I was in awe as we descended into the ruin. Once we were too far in to see the exit, the scenery shifted from a plain stone staircase into a warm, bright, jungle. The soil was damp and the air was slightly humid, it honestly felt like we had been transported to the Amazon in South America. Large trees with lengthy vines hung like decorations while ferns and lethally colored plants filled up the rest of my sight. A glowing orb at the top of an unreachable ceiling functioned as our source of light, illuminating some parts of dense shrubbery. In front of us, there was a path that seemed to be already established so we wouldn’t have to venture into ominous growth that flanked us on all sides except forward.

“So, how is it, Casper?” Jameson asked without turning to look at me.

“Amazing,” I answered honestly. Even if this place spelled the death of many who came unprepared, I still found it to be beautiful. Though, maybe thinking of death was what improved my appraisal of this place.

Sophia scoffed at me, apparently finding my reaction naive but I didn’t make an issue out of it. I understood that my inexperience put her at risk, so I could take with a few scoffs and dirty looks.

“You look tense, man. Loosen up, chances are you won’t have to fight much.” Grant said with a nudge to my shoulder. I expected to stumble but we both seemed to be surprised when I wasn’t completely pushed away. Without realizing when it happened, I shifted my feet so that I would maintain my balance even after being lightly shoved.

“I’m a little nervous,” I replied to him before he could ask me about my stance, letting the halberd rest on my shoulder.

Our formation was simple, Emma and Jameson were the furthest ahead while Grant and I stood on either side of Sophia. I was worried about a stray projectile hitting her, but she didn’t appear to share the same fears. I noticed an amulet around her neck and assumed that was a protective artifact just in case something did attack her.

“Hold on,” Jameson spoke in a hushed whisper and he knelt down. “I got tracks here, lizard men.”

He brushed some of the dense grass away and showed a pair of inhuman footprints.

“How many?” Emma asked as her eyes scanned the serene foliage.

“Enough to be a problem,” Jameson replied.

I had a few questions about our hidden enemies, their appearance, behavior, and other mannerisms, but I didn’t want to draw anyone’s ire by asking questions at an inappropriate time.

We resumed our journey forward but at a slower pace. That’s until Jameson suddenly raised his hand for us to stop. He whispered something to Emma and then she vanished into the brush.

“Get ready,” Was all he said before raising his shield in preparation for whatever was to come.

The bushes shook wildly as Emma came sprinting toward us, sharp darts whizzing past her body like bullets.

“Here they come!” She shouted as she dove to the left of Jameson.

Something that looked like a mix between a reptile and a human came barreling out of the jungle right behind Emma. They hissed and growled as they held their crude but intimidating spears. I paused for a second as my brain received a small jolt. Their large physiques and thick green scales covered their arms and back as well as parts of their chest. It seemed to be all the armor they needed as they moved without fear.

Jameson, with a powerful swing of his sword, caught a lizard man by surprise and split open the soft tissue underneath his neck.

“Careful of the spears and darts, they're covered in a mild poison,” Grant warned me as he stood in front of Sophia with his shield raised.

“G-got it.” I nodded with a bit of delay.

The second lizard man hissed wildly as his comrade fell and thrust his spear at Jameson, making contact with the shield. Emma then appeared again, stabbing her short spear into the abdomen of the lizard man, but it appeared the muscle tissue was too tough as it didn’t get too far in. Either way, the lizard man felt the attack and turned his focus from Jameson to Emma which proved to be a fatal mistake as a sword plunged into his throat immediately after.

“The other two were only scouts!” Emma shouted as she withdrew her short spear.

“They’ll be going to tell everyone else. Hurry up and grab their fangs.” Jameson ordered.

Emma nodded and stabbed her spear into the ground before drawing a small knife and prying out two fangs from each of the lizards.

“It’s about eight hundred a fang if I recall correctly. Their saliva is laced with venom, you see and you need venom to make anti-venom.” Grant informed me of the value and seem satisfied when my jaw nearly dropped.

