Congratulations, you have entered a Small Dungeon.

(You must defeat the first-floor boss to leave this dungeon.)

I just stared at the screen blinking. I couldn't tell what I was feeling, Relief? Concern? Pissed? I settled on a mix of all of them.

"Whoa ho, look out fancy pants. Liam found himself a dungeon; this will be a real genuine test of your growth. That is if you don't get mauled alive." Bram animatedly said with a grin.

"Let's just get this over with, we have people that need saving." I stated, while withdrawing my spear and clenching it.

Quest Received: Defeat the first floor boss

Rewards: Unique Loot Chest and 20,000 experience

Taking a breath in that I instantly regretted, just now smelling the inside of the tunnel for the first time. The nauseating smell of death. My mind swam with horrifying thoughts of the types of creatures that crawled around in this filth. Making me think of the damn thing that chased me towards this hell. Looking around, I saw nothing besides dirt walls and a muddy floor. The sound of water droplets hitting the floor were all around me. Taking my first step into the tunnel, I felt a wave of disgust hit me, probably from the smell of decay getting significantly worse. I continued on and Bram ran off, hopefully scouting ahead and not trying to mess anything up.

A metallic clang echoed down the tunnel, sending a shiver up my spine. "Bram... Was that you?" I asked continuing forward slowly. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, and I could swear the walls were pressing in closer the further in I went. Every step squelched with mud and the acrid smell of rot seemed to burn my nostrils. Another clang rung out, closer this time. I strained my ears, trying to make sense of it. Hammering? Chains? A pick against stone? I wasn't sure, but I would soon find out.

Brams voice filled my head causing me to jump "Do you want to charge in heroically or sneak around like a coward?"

I rolled my eyes, replying, "How about a strategic approach?"

"Ah, yes, the cowards cousin." He quipped with a laugh.

Ignoring him, I pressed forward until the tunnel opened into a larger chamber, finally relieving me a little from the claustrophobia. My stomach twisted at the sight I saw before me, rusted cages lined the walls, their bars bent and broken in some places. A quick count told me there were ten excluding, the source of the noise. It became clear as I looked directly at the far end of the chamber. In the largest cage something was banging itself against the cavern wall. The creature inside was a solid mass, but besides that I couldn't discern anything else in this low light.

"To your left, dolt. Watch your surroundings!" Bram cut through the eerie silence.

My head snapped to the left just in time to see a figure a few steps away, shuffling towards me. I launched out with my spear, hitting it center mass. Withdrawing it quickly the figure still ambled forwards.

"Your gonna have to do more than that to put an undead down. Aim for the head or sever the spine at the neck." Bram lectured, while floating beside me.

Scrambling back a few feet, I replied, "Why the hell don't you just possess it and help me?"

"I certainly could, but I just... Can't... It's absolutely disgusting." He shot back.

The undead lunged towards me, I reacted and leapt back into the tunnel I entered from. Head or spine, I whispered to myself several times.

Bram smirked "That's the spirit! Well, not the spirit, that would be me, obviously, but you get the point."

"Not helping." I snapped, striking forward with my spear, as the undead made a low groaning sound. The tip of the spear struck true this time and actually hit something vital. It pierced through the creature's temple with a sickening crunch. The undead shuddered violently, then collapsed to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. I kicked the corpse to make sure it wouldn't try anything as I stepped past it and back into the cavern. I could see more of them shambling towards me en masse. Nine in total, bouncing ideas around I settled on skirting around the mass and trying to take precision shots with my spear.

Bram whistled, floating lazily beside me as I moved. "Nine against one, huh? I like those odds, well, not for you, but it’ll be entertaining to watch."

I ignored him, focusing on the approaching undead. Their shambling, uncoordinated movements should’ve been reassuring, but the sheer number of them made my pulse race. No mistakes this time.

Keeping a tight grip on my spear, I edged along the cavern wall, my feet carefully avoiding the slick patches of mud and grime. I had to be fast, hit one, move, repeat. If they surrounded me, I was done for. One of them broke ahead of the pack, stumbling toward me with arms outstretched. I jabbed forward, the spearhead slipping into its eye socket and out the back of its skull. It dropped instantly, but the others were closing in.

