Author's Note:

Hey, everyone! I am back! Did you miss me? `:^:^)~

So I've finished most of my important work and finally had some free time. I hope you enjoy this chapter even though I have a feeling Ace has changed a bit through my absence. Hopefully, it's not for the bad!

Anyway, I'm happy to here and am eagerly waiting for your comments on my newest adventure with my little crazy boy.

****

Darkness infinite and all-consuming lay all around. No human eye could see what it was hiding. Unnatural noises of bones hitting bones could be heard. Cackling laughter accompanying it. Metal being dragged on the ground.

It was all that Ace could decipher and none of it looked promising. Once again he had went out to scout but this time he had to leave [Flare] to others as they were too much of scaredy cats to stay in the dark. Not that scouting with a light on was a great idea either.

Yet the problem now was that even though he could hear things around him, he had no way of identifying them. Well, he could tell that it was most likely skeletons ahead armed with either swords or axes. They were possibly mad too, judging from the cackling.

But that didn't help to understand their power level at all. What was he supposed to say once he returned? There are crazy armed bones ahead? That sounded really useful.

'Not that I can gain anything more by standing around here' he concluded and made his way back. It was only a few minutes’ walk from where they had made a small camp; Par and Dawn meditating to regain mana.

Monthu looked at him as he approached, dropping [Shadow Veil] down. "Nothing useful. There are skeletons ahead and that's pretty much all I could understand without being able to see. You should have really let me bring Flare along."

"The two wouldn't be able to meditate otherwise. Anyway, we'll use what we can. They shouldn't be too hard for us to deal with. How many of them are there?"

"From ten to twenty. Maybe more. There were too many of them for me to judge accurately" Ace said yawning. For some reason he felt a bit tired. Shaking his head he tried to ignore it and think of the next fight. He had to create a better way to fight undead; the one he had now was pretty worthless and took way too long.

"I'm done" Dawn announced standing up. She bent her muscles a bit to wake them up after sitting for a long time. Next to her Par was opening his eyes too. The little sparrow was sitting on his shoulder; content with doing nothing.

Monthu nodded at her and everyone prepared to march into the unknown. Rover held a notebook in one hand and a quill in another standing close to Ace so Flare's light fell right on the page with the map he was drawing.

That didn't last long as Ace sent Flare to go first and light the way. Rover muttered something under his breath and Par called upon his fire elemental that made the whole cave light up.

"Too bright" hissed Ace quietly but no one heard him. Finding it quite fortunate he rushed forth wanting to see how many enemies there were actually.

A big room came into his view. It was empty of anything besides piles of bones and weapons. Wind coming from somewhere made them rattle. It was a shiver inducing sound.

"I thought you said there were skeletons ahead?" Monthu asked rounding the corner with others in tow.

"I could have sworn that's what it was" muttered Ace coming closer. He touched one pile and the same message appeared before his eyes saying that he was rotting. "I don't advice touching anything unless you want to keep me company and become walking dead."

"So what is this place?" wondered Dawn not daring to come inside the room. Something must have killed all those people whose bones now lay in heaps and who could say that it wasn't some kind of a trap.

"A burial ground" answered Ace going deeper in. He noticed a wooden table nailed crudely to the other side of the room on which words in an unknown language were written. He cleaned the dust off it, hoping it might help some but nothing changed so he just grabbed onto its sides and after a lot of pulling got it off. There should be someone in the city who could translate it for him.

Then he went past the whole wall, looking for a secret door. This room was large which meant it should contain some kind of a boss monster but since there was none it had to be hiding something.

Walls were of rough black stone, full of edges. Ace tried to hit it slightly, looking for a change in sounds, but the only change was that his knuckles started to bleed. The stone was as sharp as a newly made dagger.

Like a cat he licked his wounds and stopped walking, thinking of a better way to do this. His eyes locked onto a dead body, its bones rattling eerily. 'Doesn't that mean there's wind here? And it must be coming from somewhere!'

He looked around once more but didn't notice any open shafts from where wind could be coming. Moving around he tried to feel the air currents.

"Hey! What are you doing? We need to start moving!" Rover said coming closer with weary eyes, ready to jump away at any moment.

"And where exactly would you like to go? If you can move through walls, good for you, but I need a humanly possible path for myself" Ace said with a sneer for being interrupted, his concentration broken.

