“The wailing is a bit cliché.” James muttered, even as he scoured the building with his senses. There was something not right about the whole dungeon. The obvious signs of presence, the deliberate screams made just to scare them off.
It was exactly the kind of thing one would expect in a haunted house, if they didn’t know how real Spirits manifested.
“I think we are dealing with someone with very little knowledge of the outside world.” He said out loud, getting a grunt of acknowledgment from Lauren. She seemed the most spooked of the team, evidently not liking the gloomy atmosphere. “Why?”
“Because.” Maria interrupted “This is not how a real dungeon operates. It’s not until D-rank that truly intelligent monsters appear, and they certainly are not the kinds that would be found in this dump.”
“But something is going on here.” Ezekiel argued, looking at the changed room. From the broken photographs to the painted cockroaches, it was evident that an intelligent being was there with them.
“There is; that’s why I said someone with very little knowledge of the outside world. I have a strong suspicion about who it might be.” James answered.
That said, he started walking towards the staircase, ready to get the mystery over with.
As soon as his foot touched the first step, another ghostly wail resounded through the house and a blue wisp of fire appeared at the top.
“This is getting ridiculous.” With quick steps, James reached the second floor. He didn’t allow the thing time to react and he punched it, his fist encased in Thakinetic Empowerment.
Just like he expected, he felt very little resistance and the wisp dissipated in the air. More than that, no notification appeared, confirming his belief.
“Yeah, this is no haunted dungeon. There is a person here, and they are trying their best to scare us away.”
Once the others had reached him, they stepped into the creaky hallway, careful not to get ambushed.
Kicking in the first door, James jumped back, allowing the dog-sized spiders to fly by. They were much smaller than the ones they had dealt with in the forest, but their fangs gleamed with thick venom, and he very much wanted to avoid experiencing its effect.
A dozen more of the monsters followed the first two, flooding the hallway with their clicks and hisses.
With two quick steps, Daniel interposed himself between the monsters and his team, his shield glowing brightly. Behind his protection, Maria crafted a fireball.
The cramped space made it difficult for them to move properly in formation, but it also forced the spiders to stay clumped together, making it very easy for the Fire Mage to hit them all with one spell.
A blazing inferno roared through the hallway, incinerating the venomous spiders instantly. The smell of charred exoskeletons filled the air as the team cautiously proceeded forward, James in front.
The house was not a mansion, but it wasn’t small either, and they needed to sweep through five more rooms, two bathrooms included, before they could get to the last one, where they were expecting to find out the truth.
They sidestepped the burned spiders, Maria extinguishing the flames to prevent anything else from catching on fire.
Another wail, this time sounding much closer, made them pause, but when nothing happened, they resumed their march.
The second room, where James could feel several more monsters, turned out to be a bathroom. Clumped together in the bathtub, three more of the massive centipedes they had fought below screeched angrily at the intrusion.
Not wanting to get boxed in by the more maneuverable insects, James once again retreated to the hallway, letting them come to him.
He sidestepped the first, knowing his teammates would handle it, and ignored the last, having felt Lauren get into position behind it. His opponent clicked its mandibles menacingly, aiming to get at one of his legs.
I’m gonna give you exactly what you want.
With a grin, James pushed mana into his right leg and kicked it, hard.
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It tried grabbing onto it, but the strength behind the blow was such that it was folded in half and launched back into the bathroom.
Now unafraid of getting swarmed, James stepped in behind it. Though damaged, the centipede managed to resume its attack after a moment of dizziness. Again, he allowed it to get close, but he didn’t try to stop it this time.
The monster’s mandibles clamped down on his calf with enough strength to shear it off. Luckily, he had the protection of D-rank armor to stop it, though he still winced at the pressure.
Since the centipede was so busy trying to amputate him, he took advantage, punching down on its already messed up side. The blow strong enough to cut it in half, James’ gloved fist penetrating through the floor like it was made of paper.
Still, the beast didn’t let go. Even in its death throes, its grip on his leg only tightened further, and he was forced to grab onto its mandibles and forcefully open them.
It took James almost a minute to get free. When he did, he tossed the twitching remains back into the bathtub, massaging his leg.
Alright, that might not have been my most brilliant idea. The armor stopped it from doing any damage, but it still hurt. Ugh, when I get to the fucker who’s playing pretend with this whole thing, I’ll show them.
Just as he rejoined his friends, another wisp appeared, this time brighter and more corporeal. It was accompanied by the now-expected ghostly wail while hovering in the middle of the hallway, blocking their path.
“What even are these things?” Ezekiel complained.
Maria snorted in disdain “It’s not fire, I can tell you that much.”
Still holding his shield at the ready in case the wisp tried something, Daniel chipped in “I think it’s supposed to be a spirit in mythology. Like, in graveyards.” Noticing the looks he was getting, he shrugged. “What, I like retro games. They are pretty common.”