Bram hovered just behind me, his grin ever-present. "You know, Liam, this reminds me of an old story- oh wait, you're too busy not dying. Carry on!"

"Shut up, Bram," I muttered, pulling the spear free and backing away as another undead lunged. I sidestepped, driving the spear through its neck this time. It gurgled, twitching violently before falling limp.

Two down. Seven left.

Sweat dripped down my temple, but I couldn’t stop now. Another undead swiped at me, and I barely managed to duck, my heart pounding in my chest. This wasn't sustainable. I needed a better plan something faster.

"Bram," I hissed, risking a glance at him. "Got any actual helpful ideas?"

"Just keep doing what you're doing. They are mindless- granted, it's only a step below your mental aptitude- but they won't catch on to your patterns." I ignored the light jab and continued on.

I was really wondering if Bram had lost his mind without having his physical form. There had to be a way I could help him with that. Thrusting out, I had hit another one, but not before one of the undead swiped at my right forearm.

I staggered back, clutching my arm as a wave of nausea rolled over me. The blackened scratches pulsed with an unsettling heat, and my stomach churned at the thought of what kind of nasty undead infection I'd just picked up.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, feeling a cold sweat break out on my forehead. "Bram, what the hell is this? Some kind of zombie plague?"

Bram, now possessing one undead, turned to me with a disturbingly toothy grin. "Oh, you know, just a little curse, a touch of necrotic rot. Standard dungeon fare. You'll be fine.... probably." He cracked the undead’s neck with an eerie grace and barreled through the remaining creatures like a wrecking ball.

I watched a mix of horror and relief flooding me. "Okay, now you decide to be useful?"

"Well," Bram's voice echoed from the undead body as he casually ripped an arm off another zombie and used it as a club, "seeing you flail around like a wounded deer was fun for a while, but I figured you'd appreciate the assist."

I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to focus. The remaining undead were thinning out fast thanks to Bram's new brute-force approach, but my arm felt worse by the second.

"Alright, fine," I said, stumbling back toward the cavern wall. "Just- handle the rest while I figure out how to not die from this."

Bram snapped the head off another creature and turned to me with an unsettling chuckle. "Oh Liam, don't worry. If you die, I'll make sure to reanimate you as my personal butler."

"Not. Helping." I shot back and remembered I had something in my inventory that might help this.

Taking out the Major health potion I had bought a couple of days agon and downed the entire bottle. The taste reminding me of a slightly carbonated cold medicine that was cherry flavored. Instantly giving me the shivers, throwing the flask to the ground and looking back at the wound. A puss bubble just burst, but besides that, the wound around the edges was slowly healing up. One crisis adverted, now to survive the rest of the dungeon.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Bram was on top of the last undead slapping him in the face while screaming something through the broken jaw his possession now had... I'm pretty sure it was something along the lines of "Who's your daddy?" I just let out a light chuckle; then it happened. The cage across from us finally fell from the ceiling, as the door bursted outwards.

As I stepped closer to the cage to analyze what kind of foe we were going to be facing. I stopped; it was a human... Or so I thought before its body jerked in a sharp, unnatural motion, as its limbs started to twitch around like a tangled puppet. Squinting at it I saw the patchwork flesh, stitched together in a grotesque mockery of life. A clawed arm was attached to one shoulder jointed in different spots than it should be. The other arm looking more familiar lay limply at its side.

Stepping closer, the face was the worst part. It was a half-decayed human visage, mouth stretched into a perpetual grimace. Its eyes were mismatched one was large and terrified while the other was sunken and glazed over as if it was dead. Then it shuddered and spoke... Well, tried to, but a garbled sound escaped its throat...

Brams's figure appeared beside me and whistled softy. "Yikes. Someone's been playing mad scientist here. This poor guy looks like he lost a fight against a sewing machine."

The creatures head snapped towards us, its mismatched eyes locking onto me. Then it whispered, a chorus of overlapping voices speaking in broken, fragmented words...

