Annabelle’s Bastion

“Alright, let’s do this!”

Anna silently conjured her ring, and the black glow brightened around her forehead. She didn’t activate her enhancements, but she could instantly once she was ready to charge. Yet another trick—conjuring the ring without a specific purpose!

She had the fancy longsword resting on her shoulder; her plan was to use it like a mace. At the very least, it could help defend her and make for a decent weapon. It most likely wouldn’t break…

Well, she did have a hopeful battle plan that gave her some confidence. Spending some hours dwelling on her possible demise gave her some time to plot. But, with her mana stabilized, she couldn’t hold still any longer!

“But, first…” Anna walked over to the skeletal figure, their clean, pearly bones completely covered by the dark cloak Anna fully wrapped around them. She extended her left hand and activated her storage ability.

A black glow hummed from her palm as she gently pulled the skeleton in.

If they were alive, it wouldn’t be possible—the body’s magical and physical defenses simply wouldn’t allow it.

Thankfully, the body was covered in Anna’s black glow for a moment before they blinked into her space. It was odd to feel such a presence, but it was the very minimum she could do. The thought of whoever this was being forgotten in some dark chamber made her feel terrible.

Anna placed her hand on her chest, closed her eyes, and whispered, “I promise I’ll find you a proper burial ground.”

It kind of felt like a binding vow, another purpose to keep her going. She found it easier to move forward when it wasn’t just for herself... but like she was carrying the wishes of someone else.

Now, she really couldn’t die, could she?

She dryly chuckled.

“I guess I can’t really delay this any longer,” she said, turning back toward the door.

The sword was also hurting her shoulders.

“Charge, swing… charge, swing… charge…” Anna repeated over and over like a chant. She clenched her lightly shaking hand. “Charge… it can’t hurt me. I was only caught off guard last time, improper balancing, all that stuff…”

She activated her enhancements, immediately running everything at full power.

The sword became almost weightless once more, allowing her to easily switch its position.

“Who needs a sword when I have a lance?”

Anna pointed it forward, stabilizing her arms and body so it aimed directly at the statue’s chest—the only spot it was guaranteed to move to block every time.

Yet, taking that first step was a herculean task.

What if it failed? What if she charged out there, missed, and was immediately greeted by the devastating power of those claws? If she died here just because she wanted to find something…

She really should just try the pill since death was a possibility either way.

The pit in her stomach made it difficult to move.

“Damn it!” she spat.

An image of a certain snow-haired woman’s confident expression surfaced in her mind. If she were there, wouldn’t she just charge right in, plan be damned?

Sometimes in her life, she’d get a burst of courage—an energy that she could take advantage of to do something she would normally be reluctant to do. Motivation, perhaps.

Right now, she had that. Her hand tightened around the sword, and she stared resolutely at the menacing statue.

That was the momentary boost of courage she needed as she stifled her giggle.

“First…” She took a deep, focused breath, bracing her body and bending forward. “First, charge!”

Shifting her weight forward, Anna kicked off the ground with her back leg, launching herself with similar velocity to her first day in Bastion.

The edge of the sword’s sheath pointed forward, and she reached the door in an instant. It was there, of course, standing as it had every minute since she arrived in the chamber.

As expected, both its hands quickly formed an X shape as they crossed around its chest, perfectly blocking the sword.

A loud crash echoed in the silent room as the sheath connected with its forearms.

But the power was greater than either expected, and it was forced back, having to brace itself on its opposite leg as it stumbled backward.

Was that a small crack in its forearm?

She was out of the room now.

“How’s that?!”

Anna didn’t pause, pulling the sword back and straightening herself to prepare for its immediate rampage. She moved away from the door lest she deal with a berserker’s speed.

It was like the battle before never ended.

The statue’s hands unfurled, revealing its deadly claws as it uncrossed its arms and lunged.

Anna’s heart couldn’t possibly beat any faster as beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She focused on the statue with the gaze of a hawk, a focus she had rarely ever been in before.

