"A game would be nice," Enzo nodded.
Actually, he could guess why the Skeleton King hadn't outright attacked them yet. It was just bored, and they were, in its eyes, just a bunch of nobodies it could toy with.
Now, if Victoria was here? It would most definitely be a different case. After all, she was a real threat to him and his one and only target.
"Good. Three games: strength, speed, and battle prowess," the skeletal figure declared, teeth clattering in what might have been a grin.
meeting creatures with intelligence willing to play a sick game with the Skeleton King was, to say the least, rare.
Most would start fighting the moment they got here.
"Don't worry. If you win two out of three, you'll be free to cross our territory without harm," the skeletal figure assured them as he led them deeper into the canyon, its lanky figure moving steady.
Soon it came to a flat area with a rocky bridge overhead, casting a shadow down at them.
"For strength, you'll face Jak'r," the skeletal figure pointed out at a row of three undead skeletons standing right below the bridge.
Specifically, the one with a massive build and armor painted red with different shades of blood.
"Arm wrestling?" Thane raised his eyebrow as he noticed a sturdy bone bench on the side.
This was so out of character. The Skeleton King was supposed to be an incredibly violent character that would lose his mind at the sign of life and go on a rampage.
But here he was proposing an arm wrestling match.
"Yes," the skeletal figure nodded in affirmation.
Of course, this wasn't just any arm wrestling match. It was a test of strength for the undead. Who was stronger, the living or the dead? It was not only symbolic of what they were, it was also a show of might.
"This is General Jak'r, seventh battalion commander of the… I… don't really remember his former affiliation. He's pretty strong though," the lanky skeletal figure explained as he pointed at the massive undead creature.
The creature heaved a gust of hot air as it walked forward and grabbed the sturdy bone table, lifting it into the air and onto his shoulder before turning around to walk up the slope towards the overhead stone bridge.
Right in the middle, he dropped the bench on the ground and looked downwards at them as if inviting them up.
"Only the contender may go up the bridge of life and death. Whoever wins will come down, while the other will fall to his death," the lanky skeletal figure spoke in a rather calm and tempered tone.
Inasmuch as they called it a game, this was in fact a life-and-death situation. Whoever lost had to die, be it their side or the other.
"That would be me," Thane smiled slyly as he looked over at Enzo with the sides of his eyes.
One of the perks of being a dead man was his incredible strength. He could easily crush that heap of bones with his bare hands.
"Hmm, that won't be any fun though. It's supposed to be a test of strength between the living and the dead," the lanky skeleton commented begrudgingly.
He could sense that there was not a trace of life energy in Thane's body. He was like them, an undead.
"So? I'm not on your side, am I?" Thane smirked slyly.
"Hmp!! New rule. You can only contest once," the lanky skeleton added, turning away to face the table atop the bridge.
Minutes later, Thane arrived before Jak'r and placed his hand on the table. Without second thoughts, Jak'r did the same.
"You know, kid, Thane is a bit of an arm wrestling legend," Nibbleskin spoke into Enzo's ear as the two began their arm wrestling match.
Thane had once gone up against a space beast, wrestling it to the ground in the vacuum of space. Now, the concept of this was quite hard to understand; one just had to be there to see it.
But this here? It would be a walk in the park.
"Sure," Enzo smirked as he watched the two begin their match.
The massive Jak'r first imposed his massive weight on Thane, filling the air with violent energy as he engulfed his right hand with his massive one.
To Jak'r, it must have felt like toying with a child. But Thane was no child.
With a simple jerk, he drew Jak'r forward and slammed his hand down on the bench. In an instant, the bench broke into two, followed by the bridge. Before Jak'r could even make sense of it, he was plummeting to the ground.
-boom!!!
"Hmm, figured," the lanky skeleton sneered, a look of annoyance on his face.
Actually, seeing Thane step forward, he already knew Jak'r would lose. This guy was probably even stronger than him.
"No time to waste, let's move on," the lanky skeleton said, pushing forward without giving Thane the chance to bask in glory.
"Hehe, what? Not happy about the outcome?" With his hand spread wide, he mocked, watching them leave the area without him.
Around 20 minutes later, they arrived before the second venue.
"The next is speed. Now, I'm sure you're feeling confident with your friend over there's teleportation ability. I'd have to point out that… that would not cut it. As this won't just be a race. It'll be a measurement of how fast you are," the lanky figure said as he brought them to the top of a cliff.
"Hm?" Enzo was taken aback, not by these rules of course, but by the fact that the lanky skeleton had just called out one of his abilities that he hadn't used since meeting it.
It caused his face to become grim.
Had this thing been spying on them since they got into the canyon? Or did it have some special ability to see through people?
"Hmmm, slimy. You're skewing the rules, huh?" Thane commented.
After losing the previous round, the skeletal creature was trying to make sure he won this one.
"Brainless husk, if you want, we can just start fighting an all-out brawl," the skeletal creature sneered at Thane. A strange expression appeared on its skeletal face as it morphed like skin.
Yeah, Thane had forgotten they were deep inside the Bone King's territory. If the King wanted, he could create a bone army and swallow them whole in seconds.