"Help..me..Kill... run... escape... No... Nooo...."

A cold chill crept down my spine

I squeezed the shaft of my spear... "Bram... What the hell is this thing?"

Bram fearless as ever, hovered closer, inspecting it with a morbid fascination, almost making me believe he could be a necromancer himself. "Oh, I'd say.... A bit of everything... Just enough necromancy to keep it screaming inside, nasty stuff."

The hybrid lashed out suddenly, shaking the bars slightly "Help... or .... Die..." it shrieked, its voices overlapping in a painful cacophony.

The monster slowly slid forwards out of the cage, I went to take a step back but stopped myself. I would be on the advantage this time, I quickly activated piercing thrust aimed right at its skull. The spearhead hit the beast dead center of its forehead snapping his neck backwards. I withdrew the spear along with a mix of grey and brown brain matter, flicking it off and striking again at its torso. I landed the hit, but the clawed arm shot forward and sliced deeply into the meat of my shoulder, wincing heavily I pulled the spear out of the creature. The body fell forward... Dead.

"Huh, I thought that was going to be a lot harder." I said aloud. The body spasmed, and I leapt back... Cautiously.

Bram floated beside me, eyeing the twitching corpse with an amused smirk. "Oh Liam, you never say things like that. It’s practically begging for trouble."

I tightened my grip on the spear, watching as the creature's body jerked unnaturally on the ground. Limbs twitched, the mismatched eyes rolling wildly in their sockets before snapping to focus on me. A low, guttural wheeze rattled from its throat, and then... it started moving again.

"No... not... done... yet..." it gurgled, voice layered with agony and something far worse- determination.

"Great," I muttered, stepping back and gritting my teeth against the searing pain in my shoulder. "Why won’t this thing stay down?"

Bram hovered above it, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Well, it is made of spare parts. Maybe it’s got more than one brain rattling around in there. You might need to..."

Before he could finish, the creature's torso suddenly snapped upright, its stitched-together form trembling with unnatural energy. Its clawed arm shot forward again, and I barely twisted out of the way, feeling the wind from its strike rush past my face.

"Kill... you... kill... me..." it wailed, lunging with renewed vigor.

"Alright, that's it!" I shouted, thrusting my spear into its chest again, but this time twisting deep. "Bram, any brilliant ideas that don't involve me getting sliced up?"

Bram shrugged. "Oh, I dunno. Ever thought about aiming for that creepy stitched-up heart in the center? Always a classic."

Glancing down, I spotted the grotesque lump beneath layers of rotted flesh, pulsing erratically, black veins webbing outward like cracks in glass. With a deep breath, I drove my spear straight into it, feeling the sickening pop beneath my grip.

The creature let out a strangled screech, its entire body convulsing violently before collapsing in on itself. The body started to smoke before being engulfed in a raging blue fire, in the next few seconds the only thing that remained was a pile of ashes.

"That kinda reminds me of you, Liam... Dramatic." Bram said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and stepped closer, something shiny catching my attention amidst the ashes. Walking into the pile I brushed away the soot revealing a palm sized crystal.

Just as I reached out, a system message blinked across my vision, I instinctively closed it, eager to grab the crystal, but before I could, Bram swooped in and touched it first.

Only... He didn't pick it up. As soon as his finger grazed the tough crystal edge his poltergeist form vortexed at a crazy speed into it, he quickly tried to talk to me. One final sentence but the only thing audible from it was "It's a soul gem, find me-."

My heart dropped. "Shit, BRAM!!!"

----------------------------------------

Panic swept through my entire body, not really believing that he was gone. I scanned my memory quickly with anything that had to do with soul gems, but the only thing that came to mind was one game. A game that I used to play, had soul gems and with them you could enchant gear, but that's all I could remember. Knowing that Bram couldn't possibly want to be stuck inside of some weapon or piece of armor, there had to be more to this than what I possibly knew now. I would need to ask someone about it as soon as I could.

My shoulder felt as if someone took an old rusty rake to it. Looking at the bloody marks revealed nothing more than just that. So, I chose to sit down and go through the system message that had appeared before the entire shit show with Bram happened. Slightly hoping it would give me any answer as to what happened to him.

