Thick fog leaked down the spiraling staircase as Aiden and Kari took the lead, the scent of death and rattling bones echoing from above. The floating candles in the dark corridor cast shadows that played on their minds, phantoms just beyond sight mocking their attempts to catch them.
Sora grimaced, covering her nose, but nothing could diminish the smell of death that flowed on the cold breeze, and malevolent whispering voices made her ears twitch.
“You will never leave this place…”
“Death is near…”
“Abandon all hope…”
Liz’s fingers tightened around her microphone. “Brrr… What kind of game is so creepy, and—and why bring dead people to attack us and spirits? It’s so… bizarre.”
“It’s a human thing,” Kari muttered, walking up the stairs without a care in the world, hands behind her neck. “I’m guessing Nari’s been looking into that sort of thing recently.”
“Haaa…” Sora scratched her head, tails flicking to the left. “I think you’re right, and she’s been feeding my daughter stuff in secret.”
“Secret?” Aiden asked, grinning as the voices continued to try and frighten them. “These guys are dedicated!”
Sora shrugged. “Emilia’s been talking about manga recently, and now it makes sense; I bet she has a stash somewhere and reads them when I’m busy or during breaks with White.”
“Why would she hide it?” Liz asked, probably trying to distract herself.
“Heh, because she’s a pre-teen and wants her little secrets,” Sora snickered.
Aiden laughed. “Secret when she talks to you about it out of the blue?”
“Haha. As I said, she’s a pre-teen; she thinks she’s being slick.”
Kari gave her a half-smile. “And here you are only a few years older laughing at it.”
“Hey! I had my own secrets back then,” Sora shot back. “I totally know what she’s thinking because I was twelve not too long—”
“Let the darkness consume…”
“Can you shut up for half a second!” Kari growled.
Liz nodded fervently, fur on end and clearly more immersed than Sora. “Yes! Stop it!”
“C’mon,” Aiden mused, “it’s all about ambiance! If he doesn’t—huh…”
A bright light hit them as the staircase ended—it was as strong as a spotlight—and shielding their eyes, they saw a colossal floating skeleton… wearing an apron.
“Get those eggs cooking—oh, and cut the putrid machine and fans! Gah—what are you doing—I said add some onions, not the whole bag!”
Coming to a complete halt, Sora’s lips parted, eyebrow lifted while scanning the unbelievable event; to their left and right were big tubes funneling smelly fog and a current into the spiral staircase they’d just exited, operated by bumbling skeletons.
“What… the hell?” Kari mumbled, following the running and tripping skeletons, sending globs of half-cooked food across the floor before being chewed out by a floating skeletal mage.
“Fool! I’ll crack your femur if you waste food like that again—clean it up!”
“Sorry, Taskmaster Harvey! Sorry! Sorry!”
“What did I say?”
“Yes, Sir!”
“And you—who taught you to crack eggs, Skeleton Seventy-Seven?!”
“Y-You, Taskmaster Harvey!”
“Then you must not have been listening, Seventy-Seven!”
“S-Sir, Yes, Sir! Sorry, Sir!”
“Get those shells out of there!”
“Yes, Sir!”
Liz cleared her throat. “Umm, Sora… do the undead eat?”
“I don’t know, Liz… I don’t know…”
“Eh?” The skeletal mage caught them gawking by the downstairs exit. “Chief Chef Necromyster! The guests have arrived, Sir!”
“What?! Why haven’t they been seated, Taskmaster?!” the colossal overseer roared, adjusting his much-larger-than-needed chef’s hat.
“Apologies, Chief Chef! Mindy! Mindy, where the bone-head are you?!”
“C-Coming, Taskmaster! Eh—”
They winced as a small skeleton wearing a black bow around her collar and lipstick on her teeth tripped, collapsing into a mess across the floor, menus scattering everywhere.
“Failure!”
“Sorry, Taskmaster! I’m—I’m trying to pick myself up, Taskmaster!”
“Who’s this guy?”
Kari drew their attention away from them to a skeleton wearing a salmon shirt and gray business suit, showing a mane of neatly combed black hair that promptly stepped up to their side. He gestured at an identically dressed skeleton that walked over to the Taskmaster and frantic server.
He stepped up to them with a suave grin, handing Sora a business card as he jumped into conversation, becoming animated on the spot.
“Hello, my name is Steven, and I am a professional in F.A.I.L.U.R.E. management. As you can see, we are currently performing lessons on Chief Chef Necromyster’s F.A.I.L.U.R.E. business—very effective! Last lesson, we covered Unfair Punishment—very effective! Today, we focus on… Emotional Damage.
