CHAPTER 1

What happened between then and now was all but a blur.

The creature had no recollection as to when it all first started. All it knew was that it was stuck; trap in its own perpetual hell of never ending death.

It had no sense of identity.

There was no 'I'.

There was no 'self'.

In its existence, all that mattered to it was to answer one thing; and that was to satisfy the call of slaughter.

To the creature, its desire to kill was its first and only option. There was no other choice other than to morph into a weapon of rage.

'Kill! ' demanded the nameless voice. Its spell hammering through the creatures thick but hollow skull.

And just like a puppet on a string, the nameless voice pulled the creatures gaze towards the east. Its inexistent eyes fixed upon the Iron Gates direction.

'Forward!' commanded the nameless voice.

Dragging its sword and feet, like the obedient pawn that it was, the fleshless foot soldier did what was told.

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Hurried footsteps could be heard a few meters away from the iron clad gates. It made multiple eerie screeching echoes, bouncing off of the walls of the vast dungeon.

With a loud bang, as the gigantic steel gates were closing, the noise eventually caught the attention of the other residents of the floor. Vampiric bats amongst many others stirred the air in panic.

With uneasiness, the reluctant squad of Weavers scurried their way through the entrance first choke point.

"This doesnt feel right." suggested the young man from the backline. "I think we should head back." He was holding a piece of a well-crafted birch staff and was cloaked in crisp white linen. Its light armor had trimmings of silver from its shoulder all the way to its edges. And although he was fairly medium in height, auburn hair, and was wearing a husk type haircut that made him look silly, the young man spoke with authority.

"Come on Rye, don’t be such a chicken! This is the just the first floor for fucks sake. Turn your paranoia meter down a notch, will you?" retorted Mason who was busy securing a belt into his ragged leather armor. "Don’t you even trust Edmond at all? We'll be fine for as long as he is here. Am I right, Ed?" Mason gave Edmond a bro-wink, pointing his newly sharpened left-hand dagger towards where the young man was standing.

It true. Mason wasnt lying when he said those things about Ed. Edmond was tall, burly, and built like a brick house. Taking the guy down would probably take a lot of effort. His crude iron-plated armor, helmet, and shield didn't do him justice. But regardless, Ed still looked impressively unbreakable. If it was solely about taking hits, they definitely could rely on Edmond's strength. No doubt.

"I got your back, Cap." assured Edmond.

And although the squad captain was still uneasy, Rye, seeing Edmonds willingness to do the heavy lifting made things less worrisome.

"Alright. But remember what we have talked about before coming in here. At the first sign of danger we---"

"Yeah yeah. We bail. We know. Geez. You sounded like a broken record there." Mason chimed.

"Shut it, Mase!" Elsie couldnt help but butt-in already. She felt like it was high time for someone to stop Mason from running his dirty mouth. "A 'yes' would have been sufficient, no?!" she rolled her eyes.

Rye was the sort of the over the top paranoid leader that everyone loved to hate and Elsie gets that. She knew that as their captain, Rye was simply trying his best to protect everyone in the group. And for Elsie, that was enough.

As their team captain, Rye's calculated decisions had been proven correct multiple times already.

Elsie remembered their earlier days when they were still climbing the Ladders of Eiya. Looking back, that same overprotectiveness was the same shield that kept them alive during those hard times. And for those instances, Elsie had nothing but gratitude towards Rye.

"Dont worry too much Captain. I will have my ready at all times. The second I see something hostile, I'll blow them right away with a flick, okay?" Elsie twirled her oak staff jokingly. Her platinum-toned shoulder length hair bounced as she posed.

Elsie imagined and animated the word from inside her head. Out of her tiny cusped hands, she released a tiny ball of star like fire. And three seconds later, a small sattelite, the size of a fist levitated approximately eight meters above their heads. It was like a hovering super lamp that followed Elsie whenever she moved.

The range of illumination wasn’t too shabby either. Its area of effect was enough for the entire team to see everything within the twenty meter radius, whether it was at the front, at the side or the back.

Vision was key. A staple for survival. And every Weaver out there, knew of this.

An hour and forty minutes in into their journey, it seems as if everything was moving according to plan. They've been grinding for loots with no hiccups so far until---

"Halt!" warned Arnulfo. He then placed his index finger vertically against his lips, mutely asking his teammates to not make a sound. "Be still... " he added; delevering the words like he was having a really bad case of sore throat. He then fell quickly onto his belly, nearly kissing the dirt as he docked.

This part was where Arnulfo excels at. The youngman had a knack for interpreting different range of vibrations from almost any source no matter how minute it was. His allowed him to analyze the slightest vibration that he could pick up. It doesnt matter if the source was from the ground, under water, or in the air. Utilizing his heightened senses, he's able to assess any incoming danger accurately.