She met the statue’s charge with a vertical swing with her sword extended as far from her body as possible, her sword whipping through the air.

Even that felt close as its extended arms narrowly missed her, but Anna timed it perfectly.

There wasn’t anything she could hold back, and that power almost made her swing herself as her sword met the statue’s neck before it could reach her.

It slammed directly into the side of its neck, the force vibrating Anna’s body. The explosive force bent the statue and made its swing miss.

Due to the power, the statue was pushed to the left, causing its swing to hit nothing.

There was a light cracking of stone, a noise that exhilarated Anna.

“That’s right, I can actually hit you now!”

The statue seemed momentarily stunned by the new injury on its neck. Despite its own shock, Anna was equally surprised.

It was a negligible crack, one that made it seem like she’d have to hack at it for hours to fully pierce through it.

But being able to injure it at all filled her with the courage she so desperately needed as she readied her sword for another swing.

Both moved simultaneously, Anna jumping backward.

Anna was barely capable of dodging its blows, so engaging in a close battle would only result in a repeat of before. She needed to use her larger reach. She rotated the sword quickly, now holding it by its sheath with the pommel facing the statue.

She pushed forward, lashing the sword out with her.

“When fighting a bigger opponent, always go for the knees!”

The moment the statue arrived with both arms ready to swipe, Anna dropped her body and sent the sword crashing into the side of its leg.

Despite the crashing sound, it didn’t appear to have an effect.

But in that instant, her sword’s hilt was hooked behind its knee. Before it had the time to readjust, Anna twisted her body while pushing forward, pulling the sword with her.

Unable to respond as its claws swang where Anna’s head was a moment prior, it crashed forward as its right leg gave out, loudly smashing its knee against the stone floor.

But it didn’t pause, lifting itself back up like that didn’t just happen.

Anna took a deep breath and wiped her forehead.

“So damn tough!”

Thus began a battle of heavy crashes and whistling wind.

Each time the statue managed to get close to Anna, she’d already had the sword swinging at an angle to disrupt its momentum and aim.

It was challenging to hit the same spot with such a long weapon, but Anna kept creating new cracks around its stone body with each blow that it didn’t dodge.

The only part of its body it protected was its chest.

One more swing, this time hitting the exact spot on its knee as last time.

“Bingo!” It once again fell forward, slamming its head into the stony floor. That fall was particularly rough, and it kept tumbling forward until it hit the wall.

“Finally,” she whispered, ready to move forward with her real plan.

Taking advantage, Anna jumped back to the opposite end of the room, creating some distance between them.

Even with that heavy fall, the crack barely widened, and it got up as though nothing happened.

Despite feeling like the oppressor—like the battle was hers—that was not the case.

Anna could feel how rapidly her mana was draining. This battle felt like it would only be like mining through steel if she were to keep barely cracking it!

The statue charged once more, preparing its talons for another series of lightning-fast swings.

But that was part of Anna’s plan, and her ring expanded around her wrist.

She moved a little closer to the door and instantly felt the pressure from the statue exponentially increase.

It charged forward like a semi, the expected burst of speed and power from Anna daring to approach the key chamber.

With a nervous swallow, she placed the edge of the sword into a thick crack in the rocky wall.

Rather than using the sword to disrupt its motion, Anna waited until the final moments before instantly raising it forward like a spear.

With the pearl facing forward, Anna braced herself to hold it steady.

It had only been a second, a testament to the amount of power it gained from Anna’s audacity.

During the statue’s charge, Anna attempted once again to absorb the sword like a Sigil.

A hum came from the blade as the white pearl in the Dragon’s mouth shined. Anna nearly fell to her knees at the sudden yank to her mana.

Her enhancements seemed to instantly decrease in efficacy as mana instead flowed into the pearl as it attempted to siphon her dry.

Despite the statue’s astounding reflexes as it crossed both its arms, it still crashed into the white orb attached to the hilt of the sword. Anna flinched, her grip tightening around the sheath.

