They carried on into the ruins, fighting statues or dodging traps. Jason got quite a few levels from it.

‘Ding’ You have levelled up. [Phantom Swordsman Lv 45 – Lv 49]

20 Stat points gained.

‘Ding’ You have levelled up. [Bone Manipulator Lv 1 – Lv 7]

18 Stat points gained.

‘Ding’ [Spacial Strike 2nd Tier Lv 4 – Lv 7]

‘Ding’ [Phantom State Lv 14 – Lv 17]

‘Ding’ [Ghostly Swordsmanship Lv 5 – Lv 9]

‘Ding [Bone Manipulation Lv 1 – Lv 5]

‘Ding’ [Dense Bones Lv 1 – Lv 4]

‘Ding’ [Pain Resistance Lv 1 – Lv 3]

He had spent most of his Stat points into Dexterity, wanting the speed and grace that came with it; it had been Ilis’ suggestion. I bet it’s her highest Stat.

The mood was upbeat. They had been taking down monsters without any trouble. His teammates were obviously experienced; they didn’t rush like he sometimes did. Every encounter would be approached with careful decisiveness, which meant that they didn’t get injured or spend too much energy. Jason on the other hand, was spending his Mana and Stamina in buckets. It was the biggest downside to his combination of abilities; he would have to start putting most of his points into Wisdom and Endurance.

They walked down a hallway, with him at the lead. He was carrying a torch to allow them to see, but it didn’t help much, as it ruined his night vision – It also made all the creepy paintings much worse. They were everywhere, gnashing images of monsters like the statues, or twisted abominations of people. Falan was looking pale, and Falisty seemed twitchy. Brand and Ilis were fine though, even interested. Jason tried to not look at the pained faces of the monster people, but got goosebumps every time it inevitably happened. The torchlight’s flickering made them all seem to move, which was why Jason fully expected it to happen. He had seen enough movies and books to know that was the only outcome.

So, they walked and walked, each moment stretching on forever. Until, they stepped out into a room. Everyone but him breathed a sigh of relief; he whirled around to stare down the hallway. “Wait, that’s it?”

Falisty’s staff extended and bonked him on the head. “Be grateful for it, idiot.” He shot her an annoyed glare.

“I was ready for the paintings to come to life! I must have broken a world record for how long I was holding my breath in there.”

He stopped when he realised what he just said, and saw the others had noticed it as well. “World record? Is that a thing?” Ilis asked.

He quickly waved his hand. “Sorry, it’s just a joke from home.” They glanced at each other and shrugged, moving into formation again. The new chamber was different compared to the ones before. Again, it had the statues, which Jason kept in his vision at all times, but it also had life. Every single one before had been barren, but this?… Mushrooms, moss, grass and vines sprouted as if the hard stone was tender soil. It didn’t make any sense, but, this was a world full of magic.

Jason heard Falisty’s gasp, and he turned to see her eyes were wide. “Now this is interesting… How are these growing?” She hurried forward, breaking away from the team, as he and the others hurried to catch up with her. She knelt down, running her fingers through the plant life. “Hmm… I think It might be earth magic! I can use this!”

Jason looked at her confused, before it clicked. Her second Class. He nodded, there was synergy between that and her Wood Manipulator Class.

Falan sighed, and sat down next to her. “Well? Explain then.” They both started having a whispered conversation, while Brand stepped up next to him. He anticipated the usual back slap by using [Phantom State], causing the man to trip. He quickly turned around with a laugh.

Jason rubbed his shoulders. “Brand you do that so often you’re going to leave a mark.”

He spread his arms. “Well, then you’d really be one of us then! You’d have our symbol!” Jason, blinked and looked at Ilis who was shaking her head.

“No, it’s not our symbol, Brand thinks when we all ‘inevitably’ become famous, it’ll make signing autographs a breeze.”

The man was nodding vigorously, his eyes twinkling. “So, what do you think Jason? A hand is striking isn’t it?”

Jason smiled at his antics. “No, I don't think so. If we ever do get famous, please don’t make me slap people.”

Ilis glanced down at their two murmuring teammates. “Do you want to go ahead by ourselves Jason? We’re the lowest level out of everyone here, so we could use this to catch up.”

He immediately nodded. “Let’s do it. You’ll be alright Brand?”

He waved them off “Of course, I’ll keep an eye on these two – You go and have fun,” he added with a small smirk.

Jason snorted, but stopped when he saw Ilis’ sly smile. Wait what. She jerked her head at him, towards the door, and started walking while his mind was catching up.

A slap on his back sent him staggering forward; he shot the amused culprit a glare and hurried over. The young woman was already blasting apart one of the statues, and he jumped to help.