"About a hundred twenty meters ahead of us... Nineteen... No... Twenty pairs of footsteps are huddled in one area." Arnulfo reported. His findings and recommendation were swift. "It's a Captain. I am sure of it." Arnulfo was already on his feet half a second later. He had a really worried expression across his face and for valid reasons. "We should leave, Captain....and I mean right this instant!"

A cluster of roaming armed skeleton mob or as they were popularly called around these parts were nothing to joke about. It has been recorded that a can easily trample a platoon of skilled Weavers, let alone a squad. So, their chances of survival if they ever come face to face with one would be nil.

"Oh come on! We just got here." Mason said frustratingly. "So far we've killed more than thirty skeletons. Twenty more shouldn't be a big deal, right? And look here, I mean all five of us have well developed , have we not? It can’t be that hard to destroy them with our combined strength? Agree?"

Mason was obviously not happy with the team’s lack of resolve to gamble. He just thought that it would be a waste of their effort to come all the way there and then leave just barely two hours after coming in. The loots they've gained at that point would not be enough to even compensate for their trouble. Not to mention the cost of their item preparations prior to the trip.

"I am not sure about that Mase. I have seen already what a Funeral Parade can do, and it did not end up pretty for those who have underestimated its strength. I've seen a party of ten men get annihilated right before my eyes. So mathematically, our squad wouldnt even have a fighting chance." Arnulfo countered. "Did you suddenly forget where we are right now? We're inside a Necropolis, Mase. And unlike outside, the monsters around here are three to five times stronger than the ones outside."

"I know that smart ass!" Mason snided. "But I think it would be a waste just to..."

"Mason, stop!" Rye just had about enough of Masons attitude. "Last I checked, I am still the one in-charge of this team. And as your captain, whether you like it or not, you will follow my lead. I am sorry, but this quest ends here."

Elsie could swear that Rye's eyes were about to shoot fire the way he looked at Mason. She was a bit shocked to see Rye act this way. Maybe the guy just couldnt take anymore of Mason's bullshit like most of them were.

Mason was supposed to make a snide comment back to retaliate, but then---

“Oi guys! Under your feet! Watch out!” shouted Arnulfo.

It all happened too suddenly. Five skeletons un-warningly sprung out of the dirt beneath their feet. It was so quick that one of the skeletons almost snatched Elsie’s neck right off.

Fortunately, despite his heavy frame, it was a good thing that Edmond was light on his feet . The burly young man immediately counter-acted and saved Elsie.

Like an arrow in motion, the party's mobile 'brick house' rushed into the scene. Ed pushed Elsie towards the left side of the formation, successfully cutting the advance of the enemy from reaching the female Weaver. That, plus blocking off the three other skeletons with his shield all at once.

“Whoa that was close!” exclaimed Elsie. She immediately checked her neck for cuts.

“A little help here.” pleaded Edmond with a forced quezzy smile. The shielder was glad to see that Elsie wasn't hurt but he was also being hammered by three unrelenting steel swords and that was not something to be happy about.

From the looks of it, Ed would not last long if the barrage would continue inspite of him applying a stack of lucis on top of his crude shield. He direly needed the assistance.

Barely recovering from being half shoved down the dirt, Elsie quickly drew a portion of lucis from within her reserved aura pool, allowing it to flow freely through her staff. She was gasping for air but she immediately took control of her breathing.

The petite linker was trying her best to steady her grip onto the staff as she stood while she completes the spell inside her head. Closing her eyes, she willed her hellish construct to existence like the way she imagined it.

With an explosive force, multiple tentacles of fiery chains suddenly shot up from the gravel. Elsie's construct shackled the undead, rendering them immobile, while its fiery chains slow burned them to a crisp.

As if on cue, Edmond retreated two steps back to ready his stance. With triple layers of lucis applied unto his shield, he rammed straight into the the group of rooted flaming undead, hitting all three of them like a rampaging locomotive.

With the skeleton's armor weakened by Elsie's fiery chains combined with the Edmond's shield smash, the three skeletons crumbled into ashes.

Meanwhile, on one corner of the battle, mini-spheres of pure white light bombarded one armored skeleton to submission.

On the other corner, appearing and disappearing like a shadow, the masked twin-blader overwhelmed his opponent with speed.

Respectively, Rye and Mason each fought off an undead all on their own.

It has been said that Skeleton Warriors when inside the Necropolis can be pretty formidable. No thanks to the dungeons default territory buff, their overall prowess were amplified three to five times over because of it. That's what made dungeon mobs so dangerous even in small numbers. Plus, this group just now surprised them.

