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Pride
Lovely

Lovely

   I'm tired, so damn tired. It should be okay to just close my eyes, rest them for a second. A quick, relaxing nap never hurt anybody, did it? The walls here are so cool, even the ground is flat, no annoying back pains. I should have lost it, I was running... for time.. after all. Just to be safe, one more corner. Right leg? I would like to take a step. Yes, drag a little further, and.. we are done. Lelft leg, it's your turn now. No, bad left shoulder, do not slip on the wall. Yes, yes, good body, keep moving. Just few more ste..! Down!

  Clang!! A sword hit a muddy wall just above the head of something resembling a pile of rags. The very same moment an arm shoot out of the rags slashing a broken saber at a tall, legless figure. While a set of chest armour and thin cloth wailed in pain, rags fell onto the other wall, and pulled out a rusted sword.

Enraged armour lungeg, taking a large swing at the smaller figure, and with a loud screech of shattering steel pierced itself onto a broken saber and a rusted sword.

  Damnit.. Is this thing heavy. My nap can go and fuck itself.. I always feel so refreshed after they die. Can't I just, not absorb their souls? Can't they wait until I slept? No! Bloody retarded specter just has to follow me for who the fuck knows how long, and it just has to fucking fall with it's core onto my blades. Couldn't just shatter a part of it, and lay there letting it degrade for few dozen minutes. Nevermind, it has a helmet, oh.. and it's back didn't break.

  Some of the rags slowly fell off, revealing some black hair sticking out of a wet and mudded hood, and a tattered gambeson covering a persons body to it's knees, below which were naked feet. Blacked haired person pulled out a second hood from a bag on it's side, and fitted the newfound helmet with it. After twenty sluggish minutes the figure managed to tie the broken plate to the gambeson, and with a loud sigh walked - in much to energetic way for it's taste - away from a gray pile of mud that used to be a specter.

After around a hundred steps the very energetic person realised the specter had a sword, and it's still laying next to it's corpse, but decided to keep walking. Another fifty steps further there was a dead end beyond a slight bend in the tunnel, and the figure turned around and went back.

   Which one should I replace... The saber is already broken, but the sword.. Let's tap the wall with it. Broke.. the damn thing broke. How nice it would be if the wall did. Last time there was small little spirit.. ah.. forget about it. Well, since both are broken, the saber stays, it's not rusty. Maybe I will stick the sword in the ceiling once I found something to stand on. The specters sword.. No rust, slightly chipped near the tip, good grip.. when was the last time I had a sword with a proper grip.. guard is not moving, pommel isn't either. A shame stupid thing didn't have a scabard.. I will have to waste another hour reffiting the rag one I tied for rusty. Woods too short, the tip will stick out.. I will just have to tie some rags around my right leg just in case.

Why am I thinking like I'm in a hurry.. specters aren't gonna run, as long as they keep following be I don't need to eat, and I just killed one. 

I don't have a bed. I have no where to shower. I haven't eaten since... time ago. If I find exit I will find bed, and food, and water. Thats why I hate those stupid things, as soon as they die I forget how tiresome it's here. The people back then complained their food was salty and dry, I wonder how other foods taste.

Ah, the scabard is done. Let's march... forward. Hm.. when I was coming here.. I went right.. so now I should also take a right, to be forward. Left, right, left, right... I didn't notice how long this bloody corridor was. Is it a corridor if it's a cave? Specters live here, it's their home, homes have corridors. Here, found the right. It's dark as always, good. Oh, a larger stone.

  A figure of cloth, rags and steel climbed onto a rock sticking out of a wall, and jumped to pierce a rusted sword into the middle of the muddy tunnel ceiling. With a noise of steel hitting rock, followed by a litany of curses the figure fell onto the ground. The person got up, looked at the sword sticking out of the ceiling, and very proud of itself proceeded deeper towards, now a sligthly brighter part of the corridor.

Closing in on the light, the figure got closer to the wall and pulled out the saber. After taking few more steps it crouched and looked out from close to the groung. In a larger space ahead there were two specters mostly covered in cloth, the one on the left had reasonably well preserved boots and a long walking stick, while the one to the right floated in the air and wasn't armed.