"I-No-I didn't mean it that way! We have to go back now since this is clearly the wrong way!"

"And how do you know that?" Ace asked raising an eyebrow. "Have you explored here previously and are just not telling us something?" He knew air was coming from somewhere but it could as well be a small passage the size of a hand through which no human could ever get past.

"That's not it" Dawn said entering the conversation with a shaky voice. She truly hated undead and because of it she had never been in this dungeon. Probably and wouldn't have done in her time of playing if not her guild being in such a pinch.

"Our comrades are most likely needing help so we can't just sit here and wait while you're playing around. Who knows if there's really something here? And you yourself said that you aren't much of a trapper which means secret doors are out of your reach too."

'Are they now?' wondered Ace unsure of their true motif. Were they really concerned or just hiding something? ‘I better stay here and find out.' That decided he jogged towards Monthu enjoying the glares drilling through his back.

"I think I'll stay here for the time being. You can go explore the other side in the meantime" he said that quickly glanced back to gauge the duo's reaction. They were surprised but quite pleased before managing to wipe the smiles of their faces. 'So they're really planning something. And me separating is a great thing. Could they be higher level than they've let on? It...'

"What's with the perplexed expression?" Monthu asked quietly. He wasn't whispering but neither was he loud enough for the two to overhear him.

Ace lowered his voice too before answering. "The idiot duo is thinking of betrayal. I'll trust you to survive that."

"And why do you feel the need to stay here right the moment they do?" Monthu asked pretty annoyed. He expected as much from the pair but why was the kid leaving. It would be much easier to face everything if he didn't have to protect Par and fight two people all by himself.

"They won't dare to act while I'm around" Ace said with a devilish smile. "I'm too much of a mystery. Besides this cave is interesting. It must be hiding some secrets. Or treasures!"

Monthu chuckled. "Yes, yes and I'm a mammoth. If you’re tired of being in such a large company, you could just say so" he said and turning around went to Par. Ace stood stunned for a second before shaking his head and flopping down right where he was standing, beside a heap of bones and a skull lying by his foot as if ready to eat it.

"What did he say to you?" Dawn asked coming over to him with Rover in tow. Ace wondered whether she was the one leading or just faking it. "You looked pretty surprised." "Ah. I just didn't expect him to take me for such a lowlife." "Does he not trust you? Aren't you friends" "We three are travelling together too but I wouldn't say there's a grain of trust between us. Same with him" Ace explained looking a bit down but trying to hide it.

"So he didn't like you deciding to stay? Will you be coming back with us then?"

Ace heard a bit of annoyance in her voice. She really wanted him gone. Well, he couldn't disappoint a lady, could he? "Nope. I do what I want and at the moment I'm staying here!" he said with a bright smile and took a flute out of his bag. It was old and tarnished but still worked so he didn't plan to get a new one. That is, of course, until he found and killed another bard and hopefully with a better preserved instrument.

He put it to his lips and a slow melody left the wooden shell. It shivered in the air as if full of fear and uncertainty but crept onwards, reaching for the sky. With time it grew stronger, more self-assured. A knight in shining steel armour riding his horse.

The notes rolled in the air, rising and falling repeatedly. Their perfection working against them. It created a dull sound; amazing yet boring for it lacked any emotion like a man defending the weak simply because it was said that it is right.

Then in a moment the melody transformed. A passionate man's beating heart came to life. It helped a widow save her son, farmer protect his sheep while dancing in the air, flowing all around.

The two then met and crashed. Notes fighting for supremacy, Ace's fingers pushing buttons as a third melody entered the fray. It was delicate and frail, a woman's touch, a smile. But it was strong in its own weakness; others stopping what they did, straining to hear it better until it was the only one talking, telling its tale.

And the story was at an end, the world falling beneath a gentle heart; beauty winning it all if not for the ugliness of men. A sudden jolt, an ear-piercing shout escaping from the flute. Broken sounds rushing out, notes unfinished in the hurry, or annoyance. Or anger and hatred. Love too deep.

They hit all the wrong places on one’s soul, making their faces scrunch in disgust. Feet to stretch out and leave. Get out.

It lasted for a while before a sorrowful moan escaped through the curses and like a tide the monster's feelings went into the open.