We were only a few minutes in and a total of twelve thousand dollars was already made. Though I knew most of it went back into the equipment and supplies used, by the end, there should be a fair profit available.

“From here on we’ll have to be careful- Oh! Casper, you said you get stronger from dead things, right?” Jameson suddenly remembered my gift.

“...More or less,” I answered. I felt a little bad since I could collect souls but they didn’t provide immediate benefits yet.

“Then feel free.” He gestured to the corpses.

I went over and knelt in front of the two reptile bodies and stretched my hand out. While I doubted that everyone else would be able to see it, two plump white flames flew into my chest. I was met with a feeling of satisfaction and I absorbed the souls and grinned faintly. I pretended to still be the process of absorbing the souls and peered through the memories of the lizard men.

I couldn’t see as far back as their origins as the appearance of monsters in ruins remained a mystery to this day, but I could see glimpses of their camp. There seemed to be about twenty in total if I saw correctly.

“I’m done.” I stood back up.

“Good, let’s hurry,” Jameson replied, unwilling to spend another minute standing around.

For the next twenty minutes, the same tactic was used and was strangely effective. It made me grow paranoid especially as I absorbed more souls and read their memories. We had taken down a total of eight lizard men but I learned there should much more lurking within the jungle.

“Their camp should be close,” Jameson said in a low voice.

“Let me know when we are close and I’ll begin channeling,” Sophia replied calmly, holding her wooden staff at the ready.

“Got it.”

We didn’t run into any more lizard men for the time being, and I noticed why when we came upon a four-meter-high wall made from logs. Human skulls were impaled on sticks all around it, obviously serving as a warning for any intruders. There was a strong scent coming from the log fence. Everyone else seemed to notice it too but said nothing, so I guess that’s just how the lizard encampment smelled.

“Alright, go for it, Sophia.” Jameson whispered before quickly continuing, “Grant, Casper, make sure she isn’t interrupted no matter what it takes.”

Grant confidently nodded toward me so I returned the gesture. So far, I hadn’t been able to fight a single time but I learned the weak spots of the lizard men by watching Jameson and Emma.

A few layers of bright blue circles appear around Sophia’s staff as she closed her eyes and concentrated. I could now understand why she needed protection since she was extremely vulnerable at this time. The circles began spinning rapidly before shards of ice fell from the sky and into the radius of the camp. I soon discovered that wasn’t the end of it as the temperature dropped to bone-chilling levels at a noticeable rate.

“Now!” Jameson pushed open the gate to the camp and Emma charged in behind him as Grant and I escorted Sophia at a much slower pace.

Inside, I saw a few lizards taken off guard, armed with nothing but blow darts and clearly weakened by the cold, they couldn’t resist the aggressive and sudden charge of Jameson and Emma. With almost no difficulty, the camp was wiped out.

“Where are the rest of them?” I accidentally muttered aloud, drawing a curious glance from Sophia and Grant who were close enough to overhear me. They were probably curious about what I meant when I spoke, but I pretended not to notice so I wouldn’t have to elaborate.

“See, Casper, this is the power of class three Gifted with a magic-related gift,” Jameson spoke in admiration of Sophia who seemed pleased with herself.

It wasn’t so dramatic that she froze the lizards solid, but she definitely made it far easier to kill them. Still, I saw the memories firsthand and it looked like there were more. So why is it that only a few weaponless lizards in the camp?

Unless…I cautiously looked at the grass huts of the lizard men but they were empty. Emma began looting the lizard men for fangs while Jameson overturned a few huts and came back with two jagged daggers.

“Artifacts?” I inquired with surprise.

“Yup, they’ll fetch a fair price along with the fangs. This was a pretty good haul.”

“So...is that it?” I asked, still on edge.

“It looks like it. The location of the camp changes from time to time but the enemies usually stay the same. I think we got pretty lucky, finding a few low-level artifacts and all.”

“I see.” I nodded as I fell into thought. I went around to each corpse and collected some souls and kept seeing the same repeating memory.

