“Look brother, the rat is back. And it brought its filthy friends,” one of the undead court mages said.

“Don’t screw this up this time, sister,” the other said as two balls of fire appeared over his shoulder.

“Pillars!” Steak shouted.

Jill and Lilith immediately understood what he tried to say. They all hid behind one of the stone pillars that lined the hallway. Fireballs and shards of ice hit the pillars, successfully shielding them from the attack.

“Now!” Lilith commanded.

Both Jill and Steak ran up to the undead mages. They came from both directions. Of course, they wouldn’t just let them do that and had already started to cast their combo attack. However, Lilith started casting before their first attack even landed.

Lilith casted on the ice-element mage, causing a slight delay in both their spell speed and movement. This disrupted the timing of the undead mages’ attack.

A-poy’s fireball spell landed on the velvet carpet, hitting no one. Then, it was followed by Y’elo’s ice entrapment spell that missed Steak’s foot. With no more time to prepare another spell, Steak and Jill were free to pounce at them and take this opportunity.

Steak activated and swiped at Y’elo’s chest, lacerating them with 5 slashes across. On the other hand, Jill, with her two knives, swiped at A-poy’s head. She missed and only managed to graze them on the cheek. No blood poured out from the mages’ wounds, confirming that they weren’t alive despite having the ability to speak and think.

Annoyed that the two managed to get close to them, A-poy and Y’elo started to float above them beyond their reach. They stared at their opponents as each other’s wounds transferred to the other. Five slashes appeared on A-poy’s chest, though it wasn’t as deep as the original. And Y’elo’s chest wound shrunk in size until it was identical with the other. They continued to stare at the humans, as if mocking them.

Steak wasn’t intimidated by this. On the contrary, his eyes widened as he figured it out.

“They share the same Health pool!” Steak announced. “Like how you and your familiar shared the same Mana!”

“Heh, so if we take one of them out, then the other should fall as well,” Lilith grinned. “Let’s focus our attacks on one of them first!”

“On it!” Steak responded.

Lilith used on the ice user, causing orange energy to gather on their feet. The undead mage attempted to go down and put out the flame by crouching down. Steak saw this as an opportunity to attack.

Failing to put it out in time, the ice mage was on the back foot trying to dodge Steak’s wild slashes. Then, Lilith’s fire took form and slowly crept up their leg. A-poy’s leg started to get burnt as well.

Annoyed, the mage entrapped her own leg in a block of ice, putting out the flames. Then, A-poy had to send a fireball in Steak’s direction which he had to block with his shell.

“Brother, the wicked whore scheming by the door is the real threat,” Y’elo said, stuttering some of the words as her tongue had rotten over time.

“Sister, we should go after her first,” A-poy agreed.

The two mages flew past Steak and Jill and headed straight for Lilith. The accumulated damage Y’elo received from Jill and Steak’s rush started to form on A-poy. Lilith pulled her knife out and remained in her spot.

Y’elo trapped Lilith’s feet with her ice, but Lilith's grin didn’t waver. Before they even started flying at her she had casted on A-poy, delaying his attack.

Lilith started to hack away at the ice block with her knife. By the time A-poy threw a fireball at her crouched figure, Steak was already in between them. He used and deflected the attack back at them.

The message popped up in front of him. He also realized that he was already below half in Mana.

“Hm, they are quite annoying, aren’t they?” A-poy said.

“That sham of a mage keeps disrupting our timing, and that stinky thrall of hers keeps getting in our way,” the other said.

“At least the rat is barely trying. I believe we should retreat and recuperate,” A-poy suggested.

“A tactical maneuver, brother! Make them go to us deeper in this hall. Their exit is far too close,” Y’elo said.

The two slowly floated backwards until they were swallowed by the darkness of the lavish hall. The candles beyond Steak’s group flickered and wavered until they all died out simultaneously.

“I’m chasing after them,” Steak said and ran, leaving the two alone.

Lilith brought out the rope from her inventory and handed it to Jill.

“Here, before we go after them, I’d like to discuss a plan,” Lilith looked at Jill. “Wait, what’s with the face?” She asked.

Jill violently shook her head. “No! Screw your risky plans. Did you not see what just happened? Even after all of our attacks, they barely sustained any damage,” she stomped her foot. “I’m already exhausted and both of you used up half of your Mana. It’s only a matter of time until we slip up and they land a solid hit on us.”

“We have to try. We barely have any food left, we can’t stay in this dungeon any longer,” Lilith tried to reason with her.

“This place was meant for five people. We can’t win,” Jill said softly.

Lilith furrowed her brows, thinking of something to say to convince her that they have a chance. Then, Jill started walking away. Once again, anger welled up inside Lilith. For a brief moment she had forgiven Jill for her actions before, she understood how scared she must be in this situation. All three of them were afraid, but neither Steak nor her gave up and left the group to die.

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“You’re just gonna leave us again for the third time?” Lilith chuckled.

Jill stopped and snapped her head toward Lilith. “Yeah, because I’m not as dumb as you two who would risk their lives to save a stranger. We’re not comrades or a team, we’re strangers forced to play in this sick game!”

Lilith took in a deep breath.

