Not waiting for the abomination to exit the ground, Sora spun her wand around, sending a sheen of multi-colored light at the undead giant for it to only disperse against a red aura and a text to pop into existence.

[Immune]

Sora’s mind blanked, vision darting left and right as the monsters roared, seemingly cheering on their rising champion. “Uh…”

“I got it!” Aiden yelled, dashing forward with Kari.

“Ha, we’ll see who—why are there so many more enemies lining up in front of me?”

Sora sent more sparkles at the slow-moving enemies closing in around Liz, yet unlike the previous ones that instantly died, they were left with a quarter of their health. “Liz, run to me!”

“Why don’t I have any attacks?!” the Vulpes cried, ears pulled back while trying to dodge the grasping undead and make it to her.

“Grraahrh!”

Fur standing on end, Sora’s gut tightened as she turned to see Kari thrown back; a bulk of the enemies surrounded the giant abomination while emerging from the floor, and the Fenris Wolf flipped around to land on her feet, trying to push against the pressure.

“Ugh… I can’t… get past…”

With a small circular shield in his left hand, an aura of fire surrounded the knight as he pushed beyond the wall. “I can blaze a—”

“Brugrah—ergrhhr!”

The abomination emerged from the floor, pounding its chest and stomping its feet, causing all of them to hit the ground, including the undead, ghosts cycling above in a whirlwind; in the next instant, the gun on its arm blasted, pointed at its own chest for it to stumble back, more blasts striking the walls.

A tremble shook the room, parts of the stone coliseum collapsed to reveal a path further inside, and several undead were crushed by the falling debris.

“W-What just happened?” Kari muttered, scrambling back to her feet as the abomination fell over and began struggling back to its feet.

Sora had to stumble to her right to retrieve her dropped wand, destroying the ghosts flying down to attack them. “It—it shot itself?!”

“Damn, this thing is big!” Aiden grunted, several feet from the fallen abomination. “I’ll draw its—ack!”

Aiden held up his shield as the creature’s flailing gun arm blindly struck out to connect—his shield shattered on impact—Sora’s eyes widened as Aiden’s fiery figure collided with five zombies before smashing into a wall.

“What the hell?” Kari shouted, now dancing around the abomination’s thick leg, punches showing Immunity. “It’s impossible to do damage?”

“Aiden!” Liz cried, leaving Sora’s side to run to the Firebird’s side.

Sora did her best to follow while dodging the grasping undead and clearing her path; Nari’s magic was limiting them to such an insane degree that they were practically human. “Liz—you have to heal him by singing.”

[+2 Bronze Coins]

[+1 Bronze Coin]

“How can I sing when he’s thrown like that—ack—dammit!”

A ghost slashed out, sending her to the ground and dropping her health to 82% before Sora destroyed it.

Now struggling to his feet, Aiden forced a laugh, much of his red armor showing signs of cracking. “Erg—okay, nope! I don’t think we’re supposed to be fighting this thing yet—we out! Kari!”

“I heard you—my ears aren’t dead,” she growled, dodging around his swings as the giant righted itself, looking for them. “What exit—there’s two!”

Sora pointed to the closest one to Aiden. “The closest! There should be better weapons and stuff as we kill these things and find treasure.”

Kari was incredibly fast, sliding around or going through the undead to join them at the hole, and they weren’t alone; the abomination roared again, charging at them.

“Go! Go!” Aiden shouted, still somehow holding onto his sword while bringing up the rear with Kari.

Getting a clearer picture of the 1st-floor hallway they were entering, the first thing she noticed was how big the corridor was—it could totally fit the invulnerable giant—and right off the bat, to the right of the devastation was a statue of a three-headed dog twice the size of a human.

Recalling Merchant White’s statement, she decided to test it out and sent a spray of stars in that direction. “This way!”

[Statue of the Beast 1/8]

They entered the space, lined by pieces of art showing rather silly Undead pictures, like farmer families, making faces and posing in unusual positions; similar artwork was all around them, and as she ran, Sora tested what would happen if she destroyed various pieces.

[+2 Undead Hunter Reputation]

[Neutral with Undead Hunters]

[+4 Undead Hunter Reputation]

[Hidden Bonus: Destroy 5 Undead Artwork

[+2 Silver Coins; +6 Undead Hunter Reputation]

“We need to destroy as much stuff as we can!” Sora called out.

“Eh-hehe, Sora,” Aiden yelled, “we’re kind of being chased by an invincible—shit!”

