A giant door stood at the end of the room. It was gilded with red and purple lacquer that had long since started peeling. The bronze rings to open the doors were rusted green. And the humid air made their skin sticky. This made resting and restoring both HP and MP a tedious task.

Ellie shivered. It wasn’t a hot humid, rather it was just cold and wet. Even after the blood dissipated due to them dying, the castle still seemed moist.

Jude, however, was thinking other thoughts entirely. He was pondering over the EXP system. After he got to level 10 on Wizard, it became much harder to level. Ellie had just gotten another level making her level 8, her overall racial level was Human 13. This was two levels higher than Jude! She nearly had twice the HP he had! Granted, he was a wizard which is typically lower in health, but she was a crafter! It was clearly something to do with the Elite Class. After all, it can’t be something weak if it’s elite.

This made Jude wonder if he should switch out for a bit and level his Warrior class. Jude never liked the idea of a Magic Swordman. In games, they were typically weaker than a swordsman and not as powerful as a Wizard. He always liked to min/max. This has been proven in games time and time again. However, a nice HP buffer was now sounding good to Jude. He had come to close to death too many times.

The few days he had spent here, he had encountered death more often than his whole life back in his own universe.

As Jude stood before the obvious doors that lead to the boss room, he pondered if he should switch to Warrior or keep to Wizard. The only thing keeping him on Wizard now was that this boss might give him just the EXP boost he needed to level. If those from earlier were to be trusted, the Lord of Grimwar would be a higher level than everything else so far.

He could always hunt down some more mobs in the castle, but the odds of running into was high enough that Jude rather not risk it. They were a tough fight and was no joke.

They were resting before entering the boss room, so he decided to ask Ellie about it.

After he explained his thoughts Ellie said, “Most people are concerned about over leveling a job and leaving their skills to far behind. Unlike you, combat classes will generally spend far more time working on ranking up their skills than actually outgaining EXP. That is the reason why it takes 3 to 5 years for newbies to get to level 10 in Longdale and in the Allur Forest.”

“Then why don’t they level another class after they reach 10? Shouldn’t leveling another class from 0-10 be pretty easy by that point?” Jude asked.

“Some do, but they are usually the people who don’t want to become anything. After all, you can only have 5 classes. People who want to get a Titled Class, will first need the base Class, then the Advanced Class, then the Elite Class and then the Titled Class. This leaves only one other class, which most people will choose another Advanced Class to fill that spot if they have the time.”

Jude asked, “So does no one ever combine things like Warrior and Wizard? Or Healer and Rogue?”

“Oh sure, there are people who do that. For example, I hear the Paladin class requires both Warrior and Healer to attain. And there are others who do other combinations because getting an Advance Combat Class is harder to do. Elite Classes are extremely hard and Titled Classes are rarely attained. So there are people who will multi-class because they don’t believe that they can get to one of the higher ones. But this is usually done purely for the skills and not the stats as you are looking at.”

“And why is that?” Jude said curiously.

“Because of me! Well, not just me, but all crafters. A good set of gear can give you the same stat lines as a low-level class that you don’t use. At higher levels a single piece of gear will be better, why waste the time and effort?”

“I see; I guess I won’t try leveling warrior then.”

“I wouldn’t give up on it just yet.” Said Ellie.

“After all that you’ve told me, now you say not to give up on it?” Jude said confused.

“Yeah, but you rank up skill so quickly that you might as well try. It might take others years to become a warrior, but for you, it would take, what a day? Maybe less. After all, you can always drop a class if you don’t like it. There is a fee, but with the way we’ve been making money it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Ok, I think I’ll try it out and see how it goes. But after we get out of here. Hopefully, it won’t be much longer.”

“I hope so too. I could use a real bed and a proper cleaning!”

***

The doors were heavy but well balanced. Opening them was only made hard by the decay inside its hinges. This was evident by the grinding sound that came from them. The doors opened up to what used to be a grand throne room. A lord would usually have a throne room, but this was setup in a way that made one think it was set up for a king and not just some lord.

The center of the room was laid out with a long rotted out carpet from the door to the throne. On either side of the carpet, there were Greek Iconic columns splitting the room into three parts. The center part was like a hallway with the raised throne at one end and the doors at the other and the carpet connecting the two. And the sides where were two steps lower and contained seating that all faced the throne.