“Observe, lesson one… cut the onion.”
They turned in confusion to see two Skeletal Mages intently watching the mirror business-like ghost that floated through the floor to address the employee. Sora could practically see the sweat gathering on the poor trembling skeleton, hands holding a knife in front of him with a bowl of vegetables on the table beside the cutting board.
“Ninety-Three, eh… here’s an onion—okay, cut the onion in the diagonal-regulator slice.”
“Huh?” Liz’s ears folded down, looking to see what the skeleton was talking about, but Ninety-Three seemed just as confused as them.
“Eh… Diagonal-regulator… slice, Sir?”
Steven nodded to them with a knowing smirk, glowing eye-socket winking. “Give your F.A.I.L.U.R.E. simple and easy-to-follow instructions—hehe, but here’s the key—you must… contradict yourself!”
“I said horizontal-regulator slice, Ninety-Three! Go on…”
“Horizontal… Like here…”
“What you trying to do—F.A.I.L. geometry, huh?” The ghost smacked his hands together in exasperation, making skeleton Steven nod with a thumbs up. “You holding it so high—hold it low…”
“L-Like this… hold it like… Not any lower or any higher—like here?”
“Mmmmh!”
He cut a small incision to twitch as the ghost smacked his hands together by the skeleton’s head. “What you trying to do—why you holding it so low—can you even see what you cutting?”
“B-But you said hold it…”
“Not as low as you IQ, eh?”
“Mmmgmm…”
Sora could hear the sniffles from here as Ghost Steven kept going.
“Why do you keep moving knife—hold it still—stop moving it like you trying to start a disco!”
Kari scratched her head in confusion. “What… are we doing here?”
Skeleton Steven held up a finger. “Oh! You here for the restaurant?!” He leaned in to point them to the staircase that went further up to their far right while whispering, “My uncle own two special chains in Chenisima; I get you special offer—good deal on food like organic—special coupon, buy two meal get one a bronze coin off! Tell him I sent you!”
“O-Okay?” Sora mumbled, taking the coupons and shuffling with the others across the fiery kitchen, the Taskmaster still yelling at Mindy, attempting to put her bones back in place with the overseer looming over her.
“Weird…” Liz mumbled.
Aiden was cracking up laughing. “What kind of crazy place is this—what did Nari watch to come up with this?”
“You got me,” Kari returned with a forced smile.
“Do, eh… these guys get paid, too?” Sora asked, feeling a little bad for the overworked and stressed skeletons.
Skeleton Steven chortled to himself. “Pfft-hehehe—no! But it’s good exposure!”
Sora now felt terrible for the group, which wasn’t something she thought she’d feel, and Mindy was getting it hard.
“You F.A.I.L.U.R.E.—you lost more customers, Mindy—this is why you never be an actor!”
“I—I applied for a new role… I’m trying, Sir!”
“Pfft! You’re not nine hours old anymore—you need to get real job—like working in restaurant!”
“B-But I want to try out acting, Sir…”
“Huh—the hell?! You not joking? I didn’t want to tell you this—but you ugly.”
“…”
“It’s my fault—I take responsibility—I raised you. My apology, so… get back to organizing menus.”
“W-What do you mean? I—I really want to be an actor!”
“The hell you say? You know what I tell all aspiring actors? Oh, before you were born, you what I tell all actors? Venti matcha latte with two-pump classic syrup, F.A.I.L.U.R.E.! I return you, Disappointment!”
“Rough…” Kari muttered, walking up the stairs, Sora in-tow.
Skeleton Steven was gone in the next second, suddenly at the top of the next staircase wearing a fancy butler outfit. “Welcome to Beijing le Restaurant, Dames, Monsieur. Your party of seven is waiting.”
Now thoroughly bewildered, Sora followed him around the fancy Chinese separator to find Seiōbo, Nari, and White—all dressed up in their evil outfits—sitting around a table; Emilia, Tola, Luna, and Rayla were all there, too, wearing big grins.
“Mom!” Emilia called out, showing off a princess dress and bow. “We’re taking a break to eat breakfast!”
Nari was trying to pull off the Japanese evil aunt look, but she just seemed very cute in the floral-themed red and black kimono she wore, while Rayla and Luna seemed to have had their fur color changed with the winter school girl outfits Emilia had made them.