It broke through the wall, sending pieces of rubble flying everywhere and trampling some of the zombies. “Murrgruuu!”

The abomination held up his volatile arm as it pulsed with red light, and Sora didn’t miss the blackened hole of charred flesh in its chest.

“Watch out!” Kari yelled, jumping to the wall as Aiden shoved his sword in his scabbard to pick up Liz and run to the opposite side of the hall; they swiftly outpaced the normal monsters.

Skipping and twirling around, Sora sent a blast of stars toward the advancing Undead, but they dispersed into sparkles six meters from its casting location. You gotta be kidding me!

The cannon followed Kari, insides flaring for it to suddenly release a hiss of smoke, and the Fenris Wolf managed to slap a painting off the wall in their flight, redoubling her pace upon touching ground.

[+4 Undead Hunter Reputation]

“The hell is it doing?!” she yelled.

Sora shook her head, a small smile lifting her lips as the abomination lifted its arm in confusion, smacking it a few times before hitting the cannon against the wall in frustration, sending a crack up its length and collapsing the ceiling on it.

“Hah—hahaha!” Slowing to a stop, she swallowed the sticky saliva in her throat. “Did that really just happen?”

Aiden slowed, HP down to 70%, and down a few armor pieces that had broken away. “Pfft… hehe, it’s so stupid—”

Kari ran past both of them, smacking their shoulders while jogging backward. “Let’s go, idiots! You think that thing is going to be stopped by that? Hallway—to the right!”

Sora’s ears twitched as she heard the shifting rumble, stone blocks moving aside for a low grumble to transfer through the floor. “Still—haha, that’s so funny—I’ll take out the ghosts that get in range since I can almost one-shot them…”

Liz started her stumbling melody, creating a small pink circle at least 3 meters wide that would heal anyone in range, forcing her to be closer than they’d probably like.

“Nice!” Aiden grinned, giving her a thumbs up. “I’m good—eh-heh, well, not my armor, but—yo, Sora!”

Sora screeched to a stop as a cracked wall was revealed after Kari destroyed a large painting of a race car driver holding a trophy. “I see it!”

Blasting it as Kari and Aiden barreled into the blocks, it gave in to reveal a small chest that the Fenris Wolf snatched up. “Dead end—right hallway!”

Backtracking the short distance, they saw the hand of the abomination burst through the pile as it pushed itself out, yet they were beyond sight before it broke free.

Liz continued to heal them, which took longer than Sora expected, only restoring a single point of HP every 9-second tick—the hair clip reducing it by 1, and Aiden was 50/68 HP, while Sora sat at 20/20.

“Umm, I think if I get hit by that thing—I’m done for!”

“Yeah,” Aiden chuckled, opening the chest to find a replacement shield with slightly more polish. “Sweet—a +1 Defense replacement—thanks, Emi!” The chest vanished into light particles, leaving the item in his hand. “We need to find a place—oh, a statue!”

“Got it!” Sora called, sending her stars to shatter the item.

[Statue of the Beast 2/8]

Kari kept smashing through things on their path to build their reputation with this Undead Hunter faction, looking for more hidden spots. “You see that hole in the dude’s chest—Undead ahead!”

Out of two coffins on either side of the hall came more zombies, closing and opening to reveal more.

“Spawner?” Sora asked.

Aiden slid his sword out of his scabbard, slapping at his side to twist his wrist and grab it out of the air; he twirled it around until it went flying away from his untrained fingers. “I got the—shit! I got it,” he grumbled, snatching it off the floor as it skidded forward. “Check it out!”

Slamming his hilt against his shield, a red pulse hit the eight green zombies, causing a similar aura to go around them; all of their attention was now centered on the Firebird. “I got a taunt; handle the spawners!”

“Should we?” Kari questioned, smacking the casket to the left of the corridor. “Shouldn’t we just run past; they’re slow?”

Sora lifted her hand to spin her wand in a small circle as Aiden gathered them. “Love rains from the heavens!”

A pink circle formed above the throng for hearts to rain down and stab into the Undead, making quick work of them, but Sora could see her shining diamond necklace’s glow diminishing.

“I need time to regenerate my Star Power—I think that’s what it’s called? If we keep up at this pace, I’ll run out—oh, no…”

She felt the tremors in the earth and roaring of the abomination nearing; Kari broke the first casket, sending wood flying everywhere to reveal another treasure chest that appeared in its place as the other opened to show an angry green zombie.