Under the carpet and circumferencing the whole room was a large circular design. It was the only thing that still looked new. It was black in nature and shiny like it had been waxed. It reminded Jude of something from the Digital Plane combined with an artistic aesthetic.

On the throne sat a beautiful man like a statue. His skin was gray and his ears were slightly pointed, but he was not an elf. His white hair was long and held loose. His features were sharp, almost too sharp and his brow was firm yet delicate. His skin was smooth and his frame lean. On top of his head was a golden crown with rubies studding it.

Upon their entrance, the formerly named Bertram opened his black eyes.

“For the two of you to get this far… I must congratulate you. Truly the heavens must be against me. But since I’ve decided to join with the other side, there is no turning back. Come, once I’ve killed you and drank your blood I will be freed from this place.”

“You are no longer one of the races, rather you are just a . What freedom can you really have?” Jude asked.

“You are right, I am just a lowly monster,” Lord Bertram replied. “But that doesn’t mean there isn’t an actual race of Vampires. And if there isn’t, then I’ll just make one. I’ve learned that everything is malleable. Nothing is certain. And only through one's will can they change this world to their own way.”

“Perhaps,” Jude said, “But you have to have the power to do so and you have to be alive to do so. After today, I will lift your curse and you will slumber forever.”

“Ha ha,” Bertram laughed, “I may not be level 312 anymore, but even now at level 20 I can still wipe the floor with you!”

With a wave of his hand, Bertram says, “!”

Black mist spreads out from the throne and an overwhelming sense of fear assaults both of the humans.

Jude feels instant regret on charging into this situation without fully being prepared and wonders if it would be better to run away and come back another day.

While Ellie realizes that she had no real reason to be here and wonders why she ever came into this dreadful dungeon! A place filled with danger and death around each corner! She’s a crafter! What good would an Elite Class do her if she was dead! And death was everywhere here. No one has ever survived this dungeon, how were two people supposed to survive it? And she was a crafter! So of the two, only one person even had the right to be here! They had no tank, they had no healer, they only had one wizard! AND THEIR GEAR SUCKED!

Jude resists the overwhelming fear, but Ellie screams out and collapsed on the floor crying.

Jude sent out half of his spectral staffs to strike out at Lord Bertram, but Bertram took out a sword and parried each and every staff deftly.

“!” Bertram said.

Jude felt another wave of emotions pass over him. Perhaps Lord Bertram was just misunderstood. He had been under the curse of Murl for a very long time. All he wants is freedom, don’t we all want freedom? The quest said all we had to do was break the curse. A little blood would break the curse, right?

NO! Lord Bertram fell to evil and killed countless lives. Now he is nothing more than a vampire. If he gets out, he will feed on more innocent lives!

Jude once again resisted the spell effects of Lord Bertram.

“Humph! !” Lord Bertram said disgruntled.

Seeing the vampire disappear, Jude brought back his staffs and had them circle around him to keep both him and Ellie safe. Ellie still laid on the floor sobbing.

With the staffs spinning around him at speed, there was only one place left for the to attack him. Straight up. Using his staffs to attack would be a great risk as the timing would have to be perfect. But then Jude had a wonderful idea!

“,” said Jude and he activated the variant Ghost Commanders Eye. Because Ghost Commanders Eye also had the Spectral Vision variant built into it, he was able to see the invisible Lord Bertram. And because he didn’t use the Spectral Vision variant he was able to see Lord Bertram without giving away that he had seen him!

Just as Jude predicted Bertram decided to attack from above. He climbed up a pillar and then kicked off to get over the spinning staffs.

Jude immediately launched all 8 staffs at the vampire who was not expecting the counter attack! The attack did over 300 damage and took nearly a third of the vampire’s health! The power of the hit sent Lord Bertram flying back. He did a backflip in the air and landed on his feet. He was no longer invisible.

“Tamy pe gnuub—” Bertram started to cast a spell.

Jude found it interesting that the other spells that Bertram used didn’t need an incantation. Yet whatever he was doing now did. But he didn’t ponder it too much as he sent all 8 staffs to attack!

