The corpselings charged at each other without hesitation. Soon the teal circular dungeon was filled to the brim with raging bodies. With a subtle clunk, the turning wall locked into place behind me. I had nowhere to run except forward. I braced myself preparing to meet the tide of bodies, and was soon swept away.

No matter how I tried to cut or stab, the dagger simply fell short. I would take down one opponent only for them to be replaced by three more. I was struck by hundreds of clubs and slashed by tens of broken swords. Soon I was laid out on the cold uneven floor. My body was torn and battered. Not a single muscle responded to my call. As I struggled to regain my footing, a tall thin corpseling rose above me. Clad in only a stained gambeson shirt and equipped with nothing more than a dull axe and broken circular shield strapped to his arm. He lifted me up by my bald scalp and slowly began to chop away at my neck with his axe.

IT HURT.

God, it hurt. The blunt force of each strike, breaking bone and tearing flesh. It took the bastard nearly twelve swings to finish the job. All my senses grew faint as my head finally left my body. I had but a few seconds of dull consciousness before I slipped back into the darkness.

When I awoke, I was locked in one of the many teal cells with nothing but the bone dagger deposited cleanly between my ribs. My body was locked in place by four large chains. I wasn't alone, either. Close to twenty other corpselings shared my cell. I tried to rip myself free but was soon hit by a wave of compulsions.

'Go back into battle!'

'Rip the heads from their bodies!'

'Know no FEAR!'

'KILL EVERYTHING!'

Although different in content, the uncomfortable feeling of having someone else's thoughts forced into my head was more than enough to let me recognize them for what they were. Is this what drives the other corpselings? It would explain why they charged directly at each other without hesitation. I wonder how long they have been feeling these compulsions? If it was any longer than a few months, they might not be sane enough to answer even if I asked.

Mechanical whirrs brought me back to reality. The chains locking my arms in a place where slowly reeled up, forcing me to stand. Figuring resistance was futile, I decided to observe the others in the cell. All twenty were being raised simultaneously. Those that were awake were chomping at the bit to fight. Letting out chilling shrieks and gurgles as they threw themselves at each other, only to be stopped by the heavy chains. Once we had all been raised to our feet, the whirr calmed to a slow hum before silencing itself. Then after a few seconds, all the chains unlocked, and all hell broke loose. Throwing myself in headfirst wasn't going to work; I needed a plan. Although this wasn't made easy with the constant compulsions to charge out and kill everything ringing in my head. I did what I could to hang back. Sticking to the cell wall and only draining the two corpselings that rushed me. Most of the corpselings were too busy killing each other or being killed to notice as I crept to the front of the cell.

After making sure the fight behind me had died down, I peered out into the hall. The circular hall was patrolled by the few remaining corpselings who had defeated everyone else in their cell. I tested the cell door, and sure enough, it was unlocked. I checked the patroling corpselings once more. It didn't seem like they reacted to the noise. I opened the door and slipped out into the hall, looking for anything that might help me turn the tide against my soon-to-be aggressors. The hall was a mess, the ground was uneven, and piles of rocks broken from walls plagued the hall. The greenlighted torches were affixed to the wall by iron holdings, and there was the rhythmic sound of a piston shooting out and in periodically in the distance.

I was confident I could take any of the corpselings one on one, especially with the dagger's draining abilities. Deciding to test my luck, I picked up one of the loose stones on the floor and threw it at the nearest corpseling, hoping to attract its attention. I never had the best arm, and having little to no strength didn't help this. The stone bounced off the floor and landed somewhere far right of his legs. Sadly this failed to gain a reaction. I probably actually needed to hit him with the stone. After more throws than I care to admit, I was finally able to land a hit on the corpselings calf.

He or maybe she, it was hard to tell when they were barely more than bones, took a quick look around before resting their eyes on me. I wasn't even given a moment to think before it charged me. It practically threw itself on me, using a larger stone from the ground as its weapon. I fell to the side in an attempt to dodge. This only partially worked as my left arm was still smashed by the corpselings overhead swing. However, it was now wide open, and my dagger found purchase in the corpselings side. Vitality poured into me as I drained the life from my opponent.