Rock exploded as the sword held strong against the crack and pierced into the statue’s stoney arms. The vibration nearly made Anna let go, but she held strong as she nervously waited for what she hoped would occur.

It didn’t pierce completely through, but that was what Anna wanted.

As she theorized, the pearl’s hum intensified until it was almost too loud. Its shine became so bright that Anna instinctively whipped her head away.

But the statue fell to its knee with the pearl embedded into its forearm.

Anna turned back.

“Yes!” she exclaimed.

Within its arm, a thick, bright green glow appeared like a liquid bone that spread up and down its arm, likely mimicking some kind of skeletal structure of pure mana.

Along with the brightening of the pearl came the slight dimming of that green light!

Exactly what Anna expected!

The statue couldn’t even move to pull the sword out as it seemed to lose a significant amount of energy. It bumbled around, swinging its arm at the sword and attempting to pull it off.

However, its movements were just too sluggish.

Due to the flow from the statue, Anna was able to release her grip from the hilt.

She twisted past the statue and ran to the other side of the room.

“How’s that?” she asked, a massive grin on her face. “My amazing theory was correct! Who needs you, anyway?!”

She laughed, a burst of giddy laughter at the success of her wild plan.

While she was sitting down, basking in anxiety and nervousness while letting her mana recover, she had plenty of ideas floating around in her head. This one was the most plausible.

It was based on the idea of the core powering those statues. Anna assumed that it had to gain movement somehow, and it was probably through that pure mana stream that resembled bones. That flow didn’t have any protection, save for the stone body itself. All she had to do was pierce it, and then she could gain direct access to the mana that connected directly to its heart!

Of course, such a thing only mattered because of the sword.

The pearl likely absorbed any mana it could come into contact with. It was a facet that literally only worked because the statue was being moved by pure mana threads coming directly from its core. No other organism could have defenses that flimsy, with its only protection being its tough exterior.

But she didn’t know it was like bones—she assumed it was just a bunch of tiny threads inside of its body that she’d have to keep touching until she could rip it of all its mana!

Anna stopped laughing and wiped her wet eyes.

The statue was struggling to stand, its left arm still attempting to pull the sword out of its other.

Eventually, it succeeded.

Finally, the pearl’s light dimmed, and the hum seemed to power off as it quieted into nothing.

It had to use the wall to stabilize itself, the green light within its arms much dimmer than before as it attempted to rise. Even when it stood, its movement seemed sluggish. At least, not nearly as powerful as they were before—slow, unsteady. Even standing appeared to take a lot of effort.

But for it to still be moving, a statue that had probably been around for hundreds of years… how much mana did that core have?

“Not so quick anymore, are you?” Anna mocked.

She wasn’t in good condition, either. That pearl took a large chunk of her mana, even during those few seconds!

“This is still enough for you,” she said. She re-activated her enhancements, flooding her entire body with strength.

The statue seemed to not realize how drained it was as it resumed its charge.

Anna felt a little bad as she easily dodged its horizontal slashes and ducked past it like dodging blows from a child.

She picked up her sword once more, giving it a hopeful tug… only to click her tongue.

“Still?!”

Mana definitely wasn’t the reason she couldn’t pull it!

But then, where the hell was all that mana going? The pearl was only as large as her thumb yet seemed to contain more mana than she had in her body!

“Greediness is a sin, you know!”

She shook those thoughts away as the statue groggily turned around.

“Now, how am I going to defeat you?” Anna mused. She couldn’t do that trick again, or it might completely kill the core—the key she might need to exit the chamber.

Luckily, figuring that out was far easier now.

Dodging the statue’s sluggish swings was child’s play.

Unfortunately, its body was still just as durable, and even Anna’s heavy swings weren’t enough to break through its stone.

Thus, the barbaric route was her only option.

She ducked another slow slash, thrusting her sword upward at its right arm as it swang overhead. The sword slammed through the hole and crashed into the other end of its arm.

