Kass waited for something to happen but, to her surprise, nothing did. That’s odd. She looked around the room and didn’t spot any changes. “Well, I knew it was a trap. Just thought it would be a little bit different…”

“Is it considered a trap if you know of it prior?”

“What? That doesn’t even make sense. A trap is a trap.”

“As you say human. As you say.”

She second guessed herself and thought about what the sword had said, but it only made her more confused. “A trap still is a trap because either way it goes off...I don’t have a small brain…” she muttered under her breath.

“I’m going to walk over to that cube thing over there. Any reason why I shouldn’t?” She pointed to the dark stoned cube as she spoke. The thing probably rose to her waist and was missing its top, but she couldn’t see inside from where she stood.

“It might be a trap.” The sword replied in a completely serious tone.

“You don’t say.” She just rolled her eyes and carefully began making her way to the center of the room.

She had only moved a few feet when a gust of wind buffeted Kass and the braziers in the room dimmed, her orb becoming the main source of light in an instant. She fought against the wind that threatened to lift her off her feet, leaning into it and driving forward.

From out of the box rose a large humanoid figure, its white glowing eyes locked on Kass. The creature was nearly seven feet tall and was clad fully in armor that had pitted and rusted with time. It held onto some sort of weapon, a handle connected to a chain, but she couldn’t see any more of it to tell what it was. Another Crypt Knight? How the hell did it fit in there?

She quickly used Identify to see what she was up against.

Crypt Guardian

Level Unknown

Health Unknown

Weaknesses: Unknown

Abilities: Unknown

Undead.

So not a knight but a guardian...hope it isn’t too much stronger. The wind died down as the armored creature stepped through the stone cube, collapsing one of its walls. It took two steps and then rushed at Kass without warning. Shit.

She barely had any time to react before it reached her, swinging its weapon around from behind. She rolled backwards over her head and came back up with Whisper at the ready. She noticed the blade was sheathed and was confused for a split second, but then watched it melt away to reveal the sharpened edge once more. That’s new.

The crypt guardian finished its rotation, smashing two spiked balls of metal into the ground where she had been, sending pieces of stone flying and leaving behind two craters. Kass covered her face to protect it from the shrapnel as she moved to the side, hoping to find an opening before the creature could swing again.

The guardian was quick to recover though and rushed at her a second time, sweeping its weapon across at chest level. Kass dove to the ground, sliding on her stomach as the balls of death passed overhead.

She scrambled to her feet but was too slow, another blow already on its way. She dashed, moving to the far side of the room and away from the guardian that smashed another two craters into the stone floor.

“What is that weapon? I don’t know how to fight against it.”

“A flail. Powerful and difficult to defend against. You must not attempt to parry. It is weak in close quarters.” the blade answered quickly.

“Thanks,” she huffed, readying herself for another charge. The guardian had turned and was walking towards her again, flail dragging behind it. Once it was in range the undead creature rushed forward again and, just like last time, slammed the spiked balls into the ground. Must be some sort of ability, it did the same thing.

Kass was already on the move when the flail struck the ground, dodging to the side and then sprinting to get close to the guardian. It moved back, lifting its weapon, but it was too late, Kass was in range and already swinging, aiming for the neck.

She was inches away when a sudden gust of wind caught her, sending her tumbling through the air. She cast barrier just before she hit the ground, landing hard on her shoulder and bouncing a few times before coming to a stop.

Her barrier still held and Kass found herself unharmed. “What was that?” she asked as she pushed herself back up to her feet.

“It seems that this creature has some sort of air manipulation ability. It should have a cooldown period between casting, or at the very least only be able to cast it a few times.”

“Great. This place keeps getting better and better.” She remembered the Torusinth and its ability to move silently, figuring that it was the same type of thing. “How many…” she jumped to the side, avoiding yet another strike, “...abilities do…” she lashed out at the arm of the creature, bypassing the rusty armor easily and cutting a deep wound, “...creatures generally have?” Kass finished her question as she leapt back, disengaging from the guardian that hissed at her from under its armored helm.

“It varies. I know of strong monsters that don’t possess any skills or abilities, but I also know of others that possess many, five being the most I have come across.”

Identify is definitely going to come in handy later if I can ever level it up. She ducked the spiked balls and sprung towards the armored undead the instant they passed overhead. She flicked the blade across the armored knee of the creature and then again as she passed behind it, cutting deep into the hamstring.

Kass had no idea if this would do anything, but she soon found herself flying again from a burst of air and guessed that she must have done some damage. More in control of her fall this time Kass landed in a roll and came up to her feet. The impact still popped her barrier and she felt some of the residual damage pass through, but all in all, she was okay.

Dodge the flail, force the wind, then go in. The guardian reached her and smashed the ground, missing the girl who ran by, slicing deep wounds across its body. The creature hissed in pain and air burst from its body. Kass dashed away at the last second, avoiding the wind attack and then dashed right back in, before the creature recovered.

