As the scholar laid his hands on the long spear, he felt a rush of knowledge overwhelm his mind, granting millions upon millions of memories and data all relating to the usage and strategies of the weapon. Similar to Auristics or Evantia, he felt the information assault his cognitive faculties, flooding him with unfamiliar terms, styles and stances. However, unlike Evantia, this flood of knowledge was accompanied by comprehension and automatic analysis. His mind was somehow able to handle the deluge of strategies, allowing him to make optimal use of the weapon as if he were training with it for centuries to have a proficiency similar to that of his long sword.
It was a curious experience, to be certain.
It was then when the tombs behind him began to stir, and as the dead army assembled themselves before him, he scrutinized them quickly, dismissing the thought that they might be nuits. Nuit could not survive in an assortment of bones, it had to be some other foul magic at work here.
"You can't be serious..." The vantha began, with a half-amused expression as he twirled his new found weapon expertly, still amazed at how easily he handled the unfamiliar weapon. It seemed that besides the impression of information into his mind, the requisite muscle memory to wield the weapon effectively was somehow imprinted into his body as well.
"And what are you clumsy bones plan to-" He continued taunting, before his body leaped backwards in a wide arc, narrowly avoiding a downwards strike that cleaved the stone below him into two.
The skeleton that spoke had suddenly rushed forward with supernatural speed, and even with Eridanus' combat experience and reflexes he was hard-pressed to keep up with that kind of mobility.
What in the world...
Any other distractions were banished from his mind as he immediately focused on the current battle, narrow dodging again as the skeleton whirled forward in an awesome display of speed and strength, smashing its ancient flamberge against the cavern walls. The stone walls cleaved neatly again where it was struck, and the vantha winced at the thought of being hit.
Focus...
Touching the back of his neck, he whispered, "Wysar, grant me strength," as the tattoo flared into life. Evantia activated with a flourish, expanding the divine aura around him as he chose to take in the movements of that single skeleton, as the rest did not seem to be moving at all. They were somewhat staring at the current battle vacantly, seemingly content to watch the current one-on-one.
The skeleton's intent was revealed, and that allowed Eridanus a little more time to anticipate movements, though it only bought him a little more time due to his opponent's almost minimal thought-to-reflex ratio. It was decisive and lethal, moving with an unnatural grace that betrayed its shambling state.
Steel clashed on steel as the vantha parried and fought with the skeleton, neither side gaining ground. The skeleton was somehow boosted by its ridiculous speed and power, while Eridanus had to rely on a vast combination of previous experience, body conditioning, granted knowledge from the spear and Evantia to barely keep up.
Calling djed from his body, he activated the astral spark within his soul, flux strands jumping like electricity throughout his nerves as he attempted to imagine the flux strands in his body like water, flowing to areas where he needed them most.
This integration of magic granted him that extra speed and strength needed to narrowly turn the tides of the battle, and their lethal dance of sword and spear was ended brutally with a powerful jab through the skeleton's chest. A normal jab might have caused the spear to lodge itself into the bone torso, but in a magnificent battle of this magnitude had stakes many leagues higher.
The spear smashed through the chest, the force of the impact distributing itself outwards as a minor shockwave spiraled away from the strike. A large gaping hole was created from the strike, the kinetic energy from the attack continuing to shatter the rest of the skeleton's bones, and the undead collapsed onto the floor in a heap, the flamberge clattering to the stone ground messily.
"Who's next?" Eridanus declared, gasping as he surveyed the motionless army.