"Congratulations, You have Cleared the First Floor of this Dungeon! Would you like to continue to the next floor? Yes/No?"

No, fuck that.

Your rewards will materialize in the cavern, and a portal will appear to take you outside the dungeon."

Well, hopefully that creature that was outside lost interest and took off to find something better. I closed out of the menu as a loot chest appeared in front of me. Unlike the two I got from the beach this one was for the good stuff, and you could tell. Getting excited, I threw the lid open to find:

Loot:

Analyze skill scroll: This scroll holds the secrets behind the powerful skill of: Analyze

Analyze: This skill will let you know a brief description of anything that is inaugurated by the system. The higher the level in this skill, the more information you will obtain.

I instantly picked up the worn piece of rolled parchment and opened it. I could decipher some sort of strange symbol, then my head slammed with new information as I felt the parchment turn to dust in my hands.

That's new... I thought to myself, looking down I continued through the rest of the loot.

Bow of the Endless Hunt

Description:

The bow is crafted from an eerie blend of Darkwood and bone, its limbs sleek yet gnarled, as if shaped by ancient forces of nature. The grip is wrapped in supple black leather, rumored to be tanned from the hide of a legendary beast. Intricate silver runes spiral along the bow’s length, pulsating softly with a faint green glow, resembling the rhythmic breathing of a predator lying in wait. At the heart of the bow, embedded just above the grip, is ever-shifting emerald that seems to swirl with mist-like tendrils. When drawn, the bowstring hums with a low, resonant vibration, as if anticipating the moment to release its power.

Endless Quiver: The bow generates spectral arrows made of shimmering green energy; each one infused with the essence of a relentless hunt. Max arrows in quiver is 30. Arrow generation rate is 1 per minute.

Cursed by the Hunt: The wielder feels an insatiable drive to pursue their targets, making it difficult to rest or retreat once battle has begun. This effect can cloud judgment if not carefully managed.

"Holy shit... This is the drop I've been waiting for."

I reached in, grabbed the bow, and sat back down with it, turning it over in my hands with awe. Every intricate detail... the eerie runes, the bone-like curves, felt like it was meant for me. I needed to switch to a ranged class as soon as possible.

As I started to rise to my feet, something weird caught my eye. Bram’s crystal was vibrating. Slowly at first, but with each passing second, the tremors grew more intense.

Frowning, I scooted closer, still clutching the bow tightly. The vibrations turned violent, rattling in my palm like it was trying to escape. Instinctively, I reached out and grabbed the crystal.

The moment my fingers closed around it; a blazing hot pain seared through me.

I screamed, veins bulging unnaturally as a dark, pulsing energy surged from the crystal and snaked across my arm. It slithered over my skin, an inky black line crawling up to my other hand, where the bow rested. My whole body convulsed, writhing in agony as the two items seemed to fuse their essence into me.

It felt like an eternity.

Then, silence.

The pain vanished in an instant, leaving me gasping for breath. My hands trembled; the bow still clutched tightly. But before I could even process what happened, I heard a voice.

"Well... that was dramatic."

I froze.

"Bram?" I whispered, looking around frantically.

"No, it’s the other handsome devil trapped in a magical weapon. Who else would it be?"

I stared at the bow, realization hitting me like a ton of bricks. "Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me..."

"Surprise!" Bram’s voice chimed through the bow, his usual smugness intact. "Guess I’m your weapon now. Looks like you’re stuck with me... even more than before."

”What the hell Bram?! We are a team. We are supposed to be working together towards the same goal. If you can’t even communicate with me about what you are planning to do, how the hell can I trust you?!” My temper boiling over, by the end I was outright screaming.

“Easy, human.” Bram said with clear disdain before taking a moment and calming down he continued

“I would have told you if there wasn’t a risk that the soul gem would have dissipated without another presence inside of it. I had to be quick, and quick I was. I knew you’d know what to do with it, eventually. Though I wasn't expecting you to get such a fine weapon from this tiny dungeon.”