Casting barrier around herself once more, she charged in, slicing and dicing. She tried to reach the guardian’s head to strike at its weak spot, but it did everything it could to keep her away. The creature swung its flail and punched out with its other arm, even resorted to kicking in an attempt to stop her rampage, but Kass danced away, too fast for the creature at this distance.

She noticed it was slowing down as well, each swing coming a bit later and each punch a bit weaker. Again it sent out a burst of air, but Kass was underneath the monster, unaffected by the wave of power.

A deep slash to the hamstring brought the guardian down to one knee, its armor protesting at the movement. It let go of the flail and focused on trying to grab Kass, keeping her from reaching its head. She jumped away from a grab and brought Whisper down hard, shearing the entire hand off at the wrist.

The guardian screeched in pain as Kass backed away, waiting for the next gust of wind. A few seconds passed but it never came, so she waded back in, confident in her success. She removed the other arm a moment later and the creature toppled over, unable to balance itself.

Finally. Should have just chopped the arms off earlier… Kass finished off the creature with two jabs to the head, the light fading from its eyes. The braziers around the room brightened slightly as the creature died.

“That took…longer than it should have.” she huffed out the words, bending over as she caught her breath. “I think we could have-”

“Behind you!”

Kass whipped around and watched as another guardian stepped from the same box at the center of the room. It looked almost identical except for the twin swords that it carried in its hands. It walked

“You have got to be kidding me…” she said as she quickly checked her resources.

Health

298/330

Stamina

312/420

Mana

141/430

Used a lot of mana...damn...at least barrier is still active. Kass identified the undead, looking for any extra information.

Crypt Guardian

Level Unknown

Health Unknown

Weaknesses: Unknown

Abilities: Unknown

Undead.

“Any ideas on the abilities of this one?” she asked as she backed away, trying to stall as much as she could.

“No.”

“I have a feeling this is going to suck.” The guardian stalked after her, white eyes locked with hers. For a full minute the two circled the room, allowing Kass some much needed mana regeneration, until finally, the guardian sprinted her way.

The undead closed the distance in three strides, coming in quick with its swords. Kass sidestepped and parried, matching the speed of the creature and lashed out with her own weapon. The creature dodged her blade and spun away, swinging its sword around as it went, forcing her to duck and halting her counterattack.

Having a better feel for her opponent, Kass moved into a Trestfall stance, blade held at an angle in front of her, both hands on the grip. The two circled for a moment before the guardian rushed back in, swinging high and low in a purely offensive maneuver.

Kass slapped the blades down and moved in close, negating the guardian’s attack as she reversed the grip on her blade and stabbed to the side. Whisper penetrated the breastplate and sunk in deep, drawing a loud hiss from the creature.

It punched out at Kass but she dove away, removing the blade as she tumbled. She came back up to find the monster hot on her heels. She spun and deflected another double sweep to the side, only to have to dive away again to avoid another two strikes.

It got faster. That must be one of its abilities. Again she came up only to be pressed on the defensive, moving as quickly as she could to either avoid or deflect the hail of blades that rained down upon her.

The guardian executed a vicious combo, slicing down simultaneously at the end of it. Kass knew she had no chance to fully dodge the blow the instant it came. She blocked one strike and twisted as far away from the other as she could but it still connected, popping her barrier and slicing through the back of her coat just above her waist.

She felt the sting of pain and cried out, dashing away and casting barrier upon herself once more. The mana drained away and left her feeling slightly lightheaded, but she was glad to have her armor active again. She checked her resources, wanting to know how bad she had been hurt.

Health

243/330

Stamina

196/420

Mana

31/430

Must not be that deep...good. She sucked in a breath of air as she watched the guardian stalk her way. There has got to be something else I can do...it’s too fast when it uses that ability. Think K, what else can you do? Think.

An idea popped into her head just as the undead swordsman charged. A second later blades clashed, the sound of metal on metal returning to the large room. The guardian was slower again, no longer using whatever ability it had to speed itself up.

Kass pushed on the offensive while she could, issuing combo after combo and looking for an opening. After four sets she managed to knock both blades to the side and step in close. With a quick mental command, Kass executed her plan.

Like a bullet shot from heaven the little orb plummeted down, passing straight through the hole in the guardian’s visor and exploding with light. The creature reeled back, caught by surprise and unable to handle the brightness.

Without hesitating Kass stabbed out with Whisper, sliding it underneath the helm and into the neck of the beast. It screeched in pain and to Kass’ surprise, still remained standing. It even tried to swing at her blindly, coming close enough for her to have to pull away.

Not wanting to miss her only opportunity to finish the creature off she jumped right back in, deflecting a sword and then stabbing again, this time through the same eye socket the orb had entered. The blade sunk in deep and the undead swordsman crumpled to the ground as even more light filled the room, the braziers now fully lit.

Kass removed the sword quickly and turned to face the center of the room, breathing heavily. Please not another one. I can’t take another one. Her chest tightened as she saw the form of yet another guardian rise above the stone box. This one held a massive hammer to its chest as it stepped out and onto the floor.

“I hate this world…”