"GraaaH!" The corpseling let out a disgusting scream as it was drained. Two more of the wandering corpselings reacted to the noise and charged straight towards me, one from each side. With my renewed strength, I tossed the husk forward, successfully blocking one of the corpseling's tackle. The other came barreling full force down on me, its wooden club up high and at the ready. I dodged the swing and thrust forward with the dagger stabbing the corpseling in the chest. Before I could finish draining its vitality, the other wanderer was upon me. It struck me with its stone knife, and I ended up dropping the bone dagger.

I did my best to guard but was repeatedly cut over and over again. I tried to get to the dagger, but the corpseling made sure to position himself between me and the weapon. In a fit of desperation, I tackled the knife-wielding corpseling to the ground. I grabbed the nearest stone and began to pummel the head of the guard. It took five bashes to finally get the corpseling to stop resisting. I slowly made my way to the dagger and proceeded to drain the vitality of the two newcomers.

When all the vitality was stolen, I dragged their husks back into my cell, hoping to gain a little time to inspect what gear I could salvage. The first corpseling to attack had an adjustable armguard on their left arm. The second had nothing more than a scrap of cloth it was using as underwear, which I quickly helped myself to. The third was wearing half a chain shirt riddled with holes, it barely covered half my chest, but it was better than nothing. After equipping my new armor, I looked at the wooden club. It wasn't much, but it still had longer reach than my dagger. After a little consideration, I decided to take the club with me.

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I moved further down the circular hallway. I was able to drain two more wandering corpselings as I went and even acquired a soleless right boot. As I continued, the sound of the rhythmic piston kept getting louder and louder. Finally, after ages of walking, a stairway came into sight. I started up the stairs and soon found myself captivated by their design. They had a carved flourish to them, with the base of each stair having a row of diamond holes a few inches wide. Whatever crusty blood didn't dry on the spot seemed to drain into the diamond holes. I found myself staring at the inside of the row, curious as to what was down there. Was it just a drain? A peephole into another chamber? As I stared down into the diamonds, I saw a metallic sheen, and it all clicked together.

I jumped backward, trying to get as far away as possible, but I wasn't quick enough. A row of rusty spears shot from the ground, slicing my nose clean in half.

"FUCKING HELL!" I yelled, so surprised by the course of events I completely forgot to watch my volume. After checking for any other alerted corpselings, I took a deep breath and collected myself. Of course, it's a goddamn spear trap! I felt like such a dumbass. A row of diamond holes in the middle of a stairwell with the sound of a rhythmic piston in the background, of course, it's a fucking trap.

I sat there for a while, waiting for my nose to pull itself back together, berating myself for my cluelessness. When I was done sulking, I made sure to analyze the rhythm of the spear trap. The spears extended roughly every fifty seconds and stayed for an additional ten. So I had less than a minute to climb up the staircase that had no end in sight.

I muttered a few choice words before readying myself.

"Here goes nothing." I muttered, trying to hype myself up. As soon as the spears retracted, I sprinted to the top of the stairs. I ran, counting the seconds as they went by. Soon I reached an elongated step adorned in familiar green torches. Seeing as there were no diamonds on the step, I took it as a sort of safe zone. As if on cue, the spears extended, thankfully leaving me unharmed. I repeated the process of running to a safe zone and stopping twice before I reached a wooden door. With just a few seconds left until a potential skewering, I rammed myself into the door. Letting myself fall to the ground as it flew open.

I was immediately greeted by the warm misshapen floor and the smell of methane. It didn't take me long to figure out the trap of this floor.

Flames.

I was nearly blinded by the jutting flames that enveloped the halls. The heat fell down on me like a tidal wave forcing me down until I was kissing the ground. When the fire died down, I was able to take another look around my surroundings. The hall was covered in searing coals and burnt corpses. The few roaming corpselings all sported a severe burn somewhere on their body.

