The towering skeleton reached out with its hand, bracing for impact as it tumbled onto the ground.

Rye didn't give it a second longer, he pulled back the whip as it let go. He casually strolled over towards the giant skeleton and frowned.

"Is this the best this dungeon got to offer?" Rye snorted with disdain as he arrogantly looked down upon the creature.

The skeleton chattered back, unable to reply with words or expressions, it reached out to grab Rye.

Rye didn't budge from his spot; instead, he casually brushed the giant hand aside. With a twang, the bones let out a crackle as it spider cracked outward. It was as if he was swatting away an annoying bug.

"Impudent." Rye's words dripped with annoyance. He took another step. This time he tightened his grip on his whip. He threw back his hand, and with a thundering crash, he whipped the skeleton.

The bones shattered upon contact--the first: the right knee, then left shoulder, and eventually the other hand. A smug smile erupted from Rye's lips, giving his noble features a cocky demeanor.

Unable to support its weight, the skeleton hobbled in midair for a moment, throwing out its arms.

With a loud crash, it fell onto the ground. Its bones spilled onto the ground, scattering away like marbles. Its large head rolled towards Rye.

"I have fought better creatures than this," Rye's voice said in a cruel amusement.

Without a second thought, Rye cracked his whip into its forehead. The amount of force was extraordinary. Snow could feel the heat from his attack, pulsating around him like a blazing flame. Everyone was thrown a bit back. Some fell on the floor, others stumbled, and the enemies bones shattered.

Nobody expected that Rye would have trounced the skeleton giant. Snow knew that the vampires were strong, but never thought he would be so arrogant with his display of strength. She knew that the monster skull didn't need such overdramatic magic, boring into its head to crack open.

Better yet, she could have just stabbed it with her sword without the dramatic splash of power--Such over-the-top display. Snow rolled her eyes, hacking away another soldier skeleton to pieces. All she could think about was what a waste.

The other players didn't see it that way. They wearily watched, some out of fear, jealousy, or awe, mostly a mixture of all three.

A violent cheer erupted from the Players mouth. Nobody had died. Such a miraculous event was extraordinary as they saw another day.

Rye wrapped his whip, turning around as he didn't care for the dead.

On the other hand, Snow went forward to check if there were any pieces of the skeleton still left or alive. It wasn't that she was worried; she just wanted to make sure that it was dead. With quick steps, she checked around. The rest of the bones were in splinters, and only the skull was cracked open like a watermelon.

She found nothing but green goo that oozed out from the skull. A foul stench lingered in the air, making her stomach churn. Snow was just about to turn away when she saw something catch her eyes.

Piqued by the sudden shiny glimmer, she peered over, holding her breath.

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A small emerald shimmered underneath the morning light.

Snow had never seen such a beautiful jewel before, and the only thing that she could think of was that it was special. She squatted down, reaching into the goo. Her hand felt the wet slime, trailing down her arm, reminding her of a snot.

She cringed.

Her hand grasped the small emerald, pulling it out quickly. She didn't want to dally inside the green gunk any longer than necessary. Even her legs pushed her out of the area, almost as if she was running away.

A high pitch, hissing sound could be heard, melting the bones. Nobody wanted to get close to the awful smell. Some even barfed up what little food they had. It didn't take long for the bones to all disintegrate, leaving behind only a mush of green puddle of goo.

Snow skin felt the warm emerald jewel in her hand, coursing through her body. It was odd as it felt alive. The only thing that she could think of was that it was a living stone that she had heard about in the legends.

A crystal gem that could be used to power up weapons and items or even people themselves. Her feet quickly carried her to the other carcass that she had split open in half--the Gnome. When she made her way over, a black goo was present in a puddle.

Her shoe dipped in the goo, pushing the goo around. A nasty squish could be heard, followed by a clunk. Snow pulled back her feet, squatting down low.

