After exerting all the force he could muster to pull the stubborn ring free, Anthony huffed in aggravation, his expression falling as a look of clear displeasure overtook his features. He decided to change tactics, abandoning his attempts to pry the ring from the skeletal hand. He instead began dragging the entire skeleton toward a clear patch of floor, a few meters away from the large pile of bones.

  Tossing the ivory white skeleton onto the smooth stone at his feet, a slight grin tugged at his lips as a petty impulse overtook him.

  “You could have just given up the ring. Now I have to take your finger. Don’t blame anyone but yourself”

  The next moment, the bright glowing blade in his hands came hurling down on the uncooperative skeleton, emitting a heavy cracking sound as metal and bone smashed together.

  Although he only used less than half of his nexus power, Anthony still found himself surprised when the violent attack failed to carve through the defenseless finger bone, his sword harmlessly bouncing away after striking it.

  His eyes narrowed as he knelt to inspect the bone, jaw clenching in aggravation when he realized it was truly unharmed. Without standing back up, he adjusted his grip, holding the skeleton's forearm with his free hand. With a motion like he was preparing to chop vegetables, he pressed his sword down against the finger bone from up close.

  A brilliant flash of red spread through the room, the telltale hum of the empowered blade filling his ears as he activated his strongest nexus key and pressed down with all his might in a cutting motion. As he pulled the bright red blade back and forth, a grin began to spread across his lips as he felt it sinking down—if only slightly.

  As the blade’s energy drained, Anthony pulled it back to examine the results. A shallow groove, barely deeper than the thickness of a silver coin, now blemished the finger of the previously undamaged white bone. The damage was not much, but he was still pleased. The greatest concern in his mind had been that even his full power wouldn’t be enough to damage it, which would have made cutting away the ring impossible for him.

  This way at least, he could slowly chip away at the skeleton until his prize was eventually free. Fortunately however, he wasn’t forced to endure such a tedious process. The moment the surface of the bone was broken, the entire skeleton began to visibly deteriorate, as if some invisible spell had been broken by his actions.

  Right before his eyes, the bone began to age rapidly. The ivory white shine was gone, replaced by a sickly yellow hue that was growing deeper by the moment. Cracks continued to spread through the bones, causing them to crumble. Soon the golden ring was freed, rolling away before dropping softly against the stone floor.

  Anthony’s eyes narrowed at the strange transformation of the skeletal remains, his sword still held in the previous cutting motion as he processed the sudden change. Blinking a few times slowly, he let out a breath, relaxing his shoulders as he reached forward to collect the ring.

  He had to admit, the item was truly beautiful—though far too high-class for his own taste, like something a noble or even a king himself might wear, not something for the bastard son of a peasant woman. His eyes focused down on the ring, the large ruby gemstone at it's center began to gleam with a subtle magical aura, the flickering torchlight reflecting off it's smooth edges.

  “Well. Elara sure is going to have a fit when she sees you.” Anthony let out a quiet whistle, turning the ring over in his palm, “If I show her… That is.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Nodding with satisfaction, he debated whether or not to immediately wear the ring. Many magical items came imbued with something akin to an owner's manual, that could be transmitted directly to the user’s mind when the item was first equipped. For adventurers and mercenaries, the fastest way to determine a piece of magical equipment's value was simply to wear it.

  However, considering the fate of the ring's previous owner—and its eerie refusal to be removed, even after its wearer's death—Anthony decided it would be best to wait until he was out of danger before deciding what to do with it. Even though he was eager to test the item's abilities.

  With a look of resolve, he moved to tuck the ring into the front pocket of his leggings. The moment his hand slipped inside the edge of the pocket, however, the smooth metal object seemed to twist away from his grasp in an impossible fashion.

  His eyes shot open in disbelief as it slipped away effortlessly from between his fingers, like an agile minnow, jumping along his skin before sliding onto the middle finger of his left hand. It all happened so quickly that there was nothing to be done about it, as soon as he realized what was happening the ring was already settled snugly onto his finger.

  Yanking his hand up before him, Anthony stared at the sparkling magic ring, his brows furrowing in unease. A sense of foreboding began to fill his chest, his heartbeat deepening, as the ominous thumping of his own pulse in his ears suddenly seemed to grow distant—almost as if it were receding into some faraway void.

  He attempted to pull the ring free, but like he suspected, it refused to budge even an inch. Before he could take his next breath to calm his nerves, a burst of dark flame erupted from the ring, engulfing his entire hand as it spread. The black fire bore an uncanny resemblance to the inky darkness lurking in the hollow eye sockets of the skeletal monsters, but Anthony had no desire to dwell on the coincidence as the sudden searing pain lanced through his flesh.

  He flailed at the sight of the fire, slapping and waving his hand in a frantic attempt to extinguish the flames, but nothing seemed to work. Worse still, the fire didn’t remain contained—the magical flames actually began to creep up his arm!

  “Nononono!”

  Thick beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he endured the unrelenting agony, watching helplessly as the black flames rose higher. Anthony’s jaw clenched tight, his mind racing for a solution to his current plight. His eyes flickered over toward the sword in his right hand, and an intense wave of regret washed over him when he realized what he was about to do.

  As the flame crept past his elbow, time ran out. Letting out a furious scream, he raised his sword, taking aim at his own arm.

  His teeth ground together so hard they nearly bled, moisture filling his eyes from a mixture of the unbearable pain and the dread of his impending actions. A deep horror came over him at the thought of what he was about to do.

  I… I can’t hesitate! The longer I wait, the more of me the flame consumes! Do it, Anthony! Use a full-powered attack to cauterize the wound!

  Terror twisted into resolve as he activated his most powerful Nexus Key without a second thought. But the instant the surge of energy flooded his body, Anthony’s eyes widened in shock. Instead of flowing into his sword, the power wrenched itself from his control, rushing down toward his burning arm—straight into the ring!

  He fought in startled disbelief to redirect the flow, but it was like pulling against an unstoppable tide. The energy was drained away from him in an instant, vanishing into the dreadful ring.

  The moment it had done so, the black flame suddenly roared with renewed vigor, doubling in size in an instant.

  “ARRRGH!”

  A scream of pain slipped out of his trembling lips, a look of defeat setting onto his face as a sharp clang of metal rang through the chamber, the result of his sword slipping from his grasp and striking hard against the floor. The fire had surged up past his arm, climbing over neck and onto the side of his face, destroying any hope he might have had of stopping it by severing the limb.

  A few seconds later, he fell to his knees. The flames engulfed him entirely. Darkness closed in from all sides of his vision, and the image of his mother’s face rose up in his mind as Anthony's body trembled one last time. As the last shred of light was overtaken by the darkness in his vision, his mind slipped into unconsciousness.