Bertram was pissed off that Jude had a spell that not only stayed active after it attacked, but also did an enormous amount of damage. If he had been a normal level 10 he would have been in bad shape by now.

Bertram was able to block 4 staffs while he continued to chant, but the remaining 4 still knocked him to almost half health.

“Irb bu pe gabbarj!” He continued casting.

Jude kept the attack up, but out of the 8 only 2 successfully landed another hit.

“!” The was now at half health. But would Jude be able to damage him through this new magical armor?

The slowed Lord Bertram down, but not by much as he charged forward! Jude wasn’t able to get the staffs back in time as Bertram's sword came down. A single strike was enough to take out Jude’s . He hadn’t had enough time to put up a full one before entering the room. It did give him enough time to get his staffs back, though. This started off a flurry of attacks between the two.

The had great Agi and Str allowing him to continuously meet all 8 staffs in combat. Each hit knocked them far away. But since there were 8 of them, they were always back in time to continue the harassment. Jude would occasionally score a hit, but the armor negated the damage.

“How long can you do this? With your level, your mana pool must be tiny.” Asked Lord Bertram with a laugh.

Jude smiled, “Actually, I can do this forever.”

It wasn’t 100% true, fighting this way chipped his health away slowly. But from a question of mana, he could continue this forever.

Bertram’s eyes flared as he sensed no deceit in Jude, “How is that possible?”

“Didn’t you say everything was malleable? That nothing is certain? And something about: through ones will they can change the world?” Jude replied still smiling.

“But you are not marked by the shadowed one!” Bertram seemed angry.

“If there is a shadow, then there must be a light!” Jude responded on instinct.

“No… That’s not possible. There is only darkness.” Bertram said despondently.

Almost as if it was on cue, an old crack in the ceiling groaned and light spilled through. The was quick, but still, the light landed on him and his took a noticeable change.

Cracks were appearing on it.

Jude brought the conversation back around to the beginning, “How long can you keep that armor up with your mana pool?”

Bertram sneered, “Long enough! Gnuub tamy irb iddish.”

Jude felt like he recognized this one, “!”

“!”

A large wave washed through the throne room soaking everything in gooey blood. Jude remained dry behind his . But Ellie got covered, she had a larger health pool so he wasn’t worried about her for now.

“,” Jude had seen this tactic already and reformed his weapons before the next phase would destroy them.

“!”

The corruption ate through Jude’s but his weapons, being reformed, were just fine. He sent them attacking catching Lord Bertram off guard.

Seven staffs struck his chest with the balled end and shattered the . The last staff shot out like an arrow from a bow seeking the heart of Lord Bertram, . Jude wasn’t sure of his aim, he knew where the heart was in general but lacked the knowledge to actually bypass ribs or the optimal angle to successfully hit such a target. The last time he had done it was on pure luck and out of two shots only one hit.

Lord Bertram, however, didn’t know this and out of instinct, he tried to move away. But he had just been hit with seven other staffs and wasn’t able to move the way he wanted to. His feeble attempt only lined himself up for the staff to pierce him through the heart! His own actions spelled his doom!

“AAaah,” a small cry burst through his lips, but it couldn’t continue as he lost all connection with his body. He was filled with surprise as he was now trapped in his own body. What astounded him, even more, was that it worked at all. A stake to the heart wouldn’t always kill a , there was always a chance, but it was a small one. If he had known the unique qualities of the spectral staffs, perhaps he would have fought differently.

Jude was quite happy. With the seven other staffs, he pummeled the vampire until it was no more.

Defeated!

Level Up!

Wizard Level 12!

***

Ellie was now calmed down. Until she realized that she was covered in blood, then she freaked out again. Luckily the blood all came from the now dead . So the blood did not last long as it quickly vanished into the ether. The also didn't affect her for some reason, perhaps due to her being a Divine Smith.

After she settled down they talked.

“I’m so glad that’s over,” Ellie said. “I’m ready to go home.”

“We’re not done yet. We haven’t completed the quest.” Jude said.

“I guess, but what is left?”

“I need to lift the curse.”

“Okay, but how do you do that and where is it? Is it something you can even see? I at least had a physical object.”

“It’s right below us. I’m pretty sure it’s the black design on the floor. It’s the only thing that has survived all the decay.”