A sorrowful melody washed over the ground. The tear filled notes like waves hitting against the shore rocks, not able to break through; forced to return back. The place filled up with them, tired of being so useless, so powerless and weak. Unnoticed by everyone a single wave born of fury and rage rose above others. And crashed as uselessly as others had.

But no, something within had broken down.

The sound straightened out, leaving the hot red boiling rage behind. It became calm and collected with ice cold fury lurking beneath. The calculated violence making shivers run down the skeletons' backs.

It lasted for a bit longer; a treacherous smile, a wink. And then it was gone, leaving an eerie silence behind.

Ace sat quietly, enjoying the remnants of the story. It left a bitter taste in his mouth since he knew what was waiting for him once he opened his eyes. The story of the warriors, a girl and an unlikely suitor was far from finished.

Bones being dragged over an uneven ground made him swiftly stand up and look over his surroundings. He had expected to see the dead suitor but not over fifty skeletons beside him. What was he supposed to do with them all?

Taking an almost invisible step back he inspected his opponents. They were old and cracked, clothes - no, rags - dirty and torn, barely holding onto bones. There couldn't even be talk about armour or weapons. What some of them had could be best described as rusted sticks good only to give people infections.

"Who are you to sing of us? The legion of the dead" one of them asked. He was a little bit taller than others, a little bit less broken and just that much scarier. Ace could finally see for himself how much of the work blood red eyes actually did.

"I'm but a traveller playing a tune to keep boredom away" Ace said with a smile. In the meantime he activated [Excessive Heat] to warm himself up. There was a strange chill coming from these skeletons, something that hadn't happened with any other type of undead he'd met in the cave. "Why would you think it was of you?"

"We of the dead know."

"We? Wasn't that a tale of a single man wishing for a girl's hand? Something he should never have done."

"You human! Are you saying we lie?"

Ace tilted his head sideways. Was the skeleton just pretending or has it been so long that he had forgotten about his true self? Became one with the others? Was that even possible?

"A tale is a tale" he said good naturedly. "So everyone can understand it his own way." His eyes darkened. "But that was my story and if I say that it wasn't about your friends here then it means it wasn't" Ace hissed taking out his weapons and getting into a fighting position. It was a stupid idea to challenge a bunch of undead all on his own but it was getting boring.

"You know nothing!" the skeleton roared, his voice booming in the wide space.

Ace sneered. "And you know all? Oh, my mistake! I forgot that dying and rotting in a dungeon made people wise! All the great sages did this kind of thing, didn't they?"

His opposition looked taken aback by such a remark. "What does my time frame have to do with our argument?"

'Ha! So he knows he's a separate being!'

"Nothing" Ace said relaxing. "I was just testing whether you really were as stupid as you pretended with all that we of the dead or not."

"But I am of the dead."

"I can see that" Ace said in a deadpan voice, pointedly looking at the guy's protruding bones. "You don't need to remind me every time you open your mouth. Even your voice is hollow and sounds dead!"

"It does?"

"Yes!" Ace shouted out, flaying his arms in annoyance, almost slashing those who were before him. "Anyway why were you pretending to be dead? Well, more than you are now."

That seemed to remind the skeleton of something and a dark staff materialized in his hands. A dark gem glowed at the top of it. "You're good at making us forget who we are but you made a fatal mistake thief! You won't leave this place alive!"

Ace started to move the second he heard the word we. That's why he was able to evade a shadow ball by a hair's breadth and slash off a hand of a skeleton trying to grab him. As if having heard some silent command all the followers started moving and pointing their pathetic excuses for weapons at him. Or at least those who had. Others just tried to grab him. Unlucky fellows.

He cut at them with sharp daggers making their bones fall lifelessly to the ground.

"Ice Field!" he shouted out creating a frozen floor. Skeletons tripped over themselves returning to their heap of bones state. 'Why are they so weak?' Ace wondered dodging a rusted sword and breaking it in half.

It was pointless to take it seriously so he tried a dangerous stunt. Evading an attack from another skeleton he kicked it away and rushed towards the mage. He slipped past the hands and swords reaching out to him; rolling and jumping while his enemies shouted angrily.

Getting close he took out the Sai he'd used so long ago and embedded its main needle like point inside the eye socket of the skeletal mage. Its red eyes glowed brightly but his body froze in an instant.

"Tell your friends to cease moving or my hand might slip and break you skull apart" Ace said in a low voice, almost whispering.

