My fist slams against the stone, making a small thumping sound, as the door remains as shut as it was when I tried pushing, shoving, kicking, and even asking it to open. Each time resulted in the same thing that happens now, a screen appearing before me with the same message as before:

[Your party may challenge the Dungeon Boss again in: 3 Days]

I let out a sigh as I rub at the relatively unharmed knuckles on my hand, frustrated at how I now have to wait after finally coming into contact with someone, or something, that I can talk to. If only the damn Druid tried talking before trying to spear me with branches, I might have been able to figure some stuff out, such as where in the world I am and where the nearest town not suffering an undead infestation is. Or maybe just have a conversation about anything at all.

Well, no use complaining about it, I’ll just have to wait three days. At least I have something to look forward to. On that thought, I begin walking down the cramped passage away from the Dryad’s room, heading towards the exit of the Nature’s Reclaimed Mineshaft Dungeon. On the way, I open up my Status to check out everything, as I haven’t gotten a full look in a while. While doing so, I put my 8 free Stat points into Endurance, reasoning that with the addition of [I Shall Bear Thy Suffering], the extra points will improve it quite a bit, as well as the fact that I seem to take injuries more often than I would like, so the improved durability would help with that. The rush of energy after doing so is quite exhilarating, too bad the sensation disappears by the time I finish reading out my full stat sheet.

Name: Chloe Wright

Species: {Demon}

Age: 19

Displayed Title: (Lesser Demonic Noble)

Unused Stat Points: 0

Tier 2 General Points: 3

Endurance: 65 (60+5)

Recovery: 79

Strength: 49

Dexterity: 87

Magic Power: 62

Mana Control: 93

Subspecies: {Countess Of Broken Chains} Level 30

Active Skills (6/6):

-[Alter Runes] Level 10

-[I Shall Bear Thy Suffering] Level 1

-[Restful Touch] Level 21

-[Runic Vision] Level 25

-[Shadows Of Doubt] Level 8

-[Tail Whip] Level 26

Passive Skills (6/6):

-[Enchantment Affinity] Level 24

-[Free Spirit] Level 3

-[Nightvision] Level 11

-[Subliminal Pheromones] Level 10

-[Temptation's Tongue] Level 17

-[Versatile Tail] Level 23

Active General Skills:

-[Light Of Justice] Level 23

-[Power Slash] Level 17

Passive General Skills:

-[Analysis Resistance] Level 5

-[Axe Handling] Level 6

-[Brawling] Level 25

-[From The Brink] Level 17

-[Holy Affinity] Level 21

-[Ice Resistance] Level 2

-[Light Affinity] Level 15

-[Poison Resistance] Level 5

-[Rest] Level 8

-[Shadow Ability] Level 1

-[Unholy Affinity] Level 1

It looks like my efforts to improve my weaknesses are going well, with my Endurance and Magic Power catching up with my higher stats, Strength not being too far behind as well. My Skills, however, could do with some improvement. Not including my new Skills, [I Shall Bear Thy Suffering] and [Free Spirit], I have quite a few Subspecies Skills around Level 10, when they are the ones that can get to the second Tier for free. My General Skills are fine for now, as most of the low Level ones are affinities and resistances, which aren’t really possible to improve without something trying to kill me with that Category. Technically, I could probably improve [Poison Resistance] by using the Thorn, or [Unholy Affinity] by using [Tail Whip] on myself, but I'm not really in the mood for that kind of training at the moment. In all honesty, I think I'm done adventuring for a bit, and I'll just hang out around the cabin for a few days. That will also give me some time to think about what I want to do from now on.

As I traverse through the Dungeon, keeping an eye out for any monsters even when none appear, I think on the topic further. Camping out in the forest sounds like it might be fun, as I haven't really done so before. I could hunt wolves or try out fishing at the river, clean up the place a bit, and it'd be like my own forest retreat. Granted, I don't actually know how to hunt or fish, so food wouldn't necessarily be a guarantee unless said food decides to come to me.