“To the next hallway!” Aiden shouted, ushering Liz to follow him to the left; ahead was a small army of slow-moving zombies that would certainly sandwich them if they continued.

Running after him, Sora saw Kari toss a shiny object and snatched it out of the air.

“Here—think this is for you, Magic Girl!”

“Hehe, thanks! Oh, a tiara—yes!”

“What does it do?” Aiden asked, Liz still trying to restore his lost health.

“Star Regeneration +15% with a meter increase on range and AoE!”

“What’s AoE?” Kari called back, making it into the next corridor to see its walls filled with tapestries. “Oh—I saw this one video one time—look for a hidden room behind one of these we can hide in!”

“Haha! I’m surprised you came up with that,” Sora called, setting her tiara in place that curled perfectly behind her ears to remain steady. “Also, I’ve got no idea what AoE means, eh?”

Above them showed a large text at the inquiry.

[Area of Effect]

“Oh, cool!” Aiden laughed, taking the right side as Kari took the left, punching the banners to see if any were hollow behind. “So like that heart attack you got.”

“I guess?” Sora returned, destroying the zombie statues and paintings as the two melees searched for a hiding place; just to test what they’d get, she eliminated every third banner since the tapestries were more durable than the others.

[x8 +10 Undead Hunter Reputation]

The sounds of the stampeding abomination was drawing closer, yet they should make it to the next corridor before it reached them; then, Aiden’s punch sent a ripple through the banner in the middle of the hallway.

“Found a secret!”

He threw it aside as Kari jogged over to join them. “What is it?”

“Another chest and dead end.”

Liz was breathing a little heavily, hand pressed against her breast. “I—I think I’m getting a bit breathless.”

“Probably low on your resources or something,” Sora muttered, glancing back the way they’d come. “Should we try to let him run past us and hide here?”

Kari hissed. “It’s not all that big; if we’re discovered, we’re screwed!”

“I think it’s worth the risk to recover,” Aiden added, waving them inside. “We can’t keep up like this.”

“I guess…”

Filing in, the world went a bit dark, their acute vision dampened by Nari’s magic, and they centered around the back, opening the chest while remaining silent. Sora smirked as a pair of sporty running shoes were inside that had Kari’s eyes sparkling.

Typical. She was into sportswear when back on Earth; how did Emi know?

Kari slipped the shoes on, seemingly a perfect fit, and the colored text they showed was purple, having way more stats than Sora’s bright yellow tiara.

[Wind Shoes]

[+5 Agility]

[+5 Stamina ]

[Skill: Air Step 1 - Take 2 steps in the air before going on a 10-second cooldown]

[Set Bonus 1/3]

[None]

Sora pursed her lips, vision drifting between her friends to examine their gear as the pounding of the abomination’s movements came closer and closer.

Purple seems to be the highest grade of item so far, followed by yellow and light green, but our clothes are white… At least our weapons are light green. Kari’s new shoes seem really strong, and she probably uses Agility. Woah, five Stamina pushes her HP from 30 to 55, so every point gives five…

She waited in trepidation as the thumps came and went; the creature roared upon reaching the split before seemingly leaving.

Aiden pointed back the way they’d come, whispering, “Let’s backtrack and take a left to hit the opposite direction.”

“With all those ugly-looking things?” Liz muttered, doubt on her face.

“Zombies,” Sora giggled, “and it’s a pretty good idea; Aiden can round up that big army, and I can AoE them as Kari takes out any that go after us—we’ll get a ton of Exp—possibly rep.”

“I like that,” Kari grinned, bouncing a little to test her shoes. “I feel so much lighter in these—it’s like they negate a tiny bit of Nari’s magic.”

“And I just heal?”

“Yeah, beside me.”

Aiden was already peeking out of the tapestry. “That zombie horde is still in the previous hall—c’mon…”

Running that way, Aiden instantly charged into the pack of over forty Undead, getting in a position to snatch the most—his max seemed to be ten—yet he had another plan.

“Hold off a second,” he whispered, corralling them into a tight bunch that bumped against each other since they seemed to aggress on the nearest person. “Alright, get to max distance, and… okay, I’ll slowly back toward you.”

Circling her wand in the air as Liz hummed a melody, apparently applying some kind of heal over time—HoT—effect on him before softly singing to perform a channeling one; the hearts rained down on top of the zombies, slightly wider than the previous one, and as some turned their way, Kari ripped them apart.