A soft hiss, puff of air and the cave was enveloped in silence. Ace's breathing was the only thing disturbing it.

"Now that's much better. We might finally have a civil conversation!"

"If you want to kill me, just do it. I won't plead for my life."

"Of course you won't! You're already dead!" Ace said rolling his eyes. "What I want is an explanation. The dungeon passages shift, undead are of unequal level throughout one path and you here are extremely weak even though you should be the boss type. Mind telling me how that happened?"

"No!" the skeleton said bravely. He looked ready to spit on Ace if only he had had saliva.

The kid smiled brightly and shifted his weapon so the side blades brushed the face bones near the eye socket making a mark around it. "You sure you want to continue like that? I'm a good natured person but even my patience has limits." He pushed the Sai deeper in so it was touching the inner side of the back of magician's skull. One more push or twist would put the guy to eternal rest. Or as long as someone decided to re-summon him.

"Do it! I don't care!"

"Do you now?" Ace asked lowering the guy's head so their eyes were on the same level. "If you had wanted that, you would be resting now. You're the necromancer here, not some human. And that means you came back to life for a reason. So please tell me again how much you wish to die. I might just take you up on that offer."

"Shut up! Since when did children started to be so audacious? You know nothing about me! Shadow Spear!"

Dark matter surged towards the magician's hand, swiftly shaping into a spear. Ace saw it but was too close to have time to evade. It skewered his insides, lodging inside his stomach. He took notice of his health bar dropping by half in an instant but there wasn't much he could do about it. He couldn’t move an inch since the spear was holding him in place and if he let go of his Sai, he’d be dead meat.

"So now we're in the same position!" the skeleton cackled happily. "You're just a kid after all. Not able to kill even your enemies. Too innocent for the bitter business."

Ace looked at his opponent with disgust in his eyes. "I warned you. Repeatedly. All for the sake of giving you a helping hand but it seems my effort was in vain. Bye!" He pushed the dagger in, cracking the skull and making the glowing red orbs lose their light.

At the same time the dark spear disappeared and blood started to leave his body in a rush. With an annoyed look on his face he took out a lot of bottles and started drinking. He used the worst health potions since there was no danger nearby and there were too many of those in his backpack.

After some ten or so minutes he was done and lay sick on the cold floor. "I'm never drinking thirty bottles in one go ever again! I feel like I'm going to explode!" he whined to no one in particular and fell asleep. It was the quickest way to wait out until he was back to normal.

When his senses returned, he felt a presence nearby. 'I don't remember having company. Did someone from the group return?' he asked himself while yawning widely and opening his eyes up.

A few meters away a skeleton sat with his head bowed as if some heavy burden was weighting him down. "May I inquire who you are?" Ace asked, sitting up. The guy was a few feet taller than him even though he was hunched. 'How tall is he actually?'

"Froyan Harbert, fisher's son."

"Good to know but you've told me nothing. I would appreciate if you were a little more open than your master."

The warrior breathed a sigh but replied. "He was a necromancer from one of the cults. They had a tradition to kill themselves once they mastered the dead raising technique so they would be in a way immortal."

"That explains him raising dead while being one himself but why are you here? Shouldn't you have returned to the afterlife along with your companions?"

"They're not my friends. We just served the same master. And I haven't gone back because I have a reason to live. There are people to whom I still have to pay my respects."

Ace thought for a moment before a light bulb started to shine in his head. "Hahhaha! So the story wasn't about the mage guy but you! How did you manage to trick him into returning you back to the world of the living?"

"I died here. Just like so many others" the skeleton replied in a sad voice.

"You can tell those tales to your grandma," Ace said, yawning again. "Although I doubt even she would believe them."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at yourself. You're a freaking skeleton! Those don't walk around without a necromancer who summoned them around." Ace's eyes focused back on his opponent. "And yours just died."

A dark look passed the skeleton's face. "You like playing with fire kid, don't you?"

"Maybe" Ace said with a smile and stood up, jogging away to the other side of the cavern. He had to shout to be heard from over there. "But you know, how else would you find anyone to hear your story? And ask for help?"

"I don't need help" the skeleton refuted instantly.

"Really? That's great! See you some other time then!" Ace shouted out, not even looking back. He had taken out a few pieces of cloth and having bound them around his hands was trying to climb the wall. There were many handholds but they were extremely sharp and even the cloths were cut to pieces soon enough. 'That's not good. I need a better plan to find from where the air is coming from.'