Thankfully, all of them reacted swiftly and fought the enemy squarely. If they werent seasoned Weavers, someone might have potentially died during that unexpected fight. They were lucky that they came out unscathed.

With the battle over, Arnulfo came out of his stealth mode.

"How was my Ed? Pretty good, huh?"

Ed chuckled. "I thought I lost weight or something coz my steps were lighter. So that was actually you man? Nice!" the tank then high fived their ranger.

It wasnt intentional, but Rye, Ed, Arnulfo, and Elsie simultaneously gave Mason the look. And to Mason, he knew exactly what those 'looks' were for.

"I know. Let's bail. Damn it."

They didn't have to discuss anything anymore. Each one of them knew exactly what the risk would be if they were to stay.

And just like that, the squad took off and left the dungeon in a hurry. None of them looked back.

At the gate, the moment that they were outside, the squad immediately took a break. Water flasks were popped open and food rations were distributed fairly amongst the five of them.

"It's not here." complained Elsie so suddenly. She was balancing on one hand her beet burger, as the other rummaged through her sling bag.

"Which one?" Rye inquired.

"The luminite that we found earlier. I must have dropped it while fighting. I am such a dumb-dumb!" Elsie admitted. Her shoulder dropped as she pouted.

"That's too bad. You could have easily sold it off at the auction house for a decent 80 gold coins minus the tax." commented Ed with a chuckle. The guy was an expert in delivering one.

"Yeah. I guess. Those skeletons! Ugh! I hate them. But oh well... there's no use crying over that now. At least I get to keep my pretty slender neck with me today. I think that's far better than having 80 gold coins." Elsie consoled herself with her own remarks. Deep down though, she would have liked to pocket that extra 80 gold. It would have covered her three months rent if only she had not lost it.

"I agree. There's nothing more important than surviving yet another day."Rye smiled." Quickly. Let's all finish here so we can start moving again. We have to reach Crogon's Pass before nightfall."

The team nodded in unison. They all left the base camp fifteen minutes later.

Back at the dungeon, darkness ruled once more.

There, at the very center of the recently concluded battle, a lone creature stood.

It was late. Its rage was no longer needed. And so, it waits yet again for the nameless voice. It awaits its orders. But suddenly, something piqued its interest. There appears to be a peculiar slab of mineral lying on the gravel where the rest of its fallen comrades were. And from that same mineral, came a low pulsating white light, throbbing steadily like a heartbeat.

Under normal circumstances, the fleshless foot soldier would have paid no heed to such stimulus. It was trained to just stay stoic til its next order. However, something strange happened. Something changed.

Somehow, the warm glow of the white mineral compelled the creature to move under its own accord. And as if to rebel, the skeleton picked up the mineral with its own bony hands.

Inside, the creature was struggling to reconcile its new found freedom. It knew from the start that it had no business being independent, and yet there it was. The creature was able to decide for itself, picking up the tiny mineral using its own will.

The skeleton didn't know exactly what was happening, but it realized one thing... that something immensely powerful was interfering with his motor functions.

It was becoming clear to the creature that this was not his Masters doing. This was different. This 'will' could only come from another independent source. And this force gave the skeleton all the power it needed to choose for its own.

To the creature, having a choice was something that it was accustomed to. Having the power to invoke one was even more puzzling.

Suddenly, dazzling beams of warm light flew out of the mineral. An explosion of colors shot towards every direction, and the cave instantly danced as if it was alive.

As the luminite filled the place with an unbelievable glow, the lone skeleton soaked up all the energy that the mineral had to offer. Not a ray was wasted. The skeleton devoured it all until the very last pulse.

For what seemed like an eternity, the lights that dazzled the dungeon's first floor dissolved into nothingness. Standing tall and immobile once again, the lone skeleton stood there dumbfounded.

What happened next was nothing short of amazing.

Suddenly rediscovering a part of its 'self', the creature instinctively ran towards the east to where the heavy steel gates were. When it arrived there, it took all of its strength to open the exit. And by the time the creature was out of the steel gates, someone from the dark corners of the Silver Woods was already there... waiting.

As if on cue, the man came out of hiding to greet 'him'.

"The Lord awaits you. Come. Follow me."

Miles away, while all of that was unfolding, unbeknownst to the two, someone from atop the hill, a tall figure dressed in crisp elegant white suit, was watching.

"So... it begins."

With a grin, the man in the shadows leisurely opened its blood tinted parasol to a bloom.

The mysterious man then turned its gaze away from the scene while whistling a kind of tune that would make anyones skin crawl. The tall figure then slowy faded away into the covers of the Silver Forest; vanishing without a trace.

That night, it rained.