It wasn’t all that difficult, and they got a ton of Exp compared to what they were getting before, showing these gray zombies were of higher rank than the green ones.

[x30 + 15 Exp

[+ 3 Silver Coins]

They appeared to share coins and split Exp evenly if everyone was engaged in combat, meaning the previous they’d gotten wasn’t given solely to one of them.

Not wasting any time in jogging down the hallway that curved slightly to the left, destroying things along the way—which might bring the abomination or give away their location—they continued their journey, wanting the reputation and achievements.

More gray zombies could be found along the way with coffins, but now that they were getting into the flow of it, the slow-moving Undead weren’t much of a threat; there were a few junctions that had up to 60 of the creatures, yet so long as they did something called ‘kiting,’ as the helpful words indicated, they were fine.

Basically, it was simply killing the monsters at a distance while keeping space between them, Aiden taunting off anything that got too close to Sora, or if he had his hands full, Kari took them out before gaining aggro—aggression—from the zombies.

Since giving the giant Undead the slip, progress had been smooth, and going down this higher-level area seemed to have been a good choice, and they’d accomplished several things along their path.

New items weren’t as rare as they thought, but most of them came in the form of negligible accessory upgrades that helped to increase their damage; all of them were light green grade pieces, only increasing a Stat by +1 or adding a single extra point of damage, such as the one Kari obtained.

On the flip side, they were making bank in regards to reputation and coins, and eventually, they were rewarded through their destructive path of the arts.

[Friendly with Undead Hunters]

[Statue of the Beast 6/8]

Sora had no clue what it really meant or who they were building rapport with, but it was progress, and to make up for the lack of equipment Liz was getting, she found a purple-grade wristband; it was black with white stripes on the ends and pearly beads stitched across it.

[Summer Idol’s Dream!]

[+5 Spirit]

[+5 Intelligence]

[Skill: Lesser Healing Rhapsody - Instantly heal 10 HP with a 40-second cooldown]

[Set Bonus 1/4]

[None]

Aiden got a replacement green sword two levels higher than his previous one, doing a good three damage more, and a new set of shiny armor, bumping his HP up to 157 after his levels and gear.

Sora sadly didn’t find much besides similar outfits to what she currently had, only slightly better Stats; still, it seemed all of them had at least one purple item on this floor that they should get before moving on.

They were doing pretty good, and so long as the invincible abomination didn’t show up, their progress was steadily rising; now, they could see a Level indicator by their HP, displaying they’d already jumped to Level 4 by the time they made it to a giant bronze door—a dead end.

This time, the gray zombie horde had two beefy green ones in their mix, standing a good foot above the others, and they were a fair bit faster than the others, breaking into a jog.

Kari jumped forward to take aggro, yelling, “I’ll keep these two busy by running them around while you three handle the bigger pack.”

“Got it!” Aiden returned, moving to group the pack.

Liz and Sora were getting more accustomed to the positioning and made quick work of them for Aiden to pull the attention of the green zombies; tanking them head-on, he shoved the two back, stunning the pair for Sora and Kari to blow them apart—mostly Kari, who appeared to specialize more in single-target, but that was about to change!

Sora grinned while bending down to pick up a brand new shiny purple wand, showing a half-crescent moon on it and a yellow-grade ruby necklace to replace her green-grade one—her first purple, and it happened to be a weapon.

[Moonlit Punishment]

[Lunar Elemental Damage]

[+10 Intelligence]

[Skill: Lesser Star Shower - Call down a flurry of stars to deliver 15 Lunar Damage in a 6-meter radius for 5 seconds, slowing targets for 4 seconds every tick; 20-second cooldown.]

[Set Bonus 1/4]

[None]

The slow was on every hit, so it would last up to four seconds after the spell ended and was an AoE attack that was instant cast while remaining up, meaning she could layer a channeling spell on top of it.

On the other hand, her new ruby necklace was:

[Lesser Heart of Fire]

[+50 Max Resource]

[+5 Intelligence]

[Add 2 initial Fire Damage - Effect: Burn - 3 burn damage over 3 seconds]

It made her an absolute legend at killing Undead, adding DoTs—Damage over Time—to her every attack, and considering she had big AoE spells that it worked with, she could clear rooms easily.

She didn’t really have a lot of resource problems with her previous Spirit gear, but in adding the two new pieces, she was losing a good six points, which could be bad for longer fights, but they were stored in a pocket dimension that resonated with their thoughts.

