The path was long and dark as it wound back and forth, sometimes climbing uphill, sometimes dropping back downhill. By the time Owin found an archway entrance, the cooldown on summoning was done.

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade poofed into existence directly beside Owin. He looked about, then pointed. “I found the door.”

“You don’t even know where we are.”

Ethereal light illuminated the inside of the stone building without letting any of the light spill through the arch into the dark pass. Owin hesitated at the entrance. There had to be traps.

“I might not know where we are, but I can make a strong guess that we are going through that door. What other reason could we have for standing in front of it?”

“I think it’s the secret.”

Shade looked back down the pass. He walked a few feet back until he peeked around a corner. “It looks hidden enough to be a secret. How did you find it?”

“Through a door in the building I hid in while you blew up the egg.”

Shade approached the archway and tapped his armored fingers on the stone. “So, what you’re saying is . . . you found the secret because of me? I suppose an apology is in order.”

“An apology?”

“For doubting me.”

Owin stepped through the door, tensing, but quickly relaxed when nothing happened. “When did I doubt you?”

The room was a small stone square. The same smooth stone covered the floor, walls, and ceiling. Even though there was still water present, it felt thinner, like he was almost on the surface. Three doorways were evenly spaced on the opposite wall. They were only covered by red curtains hanging down, but there was a blue shimmer that reminded Owin of the boundary wall.

“Constantly. Constant doubting. Always doubting. Doubting every little thing. I—”

Choose a door.

They looked at each other.

“Did you see that?” Owin asked.

“I did. Do you think we should choose the same door? Separate doors? Adjacent doors?”

Owin slowly crossed the room, still expecting some type of trap. He had seen too many secrets with traps to expect anything else. By the time he reached the center doorway, Shade was standing beside him.

“Why are you moving so slowly?”

“I’m avoiding traps.”

Shade looked around the room. “What traps?”

Owin ignored the skeleton and reached out, touching the red curtain. As soon as his fingers brushed the blue glow, the other two doorways turned gray. “I guess we’re going through this one.” He pushed the curtain aside and walked into the next room with Shade close behind.

It was a long, narrow room with nothing but bones inside.

Shade picked up a bone, tried taking a bite, then discarded it. “What a waste of a room.”

A hum caused the water to shake. Bubbles rose from the ground, coming from invisible holes. All the bones moved into three different spots, gathering together until three skeleton mobs stood in the center of the room.

“Oh. Not a waste. Just, uh, a little insulting. Is that what they think I look like?” Shade adjusted his scarf. “I at least know how to dress.”

“You aren’t wearing pants,” Owin said as he clenched his fists. The only real weapon he had at the moment was the lich bone knife, and that wasn’t going to do a lot of good against skeletons. The Incandescent Blade would probably work, but so would his fists.

Before the skeletons could fully prepare themselves, Owin leapt and punched the center one’s head, crushing the bone on impact. He landed, pivoted, and leapt again, punching each of the three skeletons in turn. Losing their heads didn’t kill them immediately, but a few more punches crushed them. Their feeble attacks weren’t much of a threat with how fast Owin dashed through the room. Before long, he stood among the wreckage and shrugged at Shade.

Choose a door.

“There aren’t any doors,” Shade said. He took a step back out the door. “Oh, never mind. These doors are open again.”

“Does that mean this was the wrong door?”

Shade walked to the right door and stuck his head through it. “Apparently. There’s a chest in here.”

Owin hurried over before Shade accidentally triggered something new to happen in the secret. He wasn’t lying. There was a single, large chest sitting against the back wall. Other than that, the room was completely empty. Owin stalked in, moving slow at first until Shade carelessly strolled across the open space.

“There’s going to be a trap somewhere and with how long your respawn is now, I’ll end up doing this whole secret on my own.”

Shade stopped in front of the chest and crouched. “What could be so dangerous about a chest? I won’t go anywhere. I’ll manage just fine.” He tapped his gloved hand on the chest. “See?”

The top of the chest sprang open, revealing row after row of sharp teeth. The mimic’s tongue lashed out, wrapping around Shade’s head before pulling the skeleton inside. Before the monster could chomp down, Owin dove forward, driving the lich bone knife into the top of the mimic’s head. He tore the knife all the way across, severing the top half of the mimic.