His body moved on his own as [Evasion] activated, a sphere of dark matter exploding right where he had been standing. Ace turned around to see the skeleton guy having dropped his sword and holding the previous necromancer's staff. "So you've belonged to that cult too? That explains a lot, Froyan Harbert, fisher's son."

"Why did you come here kid? You're not welcome in the land of the dead."

"Don't you start with that nonsense too!" complained Ace. "I can go where I want and if you're going to try and stop me, you'll end up alongside your friend. You should raise him and ask how nice it is to have his skull broken into pieces."

"Are you here alone?"

"If you see anyone else around, please tell me since I can't."

"How did you hear the story? It's not the one written in the history books."

"I just played whatever came to mind" Ace said shrugging and turning back to the wall. "It's not like I knew it was going to bring undead back to life that’ll then target me."

"Who are you?"

Ace glanced back. "Can't you see? I'm a kid."

"You're lying" the skeleton stated raising his staff up.

"Maybe. But who said I have to go through with your interrogation? You keep your secrets to yourself and I keep mine. Equality should always be kept." He took a few steps back and tried running up the wall. It was almost uneven enough for him to succeed but his foot slipped and he fell down with an audible sound. "That was actually pretty stupid" he mused looking up at the wall without bothering to stand up.

Bones started to grind and push against each other and a skeleton was looking down at him. "What are you doing? Do you really give that little regard to my power?"

Ace laughed. "If you had wanted to kill me, you would have done that while I was sleeping."

"You sure are brave. And stupid"

"Those two tend to walk toe to toe. Now step away, I'm thinking."

"Why are you so intent on climbing that wall?"

"There's something behind it and I want to see what."

"Even if it's only a pile of bones?"

"Even then" Ace said firmly and sat up. There had to be a way to do it. He only had to find it.

The skeleton moved slightly and the wall started grumbling. It groaned for a while but stones moved and Ace saw a path open up before him.

"How did you do that?" he asked his companion. The skeleton had what could be counted as a smile but on his face looked like a scary grimace. "I live here. Don't you think I should I know my way around?"

"That's useful! Are you coming with me?" Ace asked jumping up and running to the opened up tunnel. Surprisingly it wasn't very dark. There were torches on both sides lighting it up. 'Who set them up and how?' Ace wondered as they seemed to be just put in. None were about to burn down.

"Why should I?"

Ace sighed in annoyance. "That pride of yours... Fine. If you can't ask for help, let's make a deal. You show me all the secret passages, lead to the treasure rooms and I'll support you in your quest. Does that sound better?"

"What are you playing at now?" skeleton guy asked with distrust.

"Nothing" Ace said rolling his eyes while being turned away from the guy. He didn't need to see it. "I'm an adventurer, I want to see the wonders of the world and become extremely rich. That's all there is to me being here."

"All for gold?"

"Those who have money control this world. I'm not naive enough not to know it. That's why I'm going to find many treasures and become the richest man alive!"

The skeleton cackled bitterly. "Dreamy youths. Do you truly believe you'll succeed with that laid back attitude of yours?"

"Well, I managed to get you on my side, didn't I?" Ace said with a confident smile.

"It would be just too cruel to leave you wander around these halls alone."

"Great!" the kid said smiling brightly and was about to go when a huge window popped up in front of his eyes.

"Kids..." muttered skeleton to himself while shaking his head before getting all serious. "My quest isn't an easy one. I'm looking for those who made me into this and stole my life away."

"Are they the four knight ghosts that reside in this dungeon?" Ace asked, too lazy to read the quest log for the moment.

"Not even close. Those traitors and murderers are still out there living like heroes in the city. I was never the good guy, but they were even worse! So how could they survive? And how blind people have to be to trust their words?"

The rant lacked any kind of useful information so Ace turned his attention to the quest log that had appeared before his eyes.

Ting!

*Undying Hatred

Once upon a time there lived a young man with his parents. He had to have married a long time ago but his heart belonged to a girl he could never have. She was the lord's daughter and he a fisher's son.

It was set in motion when the lord with his daughter walked around their grounds and stopped at the fisher's hut. The parents' talked while the kids sat by the river. They fell for each other in an instant but it was a doomed relationship. The two knew that yet couldn't abandon it either.