Cheering at the find and bonus, their attention was soon pulled to a hole in a wall behind a banner Sora tested her wand against, and upon hearing the dull thumps of the abomination drawing near, hurried inside the crack in the stone.

It was dark, but Sora’s new pendant provided a dull red light that aided them on their way; it was only because of the radiance they were able to find a hidden tunnel, requiring them to blast their way into.

They appeared to enter some kind of ancient crypt, and in the center was a giant stone coffin; Sora checked for traps, spraying her wand against the floor to make glowing patches of moonlight that slowly faded, and thankfully she did.

Kari almost had her head taken off by a giant ax that flew out of a hidden compartment in the wall only five cm from her nose, making her jump back with a hiss. “I swear—this place will be the death of me! I’ve never felt so… gah, vulnerable!”

“Hehe,” Aiden crept forward on the areas Sora’s magic struck, looking out for wire traps on her advice. “I suppose that’s part of the point, well, besides having fun—taking a different approach! Cool. I don’t see any more traps, uh… should I open it?”

“Mmh,” Liz growled, ears twitching, which shifted her idol flower hair accessory. “Are you sure it isn’t going to send another ax in your face?”

Sora forced a laugh. “Probably poison!”

“One way to find out!”

He shoved it open for a spray of green gas to float around him. “Ack—bleh… No!”

“Heh, what did I tell you,” Sora said as Liz tried to keep his HP up and counter the poison. “Anything inside?”

“I feel a little queasy—ugh. Umm… Oh, snap! Check it!”

He reached in to bring up an oval red shield with a lion painted on it and rubies for the eyes and fangs. “Finally got my purple!”

[Lion’s Aegis of the Ages]

[+10 Stamina]

[+8 Defense]

[Indestructible]

[Auto Cast: Lesser Taunt - Pulls one target up to 2 levels higher than the player]

[Set Bonus: 1/4]

[None]

“Sick!” Sora grinned. “Alright, we all got our set item on this level; are we ready to try and take out this boss?”

Liz looked back to the split. “Should we check a little further?”

“Yeah, I need something better than these green gloves,” Kari grumbled, glaring at her wand as Sora dangled it up with a big grin.

“I suppose that couldn’t hurt!”

Leaving to search more of the tunnels, they found a few other items but almost nothing as good as what they’d already found in the other passages or from killing monsters, and the level of creatures—smaller white dwarf-like zombies—seemed to be dropping.

Eventually, they found out the area led to the first room they’d entered and the second exit option, forcing them to backtrack and look for anything they missed, which got Kari her new yellow-grade bandage wraps.

[Fists of the Fire Mountain]

[+7 Agility]

[+ 5% Critical Hit]

[+ 25% Critical Damage]

[Add 2 initial Fire Damage - Effect: Burn - 2 damage over 2 seconds]

Kari’s other items gave her a 34% Critical Hit rate, which seemed to be pretty good, considering it doubled damage, plus the extra percentage she got from the item itself.

Returning back to the room, they discovered the bronze door was now open, and inside, the hulking abomination, surrounded by four crypts; before the room stood a pack of four big green zombies.

Lips pulling together, Sora puffed out a long breath as they peeked out. “So… Boss fight?”

“I suppose so,” Aiden chuckled. “Do you think it will attack us if we jump out? It can easily see us from that room if we go out.”

Kari pointed at the big green zombies. “We can pull them back in here and get them stuck.”

“Good plan,” Liz sighed. “I’m a little nervous about the big one.”

“We just need to hit his weak spot,” Sora said, repeating the plan they’d worked out. “Here, let me see if I can pull them…”

Sending a shooting star from her wand at the nearest, barely in reach, all four instantly turned to run at them; the one hit was slowed, causing the others to rush around him, and luckily, the boss didn’t aggro.

It was reasonably simple taking them out in the confined space, drawing them to areas that they couldn’t fit and destroying them; when they returned, the first one they’d killed seemed to have respawned, so they quickly darted out to take care of it before the others could interrupt them.

Once again, the Boss didn’t engage them, yet when they stepped inside the room, the lights dimmed, and the door began to close behind them.

“Here we go!” Aiden grinned, working around his neck and propping his sword against his side to adjust the Roman-style gold and ruby helmet he wore. “I’ll keep his attention on me. You ready?”