A large group of lizard men eating some sort of flesh inside their camp. And…

My eyes flickered as something new appeared in the flash of memories. There was a larger lizard man with red scales covering his body.

“Hey!” I called out to Jameson as I absorbed the last soul. “Was there a red lizard anywhere?”

“Uh...You mean a Lizard Chief? I’d hope not. Why?” Jameson asked.

“...Nothing,” I replied, hiding my doubts.

Even if I voiced my suspicious I’d be met with a negative response as I had no way to prove it other than exposing my real gift. In addition, they probably wouldn’t believe me even if I said what I was thinking so I kept my mouth shut.

“You know, you’re awfully calm around these bodies,” Grant spoke up.

I guess he had been observing up until now and was surprised when I hadn’t puked from all the blood.

“I’m used to it, that’s all.” I grinned wryly.

I couldn’t tell him that I found this scene to be pleasing to my eyes. Or that I actually enjoyed seeing the corpses strewn about. I was given a certain amount of satisfaction by observing the corpses of the dead lizards, but in a way like one would appreciate a beautiful landscape. I definitely couldn’t say anything like that, no matter how true it was.

“Now, let’s get out of here!” Jameson carefully wrapped the daggers up and ordered for us to leave.

And just as we approached the gate, a ring of fire burst out of the ground and surrounded the camp as the logs walls caught on fire and burned incredibly quickly as if they had been doused in gasoline.

Wait!

I felt that the scent coming from the walls was some sort of accelerant which meant the lizards had planned ahead of time. If they did then it was certainly-

“A trap?!” Jameson shouted with a look of realization. “Sophia, can you start channeling?! I’ll keep them back with Emma. Grant and Casper, make sure her concentration isn’t broken. If she can’t get a spell off, we’re going to suffer a lot!”

“Got it!” Grant shouted in reply as we all began moving.

The only place where there was no fire, the front gate, lizards began piling in. Unlike the weak scouts that were already dealt with, the new arrivals were much more imposing. Behind the ten lizards, a hulking red lizard man let out a loud hiss as his tail swayed wildly, while a spike maul sat in his grasp.

“Shit!” Jameson cursed as they faced the Lizards who attacked ferociously, even if one fell, he’d do his best to leave a mark. And Jameson and Emma’s combat suits quickly became littered with holes.

“Ah!” As our frontliners were moments away from being overrun, I knew I needed to add runes to my halberd.

I ran my thumb across the blade and began inscribing the bloody runes for “Sharpness” and “Weighted Edge” before they emitted a glow and activated.

“Watch out!” Jameson called out from in front of us as the lizards slipped through.

“Got it!” Grant stepped forward and began wielding the mace around, stopping the first wave of lizards in their tracks, but he was facing too many to completely stop them and one came my way.

“Casper, hold that one and I'll be right there!” Grant shouted without looking back.

I took a deep breath and stood a few steps in front of Sophia who was so deep in concentration, she didn’t react to anything.

A lizard with a spear and wooden shield was my opponent and the Lizard Chief’s loud hissing seemed to give him some sort of encouragement. He thrust his spear toward me, but I twisted my body, tucking the halberd under my arm while performing a one-handed swing.

The blade pressed against his skin and left a line of blood on his chest. I missed his neck but I focused on my next attack, rotating the halberd and performing a downward strike. The lizard raised his shield up but the sharpness and weighted edge runes helped split the wooden shield in half and caused the blade to dig into his skull.

As his soul was absorbed into my body, I felt a sense of faint euphoria. Like a warm blanket was wrapped around my body, something like that. I had always had an obsession with death but I had never harmed a living thing and I didn't have the desire to. But I have to say, killing something for the first time was like...It made me feel like an artist working on a masterpiece. It created a sense of emptiness that I was compelled to fill up. I didn’t lose myself in some sort of blind thirst for blood or anything crazy like that, but I wanted to continue. I wanted to complete the painting, so to speak.

“Grant! Switch with me!” I yelled as I advanced forward, rotating the halberd.