Naturally, White was in his intimidating black armor, yet his helmet was removed, and a big smile was on his face; Seiōbo appeared to have done something to further dampen his natural allure for the occasion so everyone could enjoy themselves.
Tola had been transformed into a white and black-haired Vulpes in what seemed to be a maid’s outfit, showing a black skirt with a blue side stitching; her white and sky blue blouse was adorable, as was her smile.
Seiōbo gave her a sad grin as Sora giggled, seeing a skeleton waitress exit the back with menus, clearly Mindy by her throat accessory, and now she wore a lovely red and black dress.
“Emilia was getting hungry, so we turned the bonus level into this.”
“You did so good, Mom! You got all the secret stuff, so you get a bonus!”
“Yay!” Rayla and Luna cheered. “Food!”
Tola pulled out the chair beside her so Sora could sit next to her daughter. “Lady Seiōbo is going to treat us to something called… Japanese breakfast cuisine?”
Emilia cleared her throat importantly. “Steamed rice, miso soup, grilled fish, t-tsukemo-o-ono?”
“Tsukemono, Japanese pickles,” White corrected.
“Yeah, that! We also have nori, and natto—natto?”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Fermented soybeans.”
“That! Kobachi, too!”
“Very good!” Nari praised. “You got almost all of those right.”
“Hehe!”
Kari chuckled, sitting beside the twins as Mindy patiently waited for them, and Skeleton Steven returned to his post, muttering something about a failure daughter. “So… We’re just pausing everything?”
“I’m not complaining!” Aiden laughed, taking the menu and rubbing his chin while browsing the pictured items. “Ooh, not big portions, huh?”
Seiōbo shook her head. “Traditional Japanese breakfasts are adjusted to meet one’s appetite, and dishes tend to be lighter; for example, these won’t be greasy, deep-fried, or rich in flavor but a nice mild blend.”
“Interesting,” Sora hummed, looking over to her daughter as she pointed at the fish with excitement. “Looking forward to it?”
“Mhm! I want it big—big-big!”
“Vegetables, too.”
“Okay… but more meat!”
“I… suppose we are more carnivorous,” she mused, looking at White, who shrugged as if saying it didn’t matter, and Sora guessed it was because most of their nutrients came from spiritual and elemental forces. “Just not enough to ruin lunch.”
“Ooh! Aunt Nari’s doing lunch!”
“It’s going to be great!” Nari boasted, puffing out her chest. “An eeevil lunch! Mia-hahaha!”
“Wait… are you putting my mom’s name in that laugh for a reason?”
“Oh, no! She’s catching on, Bobo! Quickly, the distraction!”
“Ugh… Huu-haaa… We have gifts for you, Queen of the accursed Vulpes!”
Kari smirked. “Not like you’re a Vulpes.”
“Silence, Bane of the Winter’s Snow!” Luna roared, giggling soon after and whispering. “I always wanted to say that!”
“What does it even mean?” her twin asked, the two getting into some long backstory involving Kari that the Fenris Wolf knew nothing about.
The time passed, and on inquiry, Sora smiled when Mindy said she’d landed her acting role and would be putting in her two years mandatory notice with the F.A.I.L.U.R.E. Management associated restaurant.
Seiōbo revealed their gift for completing all the challenges was skipping a few floors—not like they were out-leveling the current content or anything because of balancing—and offered them the rest of their set.
Of course, it wasn’t as if all of it was done so Emilia could have a picture moment with all of them dressed up and out at breakfast—yeah, of course it was—and they each got to show off their individual sets.
Aiden got his lion-themed tanking set, Liz her adorable idol showcase, Sora was the star-struck magical girl, and Kari took on a fierce monk that fought like a beast.
Posing together after breakfast and complimenting a beaming Emilia on her talent, it finally came time for them to return to their role play.
Nari jumped back out of nowhere, an amethyst aura forming around her as a black whip flew out to snatch a squealing Emilia away. “Ho-ho! You thought you were clever, Queen of the Vulpes, but I saw through these tricks, and now you have fallen for my trap!”
“Mom! Noo! Aunt Nari tricked us all!”
Aiden chuckled as he picked between his teeth with a toothpick, a half-smile in place. “I mean, she’s not wrong—we totally ate the food without a second thought.”
“You fiend!” Liz cried out, chair slamming to the ground as the twins, White, and Seiōbo, floated away—the twins almost losing control of their flight and falling on a table—for them to laugh and give their own monologues.
