I wiggled my toes; each one made a small click-clack as they impacted the stone.

That isn't good.

My memories were fuzzy, but I knew that more adventurers would show up. They would hear me and that would spell my demise.

I turned back toward the decapitated body. The armor was still intact. Getting the loot felt like the right thing to do. I reached down to grab the body only to be stopped by more words hanging in the air.

Loot Items?

I nodded. The armor and clothing disappeared from the body. I looked down at myself only to find my bones were still on display. If nothing else I really wanted those boots. Where had they gone?

The words in the air disappeared only to be replaced by a three-by-five grid.

Inventory - 5/15 Slots Available
Travelers Clothes
Travelers Cloak
Travelers Belt
Backpack - Empty
Leather Boots
Leather Gloves
Half-Plate Armor
Simple Broadsword
Minor Healing Potion x1
Adventurers Badge - Copper

Beside the list was a picture of me. A much smaller list of text was located underneath.

Name: -
Job: Monster
Level: -
Experience (XP): -

The picture of me held a sword.

Rusty Short Sword

With a thought the Broadsword appeared in my hand. The Rusty Short Sword shifted over to the list of items. The new weapon had a better balance to it. How would the rest of the gear feel? In a flash the clothing and armor appeared on my body. I slid my new sword into the scabbard on my hip.

Backpack +20 Inventory
Inventory - 33/35 Slots Available
Rusty Short Sword
Minor Healing Potion x1

The backpack flapped around as I moved. I unequipped it and sent it back to my base inventory. Maybe I would need it later, but now it was just annoying. I turned to the two dead adventurers caught in the spike trap to find the dungeon had already claimed them. Only the one I had killed could be looted. I would have to keep that in mind. My skull was still exposed. More adventurers would come.

The passage I stood in wasn't very wide. It was just large enough for three skeletons to stand shoulder to shoulder. That was usually how we waited. We were there to distract the adventurers and only engage when they got beyond the trap. Flashes of my fellow skeletons triggering the spikes too early played in my memory. I had no idea what lay beyond this passage.

A clack-click brought my attention to the piles of bones nearby. The scattered pieces gathered to quickly form three new skeletons, each holding a copy of the blade I dropped. Their bones clattered and creaked as they found their places in the passage. I moved to the one closest to me. It didn't turn to look at me or acknowledge me in any way.

I pushed it. The skeleton rocked back but didn't move. I couldn't remember if my fellow skeletons had noticed me before.

Should I stay here?

I turned back toward where the spike trap was hidden. What was on the other side? It was time to find out.

I skirted around the trigger for the spike trap and headed down the passage. It took a few moments to identify the switch on the other side. Once I was beyond the trap, I studied the new area. I looked back at the group that I had been a part of. The trio stood in the same place, swaying with the occasional breeze.

They weren't like me. I wasn't sure what I was yet. There were answers to find and I wasn't going to find them in this passage. I followed the path to its end where a door had been kicked open. The lock was a stack of circles with little bumps along the edges. I stepped through and pulled the door closed behind me. The lock clicked and spun as the door settled into the frame.

A set of stairs greeted me on the other side. The steps were well worn to the point where the middle was almost slanted. I could stand facing forward, but my newly acquired armor on my shoulders scraped the walls. The stairs began to curve slightly as I went higher. By the time I reached the top I had enough room to stretch my arms out to my sides. The transition was subtle, thinning out the passage as it went deeper.

This had to be the way to the start of the dungeon. I had been positioned after a trap and the stairwell had been designed to be unnerving going downward. The door at the top was made of a few slats of wood held together by a single band of metal in the center. It swung open into the stairs, the first of many inconveniences.

The room it opened up onto was made of large stone blocks that transitioned to a cave. Expertly placed tiles gave way to packed dirt. Light unlike I had ever seen came from the other end of the space. I walked toward it.

Caution - You are Leaving a Dungeon

I stumbled. Something was wrong. My legs didn't want to listen to me. I fell, flopping forward onto the ground. This wasn't the fugue I had known from before. Back then something moved me, even if it wasn't my own will. Here there was nothing. The light was outside of my reach. Somewhere in the space between my world ended. There was something more in that light. I rolled onto my side, facing back toward the door and the stairs.

Caution - You are Entering a Dungeon

My body began to respond again. I was bound to the place. For now.

I sat with my back against the wall staring out at the light. There had to be a way for me to go farther. Something about it was calling to me. I had wanted to know what was beyond my little passage. This was one direction, there was another to explore.