They finished after a few minutes, being well practised by this point. Ilis looked over to him and nodded, before continuing. The hallway they entered was wide, and slippery. The moss had spread, and if trodden on carelessly, could result in a wet bum. Jason led the way with his torch, Ilis following close behind.

Jason’s thoughts were on Ilis’ smile from before. He wasn’t sure on what exactly he should do; he was certain that he was overthinking it. What he usually did in these situations, was just be direct. It often worked out, if a little awkwardly.

“So… did your reaction before mean anything? Or was it just a bit of friendly teasing?”

He could feel her stare on his back. “It was a bit of fun, although that doesn’t mean I’m… disinterested?”

“Ah good. I – you know – don’t know you very well. I’d be uncomfortable dating anyone so quickly.”

She didn’t respond to that. He sighed, and went back to looking out for dangers.

After a couple of minutes of silence, he stepped and heard a click. He immediately used [Phantom State], and his eyes nearly popped out as the floor turned to dust. “Ooooooh fuuuu-” The wind smothered his voice, and his torch flickered to almost nothing. The howling in his ears got worse, and distantly, a part of him was babbling. –Something heavy – matter can pass through – terminal velocity? Everything went quiet. The change was startling. He took a moment to go through the motions of taking deep breaths. I guess I don’t need air like this. He was surrounded by a uniform pressure that was steadily wearing on him. Where am I? It was like he was deep underwater… His heart dropped, as an idea pushed into his thoughts. I fell through the floor. He remembered when he’d been inside the rubble in Frogob; he had just stood up from that, so maybe that would work here? He tried doing so, but nothing happened. He began to feel like he was being choked. How was he supposed to get out? A mad plan came to him, however he didn’t give it a second thought. If this doesn’t work, I’m instantly dead or I’ll stay here forever. He deactivated [Phantom State] – He could feel that it was different than usual. He didn’t become solid immediately, leaving him in a weird in-between reality position. He was getting the sense that he was moving, swirling in one direction and then another.

After flailing desperately for a few minutes he felt something. A sudden scratching over his hand, causing him to instinctively recoil. He stopped deactivating his State, and stared. Nothing should hurt me? I’m probably like the Phantoms from the castle though. They could be hurt by the Minx – I’m sure it used Space magic, since it’s very similar to my [Spacial Strike]. What was it that Falan said? These ruin’s rooms shifted? Could it be…? He decided to assume it was, that

would mean that the scratching sensation was the Space magic outside the room. So, if he moved away from it, he should be going in the right direction. He immediately dropped his [Phantom State], but still didn’t have any control over it over his movement through the stone. He tried to control what parts of him were becoming solid, but It was nigh impossible. He had to continue though, there was nothing else to do after all.

To his utmost relief, it became easier over time, and soon, he was solidifying his front to push him away. He didn’t know how fast he was going; he could only hope that the others wouldn’t leave him behind.

He gasped as he popped into the light, and he slammed his State off before flopping onto the ground. He realised he had begun sobbing, shaking. He was a blur of emotions too fast to name – He took his time.

When he was able to think relatively calmly again, the notifications came.

‘Ding’ [Phantom State Lv 17 – 2nd Tier Lv 3]

Phase your body partially out of reality, allowing strikes to pass through, or cause less damage than they would. Requires Mana and Stamina.

2nd Tier: You can now control which parts of yourself phase in and out of space.

‘Ding’ [Space Resistance Lv 1 – Lv 3]

He swallowed, and stood up, glancing over to where his torch was. Amazingly, it was still flickering. He had no idea how long he had been stuck inside, and he didn’t want to know – he didn’t want to think. He picked up the light, blowing to make it flare, and raised it above him. It revealed a cavernous room, with a pool of muddy water in the corner. He looked up, searching for the hole he must have fallen down from, except there was nothing. He stared for a moment, before glancing at the wall next to him, briefly considering using his new ability. He shuddered. I’ll find another way. He chose a tunnel at random, and started to walk down it.

He stumbled a lot along the way, and spotted things scuttling away from him. Whatever they were, they were not normal bugs nor crustaceans. The rocky tunnel started to change: Water started to drip from the ceiling, the stone became crunchy and jagged, the smell of salt grew. He paused when he pieced the information together, and peered at the walls again. Barnacles? “Eurgh…” He carried on, doing his best to ignore the parasites.

Finally the tunnel came into a room that was shaped like a bud – but didn’t look nearly as pretty. The Barnacles ran in lines from the top of the room, where a blue flickering light came through. They flowed down, and spiralled into a hole in the middle of the area. The pit was filled with black water, and he saw nowhere else to go. Sighing, Jason walked closer. ‘Crunch, crunch, crunch’. He winced with every step; the sound felt horrible in the near silent space. He finally got close, and the smell of salt grew stronger. He eyed the brackish liquid. After weighing his options for a minute, he turned around and started walking back. ‘Click, click’. He paused, and looked back, nothing there. He continued. ‘Click, click clickclickclickclick. He started to run, the floor blurring underneath him… until he tumbled over. He couldn’t stop himself, it was like the floor was moving.

