After several moments in the dark space, the orange glow of the fire reached a ten-foot circle around them, like a protective bubble. Beyond the visible light was a series of shapes and a gloomy unknown. The utter darkness cast black moving objects in the shadows, playing tricks on his mind. Reina was faring just as well, no doubt, her confident footsteps turned into nervous shuffling.

  Rook reached out his hands, feeling the stone pillar just ahead of them. Creeping his hands upwards, he felt a hard rock that squished down, falling into his hand and wriggling for an agonizing few seconds before falling to the ground and scattering by his feet.

  He sucked in a breath, and his heart nearly jumped from his chest as a beetle the size of his fist ran into the darkness in front of them. He rubbed at the back of his head. I’m going to have a freaking heart attack here. The distressed chattering broke him from his thought, then the loud crunching in the darkness made shivers run from the roots of his hair to the base of his spine.

  He surged his Attramancy, looking in the dark for the beetle. Lines of the bronze stretched out in all directions, and echoes came from so many locations that it made him a bit nauseous. One specific object caught his eye; the line wavered as if it were disappearing. It had to be at least ten feet in the air. His mana bar ticked down, and the bronze line disappeared, about the same time as a crunching occurred. Please be coincidence.

  A low growl emitted from in front of them, like a cornered animal. Extending his arm out, Rook let the light reach ahead. The tight grip on his shoulder trembled. Reina’s panic was almost palpable. The light reached farther and just a bit farther into the darkness until it revealed two sets of blackened toenails attached to two fleshy, grey feet.

  “What the fuck?” Rook asked, his voice catching in his throat.

  Command presence activated.

  Reina used identify, giving Rook all the information he didn’t want.

  Ghoul (silver rank)

  Level 15

  The thing stood in place, letting out a low growl. The grey skin of its knees trembled as if it was itching to run, its gut distended from its latest meal, and its arms curled up towards its shoulders in a self-hug. It twitched as it was bathed in the warm glow of the torch. He couldn’t help but stare into its face. The ghoul’s head shook left and right, as if in gentle refusal. The blackened orbs for eyes, never blinking. Rook felt as if he was going to be sick, and Reina’s hand clutched onto his forearm.

  “It’s neck,” she whispered.

  A small glint caught his eye. As he focused, it became clear that there was a broken blade embedded into it’s collarbone. Rook gripped the mace of doublestrike, hard enough to leave his right hand aching. Each man is measured by his actions, especially when the odds are stacked heavily in favor of your opponent, his grandfather used to say. This opponent was a monster, one straight from his grandfather’s nightmarish stories. A ghost of the battlefield, created by rage and fed by fear and pain.

  It disappeared from view, seconds later Reina cried out from behind him. He heard her skidding and a thump. Resisting the urge to run for her, he slowly backed towards where he thought she had landed. I'm killing this fucking thing.

  It appeared once again, this time in front of him, in a different direction. It regarded him with curiosity, cocking its head to the side like a praying mantis would to a roach. The thing made Rook hunch his shoulders to stave off the shiver down his spine. It caused his blood to run cold, and worst yet, now he had to piss. Can’t die here. The putrid air was rich with the mix of rot, earth, and waste, making his head swim with the foulness of it all. Worse yet, it hummed like the tune of an old song.

  The ghoul bent backward like a contortionist until it was on all fours in a back bridge. In the low light, he could barely make out its grey skin and stringy white hair. It crawled like a spider in a jerky, unsettling motion, nearly glitching its way to Rook until he was eye to black orb eye. He breathed out a sigh of relief.

  There was something soothing about it now, and his body filled with the warm feelings, the same ones he had when reuniting with a Knox in a dreamscape. The ghoul comforted his mind as it got close enough for the fetid breath to leak out through chipped black teeth. Rook looked at the gaping maw, there between its canine and front tooth was the leg of that damned beetle. If his new friend didn’t care about it, then he didn’t mind either. It hummed low, a lullaby it seemed.

  What the hell was Grandpa talking about anyway? Not everything in the dark was so bad. The ghoul shifted, until its football-sized hands dragged one rounded claw against his chin. He stared at its too-long arms and too-long legs, the open sores weeping on its torso, and felt sorry for it. Someone had broken a blade at its collarbone. Poor thing. Rook wanted to fix it, make the pain all better.

  Command presence activated.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  The world and reality rushed back in. Rook screamed, an animalistic cry. Holy shit. It was one that built up over the last several moments while the Ghoul’s dark magic was suppressed. It shrieked back at him and receded into the darkness of the cave.

  “Reina?!”

  He jerked his head this way and that, peering into the darkness to find his friend. Breathe. Letting his eyes adjust to the gloom, his breath hitched in his throat when he saw her. Leaned against the wall in a heap was the form of Reina. Rook rushed over, coming to a skidding halt on his knees. For a few seconds, he checked on the responsiveness of the enhancer using AVPU.

  First, check alertness.

  “Reina?” He hissed, looking around for the ghoul. He had to find out if she was seriously injured before he picked her up. She let out a low, pained groan. Thank goodness, she’s alive.

