Luke’s heart thundered. He froze, overwhelmed by the presence in front of him.

“Prepare yourself, Reaver.” A ghostly sword tapped on the shoulder of Luke. Sooty looked perplexed at the monster. Something was different to her senses about this Spectral Lord.

7..6…5…

Rooted in fear, Luke peered over into those blue, deathly eyes. He had no way of piercing the plate all over its body. Struggling to break free seemed impossible. Luke’s brain was sputtering; he forced out his two skills. Infusion onto himself and Essence Bond on the Spectral Lord. Essence Bond was slightly effective, and the presence of the Spectral Lord decreased by a small amount. Using Infusion on himself broke him of his trance, and he shifted his weight. Luke shoved the sword off him. Luke stumbled back; Sooty flapped off and landed before the spectral lord.

4…3..2

Sooty flashed her eyes. A few caws came out, almost in a questioning tone.

2..1…

“Your companion is more perceptive than you, young Reaver.” His ghastly voice echoed around.

The Spectral Lord flicked his sword toward Luke; a sword mark came and merged with him.

“You’ll find me at the end of this tomb, young Reaver, waiting for you and your companion.” His head shifted to Sooty as he said his parting words.

The Spectral Lord turned around, hefted its sword over its shoulder, and left. The thundering steps of the Spectral Lord grew quiet over the following moments.

Luke’s breath refused to calm down for some time. Sooty, seemingly unworried, flapped over to Luke, who was now sitting on the floor and screeched at him. As if saying, “Come on! Let’s go already!” Sooty was more fearless than Luke was. Another screen flashed in his vision.

[Quest updated]

[Defeat the Spectral Lord] (Class Trial Quest)

The Spectral Lord has gifted you with the spectral mark. Should you not take the heart of the Spectral Lord in time to match with the spectral mark, your heart will stop.

Time remaining: 71:56:34

Reward: 9500 experience, 5 Skill Points, Spectral Heart

“There goes any chance of turning back,” Luke grumbled.

Wayfinder spoke up, "Well, aren't you the star of the show? Your heart's pounding like a drum.”

“It won’t be pounding for much longer at this rate,” Luke responded.

"Ah, that Spectral Lord? He's nothing short of a nightmare. And that mark, it's as real as your fears. Tick-tock, lad."

"Now we have to kill that thing? Got any bright ideas?"

"Listen, laddie. You can't waltz up and slap a ghost. You're going to need to use your noggin. Don't underestimate that little bird of yours. Strange things happen when you're backed into a corner."

"That's...reassuring?" Luke spoke.

"Look, you chose to be a Reaver, aye? Now, you've got to live up to it. Get in gear. Your life's a mess, but it's the only one you've got."

Luke couldn’t much argue with that. He didn’t choose the class of Essence Reaver, but did it matter? He wasn’t the type to blame Sooty, either. She didn’t mean to cause him to pick Essence Reaver. That was water under the bridge now. Luke had come to this world not so unexpectedly if he was being truthful.

People had been vanishing from Earth to somewhere for years; the only real surprise was they had come to another world entirely. And if he came here, then maybe his dad did as well. He wanted to see him again. Having that gave him a goal. First, he needed to get out of this cave first to start working on that. Or rather, this tomb. Luke dusted himself off.

Taking Wayfinder’s advice, Luke figured he should learn what his two companions could do. First, he gripped Wayfinder in his hand, taking note that to level him up again would take twenty-five experience points, the same amount for him. But the passive he got from leveling Wayfinder once was powerful. The vision attribute of his was why he could fight down here in the first place.

“Sooty, come over here. It’s time we figure out how to best use our abilities together, pal, if we’re going to beat that spectral bastard.”

Sooty hopped over, deciding she’d rather not fly, and looked up at Luke. Her screen came up again. Luke peered at the parts he didn’t understand or see from before. Her feather that she gained earlier caught his attention first.

[Quicksilver Feather]

Quality: Rare

Agility +15

HP +25

Passive: Spectral Sense: Grants wearer the ability to hit through any unholy-type enemy's spectral energy and enable them to feel their hostility.

Passive: Quicksilver: Amplifies the wearer’s speed by 20%.

Found by a lucky serpentizer. Then taken by an even luckier crow.

“That would explain a lot. Could Sooty tell the Spectral Lord wasn’t there to fight us?” Luke had said his thoughts out loud, a habit he had after not being around other people for so long. Keeping thoughts to yourself was much less critical if no one was ever around to hear them. That was different now, however, as even if Sooty couldn’t talk, Wayfinder definitely could and rarely missed the chance.