One day they couldn't take the hiding any more and decided to run away together. It was a perilous journey but after a long time they found a place to settle in. But it didn't even last for half a year.

Two knights came barging in to their home while the fisher's son was away and stole the lady away. They showed her a fake letter how her husband had actually asked her father money for returning her. They said her husband was just a kidnapper caring for nothing but money. She cried and cried and went with the saviours, truth bringers.

The man returned to find his lover gone, a large bag of money and a letter drowned in tears resting on the table. The fishes he'd caught fell to the ground and he started reading his wife's handwriting. Each word was like a nail in his coffin. She killed him that time. The man he had been was no longer.

The rage filled creature turned to evil arts, seeing the world through a red haze. He showed up to have a talent for magic and quickly became a well-known magician. But he wasn't satisfied.

One day he went to get his revenge. What he found was so nightmarish he wished he hadn’t gone there. He thought he cared nothing for her any longer but to see her married to one of the knights. It was too much. He went on a rampage, destroying everything in his sight. Knights being the priority targets.

That is why he didn't notice his wife sneaking up behind him and stabbing a dagger in his chest. She did it a few times too to make sure he really wouldn't make it. The man fell laughing as he saw recognition in the woman's face. It quickly turned to terror and the dagger slid out of her hand.

Over twenty years have passed since then but the man still cannot rest. He wants for his killers to find an earlier grave.

Difficulty level: C

Quest Requirements: Destroy the undead party without killling Froyan, earn his respect

Quest Rewards: Guidance in the Cave of Despair.

Book of The Dead

Special (?)

Warning! If you betray his trust, he'll turn into a ghost after death and will haunt you forever.

'That's one mountain of words' thought Ace feeling a bit sleepy after reading it all. 'Although, his story has a nice feeling to it. Revenge is always a good thing.'

"Can you tell me one thing?" Ace asked venturing inside the tunnel with a skeleton behind him. "Why are you here?"

"Before going to face the knights I knew that I might die so I made preparations. This place looked promising so I made the ritual and went out. If I were to die, my body would be transported here and resurrected. Everything went as I planned but one thing. This place was a cult's raising place. I could defeat even the leaders of it one by one but not all together so I bid my time. Some year ago four people like you came and killed everything. I hid in the shadows and survived but now they're standing watch over the exit so I can’t leave once again. It's re-"

"Wait, wait, wait! You mean those guys aren't ghosts?"

"Not even close. They only spread the rumour to lure adventurers like you in and kill them for items and fun."

A malicious smile emerged on Ace's face, his eyes started to gleam with a strange glow, turning dark purple.

"What's up with you kid? The fact that they're humans doesn't make them weaker."

"Oh, but it does!" Ace said gleefully. "Undead are immune to assassinations but... They wrote themselves a death sentence when they decided to stand in my way."

"You're weak. Don't expect them to just wait for you and die because your needle of a dagger touched them."

"I don't" Ace said still with a smile. "I just now know that all I need is a bit of luck, good use of resources in my possession and it will be done. They're not even close to being invincible."

The skeleton didn't seem to agree to that but kept his jaws shut. It was so long since he had last hoped for anything. The kid was a breath of fresh air and he planned to enjoy it as long as it lasted.

"Where do you want to go from here? This tunnel is actually a maze leading to all floors, but filled with dead ends and traps."

"Really? That's interesting" Ace said looking deeper in as if that would reveal all its secrets. "I suppose I want to go deeper in. Are there any creatures that would be around my level of strength which I could defeat?" It was an annoying thing that Npcs had no idea about numbered levels. For them, this was real life and in there people aren't divided by numbers meaning their power.

"With my help you could defeat two floors down or even more. Shall I lead you there?"

Ace nodded and was about to march off when he remembered something. "Aren't you going to call that lot to work for you?" he asked motioning towards piles of bones. "I've only damaged the necromancer." There was surprise on the skeleton's face as if he hadn't thought of that.

"Aren't you a necromancer too?" "I am..." the guy said and with doubt in his voice started to chant something. The words slipped from his mouth like snakes wounding around the fallen bones. They started to move and shake rising in the air to form human like shapes. Not five minutes later twelve warriors with rusted swords stood before them ready to do anything they're told to.

"That's nice" Ace said with a slight note of jealousy. "You have a personal army."