Shade stayed in the bottom part of the chest, slumped and limp like a corpse.

“I know you’re alive,” Owin said.

“Am I alive? Am I dead? Am I existing in some state in between?” Shade sighed and sat up. “Since when do chests try to eat people?”

“This isn’t the first mimic I’ve seen.” Owin grabbed the tongue from behind Shade and cut it off near the back. Eating it wasn’t enjoyable in any way, but charisma was his lowest attribute and any gain would help.

Shade narrowed his eye sockets as Owin took the first bite of mimic tongue. They stared at each other awkwardly as Owin took bite after bite, slowly chewing the rubbery tongue.

Charisma +30

Charisma: 190

Owin gagged a few times as he swallowed the last of the food. Shade had crawled out of the mimic corpse and gently patted Owin’s helmet.

“Was it worth it?”

“I don’t know,” Owin muttered.

Choose a door.

Shade walked back to the door and stuck his head out. “It appears we have picked wrong two times in a row.”

“Then the last door has to be the right one.” Owin pushed past the skeleton into the first room. As he expected, only the left door was glowing blue. “We should try picking the right door first next time.”

“Right side? Sure. I was thinking of the left again, but hey, what do I know?”

“I meant right . . . what?”

Shade gestured to the last door. “What do you think lies ahead?”

The lich bone knife was ready in his hand. The last two rooms held mobs, so he expected something similar. He stepped through and froze.

It was a human. He cocked his head upon seeing Owin and Shade. He wore a wide-brimmed helmet and armor on his torso that looked to be made mostly of leather straps.

“Who are you?” the person asked.

Amulius

Level 70

The human drew a saber from his waist. “Who are you?” he repeated.

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“That’s not a hero,” Shade said quickly.

“What is it?” Owin tried taking a step back as Amulius advanced, but he bumped into Shade’s legs.

“I have no idea. Kill it.”

Shade was completely serious. He repeated himself and backed up as far as he could before bumping into the grayed out doorway. “Kill it!”

Owin jumped forward just as Amulius turned to smoke causing him to pass right through. He hit the ground and skidded on the opposite side. Shade brought his new gauntlet up to block a slash from the saber as Amulius materialized.

“It’s a skinweave!” Shade tried to headbutt Amulius, but he turned back into smoke, stepped through Shade, and rematerialized behind the skeleton. One quick slash caused Shade to burst into smoke.

Amulius stepped through the gray cloud. “Who are you?”

“Owin.”

Amulius cocked his head. Owin finally spotted the flap of skin poorly restitched across Amulius’s neck. Some bone and sinew was visible hanging from the deadly injury.

A skinweave?

What was a skinweave? He swore he had heard the name once before, but when and why?

The creature was fast enough to turn into smoke before Owin could hit, which meant he needed to actually trick it in some way. If he just kept jumping, he would keep passing through smoke and eventually open himself to an attack.

Owin kept the lich bone in his hand and lifted it like he was going to leap again. He slipped a wand out with his other hand. To kill the creature with Magma Mine, it would need to be in its normal form.

“You are suitable,” Amulius said.

Owin scowled. “What does that mean?”

Amulius brandished his saber. “Time for your death.” He bolted straight for Owin, moving faster than expected.

Owin dove to the side, casting Magma Mine in the center of the room, just behind Amulius as he slashed where Owin had just been. He kept moving to the side as Amulius turned to face him. Owin waved his hand through Shade’s remains, trying to clear some of the dust. Before he could wave any of it away, Amulius charged forward, stepping right on the spell.

A stream of lava launched into the water, blocking Owin’s view of Amulius. The spell hardened into a solid column of obsidian in the middle of the room. There had been no experience notification, meaning Amulius had to still be alive.

Owin slowly approached the column, ready to jump to either side or leap backward. Whatever might happen, he wanted to be ready.

Amulius leaned to the side. He was missing both arms and one leg, but still managed to stand. Smoke drifted out of the wounds. “You are suitable,” he said again.

Without arms, it didn’t seem like he would be able to fight. Owin jumped around the corner, slashing with the lich bone. Amulius turned his whole body into smoke and reformed as soon as the weapon passed through.

“You are suitable.”