"What did I tell you, lad? This feathered lassie of yours is worth more than you think."

“I don’t have much of an issue admitting Sooty is the stronger of the two of us for now. What would it matter anyway? Her class tells me she’s meant to be my partner.”

Luke continued, keeping the compass from getting any word in.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re a partner too, Wayfinder. Your passive is why I can truly see down here anyway. As the light gets dimmer, I’ll depend on you too, pal.” Luke rubbed Wayfinder as he said so.

The compass became silent, not expecting Luke to say that to him. Luke went and inspected the other skills of Sooty. He knew what he and Wayfinder could do. Now, it was time to figure out what Sooty skills were. She even had more abilities than the two of them put together. Luke started with the only passive ability Sooty had, Reaver’s Link.

[Reaver’s Link]

Companion's attacks have a 1% chance to stat steal for their Reaver. Companion gains a 20% additional effect from Reaver’s enhancements. Allows closer communication with Reaver and separate experience gained from Reaver. Always active.

Sooty was able to assist him in stealing stats now? What a pleasant surprise, he thought. She could gain an extra kick from his Infusion or Essence Bond than most targets. His expression relaxed, the duo now had synergy together. Quickly taking the information in, Luke went over Sooty’s active abilities.

[Reaver's Beak II]: Companion strikes the enemy, causing 10 extra damage. Strengthens debuffs by 10% for 6 seconds if the target is under essence debuffs. Additionally, there is a 4% chance to activate the Reaver’s stat-stealing on the target. Cost: 20 Essence

Cooldown: 6 seconds

Anything that would help him gain stats sooner was welcome in Luke's book. Plus Sooty was adept with her beak, a skill that made his own abilities stronger and gave her a damage boost couldn't be bad.

[Iron Feather II]: Companion releases an arcane feather that turns into a protective barrier around an ally or themselves, reducing damage from the next attack by 40%. Amplifies barrier strength by 20% if the ally or themselves are under essence buffs. Feather returns after absorbing one attack or 30 seconds. Cost: 10 Essence

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Luke's body relaxed upon reading the information for Iron Feather. He had no defense besides running and needed more combat sense to be sure he'd avoid all damage. If Sooty was willing to place this on him at times, he could afford to make a mistake.

[Talon Strike II]: Companion swoops down at the enemy with blinding speed, targeting vulnerable points and dealing 30 additional damage. 35% chance of critical damage. Doubles critical strike chance if the Reaver's abilities slows or debuffs the target. Cost: 50 Essence

Cooldown: 18 seconds

Luke realized Sooty could deal severe damage now if she wanted to, and she had the only defensive ability among the trio. Wayfinder was a talking stat stick with a seven-day cooldown on his only active ability. Of course, the precision, critical hit, and vision buff were helpful, especially in dark places, much like Luke found himself in. Gaining confidence after understanding how valuable Sooty was, Luke pressed on.

The tactic was Sooty would go in and strike first, taking the immediate threat. No matter how much of a spike in power the trio received, Luke still only had one health point after all. It would be a long time before he tanked anything.

Taking care not to go too fast and “accidentally” catch up with the Spectral Lord, the trio took their time. The ceiling above them went higher, dimming the light from those roots. Luke used the unexpected peace to test his abilities more on the way forward, eventually having Infusion on all the throwing knives he picked up, himself, Sooty, and Wayfinder. Luke adapted to the feeling of essence leaving him but returning quickly. Even when using Essence Bond, which was more costly than Infusion, all his essence was back two seconds later.

Luke tested if he could use it on separate clothing pieces and returned with a negative. However, this didn’t apply to Wayfinder even when he wore him. Luke thought that Wayfinder’s sentience could show the Interface he was a separate being and could take an Infusion of his own. Of course, the same applied to Essence Bond; he could use it on Sooty and Wayfinder.

As he was about to begin testing what Sooty could do, the cave lit up with an otherworldly green fire. Luke stopped, and a large, flat platform was a few yards ahead. Each of the four corners had a pillar; green fire danced and shifted on top of each.

“Yep, that’s definitely a death flag, Sooty. We are going back,” Luke said confidently.

Sooty let out a few caws and clicks in agreement.

"You think dodging about will sort things? Your heart's still on borrowed time, you know?" Wayfinder tried to reason.

