We stepped into the pillar and were greeted with the skeletons of past adventurers. The entire dungeon floor was made of solid chunks of dry sand. The dungeon had no rooms, being a flat surface surrounded by a dome of darkness. On the other side of the dungeon were five cloaked beings who were probably the necromancers.

Before any of us could say anything, the necromancers raised their hands and waves upon waves of skeletons rose out of the ground. Their eyes radiated a hateful red glare as their lower half was revealed. Their bottom half was ghostly, as their pelvis stretched out into a ghostly appendage. They levitated mere inches off the ground, and when they started moving, they looked like blurs.

They somehow managed to kick up entire clouds of dust as they ran at us with the speed of a cheetah. The red haired woman looked at Sam, who summoned a ball of light that constantly shifted brightness, and she sliced into it. Her sword grew out a astrally projected version of itself as she charged right at the hoard. The hoard practically swallowed her up, but I could still see the light from her sword moving, so she had to be fine.

“How do we hold out against this?” I say, as the nano-chatte starts its calculations. The minions were half skeletons, half wraiths. It was a deadly combination. Skeletons normally went down after crushing one of their body parts, but the wraith part of their system was too angry to die, and would just keep going until the entire body was destroyed.

“I take the front, you two take the sides.” Christian rushed forward and planted his sword into the ground, creating a bunch of barriers. Sam’s hands moved like a leaf falling down on a breezy day, and created several spell circles. I waited for the nano-chatte’s calculations.

The wraiths were practically impossible to kill at my level. They were level eight, and my XP steal only applied to normal people. They also gave less conventional XP than goblins because they’re summoned in immense waves. The nano-chatte’s recommendation was sonic boom based weapons. A piston would move inside my arm, break the sound barrier, and air would rush out at the minions to blow them away.

“Screw this! We’re going on the attack, my barriers ain’t holding out much longer.” Christian said. I looked forward and saw the light sword getting smaller and smaller, as if the red hair was running out of stamina and not swinging it fast enough to keep the light alive. Christian took his sword out the ground and charged at the minions. They would claw at them, but a single swing from his sword sent them flying.

The wounds he endured quickly healed themselves and left behind thicker skin. The more he got hit, the more durable he became. Sam was sweating profusely as Christian was working his way through waves upon waves of skeletons. None of them were dying. All of them were merely being pushed away. We’d get overwhelmed by their sheer numbers eventually.

“Christian! Move to your side when I give you a signal. I’m charging a ‘Revifier’s return’ attack. Ranger, cover for me.” I quickly moved to cover the entire back. Christian had an easier time with it than me, so I had the nano-chatte assist me in finding the best spots to aim my blasts. It always took it a second or two to find them, so I was improvising half the time.

The skeletons were making slow progress in all areas, as even christian was being pushed back and my imperfectly aimed blasts let a skeleton or two through, which I had to waste an entire blast on. I looked back to see the blast was aimed at the light. What in the name of god was he doing?

“Aim it slightly to the left! You’re going to hit her.” The boy didn’t even listen to me as I screamed it out. The nano-chatte took over my shooting as I looked at him. The pre-blast energy ball illuminated his black hair completely. So much so that I could see two small ears hidden under a black band I didn’t notice. How in the name of god was he not human?

“She’ll dodge in time. Christian, now!” Christian hesitated a bit before moving, and a good chunk of his shoulder was lasered off. I jumped towards the boy, and ordered my armour to enter FTL.

“Are you sure? You might–” The nano-chatte tried warning me, but soon realised it was a hopeless effort to convince me to not do it, so it cut itself off. My sudden use of FTL pulled me apart for more this time, and left me armless as I landed next to the woman. I was half melted, but still managed to turn around to tank the blast for her.

My body and armour mixed in a concoction of artificial and natural. I couldn’t think of anything other than the mind breaking pain. Each and every part of my body was on fire in three different fashions. Mind, soul, and my physical body all screamed out.

Soon enough, it was too much, and everything went dark.

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“Oh my, that one was quite harsh wasn’t it?” My head was lifted out of a black void and into a world full of empty canvases. In front of me was the Painter. “The foolish reincarnator thought himself a protagonist, and assumed his blast would come without consequences. Fortunately for him, you exist.” She drew a pair of delicate hands that lead to a canvas next to her as she drew a small stool for me.

“I can’t paint.” She chuckled to herself, and handed me a brush anyway.

“It isn’t about being able or not, it’s about the intent, the message. An amazing piece of art created by something without a deeper message or intent is worthless.” I rolled my eyes at her explanation of the worth of my painting.

“Can’t you send me back? I need to make sure she’s fine.” Her smile wavered a bit, before she raised her eyebrow.

“She’ll be fine, and you’ll be alive soon enough. Let’s not waste our limited time together.” I nervously took the brush and started painting. The delicate hands helped guide me, and a magical force erased the parts I didn’t like. I painted the same thing over and over, and snapped my brush several times, only to watch it repair itself imperfectly. I drew how I felt before I died. If it was a message she wanted, then she’d get abstract art with no beauty other than the message.

The painting was a mess of grey, red and yellow. Somehow, I managed to make the three different colours feel like they were coming from different paintings. The smooth metal looked shiny, realistic. The red felt jagged, eye popping, attention seeking. The yellow felt flat, like it was a neutral force of nothingness.

“It’s… beautiful.” Excuse me, what? “What an enriching piece of art. You’d be quite the artist with more practice. It’s almost as if I can feel those few moments of pain.” I looked at my brush for a moment, then back at my painting. I didn’t get it.

“What’s so beautiful about it? It’s ugly.” She scoffed at my remark.

“How can someone be so ignorant?! Art is about making people feel something. Look, I’ll draw you a picture of a dragon.” She quickly took a canvas, and painted a magnificent picture of a dragon. “What does it make you feel?”

“Awe?” I said hesitantly.

“And? Is that all?” I nod. “You see the problem? After the novelty wears off, this is trash. There’s nothing about the pain you portrayed that will ever wear off.” I took in her painting again. I guess it really didn’t make me feel much, despite how beautiful it was.

“I think I get it?” She chuckled as she hid her face behind the canvas, before ripping it in twain.

“I must thank you for getting me inspired again, but it seems the nano-chatte is reviving you.” Well, this meeting was useful for something. I definitely know Sam the catboy is a reincarnator, and definitely has a superiority complex.

“Hey! Wake up.” The woman was screaming at me as she swung her re-lit sword around. I was back to my normal temperature and my normal non-melted body again.

“What happened?” I immediately started clearing the enemies around me. I was back to back with her as she charged faster with my help.

“Sam almost killed you, and they’re barely holding on because you abandoned them to save me.” She spoke with a mixture of annoyance and gratitude. “We’re close to the necromancers, so I’ll need your armour.” Huh?!

“You are absolutely not wearing me!” The nano-chatte spoke.

“I’ll need all the help I can get when dealing with one of them, so I’d appreciate the help.” I mentally sever myself from the nano-chatte, sending it a clear message. As we arrive before one of the five necromancers, it stops summoning its share of skeletons and turns its attention to us.

The nano-chatte slides off my body, leaving me alone with a shotgun, a rifle, and a half finished rocket launcher. I made sure to hide a bunch of elements in compartments of the armour in case she ever runs out of the light. I could prove that I’m still useful without the armour by killing another necromancer. Even if I couldn’t, distracting one would make everyone else’s job easier.

I ran at a necromancer and readied my shotgun while focusing the Coming Quiet’s aura on it. The nano-chatte was a crutch that I’d have to learn how to live without, and what better way to learn was there other than by dancing with death?