“What?!” Granted shouted as he pushed the lizard men back. “Are you crazy?! This isn't the time to be brave, just stay calm and we'll get through it easily.”

I’m guessing he assumed I was scared or felt too much pressure with defending Sophia so he fell back and held his shield in front of her.

Two lizard men rushed at me and I wondered if he was shocked to see my avoiding their attacks with soft steps. There was some difficulty in dealing with the unrestrained attacks, as a literal wall of fire surrounded us and increased the pressure, but I performed Penelope’s Dance like a dutiful student. The figurative wall I faced in my advancement was beginning to crumble as I used the halberd to slice a lizard’s arm off. I felt my steps becoming continuous and fluid and my attacks fell into the same rhythm soon after.

I used the blunt end of the halberd to disrupt the spear thrust and rotated it in the same breath before swinging downward, cutting a lizard from its chest to waist in one vertical motion. Then, to finished off the one-armed lizard, I dug the spiked tip of the halberd into its skull and pulled it forward before freeing my weapon.

I had to be careful of getting my halberd stuck in the dense muscle but the sharpness rune definitely helped me avoid it for the most part.

I rushed forward while keeping the continuous rotation of the halberd going. The lizards were strong, but I learned they couldn’t predict the attack as I kept the halberd spinning. As I attacked another lizard, I transitioned into a one-handed horizontal swing, and nearly decapitated him, but as he died, my halberd became entangled in his muscle tissue covering his neck.

“Watch out!” Grant warned from my backside.

“Shit!” I cursed as I could see another lizard came running toward me.

I let go of the halberd and dodged the spear thrust but couldn’t stop it from stabbing into my leather armor. I immediately felt a numbing sensation spreading across my upper body but managed to roll out of the way while Grant yelled out my name.

“Casper, catch it!”

I turned to see a crude spear being tossed toward me and caught it in my hands before fighting against the attacking lizard man. My understanding of Penelope’s Dance wasn’t at the level where I could wield any polearm effortlessly, so I struggled a bit since I had only practice with halberd so far. I thrust the spear at the same time as my reptilian attacker but I leaned backward while aiming right at his chin. The odd angle of the attack caught the lizard man unprepared as the crude spear penetrated the area underneath his jaw.

“...Haaah.” I exhaled heavily as I fumbled around for my anti-venom. I quickly found the small vial and poured it into my mouth without hesitation as I walked toward my halberd.

I tossed the empty vial aside and felt the numbness fade almost immediately as I pulled my weapon out from the corpse it was buried in.

I looked up to see that Jameson and Emma had dealt with most of the lizards while the Chief was slowly advancing toward all of us.

He opened his mouth and spat a clump of fire toward them without warning. Luckily, they dove out the way quick enough to avoid being burned.

“I’m ready! Move out of the way!” Sophia yelled from behind us.

I quickly dashed to the side and hoped I wouldn’t be hit by whatever was coming. A bitter chill blew past me and forced me to close my eyes. When I could see again, my eyes followed a long path of frost covered ground until my gaze stopped at the lizard chief who was covered in ice crystals. While he wasn’t completely covered, icicles were protruding from underneath his skin. And his chest had looked like a layer of flesh was stripped away.

He let out a rage-filled hiss but Jameson and Emma moved to attack regardless. I belatedly realized I should join in and moved toward the lizard blindside with soft steps.

“You join them too!” Sophia shouted at Grant.

I glanced over to see him approaching the lizard man who was a little over two meters in height. I’m not sure how long the ice would keep the lizard chief slowed down, but I began to feel a sense of urgency.

The lizard chief slammed his maul against Grant’s shield, knocking him into the dirt while Emma stabbed her short spear right under the chief’s rib cage. I think even with my sharpness rune I wouldn’t be able to get through the muscle tissue of the red lizard so easily, but when I noticed its tail swaying, my mind clicked.

I advanced quietly as it raised its tail, striking Jameson with it and knocking him away. As its tail lowered I rotated the halberd and chopped downward and cut its tail into two pieces. It let out a painful roar and swung the maul without looking. I tried to use the staff of the halberd to block the reflexive attack, and although a portion of the force was negated, my weapon snapped in half and I was knocked backward.

