The firelight weakly illuminated that tall, gaunt shadow.
The moment he looked up, a chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head, Garrett's blood ran cold with terror. Before he could even process what he was seeing, the grotesque, withered corpse suddenly let out a bone-chilling shriek and lunged at him.
The ear-splitting wail at such close range nearly paralyzed him with fear. He had to summon every ounce of courage in his body to break free from the terror. He rolled to the side with a crash, and when he looked back, he saw his crafting table smashed to splinters by that unholy thing.
Such strength!
By the dim firelight, he finally got a clear look at his unwelcome visitor.
Tattered burial robes, a tall and skeletal frame like a living shadow, cold fire gleaming in its eye-sockets, and ancient, tarnished jewelry adorning its form.
Given his current location near the Barrow-downs, one word suddenly exploded into Garrett's mind: Barrow-wight!
"Shit..."
I deliberately avoided the Old Forest and the barrows themselves, how did I still run into one of these things?!
Gulp.
His throat worked with difficulty. He could feel his breathing becoming ragged and panicked.
"Heh... heh... heh... heh..."
The towering specter let out a rasping laugh, like a broken bellows forcing air through dead lungs. It had caught the scent of something delicious...
Fear.
That web of terror pressed down on Garrett, pinning him to the ground, making his limbs feel like lead. The barrow-wight was very pleased with this reaction.
Realizing he had become nothing more than a plaything for this undead creature's amusement, Garrett instinctively gripped his stone sword tighter. How could a proud Minecraft veteran like himself go down without a fight?
No matter what, he was going to face this monster!
Scraaaape.
A rusty, rune-carved barrow-blade was slowly drawn from its ancient sheath. The wight raised its thin, withered arm high, preparing to strike...
"RAAAHHH!!"
From the ground, Garrett roared, gripping his sword with both hands. He rolled and scrambled to his feet, slashing upward with all his might.
Ting!
A sharp metallic clang rang out.
His wrist went numb, as if his blade had struck solid iron. If he had been wielding an ordinary stone sword, it probably would have shattered on impact.
But it held.
[-3]
A damage number floated across his vision.
Apparently caught off guard by meeting actual resistance, the barrow-wight stumbled backward, glancing at Garrett, then at the gash torn in its ancient burial wrappings in disbelief.
A mere stone sword had actually pierced through its deathly enchantments and corroded mail.
What manner of stone was this weapon forged from?
"Ssshhh!"
A piercing shriek rang out, Garrett had clearly enraged it now.
He stood his ground, focusing intently on the undead horror.
The next moment, a status indicator appeared above its head:
[57/60]
A health bar.
Damn it, sixty full hit points?
That's three times what he had! And it was armored to boot!
Since he hadn't encountered any other Men in this world yet, he could only compare himself to the hobbits he'd met recently.
He had 20 HP. Most adult hobbits ranged from 15 to 18, rarely higher.
It was hard to imagine how the ancient Dúnedain of Arnor had ever dealt with these barrow-wights in large numbers.
[+1]
A small green number appeared beside the creature.
[58/60]
"What the—"
No time to think.
Clang!
An explosive impact as the ancient blade clashed with his own. His arm went numb again from the force.
It's so strong! And it regenerates!
"Haaah!!"
With a burst of desperate strength, he barely managed to deflect the barrow-blade.
My stone sword isn't just for show!
Slash.
Another strike. Another wound opened across the wight's torso.
[-4]
[54/60]
Good. It has thick health, but if I keep chipping away...
Whoosh.
A gust of wind rushed past his ear. Before he could react, the wight's other hand came sweeping in and struck him hard in the ribs, sending him flying through the air. For a moment, his vision went black. When it cleared, he was sprawled on the ground.
[-7]
[13/20]
His side was in agony.
[14/20]
The wight's hand, heavy with burial rings, had worked like a set of brass knuckles. As that long, skeletal hand struck him, he could feel the cold touch of ancient metal.
[16/20]
"No honor at all... ganging up on me like that!"
[17.5/20]
In just two seconds, his wounds were rapidly healing. He scrambled to his feet and managed to block the next blow just in time.
[20/20]
But in the brief moment it took to regain his footing, his health had fully recovered. The pain from his nearly cracked ribs was gone, as if the serious injury moments ago had been nothing but a bad dream.
The cost? About half of his second hunger bar had been consumed.