As I rose to my feet, I was spotted. One of the corpselings let out a low gurgle, and all the wanderers began to storm my position. I forced myself into a defensive stance, if it could be called that. The first corpseling charged at me weaponless. I swatted its hands away with the club before swiftly stabbing it in the head with the dagger. I was only allowed to drain it for the briefest moment before I was forced to guard against another attacker. It stabbed at me with its hot metal spike as I dodged backward. I tried to repeat my previous maneuver and used the club to push the spike away. Before I could jam the dagger into the corpselings body, I was caught in the side by a long wooden board being used as a pike.

I fell backward from the force. As I was rising to my feet, my nose was flooded by the smell of methane, and I reflexively ran to the wooden door. The flames devoured my attackers, and for the briefest of moments, I felt relief. Reality soon crashed down upon me as the corpselings charged through the fire.

Do they not feel pain? No, the answer finally dawned upon me. They have no fear.

Fighting a corpseling was hard enough as is, but fighting a flaming corpseling was a nightmare. Every slip-up caused a new burn and opened me up for a fresh wound. Ironically the very thing that made the fight harder eventually saved me as the other corpseling's bodies began to fail. It became easier to drain the corpselings. Soon I was surrounded on all sides by singed husks. Now burnt and chopped to oblivion, my club was worthless. Any hope of finding a new weapon was crushed when my nose was once again flooded with methane.

I dove backward, narrowly avoiding the flames. After a few minutes of trial and error and more burns, then I could count. I was starting to get used to the flame traps and was soon able to push my way forward through the corridor. At the end of the hall, I saw a familiar figure. The gambeson-clad corpseling stood in front of me, repeatedly beating in the head of one of the other guards with his axe. As he slowly turned to face me and let out another guttural roar, only one thought crossed my mind.

REVENGE.

The compulsions that I had once forced to the back of my mind now dominated me. I charged straight at him and stabbed with the dagger aiming directly for his eyes. He quickly blocked the thrust with his shield and swung down with his axe. I sidestepped the axe, only to be bashed by the bastard's shield. Rage began to well up inside me. Every fiber of my being wanted to rip him apart but every thrust, swipe, and slash I made was simply repelled.

Eventually, the corpseling's axe found purchase on my shoulder. The chain shirt blocked most of the damage, but the force of the axe still dislocated my arm. I began weighing my options, I could try and lead him into the flames, but this one seemed smart enough to dodge them, I could try and use the husks as a shield, but I don't have the strength to lift one for long. The defeated form of another corpseling entered into my periphery, and with it came an idea. In a feat of acrobatics that surprised even me, I rolled under my opponent's legs. I grabbed and swiftly drained my opponent's previous victim. With a flood of vitality, I felt my body repair and strengthen itself.

"Round 2 bastard." After a quick taunt, I flung the dried husk at my opponent's face. He effortlessly swatted the husk away without a thought, leaving himself open. I ducked under his axe arm before jabbing the dagger into his throat and began the drain. Despite the life leaving him, the corpseling continued to batter at my back with his shield and axe. We held that position for a while before his resistance finally gave out, and his body withered.

I helped myself to his gear wearing the gambeson under my chain shirt and equipping the shield to my left arm. It bothered me that both the bracer and the shield were on my left, but there was nothing I could do about it for now.

I moved forward through the room, finding nothing else of note as I made my way to the iron door on the right side of the room. As I went to open it, the runes on the door began to shine once again until they were readable.

[All who stay here are deficient in fear,

They run towards death, arms wide,

Like fools, they jump into conflict without thought,

Never do they consider the error of their ways,

None take the steps of change,

None try to better themselves,

None are worthy of the Path.]

"huh, More gibberish." I muttered under my breath as I opened the door. I walked through a dark hallway, my destination blinded by a veil of light.