The cemetery was shrouded in an eerie silence.
The kind that made the hair on the back of one's neck stand on end.
Noah stood among the rows of weathered gravestones.
His black hoodie shielding his face from the cold wind.
His breaths were visible in the frigid air as he inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly.
The condensation mingling with the faint mist that lingered around the tombstones.
With a swift motion, he pulled down his hood.
Revealing a mess of jet-black hair and piercing yellow eyes that gleamed faintly in the dim light of the moon.
His gaze swept across the desolate scene before him.
Taking in the faint, pulsating red glow that seemed to emanate from the soil.
The cold intensified, and the faint smell of decay wafted into his nostrils, making his stomach churn.
He closed his eyes for a brief moment, steadying his nerves.
"Draven wouldn't mind me farming some plot points here...
Noah muttered to himself, his voice low but laced with sarcasm.
Pulling the hood back over his head to partially conceal his face, he took a step forward.
The air grew colder still as he extended his hand, channeling his ice magic.
A faint blue light radiated from his fingers as frost began to crawl over the nearby gravestones.
The first hoard of undead skeleton soldiers emerged.
Clawing their way out of the ground.
Their eye sockets glowed an ominous red, and their bones pulsated with a crimson aura.
The skeletal warriors clutched rusted weapons—swords, spears, and axes—and their movements were unnervingly coordinated.
Noah raised his hand, forming an ice spear with a quick gesture.
The spear materialized in midair, shimmering with crystalline precision.
He launched it with a flick of his wrist.
And it sailed through the air, piercing the skull of the nearest skeleton.
The creature collapsed, its bones scattering across the frost-coated ground.
But there was no time to celebrate.
Another skeleton lunged at him from the left.
Its jagged axe swinging for his side.
Noah sidestepped, extending his hand as he shaped his fingers into the form of a gun.
Blue light converged at his fingertips.
And with a sharp "bang," a concentrated ice bullet shot forth.
The bullet shattered the skeleton's ribcage, sending it sprawling backward.
Noah's movements were precise but increasingly labored as more skeletons closed in.
He conjured a wall of ice to halt their advance.
Only for the creatures to hack at it with their weapons, chipping away at the barrier.
Frost laced his fingers and arms, an unintended side effect of channeling so much cold magic.
His breath came in heavy puffs as he felt the strain building within him.
Noah muttered as he shaped another ice spear and hurled it at an approaching skeleton.
The spear struck true, shattering the undead's torso.
Yet more skeletons emerged.
Their growls and clattering bones growing louder.
The demonic aura radiating from the creatures was suffocating.
The smell of decay intensified, making Noah gag.
His stomach churned violently, and he fought the urge to retch.
His vision blurred momentarily, and he shook his head to clear it
This wasn't like the game.
The stench, the aura—it was overwhelming.
He hadn't experienced it in the game's route.
Where demonic energy had been a faint, manageable presence.
The system chimed in his mind, its tone cold and clinical.
[Warning: Ice magic failure detected!]
[Mana channels nearing critical freezing point!]
Noah's eyes widened in alarm as he felt a sharp pain in his arms.
His fingers were going numb.
And the frost that coated his hands began to spread to his wrists.
Despite being an ice mage, the cold magic he was channeling was backfiring.
Freezing his mana channels below their threshold.
He remembered a footnote from the game's mechanics.
Ice mages had a hidden debuff.
Excessive use of their magic could lead to catastrophic consequences.
The mana channels, responsible for directing mana from the core to the body, could freeze and shatter under extreme stress.
Noah gritted out through clenched teeth.
"Another brilliant move from the developers."
The numbness spread, and his movements slowed.
The skeletal soldiers, sensing his vulnerability, closed in with renewed aggression.
Noah's pulse quickened as he fought to maintain focus
He conjured another ice bullet, but his aim faltered, and the projectile grazed its target.
The skeleton retaliated, swinging a spiked mace that Noah barely managed to dodge.
To his horror, the shattered skeletons he had defeated began to reassemble.
Their broken bones moved with unnatural precision.
Drawn together by a red and black smoky aura.
The demonic energy seemed stronger now.
Its oppressive weight pressing down on him like a vice.
Noah's breathing grew ragged, and he felt as if an invisible hand was squeezing his chest, clawing at his mana core and heart.
"Why... why won't you just stay down?!
He shouted, his voice tinged with panic.
This was an act and episode only order original to the novel.
It wasn't like he had experienced it or even played it countless times.
He was at a disadvantage here.
To add even though he had future events engraved in his head, most were in pieces and missing even.
Noah managed to matter.
The system chimed again, this time with a new revelation.
[Character Trait Activated: Asthma]
Noah's eyes widened as realization dawned.
The original character, Noah Ashbourne, had suffered from asthma.
It had been a minor plot point in the novel, possibly even in the game, easily ignored.
But now, in the midst of battle, it was anything but minor.
His chest tightened, and he struggled to draw breath.
Every gasp felt like fire in his lungs.
The skeletal soldiers' advance didn't falter.
Their glowing red eyes burned with malevolence as they brandished their weapons.
One of them, wielding a chain with jagged spikes, swung it with a force that cut through the frigid air.
Noah, his body half-numb and his mind clouded with exhaustion, couldn't react in time.
The chain struck his left leg with a sickening crunch.
Tearing through flesh and fabric.
Pain erupted, white-hot and searing, as blood seeped from the wound.
Noah's scream echoed through the cemetery, raw and agonized.
He collapsed to one knee, clutching his injured leg.
The skeletal soldiers closed in, their growls and the clatter of their bones growing louder.
Noah's breaths came in shallow gasps.
His vision swimming with tears of pain and frustration.