  A high-pitched wail sounded from inside the cave, ringing in his ears like he was standing too close to a train whistle. Fuck. Jerking movements distorted the darkness in front of him. Envisioning the memory of the pale ghost woman with the long black hair, he shook his head, determined to kill this thing.

  His eyes barely made out the distortion in the darkness, but by then it was too late. He was struck across the chest, crushing the air from his lungs.

  In a not-so-spectacular fashion, Rook slid to the far wall across the slick cave and groaned. The black ghoul eyes were right over him without a second’s hesitation. He was roughly tossed into the wall over and over like it was a competition. He tried to keep his neck bent in order to keep his head from bouncing off the stone wall. This can’t be it, can it? He brought his mace up in a half-hearted attempt to block.

  The ghoul brought its arms up and flung them down, raking across his armor. Rook cried out as multiple rounded claws dug into his flesh like spoons into jello.

  His vision swam, and his health bar blinked. His grandfather was right. It’s funny how you notice the little things this close to danger. Giant monster in a dark cave that’s going to eat me? Check. Fear? Nope.

  The ghoul grabbed at his neck, strangling the life out of him with a brutal squeeze. He was raised into the air, slowly, like a lover might do. Then the grip weakened, and he crumpled on top of the bony monster in a tangle of limbs and flesh and blood.

  “Die, you fucking beast!” Reina roared in the small cave.

  She sapped it? A blast of warmth washed over his body, and he was lifted to his feet.

  “Drink!” She shoved a vial to his lips, and his body felt light; the fatigue, his health, and mana all rose to 100%. The ghoul’s injury was no longer inflicting him, and he smiled.

  “You saved me, Reina.”

  “I need you.” She stood in front of him, desperately trying to pierce the skin with the blade. “We can protect each other. I don’t need you to take the brunt of it.” She stabbed at its face, its neck.

  Nothing would work; her blade wouldn’t find the purchase they needed to pierce the beast’s core. She threw the torch at it in frustration, and the ghoul hissed. It scrambled its arms and legs, wildly like a frantic tarantula. It bellowed once again, and Rook fought the urge to cover his ears.

  He surged his Attramancy, hoping to smash it over the head with something; something caught his eye. A pulsing came from inside its collarbone, from the echoes he made out the shape of a broken blade. Please work.

  Scanning the cave amidst the chaos, he found the line to his mace and pulled, a moment later it was in his two handed overhead grip. Focusing on the echo from within the ghoul’s collarbone, he struck it with a double strike, while using his mana to force it down towards the monster’s core. Rook’s hardened steel mace crushed into the thing, once, twice, three times, until the blade broke through the collarbone. Rook hit it again, sending the blade into the ghouls body with a grinding squelch. With all his might, he hit it across the head with a two-handed strike.

  It stood up, grabbing at the empty air, and with one final swipe, it fell to the ground with a thud.

  Ghoul slain x 1

  850 experience gained

  392 experience of 750 until level 13

  You have reached level 13

  492 experience of 800 until level 14

  Attramancy Skill

  Block skill

  Would you like to loot ghoul?

  Y/N

  Yes.

  Rook had his hands on his knees, his chest heaving from the fight

  You have obtained

  Heirloom blade

  Ruby ring

  Bag of seeds

  40 gold

  Note

  Looks like it had a random bunch of shit. Rook had his hands on his knees, his chest heaving from the fight before Reina came to restore his stamina. They walked, half stumbled out of the cave and into the bright sunlight.

  “Well, now, color me impressed. I never thought that you’d both do so well against a ghoul,” Jody said.

  “We definitely almost died in there, at least I did,” Rook responded.

  “Lad, I was watching. Other than raking your chest, it didn’t hurt you too much. You should see a gold rank or a sentient ghoul. Those will really put your nerves in a twist.”

  Rook sighed, too tired to continue the conversation. They continued walking the beaten path towards the edge of the forest. Jody spoke to them, reminding them of the sustains and improvements they needed to make to get stronger.

  “So, how did the goblins end up shacking with the ghoul?” Rook asked.

  “Goblins are generally weak and follow whatever’s strongest. Most likely, they are what remains of their tribe. The ghoul probably killed the rest, then used the four as food delivery.” Jody sighed. “What a day,” he said, as a cool breeze flowed past them.

  “I’ll say.” Reina laughed, a relieved chuckle. “We just killed a ghoul. A bronze and copper rank.”

  “We did, didn’t we?” Rook asked, joining her laugh.

  He was exhausted, a bone-deep weariness that made him want to collapse into the soft dirt of the forest path. However, falling asleep so close to where they were attacked was a mistake.

  Looking at his inventory, he grabbed the note and began reading.

  To Edith,

  My love, I’m sorry I went off on my own into the cave. I needed to clear out our special place…

  Rook folded the note and put it into his pocket. The note wasn’t for him; to read it would be a violation of Edith’s trust. He’d been the responder reading the last notes, still stained with droplets of blood and brain. Now that he wasn’t in the Army anymore, he wouldn’t do it if he could help it.