“Enjoying yourselves?” Seiōbo mused, snapping her fingers for a magical circle flashing over their heads, and Kari jumped to attack White with a grin, yet the twins created an ice mirror that transported her to the other side of the room. “You seem a little tense…”
Sora hissed, watching Aiden’s level diminish from 5 to 4 as the penalty for trusting the Wicked Aunt’s breakfast. “You really are evil, Aunt Nari.”
“Hehe!”
“No!” Liz moaned, looking at her stats drop. “I had to select what I put those into—that took some time…”
White’s voice boomed around them; a petrifying aura froze their bodies and showed a sneak peek into his possible attacks. His dominating tone even made the twins jump at the malicious nature of it, and he put on his helmet with a low chuckle. “Hmm-hmm-hmm… Your greed… your foolishness has brought you to this end. Come, and face the Lord of Death; pain and suffering are all that await you!”
A fog of green mist exploded out, draining Sora and Liz’s HP bar to zero—they’d been instant killed—and it almost massacred Kari’s Health Pool beyond their new Epic set items buffs.
Emilia gasped at the show, eyes opening wide. “W-What? No, Aunt Nari—that’s cheating—that’s evil!”
“Mia-hehehe! Indeed, my gullible niece! Punishment awaits you on our return.”
“Mom—really—please, save me! Help—”
“Tickle time!” Rayla snickered, looming over Sora’s mortified daughter.
“No—don’t do it! You can’t cheat!”
“Bad guys can do whatever they want, remember?” Luna returned. “Ho-ho-ho-ho!”
Space ripped as Sora, Kari, Aiden, and Liz laughed, waving the evil-doers off for the twins, Seiōbo, and Nari, to transport Emilia away.
“Best hurry to save your precious princess, my niece,” Seiōbo whispered. “…before it’s too late.”
Their attention snapped to the Dark Knight Kitsune as he slammed his two-handed sword into the ground, pointing at them while Tola clapped at his performance. “You have faced many challenges; pity they were all in vain!”
“I’ll decide that!” Kari choked, trying to fight his influence.
“Humph, bold last words… You face me next. Be prepared to serve the Dark Lady for all eternity.”
The space behind him shattered, and White stepped into the void, releasing his pressure as the gateway sealed itself.
“Ooh—intimidating!” Aiden laughed. “So, we’re going to have a rough time on this next floor, huh?”
“Naa,” Kari waved off. “We’ve got these amazing items and stuff. Right, Sora?”
“Yeah! Hehe, it’s funny how shocked Emi was that her ‘evil aunt’ would break her rules.”
Liz kicked one of the chairs in frustration. “Stupid take away my levels… I sang hard to get those.”
“He-he-he,” Aiden walked over to kiss her on the forehead and hug the girl, making her face turn red. “Getting into it now, huh? I like the new look, too; interesting seeing you in more human clothes.”
“I… I guess I look pretty.”
“Cute is the word,” Kari grinned, motioning for them to head to the stairs, but Sora’s focus centered on Tola, who had more or less been an observer in all of this. “What’s up?”
“Tola, what are you doing?”
“Ah, I’m a sort of… A Wandering Inn kind of lady, I suppose; I can offer temporary buffs and quests.”
Aiden settled in across from her. “Like what Merchant White did?”
“Mhm. Basically, quest one: kill all the Undead on the next floor, and I’ll give you each a Legendary item.
“Quest two: find a vintage bottle of wine for a lot of bonus Exp.
“Quest three: kill White, get a Unique item.
“Quest four: save White, get a Unique item and a new unique ability.”
“We’re saving him,” Sora instantly replied. “Hehe, maybe he’ll even become an ally to help us in the future!”
“Good thinking!” Aiden hummed. “All the Undead on the next floor, though… and we’re skipping some? Man, I think it’s going to be rough.”
Liz huffed, already walking toward the swirling emerald portal that seemed to be their next destination. “Let’s go—I want my levels back! I liked having my bigger AoE song, and she took it away since it requires level 5!”
“Hold up!” Kari laughed, ironic since she was typically the hothead. “We can buy buffs here, right?”
“Yup!” Tola tapped the table for a few after-dinner mints to line the table. “It’s random, so you’ll have to keep buying them until you find one you like, and they only last an hour.”
“Freaking RNG,” Sora grumbled, picking one off the table for a silver coin to disappear from her bag. “And a silver coin? C’mon, Tola…”
“Hey, I’m apparently trying to make a living—at least, that’s what White told me to say—and you can afford it.”
“Mmgm… We don't know what White is going to have in his shop next,” Aiden mumbled, glancing at the wall. “What buff did you get, Sora?”