Arriving at the door to the Safe Room, I enter and see the package of meat I left behind before, and an idea comes to me. If needed, I could just “hunt” in the dungeon for food. Though, the lack of monsters attacking me on my way out might mean I have to wait three days for them to come back as well. Hopefully not, and I will have to test that, but I'm thankful for the respite at this point. After putting the leaf-wrapped meat into my Lesser Bag Of Holding, I go over to the door closest to the way out, and this time it opens without any warning message, presumably because I can't challenge the boss anyways. Speaking of, that message mentioned not being able to go further until the next day’s sunrise, so maybe that means each day on the Boss’ counter will go down on sunrise as well, instead of a full 24 hours. That is another thing I need to test, it seems.

Exiting the Safe Room, I enter the unfortunately empty pixie room. It seems my hand axe got absorbed, unlike the meat in the Safe Room. It's good to know now, but still annoying that I have lost it. While I knew it was a possibility, I was kind of looking forward to testing out my Tier 2 [Light Of Justice] on it, just to see if it would work on a weapon. Oh well, back to planning.

As I walk on, I stew on the cabin life idea for a bit longer. While it might be fun to do for the next few days, I don't think I would enjoy living like that for the rest of my life. I mean, what, would I just hang about doing whatever, visiting the Dryad every three days? I could try clearing out Littlecreek and live there, as its only a few miles or so from here, and I do own that Rusalka fucker a rematch. But then I’d have an entire town to myself, and nobody else. While I am glad that I no longer share the company with a certain kind of person, I still had friends back on Earth. The other boys and girls of the brothels I had stayed at were the only friends and family I had, so I don't think I can live a solitary life for too long. Thinking of those taken by traffickers like me, I am reminded of Thumper, chained up and left to die while his so-called “owners” ran for their lives. There are probably others like them, aren’t there. Of course I get sent to a fantasy world with magic and monsters, just to have the monsters from my home live here as well. It's worse actually, as it seems like it's just accepted that someone could have a person chained up in their stables and no one would complain about it.

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An idea starts to worm its way into my head as I clench my fists at the thought. Back on Earth, I hoped for years that some knight in shining armor would come and rescue all of us taken into captivity, until I eventually stopped having hope that anyone would come. Maybe I wouldn't have lost it if she was still there to be my ray of light in the darkness, but she wasn’t. But now I have the chance to be someone else’s ray of light, almost literally with my [Light Of Justice]. The Dhartic System allows me the opportunity to never have to worry about being in captivity again, and it seems like I'm already on that path somewhat with [Free Spirit]. But I wouldn't be able to help others get free if I hid away in the woods.

So that will be my overall goal for now, helping those in slavery and captivity. It will be a long road, and definitely not an easy one, as the inhabitants of this world will be of a much higher Level than me most likely. I also have no idea where people are, with my best bet being following the nearby road that leads out of Littlecreek, as even if it is in disrepair, it must lead somewhere.

After making that conclusion, I finally make it out of the winding tunnels of the Dungeon, and am met with a clear night sky filled with unfamiliar stars and a moon a little larger than Earth’s, and tinged slightly blue. I stare up for a while, just taking in the beautiful sight, as I wasn't really thinking about anything other than survival during my first night here. I haven't seen a sky so clear since I was on the ship that carried me after I was first sold off, as the polluted cities I lived in most of my life with lights on at all times never allowed me to see much other than the moon at night. The sky before me now is free of such distractions and hindrances, so I breathe in the fresh night air and enjoy the beautiful expanse of space above me. I hadn't realized just how stuffy the Dungeon’s cave was until now, so the breath of fresh air is also welcome.

I start to walk down the small path leading towards the cabin by the riverside, dropping my gaze from above to look out for anything in the trees that might want to take its chance at me. Thankfully, nothing attacks me, and it must have rained earlier as a light mist also seems to fill the forest, so maybe any animals or monsters are sheltered because of that. In fact, as I get closer to the cabin, the trickling of the water from the river gets louder and louder, the mist also seems to become thicker, the air becoming somewhat chilly.

Something seems strange about this, but I can't really put my finger on it. I slow down, and focus on trying to hear anything sneaking up on me, as I just have a gut feeling that something is wrong, I just don't know what.