“Pfft! I’m going to wreck him!” Kari said, tightening her bandages. “I can jump up and hit him when he’s open—do you think your slow will work on him, Sora?”

“Mmh… I hope so. No clue, though. Gah, I’m getting goosebumps just looking at this guy—talk about beefed out ugly giant—let’s get in—”

The second they stepped forward, he let out a monstrous roar, smacking his arm cannon, and this time, it didn’t seem to be malfunctioning. He pointed it right at them—no warning—and they looked for cover.

“Behind me!”

Aiden held up his shield for the fireball to shoot out and hit the aegis—red flames licked around them, filed behind the Firebird—and even with all their upgrades, it still forced Aiden to stumble back into Kari, but he held, only taking 15 points of damage.

“Son of a—”

Kari took off for the abomination, dodging the next ball of fire that shot at her. “Get behind the crypts while I draw its attention!”

“No, I think I can handle it if Liz heals me—keep to my back left and keep attacking him!”

Running forward with Aiden, Sora began throwing out streams of stars at the hole in his chest, illuminating it with the energy and making the creature snarl; Kari jumped into the air, using one platform to dodge and the second to position herself, striking the abomination three times in the chest before using him to leap away.

Fire smoldered in the location, and Kari barely dodged his slap, darting around its legs to look for more weaknesses as they got into position; Aiden took aggro once in range, holding up his shield to bear the brunt of his fist, tanking the hit, unlike the first time he’d been struck by the meaty club.

Ultimately, it was pretty simple; it only attacked Aiden and kept in its current position once they were in front of it. Kari found a weak point that staggered the giant, and it only seemed to use its cannon if its primary target was at long to mid-distance.

It would have been difficult for Liz to keep him up with her previous spells, but given their levels, gear boosting the heals, and her layering HoTs with occasional instant casts for Crits and channeling, she wasn’t having all that hard of a time.

Sora’s slow seemed to work, but only half duration, which also delayed his struggling swings while Kari wailed on its hamstrings to force it to one knee, giving her the chance to jump up and take several direct hits.

At 20% HP, it grew red, increasing its attack speed, but nothing they couldn’t handle—although Aiden’s armor, excluding his shield, was starting to show signs of wear—and to their surprise, the seemingly invincible abomination fell rather pathetically, boosting them to Level 5.

A yellow ring dropped for each of them, Kari getting a vambrace that did the same thing as their new jewelry—their first—that granted them Lesser Necrotic Immunity.

A grin split their lips as the crypts opened to reveal a purple for each of them; they had their first two-piece set, and a hidden staircase rising to the next level opened at the back of the room.

[Helmet of Valor]

[+5 Stamina]

[+5 Strength]

[Indestructible]

[Lesser Fear Immunity]

[Set Bonus: 2/4]

[+10 Stamina]

[Crown of the Stars]

[+10 Spirit]

[+5 Intelligence]

[Range Increase: 2 Meters]

[Auto Cast: Lesser Starfall - occasionally sends a star from the heavens to strike nearby enemies]

[Set Bonus: 2/4]

[+10 Intelligence]

[Hair Tie of the Wolf]

[+10 Agility]

[+ 10% Critical Hit]

[+ 25% Critical Damage]

[+ 5% Move Speed]

[Set Bonus: 2/4]

[+10 Agility]

[Instrument of Rapture (Microphone)]

[+15 Spirit]

[+7 Intelligence]

[+ 10% Critical Hit]

[Auto Cast: Lesser Hum of Revitalization - randomly give a 3-second HoT that heals up to 15% HP to the lowest HP party member in range on a 1-minute cooldown; party members must have less than max HP.]

[Set Bonus: 2/4]

[+10 Spirit]

Turning their attention to the stairs, Sora forced a grin as a rumble shook the tower, warm wind flowing out of the passage to deliver the lovely scent of rotting corpses, and a short chuckle reverberated through the stones.

“Enter my domain… my subjects hunger.”

“Charming,” Sora snickered, waving her hand in front of her nose.

Kari limbered up a little. “Ugh… Why’s everything have to be dead around here?”

“I agree,” Liz groaned. “I’m going to have to take at least five baths after this…”

“I don’t know what you guys are complaining about,” Aiden laughed. “I think it smells great!”

They gave him a lifted eyebrow and laughed at his joke; not that it was funny, but he thought it was.

“Well, let’s see what Level 2 has to throw our way!” Sora said, forging the way forward. “I’ve got a daughter to rescue!”