“I heard you before.” Owin slashed as soon as he landed. As Amulius turned back to smoke, Owin pointed the wand and cast Magma Mine again. The moment Amulius materialized, the spell erupted, covering his whole body in molten rock.

0 Experience

Owin sat on the ground. “Suitable for what?” After a minute, he climbed back to his feet. It was weird being alone again. At least while walking up the dark path, he was focused on getting staying upright and going forward. Now, it was quiet and there were more questions left unanswered.

“I want to be done with this place,” Owin muttered. He walked through the single doorway on the opposite side and looked around the room lazily. There was a single table with three items on top. Each glowed blue like the doors did before.

There was a mana potion, a stack of coins, and a health potion. Owin grabbed the health potion and watched the other two items become gray. When he tried grabbing one, his hand passed right through it.

“I figured.” He dropped the potion into his bag and looked between the three doors on the next wall. “It’s probably not left again. What did Shade say? Right side?” He took a few steps toward the right door and checked the cooldown.

Summon the Withered Shade

Cooldown: 80 Seconds

“I could wait.” Owin took another step closer. Waiting also meant spending more time in the Ocean Dungeon, and he was eager to get out. What had everyone else been up to? Were the Nimble Hogs taking other jobs? What were Katalin and Ernie doing? There were a lot of things he wanted to know, and the only way to know was to get the shard and get out. The tenth floor couldn’t come soon enough.

He pulled the curtain aside and made eye contact with three girhuma. They were all equipped mobs, and from their gear, Owin guessed they were a soldier, hunter, and wizard. Owin jumped from the doorway, tackling the soldier. He hit the girhuma with enough force to feel bones crack in the water elf’s chest. A quick slash across its throat caused an experience notification to flash in Owin’s vision.

He brought his arm up just in time to block a water arrow from the hunter. It cracked his chitin gauntlet, but he didn’t spend any time thinking about it. Another leap allowed him to stab the thin knife right into the top of the hunter’s head before landing and punching the wizard in the stomach. The girhuma doubled over, coughing. Owin slashed upward, cutting the wizard’s throat.

Summon the Withered Shade

Cooldown: 65 Seconds

“Oh.” Owin checked each corpse for loot, then looked at the three doors in the back of the room. “It was left, then right. So . . . center?” Owin pulled the curtain aside.

Fifteen crabs charged right through the curtain. Owin jumped back as his armor activated, stabbing the crabs with chitin just like their own. They were like miniature versions of the crabs back on the second floor, though these were a higher level and therefore stronger than the huge crabs in the kelp forest.

It took a moment, but between Owin punching and stomping, and his armor stabbing, the fifteen crabs died quickly. He kicked each one, checking for loot, and found nothing.

Summon the Withered Shade

Shade appeared and immediately tripped over a dead crab. He hit the ground, scrambled, and jumped back to his feet. “This isn’t the same room as before.”

Choose a door.

“I made it through one without you, and now this was apparently the wrong room.” Owin picked up a dead crab. “These were easy to kill.”

Shade picked up another crab corpse. “These just look like normal crabs. Is this even a challenge?” He tossed it against the wall. “The skinweave was a lot more difficult. I assume. I didn’t really see.”

Owin nodded and led the skeleton back out of the room. They could choose between left or right, and Owin had no guess. There was no sign which would be the right choice. There hadn’t been a pattern, apparently.

“What is a skinweave? It only gave me a name and a level.”

“A skinweave is a specter that takes over dead bodies. You have to kill the body, then the specter.” Shade tapped Owin on the top of the head. “They take whatever abilities or spells the dead body has. So . . . Amulius was probably a dead hero.”

“Oh.” Owin frowned. “I fought a specter that took over a dead body once, but it was a possessor.”

Shade nodded knowingly. “A possessor can take over anything, but if they take over a body of a hero, they don’t get any of the things heroes use like spells, abilities, or even armor bonuses. Gross things, specters.”

“Aren’t you kind of a specter?”

Shade narrowed his eye sockets. “Are you calling me gross?”

“No, I . . . maybe.”

Shade grabbed Owin’s shoulders and turned him toward the doors. “Center was the wrong choice. What are we thinking?”

“That I want to leave the Ocean.”