He took a deep breath.
All things considered, he effectively had 60 HP too. And if he counted the food reserves in his inventory, potentially even more.
So what was there to fear?
Come on then, let's see what this thing is made of!
To be honest, neither combatant possessed any real swordsmanship. Garrett knew no formal techniques, and the barrow-wight's corrupted form limited its ancient martial skills, so this was turning into a brutal slugging match.
Clang!
Garrett forcefully parried the barrow-blade and swung with all his strength again. One after another, damage numbers floated from the wight, -3, -3, and occasionally a -4 or -5. Under the relentless assault and actual damage, the undead creature was forced back several steps. But that momentary surge of courage was short-lived. The barrow-wight, hardened by centuries of haunting these lands, quickly adapted to this unexpected resistance. So it was merely a stone sword with some property that bypassed its necrotic defenses. Nothing it hadn't encountered before when battling the Dúnedain of old.
Shing.
Now fully alert, the wight slashed downward with calculated precision. Caught off guard, Garrett dodged just enough to avoid a killing blow, but still suffered a deep gash across his shoulder.
[-6]
Still, that was only 6 HP. He'd recover it in moments. Just as he was thinking that, a sharp, burning pain lanced through his chest.
[-1]
He immediately checked his status bar. His red health hearts began to crack and darken ominously.
[Wither: 2s]
In that instant, he froze. An instinctive dread welled up inside him.
Fighting an enemy with superior stats, no armor, and a constant damage-over-time effect? That was a nightmare scenario.
How did he deal with overpowered enemies like this when gaming?
Positioning, terrain control, use skill and game mechanics to overcome raw statistics.
Mechanics...
Thud!
Another strike came. He rolled across the ground ungracefully, barely dodging it and scooping up a handful of dirt in the process.
"Take this, eat dirt!"
Truth be told, he was decent at movement when playing with a keyboard and mouse, but this was reality. This was his first real combat. Just suppressing his terror and managing a counterattack was already pushing him to his absolute limit. So the only thing he could rely on was... game mechanics.
He got back to his feet. After stumbling and rolling for several seconds, his HP was full again. The second hunger bar had been completely drained.
"Hey, ugly! Over here!"
The taunt worked instantly. The barrow-wight's eye-fires blazed brighter, and with a furious shriek, it lunged at him in rage. It closed to within a meter. The ancient sword was already descending. Then, in the next instant, Garrett gritted his teeth and raised his hand.
Pop.
A cube of raw cobblestone, exactly one meter on each side, suddenly materialized in mid-air between them. The barrow-wight crashed directly into it, stumbling from the unexpected impact.
Garrett wasn't about to waste this opportunity, he slashed repeatedly with his sword. Caught completely off balance, the wight toppled to the ground.
[-3 -3...]
[27/60]
"Rraaaargh!!"
Sensing its unholy power draining away, the barrow-wight panicked. It struggled desperately, trying to climb over the stone block. But Garrett simply stepped back and placed another cobblestone cube, blocking its path once again.
The wight flew into a frenzy. It was just a stone block, but for some inexplicable reason, this conjured stone was different from normal matter. Usually, it could phase through obstacles with its spectral powers, but this stone seemed immune to its supernatural abilities.
BOOM!
A figure dropped from above, Garrett came crashing down, stone axe in hand, cleaving into the wight's skull.
The critical strike dealt 10 HP of damage in one blow!
Seizing the moment, he quickly switched back to his stone sword and continued his assault.
[-4 -4...]
By now, the barrow-wight had recovered its composure. It raised its ancient blade.
Shing.
It stabbed Garrett through the chest. But he didn't flinch. He grabbed the barrow-blade with his bare hands, locking it in place in his own torso, then continued slashing with everything he had.
BANG!
"AAARGHHH!!!"
With that final blow, a bone-chilling scream echoed across the wasteland. A cloud of black mist erupted from the barrow-wight's form and exploded in the night air before dissipating entirely.
The ancient corpse collapsed, truly lifeless at last, its eye-fires extinguished forever.
[Achievement Unlocked: "Monster Hunter"]
[Condition met: Defeat a hostile creature.]
[Special Achievement Unlocked: "Wight Slayer"]
[Condition met: Destroy a Barrow-wight.]
[Title System Unlocked]
[Title Unlocked: "Wight Slayer"]