Chapter 12

12

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Stepping inside the dungeon was like walking straight into a horror movie. She remembered jumping into a gaping hole in the ground and waking up hundreds of feet below the earth. The dungeon had four pathways. But the middle path felt right so with a strange sense that she'd done so before, Caste used her eyes to light the way. Her hands were shaking as if something terrible had already happened, but she refused to show fear in front of the Princess she'd sworn to protect. "Open! Inventory!" She called into the nothingness. A menu manifested before her, full of food, Potions, and...bombs? Nice, she thought to herself. These would definitely come in handy at some point. She felt it in her aching bones. "Open! Equips!" This time a weapons menu appeared. From here she was able to swipe left or right to reveal one item at a time inside a clear square, with two yellow arrows on either side for scrolling. She chose the broadsword at first. "Come forth! My loyal Summon, Chise!" And from the sword, the snakelike woman arose. "Open! Equips!" This time she placed the sword back inside the menu and scrolled over to the Wand. It was a collection of wooden branches woven together with a perfectly round, jade sphere at the top. Projectile attacks would suit her combat style best for this mission. And using an instrument to channel and amplify her Magical energies seemed only proper when facing off against who knows what at the end of the long and daunting tunnel stretched out before her. She was so excited, she didn't even wait for Fiaerna to catch up. Or at least that's what she had convinced herself to believe. But in truth, she was afraid of Fiaerna's touch. Her reflex was to flinch even at the sound of the Princess's slippers catching up behind her. Fi payed no mind and simply warped herself further into the cavern until she was practically breathing down Caste's neck. She clutched Caste's tunic and feigned being frightened just to watch a shiver go through Caste's spine. She wasn't expecting a loud, ghostly groan to make her own spine tingle. They both jumped at the noise, stared at each other with quizzical eyes, and then proceeded onward. Whatever was making this sound surely couldn't be as frightening as Princess Fiaerna herself, right? Wrong. Enter "???". A grotesque, rotting man stood backed against the wall. His HP was at one hundred percent. He raised his arms into a defensive x formation, the way a professional knife thrower might present their blades for a flashy circus show.

The man's flesh was inside out. She'd never seen a creature quite so indescribably terrifying in those horror movies she loved so much back on Earth. Still, without knowing why, Casterline felt an increasingly strong urge to make contact with him. He was incredibly hard to look at. The only human feature about him were the small, perfectly round and rimless spectacles adorning the bridge of what was once his nose. The word zombie sprang to mind and even then, Caste felt a twinge of guilt for calling him as such. The urge was so strong. The fear was too great. "Don't just stand there you witless moron, atta--" Something flew past them. A small trace of blood ran down Casterline's cheek. Something sharp had grazed her, but she wasn't hurt. Fiaerna, on the other hand, let out an indignant shriek. Caste turned to see a syringe sticking out of Fiaerna's chest. The girl collapsed. Caste had no time to panic. The zombie had closed the gap between them and grabbed her wrist, causing the Wand to clatter to the ground. He pulled her hand toward his chest and held it there so that Caste could feel his beating heart. Her eyes went blank and she fell into his memories as she had several times before.