“Feeling done? I know how you feel. Spending so much time inside makes it feel like you’ll never leave. As much as the secrets and bosses help with loot . . . we could just sprint through the floors. Maybe it isn’t the most useful way to finish the Ocean, but people go insane inside the dungeons for a reason.”

“Hm.” Even if he did rush, he would still need to wait for Myrsvai. But at least he could wait outside. “Are they all like this?”

“No. Yes and no. They’re all so different from one another.” Shade pointed left then right. “Which way?”

“You pick.”

Shade looked back and forth, then pointed left. “It worked before. Why not this time?”

Owin opened the curtain, and immediately let it close again. The right doorway was grayed out, which was fine. He had spotted the next door in the back, but he hadn’t been expecting two deep sea monsters.

Shade pulled it aside and looked. “Well, look at that.” He let the curtain close. “That shouldn’t be too difficult. You saw Myrsvai fight a boss version. Those are little babies. Just go do this.” Shade punched really quickly. They were awful, flimsy punches.

“Do you think it will be that easy?”

Shade shrugged. “I’ll run in there if you don’t.”

“Stop dying. There isn’t even room in your box.”

“Well . . . it expanded, actually. I don’t know who did that. Somebody must have been feeling nice. If I sit like this,” Shade curled into a ball. “I can manage until the cooldown runs out.”

“That doesn’t look comfortable.”

Shade shrugged. “I manage.”

“I’ll do it. Just stay here.” Owin stopped at the curtain. “If we get another bone, do you know what will change?”

“Maybe I’ll get some muscle. Literally.”

Owin laughed and walked into the room. The two deep sea creatures looked like miniature versions of the behemoth Myrsvai and Suta fought on the previous floor. All ten heads looked at Owin and immediately started glowing with elemental energy. He sprinted for the first one and punched the center face in the nose. The strike caused the other four heads to flail to the side. He crashed into the second and kicked as he fell, pushing it aside. Elemental energy filled the room as all nine remaining heads thrashed and launched their attacks.

A few attacks made it through Owin’s armor, knocking chunks off his health. He felt a mix of freezing and burning, but nothing was going to immediately kill him. He pushed himself back to his feet, grabbed the back deep sea creature by two different necks, and swung it overhead, smashing the two monsters together. Blood splattered into the water, forcing Owin to close his eyes. He lifted the limp creature and smashed again and again until both experience notifications appeared.

“You know . . . not how I would have done it, but it is difficult to argue with effectiveness,” Shade said.

Owin took a few steps back before opening his eyes. Both deep sea creatures were little more than mush. “Oh. I overdid it.”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. If the goal was to make deep sea soup, then you didn’t overdo anything.” Shade plucked a floating chunk from the water. “Stew is probably the more accurate word. A soup is more broth, you know?”

“I don’t know anything about soup, Shade.”

The skeleton flailed his hands as he walked through the gore. “A point to educate yourself on once we are free of this wet prison.”

“Okay.” Owin opened the next current and hurried through. It was finally the chest. There were no other doors, or he might expect another mimic. He opened the top and grinned. Another Bone of the Withered Shade sat on top of a shield and scattered coins.

Shield of Unbreakable Defense

Adept Magical Item

An unbreakable shield.

“Uh. Examine this quick.” Owin grabbed the shield and passed it to Shade.

His index popped in front of his face. “Well, that is a concise description.” He walked behind Owin and started fiddling with something. Before long, he stepped back over. “Is it heavy?”

Owin reached back, feeling the circular shield strapped to his back. It was over the Incandescent Blade and definitely made him feel more like a soldier than a wizard.

“Do I look like a wizard?” Owin asked jokingly.

“No.” Shade patted him on the head. “But look at this.” Shade grabbed the bone and vanished. He immediately resummoned on his own. His eye sockets widened.

“Finally,” Owin said.

Shade thrust both arms in the air. “I have pants!”

They were simple cloth pants that were bright red, about the same color as Owin’s chitin armor. Shade shoved his hands into the pockets.

“Pants!”

“You’re not naked anymore.”

“We have achieved great things today, Owin. Great things. The greatest.” He looked around and waved his hands through the water. “Let’s get to the ninth floor and go beat up the boss.”

“We still have a lot of this floor left.”

Shade gestured to the door. “Then you better get moving.”