“Alright, if you’re going to be rational about all this, then I’ll be too,” Lilith said. “Leaving us to die is the same as killing us.”

Jill ignored her and reached for the door, however it took her arm a while to touch it. As fast as she could, she turned to face Lilith who was already casting another spell. She got hit with a .

“Backstabbing bitch,” Jill hissed and launched one of her throwing knives.

Lilith had to stop casting her spell, blocking the knife with her forearm.

“You don’t get to complain,” she said.

***

Back with Steak, he successfully caught up with the two mages. As he chased them down, they hurled their spells at him, which was exactly what he wanted.

Influenced by Lilith’s risk taking, he decided to attempt his crazy scheme. For most of the ice spells sent his way, he prioritized dodging them or blocking with his . With the fireballs however, he blocked it with his bare forearms. He felt and studied both elements as he ran towards them.

Skills

Rank

Cost

Desc

Metamorph

1 - 30%

n/a

Change your form

M.morph-Bearcat claws

1 - 52%

2.5/sec

Claws that can pierce common-grade metals

M.morph-Turtleboar Shell

1 - 20%

2.5/sec + Dmg

Damage that hits the shell will be reflected and blocked as long as the damage done is less than the user's Mana

Absorb Element (Passive)

1- 05%

n/a

Absorb elemental magic and use it as if it was your own. Low conversion rate at lower ranks

With the skill finally unlocked, Steak immediately put a point in Spirit and used his last boon. With a total of 8 points in Spirit, he was close to being able to have on at all times.

Status

Name

Steak

Strength

2

Level

5

Vitality

1

Race

Human

Agility

1

Class

Druid - Metamorph

Dexterity

1

Health

100

Magic

1

Health Regen /s

0.05

Spirit

8

+4

Mana

100

Points

0

Mana Regen /s

2

Next Level

32.56%

The third skill he got was a lot more straightforward in both name and description than the other two.

With his body refreshed, he charged even faster at the twin mages. The two continued hurling their spells at him which he simply blocked with . And, as if it was second nature, he channeled the ice magic to his left arm and the fire magic to the right.

They eventually stopped their chase at the other end of the hall where an equally ornate set of doors stood. The previous damage inflicted on the two undead mages had faded away, which Steak found odd considering they were ghouls like the previous ones they encountered. Perhaps their magical talents helped preserve both their forms and their minds.

With nowhere else to go, Steak took this opportunity and lunged at Y’elo. She tried to evade his attack, but Steak caught her in the foot. He pierced through her cold flesh with his claws.

But that was only the start of his attack. Using the accumulated ice magic in his left arm, he encased her foot in a block of ice much like what Y’elo would do to them. Then, with his right set of claws he slashed upwards with fire magic, opening and cauterizing the wound at the same time.

Both A-poy and Y’elo screamed in pain. Annoyed with Steak’s assault, A-poy blasted him with a stream of fire, pushing him away from them.

Despite his successful attacks, Steak grew too confident. His hubris led him to not pay attention to his surroundings. As he retreated backwards, he tripped on the carpet and landed on his backside.

Y’elo wasted no time and took the opportunity. While still trapped in the block of ice, she hurled one for Steak as well. Here, Steak would come to regret not investing in his other stats. He couldn’t get up in time to dodge it and got trapped.

“Dumbass,” he cursed at himself.

With a face as angry as the flames he wielded, A-poy charged up a large ball of fire in front of him.

Steak tried to free himself by melting his prison of ice with the remaining fire magic he had. Suddenly, a blob of darkness jumped over his head and got in between him and the twins.

It stretched out its tendril-like arms, ready to catch the incoming spell. Looking at the horrid thing made his eyes feel weird, as if he looked at something both near and far away.

A-poy released the gigantic fireball with a grin on his face. He was confident it could take both Steak and the Nightmare out. It was a direct hit. The bright flames slowly dissipated as it was swallowed by the vast darkness that comprised its body.

A-poy clicked his tongue and flew over to Y’elo.

“The annoying woman is back,” A-poy said.

“With a new friend it seems. Or, perhaps not,” Y’elo said.

“Sister, I think it’s time,” he said.

Y’elo nodded and encased themselves in a globe of ice.

Steak craned his neck and saw Lilith jogging towards him. She quickly grabbed her knife and helped him remove the remainder of the ice.

“Is that a new familiar of yours?” He eagerly asked.

She nodded in response. Lilith refused to meet his gaze.

“This guy looks like a tough one compared to that imp you had before. Why didn’t you summon it earlier?” He asked.

“Because I didn’t intend to summon it,” she said.

After hearing those words, Steak remembered how she summoned the imp familiar. She used Kurt’s fresh corpse. His eyes widened and looked around. Jill was still alive when he last saw her, and it was with Lilith.

“You didn’t have to resort to this. We could’ve gone through this another way,” Steak said.

“Perhaps, however, neither the enemy in front of us nor Jill gave us the option to,” she said. Once again she put on the stoic mask to hide her emotions.

Steak glanced down at her forearm, several stab wounds that pierced through her bracer. He didn’t want to believe the cruel reality. Nevertheless, he accepted it.

The ice globe in front of them started to glow. Inside of it was a storm of fire. A swirling rage inside a chilling cage.