As a cacophony of sharp noises filled the air. He rose up and his gaze followed the crawling mass of barnacles down into the hole. “Any other time? I would totally be up for this.” He bit his lip, the pain helping him to focus… and was completely unnecessary as he summoned his bone sword. He shouted at the jagged sensation, quickly activating [Phantom State]. The feeling went away, and sudden inspiration came to him. He willed everything except his hand to become solid again, and his Mana and Stamina drain decreased substantially. Not bad. He grinned, as he finished forming his blade.

He looked back to the pool, waiting to see what monster would emerge. He was not disappointed. A hand slapped onto the floor, another one following it, then another...then another. Shambling figures that were completely covered in barnacles rose to their feet.

‘Ding’ [Parasitic Brack-Walker Lv ??]

‘Ding’ [Parasitic Brack-Walker Lv ??]

‘Ding’ [Parasitic Brack-W…

More kept coming, but he was already slicing through them. He used his 2nd Tier [Spacial Strike], launching it through the crowd. A lot of them staggered back, however, the distortion didn’t reach very far. So, he continued the offence, blasting them back. At some point, an entire row of them simply collapsed into pale piles of meat. He took a moment to breathe, smiling. Then the barnacles began to efficiently reconstruct the flesh, and his expression fell. That was when he knew this was a lost fight. None of his abilities countered regeneration. He could only keep slashing until they ran out of energy, which he found unlikely to happen. He spun around and sprinted out of the room, sending a criss-cross of cuts at the entrance ceiling. It didn’t quite cause the stone to collapse, so he had to send one more before leaving. Through the sound of the rocks crashing, the clicks grew louder. He glanced behind him to see the Barnacles wriggling through the cracks, no longer attached to their bodies. Fuck. He continued running. However, the barnacles that lined the tunnel walls were coming to life, wriggling and undulating together. He focused on running while using [Phantom State] to deal with any threats.

He made it back into the cavern he’d fallen into, and chose another tunnel to run down. He absorbed his sword again, as it was only a burden, and he needed every bit of speed he could pull out to escape the hungry tide of parasites behind him. He glanced back, it had become faster as more barnacles joined the wave. The fact that his footsteps produced no sound in his State, made the gnashing clicks wobble his precarious determination. He kept running, up and up, around corners, over boulders, through grass and-

“Jason!”

He staggered, his eyes widening in shock as he saw his team. They all had expressions of horror, which confused him, until he remembered why as the wave enveloped him, filling his ghostly form with grasping suckers. His world became the slimey sounds of barnacles writhing, and he flailed desperately. He was screaming when a sudden blast of freezing magic washed over him, the barnacles exploding as they rapidly dropped in temperature. His view slowly cleared, as Falan grimly walked forward, the parasites dying by the thousands.

He looked from him to the woman kneeling in his face. Her ginger hair was plastered to her flushed face; her eyes were wide and she was saying something to him. “… can drop it now Jason. Falan’s got them all.”

He blinked and looked over his shoulder to see the elf mention had actually returned, and was standing a few metres away, worriedly watching him. Jason’s gaze moved around the group. Falisty was looking more furious than he’d ever seen her, and her eye twitched when she met his gaze. Brand was not smiling; he looked like he was close to tears. His attention returned to Ilis, who was still watching him. “Not yet…” he rasped.

Bells boomed in his head.

‘Ding’ You and your team have defeated [The Parasitic Tide Lv 150]

Less experience is earned due to your group.

‘Ding’ You have levelled up. [Phantom Swordsman Lv 49 – Lv 57]

40 Stat points gained.

‘Ding’ [Spacial Strike 2nd Tier Lv 7 – Lv 11]

‘Ding’ [Phantom Shift 2nd Tier Lv 3 – Lv 11]

‘Ding’ [Ghostly Swordsmanship Lv 9 – Lv 12]

‘Ding’ You have levelled up. [Bone Manipulator Lv 7 – Lv 23]

48 Stat points gain

‘Ding’ [Bone Manipulation Lv 5 – Lv 8]

‘Ding’ [Dense Bones Lv 4 – 6]

‘Ding’ [Pain resistance Lv 3 – Lv 6]

‘Ding’ You have unlocked the General Ability [Fear Resistance Lv 1]

You have faced terrifying beings, and your body has begun to adapt.

‘Ding’ [Fear Resistance Lv 1 – Lv 8]