My mind was clouded as my body flew through the air and crashed into a weakened hut, made from twigs and branches, that immediately collapsed onto me as if scorning my intrusion.

“...Damn it.” I could feel a sharp pain in my left arm as well as an ache every time I breathed. It hurt so bad that I wanted to cry without a single regard for my dignity.

The pain allowed me to realize I was too hasty in my attack and should’ve been prepared for a reaction. I don’t know what was going on as I could barely even turn my neck without feeling pain so I used my only functional arm and put one of the regenerative pills into my mouth and crushed it.

“And to think everything was going so well up until then,” I mumbled as I felt some relief from the medicine.

A few minutes later, after the sound of fighting had died down and my nerves began to get worn down from wondering who had come out on top.

I heard a familiar shout.

“Casper!” Jameson shouted as he and the others dug through the rubble.

“I’m still alive,” I replied tiredly.

“Fuck! I thought you died rushing in like that you crazy bastard!” Grant said in surprise.

“I feel like I already died.” I chuckled before my face winced in pain.

I acted like an idiot in my first real battle. My lack of experience was nearly damning and it wiped away my delusions quite a bit. I needed more practice and more knowledge before I could dive into battle so eagerly. Just looking at Jameson and the others, it was clear they were surprised, but not too panicked, meaning they had faith in resolving the problem. I was just the fool who fought like it was a decisive battle.

My only consolation was the souls I would be getting from this endeavor. I was cautiously pulled out from the destroyed hut and helped to my feet.

“Here.” Emma handed me a spear to lean on and I accepted it gratefully.

“Did we win?” I asked before finding my answer. A collapsed red lizard in the center of the camp.

“Yeah, when you got its tail, it lost its balance and it became way easier.”

“Yup…” I said with a groan as I limped toward the fresh corpse. “...I still regret that” I added half-jokingly.

As I looked out at all the dead lizards, the smell of blood and burned wood nearly clogged my senses. Still, I found it to be a pleasant sight overall.

“You better give me something good, asshole,” I mumbled as I stretched my hand toward the lizard chief.

A large white flame-like orb sunk into my chest and gave me a filling sensation. I hoped the number of souls I had accumulated were adequate enough to increase my gift.

“Alright, let’s collect the lizard chief’s heart and we may as well bring the tail too.”

“I’ll grab some vines so Grant can drag it out of here,” Emma said as she left the somewhat burned down camp.

“Okay, Casper you should just rest for now. I have an extra healing pill for you.”

“Got it,” I accepted the pill from Jameson and sat on a fallen log as it began taking effect.

As Jameson began cutting the Lizard chief open, Grant struck up a conversation.

“Hey, who the hell taught you to fight like that? The way you moved your feet was strange, not to mention you kept spinning that damn Halberd.”

“I guess you could say I had a pretty good teacher,” I replied nonchalantly, wiping some of the blood that began dripping from my forehead.

“You weren’t as completely inexperienced as I first thought, you did very well for your first time in a ruin,” Sophia spoke with a complicated expression.

“That’s kind of you to say.” I don’t know if that was her way of apologizing for how she treated me earlier but I chose to believe it was.

“...You really took a beating there. My arm was fractured from that damned Lizard and you were hit in the chest with it. I really can’t believe you survived.”

“Just barely,” I corrected him while emphasizing my injured state.

I had to thank the Bone Restructure for my resilience. I didn’t want to think what state I would be in if I had ignored it and went for something else.

Eventually, Emma came back from gathering the vines and Jameson finished removing the heart and fangs from the red lizard.

“Let’s go.”

Since it seemed like we had taken care of all threats, we moved with less caution than before, most likely out of consideration for me.

“I don’t think anyone has a problem if Casper gets a normal cut this time, right?” Jameson asked.

No one replied to him, giving their tacit approval of the decision which caused me to smile happily. Though I was more excited about the souls I gathered rather than the money.