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The two circled around the space, causing the dim white light to flicker when cloth on them shifted. Specter with the stick began scratching some figures on the ground, while the other one drifted towards one of two exits from the room. Suddenly a shadow cut through the floating specter upwards, and lunged towards the specter busy with it's drawings. Specter managed to parry a broken saber, but was still pierced in it's abdomen by a blade that came from the left. It howled and lifted it's stick trying to hit the attacker on the chin, but only swooshed through the air, and a blink later found two baled stuck in it's chest. As the specters core shattered, cloth slowly fell to the ground covering small gray mound of mud. The specter which was slashed through earlier was still giving off a little bit of light from it's two halves, but was slowly dimming down. 

The figure in rags sat down and rested for a few breaths while comparing the size of the specters boots to it's feet. Finding them to be a little too large, rags began filling them slowly with cloth, and checked every now and then if they fit properly. After four or five fittings they were finally comfortable and didn't slip around.

  That went well.. It's been... sixty or seventy specters since I last had something on my feet. A shame I grew out of the old ones, they were good. Actually.. haven't I been meeting specters more often lately? Maybe I'm finally close to getting out. I should be. If this caves were larger, more people would be coming. eh.. Just a little bit more. Should I take the stick? Nah, my legs are fine, and it will just make me more clumsy if something gets the jump on me. The floating specters core should be in a decent condition, oh, just slightly nicked. I killed so many of them, and yet.. one, two... six.. fourteen, with the new one fifteen cores. I wonder if there is a way to deal with these things without hitting the core.. a way for someone who would have a need for them... Goddamnit. Anyways, I came from this ones direction, so I should go to the other exit.

Hm? This specter maybe.. A small circle here, one line to where I came from.. it splits just like the corridor back there. So.. ahead.. ah. It didn't finish.. but... ahead and the paths forking from it to the left should be dead ends. Three paths to the right, and the middle one is a dead end too. The last path looks to have more forks, and short ones too. I will check it first.

  The figure in rags walked past the first intersection without looking around and only slowed down after about sixty steps where one of the divering paths was slightly brighter. After checking that the specter there was rather far behind some bend, it continued walking till the third path to the right. Finding there nothing, except for some very old remains of a camp, rags turned back slowly becoming tired again.

On the way back the figure checked on the specter, but it was in full armour. Careful to not make any noise while getting away from it, rags slither away and again to the main corridor. Closer to the first branching path the walls were smoother, and less muddy. Though there were branches in the path, only the main path was smooth, and fourth branch had some stones in it. Walking along that path the figure found themselves in a fully stone inlaid corridor.

  This.. this really must be the bloody end!! Only the entrance looked similar.. ah.. let's.. let's forget it. I should keep to the center, don't want to make noise if I bump into the walls. That would be fun.. after such a long time to be ambushed by the last specter before I reach it's room.. Fucking damnit! I should raise my spirits! Last sprint and I will be out! 

That's a pretty door. Hm.. full map of the place.. Seems like I missed some good rooms way back when. No point in turning back, there isn't anything nearby, and I may.. who cares about being tired.. or all that. I can get out here. I can always look for some treasures in other caves and ruins. Swords! Need to pull them out.. phew.. I almost walked in there unarmed. Damnit.

  The figure in rags, tattered cloth, broken armour and decent boots walked into an empty, white room. When it reached the center the gate closed behind, 'causing the figure to tighten it's grip on the broken saber and damaged sword. Suddenly rags flew back to the gate, keeping the sword in front, and slashing behind with the saber! Something howled, and a slight flicker in the air moved around from the back of the rags slashing them on the left arm. From the top of the rags there was a sound of inhaling, and they hit the wall with it's back, keeping the sword in a defensive position to the left, and the saber ready to defend in the front.

The figure lunged down, and feeling a nock on the helmet spinned to slash with both blades high and low. Rags shifted to their right, and jump back with the sword piercing behind and the saber ready in the front. Finally a slight flicker caught in it's eyes coming from the front and left, and the saber managed to defend against a force, while a second slash knocked the helmet off shredding the rags beneath. Some blood flowed out of the jaw of an extremely dirty face, but paying no attention to it the figure slashed their sword cutting through something. Rags moved their right arm towards a face, and jumped back towards another wall. Something strongly impacted their back, but the saber to pierced a core.

The light in the room dimmed down a little, and the dirty child fell to the ground.

  I did it! I fucking did it! Ah.. My eyelids are growing heavy.. the air changed.. is it.. those are human noises. Lovely.

  With a sigh, a child in all sort of rags, with a sword in it's left hand.. and a mace with a large core as it's tip, fell asleep on the ground of the exit circle of the dungeon.

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