My axe stayed half-buried in the ground for some time. My ears were ringing, and I had trouble looking away from the pained expression on the kittengirl’s face. There was a muffled parade of voices bombarding me, but there were so many aspects about this encounter that my brain was having trouble comprehending. I finally snapped out of my haze when Keke grabbed me by the arm and gently yanked me away from the scene.

“Matt! Are you okay?” she was yelling, and I finally realized just how loud she’d been screaming up until now.

I twisted and rotated my pinky finger into my left ear, the one that received the biggest brunt of Keke’s concern. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“You beheaded a demon,” Ravyn said with a serious tone. “It’s to be expected.”

Ravyn and I locked gazes, and dare I say it, I believe I actually saw a hint of concern. Or maybe I was just delirious. “Thanks.” I was beginning to feel the effects of the shock. I was short of breath, shaking, anxious. But if it was affecting me after the fact, then maybe this was a good sign that I was getting used to putting my life on the line for my girls.

I twisted at the waist and looked back at the beheaded girl. She was so small, so fragile. Mere droplets of blood oozed out from the orifices of her body—the consistency was like honey. Even from this distance, I could tell it was sticky. “Hey, Ravyn,” I said, collecting my thoughts, “can… a [Necromancer] become a lich?”

“How do you know that term?” she hissed.

I turned back around and looked at each of the girls. They all wore varying expressions of concern, shock, suspicion. “Long story. In the world I came from, such a term existed.” My breath caught when I realized I hadn’t gone to see if Cannoli or Tristan were alright. My eyes stung from not blinking for so long. I rushed to Cannoli’s side and put my hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Cannoli looked downcast. She didn’t look at me. “I’m fine,” she whispered. “Check on Tristan.”

Tristan was rising to his feet, a hand on his wrist. He flexed it in a slow circle and shook his head. “No permanent damage here. I think, anyway.”

“See, he’s fine,” I said back to Cannoli. I took her hand in mine and examined the palm. Nothing remained of the blood rune or outline. “Do we need to have this looked at?”

Cannoli shook her head and smiled, though it looked forced. Buttons weaved around the back of her neck and smushed his cheek against hers. “I’m fine. I’m fine! Really.”

“Tell me if it gets any worse.” I stood up and looked at Ravyn. “Liches were an idea in the world Tristan and I came from. But they were more like—” I reached for a description of a video game or tabletop concept that the girls could understand, “—like a fairy tale or scary story.” I motioned to Tristan, hoping he’d back me up.

Tristan nodded. “He’s right. Undead slaving the undead, right? That’s how they were known in our world.”

Ravyn frowned and bowed her head. “I didn’t think either of you understood any of this. Undead magic is expressly forbidden in Nyarlea, so it’s best to avoid the topic altogether.”

“Hey,” Keke approached just as I was about to retrieve my axe. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” I shrugged.

She chewed her lip, tilting her head as her golden eyes pierced my skin. “If you say so.”

I forced a smile and made my way over to the embedded axe, putting a reassuring hand on Keke’s shoulder on the way. The vision of the girls on crosses still crawled at the edges of my thoughts, alongside the bloody cuts of death in the palms of Cannoli and Tristan. I’d been so ready to dive into that pot for the rest of them. A zombie pleasure slave for the rest of my existence.

I felt the corpse’s touch would still curse me if I touched it. I shivered.

The stone shifted and screeched as I wrestled the axe from the ground. A small laugh escaped my lips when I saw how little damage had been done to the weapon.

Just how the hell does Espada make such damn good weapons?

“Hey! Ara! You got a Level!” Tristan called, poking through his iPaw in his palm. “That’s great!”

Ara’s cheeks pinked, and she rolled her shoulders. “T-thank you.”

Oh yeah, I guess that would have given us a ton of Experience. I summoned my iPaw and glanced at the notifications.

Matt has gained: 450 XP!

Keke has gained: 445 XP!

Cannoli has gained: 430 XP!

Ravyn has gained: 400 XP!

Matt is now: Base Level 7!

Matt is now: Class Level 7!

Keke is now: Base Level 8!

Keke is now: Class Level 8!

Cannoli is now: Base Level 8!

Cannoli is now: Class Level 8!

Ravyn is now: Base Level 12!

Ravyn is now: Class Level 8!

Matt has gained: 5 points of Energy!

Keke has gained: 3 points of Energy!

Cannoli has gained: 3 points of Energy!

Ravyn has gained: 2 points of Energy!

Two levels for Cannoli, Keke, and me, one for Ravyn. Damn.

“We should leave before the horde catches up with us,” Ara said with a bit of impatience in her voice. “I don’t want to see Tris—the young Master hurt.” That last bit caught my attention, and I was lucky to see a gentle hue of red on her cheeks. Seeing her glare at me with such murderous intent was a price of admission I was willing to pay.