“But that’s about seventy hours from now. I’ll go take a nap or something. I may as well at least die rested or in my sleep.”

An otherworldly exasperated sigh was heard from the platform. “In all my years, I’ve never had a Reaver refuse to even step on the stage.” A deathly pale lady appeared. Her red eyes pierced the dimly lit green light.

“See, told you, Wayfinder, deathtrap.” Not waiting for a response, Luke swiftly turned around and started to leave. Sooty flapped her wings and landed on his shoulder as if agreeing with the choice.

The pale woman hurriedly spoke, “Wait! If you don’t go on the stage, your heart will-“

Luke cut her off and responded in an annoyed tone. “I know already, it explodes, implodes, reloads, whatever. I didn’t ask for any of this crap, can’t a man leave a tomb in peace? I’ll even say hello to the cave troll. Sooty will take care of those goblins, and I can retire in some village after finding my old man.”

“But if you succeed in the trial, you’ll-“

“You’re not going to let me leave anyway, are you?” Luke didn’t see fit to let her finish. His tolerance had it with this place. Who soldiers on and kills monsters all day anyway? Luke didn’t. Tiredness and hunger filled his body. He wanted a nap. Sooty could be his lookout and Wayfinder his alarm. May as well rest up first before fighting again.

Ignoring whatever the ghost had to say, Luke took out his branches and snake oil, then found two rocks and started striking to make a spark. He even used Infusion on rocks to hit the stones together faster and increase the ease of making sparks for fire. The volume of the pale lady was getting louder and more challenging to ignore. “If you don’t come up here, I’ll make you suffer in the underworld and curse your entire family and-” Luke shut off her rambling after that. Some rules must be in place because she never touched him. Luke leisurely cooked all the meat from the Serpentizers in his Inventory. He was also about to cook the fish, but Wayfinder started wailing.

"You can't eat me fishy matey! Wasn't taking his life enough for you?"

Luke responded, “Your fishy matey tried to eat Sooty.”

Wayfinder began to beg louder and wouldn’t stop. The compass was surprisingly loyal to its friends. Thinking about how he wouldn’t get any sleep if he cooked up this fish, Luke decided it wasn’t worth it. He dug up a small pit with Sooty’s help and buried the fish while the Serpentizer meat was cooking. He swore he heard the compass sniffle.

Luke couldn’t bring himself to eat rat meat, so he threw it out. After catching Sooty trying to steal one piece of meat off the fire first, Luke ate a few portions until he was full. He returned the rest in his Inventory once he shared a fair amount with Sooty. The meat showed up as cooked meat in his Inventory in a large stack. Luke thought that was useful.

Upon seeing Luke yawning and seriously about to try to sleep in front of her, the deathly pale lady finally lost in the battle of wills. I’ll...I’ll keep any monsters away from here when you rest near the platform once. Deal?” She had a pleading tone in her voice.

Luke’s eyes lit up. This was the thing he had been after. A way to catch some shut-eye safely. How could he sleep peacefully, even if Sooty was a lookout? Sooty also needed to sleep; she was powerful, but she wasn’t an undead who didn’t need any rest. With his current one health point body, Luke playing lookout was a scam.

He had a devilish grin on his face as he said. “Make it a quest. And answer three questions of mine.”

Veronica blew at green flame near her, it blazed out, heating Luke for a second before returning to dead heat, she said, “One question, you’re testing my patience.”

“Two.” Luke held up two fingers, meeting Veronica’s eyes.

Immediately, a quest popped up.

[Clear the stage]

Reward: Torn Pages, The Guardian of the Stage, Veronica, will protect you while you sleep near the stage. Afterward, she shall answer two questions to her liking.

“That’s more like it.” Luke had a satisfied humming come out naturally. He and Sooty slowly walked on stage, and Veronica was about to cry in excitement at finally getting Luke on stage. “What an exhausting Reaver. I don’t get enough soul points for this. I need a drink at the Underworld bar,” She muttered.

The Infusion from before was still active on Sooty and Wayfinder. Luke activated it on himself, ready to use Essence Bond on his first target. Only to find his Infusion from before also didn’t wear off.

It's good to know Infusion lasts a while.

After a few seconds of waiting, five skeletons materialized in front of Luke and Sooty.

[Skeleton]

Level: 4

HP: 29/29

In the middle of the stage, Green fire in the air formed the words: Begin.

Five Skeletons all immediately charged at Luke, ignoring Sooty.