James shook his head and walked up to it “Hey, if you want to tell us anything, how about you stop hiding and come talk to us? As far as we know, you haven’t done anything too illegal, beyond entering a dungeon without a permit.”
Considering his first foray into the profession had seen him do just that, he was inclined to be charitable. If the person behind the gloomy atmosphere stopped the charade, that was.
He waited for an answer, but he sighed when it became apparent it wasn’t coming. His punch plowed through the apparition easily, but this time, he felt something flicker to his sensory skill while dispersing it.
He stopped, placing a hand on the wall and concentrated.
By now used to his demeanor, his teammates waited for him to come up with something. The spooky atmosphere had quickly lost its scary factor, and by now, they all just wanted answers and to get it over with.
James sought exactly those, scouring the building again for another hint of what he had felt, but nothing revealed itself.
“Damn, I thought I had it. For a moment, I felt like someone was here, but then it disappeared.”
“We’ll just have to get to the last room.” Daniel consoled him, sounding about as done as he was.
With a sigh, they resumed the dive. The next few rooms once again hosted several insect monsters, all changed from their base forms to be more powerful and intimidating, but nothing close to the cockroaches they fought within the basement.
James’ annoyance was palpable, his motions becoming brusquer, his senses stretched to their utmost in hopes of discerning whatever trickster hid behind the fake haunting.
The team moved meticulously, professionally clearing the rooms just like they had been taught by Miss Walker. In those that were too cramped, they wouldn't enter, but made enough of a racket that the denizens would chase them into the hallway, where they could be more easily dealt with.
In the larger room, the one adjacent to the master bedroom, which hid a dozen more centipedes, though bigger and meaner-looking, they fought inside, not wanting to be cornered from behind should whatever was in the last room come out.
James had learned his lesson not to let the insects get too close, and though he didn’t employ his explosive punches, he still managed to keep the monsters at bay while the others attacked from the back.
As always, Ezekiel’s buffs and debuffs proved immensely useful, granting them absolute superiority over their opponents.
“This is definitely not a newborn dungeon, but it feels almost too easy.” Maria said as she finished crisping up the last centipede.
“Yeah, I didn’t wanna say anything, but beyond the creepiness, this hasn’t been nearly as hard as the ones before.” Lauren agreed.
Thinking back to their previous experiences, James snorted “It’s not like it has to always be as difficult as what we have been through. Sometimes, a dungeon is exactly as difficult as it should be.”
The girl snorted. They had all gotten so used to their information being manipulated by various Guilds that the one time they got a dungeon within their possibilities, it felt too easy.
“It’s still too early to say.” Daniel grunted, keeping his eyes on the door.
Now that they were done with the centipedes, and James could only feel presences in the last room, they refocused. They had managed to eke out a level after fighting everything the house had thrown at them, which they quickly used to empower their stats in preparation for the Boss fight.
James made the unorthodox choice of empowering his SENSE and MIND in the hopes that whatever skill the person hiding in the last room was using, he’d be able to pierce through.
That done, they collected themselves and walked up to the door. It looked ordinary, just like all the others, but James could feel one strong presence inside, alongside the general fuzziness of the dungeon, only increased even further.
Without hesitation, he kicked the door in, stepping through to reveal a creepily preserved room.
Everything looked to have been left exactly as it once was. On the nightstands were a pair of glasses, an open book and even a bottle of water. Not a speck of dust marred the scene, as if someone had meticulously spent hours every day making sure it would be perfect, waiting for the owner to return.
On the bed was the presence James had felt from the beginning, and which he had tentatively dubbed the Boss of the dungeon.
Instead of the significant changes mana usually inflicted on low-level creatures, this one seemed almost entirely unchanged from its original form.
A tawny cat, with black rings around its eyes and a swishing tail, observed them from where it was perched upon. Its eyes glowed green in the torchlight, giving it an otherworldly air.
“Is that…”
“That should be the Boss.” James answered Ezekiel’s question. Despite its small size, he could feel a powerful will from the animal, and while it didn’t seem overly aggressive, it was not an average cat anymore, what with the way its paws glowed softly.
It stood up, hissing lowly in warning. Evidently, the miniature Boss did not appreciate having its territory invaded, made obvious by the extending of its claws.
Wickedly sharp, they tore into the sheets as it coiled up. Daniel immediately activated his skill, preparing to intercept the creature, when someone interfered.
“Miss Dalloway, you shouldn’t treat guests like that.” A disembodied voice said, calming the cat down.
The torn sheets repaired themselves, and several wisps appeared in the air, illuminating the room further.
Then, as if to disprove any theory they had come up with, a spectral figure appeared above the cat. A young woman with beautiful doe-like brown eyes and a pretty smile, wearing a bloodied, torn white dress, smiled at them.
Her completely ruined throat and see-through appearance made it obvious she was not alive.