Guess I’ll save that for later. “Disappear iPaw.”

“Let’s try over there,” Ravyn motioned to a rickety old door with a flick of her head. “Old witch has to get out somehow.”

“Sure.” I came to the door with my axe in hand and laid my palm on the splintered wood. I noticed my feet were beginning to grow colder, and I looked down to see that the stream of water we saw earlier was exiting through the gaps below like a series of small veins. “Huh.” I put my ear against the door. “Pretty sure it’s safe. Hey, Ara—”

The sounds of flesh parting and bone-cracking echoed through the small room as Ara plucked her daggers from the corpse of the kittengirl. How she could do that with such indifference was beyond me. Soon after, Ara came to my side, a dagger held surely in each hand. A vivid image of Ara pinning me to a bulls-eye and throwing daggers at me with a sinister smile painted my vision. I was glad she was on our side.

“I am ready,” she said with a curt nod.

“Alright.” I pushed open the door, surprised to find it unlocked. Guess she trusted no one would ever leave. I turned my head and motioned with my axe for the remainder of our group to follow. “Cannoli. Looks dark down there. Do you mind helping me out?”

Cannoli didn’t gesture, didn’t speak. She simply walked up to me, put her hand on the side of the blade, and murmured, “Illuminate.”

Cannoli’s silent, detached demeanor was concerning. The sight of blood and gore seemed to bother her more than the rest of the group, and this was far worse than anything we’d encountered so far. You’re really worrying me. I wanted to say it, but I couldn’t manage. Not when enemies could still be nearby, not when we were still in dangerous territory. Best not to complicate the issue. Time would allow it later on.

Keke nocked an arrow across her bow, and Cannoli moved to stand behind her, wand held upward. Tristan and Ravyn flanked Cannoli, Desiree slithering between Cannoli and Tristan. Ball Gag fluttered about on top of Ravyn’s shoulder, seemingly desperate to say something, but ultimately stayed quiet at Ravyn’s request.

I brought my attention back to the old door and pushed it wide open. A series of stone steps led downward, and even as I held the axe outward, stretching my neck forward, I couldn’t see the bottom. “Watch your step,” I said as I took one step down. I almost lost my footing and, swinging my other leg forward to make up for the awkward landing, I ended up performing my own rendition of “the splits.” God damn, did it hurt. Just glad there were walls on both of my sides. “Fuck.”

“Careful!” Keke said from behind me.

“I know, I know.” An idea occurred to me. “Hey, Ara. You mind leaving a hand free? Just in case? Seems a bit slippery.” Out of curiosity, I looked down at Ara’s feet and noticed she was wearing Mary Janes.

Though, with shoes like those, she might be the one that’s gonna need help.

She paused. “Of course. A moment.” Taking one of the blades from her right hand, she repositioned it so that she held both daggers between the fingers of her left hand.

“Thanks.”

We began our descent. The sound of crashing waves grew louder as we dove deeper. A small smile crept up onto my face, and soon we found another door at the bottom. The gentle streams of water brushed by my foot as I neared, and I was grateful that the ground felt more rigid down below. I pushed on the door with an extended hand, and it creaked open.

I gasped, gritting my teeth in anticipation. Scattered around the floor were the bodies of at least a dozen catgirls. Ara and I readied our weapons.

“More zombies!” I called.

There was a thick tension clinging to the air. How anticlimactic it was when we all sat there for several seconds, ready and waiting, suddenly aware of how— well, how dead they were.

“They’re… not moving?” Keke questioned aloud.

Ravyn clicked her tongue. “Must’ve suffered their final death when the [Necromancer] kicked the bucket.” I glanced behind me in time to see Cannoli and Keke shoot Ravyn perplexed glances. “The kittengirl? [Mark for Death] girl? Fuck. When the bitch died!”

I stifled a laugh. I looked back to the valley of unmoving corpses. Wanting to be on our best game just in case they decided to stand once again, I called, “Did you girls distribute your points?” Each of the girls nodded, though Cannoli’s was a little slower.

“I haven’t been able to, yet,” Tristan said and shook his head.

“Hm. I’ve got an idea.” I cleared my throat and enunciated, “Distribute one point into [Strength] and another into [Vitality], iPaw.”

What happened next was bizarre. It was as if someone had hijacked my hearing. Ai’s monotone voice rang between my ears.

“You will be distributing one Stat Point to [Strength] and another to [Vitality]. Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I hope I’m not getting weird looks right now.

“Will there be anything else, [User Matthew]?”

“No, thank you,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

I felt the effects immediately. My axe felt lighter, my lungs felt stronger, my heart beat quicker. This feeling never gets old.

“It works, Tristan,” I said, never taking my eyes off the dead horde. “Just announce to your iPaw how you want to distribute your stats.”

“Thanks, Matt!” Tristan’s voice fell. “I, uh, didn’t level up, though.”

Oh. That bodes ill for my future.