The trickling of water down the river.

My bare footsteps crunching the dry leaves beneath me.

The breaths escaping from my lips.

But nothing else.

Silence.

Wait a minute. Dry leaves?

I step into the clearing with the cabin, the grassy area absolutely filled with thick mist. Mist seemingly originating from the river, as I finally notice what I should have, I haven't been walking through wet mud, but dry ground. It is also way too quiet, even if it's night, as there should be bugs chirping or something. Not liking this one bit, I activate [Shadows Of Doubt] and start creeping slowly towards the cabin, darting my head back and forth looking for something, anything. Step by step I edge towards the doorway, only to stop in my tracks as I notice that it is open, and a humanoid silhouette can be seen within, with two orbs of silver flame looking in my direction. It seems that it has seen me, as the moment I stop in place, it heads towards me, the rattling of metal as it moves giving me a good idea of what I am facing moments before the moonlight streaming into the doorway illuminates the figure through the mist enough for me to activate my [Runic Vision], analyzing it and confirming my theory to be true.

{Desecrated Guardian Of Littlecreek}

[Highest Stat: Endurance]

While that is bad enough, several more pinpricks of silver light begin to make their appearance from all around me, as I spin around to take in my surroundings. Squelching flesh and rattling bones announce the arrival of several undead constructs. Half a dozen undead Moss Wolves come out spaced out in a semi circle, three to each side of the former Guard Captain of Littlecreek. While most of them seem to be {Zombies}, one is a {Skeleton}, and the miniscule amounts of meat on its bones makes me think the wolf I ate has come to try its luck again.

Out of all of these, ol’ Douglas is the only one I’m worried about. It's his mistress that I am actually concerned about though, so I turn to the river, and sure enough, she makes her appearance almost immediately. The undead woman rises from the river, which has gone completely still, the only movement coming from the ripples her body causes as it seems to just lift from the middle of the water without any effort, ending with her standing on the water’s surface. She announces her arrival immediately, her rasping whisper entering my head from dozens of feet away as loudly as if she was but inches from my ear.

“You. Ran.”

“But. Not. Far. Enough.”

“[Take A Dip, Your Love Beckons]”

As soon as she appeared, I made my way towards her, spreading out my twin tails behind me, ready to intercept any of her undead minions, but as soon as the name of her Skill left her lips, I stopped. I mean, why was I even getting ready to fight her in the first place? Ammie has taken care of me for years, sometimes even taking clients for me, saying that I was “too young” and “not ready for it.” Why would I want to hurt her? I look at Ammie standing in the water, her naked form calling out to me as she wades in the nice looking river.

“Hey Chloe! Come on, the water feels so nice! We haven't taken a bath together in ages!”

Her giggles bring a wide smile to my face, and I start walking towards her once more. She’s right after all, I can't seem to remember the last time we got to take a bath with each other. When I first arrived at the brothel, she would always make sure to clean me up as well as the other boys and girls, as she was a few years older than all of the new arrivals. In fact, I think the last time I had a bath with her was actually a few days ago. I don't know why I forgot. I was talking to her about celebrating her eighteenth birthday, and doing something special to repay her for all that she has done for me. For some reason, her smile, which always cheered me up, didn't seem right.

I stumble slightly at that memory, a wave of grief overcoming me for a few seconds for some reason, even though her birthday is today. It's today, right? She promised me that the next time we would have a bath would be when it was her birthday, so it must be today. I look up and see her splashing in the river, a bright smile on her face as she laughs cheerfully.

Was she always shorter than me? I could've sworn she was taller. I mean she was a whole five years older, so of course she is taller. I mean I'm only thirteen right now, plenty of growing to go.

I stumble again, the previous thought seeming wrong for some reason, but it must be right. After all, it's Ammie’s eighteenth birthday today, and I am five years younger than her. I'm now just a few feet away from the water’s edge, and I stop to take in Ammie, as for some reason it feels like I haven't seen her in years. Her cherry red hair, of which she always claimed was natural, drapes across her shoulders, framing the lovely smile on her face. Her piercing blue eyes stare into mine, and she beckons me with her arms as she giggles playfully.