Shapes moved ahead of me. The amorphous blob formed into a group of figures as they walked closer. These were adventurers. I had seen similar folk before I woke up. The traps were made for them. My fellow skeletons and I were supposed to kill them. They, in turn, tried to kill us.

I had never faced adventurers alone. My looted sword was tucked behind me, I would have to lean forward and practically expose my back to get to it. I didn't have any other weapons. Simply getting to my feet would put me at a disadvantage too. They would have plenty of time to get closer and attack no matter what I did.

It had been a short life, but I had enjoyed it. If it happened again, I would like to explore the other part of the passage.

"Look at this guy," one of the adventurers said.

They wore a long plain robe that brushed against the ground as they walked. A flash of memory identified them as a magic user. This type of adventurer usually stayed far from the action but were still dangerous.

"Is his gear worth looting?" Another one said.

This one was equipped similar to the gear I wore now. A fighter, most of my experience was dealing with this type. A sword and shield were a common arrangement. For some reason, the adventurer that I had dispatched didn't have a shield. My memories scattered to the wind if I focused on anything specific before I woke up.

Another adventurer appeared in the shadows to my right. I had seen this type before as well. Rogue. They opened doors, disabled traps, and melded with the shadows.

"Starter gear," the rogue said. "It's covered in blood and I don't even see a bag. Probably one of the groups that took one of the other jobs here. Poor guy didn't even get through the first door."

"How did he die?" The fighter asked.

"I don't know," the rogue replied. "He doesn't have any skin so I think that may have something to do with it."

"There's a door," the magic user said. "It's got a weird lock on it."

"Step aside," the rogue said. "Let a professional handle this."

"Professional," the fighter said with a snort. "You've got one more job on the books. Don't get cocky."

"One job closer to silver," the rogue said as they crouched down in front of the door. "Now be quiet, I'm working."

The fighter and the magic user stood behind the rogue. They ignored me and chatted as they waited for the door to open.

"Got it," the rogue said. The door swung inward. "I'll go first. It would be a shame to lose either of you to a trap."

The rogue went first, then the fighter, and the magic user stayed at the back. I waited until all three of them were on the stairs before I stood. Killing one adventurer had been enough to wake me up. I wondered what three would do.

I took my time drawing my sword. It was important to make sure they were fully in the stairwell. My chances of survival were much greater once the walls were pressing in on them. I made it to the doorway just in time to hear them arguing. The rogue was busy working on the lock while the fighter was grumbling about personal space.

My sword led the way as I got closer. I held the blade above my head and chopped into the magic user as I went down the stairs. My blade came to a stop about halfway through his torso. I had to yank my sword back to get it out. Unfortunately, this also pushed the dead adventurer onto the fighter. The magic users arm hooked over the other adventurers' shoulder.

"Get off me," the fighter snapped. "I told you I need space."

The fighter shrugged the arm away. As dead bodies tended to do, the magic user gave way to gravity. I raised my sword again, ready for a clear chop.

"This isn't funny," the fighter said looking over his shoulder at the dead mage.

The color from his face drained as he saw me instead. My sword came down once more, this time stopped by the edge of the chest plate the fighter wore.

"Got it," the rogue said.

I kicked the dead adventurer, sending the fighter into the unaware rogue. They tumbled through the now open door. The dead fighter pushed the sole surviving adventurer into the wall. There was a resounding thud as the rogue bounced off the stone.

"What the-" the rogue started to speak. My sword cut him off.

+300 XP

I looked down at the bodies. The dungeon didn't claim them. I touched the body of the fighter.

Loot All?

I nodded.

Inventory Full
Equip Backpack?

I nodded again.

Inventory - 19/35 Available
Adventurer Badges – Copper x4
Short Sword
Small Kite Shield
Chain Shirt
Leather Boots
Leather Gauntlets
Travelers Clothes x3
Brigandine - Black
Dagger x2
Ring of Recall
Spell Book - Handwritten
Lockpick Set
Cloak
Fine Robes
Flint & Steel
Trail Rations x12

The fighter didn't have a helmet. That was two now, assuming that the one I had killed before was also a fighter. The dungeon absorbed the bodies once I claimed my spoils. I turned around and closed the door. It clicked as the lock reset.

Three hundred experience. What did that mean? Was that good?

~~~
NOTE:
I've been reading a lot of manga/manwha lately. An older idea took new life and wouldn't let me go. LitRPG, man, it just sticks to you. I'll return to the regularly scheduled posts on Thursday.
Hope you enjoyed reading.
As for plan for furthering this story. Skeleton/Bones would head deeper into the dungeon, level up, and evolve into more complex monsters as he got stronger. Kind of like Re:Monster but with less goblins.