Her hand reached out as she took the clunky chunk from the black goo. The greasy goo was wiped away, leaving behind a sparkling gem. It wasn't like the first gem that she had gotten. Instead, it was a deep dark blue, close to the color of the abyss.

A pulsating simmer of malice danced in her hand, wrapping around the gem that seemed to stink of death.

Snow hands bounced the black gem in her hand while she thought of what use it could be. The only thing she could think of was asking Falcon, who might understand its uses better. Snatching it out of the air, she put away into her storage as she stood up.

Ryan had rushed over, excited. His hands reached out, grabbing onto her shoulder and pulled her into a hug. "Snooooooowww!"

Twirling her around, Snow's started to feel nauseated. Everything was spinning around in circles, making her it challenging to focus.

Eventually, Ryan put on down onto the ground. He hugged her again, this time more forcefully as if he were trying to squeeze the life out of her.

Startled by his sudden closeness, she looked at him once. Her eyes slightly squinched, but she didn't say anything. The hug didn't feel horrible, she was caught up with his enthusiasm as well as the others-for they had escaped death.

Every Player understood that Snow hadn't abandoned them and gave them hope to get out of this wretched place alive.

Letting her go, Ryan cleared his throat. "Sorry. I just got a little carried away."

"It's fine." Snow stepped back to give herself a little bit of breathing space. She didn't mind getting swept away by everyone's enthusiasm. Still, she wasn't so sure she wanted to be spun and hugged so viciously again.

"I can't thank you enough." Ryan grinned from ear-to-ear. "It was hard to think positively out of this situation."

Snow understood him too well, mostly because she also had doubts many times. The struggle with her mind was like fighting another inner battle in itself, making it double the fight that she had to overcome.

Was it easy to slay her own inner demons? Absolutely not, but that didn't mean it would be difficult.

All she had to do was take the first step, diving into her own thoughts to battle against her own growing fears.

"Like I said, it's fine. We have our own demons to fight," Snow casually said what was in her heart.

Ryan was grateful for Snow's understanding as his respect for her grew. "Where do you think we should go?"

Snow was puzzled with this question as well. There was no boat to cross the river or any other way to escape this place. She didn't even know how long the river ran across the lands or if there was a barrier that would block them. So many thoughts ran through her. She didn't hear the growing commotions around her.

A loud honk blared through the air, catching Snow entirely off guard. She jumped, looking around, wondering where such a rude noise came from. She saw large stacks of grey clouds of smoke, trailing up into the sky. Another honk rang out, bringing everyone's attention towards the dock.

A medium-size cruise ship appeared from the left.

The Players excitedly shouted. They pointed, running towards the edge of the dock. Some even pushed to get to the front as they didn't want to get left behind this time, which caused a few argumentative outbreaks.

"I think we were given our answer," Snow said to Ryan, quickly heading over towards the ferry. Ryan went into a half trot and a jog, expectantly looking towards the dock. Even Rye followed along.

Eventually, Snow made her way. Rye trotted behind her, bored as he yawned. The Players instantly realized that Snow, Ryan, and Rye were heading straight towards the dock edge, spreading apart and letting them come through.

After a final blow of its horn, the ship abruptly stopped. It took a moment for the engines to shut off and opened its doors. With a loud thunk, a wooden board was cast out from the entrance and onto the dock itself, shaking it before it settled.

Everybody waited, looking into the dark entrance.

So far, nobody exited out. Was there someone inside? People assumed someone would have come out to greet them by now, but so far, no one did.

Snow didn't wait any longer, she took the first step into the ship. She couldn't just stand there and possibly leave.

Rye lazily followed, which spurred the other Players from joining behind. They were glad that both Snow and Rye were with them.

The lights suddenly turned on, showing Snow the passage to multiple doors that lit up on the ground floor and overhead.

A voice erupted from overhead, a tired sigh escaped the conductor's lips. "Please head towards the room. Each room could fill up to four people, no more." One could tell that the conductor didn't really care for who went where.