“+25 to Dex—pretty insane, actually,” she nodded, going for another. “Ugh… +1 Spirit.”
“Lucky!” Tola’s ears leaned to the side with her smile. “25 is close to the max of 27.”
“C’mon, Sora—stealing my Dex,” Kari grumbled, popping one in her mouth before glaring at the buff. “21 Spirit… Really?”
“My Spirit!” Liz groaned, eating her own and closing her eyes in hope.
Aiden whistled. “+23 Spirit and +3 Intelligence.”
“Double buff?” Sora noted, glaring at the chocolates and Tola’s innocent smile. “Mmgm… I feel like it’s a total scam.”
“+17 Stamina,” Aiden nodded, popping another one in his mouth. “I mean—they’re not bad tasting, either… Shoot, +7 Strength.”
Sora glanced at their individual coin stack grimly, watching it dwindle by the second. “We… should probably not waste too much more—Kari, are you already out?!”
“Gah—+14 Stamina… Liz, spot me some silver.”
“What? No, I need it to get a cool item from White.”
“C’mon! Just a few—the best I had was 19 Agility—which is good, but it’s not Dex—I need the extra damage AND Crit Rate to get 57%..”
“Hehe, really getting into those numbers,” Aiden laughed, tossing her a few of his coins. “I’m good with +18 Stamina and +2 Spirit.”
“Spirit doesn’t do anything for you, though?” Liz commented, taking out a few silver to give him. “Here, get a better one.”
Kari spread her arms. “Really?”
“Hey, he is the one that takes all the hits,” she pointed out in her defense that no one bought.
“Hehe. Thanks, Babe… Oh, +24 Strength and “17 Stamina? Big!”
Liz cheered, clapping their hands together in celebration. “Nice!”
Kari glared at her last coin purchase. “I… guess +12 Dex and +4 Agility will do… Should have kept the +19 Dex…”
“Hmm-hmm-hmm.” Tola glanced at the stack of silver coins they’d tossed her. “You put quite a lot of effort into those; I wasn’t expecting that.”
“We gotta go!” Kari cried. “We’re on the clock—wait, why is my buff only 55 minutes, Tola?!”
“Overeating debuff,” she shrugged.
“Gah—let’s go!”
Giggling, Sora followed after her, and they jumped into the light to come out behind old, musty crates in damp catacombs.
They went over their new gear one more time, identifying their entire outfit as a whole now with the added Stats, including blues and yellows.
[Kari’s Wolf Fang Volcanic Mountain Set]
[+32 Dexterity]
[+43 Agility]
[+30 Stamina]
[+8% Dodge (Dexterity)]
[+ 30% Attack Speed]
[+ 55% Critical Hit]
[+ 125% Critical Damage]
[+ 35% Move Speed]
[+ 15% Penetration]
[Add 5 initial Fire Damage - Effect: Burn - 4 damage over 2 seconds]
[Lesser Necrotic Immunity]
[Skill: Air Step 3 - Take 4 steps in the air before going on a 10-second cooldown]
[Passive: Savage Bite - Attacks have a 15% chance of applying a 1-minute bleed affliction that does 2 damage every 3 seconds]
[Sora’s Cosmic Radiance Set]
[+72 Intelligence]
[+43 Spirit]
[+10 Stamina]
[Range Increase: 4 Meters]
[+100 Max Resource]
[+10% Threat Reduction]
[+20% Cast Speed]
[+15% Penetration]
[+10 MP Per 5 Seconds]
[Lesser Necrotic Immunity]
[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.]
[Auto Cast: Lesser Starfall - occasionally sends a star from the heavens to strike nearby enemies]
[Add 2 initial Fire Damage - Effect: Burn - 3 burn damage over 3 seconds]
[Add 4 initial Cosmic Damage - Effect: Debuff Defense and Resistance for 5 seconds]
[Aiden’s Lion’s Wall of Valor Set]
[+86 Stamina]
[+38 Strength]
[+40 Defense]
[+20% All Resistance]
[+25% Block Chance]
[+50% Threat Generation]
[+10% Move Speed]
[+15% Penetration]
[Lesser Fear Immunity]
[Indestructible]
[Lesser Necrotic Immunity]
[Auto Cast: Lesser Taunt - Pulls three nearby targets up to 3 levels higher than the player]
[Passive: Lesser Fire Aura - 5 Damage over 3 seconds to all those within one meter of player]
[Liz’s Idol of Destiny Set]
[+79 Spirit]
[+48 Intelligence]
[+10 Stamina]
[+15% Cast Speed]
[+25% Critical Hit Chance]
[+50% Critical Heal Amount]
[+5% Move Speed]
[-15% Threat]
[+15% Penetration]
[+20 MP Per 5 Seconds]
[Lesser Necrotic Immunity]
[Skill: Lesser Healing Rhapsody - Instantly heal 25 HP with a 40-second cooldown]
[Auto Cast: Lesser Hum of Revitalization - triggers when party member HP is less than 40% and gives a 4-second HoT that restores up to 15% HP to the lowest HP member (must be in combat) in range on a 40-second cooldown.]