My vision traces downwards for some reason, resting on her neckline. I try to move my sight from there, but I can't. I can't move at all, as I stare at her neck. Tears start to stream down my eyes as I look at the glistening skin, completely unblemished. Which is completely wrong.

It's all wrong.

Wrong.

WRONG.

For a moment, Ammie’s appearance transforms. Her lively blue eyes become glazed over, and a nasty purplish ring of flesh appears around her neck behind a ring of tied bedsheets, as the rest of her head bends in an unnatural direction. Then with a blink of my eyes, the smugly smiling visage of the desiccated face of the Rusalka comes into view, before swiftly turning to confusion, then outrage.

“HOW.”

“None. Can. Escape. My. Ski-”

The Rusalka's whisper breaks off as she looks down, seeing the two tails piercing straight into her stomach, and before she has time to say anything more, I lift her up into the air and slam her into the ground behind me. Parts of my vision are tinted a shade of black as rage fills me, and a bright glow starts to emit from my sides. The smell of singed flesh meets my nostrils as I bring up my hands, which have been covered in cruel looking glowing claws. I lunge towards the undead woman on the ground, who has already started getting up, and tackle her after swiftly pulling my tails out from her stomach, ripping apart her innards further, and bringing down my claws on her face. As my right thumb pierces into her eye, the Rusalka lets out a wail as she blasts me with a torrent of cold air, knocking me into the air a couple of feet as tiny shards of ice pierce me all over my body.

I land on my back not too far from where I tackled her, but as soon as I get to my feet, I am met with the sight of a rusty warhammer rushing towards my face, and I bring up my arms to block the blow. That proves to be the wrong decision, as I am sent flying away, despite my prodigious size, a sound like shattering glass is followed by my [Light Of Justice] dissipating from the impact, and a sharp pain in both arms tells me that it hurts a lot. Thankfully, nothing broke, so maybe blocking wasn't the worst option, but dodging it entirely would've been preferable. The shocking blow also managed to snap me back to a more focused state.

While the rage from what the Rusalka tried doing probably helped me break out from her Skill, it probably wouldn't be best to cloud my judgment too much, especially when facing a group of opponents. On that topic, I roll to the side when I hear the sound of rattling bones, dodging the pounce of the skeletal wolf, and get to my feet quickly enough to see the Desecrated Guardian charging at me himself, instead of just his weapon. Unfortunately for the former guard captain, I have changed quite a lot since our last encounter, which he finds out quickly as my tails, both sharpened by [Versatile Tail] and covered in solidified Holy light, slice into his leg and breastplate, digging in a good few inches, making the draugr stumble to his knee.

Before I can capitalize on this, the six undead wolves attack me all at once. They leap at me, biting and scratching me all over, mostly ineffectually, and it only takes me seconds to strike them down with gauntlets composed of [Light Of Justice], the Holy magic burning away at the undeads and causing struck sections to turn to dust in moments. Seconds is all the Desecrated Guardian needed to regain its footing though, and after confirming that all the wolves are down for the count, I realize that he has taken up a more defensive stance, and it only takes a few moments to realize why.

At some point during the chaos, the Rusalka reached the river again, and had started delving below whilst the river’s current began to take her towards Littlecreek again.

“NO!”

I yell out in protest of her retreat, and try to charge towards her, but the undead guardian steps in my way, lifting up his hammer as it prepares to swing at me once more. Letting out a growl of annoyance, I dodge to the side of the clumsy swing and slam my glowing fist into the side of his helm, causing cracks to spread in the ice covering the rusty helmet. While the undead reels back from the blow, I shove at him while simultaneously pulling at his legs with my tails, causing him to fall onto his back, and I mount him in moments. He immediately tries to fight back, but I press down on his arms with my own, immobilizing them, then proceed to stab down over and over again with my tails, screaming at the prone figure, until minutes pass and his struggling finally ceases.

I sit there, straddling the corpse as I breathe in and out heavily, filling my lungs with air once more. But as the telltale victory notifications begin to appear, I will them away for the moment, and begin running after the fleeing monster.