"Yeah..." the necromancer said looking in wonder at his own underlings. "Why didn't I ever think about this? If I can raise myself, I should be capable of raising others too."

"That's obvious" Ace agreed. "Although they're really weak. I'm not sure they'll be much of use but let's go. I want to see what else I can find in this dungeon."

The skeleton nodded and went before him to lead the way. Neither said another word, lost in their own worlds.

Ace wondered how his companions were. Monthu was a smart guy but quite easy to fool. 'Will he be able to see the betrayal before it happens? Hopefully or else I'll never hear the end of how untrustworthy I am.'

But he didn't regret his choice. This was going to be ten times more interesting than exploring with them. And he found a lot of useful information regarding the last bosses and even acquired a quest with some special reward depending on the outcome. It was really worth the trouble.

'Now if only I knew what I was facing, I could prepare.' But the skeleton walked quietly, most likely busy fending off his memories. Ace didn't feel like disturbing him and better went to explore his inventory.

It was full of random items that could hardly ever be of use but since it could carry so many of them and weighted almost nothing Ace wasn't planning to throw even a single one out.

The right corner was his food supply. A ton of everlasting barley bread, some herbs, bowls of water and a drinking cup.

Left side was occupied by gazillions of potions with all the effects possibly. Right underneath them poisons and untested liquids were stored. There were a good number of those since he hadn't tested the last bunch he'd made.

The bottom right side contained all kinds of random items starting with guitar chords and thread and finishing with coal and steel helmet.

His gaze lingered there for a bit longer, looking over all the items he'd acquired and remembering who'd lost them. There he noticed a book named diary.

Perry came to his mind and he quickly closed the bag menu. He hoped she was very far away from here and not coming back any time soon. Besides that, Romeo still needed to be taught a lesson. 'That guy hid the actions of Silver Wing's hunting group, which was quite dangerous. But that will have to wait till I return to Lasran.' As his thoughts circled around that city the diary came back to his mind once again.

The words written in it flashed through his mind. 'That fighting technique! How could I have forgotten about it! Idiot!'

Perry was a spellsword and had researched the strengths of it. She had created or found a way infuse any spell into a weapon which gave it wonderful passive abilities. The power behind these abilities wasn't decided by the user's statuses because it became a weapon's property so even a person with low intelligence could succeed in stunning his opponent or releasing a strong spell. It was all decided by the strength of the blow.

'How could I possibly have forgotten to test it out?' He shook his head dropping that thought away and found a suitable dagger. It was actually the training Sai. They had been resting for too long.

He had hoped to find a teacher and only after some training use them but it didn't look like it was going to happen in the near future and unused weapons become restless. They aren't made to be put on walls and admired. There's only one purpose for their existence and that is to fight. For good or evil, to save or to kill, it didn’t matter.

The necromancer suddenly stopped, making Ace stumble upon his own feet. He was about to ask what happened when the skeleton pressed his finger in a hidden crevice and the wall moved. Behind it was unlit darkness so Ace sent [Flare] to scout. There was nothing there.

"Is this the place?"

"Yes. Zombies should be somewhere not far from here."

"Great!" rejoiced Ace and debated which spell to use on the Sai. [Flare] would be best since it was a fire spell but then he'd be in total darkness which would be disadvantageous for him.

"Have you become afraid? I can always lead you up to the surface" the skeleton suggested.

"Not a chance." Ace said firmly. "I'm just annoyed that I can't see in the dark."

"You can't?"

"Well, of course! How should I be able to?"

"Shadows move and change create shapes and disappear, make this blind one see, Mystic Sight!"

*You have been affected by Mystic Sight!*

*Mystic Sight

It is a one-time ability to open someone's inner eye up.

There is a lot of speculation on this spells true nature and how it came to existence since a wizard is capable of using it only once in his lifetime, but nothing solid has ever been found.*

"Well, that's a very useful description" Ace muttered under his breath as his vision started to get cloudy. "Hey! What did you do to me?" he asked in anger as his heart started to beat faster.

He had become blind.

Fruitlessly he called upon [Flare]. It stayed pitch black no matter what.

"Calm down. It-"

"Is that all you can say? Calm down?" Ace asked in a hiss, holding his weapons before himself.

He strained to hear something but the dead didn't breath. If they wanted, they could stay forever without moving an inch and making a sound. His hatred for these vile creatures grew with every passing moment.