The crack was audible.

“Almost!” she exclaimed as she ran past the statue.

For now, the plan was to take off that arm.

As if it was perfectly fine, the statue turned around and pushed forward once more.

“I almost feel bad,” Anna muttered, sidestepping its claws and twisting her body to slam the sword into its arm once more.

Another crack as pieces of rock clattered against the ground.

It only needed a few more.

Regardless of the extent of its injuries—as if it just didn’t care or even realize—the statue continued coming after her.

Each slash could still harm Anna, but they were remarkably easy to dodge as she aimed as many blows on its arm as possible.

After repeating that process for a few minutes longer, the statue’s arm appeared just about ready.

In came the horizontal swing as Anna flipped the sword around. Simultaneously, she ducked underneath and launched the sword upward into the hole with all her strength.

An audible bursting of stone hit her ears as the hilt appeared on the other end.

“Yes!” Anna exclaimed.

She pulled the sword back and jumped away, the statue’s left swing hitting where she once was.

Its arm fell to the ground, a loud thud as the green glow died from its dismembered part.

Now, she could see it in its entirety.

“Beautiful,” Anna whispered.

The edge of the green mana that created its skeletal structure

It was like the mana was a hard gemstone, glowing beautifully within its body as the flow halted in the exposed arm.

Step two was now completed.

Yet the statue still didn’t change a thing about its movement, running directly after her.

Anna clicked her tongue.

She didn’t even have to dodge the right swings anymore; there just wasn’t anything there to hit her. It… didn’t realize its upper arm was gone.

Now, she could begin the process of dismembering it entirely.

Rather, letting it dismember itself.

She easily twisted her body around the statue once she ducked the left swing, running to the other end of the room.

The process was tedious, but Anna began mining.           

With only a single arm to worry about, picking away at the cracks she made in its elbow was a simple task.

Her only worry was her own mana.

“Seven,” Anna said as the statue swung its left arm directly into the edge of her sword. It crashed into the same crack, spreading it further.

Sometimes, it’d swing vertically. Others, horizontally. Although rare, it would even sometimes thrust its claws like a lance.

Those movements—those patterns—were simple to observe now that it was slow.

But it did make her wonder.

“Eight,” she said as she ducked and thrust, though she missed the crack by a little, hitting above it that time.

Was she only fighting a weakened statue?

Another twist, another blow—nine.

The mana within its body didn’t seem to be recovering. How long was this thing idle in the chamber, waiting for someone to enter? It had to be in a somewhat active state for that! So, it most likely never had its full capacity.

If this was in its prime, how fast and deadly would it be? Would it have been smarter, too?

Suddenly, Anna had an incredible interest in Golemancy… assuming that’s what the creators called it.

That’d be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?

Anna’s mining continued for another few minutes, during which she slammed her sword into its arm over twenty times.

But the crack was wide enough now, and she had room to try another thing. She turned the sword horizontally, its pearl facing where the statue’s arm would end up.

In came its rare thrust toward her face, which she easily dodged with a simple head movement.

Simultaneously, she thrust the sword in, tilting it slightly so that it could get enough leverage within that hole. Before it could pull back, she pushed with all her strength.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed, letting go of the blade.

As expected, it didn’t even try to pull the sword out. Instead, it swang with its empty right arm.

Anna ducked that and slammed her fist into the blade of her sword, using it as leverage to shatter the remainder of its left arm.

It worked!

Stone erupted as Anna’s sword thudded against the ground along with its forearm and hand.

“Twenty-seven blows!”

Anna felt the early stages of tiredness already.

But she could now lower her enhancements.

She was fighting a zombie, one who continued swinging, slashing, and thrusting its nonexistent arms at her.

“This… this is what I was so anxious about?” Anna said. She didn’t even need to use any mana anymore.

Now, it was time to completely immobilize it. She unhurriedly went for her sword, picking it up and preparing for her next mining operation.