[Passive: Melody of Peace - Will cleanse Fear every 5 seconds to those in a 10-meter radius.]
They were pretty stacked at this point and would school the boss on the first level. Kari hurried by to look down the hall, but her haste soon halted as she pulled in closer to the stone, face becoming slightly ashen. “Uh… problem,” she hissed.
Sora walked over to peek around the side and saw what caught the Fenris Wolf’s attention; colossal abominations—dozens of them—walking the halls, and now they could see the level over their heads… ???, and in deep red.
“Mmgm-hmm-hmm…” Sora slowly nodded. “We need to find an empty room where we can lure them in one at a time… hopefully.”
“Hopefully, she says,” Aiden grimaced. “Seriously, why did he have to push us up so many levels when we were just getting the hang of things?”
Utterly sober in her response, Liz’s feline eyes were intense. “It’s because he’s evil—corrupted to the core!”
Kari wagged her finger in acceptance. “Not… wrong, Liz… Not wrong. Okay, so… Our new Penetration Set Bonus should help us take these down, right?”
Folding her arms while focusing on her wand, Sora nodded. “Our gear should be pretty amazing for this area since we have the full set, but our blues aren’t doing us any favors…”
“Levels!” Liz hissed. “They’re the big issue.”
“That should even out,” Aiden commented. “Are we going to sneak around?”
Kari took the front. “I’ll lead the way—if we pull anything, I’m the fastest to run it around in circles.”
Aiden accepted that, seeing as they used a similar tactic on the first floor.
Sora gave them a thumbs up. “Let’s go.”
Creeping out when the mobs weren’t looking, it didn’t take them long to find a room with only two abominations, breaking another statue along the way; it seemed there were multiple and not a set limit, or they’d been moved to accommodate the change.
[Statue of the Beast 7/8]
The issue was they didn’t have a weak point to attack these abominations like the first boss, and these were tinted slightly green, showing possibly a higher grade.
Kari jumped in first, launching a surprise attack with them as Aiden hung back, waiting to taunt off the Fenris Wolf if it looked troublesome; their spells were doing damage, but it was going to take a while, and these ones spread acid across the floor.
Aiden jumped in to guide them after they turned on Sora, raining a hellfire of cosmic forces on their heads, but it was only for a second, making them shift between Kari and the Firebird for a moment; they had a threat reset counter.
It was a bit of a brutal fight, and occasionally, they’d spit slimes out that Aiden had to pick up or Sora kite, yet in the end, they fell!
[x2 +50 Undead Hunter Reputation]
[+25 Silver]
“Well, that would have been nice for Tola’s chocolates,” Kari grumbled, chest pumping with the effort she’d put in.
Liz dropped to her butt, looking at their Exp bar that had bumped up 35% from the encounter. “We have to do that with everyone on the floor—they respawn, too, right?”
“It’s just a collection log thing, I think,” Aiden groaned, working around his neck. “Man, just getting pounded on sucks!”
Sora snickered, twirling around her wand; she wasn’t tired in the least from flicking her wand. “I think I got the best Class! My mana regeneration is coming in big, too! Not as good as Liz’s, but it’s doing work.”
“Glad you’re doing good,” Kari mumbled. “Ugh—I guess this does increase my stamina.”
“That’s my department,” Aiden chuckled.
“Gah, you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I know! Oh, you’re ready to start trying some bigger pulls. If we get a few more, our stronger stuff will come in at Level 5.”
“Give me a few seconds,” Liz groaned. “Ugh… Okay. Huu-haaa, I’m ready! Level 5, here we come!”
Continuing through the dungeon, they racked up the bodies, and as predicted, they could pull larger groups as they grew, obtaining more items, and by the time their group stood in front of the Throne Room, White sitting imposingly on his massive seat, they were Level 8.
Sora grinned. This is going to be good!